Chapter 301 : Master Yang

Yuxi slept until noon before she woke up. There was water in the kettle on the carriage, but it was not hot water, but excess cold water.

Yuxi washed her face before Zijin informed her, “Miss, just now, Guard Luo came looking for you, saying that he had something to tell you. But looking at him, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry.”

Yuxi said, “Since it’s not urgent, let’s wait until lunchtime.” She had just woken up and was still a bit confused, so she could only talk when her mind was particularly clear.

It was already past wushi, but Chief Huang of the armed escorts hadn’t let everyone stop yet, and Zisu was starving to the point of death. “Miss, why don’t we stop for lunch yet? My stomach is getting hungry.” After saying that, Zisu even touched her stomach.

Yuxi smiled and said, “They have arrangements for how long to walk and where to rest. It’s not like you can just take a rest whenever you say so.” Yuxi only made one request in the first place, which was to go whichever route was safe and to listen to the chief armed escorts’ arrangements for everything else.

Zijin pointed out, “There are pastries in the food box. You can have a pastry to pad your stomach first.” For convenience, a food box was placed on the carriage.

Zisu shook her head and said, “No, I don’t want to eat those. I want to eat something warm right now.” The pastries had been cold for a long time, and she had no appetite to eat them.

Zijin looked at Zisu and said, “You don’t have to be so particular about what you eat when you go out. This is just the beginning. When we get halfway down the road, we won’t see any dwelling for days, and we will have to sleep out in the open. Then we will have to eat dry food to survive!”

Zisu gave Zijin a blank look and said, “Miss has already told me that. I just want to eat something warm right now.” It was just that her stomach was a little upset, so she wanted to eat something warm.

Something flashed in Yuxi’s mind, making her ask, “Are you having that little day?” Seeing Zisu nod a little, Yuxi said helplessly, “How could it be such a coincidence? If that is so, you really need to eat something warm!”

Before Yuxi could ask Chief Huang, she heard him shout, “There’s a place for lunch up ahead. Let’s give ourselves another push.”

After an hour, the party sat down for lunch in a shabby shed. In fact, everyone had brought dry food with them, so here they just had a couple sips of hot soup and ate with their dry food. Yuxi was treated better, as the shop owner stir-fried two dishes for her and brought her another bowl of hot soup.

Yuxi wasn’t picky about her food, so she asked Zijin and Zisu to eat with her. After eating, the group went back on their way. As they left, Yuxi looked at the shed and pondered over it.

After the journey, Yuxi called Luo Shuigui and asked, “Uncle Luo, what did you want to see me about just now?”

Luo Shuigui shook his head and said, “There is something minor. I just spoke to Steward Han, and it has been resolved now.”

Yuxi saw this and didn’t ask any more questions.

Ancient China Post Station

Ancient China Post Station

Its primary function was to deliver official documents to the Imperial Palace and only be used by officials and the Imperial Family. There were three types of post stations, including post stations, delivery offices and express delivery shops. The express delivery shop was used to transfer urgent documents, while the post station was used for the deliverer to rest and change the transportation. The delivery office is in charge of transporting supplies and dispatching guests.

Image Credit | To its rightful painter via Baidu

That night, the group stayed at a post station. Since Yuxi was sanctioned a marriage by Imperial Decree, it was justified for the party to stop at one. Yuxi chose to stay at the post station not because she could not afford to pay for the room but felt that the place was much safer. Chief Huang and Guard Luo had no objection to this decision.

Before having her dinner, Yuxi approached Chief Huang. Chief Huang was a bald man. When he didn’t talk and was somewhat smiling, he looked a lot like a Maitreya Buddha.

When Yuxi met Chief Huang, she asked, “Chief Huang, do you think we should buy a pot so that we can have hot soup when we have to sleep out in the open?” Yuxi had never been out before, so she didn’t know much about what to bring.

Chief Huang replied with a smile, “Miss, we’ve brought a pot, but it’s not very big.” There were more than seventy people here, so their pot was not big enough to support these many people.

Yuxi said, “Then let’s go and buy a big one, and buy some vegetables and meat as well. Buy some more bacon and sausages, so that they can be put away.”

Chief Huang said, “Miss, you can buy all those things at the halfway point. We only need to bring a pot and salt for now.” They were familiar with the terrain and knew where to replenish their rations, so they usually only brought a few days’ worths of dry food.

Yuxi blushed and said embarrassedly, “I’ve just made Chief Huang laugh at me.” She had only considered the possibility that someone might fall ill on the way, so she had brought some spare medicinal herbs and had not really thought about food or anything else. Therefore, it was better to travel thousands of miles than read thousands of books.

But Chief Huang responded with a smile, “It must not have been easy for Miss to think this much.” This was a true statement, as young misses from prominent families like Yuxi had never put their fingers under the sun nor in the river. Thus, it was not easy for them to even think of buying a pot to cook soup for everyone.

Yuxi didn’t ask Chief Huang to buy the pot. She asked Han Ji instead. She didn’t only ask him to get a pot, but also things like red dates, wolfberries, cinnamon and soybeans. There weren’t that many things to purchase, but there were all sorts of goods, and by the time Han Ji finished buying them all, he could fill another big chest with them.

After three days of travelling, it was still looking all sunny, and Yuxi felt lucky. If it had been raining, it would not have been possible to make a smooth journey. But at this time, Luo Shuigui came forward and informed her, “Miss, I suspect someone is following us?”

Yuxi cried out in surprise, “Aren’t we still not that far from the capital? There should be no bandits, right?” Since they were still near the capital, the bandits were not that rampant.

Luo Shuigui shook his head and said, “It’s not bandits. If my guess is correct, these two men have been following us since we left the capital. They seem to have good martial arts skills, and I wonder if they are friends or foes? An average person would have been caught by him long ago, but these two men had followed their party for three days before he discovered them, which proved that the other party was strong.

Yuxi was a little puzzled. “Two people? Why two people?” If it was stalking, one person would be enough. If they wanted to rob something, two people would not be enough! There was something fishy about this.

Luo Shuigui also shook his head, saying he didn’t know, and also felt that this was very strange.

Yuxi thought for a while and said, “Let’s confront soldiers with generals and stemmed water with earth. Since they won’t show themselves up, we can’t catch them right now. Then, we should just let them follow us. If they keep on doing so, they will reveal themselves sooner or later.”

Luo Shuigui was reluctant. “If they have evil intentions, we must get rid of them as soon as possible.” He then told Yuxi about his plan.

Yuxi originally thought it would be troublesome, but the two showed up easily, to her surprise.

Before Yuxi could say anything, Zijin was shocked and angry when she saw the two men and questioned, “Uncle Luo said it was the two of you who were following us?”

Yuxi looked at the old man and the young man. Remembering Zijin’s initial description of the two men, she smiled as she greeted the two of them, “Master Yang, Fourth Brother Yu.” E

When Yu Zhi heard Yuxi call him Fourth Brother Yu, he cracked a smile. His smile revealed a few snow-white teeth, and with the way he touched his head, he looked remarkably naive. “Zijin has always said that her Miss is too intelligent, and when I met her today, it was true.” Otherwise, how else would Miss Han know their identities without even being introduced by Zijin?

Luo Shuigui was a little surprised and asked, “Does Miss know them?”

Yuxi smiled and said, “I do. This Master Yang is my Er Ge’s mentor, my elder.” She didn’t expect Master Yang and Yu Zhi would be following them. But they must have been well-intentioned to do so.

It suddenly dawned on Luo Shuigui. No wonder he felt something wrong with how easy it was for them to show up. It was like they were just letting him off the hook and not taking him seriously. “Then you guys can talk.”

After Luo Shuigui and his group left, Zijin asked with an unpleasant look on her face, “What are you two doing here? I can tell right now that I am not going to go with you.”

Master Yang was furious when he heard these words. What did she mean by not going with them? If it wasn’t for the fact that Yu Zhi, this useless one, had been harping every day about how it would be a perilous journey for Zijin and that he would escort Zijin and Han Yuxi to the northwest, Master Yang wouldn’t agree to it. He just didn’t want his ears to get calloused. When did he ever be willing to follow them?

In response, Yuxi hurriedly tugged at Zijin’s sleeve and said with a smile, “I’m sure Master Yang and Fourth Brother Yu haven’t eaten yet. Han Ji, please ask the shopkeeper to fry up some good dishes for them.”

Master Yang snorted coldly, “You sure know how to conduct yourself.” If she didn’t know how to conduct herself, how else did she manage to make Zijin be dead set on her? He had even tried everything to persuade Zijin to accept him as her teacher!

What Zijin disliked most was people slandering Yuxi. “Don’t be mean to my Miss.”

In front of Master Yang, Yuxi could not reprimand Zijin but said with a smile instead, “Zijin, Master Yang is an elder, so don’t be rude.”

The meal soon came up, and Master Yang and Yu Zhi devoured it with great gusto. It was a bit hard for Yuxi to watch them. “Why do you people look like you haven’t eaten for days?”

Zijin responded grumpily, “Don’t mind them, Miss. They always eat like this.” The way they ate was so humiliating.

Yuxi didn’t take it to heart either, as she said with a smile, “This is quite good.”

When Master Yang had eaten and drunk enough, he asked, “Where is the guest room? This old man is tired and needs to take his rest.” There was no post station in this town, so Yuxi’s group had the small inn to themselves.

Han Ji immediately took Master Yang to the guest room where he was initially sleeping in. Other people didn’t know about Zijin, but how could Han Ji not know? The ones who could get along with Zijin must not be ordinary people!

Zijin was not polite to Master Yang, but even more so to Yu Zhi. “What are you doing here?” He had been sneaking around their group for two days.

Yu Zhi smiled and rubbed the back of his head again while saying, “I heard that you are going to the northwest. There are a lot of bandits on the way from the capital to the northwest. I couldn’t rest assured, so I pestered Master to accompany you to the northwest with me.” It was just that Master Yang wanted to save face and did not want to show himself. However, after watching Yuxi and her party eating and drinking, while they could only gnaw on steamed cornbread, they felt suffocated. Hence, they deliberately revealed their horse’s hoof so that Luo Shuigui could discover their whereabouts and they could show up naturally.

CHINESE STEAMED CORNBREAD

/WOTOU

/WOWOTOU

Yuxi also guessed that Master Yang intended to send them to the northwest. Otherwise, there would have been no need to follow them as soon as they left the capital. Yuxi sincerely expressed her gratitude, “I really feel grateful for you two.” With the addition of Master Yang and Yu Zhi, there would be two more helping hands.

Yu Zhi smiled and waved his hand, “No need to be so polite. Besides, by going to the northwest, I can meet my Third Senior Brother by chance.”

Yuxi knew that Yu Zhi had said this on purpose, and she decided not to expose his lies. “I remember that you two have a good friendship. If there is anything I can do to help in the future, just ask. As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it.”

Yu Zhi laughed, “You are acting too serious, Fourth Miss.”

Zijin gave Yu Zhi a blank look and said, “You don’t have to be polite to him, Miss. It’s enough for us just to provide them with delicious foods and tasty drinks.”

Yuxi felt that Zijin’s tone was weird! When she saw that Yu Zhi was only smiling nervously and didn’t refute, she turned her mind around and said with a smile, “Zijin, you can stay with Yu Zhi and talk to him. I’ll go back first.”

It was about two-quarters of an hour later that Zijin finally came back. When Yuxi noticed Zijin looking magnanimous, she felt that she must have been overthinking just now.