The three of them stayed in a tavern in the twenty-fourth city for a full seven days.
Jin Xiaolou also ate Gao Lang's secret roasted chicken for seven days in a row.
The location of the Shuzhou was extremely dangerous, with many mountain ranges and valleys intersecting. The closer they got to Qingchuan, the more they felt the world was in turmoil. There were even some commoners who were forced to become bandits and obstructed those who tried to rob money and food on the mountain path.
Jin Xiaolou felt that the carriage was too eye-catching, so after discussing with Gao Lang, she decided to sell the carriage and bought a horse and saddle for the three of them to ride on.
After taking a short rest in the Green River Town, and asking for the location of Shuzhou, the three of them rode their horses towards the Shuzhou.
The July and August sunshine were the most scorching. Not long after riding the horse, Jin Xiaolou's face was already bright red. The sun would be behind him in the morning, so Gao Lang was half a horse's body slower than him. The sun would be at the front, and Gao Lang would be able to move half a horse's body faster.
The sunlight shined onto Gao Lang's tall body, leaving him with a small, cool shadow.
Fortunately, the further in they went, the greater the fog became. The moist air eased a lot of the heat, but it also became a little stuffy.
Jin Xiaolou was not used to the stifling wetness in Sichuan, she had been forcefully walking for three days, and every day she felt worse. Not long after walking that day, Jin Xiaolou felt extremely dizzy.
Right in front of them was a teahouse with a grass shed. The three of them tied up their horse ropes and sat down to rest in the teahouse.
The tea water was only the most ordinary old tea under the shade. It tasted heavy and bitter, but it was the most effective at relieving the heat of the summer.
Jin Xiaolou drank two gulps, then leaned against Gao Lang and sat on the bench as she blew, feeling much more comfortable. The shopkeeper was a woman who was around 30 years old. Nan Yang went to ask her about the way, and just as she sat back, he heard a wail from behind him.
Turning his head, he saw an elderly aunt lying on the table, crying and curling up her fists to pound on the table.
The owner of the tea house quickly put down the teapot and asked loudly, "What's the use of crying to the heavens?"
Then, he stomped his feet and said, "In my opinion, we still need to report to the officials!"
"A reporter? They're afraid of you reporting to the officials?! " The aunt raised her face, her face filled with tears. She looked like a sad and honest person, "Besides, the officials can't avoid them as easily as they can, so why would they care about my daughter's life!"
"Then this still isn't a solution!" The owner frowned. "Your daughter is going to be married tomorrow. You can't just sit by and watch her die, can you?"
"Worse comes to worse, I might not get married for the rest of my life!" "Go to the house and be a sister-in-law!" The aunt gnashed her teeth in grief and indignation.
"If you think about it, they might not be able to let it go!" The teahouse manager shook his head. "Which one of these girls they have their eyes on managed to escape?"
"Then what should we do!?" "Then I might as well bring my family's young lady and crash to death with me!" The aunt became even more agitated as she spoke. She abruptly stood up and flipped the tea bowl on the table, wanting to smash it into a pillar of the grass hut nearby.
The owner of the teahouse cried out, shocked. Nan Yang, who was beside him was quick to react, rushed forward and grabbed the man.
The big aunt also did not see who was coming either, she pulled Nan Yang's nose and cried all over her body, her two hands tightly wrapped around Nan Yang's waist, as though she had grabbed onto someone, and did not let go no matter what.
"Sigh, she is also a pitiful person. Miss, don't bother with her." The owner of the teahouse came back to his senses and hurried over. He bent over to help the half-kneeling aunt up, muttering, "There is hope when a person is alive. How can one so easily seek death?"
Hearing this, Jin Xiaolou could no longer sit still: "Innkeeper, what's wrong with this aunt?"
The owner of the teahouse glanced at Jin Xiaolou, and when he saw the bright clothes on their group, he thought back to how agile the young lady was when she went to save them.
He rolled his eyes and told her everything that had happened.
So her surname was Chen. She was a widow from the village up ahead. Her husband had died of illness a few years ago, leaving her and her three-year-old daughter alone.
Aunt Chen was a woman who suffered bitterly. She had finally managed to bring up her daughter with great difficulty. Seeing her daughter's increasingly beautiful appearance, she was also very happy in her heart.
However, the people who came along with their daughter as she grew up were an endless stream of matchmakers.
Her daughter had a high opinion of all the men in the village. They were all honest farmers, so she didn't take a fancy to any of them. The previous year, when the Lantern Festival was at the age of 15, they had gone to the city to see the lanterns, but they had actually met eyes with a teacher in the town.
Not to mention that the teacher was a famous figure in the town, he had both talent and a manor. For her daughter to be able to attract his green eyes, Aunt Chen also rejoiced from the bottom of her heart.
As long as his daughter could marry into the city, he would no longer have to walk around the land and grain fields. At least, he would be able to live a comfortable life. At that moment, Aunt Chen agreed to their marriage. They were engaged and engaged. It would happen two years later.
Everything was so beautiful. The unforeseen event happened three days ago when her daughter went to the town to sell her eggs.
"Recently, Shuzhou have not been peaceful. I just told her not to go, not to go!" Hearing the tea shop owner's words, Aunt Chen once again sighed, unable to restrain her regret, "But she didn't listen, she only said that she sold a few more eggs for money, and bought some good Loquat Ointment s to treat my cough!"
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault! " Aunt Chen began to beat herself up again, "If I didn't have this old cough, my lady wouldn't have insisted on going there, and she wouldn't have attracted the attention of those people!"
Just as Aunt Chen's daughter finished selling her eggs, bought a Loquat Ointment, and was on her way back to the village, she passed by a small road nearby and coincidentally met the bandits who were blocking her path.
These bandits had been around for a long time, and were usually just around ten people, bullying the old and weak when it was dark. However, ever since the New Deal came out, the taxes had increased, and many men from the nearby villages had gone up to join them.
Thus, this group of people became even more daring. They even dared to block the way and rob people in broad daylight.
Auntie Chen's daughter was stopped in the middle of the road. Three men teased her, intending to snatch the remaining coins from selling the eggs, and then leave with the jar of Loquat Ointment. Who knew, it was such a coincidence, this group of people's leader just happened to sway over.
The moment he saw the young girl with the jade-like face and the anxious and angry expression on her face, he felt that her beauty was vivid and unspeakable.
He immediately ordered his subordinates to return the bronze coin and the Loquat Ointment to Aunty Chen's daughter. However, he smiled and told her that it was okay to return the items, but he wanted to keep them!
Auntie Chen's daughter was so scared that her legs went soft. She stuttered to tell the man that she had promised him that she would be married in four days.
Unexpectedly, not only was that man not anxious, he was instead happy. He said that it was just perfect, that he didn't even have to use the bridal sedan! Four days later, the man's bridal bridal sedan had walked on this path, he would definitely come here to pick her up!
At the moment, he shot a brocade chicken. He chopped off the brocade chicken's neck and pulled out three feathers, handing them to Auntie Chen's daughter as a betrothal gift.
Auntie Chen's daughter even forgot how she got back. She just felt like her soul had left her body, and it took a while before she finally told her mother the whole story.
To be chosen by a bandit, what else could he do? What's more, this person had already chopped off his head. Didn't that mean that if he didn't listen to his words, he would die?
Aunt Chen could only cry incessantly. Other than crying at home, she would also cry at this tea house's shopkeeper that she was familiar with.
The Yao Xi wasn't far from here. Jin Xiaolou didn't want to cause any extra problems, but looking at the grief and sorrow on the big aunt's face, she really couldn't bear to see it. She took a glance at Gao Lang and saw the heavy look in his eyes.
Jin Xiaolou thus opened her mouth: "Aunt, why must we wait until tomorrow? When we return today, we will immediately marry our daughter.
When the tea shop manager heard this, he shook his head. "It's easy for the young lady to say it, but tomorrow, when that bandit sees the palanquin, he might break into the village to kill Big Sis Chen!" You can't just ignore your mother's safety for your daughter! "
Nan Yang heard from the shopkeeper's tone that there was a hint of scolding towards Jin Xiaolou, and was extremely dissatisfied: "Didn't you drag along your daughter to seek death? My wife is kind enough to think of an idea for all of you.
Saying that, she turned her body and got rid of Aunt Chen, returning back to Jin Xiaolou's side, looking askance at him.
Seeing that Nan Yang was still angry, Jin Xiaolou lightly caressed the back of her hand: "It's alright."
He then turned to the tea shop owner and said, "Tomorrow, the bridal sedan will go out as usual."
Seeing that the tea shop owner and Aunt Chen were at a loss, he smiled and said to them: "I will ride this bridal sedan for your daughter."
"What?!" Aunt Chen was shocked. "You, you, you!?" You want to marry that bandit? "
"What are you thinking!" Gao Lang immediately said, "My wife is sitting on a bridal sedan, the bridegroom is naturally me!"
Nan Yang rolled her eyes and immediately understood what was going on. She continued: "We will treat those lawless bandits for you!"