Chapter 11

“This clothing is too stinky!”

Xiao Yeyang pinched his nose, wrinkled his brow, and looked at the refugee clothes Qin Xiaoliu had just brought over with a look of disgust.

These clothes were really… not only tattered and dirty, but also covered in all sorts of unknown filth, emitting a pungent odor that even the war-seasoned Uncle Sun and Granny Sun found challenging to handle.

Daohua had mentally prepared for the refugee clothing, but seeing them in person nearly made her vomit.

She reached out her hand, then pulled it back, reached out again, and pulled it back, repeating this several times without being able to make up her mind.

In the end, it was Old Mrs. Yan who came forward and made the decision, “One set for each person. You must all put them on before we leave the Escort Bureau.”

Seeing the old lady turning pale as she put on the refugee clothes, Daohua bit her lip, pursed her mouth, closed her eyes, and grabbed a set of the refugee clothes to put on herself.

Fortunately, it was already late autumn and the weather had turned cool, so there was no need to take off the clothes they were wearing underneath, just putting the refugee clothing on top was sufficient.

Seeing them dressed, the others also followed suit, putting on the refugee clothes with gritted teeth.

Daohua: “After putting on the clothes, don’t forget to get your face dirty as well.” Having said this, she crouched down, rubbed her hands on the ground, smudging her own face first before reaching towards Old Mrs. Yan with her “demon claw.”

The others followed suit.

Soon, seven refugees were ready.

“Old Mrs., what about the carriage?” Uncle Sun asked.

Old Mrs. Yan looked at the carriage, hesitating.

The horse had been bought the year Daohua was born, and it also pulled her elder brother to Beijing for his imperial exams. It was hard to just leave it behind.

Daohua knew Old Mrs. Yan was reluctant, but they still had to leave it behind regardless.

Although their carriage wasn’t luxurious and was even somewhat worn, in the eyes of the famished refugees, it was a piece of fat meat. Without the Escort Bureau’s protection, it would almost certainly be robbed.

For the sake of their lives, they could only abandon the carriage, pack some clothes, disguise themselves as refugees, and blend into the crowd. Only then could they smoothly enter the city of the county.

“Grandmother, you can’t cling to the old if you want the new. After we arrive in Linyi County, let dad get you a new carriage, one that’s even more luxurious and impressive, okay?”

Old Mrs. Yan knew her granddaughter was comforting her, and as an adult, she couldn’t be a drag at this moment. Waving her hand, she indicated they should do as they wished.

Daohua looked to Uncle Sun and Granny Sun: “Pack up. Later, we each just need to carry a small bundle.”

Uncle Sun and Granny Sun immediately scurried into the carriage, and before long, they came down with several bundles.

Daohua and the others each took one.

Then, Daohua looked back at the still-nearby Escort Bureau, nodded at Qin Five and Qin Xiaoliu, and then, supporting Old Mrs. Yan, entered the woods, ready to take a detour before meeting up with the other refugees.

In the distance, Qin Xiaoliu watched until he could no longer see Daohua and the others, then withdrew his gaze, stared at the carriage left by the roadside, and said blankly, “They just left a carriage like that?”

One should know that even the cheapest horse would cost at least twenty silver pieces. Running an escort mission, without any mishaps, would not necessarily mean each of them could pocket twenty silver pieces in the end.

Qin Five: “I told you, they are not ordinary folks.” It was apparent from the way the young boy nonchalantly produced several bottles of fine hemostatic medicine.

“Alright, we should get going too. They came up with a plan so quickly and implemented it decisively, there’s no need for us to worry about them. In this world, the poor don’t live long, but smart people, they always find a way to survive.”

“What about the carriage?”

“Didn’t the young boy signal us at the end? Let’s go harness it.”

——

For safety, Daohua and her group circled a long distance in the forest before finally stepping onto the main road and walking among small groups of refugees.

The journey that followed was absolutely harrowing for Daohua and her companions.

The reason being, refugees occupying the road had started fighting with the government soldiers.

During the chaos, some took advantage of the mayhem to rob anyone they could find. If they failed to rob or find any loot, they would simply kill.

Daohua and her party nearly fell victim once, but luckily, in the nick of time, Daohua signaled everyone to throw their bundles away. The robbers found their loot and, upon seeing how shabbily Daohua and her people were dressed, they swore and left begrudgingly.

Once the government officials suppressed the riot, Daohua and her companions felt as though they had narrowly escaped a trip to the underworld.

“All our belongings are gone, how are we going to get to Linyi County now?” Grandma Yan worriedly said.

Daohua immediately whispered in her ear, “Grandmother, don’t worry, I still have silver.”

Grandma Yan looked at her granddaughter in surprise. “You still have silver on you?”

Daohua nodded. “Before we left home, I sewed a few silver notes into my clothes, just in case. Once we enter the city, we will exchange them for silver.”

Grandma Yan’s anxiety eased, and she tapped her granddaughter’s forehead. “You little smart-aleck.”

Daohua rubbed her forehead and retorted, “Grandmother, that’s being clever.”

A smile appeared on Grandma Yan’s face. “Yes, you’re the cleverest of all.”

Meanwhile, Xiao Yeyang, seeing the worry fade from the old lady’s face, glanced at Daohua with a twinkle in his eyes.

This kid, really shrewd, has the makings of a good servant.

Being his companion was fitting; however, with the old lady’s affection for him, it was unlikely she would be willing to sell him into servitude.

“Let’s go, into the city.”

——

At the same time, in the backyard of the Linyi County Governor’s Office.

Yan Zhigao, dressed in his official uniform, paced back and forth in the hall with a deeply furrowed brow. “Counting the days, Mother and the others should have arrived a few days ago, but there’s still no sign of them. Could something have happened on the road?”

“Big Brother, don’t worry, our mother is old and may be slow on the road,” said a shrewd-looking middle-aged man, laughing. He paused before turning to look at Yan Zhiqiang, who stood to the side with an equally furrowed brow.

“Third Brother, no offense, but you really didn’t think things through this time. You shouldn’t have come here first, letting our mother travel alone. Look how worried Big Brother and I are.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhiqiang looked up at his second brother, Yan Zhiyuan, his lips twitching, wanting to argue. But then, thinking that Mother still hadn’t arrived, he swallowed his words.

He indeed regretted it now—he shouldn’t have listened to Mother and should have insisted on traveling together with them.

In the past few days, he’d heard too much about the refugee uprisings. If anything had happened to Mother, Daohua, Wentao, and the others, he would never forgive himself.

“Big Brother, I’ll go look for them now.”

Yan Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile. “Third Brother, you’re grown up, so why do you still act impulsively? Tell me, how do you plan to find them? Do you even know which road Mother took?”

Yan Zhiqiang frowned. “It’s still better than anxiously waiting here.”

Yan Zhiyuan curled his lip, clearly unimpressed.

In his opinion, it was a fruitless endeavor, a mere waste of time and utterly impractical.

“Enough,” Yan Zhigao interrupted the two, “you both go together. There are only so many roads to Linyi County; perhaps you’ll encounter them on the way.”