Ch 345: On The Road

Wei Pozi and her daughter-in-law, along with several others, were gathered in a large mule cart playing leaf cards.

This mule cart was modified by Yu Siyang, adding shock absorption, making the ride extremely smooth. Wei Pozi and her daughters-in-law played leaf cards without being affected in the slightest.

Xingxing found the cart too slow, so she changed into riding attire and went horse riding with her brothers.

However, after half a day, her legs and waist couldn’t take it anymore, so Xingxing went back into the mule cart.

Daxi Sipo preferred quiet and didn’t like being around people. She had her own separate mule cart and kept her eyes closed, resting.

Xingxing entered and saw Daxi Sipo resting, so she didn’t disturb her. She quietly stayed with Daxi Sipo for a while before leaving again.

Considering that many older people were in the group, and Huai Ge’er’s trip to the Capital for his award wasn’t urgent, the mule cart wasn’t going very fast. Plus, it was the first day of the journey, and everything was still new, so the Yu Family members were rarely tired and were all very excited.

In the evening, the group found a post station and stayed there.

Besides the Yu Family, the caravan included Daxi Sipo and Old Master Liu, and Fan Pingfang and her companions were added before departure, so there were quite a few people. The small post station became much livelier.

Some were eating, others wanted hot water, and some were chatting.

Wei Pozi specifically pulled Xingxing into a room to check her legs. Seeing red marks where Xingxing’s thighs rubbed together, she said with heartache, “You can’t ride as long as your brothers in the future. They are men, with thick skin and it doesn’t matter to them. You’re a little girl with delicate skin and tender flesh; it’s all red like this. Grandmother is heartbroken.”

Xingxing hugged Wei Pozi and softly said, “Grandma, I know. Tomorrow, I’ll play cards with you, okay?”

Wei Pozi said, “No. If you come, no one can win against you. It’s better if you just sit beside me and watch me play cards.”

Xingxing good-naturedly nodded repeatedly, “Okay, okay, I will help Grandma win back all of Aunt’s and the others’ private money!”

Wei Pozi couldn’t help but laugh at Xingxing’s words.

The next day, Huai Ge’er, considering that it was the first day and some people might not be used to it, wanted everyone to rest a little longer. However, after he went out and practiced his swordplay and came back, he found that everyone was basically up and already eating in the post station’s main hall. It seemed that everyone rested well.

Xingxing saw Huai Ge’er and waved to him, “Big Brother, come here, I’ve saved a seat for you.”

Huai Ge’er smiled and strode over, taking a long stride, and sat down beside Xingxing.

Huai Ge’er glanced at Gui Ge’er, who was drinking wontons across the table, and sincerely sighed, “Fourth Brother, it’s really hard to see you.”

Gui Ge’er chuckled, “Big Brother, I was busy.”

Gui Ge’er’s increasing elusiveness in recent years had become common knowledge among the family.

Gui Ge’er seemed to have found a mysterious master and had been learning from him. The Yu family was initially worried, but seeing Gui Ge’er’s spirit getting better and nothing bad happening, over time, everyone accepted it.

This time, when moving to the Capital, Gui Ge’er disappeared for a while as usual.

Upon his return, Gui Ge’er started packing with everyone, looking carefree and happily preparing to go to the Capital.

After breakfast, Bai Ge’er arranged with the post station’s kitchen beforehand, preparing fifty catties of soy sauce beef and hundreds of pancakes, which were packed and loaded onto the mule carts.

Xingxing thought the pickled melons from this post station were good and ate quite a bit during breakfast. Bai Ge’er saw this, and when they left, he bought two more jars from the post station.

The second day’s journey began.

Wei Pozi was addicted to card games and played leaf cards with several of her daughters-in-law again. As she said yesterday, Xingxing sat behind Wei Pozi. Wei Pozi won abundantly, and Li Chunhua and her other filial daughters-in-law were starting to struggle.

It wasn’t that they felt sorry for their private money, but losing constantly was too frustrating!

Everyone glanced at Xingxing behind Wei Pozi and began devising strategies to “win over” Xingxing:

“Xingxing, come, come, Second Aunt’s waist is a little sore, come and give Second Aunt a massage.”

Wei Pozi pointed and scolded, “If your waist is sore, go find a maid, you can’t order Xingxing around!”

Li Chunhua coughed, “Xingxing, my eyes are a little blurry, come and help me check the cards.”

Wei Pozi said, “My eyesight is good, I’ll help you check.”

Li Chunhua: “…”

Bai Xiaofeng couldn’t help but laugh.

The atmosphere in the carriage was very lively. Xingxing smiled with pursed lips, and stayed with Wei Pozi for a while. Seeing that several of her aunts were almost in tears from losing, she smiled and said to Wei Pozi, “Grandma, I’ll go play in another carriage for a while.”

Wei Pozi knew she couldn’t push things too far. If she made her daughters-in-law collapse from losing, what if they didn’t want to play with her in the future?

Wei Pozi waved her hand, agreeing, but made one request to Xingxing: “Don’t go horse riding like your brothers. Rest for two days before riding again.”

Xingxing then ran to Mian Ge’er, Xu Ge’er, and Ling Sister, playing with several children and kept herself busy.

All along the way, because the whole family was together, everyone was in a very good mood. Plus, there were Huai Ge’er’s intimidating soldiers guarding them, so nothing went wrong along the way.

The only incident was when Ju Ge’er and Zhao Meng were horse riding in the mountains, they accidentally brushed against a woman in ragged clothes. The woman wasn’t seriously injured, but her leg was hurt.

The woman said she was going to the Capital, so Ju Ge’er took responsibility and arranged for the woman to sit in the same cart as the maids, planning to take her to the Capital.

It was Zhao Meng who brushed against the woman while riding, so Zhao Meng felt uneasy and thought he had caused trouble for Ju Ge’er.

Zhao Meng’s father died a few years ago after being buried in an avalanche.

Since then, the Yu family had paid for Zhao Meng and Ju Ge’er to study together, and the two had been companions for many years. Zhao Meng willingly stood behind Ju Ge’er.

This time to the Capital, Zhao Meng and his mother also followed.

Zhao Meng felt he had caused trouble when he accidentally brushed against the woman while riding.

Ju Ge’er patted Zhao Meng’s shoulder heartily, “…It’s not a big deal. Didn’t that older sister say it wasn’t your fault? You’ve been worrying about this; it’s so tiring. Our journey has been so smooth, it’s almost unbelievable. Although my little lucky star, Xingxing, is with us, it’s normal that nothing happened. But this little incident makes it seem more normal, doesn’t it?”

Ju Ge’er, in a brotherly manner, put his arm around Zhao Meng’s shoulder and walked away.

Zhao Meng visited the injured woman. She was quiet and didn’t speak much, but one of her eyes seemed to be blind, misty white, looking quite pitiful.

The woman didn’t blame Zhao Meng, but Zhao Meng felt even more guilty.

Knowing Daxi Sipo had a bad temper, he didn’t dare to ask her for help, so he found Xingxing and asked her to check on the woman.