On the main road, the riders and horses sped by, and the supply cart, pulled by three horses, did not slow down either.
Racing along the way, traversing the wilderness, veering off the main road, and onto a narrow path that seemed barely wide enough for two horses to pass.
Although their pace slowed down, the procession remained orderly.
This small path seemed endless, with the villages on both sides in ruins, and no one else encountered in the fields.
Watching Zhao Hanqing leading the way at the front, Liang Chengdong's frown deepened.
"Is this the right way?" he couldn't help but speak up, "There is hardly a path here."
The person beside him kept a straight gaze as if he hadn't heard a word.
On the other hand, Lei Zhonglian, more good-hearted, couldn't bear to see Liang Chengdong being coldly ignored.
"Are you a government soldier?" he asked.
They had been traveling together for some time, and Madam Yu had not kept her identity secret from Lei Zhonglian.
However, Madam Yu's protector might not necessarily be a government soldier; it could also be a house servant, and there's a complete difference between the two.
Liang Chengdong glanced at him.
"I am a government soldier," he declared.
Lei Zhonglian made an acknowledging sound.
"I thought you weren't," Lei Zhonglian said, "You don't seem like one of them."
He gestured towards the others at the front and back... but he retracted his hand when pointing to the right.
"He doesn't count," Lei Zhonglian remarked, looking at the man to the right.
Eighteenth Jin watched him coldly.
Whether it was bowing one's head being under someone's roof, or bearing humiliations with a heavy load, Eighteenth Jin and his men had also put on armor, and since they had hit the road, they had been as docile and quiet as the villagers and behaved no differently.
Liang Chengdong didn't recognize anything special about Eighteenth Jin and couldn't be bothered with him. In fact, he didn't really care about Lei Zhonglian's words either, but one shouldn't slap away a smiling face; since the man started a conversation, it would be rude not to respond.
"How am I different?" he queried.
"They follow orders without question, never asking about this and that, and they certainly don't challenge authority," Lei Zhonglian explained, "I thought all government soldiers were like that."
Liang Chengdong was furious.
This man was too mean!
Beating around the bush just to scold him!
Too mean!
Of course, he was not one of those soldiers; if he had his own soldiers under his command, he would start by whipping this youngster to teach him what it meant not to question or challenge.
"There's a river ahead!" Zhao Hanqing suddenly shouted joyfully from the front.
This interrupted Liang Chengdong's anger.
Indeed, there was a river.
He raised his head to look ahead; the approaching twilight made the earth more vast and indistinct, and a river drew a meandering line in the distance.
"We have come upon the Baiyang River," Miss Jun's voice came from the rear cart, "We will camp here tonight and should enter Hejian Prefecture by tomorrow."
So soon? It really is the fastest route as she said.
Liang Chengdong swallowed his anger, and as Miss Jun ordered to set up camp, the villagers began dismounting, the people on the supply carts started to unload tents, and he too urged his horse forward to help.
Miss Jun descended from the cart and looked at the vast open fields around her; Zhao Hanqing and the women were busy cooking, their chatter and laughter lively and bustling.
"Indeed, the price paid for Miss Jun's company is well worth it," Madam Yu's voice reached them, "Miss Jun seems to know this place so well she could navigate it with her eyes closed."
Miss Jun turned back to see that Madam Yu had also dismounted the carriage, with Liang Chengdong accompanying her as they walked over.
One would think they'd travel light, but Miss Jun still prepared two horse carts; after all, she preferred not to share a ride with anyone, even though this Madam Yu was someone she was curious about.
Madam Yu seemed satisfied with her arrangement.
"One does not undertake unguaranteed tasks without possessing the skills," Miss Jun said with a smile.
"But I believe we could have been faster," Liang Chengdong interjected, unable to contain himself.
If they had not stopped to assist those refugees along the way.
Miss Jun understood his implication.
Despite the efforts to be quick and simple, it still led to delays.
Before Miss Jun could speak, Madam Yu interjected.
"What is our purpose going to Hejian?" she posed, "Is it not for the people? The people there are refugees, and so are the ones here. As refugees, we naturally cannot turn a blind eye when we come across them."
Liang Chengdong's face turned slightly red, and he conceded the point, stepping back.
"He is just a crude man. You give him an objective, and he'll rush headlong toward it without thinking twice," Madam Yu said to Miss Jun.
Miss Jun laughed.
"But Madam, just a word from you and he gets it," she stated, "Madam is truly formidable."
The young lady sure is sweet-talking, Madam Yu laughed heartily, but her expression soon turned solemn as she gazed at the bleak wilderness before her.
"The peace negotiation still unfinished, the Jin troops yet to invade, and the land we've passed is already marked by desolation," she said, bending down and scooping up a handful of earth, "Such good soil, what a pity that next year's spring plowing is ruined."
"Thus, to fight is to live, not to fight is to die," Miss Jun declared, "People say the Duke of Chengguo is eager for glory and battle, but they do not understand, it is precisely to avoid warfare that the Duke fights without retreat."
Madam Yu nodded in agreement with a smile.
"Miss Jun truly is an excellent Doctor, and even more, a supreme healer," she remarked.
A healer for the nation?
Miss Jun smiled as well.
"Are we mutually praising each other here?" she asked sincerely.
Madam Yu laughed again, and as she reflected on something, she took an item out of her sleeve and handed it over.
"What is this?" Miss Jun inquired, looking at the red paper wrapping.
"Today is the first day of the new year," Madam Yu explained, "This is your New Year's money."
The first day of the new year?
Miss Jun smiled and reached out to accept it.
"I'm already this old..." she said, with a touch of emotion.
It had been several years since she had last received New Year's money.
First her parents passed away, then she got married, and became an adult, and no longer received New Year's money.
"In front of your elders, you are always a child," Madam Yu said with a smile, pinching out another note, "This one is for my son, and he is already quite an age."
Zhu Zan? Quite an age? Not that old at all.
Miss Jun couldn't help laughing but also felt a bit curious.
Did Zhu Zan ever mention her to Madam Yu?
"Sister Jun."
Zhao Hanqing's voice came over.
"We can eat now."
Miss Jun swallowed what she was going to say, gestured to Madam Yu to proceed, and Madam Yu, without any pretense, naturally rested her hand on Jun's arm and stepped through the muddy ground towards the campfire that had been lit.
Several bamboo sticks were thrown into the campfire, and the sound of firecrackers rang out in the open field, spreading through the lonely night sky, adding a touch of Lunar New Year atmosphere.
Under the same night sky, someone else also threw a bamboo stick into the campfire.
The crisp sound of firecrackers followed one after another.
"My mother should give me New Year's money, I wonder if it increased this year," Zhu Zan muttered, scratching his nose as he watched the campfire.
Someone came in a hurry, paused his footsteps upon hearing this, his expression complex under the illumination of the campfire.
"Speak up, I'm not a delicate little lady, I can handle any news," Zhu Zan said, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
"There's no news of the lady from Daming Prefecture," the man said in a low voice.
As Zhu Zan scratched his nose, his hand stiffened.
"There's also no trace of the lady in the various prefecture offices on the way to Daming Prefecture," the man continued.
Zhu Zan slowly kept scratching his nose, deliberately.
"My mother is out on a diplomatic mission, and surely many people would be against it, trying to stop her, so it's normal for her to keep her whereabouts secret," he said, the tone of his voice somewhat relaxed, "Moreover, the peace talks are already settled, and mother knows that Uncle Qinghe, that coward, would definitely not cooperate with father anymore, so there's no need to go. Perhaps she has already turned back."
The man standing behind him remained silent.
All that could be heard was the crackling sound of the campfire burning.
"If there's any other bad news, just say it all," Zhu Zan said, turning his head irritably.
The man's face flickered in the light and shadow of the campfire.
"Five thousand Jurchen soldiers have entered Bazhou from Langcheng Village," he said.
The defense line of Duke of Chengguo was finally breached.
"Damn," Zhu Zan cursed, looking at the campfire and suddenly leaping to his feet, "Keep moving."
The darkness around was animated with figures jumping up, horses neighing, and amidst the tumult, they rushed through the night.
But even if the horses grew wings and flew, they could not reach the northern lands in the blink of an eye.
......…
News from Bazhou Prefecture had spread, and Hejian Prefecture was in chaos.
Several months ago, refugees from the three states started to flood over, and in recent days, the influx was even more overwhelming.
But suddenly, the feudal authority issued an order to close the city gates and not allow refugees to enter.
Outside several town fortresses on the border with the prefecture, particularly near Bazhou, there was a wail of despair.
"Sir, those are our people."
Inside the official government office in Changfeng City, several military generals, with red eyes, are roaring as if they cannot see the military and bureaucratic robes in front of them, forgetting the hierarchy.
"Are we just going to watch as they get slaughtered by the Jin thieves?" they clamored chaotically.
The integrity of Li Guorui, of Changfeng Army, also looked shaken, his face slightly trembling.
"You think I want this?" he shouted back, "Five thousand Jurchen soldiers have reached Bazhou, they could storm into Hejian at any moment. For those refugees, should we disregard the people of Hejian?"
Sun Sanjie, the County Magistrate, also sighed.
"We are the bulwark of Hejian, once breached, the entirety of Hejian is finished," he said with a sigh, then smiled wryly, "As for Bazhou, maybe they won't be slaughtered, those people, from now on, will be subjects to the Jurchen people."
The news that Bazhou was about to be ceded to the Jurchen was common knowledge.
This statement made the atmosphere in the hall even more stagnant, a military general cursed.
"How can decent Han suddenly become Jurchen people?" he shouted, "I can't bear to watch these people cry outside the fortress, I can't tell them we don't want them anymore, that they're Jurchen now, I can't say it."
Li Guorui reprimanded him loudly.
"We have no reinforcements, all nearby forces have withdrawn, how do you plan to save them?" he bellowed, "Duke of Chengguo couldn't hold them back, how can we?"
Indeed, without reinforcements, once the city gates were opened and the Jin forces broke through, they would be too weak to resist.
The military general stopped in his tracks, his fists clenched tight.
A soldier peeked in nervously from outside the door.
"Sir," he said with a touch of unease, "A group of people has arrived outside, claiming to be reinforcements."
Reinforcements?
The people in the hall were stunned for a moment.
"Which forces could be coming as reinforcements at this time?" Li Guorui asked, "Which army?"
The soldier looked even more anxious.
"Don't know which army," he said, pointing outside, "They only said it's, the Qingshan Army."
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It's Monday, let's all cheer up together.