CH 58

Chapter 58: Sigh, others want to commit a robbery!

The road ahead was unclear and logically speaking, this group of people who fled here from the capital should be exhausted and down in spirits. Yet under Gu Yu Qi’s leadership, everyone was in good spirits.

The resting times arranged by Gu Yu Qi were reasonable and sufficient. Every time they reached a town, although everyone camped outside the town, she made Chun Xing take Dai Mei to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. In her opinion, although they were considered fugitives on the run, they should be fleeing in style. Everywhere they went, she told Zhao Wu and the others to go to town and investigate, paying attention to see if there was any news about her and Liang Huai Yu. So far, it had been peaceful. That was to say that the waves of chaos caused by her departure from the capital with her mother had basically been controlled.

Gu Huai Zhong’s identity was the Ding Yuan Marquis. He must have concealed something about the mother and daughter leaving overnight and the fire in the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence. If someone found out about the truth, then his reputation would be razed to the ground.

Therefore, Gu Yu Qi hoped to treat this departure as an ancient version of tourism. Except for the first few days where they rushed all day and night, as long as they passed Jiangbei Camp, they could slow down.

Jiangbei Camp was located outside Jiangxia City. Jiangxia City was an important town with a key strategic position in Jiangbei. It was like a watershed. After passing Jiangxia City, they would truly have entered the northern part of the Qi dynasty. They could enjoy the scenery of the early spring in the northern area. In the long run, what Gu Yu Qi was worried about was everyone’s body. Fortunately, most people in the group practised martial arts. The few remaining maids who did not know martial arts were not the kind of delicate flowers who could not withstand wind and frost. Dai Mei and Qiu Yue were good at cooking and even in poorer conditions like now, they could make a few good dishes at any time. So along the whole way, everyone became happier as they travelled. It was inevitable that they would be dusty and fatigued on the journey, however, they were more excited than when they were living in the residence back at the capital.

Liang Huai Yu felt even more at ease. It was like she was back in her childhood that had been swept away by the stagnation at the capital before.

Gu Yu Qi looked at the obviously glowing expression between Liang Huai Yu’s eyebrows and felt very sentimental from the bottom of her heart. As a person who had crossed over from the modern times, she may not have felt that it much of a big deal to give up the title of the first ranked minister’s wife for freedom, to divorce your husband, and to leave a luxurious and wealthy life that you were accustomed to, but her mother, Liang Huai Yu, was different. She was a genuine homegrown noble woman. For her to do this for her, Gu Yu Qi’s heart was full of gratitude.

The group of people marched towards the mountains. Run Ying sat behind Dian Mo with a small notebook and charcoal pen, recording the whole time.

“Run Ying, what are you writing?” Next to her, Bai Fu saw this and could not help tilting her head and asking.

“Not telling you.” A trace of pride flashed between Run Ying’s eyebrows and she gave Bai Fu a sideways glance.

Bai Fu frowned, “Little girl, you have a lot of courage. If you don’t tell me, be careful, I’ll hit you!” She said threateningly. Run Ying, who was still bluffing, bared her teeth.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Run Ying smiled and made a face at Bai Fu. Bai Fu pursed her lips and snorted.

“Run Ying is just recording the distance travelled along the way.” Run Ying did not say anything but Dong Xue explained with a smile, “Young Miss taught her a way to make money. Who knows what this girl did in her previous life, she’s been fastidiously recording everything. It’s entered her head and can’t be pulled out.”

When Dong Xue said this, the rest of the girls laughed out loud. Run Ying was born cute, but she was a complete money grubber. Everyone here had experienced her money fanaticism. So as soon as Dong Xue mentioned it, everyone laughed heartily.

“What’s the way to make money?” Even Chun Xing could not help but ask, “Though since it was Young Miss who thought of it, it’s probably doable.”

Gu Yu Qi smiled and took over the conversation, “It’s possible, it’s possible. But it’s very complicated to implement. However, if the implementation is successful, I’m afraid Run Ying will become the most wealthy woman in the Qi dynasty! That’s why she’s plunged herself into it and in Sister Dong Xue’s words, she can’t be pulled out.”

Run Ying’s little face turned red, “Young Miss is making fun of this servant. This servant is only responsible for the accounts for Young Miss. If it can be done, the most wealthy woman in the Qi Dynasty will be Young Miss, how could it be this servant?” She said in annoyance.

“Just what is it, for it to be so amazing?” Liang Huai Yu heard everyone’s excitement and asked curiously.

“Young Miss wants to build a large network of trade caravans across all the lands of the Qi dynasty. Not only can we transport our own goods, but it can also accept the goods from other merchants. For example, when we left the capital, we brought goods from ten merchants all the way up north. When we arrived at the previous town, we put down a batch, then we picked up goods for the next part of our journey. Keep going like this without stopping. When we reach our destination, other people’s transport teams would only have transported one batch of goods, but our caravan would have transported multiple batches of goods along the way.” When Run Ying talked about making money, she could not stop talking and spoke incessantly. “The merchants who come to us to transport goods would spend less money getting their goods to the destination than those who specifically found transport teams to transport their goods. Why not do it?”

She had just given a very simple example and spoke generically. In fact, Gu Yu Qi’s plan was far more than that.

In Gu Yu Qi’s eyes, she was laying the groundwork for an ancient logistics network of which the grandeur and momentum was something that no one in this era had ever thought of.

However, this small example was enough to make everyone present feel as though they had woken up from a dream after hearing it. Goods could actually be transported this way. This method of transportation could really save a large part of the cost of shipping goods. If several merchants shared it evenly, then the shipping fee was likely to be several times cheaper than their usual shipping costs.

Liang Huai Yu was no stranger to these novel ideas her daughter came up with. After listening, she nodded approvingly. If it could be successfully implemented by Gu Yu Qi, what was there to worry about whether she would become the wealthiest woman in the Qi dynasty?

It was just that she was still a little worried about her daughter losing her status as the daughter of the Marquis’ residence. Although her daughter had been enlightening her these days, she still thought that it would be a shame if her excellent daughter could not find a good husband because of her identity.

The group of people talked and laughed as they headed towards the mountain. Zhao Wu led the way with a smile on his face. Although such a life was not as easy as his life in Jiangnan or the capital, it was very comfortable and pleasant.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and signalled the people behind him to stop.

Gu Yu Qi put away her smile. Lifting her reins, she urged the horse a few steps forward and halted beside Zhao Wu.

“What’s wrong, Brother Zhao?” Gu Yu Qi asked.

“This passage is a little dangerous.” Zhao Wu said with concentration. He pointed to the path ahead with the whip in his hand. Gu Yu Qi looked in the direction he pointed. At the end of the path was a valley with towering peaks on both sides. The path narrowed abruptly after entering the valley and only a carriage could pass by. That was to say, when they went into the valley, their procession would be drawn out into a long line. If a rolling stone or something just fell off the mountain, the people following behind would be done for…

Since there was nowhere to hide, and with so many horses, it would be a mess. At that time, there was no need for an enemy to shoot before their own formation would be broken and trampling would occur.

Gu Yu Qi frowned. She really had not expected there to be a narrow road in such dangerous terrain. Even if Gu Yu Qi had not read the art of war, looking at this dangerous terrain, she knew this was a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Not to mention, in this life, Gu Yu Qi was familiar with the arts of war in literature, but she had not experienced it.

With this kind of danger, even a motley crew could easily deal with the caravan. So Gu Yu Qi had already expected there would be bandits in ambush here.

Birds twittered and there were fragrant flowers in the mountains, especially the cuckoo’s call, it was especially cheerful.

They could not force their way through this kind of canyon channel. All the people in this team had walked out of the capital with her and she could not lose any of them. Gu Yu Qi thought about it, then instructed everyone to dismount.

She first arranged the guards to protect the carriage first. Then she spoke to Chun Xing and the maids, “Everyone, don’t worry about the passage over there or whether there are bandits hiding there. Let’s rest here first and wait and see.”

Liang Huai Yu was the daughter of a general. Although they had never been to the battlefield, General Liang would still tell Liang Huai Yu a lot of war stories when he was free. So when she saw this kind of terrain, she was very nervous.

After Gu Yu Qi made the arrangements, she quietly pulled Gu Yu Qi aside. “Ah Nan, are you sure there are bandits in ambush in that valley?” She asked quietly.

“Whether there are or not, we have to be careful.” Gu Yu Qi said, “Mother, just pretend you don’t know and rest when there’s time to rest, but don’t relax your vigilance. I’ve already asked Chun Xing to go around the cliff to the woods over there to check the situation in the name of collecting firewood.”

“Mm.” Liang Huai Yu saw Gu Yu Qi’s calm look and her heart also settled down.

Along the way, her daughter had shown composure and thoughtfulness that did not match her age, which made her feel that as long as her daughter was there, there was no ditch they could not cross.

Seeing Liang Huai Yu’s heart settle, Gu Yu Qi smiled at her mother.

***

Chun Xing went to pick up firewood. She went into the woods and looked around herself to make sure no one was around. Then she quickly flew into the depths of the woods and dared not stop for a moment. Leaping from tree to tree, she quickly climbed the cliff on the side of the valley.

Her qigong was the best amongst all the maids. Plus, she was alert and clever. Not long after, she found a dozen or so men on the side of the cliff. They were all using the cover of the rocks and trees to hide in the middle of the mountain. They were not far from the bottom and near the mouth of the valley. In front of them lay some rocks and branches from trees.

Sure enough, there were bandits in ambush! Chun Xing’s eyes turned cold. Zhao Wu’s and the Young Miss’ judgements were accurate. She quietly tried to move forward a little. She was careful at first and did not go very close, moving for a short while, then stopped. When she was close, she was not found out by the gang of bandits, so she picked up the stone again and threw it. The stone hit one of the men in the head.

He hurriedly raised his hand to touch his hand. As soon as he turned, Chun Xing moved, so he did not see anyone. He turned around and swore, “Damn, what the hell, where did the stone fall from, hitting Lao Zi’s head.”

As soon as he finished cursing, someone next to him pushed him. “Shut up! Be quiet, do you want to disturb the flock of fat sheep at the bottom of the mountain?!”

“I heard there are a few girls in that group of fat sheep, they’re all beauties!” Another obscene voice rang out. “I think she’s a lady from a big family. Say, if we took their belongings, then took the people up the mountain to have some fun, then lying here won’t be in vain.”

“How do you know she’s a beauty, she might be a sow!” Someone laughed softly. “Xiao Liu Zi didn’t report everything, those girls have weapons! They can also ride horses, so they might be adept in martial arts.”

“Bah. You know nothing, she really is a beauty! Xiao Liu Zi’s message just now said that one of them knows Qigong. Tsk tsk, their appearances are really more beautiful than fairies!” The obscene voice continued, “Are they adept at martial arts just because they carry weapons? Really, look at you being frightened by a bunch of girls. Say, it’s just a group of delicate little girls. Let’s go down, bind them, bring them back to the stockade, and be done with it. Why are you still lying here in ambush? Geezus.”

“What do you know?! Didn’t you see there are ten guards around those girls?” Another said, “If our few skills aren’t enough to defeat them, we’ll suffer a major setback!”

“Boss, say, see how they’ve stopped and aren’t continuing, what do you think they’re doing?” Someone poked a man who had been silent on the side. Chun Xing looked over, he was big and burly and seemed to be strong.

He spoke in a loud voice, “All of you keep your eyes open for Laozi. Laozi became an outlaw just for money. Do less immoral things like harassment,” he berated them. “Send a letter to Xiao Liu Zi and ask him to investigate again.”

“Yes,” the man next to him responded. He put his hands on his lips and made a few cuckoo calls. Chun Xing raised her eyebrows. He had really learned it well, the sound of the cuckoo in spring was vividly clear.

After he sent the message, there were a few cuckoo calls from the valley at the foot of the mountain. The voices sounded very regular.

The man listened carefully and replied, “Boss, I don’t know what’s wrong. They actually started cooking. Looks like they’re not ready to come over for the time being.”

“Then wait,” the boss nodded and said. The bandit beside him sent a few more cuckoo calls. From the food of the mountain, there was another voice in response.

Chun Xing saw that they were waiting, so she hid her figure and quickly flew down the mountain along the original road. She went back to the woods and randomly picked up some dead branches, then walked out.

“Young Miss, there really is an ambush in the mountains.” Chun Xing walked to Gu Yu Qi’s side. She first handed the firewood to Bai Fu, then she lowered her voice and spoke to Gu Yu Qi. She told Gu Yu Qi everything she saw and heard on the mountain just now.

After listening, Gu Yu Qi asked, “What do you think of their skills?”

“I think they’re ordinary.” Chun Xing thought for a while and said, “If they’re elites, they should have noticed that I had gotten so close and threw a stone at them.”

“It’s pretty much what I expected.” Gu Yu Qi’s mouth curved, “There should be another one guarding down the mountain.”

“Young Miss is right.” Chun Xing smiled and told Gu Yu Qi that they used the cuckoo call as a signal.

Gu Yu Qi nodded slightly. When she heard those continuous cuckoo calls before, she already had a pretty accurate guess. Although they were very similar, if she listened carefully, it was as if two birds were talking. Although Gu Yu Qi could not understand the code words between the bandits, she had already guessed that people up and down the mountain were communicating with each other. Now it was confirmed by Chun Xing.

“Let’s rest here, eat and drink as you should,” Gu Yu Qi spoke loudly to everyone around her. “Everyone has worked hard. We’ll reach home after we pass through what’s in front of us. Let’s go back after we have a rest. By the way, Brother Zhao, we brought some wine. You can bring your brothers to hunt some prey and come back. Let’s have a good meal with a drink and take a nap before continuing onwards.”

After speaking, she winked at Zhao Wu. Although Zhao Wu was taken aback by Gu Yu Qi’s words, he still nodded. At this moment, Gu Yu Qi’s words must hold meaning. He would just do what she said.

Zhao Wu commanded several guards to go to the woods with bows and arrows. Before long, the few guards hunted five or six hares and happily came back with them.

They helped Dai Mei skin the wild hares and rinsed them with clean water. Then they gave the meat to Dai Mei.

Gu Yu Qi took advantage of the time when they had gone hunting to whisper her intentions to everyone else. Dai Mei and Qiu Yue were responsible for roasting the wild hares on the fire. As they travelled, there were all kinds of seasonings in the carriage. Very quickly, there was a strong smell of roasting meat in the valley and it made everyone drool.

Gu Yu Qi also found a place under the shade of a tree and took out the cushions and blankets she had in the carriage. She laid them on the ground and made Liang Huai Yu sit down with her comfortably.

“Ah Nan, do you think those bandits will be fooled?” Liang Huai Yu glanced at the long spear leaning against the carriage and spoke a little worriedly.

“Doesn’t matter. Either way, it’s them who are lying on top and being roasted by the sun. Let’s have a good time down here.” Gu Yu Qi pursed her lips and smiled. She pointed to the side of the road and spoke in a voice that was a little too high, “Mother, look how beautiful the flowers over there are. I’ll go pick some for you.”

After she finished speaking, she got up and ran to the side of the road. There were indeed some unknown wildflowers on the roadside, colourful and pretty. As Gu Yu Qi gathered flowers, she approached the valley.

“Quickly, look at that little girl!” The bandit lying halfway up the mountain had already seen Gu Yu Qi at the mouth of the valley. He could not help but pat the other person and whisper.

“Damn, she really is a beauty!” The man took a closer look and could not help but go crazy. “This beauty is mine! No one should rob Lao Zi!”

“Bah, are you worthy? We’ve got to leave it for the boss!” Another person looked and immediately spoke with flattery.

At the foot of the mountain, Gu Yu Qi pretended to be chasing a butterfly among the flowers half consciously, raising her face every now and then. She did not know if the bandits in ambush could see her face clearly in the distance, but she hoped they could see her.

For the first time in this life, Gu Yu Qi felt that it was a good thing she was born beautiful… At least this appearance was useful for paralysing men, except for Yun Ke of course.

‘Young Miss, let’s go back. Eldest Young Miss is calling,” Liang Huai Yu was afraid that Gu Yu Qi would be in danger if she was too close to the valley, so she sent Yan Zhi over to call her back.

Gu Yu Qi saw that it was just about enough, so she nodded. Pretending to be innocent, she raised her eyes and smiled. This smile was as bright as spring flowers and vividly shook the eyes of several bandits on the mountain. They felt that the flowers bursting into full bloom at the bottom of the valley were all for this girl among the flowers. Before her smiling face, the group of beautiful women were set off by contrast.

Everyone could not help but have a moment of sluggishness. Beautiful! So beautiful, how could there be such a beautiful girl in the mountains? It was like a fairy had fallen into the world.

She had used her beauty card. She did not know if she could continue to paralyse them. Gu Yu Qi returned to Liang Huai Yu with a handful of flowers.

“Ah Nan, it was too dangerous just now,” Liang Huai Yu took the flowers but could not help whispering to Gu Yu Qi.

“Don’t worry. Mother, I know what I’m doing,” Gu Yu Qi smiled and said.

The aroma of roasted hare was getting stronger and stronger. It floated along the wind towards the valley. The bandits squatting in the mountain had been lying there for a long time. Smelling the aroma on the breeze, they could not help but swallow their saliva one by one. Fragrant, so fragrant. When the aroma of the roasted hare floated over, it had been infused by the wind a lot so it was even more alluring. It was as though there were countless little hands in the air seducing their palate.

“Damn, they’re really enjoying it, actually eating roast meat!” One of the bandits could not help but complain. “I say we rush down and grab both the money and the rabbits!”

His complaint got the approval of several people, but the boss shouted, “What’s the hurry?! Wait longer!” He was also hungry… But for safety reasons, it was better to wait and see. However, this group of people seemed really easy to deal with. They were not even a little bit wary. Seeing all those maids laughing and playing, it was the scene of a rich girl taking her maids on an outing.

Dai Mei was afraid the aroma of meat would not be enough. She had people help make another fire. She took out some vegetables she had bought in town before and sautéed a few more dishes on the fire. It was fragrant when sautéed. Even Gu Yu Qi could not help but glance at Dai Mei a few more times. To paralyse the bandits, this little girl was really working hard!

The fragrance of Dai Mei’s vegetables matched the aroma of the roasted meat and made the bandits on the mountain swallow their saliva again. Damn, was this the life of bandits? Those fat sheep were feasting and drinking to their hearts‘ content at the foot of the mountain, but up the mountain, they could only stare and swallow their saliva!

“Damn, I can’t stand it anymore.” One of the bandits swallowed countless times, then whispered to his companions, “The vegetables that little girl is cooking… So damn fragrant. When Lao Zi rushes down in a while, I’ll definitely eat a few bites first.”

“Boss hasn’t spoken yet. What are you in a hurry for?!” The other person swallowed too, speaking as he stared at Dai Mei’s busy figure.

“They also brought wine!” A sharp-eyed bandit saw Qiu Yue carrying out a jar. In fact, Qiu Yue was just carrying a jar of water, but with the find food present, the bandits automatically turned that jar of water into wine.

As he said this, everyone drooled even more! They had plundered so many times, but this was the first time they had encountered such a “delicious” group… Not only were there beauties to look at, there was food and wine. This made the bandits very eager to move and they could not wait to rush down immediately, sweeping those beauties, food, and wine, back to the stockade!

“Boss!” One of the bandits looked at the boss pitifully, “Look at them, they’re all just fat sheep, they don’t look like they’re difficult to handle at all.”

His words resonated with everyone and they all looked at the boss, as if saying, “If you do not let us go down to rob now, then you are not our beloved boss.”

The boss was under great pressure from his brothers’ eyes. He was also hungry! But… let us be more patient!

“Lie downhonestly for Laozi,” he glared at his brothers. “Wait longer!”

The bandit brothers whined silently, waiting longer… If they waited longer, the delicious food and wine would be eaten by others! They were really hungry! They really wanted to go down the mountain and rob them!

The bandit brothers looked at their boss with deep resentment in their eyes!