jdhmnovel Chapter 90 Grain Transport Teams of Youzhou
Chapter 90 Grain Transport Teams of Youzhou
To make it easier to travel, my uncle prepared a carriage divided into two sections. The back section was used to carry tents, cotton clothes, quilts, pots and pans, and other miscellaneous items. The front section had a small, windproof compartment separated by a felt partition, which could accommodate two people sitting side by side.
At this moment, Ning Ziqing was sitting on the carriage frame driving the carriage. Ning Shi, Ming Luoying, and Ning Xiaoxi were walking beside the carriage.
Xiong Wei was the escort officer in Youzhou Prefecture, leading fifty soldiers. The king's subordinate rode alongside Xiong Wei on horseback.
Xiong Wei and Wang, the officials, did not greet Ning Xiaoxi in any special way, and Ning Xiaoxi did not talk to them much either, just like ordinary escorts and prisoners.
Upon entering Youzhou, the white snow and black earth felt strangely familiar to Ning Xiaoxi. She wondered if this black earth was just as fertile!
Zhao Yao quickly walked a few steps to Ning Xiaoxi's side, "Lady!"
"Physician Zhao!"
“Young lady, I dare not call myself Imperial Physician anymore. My family has been doctors for generations, so I will just call myself a family physician.” Zhao Yao understood that Youzhou would be their place of life from now on, so it was always better to be cautious. “I prepared the bear gall bladder according to your instructions, young lady. It will take some time to air-dry it.”
"It's just one medicine. With Dr. Zhao's experience, preparing it properly shouldn't be a problem." Ning Xiaoxi also liked dealing with people who knew their limits. This old man was very sensible, after all, he came from the royal physicians' entourage.
“Yesterday, the camp’s medic came to ask me about something, and I repeated what the young lady had said to him.”
"Don't worry, Doctor Zhao, this is a good thing. They'll find out later."
"Yes, yes, I understand." Zhao Yao nodded to Ning Shi and turned back to his own team.
Ning Xiaoxi's steps were small, yet her movements appeared quite composed. While the Soaring Dragon Steps were basic, they enhanced her agility and coordination. The Five Elements Steps could be combined with different environmental attributes to boost her speed, defense, and attack. The Qiankun Shifting Steps were incredibly powerful, but also extremely energy-intensive, consuming almost an entire spirit crystal tree per use; she didn't want to use them carelessly again.
Ning Ziqing looked at Ning Xiaoxi for a while and said, "My sister is working so hard, which makes me feel very ashamed."
"It's my turn to catch the train this afternoon."
“Driving the carriage is a good job, little sister, don’t try to take it from me!” Ning Ziqing said, and then flicked her whip in a beautiful flourish, with a wisp of spiritual energy flying out from the tip of the whip.
"Caw caw!" A flock of crows flew overhead.
Ning Xiaoxi looked in the direction the crows had flown. In the distance, there was a long convoy with cavalry escorts. Judging from their direction of travel, they would soon meet up with them.
Ning Shi also saw the convoy in the distance. "It should be a grain transport team."
"A grain transport team?"
“The border of Youzhou is bitterly cold, and food is especially scarce in the spring, so grain and fodder are collected from various places.”
As they spoke, Ning Xiaoxi saw Xiong Wei gallop from the main group towards the grain transport team, quickly blending in with them. It seemed Xiong Wei was quite familiar with the grain transport team.
"Father, it seems that the treatment of exiles in Youzhou is not very strict?" Ning Xiaoxi felt more and more that these criminals were not much different from ordinary people in Youzhou!
“Although the laws of our Great Xia are not very strict, they are indeed a bit too lenient.” Ning Shi also saw that Xiong Wei had broken away from the group, but after all, he was just an official of the Ministry of Rites and had never been to Youzhou, so he really did not know the local customs.
Gradually, the two groups finally met on a road. The exile group automatically followed behind the grain transport team, and if you didn't look closely, you really couldn't tell that they were an exile group.
Ning Xiaoxi turned to Zhou Liangwu's side and asked, "Uncle Zhou, are you familiar with this grain transport team?"
Zhou Liangwu was a little embarrassed. "At that time, I was mainly clearing out wild animals and opening up new lands in the southern border region. I was really unfamiliar with the north."
"How were the criminals exiled to southern Xinjiang resettled?"
“Those criminals!” Zhou Liangwu recalled his time in the Southern Frontier. “Very few criminals were exiled to the Southern Frontier. I spent ten years there, and I only remember encountering one historian from the residence of a prince. After arriving in the Southern Frontier, his family mainly focused on recording the achievements of expanding the territory. The only time I interacted with him was when I led a team to clear out the strange beasts in a mountain range, making it habitable. The historian followed the army to record this event. However, the historian was like an invisible man; he never spoke and only recorded our daily marches. After the mountain range was cleared, he left.”
Is it really certain that this is someone who has been exiled? Ning Xiaoxi found it very strange.
Seemingly noticing Ning Xiaoxi's confusion, Zhou Liangwu continued, "After the exiles arrive at their place of exile, each person will be given a waist tag with the character for 'crime' written on it, representing our status as criminals. I only knew he was a criminal when I saw his waist tag."
Looking at the long grain transport team and the exile procession following behind, Zhou Liangwu said, "Actually, the dynasty rarely had such a large-scale exile event. As long as someone committed a crime, they were usually executed."
"Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free." Zhao Yao approached unnoticed. "Any incident involving demons is handled according to this principle; it's an ironclad rule of the dynasty." Zhao Yao spoke the word "demons" very softly; if you weren't so close, you wouldn't have heard him say it.
"The young lady is too young, you old man, don't talk nonsense." Zhou Liangwu glanced at Ning Xiaoxi's face, afraid that she would mind.
“My daughter Xiaoxi is indeed young, and there are many things she doesn’t know that you often have to remind her of. When she was in the capital, she only read some poems and studied etiquette, music and embroidery in the inner courtyard, and knew very little about the outside world.” Ning Shi also came over. “Brother Zhou became an official through military merit, and Doctor Zhao is familiar with treating the sick and saving lives. My two children don’t mind having two more tutors.”
"Brother Ning, you're too kind. We can't accept that. If the young lady needs anything from us, just let us know." Zhou Liangwu had long wanted to make friends with Ning Ziqing. Although his second son, Zhou Xin, had been getting closer to Ning Ziqing recently, they weren't really friends yet. With Ning Shi's words, it would be easier to get closer to him later.
"Yes, yes, this old man has been taken care of by the young lady along the way, how dare I call myself a tutor? If the young lady needs anything, just come to this old man." Zhao Yao also felt that his recent performance had made the Ning family see him. He had clearly seen the attitude of the soldiers outside the camp towards Ning Xiaoxi yesterday. In any case, it would not be wrong to be on good terms with the Ning family.
“Since Uncle Zhou and Doctor Zhao have said so, then I won’t stand on ceremony with you two if I need anything in the future,” Ning Xiaoxi said generously.
Zhou Liangwu and Zhao Yao repeatedly said there was no need to be so polite.
Suddenly, Ning Xiaoxi felt a pang of fear and turned to look west. There, a dense aura of demonic energy was rising into the sky—it was from a newly awakened demon. It seemed to have sensed the strong human presence in this area, so the demonic energy was heading this way.
"Father, go to Mother's place. Uncle Zhou and Doctor Zhao, bring your families with you." Ning Xiaoxi finished speaking quickly and flashed to Ning Ziqing's carriage. "Mother, get in the carriage. Brother, take out the defensive talisman."
"Royal subordinates, there is a high-level demon! Defend!"
Ning Xiaoxi quickly passed by Wang Qi and rushed towards Xiong Wei.