Step on a branch

Chapter 279 Zhuangzi
A group of people rested in the ruined temple until dark.

You can't take the official road, you can only take the mountain path, the horse can't run, and the speed will be dragged down.

Furthermore, there are not many trees on the mountains in this area. If you walk on the mountains during the day, you may be lucky for a while, but after a long time, you will definitely be discovered.

The terrain was unpredictable, and they couldn't guarantee that every step they took was exactly where the guards couldn't see.

Therefore, I had to choose to move forward under the cover of night after dark.

When the light of the sky cleared, the official road set up a checkpoint, and the torches were lit again.

Qin Luan followed the eldest princess and Mrs. Yongninghou to take another look.

The torches spread, and there was one place every few miles.

Going a little farther, in places where the eyes can't reach, there are also defenses if you think about it.

It seems that even though Prefect Xie doesn't believe that Duke Ding's Mansion will rebel, as a parental official of a mansion, he is still earnestly doing what the court ordered.

If this is the case here, then, Qi Yang, the territory of the Yan clan, will be more tightly guarded than it is now.

Of course, right now, they need to get out of here first.

These days there is no moonlight, the stars are sparse, and the situation on the mountain cannot be seen from below, and it is difficult for people walking on the mountain to see the road clearly.

Ride for a while, walk for a while.

You can't walk much in one night.

Looking for a place to rest at dawn, and going as far as possible when it got dark, after six nights of tossing around like this, they finally arrived at Zhuangzi mentioned by the eldest princess.

Located at the junction of the two prefectures, it was built on a hill. The place is not too small. It raised many chickens and ducks, and even dug a pond to raise fish.

On the surface, it looks like a Zhuangzi of a big family in the city, sending fresh fish, meat and poultry to the house every ten days.

Zhuangzi's steward was a woman in her thirties, she greeted him.

Seeing the steward, Mrs. Dingguo looked at her carefully for a while, and called out: "A Rui?"

"Do you still recognize me?" The steward covered his face with a simple and honest smile, "Oh, it's really embarrassing to be called by a nickname at such an age."

In a word, everyone was amused.

The hard work of traveling for several nights was gone in an instant.

Manager A Rui led them in, and slowly talked about Zhuangzi's situation.

Listening to her words, Qin Luan gradually sketched out her image.

Arui is a nickname, her maiden name is An, and she had some ancestral business in the past.

During wars, those ancestral properties are not worth any money, and the elders flee year after year.

A Rui was hugged by the elders when she was a baby, fled eastward all the way, wandered around for many years, and finally voted for the late emperor.

In troubled times, human life is worthless, but human life happens to be very valuable.

The first emperor had ambitions, and he needed people to realize them, whether he was in the army or in production. Food and grass would not come out by themselves, and he had to be planted and protected.

The elders grow food, and A Rui does housework. After a few months, she knows that the princess of the lord's family has trained a female soldier.

There are little ladies in their twenties, and there are little girls like her who are not even ten years old.

Ari was moved.

After that, in addition to sharing the livelihood for the family, A Rui also became a member of the Guardian.

The sisters taught her to read and count, to keep fit and to hold a weapon.

At first, the elders were reluctant.

Literacy is a good thing.

My family is not illiterate, if it hadn't been for the delay in fleeing disasters in the past few years, A Rui wouldn't be able to only know a few dozen words.

It is also necessary to strengthen the body. If it were not for A Rui's good health, the little girl would not have survived when it was more difficult a few years ago.

They just didn't want her to join the army.

But A Rui insisted, practicing during the day and staying up at night doing housework. After working so hard for a month, the elders couldn't stop objecting.

To put it bluntly, living in troubled times is a matter of fate wherever you live.

A Rui has been a guard for several years.

Until the beginning of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when Guiwei was scattered, she was the youngest among them.

It is also because of her age that she has not gone out of the city with Guiwei to fight or transport food. The younger group of them stayed in the city, passed on news, made up for future needs, and managed the warehouse with the elder sister of the Fang family who was in charge of the "internal affairs". , Account books.

That elder sister of the Fang family was the later Crown Princess, Lin Fan's biological mother.

During those few years, A Rui grew up a lot, and also talked about a good marriage.

When the first emperor built the Great Zhou Dynasty, a very small part of Guiwei became the female officials of "Princess Pingyang", and most of them did not follow to the new capital, but returned to their ancestral home with their family members and started a normal life.

A Rui also returned to his ancestral home with his elders, trying to restore the An family's old business.

It's a pity that when all the waste was waiting to be done, there were many difficulties, and the elders passed away one after another. She kept the filial piety for several years and was burdened with a heavy family business.

The man couldn't wait, and was willing to pay a cash gift to dissolve the engagement.

Arui was also reluctant to part with her elders, so she simply became an old girl and took care of her own affairs.

It wasn't until the second year of Qingyuan that she saw Guiwei's brand again.

A sister Guiwei who had taken her with her before came all the way to find her and told her a very simple matter.

On the mountain, at the junction with the next-door mansion, build a Zhuangzi and put it under the name of Anjia.

There is no need to be particular or luxurious, as long as the simplest thing is to be able to raise poultry.

Maybe one year, it will come in handy.

Ari complied.

And that "what year", she waited for 20 years.

In the middle, I even thought about whether the eldest princess had forgotten to make her a Zhuangzi.

Until the beginning of the year, that sister Guiwei came again, and after confirming Zhuangzi's condition, she said that it could be used at any time.

I thought it might take another year or two, but I didn't expect it to be only half a year.

"A few months ago, after receiving advice, I transferred all the people in the village to other places," A Rui said. "A few days ago, the news of Beijing's Taoism spread to the city, so I came up the mountain."

She didn't know exactly what the eldest princess was going to do, but she knew that this Zhuangzi would come in handy.

A Rui waited on the mountain for a few days, until they met their group.

Hot water was prepared in the Zhuangzi, and after washing and tidying up, they sat down and had a hot meal.

After using it, let's talk about business.

A Rui saw the postman heading west, so he also sent a caravan to the west.

"Qi Yang's place is the most rigorously investigated," A Rui said, "Our caravan with complete procedures has been interrogated."

Princess Pingyang nodded: "As expected."

"It's a good idea for you to let most of the people stay in the village, and only a few people continue to go west," Ari thought for a while, and said, "Determine the candidates as soon as possible, so I can prepare the quotations."

Citations all have a fixed format, and age and general physical appearance need to be written on it.

Although it is something issued by the government office, it is not impossible to fake it in the hands of someone with some skills.

"I really want to go together, but with my face, it's not easy to make up anything when I enter Qiyang," Princess Pingyang snorted, her phoenix eyes fluttered, and she turned her head to Madam Hou of Yongning, "I don't know Madam Hou. Do you still remember the six years of Changxing?"

　Thanks to book friends RADIA0012, *staying sunny everywhere*, My Neighbor Totoro, Brother Cha, I will work hard today, Wow Xiaoyao, Abbey30 for their rewards, and thank you Book City Book Club for your rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)