(3)
Being among the busy traffic and the hustle and bustle of the market seems like something that happened a lifetime ago.
After setting up the carriage, Bai Feng took care of the two women and picked up their important luggage. For example, small atlas, local scenery, medicine for bruises, etc.
The young swordsman carried a big baggage on his back, and the girl carried a small baggage, and followed Su Qing's footsteps into the same inn one after another, as if they were travelers who had traveled a long distance.
At first, the three of them and Su Qing pretended not to know each other, and just looked at each other from a distance, gesturing, winking, and licking their lips, all trying to make the other party understand their intentions.
In view of the fact that there are many people around who can often pass by each other, sometimes they are servants dressed as brokers, sometimes they are guards dressed as samurai, and sometimes they are people who look like ordinary people.
They have different appearances and different voices, but they have the same purpose of going in and out of the inn to rest. With their cover, the code words between the four people could be implemented.
This small, warm yellow earth house is filled with all kinds of emotions.
When he was young, Su Qing suddenly waved to Bai Feng and others and said: "You are finally here! Come here quickly and meet our new boss!"
After the three of them heard this, they immediately picked up their luggage and trotted past the passers-by, hurriedly arriving.
Su Qing continued: "Dear Mr. Apollos, look, these are the two girls I told you about."
Apollos blew his nose, widened his round eyes, and kept making gestures with his hands in mid-air, looking at the bodies of Murong Yan and Zi Chai, as if measuring their dimensions, and then he exclaimed repeatedly: "Oh, Mr. Su, you You really didn’t deceive me! I’ve been looking for a long time but couldn’t find the right person. It’s God’s blessing that Apollos found me before I was ready to go home!”
"What on earth is going on?" Zichai looked at Apollos' strange face. An indescribable sense of alienation made her just want to escape from this man's gaze as soon as possible. Soon, she quietly hid behind everyone.
Murong Yan also asked prejudicially: "Mr. Apollos? What do you want from us? I don't remember where I met you, little girl?"
"Could it be that our Mr. Su has done something good again?" The young swordsman said coldly, his left hand never leaving his sword.
Seeing that something was wrong, Apollos quickly stepped forward and complimented: "No, no, no, you have misunderstood Mr. Su! Two distinguished ladies, and this heroic young man, it is I who have something important to ask of Mr. Su!" We have just reached a deal in private. Tomorrow, I will ask you to go to Woye Town as my entourage. Tonight, I ask you to take a good rest and don’t worry!"
"Hey, luckily I still have Apollos to speak up for me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to wash myself out even if I jumped into the Yellow River!" Su Qing said with an interesting smile: "Boss, do you have any other instructions?"
"Oh, hahaha..." Apollos couldn't help but chuckle, and stood up from his seat with his trembling, round and strong body, patted the purple clothes, hugged Su Qing cordially, and said: "Su Young Master, you are my good friend, and I will definitely repay you. If you have any requests, just give them!"
"Boss, how dare I order you? You, old man, go and rest first. I still have to prepare for tomorrow with my friends!"
The merchant from the Western Regions knew that this matter was very secret, so he wisely left as soon as possible.
Su Qing saw that the other three friends were puzzled, but he was not in a hurry to elaborate on the details. He just led them to their respective rooms mysteriously, and spent the rest of the day discussing with Bai Feng privately. .
In the early morning of the next day, the caravan from the Western Regions led by Apollos continued to move westward.
Woye Town is located in the westernmost of the seven towns in the north. It connects the Central Plains and the countries in the Western Regions and blocks the possibility of Rouran from the north marching into the Central Plains from the west. It is an extremely important transportation fortress.
It has both the style of the Western Regions and the beauty of the Central Plains. This place is famous as the Seven Towns because of the numerous heroes it once produced, and because it has a beautiful "Colorful Flower Field", it has become a good place for many literati to explore.
Although Bai Feng and others are nominally followers of Apollos, in fact they enjoy the same or even higher level of treatment as Apollos. Murong Yan and Zi Chai, who were extremely respected, had no idea what was going on. They just gradually felt that the situation was very strange and kept asking Su Qing what kind of deal he had made along the way.
The mysterious Su Qing avoided answering and found excuses to hide around so that they could not find anyone.
The young swordsman never left Murong Yan. He rode a tall horse and waited silently beside the carriage she was riding in. Even though he talked and laughed sometimes, he also avoided talking about the deal like Su Qing.
Murong Yan had always had unconditional trust in Bai Feng, so she had never wavered, but Zi Chai's anxiety really affected her.
"Did they sell us to that guy from the Western Region?" Zi Chai complained out of thin air more than once with a sad face. Although she is no longer that person's slave, the memory of her past is still unforgettable.
After hearing this, Murong Yan didn't know how to comfort her, so she had to imitate Bai Feng and remain silent, sometimes looking at the people outside the window, sometimes returning to the carriage to look at Zi Chai's sad face.
Time passed and everyone successfully passed the checkpoint and entered the fertile wilderness.
A team of nearly a hundred people poured onto the street, and even the killer scout with eyes as sharp as an eagle couldn't recognize anything strange inside.
During such a grand trip, Murong Yan and Zichai were escorted by Bai Feng to the Shangyi in the city to rest. Before they could gain a foothold, Su Qing suddenly jumped out and sent Bai Feng away, leaving the two women alone in the room.
Just as Zi Chai's premonition of uneasiness became stronger, several young men holding various things in their hands suddenly walked out of the door. In their hands, they held luxurious clothes inlaid with gold threads, bird cages, domestic cats, fruit bowls, wine and meat... everything, and presented it all to the two people.
A young boy said: "Please two girls, please put on these clothes. Mr. Apollos will be here soon!"
After that, he began to order the other boys to clear a clear space in the house, and put a wooden shelf on the ground. A large wooden board was placed on the shelf, and a piece of parchment was fixed on the wooden board.
Murong Yan and Zi Chai, who had never seen anything like this before, were stunned and almost didn't notice the various things presented to them that only nobles could possess.
"Girls, why don't you go change your clothes?"
"Uh?" Murong Yan hesitated for a moment, nodded in agreement, took the clothes, and took Zi Chai to change clothes.
By the time the two of them finished preparing their makeup, Apollos had been waiting for a long time. I saw him holding a brush in one hand and a drawing board in the other. He nodded to the two girls with a kind and serious expression and said, "Two distinguished ladies, you are so beautiful! Look, does it look better with the birdcage or with the other hand?" Does the kitten look good?"
"Mr. Apollos, are you painting for us?" Murong Yan said in surprise: "So, this is the deal between you and Mr. Su?"
"Ah, those two young men are so naughty, they didn't tell the two lovely ladies why! I guess they also want to give you a surprise." Apollos smiled and said: "I once painted for the princes and princesses of your Central Plains Dynasty. I wanted to take the painting back to my hometown, but I didn't expect that the painting was destroyed in the process. Alas, I have always wanted to find an opportunity to paint a new one. Yesterday I happened to meet Master Su, and we happened to be chatting here. I didn't expect that he would be so generous. The ground agreed!"
"Where did Mr. Su and Mr. Bai go?" Zi Chai asked immediately, "They must have left us two behind!"
"No, they are just looking for someone. Don't worry, you two." After saying that, Apollos waved his hand and motioned to the boy next to him to open the window and let the sunlight in.
"Prince? Princess?" Zi Chai looked at her skirt embroidered with beautiful golden patterns. After spinning around for a few times, she finally came back to her senses and asked Murong Yan happily: "Sister Murong, do you think I look like Princess?"
"It's very similar!" Murong Yan smiled as brightly as a flower and replied, "Mr. Apollos, can I not take off my veil?"
"Of course! Your looming appearance just satisfies the people of my country's fantasy about the Eastern Continent..."
In such a pleasant atmosphere of asking and answering questions, the three of them started painting intermittently for several days.
