The team going south to Bianliang was scattered and large, and it was in the hot summer. It was undoubtedly very unpleasant to travel at such a time of year, so the team moved very slowly. Guo Xin left Taiyuan Mansion on the 15th and walked for five days before leaving Shihuiguan and entering Luzhou territory on the 20th.
Fortunately, there was no need to worry about the sudden appearance of enemy troops, and everyone's food was provided by the local prefectures and counties along the way, so Guo Xin could just as well have participated in a group tour with a large number of people.
Luzhou is also an important town in the east of Hedong. In the past few decades, various armies and horses have been in constant exchanges in Luzhou. In particular, the Liang and Jin families have fought countless battles around Luzhou...
However, along the way Guo Xin walked, he could not tell at all how many tragic and bloody scenes had been staged on the land beneath his feet. The scene in front of me was neither dense with bones nor rivers of blood. Instead, there were only rolling hills and mountains on the east and west sides, as well as large tracts of golden farmland on both sides of the official road.
The territory of Luzhou should include the area known as the Changzhi Basin in later generations. Although the terrain at the north-south entrance is difficult, the land in the state is still very fertile, and it is still an important grain-producing area in Hedong.
On the 25th, the Queen's honor guard in front arrived at Taiping Post Station. The people above were worried that the procession would be too long, so they ordered the family members who were left behind to move quickly.
So Feng Guojun, who was accompanying the escort in the middle of the team, took on the responsibility of supervision again, scolding the sloppy teams to speed up. The servants of those wealthy families, relying on their status, were not willing to put in more effort, so they turned a deaf ear to the shouts of the soldiers and continued to walk slowly. The soldiers really couldn't do anything, so the two sides gradually turned into a situation where they were yelling at each other.
There was such a commotion on the official road that Guo Xin couldn't tell whether his troops were escorting or escorting.
Guo Xin was riding on the horse. He had nothing to take with him to Bianliang. At most, he just wanted to take a girl with him. There were not many things at home, so he didn't need to carry anything extra, so he was still relaxed.
But the soldiers next to him were not as light as him, and many people began to complain.
Guo Pu also secretly came up to Guo Xin and said: "The people above are so unreasonable. When the queen went to Bianliang, she had a ready-made palace to live in. We are different. Who knows what is going on over there in Bianliang? Maybe even the people who eat are there. None, don’t we have to carry them all ourselves? We can only go so fast if we carry so many, why are we being urged to do..."
Guo Xin said with a smile: "If there is a big courtyard in Bianliang waiting for you to live there, and there are countless girls waiting to serve you, wouldn't you want to go there early?"
"That's what Brother Yi said." Guo Pu chuckled and said, "But since Lao Langjun has been promoted to Privy Councilor, the officials should be able to reward us with a courtyard, right?"
Guo Xin nodded thoughtfully: "With all the officials running around and dying, there should be a lot of empty space in the city of Tokyo."
The team walked for another half day, and it was almost dark before they finally arrived near Taipingyi Station.
The troops set up camp and soon gathered together a group of three or five people and began to build earthen stoves on the spot and light a fire to cook food.
Guo Xin walked around, and the soldiers who knew him well stood up and saluted him. Someone shouted: "Commander Guo, won't you come and have something to eat with us?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him began to greet him warmly: "Commander Guo, come here to eat!" "Come here, Guo Zhihui! Wang Er caught a rabbit during the day. It's very delicious!"
Although the soldiers in front of them were rough and rude, they were not stupid at heart and could tell who was good to them. Whoever treats them well will be treated kindly to you from the bottom of their hearts. If anyone treats them badly, they will pull out a knife from behind at any time...
Guo Xin quickly waved his hand on the horse: "I won't eat here!"
"Commander Guo is looking for the girl at the head of the house!"
"With my little mother's milk to feed on, who cares about our food..."
The soldiers laughed loudly while talking dirty words. Wang Yuanmao quickly stood up from the group and shouted: "I can't stop you guys from eating!"
Guo Xin's face darkened. The fact that he took Yu Niang home became known to the whole army. Didn't it spread from Wang Yuanmao's mouth?
After Wang Yuanmao reprimanded the soldiers, he bowed to Guo Xin in a flattering manner and shouted: "Commander Guo, don't worry, I will take care of you here."
As soon as he finished speaking, there were two coughs not far away. Guo Xin knew it was Zhang Chenghua even if he didn't listen carefully. As expected, Wang Yuanmao reluctantly changed his words: "There is also Zhang Shi...the deputy commander is here."
Guo Xin smiled, took a few soldiers and walked toward the family members.
It took Guo Xin a lot of effort to find his own team. Several large carts were surrounded by Guo's sedan chair and several large felt tents. There are three sedan carriages, naturally belonging to Zhang, Liu and Yuniang.
Logically speaking, Yuniang is only a concubine in Guo Xin's room, so she won't be treated like this - but Guo Xin naturally doesn't think so. Why should his own woman walk with his servants and rub their feet?
The people brought out from the mansion were all familiar servants and maids, and the person in charge of them was still Guo Shou, who worked hard for the Guo mansion.
Guo Shou was sitting on the handlebar of a cart, eating something. When he saw Guo Xin, he quickly put down his bowl and said, "Brother Yi is here."
Guo Xin dismounted and threw the reins to the guards behind him, and walked inside: "Uncle Shou, what do you have to eat today?"
"What else can I have? Rice porridge."
Hearing this, Guo Xin smiled bitterly at Guo Shou. The rice porridge is not rice, but corn. Guo Xin had been eating wild vegetables and corn since he came out of Taiyuan Mansion. Even if he wasn't picky about food, he would still feel a little tired of it. At this time, he regretted not eating rabbit in the army just now.
"The corn in the east of our river feeds people." Guo Xin said in a nonchalant manner and walked towards the largest felt tent in the middle.
Mother Zhang, sister-in-law Liu and Yu Niang were all in the felt tent. Except for Zhang's three daughters, the rest were all maids serving them. Zhang and others seemed to have just eaten. Guo Xin was sitting there talking and laughing when he came in. He didn't know what he was talking about.
Guo Xin was not surprised at all when he saw this. Yu Niang was a smart person, and Zhang and Liu had no airs, so there was no problem in getting along with them.
Guo Xin first saluted the two daughters of the Zhang family and the Liu family, and then scanned the circle carefully. Guo Tong was nowhere to be seen, so he asked, "Brother is not here again?"
Zhang said: "Some bachelor came from Bianliang a few days ago. Brother Qing took Yongde to visit him in the afternoon."
Guo Xin said oh, thinking that Guo Tong, who had nothing to do, was busier than himself. At this time, Yu Niang brought him a bowl of porridge. When Guo Xin took the bowl, he touched her jade hand. Yu Niang blushed and quickly turned back to look at Mr. Zhang. She saw that neither Ms. Zhang seemed to have noticed what had just happened. This action made me feel relieved.
Guo Xin took the bowl from Yu Niang's hand and couldn't help but look at the millet pieces under the water, secretly comforting himself: at least it wasn't too thin, and it could still fill his stomach. But he couldn't help but sigh when he thought that the Zhang family had been eating the same thing these days.
Seeing Guo Xin sighing, Yu Niang hurriedly said, "Although it's not to your liking, I'd better make do with it. It's always not good to be hungry."
Hearing Yu Niang's words of concern for him, Guo Xin smiled reassuringly at her, and seeing Mrs. Zhang who was above him also casting a concerned look, he simply put down his bowl and said, "It's nothing to me, I just feel wronged for my mother and sister-in-law to suffer this." It’s been a long and tiring journey. Fortunately, we’ll be arriving in Luzhou City in the next few days. I’ll buy more dry food and fine meat then and come back.”
After hearing this, Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "Brother Yi has us in his heart."
Mrs. Zhang also sighed with gratitude: "I know Erlang is reliable... Eat quickly, don't let it get cold."
Guo Xin was worried about Mrs. Zhang, so he picked up the rice porridge and drank three bowls of it before he managed to belch. He looked at Yu Niang, who was serving Mrs. Zhang, and felt that she was even more attentive than when she was serving him... He pretended to look outside the tent: "Why is it so dark? I won't go back tonight..."
At this moment, there was a sudden rush of horse hooves outside, and then Guo Shou shouted outside the tent: "Brother Yi, I have a request from Yi!"
