The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was cloudy and the west wind was biting.
On the official road from Jincheng to Suizhou, a group of escort carriages was moving forward slowly and slowly.
There are four escort carriages in this team, each driven by three Mongolian horses. Each carriage has a escort flag.
The four characters "Evergreen Escort Bureau" on the flag look vigorous and simple.
The dart flags fluttered in the wind and made a hunting sound.
In the escort car headed by the leader, Tang Xiaotian was closing his eyes and concentrating, while Deng Tianyuan, the chief escort officer of the former town escort agency, was leaning against the car window, drinking sullenly.
Who would have thought that the chief escort of the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau, which was once famous in the southwest, would personally escort the escorts, and who would have thought that the owner of Tangjiabao, a well-known martial arts family, would be reduced to traveling thousands of miles away.
Tang Xiaotian seemed calm, while Deng Tianyuan had the look of a late hero.
On this trip to the south of the Yangtze River, Changqing Escort Bureau dispatched a total of fourteen escorts, three of whom were the former chief escorts of the Eighth Escort Agency.
As the chief escort of the Evergreen Escort Bureau, Tang Xiaotian should not have personally escorted the escort, but this escort was of great importance and he had to come.
A batch of red goods worth one hundred thousand taels of gold was to be escorted to Jiangnan, thousands of miles away, and the journey was extremely dangerous.
Everyone knew that this batch of red goods was escorted by the newly established Changqing Escort Bureau, and ordinary people did not dare to have any bad ideas.
There is an ancient saying: Sake makes people's faces red, and wealth and silk touch people's hearts.
One hundred thousand taels of gold is an astronomical figure. This escort is so eye-catching that someone will inevitably be tempted.
"Are we sure we want to take the shortcut from Jingzhou through Jiangcheng, Daye, and Huangshan to Lin'an Wugou Villa?" Deng Tianyuan asked, his tone unable to conceal his desolation.
"Well, you can reach Lin'an at least three days earlier by taking this road." Tang Xiaotian responded lazily.
Deng Tianyuan said thoughtfully: "But it is this road that is the most dangerous. I don't care much about anything else, but the Huangshan swarm and the Thirteen Taibao of Lin'an are both difficult to deal with. With just our team, I'm afraid It’s not easy to gain the upper hand.”
Tang Xiaotian slowly opened his eyes and said with a faint smile: "Although these people are well-known thieves in the world, they are not something to worry about. What I am really worried about is not these gangs and bandits who dominate the mountains and dominate the mountains."
"Then what are you worried about?" Deng Tianyuan felt very puzzled.
"What I'm worried about are some people who have never appeared in the world. You can never guess their details, nor their origins and martial arts. Such people are the most dangerous." Tang Xiaotian's eyes flickered, his brows furrowed. Hide worries.
Behind the escort carriage, there followed a carriage far away. This carriage was also driven by three strong Mongolian horses. The difference was that this carriage was twice as big as the other carriages.
This carriage also has a nice name.
"Cloud car" is a car that is as comfortable as a cloud.
The "Cloud Car" follows slowly and slowly. When the escort car goes, it goes. When the escort car stops, it stops. Anyway, it is just right so that the escort car walking in front cannot notice it.
Xiao Ding seemed not to have slept very well last night. He had been napping since he got in the car. Every time he was about to fall asleep, Sikong Zhaiyue would wake him up with a weed.
The weeds scratched his ears and heart, itching into his heart and spleen. At this time, Sikong Zhaiyue would get kicked on the leg, but he didn't even bother to pat him. Anyway, as soon as Xiao Ding fell asleep, he would think of ways to kick him. Being woken up and then kicked again, he not only didn't care but also enjoyed it.
Tang Qingqing's eyes were red and swollen. She would stick her head out of the window from time to time to look at the escort team that was leaving, and then to see if anyone was following the "cloud car" behind her, with a look of anxiety on her face.
This morning, Xiao Ding told her everything about last night. She burst into tears and cried for a full hour. At this moment, her beautiful peach blossom eyes were swollen like walnuts.
When the escort car in front of her stopped midway, she wanted to jump out of the car several times to catch up, throw herself into her father's arms, and cry bitterly. But Xiao Ding refused to let her go down, saying that it would disturb their plan.
Just sleep in the car and not wake up after sleeping. Is this Xiao Ding's plan? Tang Qingqing can only be secretly angry in her heart.
Ye Rongqiu had noticed her anxiety and comforted her with a smile: "You don't have to be too anxious. Now that the knot in your heart has been untied, sooner or later you and your daughter will recognize each other. What you need most now is to have a good sleep." , look at your eyes, they are almost swollen into peaches."
"Well, okay, I also want to have a good sleep." Tang Qingqing has been in a bad mood these past few days and had not slept well in the first place. Now after being comforted by Ye Rongqiu, she felt calmer in her heart and suddenly felt sleepy.
The journey was uneventful.
As night fell, the west wind dropped sharply.
The convoy of Changqing Escort stayed overnight in Guang'an.
Xiao Ding and others also found an inn nearby. He and Sikong Zhaiyue took turns keeping watch. As soon as the convoy of the Evergreen Escorts left, they immediately set off, following each other from afar.
The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, slightly sunny and slightly cold.
Xiao Ding and Sikong Zhaiyue bought a lot of food early in the morning, the most of which were wine and meat.
Tang Qingqing was dumbfounded and asked, "Do you buy so many things to eat until next year?"
Sikong Zhaiyue blinked and said with a smile, "Hey, you're right, I want to eat it until next year."
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. It seems that we can only spend this New Year's Eve on the carriage. How can we not prepare more food and drinks?"
Tang Qingqing seemed to be in a daze. Time passed too fast. It felt like the Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed not long ago, and the New Year was here again in the blink of an eye.
What she doesn't know is that happy time will always seem short, because when people are happy, they pay less attention to the passage of time. These days can be said to be the happiest days in her life, so she feels that time goes too fast.
She will be twenty years old after the Chinese New Year, and has reached the age where she can get married and have children. I wonder if her father and Xiao Ding talked about these things last night. Tang Qingqing couldn't help but think about it for a while, until she lost her mind. His face turned red with embarrassment.
Bah, bah, bah, what are you thinking about all day? She cursed herself inwardly.
When young boys and girls reach a certain age, they will involuntarily think of some unspeakable things.
The word "sichun" is such a normal and wonderful thing, but those young people are too shy to say it.
Although Tang Qingqing is usually carefree, she can't escape this worldly concept. In her heart, she thinks that as a woman, she shouldn't think about these things often. Only bad women will think about these things often.
The more you escape, the more you fall.
It's like being stuck in a thousand-year swamp. The harder you struggle, the deeper you sink.
She even recalled the warmth of Xiao Ding's kiss on her lips that night, the heartbeat, and the heat.
In order to cover up the blush on her face, she snatched the wine jar from Sikong Zhaiyue's hand, turned her palm into a knife, slapped open the sealing mud, raised her neck, and poured it into her mouth.
The strong wine went into her throat, and her face became more rosy. The winter sun shone slantingly, and Tang Qingqing's side face facing the sun looked extremely charming, and even her hair scattered in the wind looked extremely sassy.
Sikong Zhaiyue seemed to be stunned.
"Are you laughing at me for drinking, or do you want to take your wine jar back? Here, I'll give it back to you." Tang Qingqing threw the wine jar towards Sikong Zhaiyue and said angrily.
Sikong Zhaiyue sighed: "I seem to remember that some people were drunk just two days ago. I didn't expect that women can be life-threatening when they drink. It turns out that women can also be called drunkards. I didn't expect it..."
He sighed and ran, knowing that if he didn't walk faster, he might get a kick or two on his butt, because he had already seen a ball of fire in Tang Qingqing's eyes.
The convoy of the Evergreen Escort Agency set off again, heading east.
The "Cloud Car" followed the escort team leisurely as usual, laughing and singing all the way in the car. Even though it was just a carriage, there was still a bit of a festive atmosphere.
In this way, everyone traveled south of the Yangtze River in peace.
