The bag Zhou Yu was holding was heavy, weighed down by silver and copper coins. Silver and money in ancient times were too inconvenient. When the dynasty was founded, paper money was also issued and used together with silver and money. Now, paper money has long become waste paper.

The Wang family father and son went to have dinner happily. They earned half a year’s worth of money on this trip.

Wu Shan came to Zhou’s house to divide the money. The eleven wolves did not have intact skins, so they were sold for a small amount of silver, a total of twenty-two taels. The mule meat was sold for more than two taels, and the donkey cost six and a half taels.

Wu Shan felt distressed, “Mule meat is too cheap.”

Zhou Yu divided the money and said, “This is for big brother.”

Wu Shan wanted to return the money for the travel permit, but Zhou Yu’s face turned cold. Wu Shan then put away the nearly seven taels of silver and grinned happily as he touched the silver. Now his family assets included not only the silver but also two donkeys. Although it was dangerous to follow them, wealth and honor were sought in danger. He could not save up such a fortune even if he worked hard as a refugee in the capital.

Zhou Yu gave the remaining money to his wife, “We can be considered to have a small fortune now?”

Yang Xi smiled, “Yes, this way we don’t have to pawn anything anymore.”

It was not good to pawn too much, as it would arouse suspicion sooner or later.

Yang Xi gave the tranquilizer to her younger sister, and her younger sister went to boil the medicine. She hid the silver and only left the copper coins outside. The heavy bag of copper coins was too heavy.

At night, Yang Xi finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her son and mother-in-law sleeping soundly. She didn’t get enough rest last night and fell asleep in a daze.

Yang Xi cooked in the morning and prepared some dry food for easy eating on the road.

Yang Xi was very pleased when Zhou Xiaomei went to wash clothes. The little girl never complained about her changed status but lived her life very positively.

Yang Xi waited for the water to boil, then poured the hot water into the basin. Zhou Xiaomei looked up and smiled, “Thank you, sister-in-law.”

Yang Xi said: “Don’t rush to wash, wait for the hot water, or you will suffer from the cold.”

Zhou Xiaomei nodded, “Yeah.”

Zhou Xiaodi helped to light the fire with his injured hand, while Yang Xi made pancakes. Zhou Xiaodi whispered, “Third Yang talked about his family last night.”

Yang Xi didn’t stop moving his hands, “He’s finally willing to talk?”

Zhou Xiaodi said, “He didn’t have a chance to talk while we were on the road. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I talked about our father, and he followed suit.”

Yang Xi asked, “Does he have any family?”

Zhou Xiaodi sighed, “His father was a seventh-rank garrison commander of Liaozhou. At that time, rioters gathered outside the city. His uncle colluded with the rioters and persuaded his father to join forces with the rioters. His father swore allegiance to the Emperor until his death, but was eventually sold out by his uncle.”

Yang Xi stopped moving his hands this time, “How did his uncle betray him?”

Zhou Xiaodi said indignantly, “His uncle reported his father for the sake of justice, falsely accusing his father of being the one who colluded with the outside world. The closest person reported him, and his father was unable to speak out. Then the correspondence was found, and the crime was confirmed.”

Yang Xi finally understood why Third Yang didn’t talk about his background. “He said he was Third Yang. He must be more than one child in his family, right?”

Zhou’s voice was heavy. “He was the third child in the family. He had two older sisters. One of them was divorced and couldn’t accept it. She hanged herself that night. The other one didn’t get married and got separated from him when they ran away.”

Yang Xi felt heavy in her heart. The teenage girl was lost. She couldn’t bear to think about the result. “He was waiting in the capital for his sister?”

Zhou Xiaodi said gloomily, “He and his sister had an agreement that if they got separated, they would wait for each other in the capital for a month. He waited for three months and didn’t see his sister anymore, so he gave up hope.”

Yang Xi, “Why did he follow us?”

Zhou Xiaodi lowered his voice and said, “He has a crush on Big Brother. He said his intuition tells him that he will regret it if he misses him.”

Yang Xi understood. She had seen Third Yang asking Zhou Yu questions more than once. He liked to be with Zhou Yu. She suppressed the thoughts in her heart and said with a smile, “I’ll make some cabbage soup. We can eat in a while.”

Zhou Xiaodi licked his lips and said, “Sister-in-law, can you mix some peppers with the cabbage?”

“Ok.”

As she said this, he went out and used the copper coins to buy a bunch of dried peppers from the Wang family.

At night, Yang Xi told Zhou Yu about Third Yang’s life experience, “I think it’s true.”

Zhou Yu also agreed, and added: “This child has hatred in his heart.”

Yang Xi, “It’s good to have hatred.”

Zhou Yu sat back and washed the blood off his jacket. “Hunter Wang and his youngest son will escort us for a while.”

Yang Xi, “Escort out of Xinzhou?”

Zhou Yu nodded, “Yes, but there are conditions.”

Yang Xi asked, “What are the conditions?”

Zhou Yu smiled and said, “Let me teach them how to read on the way.”

Yang Xi raised an eyebrow, “Very smart.”

In ancient times, illiteracy was widespread and it was very difficult to read and write. It was even more difficult for hunters in the mountains to learn to read and write. Once they had learned to read, they could pass it on to the next generation. Hunter Wang was a far-sighted person, but he was also unwilling to let his descendants be hunters all their lives.

Zhou Yu liked Hunter Wang very much. Some people thought that Hunter Wang was petty, but he thought it was a good thing. He spelled out everything and said what was right if it was right and what was wrong if it was not.

They set off the next morning. The Wang family also bought a donkey yesterday. When the group left, Third Yang sat on the Wang family’s sleigh.

Yang Xi looked at Third Yang a few more times and found that Third Yang was very interested in the Wang family’s bows and arrows. This child was very good at interpersonal communication and had already been familiar with Wang Xiaoer for a long time.

The Wang family was familiar with this area and knew where the dangers were. They traveled for two consecutive days without encountering any danger and had a good rest at night.

Wu Shan secretly said to Zhou Yu: “This person is worth hiring.”

Zhou Yu also thought so, so he taught the Wang father and son very seriously.

While resting that night, Hunter Wang suddenly became alert. They had found a sheltered place in the mountain cave to rest. Hunter Wang lay on the ground and listened.

Zhou Yu waited for Wang the Hunter to stand up and ask, “What’s wrong?”

Hunter Wang frowned, “There is the sound of horses running, and there is more than one horse.”

Zhou Yu moved his ears and fell silent. He heard nothing. He looked at Wu Shan, and Wu Shan also shook his head.

Yang Xi and the others also got up. Third Yang learned to lie on the ground and listen carefully for a while. “There is indeed the sound of horse hooves.”

The group was getting nervous, and Hunter Wang said, “Let’s go into the forest and follow me.”

Even in a cave in the mountains, he was afraid of being discovered.

The group packed up carefully and soon entered the forest. With Hunter Wang leading the way, they were not afraid of getting lost.

However, entering the mountains in winter was even more difficult for the group. There was snow on their shoes, and their feet became wet and uncomfortable after a while, making them cold.

Soon, from where they were, they saw the light of torches on the road below. They couldn’t see how many people were there, but they heard the sound of horses’ hooves, and they were galloping past without stopping.

Only when the sound of horse hooves grew farther and farther away did the group dare to breathe.

Zhou Yu frowned. This group of people came from the front of them. They were going to the capital. “They are not soldiers.”

Hunter Wang said solemnly, “They are not bandits. Bandits will not take this road.”

The reason is simple, bandits won’t come here because it was a thankless job.

Wu Shan said: “This is the road leading south out of Xinzhou.”

Hunter Wang was a little annoyed. “This damn world is getting more and more unstable.”

Zhou Yu frowned, “We need to leave Xinzhou quickly.”

(End of this chapter)

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