Qian Zhu was the temporary leader of the three caravans. He personally drove the carriages. The three caravans had a total of more than 70 carriages, and nearly 100 donkey carts were used to transport goods. The long team was like a dragon. There were more than 200 guards alone, and including the drivers and servants, there were about 400 people on the team.

There were fewer than fifty guards in total, yet they firmly held the checkpoint. The commander’s gaze never left the goods.

Qian Zhu’s eyes were filled with disgust. Since the day the city was sealed, people had come to the caravan every day, and they had spent thousands of taels. Thinking of the journey ahead, Qian Zhu suppressed his annoyance and said with a smile, “We already have been checked once before leaving the city. I am a businessman who always seeks to make money in harmony. I will certainly cooperate with the search, but there are women and children in the car, so please be merciful, sir.”

As he spoke, he handed over a bag of silver. The bag was bulging, with at least twenty taels of silver.

The garrison commander happily took it and weighed it, then handed it to the soldier behind him, “Okay, okay.”

The only pity was that there was an order not to go too far, otherwise with so much cargo, the brothers could make a fortune!

The search was very thorough, checking the household registrations one by one, carefully checking the road permits, and not letting go of the boxes of cargo.

Zhou Yu and Qian Zhu watched from the side and saw the guard carry away two baskets of grain. This was not considered an overt inspection of hidden goods.

An hour had passed since they set out again. The first day’s progress was very slow, and they were searched twice in total, where the caravan was stripped of its money layer by layer, like skinning the caravan.

Resting outdoors at night, Yang Xi came down to breathe some fresh air and drank some hot soup, which finally calmed her stomach.

Zhou Yu hadn’t seen his family all day, so he came back and had dinner with them. Knowing that his wife was suffering from morning sickness, he accompanied her for a walk nearby.

The two did not walk far. Zhou Yu said, “We have not left Guan County in one day. At this speed, we can leave Pingzhou in seven days.”

Yang Xi frowned, “We’ve experienced two searches today. The closer we get to the border, the more searches there will be.”

Zhou Yu was helpless at this time, “They have no choice. The caravan must pay a price if they want to leave.”

This was because the Qian family was famous, so Prince Jiang didn’t dare to go too far, and other small merchants didn’t dare to go on the road.

Yang Xi said leisurely: “I heard that a quarter of the Qian family’s goods are medicinal materials.”

“Yes.”

Yang Xi was worried, “The medicinal materials are war materials. If the Qian family wants to leave Pingzhou, they can’t keep the medicinal materials.”

Zhou Yu lowered his voice, “Qian Zhu knows it well.”

Yang Xi said: “In the ancient times of the previous life, we were too closed and knew too little information.”

If they knew more, they could refer to it.

Zhou Yu felt depressed, “In the ancient times of the last life, we were too busy to take care of ourselves.”

All they thought about every day was how to survive, so they didn’t pay attention to information from the outside world.

Zhou Yu added: “Qian Zhu invited me to be a teacher in the Qian family, but I refused.”

Not to mention that they had a destination, even if they didn’t, he wouldn’t go to the Qian family. The Qian family was considered a well-known merchant family in the south. In troubled times, they were fat meat, which meant constant trouble.

Yang Xi frowned and said, “Third Master Qian will not stop us from leaving, right?”

Zhou Yu, “I’ll be careful.”

Yang Xi was relieved. The two of them turned back for fear that their families would worry. When they came back and didn’t see Third Yang, Yang Xi asked, “Where did Third Yang take Li Zheng?”

Brother Zhou pointed to a place not far away and said, “Drinking!”

Yang Xi and his wife looked over and saw that the boy had become friends with the guards in just one day. They could vaguely hear something like “Brother Yang, please come to me if you have any problems in the future” and so on. If one didn’t know better, one would think they had known each other for a long time.

Yang Xi, “.”

Zhou Yu cleared his throat and said with a smile, “This kid is amazing.”

He was indeed amazing. On the fourth day of the journey, Third Yang had already had dinner with the servant of Third Master Qian’s eldest son. Third Master Qian’s eldest son knew about Third Yang and had asked Zhou Yu about him.

Along the way, they saw soldiers escorting civilians from time to time. They were all people who wanted to escape from Pingzhou. There were many smart people in the troubled times. Some successfully escaped, while others were caught. There were no strong laborers among the escorted civilians.

Yang Xi felt depressed every time she saw this, and her morning sickness became more and more severe. Now she could only eat sour pickles to suppress it, and the weight she had gained with great difficulty was lost again.

Fruits were hard to find in winter. Yang Xi thought of the scene of her cousin’s pregnancy in modern times, and then thought of herself in ancient times. Yang Xi felt sad for the child in her belly. She couldn’t help but worry about the child. She didn’t eat much to replenish her body. She ran all the way and didn’t know how much nutrition the child lacked!

Zhou Yu tried his best to accompany his wife. After listening to her concerns, he said, “The child must be safe.”

Yang Xi squeezed Zhou Yu’s hand and said, “No matter whether it’s a boy or a girl, I don’t want to have any more children after this one.”

Ir was not just a problem of the ancient living environment, she also didn’t want to get pregnant again and worry about the child’s development. Two children were enough.

Zhou Yu, “If you didn’t mention it, I would have said I wouldn’t have any more children.”

He was more frightened than his wife, fearing an accident during childbirth.

The two of them had a good discussion, completely forgetting that ancient times were not modern times, and it would be difficult to prevent pregnancy without hurting your body.

During the lunch break the next day, Yang Xi noticed that Third Yang was recording something, and out of curiosity, she casually asked, “What are you recording?”

Third Yang did not hide it and handed the booklet over openly, “Sister-in-law, you will know after you take a look.”

Yang Xi was stunned when he opened the first page and then continued to look through. The list of people made by this boy not only recorded basic information such as age in detail but also clearly recorded the hometown, expertise, etc.

The first page was about Wang Liehu and his two sons. Wang Liehu is good at horses and he wrote it twice!

Yang Xi closed the book and looked at the boy carefully. The boy looked away embarrassedly and she said, “Not bad.”

Third Yang thought, “Sister-in-law, I think you are capable.”

“So what?”

“Hey, sister-in-law, if you don’t mind telling your brother what you are capable of?”

Zhou Yu came over and heard this, “Don’t make any plans, kid.”

Third Yang, “!!”

The less he knew, the more he worried about her. His intuition was very accurate and he always felt that his sister-in-law was very capable.

Yang Xi waited for Third Yang to leave and then talked about the booklet. Zhou Yu snorted, “You haven’t learned your own skills yet, and you still have the nerve to think about others.”

Yang Xi said: “He does have some knowledge. Do you want to take him as your apprentice?”

Zhou Yu stretched out his hand, “I’ll help you walk for a while.”

Yang Xi smiled seeing Zhou Yu neither answered nor refused. Zhou Yu had this idea, and they also had hatred and needed help and strength.

In the days that followed, the closer they got to Pingzhou, the more unstable the border became. Just as they were about to leave Pingzhou, they were stopped again. This time, giving them silver had no effect. No matter what they said, they were not allowed to pass.

Inside the Zhou family carriage, Zhou Xiaomei was nervous, “Sister-in-law, will we be arrested?”

Having seen so many soldiers escorting people these days, her little sister has become afraid.

Yang Xi has a good idea in mind, “There will be a conclusion in no more than three days.”

Now deliberately leaving the caravan alone meant that they were asking for a lot. The most valuable thing about the caravan was not food and furs, but the Qian family’s medicinal herbs!

Qian Zhu was unwilling to accept this, “I spent a lot of money and connections to purchase ten carts of medicinal herbs.”

The north was now full of rioters and it was difficult to buy precious medicinal materials. The ten carts of medicinal materials he brought back would not only bring money to the Qian family but also bring more connections and protection.

Zhou Yu pointed out directly, “If we can leave Pingzhou smoothly now, no one will be watching the caravan in the future.”

Qian Zhu, “What if I don’t give it to them?”

Zhou Yu smiled, “The news these days says that Bozhou is particularly chaotic, and the soldiers are like bandits robbing everywhere. When we enter Bozhou, we will lose more than just medicinal materials.”

If you don’t accept the toast, you will lose your life. Anyway, you can put the blame on the bandits. Then you can make the bandits the scapegoats for the Qian family and earn a good reputation!

Zhou Yu concluded: “What you should be afraid of is that the other party will let you go without asking for anything.”

Qian Zhu, “.”

(End of this chapter)

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