Chapter 289: Holidays are the happiest! [Thank you all for your support! Bowing again!]

The Laba Festival, drinking porridge,

Amidst the golden sunset.

The caravan filed in, entering the courtyard of the post station.

"Easy! Easy!"

"Whoa!"

The sounds of the drivers adjusting the draft animals and the neighing of horses continued to ring out.

Over a hundred carriages prepared to park in the post station's large courtyard; although they tried to line them up neatly, it was clear that over a dozen carriages would still have to be left at the main gate.

The Pan family caravan was accustomed to this route, and the manager of the caravan was well-acquainted with the postmaster.

In front of the post house,

The postmaster came out to greet them and said to the caravan manager:

"Manager Pan, today's eight-ingredient porridge is already prepared. Please!"

"Please."

Upon entering the room, the postmaster spoke a few words with a solemn expression.

The Pan family manager, holding a bowl of hot Laba porridge, asked in a low voice:

"What? The bandits in this vicinity don't want our tribute?"

The postmaster nodded and said, "Yes! They said there are too many carriages and horses this time, so we must pay double!"

The Pan family manager pondered for a moment and said, "Fine! My house agrees!"

"Tell them, don't cause trouble; it's better for all of us."

The postmaster hurriedly agreed.

After taking the silver notes and heading out, the postmaster walked away. The Pan family manager took a sip of the porridge, set the bowl down, and walked toward the inner room.

In the post station courtyard,

Several post-station laborers moving fodder looked at the mounted knights and whispered:

"Look, the shoes they're wearing, why is there grass stuffed inside?"

"Judging by their attire, they aren't Great Zhou people! What's strange about savages wearing grass?"

"Their eyes are truly chilling."

The laborers walked away.

An old man and a young boy, dressed as drivers, stepped aside for the laborers moving the fodder,

Then walked toward the house.

The boy's clothes were noticeably much newer.

Like the other drivers, the two of them brushed the dust off their bodies as they walked.

The old man said, "You drove the carriage well today."

The boy chuckled and then said, "Grandpa, I've been wanting to ask, why do they stuff grass in their shoes?"

The old man glanced at the rugged knights dismounting and said:

"Kid, that's good stuff on their feet!"

Seeing the boy's confused look, the old man continued:

"That grass is called 'wula'; it grows in the extreme north. After being dried and hammered soft, stuffing it into cowhide boots can prevent dampness and keep out the cold."

"The nobles of the Jin Kingdom in the far north wear this..."

The old man suddenly stopped, because he saw a knight ignore the food handed over by a laborer and instead pull a piece of dried meat from his horse's back, eating it on his own.

"Grandpa, you know so much!"

The old man said, "I just heard it while drinking with the managers."

"You joined the caravan yesterday and were able to drive today; that's because the Pan family manager gave me face for having worked for the Pan family for decades."

"When we eat later, go offer the manager a cup of wine!"

"Okay!"

The two talked as they entered the earthen-walled, thatched-roof post house along with the other drivers.

At the doorway, the water in the wooden basin for washing hands was already a bit murky, but the two washed their hands without complaint.

Walking inside, they saw thick wooden logs burning in the stove beneath the earthen kang.

After finding a bench to sit on, the room was soon filled with drivers, and the noisy chatter made the room very lively.

At this moment, a young man dressed as a peddler walked in, cupped his hands, and said:

"Greetings, everyone! I have 'ear-warmers' here from Bianjing. They aren't expensive and come in many styles, to save your ears from the suffering of the cold."

"Go away! We don't want any!"

"One guan each? You might as well be robbing us!"

The young man retreated from the room sheepishly.

The boy who had spoken earlier, however, had his gaze fixed; he had seen a very cute pair of ear-warmers.

Just as he wanted to chase after him, the old man grabbed him and said, "Once we enter Bianjing, there will be plenty that look better than his, and cheaper too!"

"Oh!"

Night fell.

The Pan family caravan brought their own wine and shared quite a bit with the others to ward off the cold.

After finishing their meal, the old man took his grandson to offer the manager a drink.

The old man stared at the solemn-faced Pan family manager and whispered, "Manager, what's wrong?"

The Pan family manager said, "Uncle Luan, the bandits in this area are insatiable! They..."

"Manager, have you spoken to the guarding knights?"

"I have."

"Then let's be more vigilant tonight."

"Hmm!"

After speaking, the manager raised his wine bowl and said, "Fang-ge'er, keep up the good work!"

After the meal, following the lanterns hanging at the post house entrance, everyone returned to the large communal sleeping room.

Having traveled all day, covered in dust, everyone was exhausted.

The post house soon fell into relative quiet, as the snoring of the men rose and fell,

And horses snorted from time to time.

The bright moon hung low in the west.

It was already the second half of the night.

The cold moonlight spilled over the earth.

Outside the post station, the calls of night birds could be heard from time to time.

Suddenly,

The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside.

The light-sleeping old man draped a thick padded jacket over himself and walked out of the room.

When he reached the shed where the animals were tied,

He saw two post-station laborers pinning someone down, while two others were stomping out a pile of firewood that had been set ablaze.

The old man shook his head and turned back, intending to feed the animals some night grass, when

His eyes narrowed; the knights who had been in the caravan were now standing on the roof of the post station.

From that position, the entire post station courtyard was in full view.

Arriving under the shed, the old man realized that the mounts of those dozens of knights were gone.

After feeding the night grass and returning to the room, faint screams could be heard from afar; the old man shook his head and entered the room.

When the east turned a pale fish-belly white,

The post station courtyard became noisy and busy with people shouting and horses neighing.

The grooms were busy harnessing the carriages, and the white mist exhaled by people and animals was very conspicuous.

When the sun appeared, the massive caravan had already begun its journey.

The morning sunlight shone on the roadside,

Where white frost had not yet dissipated.

When the grooms left the post station courtyard and passed by a river ditch, they would all turn their heads to look.

Because there was a group of armed men there; some were dressed as yamen runners, others appeared to be officials,

And several inferior horses were tied nearby.

Laborers were exhaling white mist as they dragged corpses along the ditch.

The number of corpses by the ditch was not small, and on a mound of earth a person's height by the ditch, blood was everywhere, and most of the bloodstains had frozen on the ground.

By the ditch,

Watching the caravan continuously passing by and the gazes looking over,

The local Police Inspector turned his head to look at a nearby forest, and seeing someone in the forest waving,

The group by the ditch hurriedly walked over, avoiding the stiff corpses lying on the ground along the way, and after circling around, arrived at the edge of the forest.

"My lord, please look here."

The clerk pointed to the wound on the neck of a corpse and said:

"It must be that someone watched this group of fierce bandits pass by beneath their feet, then slid down silently from the trees and silently... from behind..."

The clerk made a throat-slitting gesture.

Looking at the sturdy corpses nearby, the people around were speechless.

The Police Inspector squatted down to look at the calluses on the corpse's palms, stood up, looked at the ditch not far away, then looked here, and said:

"The ones by the ditch died from arrows; the ones by this forest were ambushed."

"To defeat many with few, and even execute a pincer attack, leaving these bandits dead in a circle—to be so ruthless, it must be the work of elite soldiers."

The clerk who had spoken earlier pointed to a dagger with a bent tip on the ground and said:

"My lord, I think they must have encountered people wearing armor."

The Police Inspector nodded.

Several people nearby exchanged glances and whispered:

"My lord, didn't you say that in the summer, the Jin Yangshan Stronghold a hundred miles away was also wiped out by a group of people? Are these ones even more formidable than those who wiped out the Jin Yangshan Stronghold?"

The Police Inspector exhaled a puff of white mist, his eyes full of disdain as he said:

"If you haven't seen the big picture, talk less! Do you know what I saw in that stronghold?"

The clerk nearby hurriedly played along and asked:

"My lord, what?"

"Armor!"

The Police Inspector looked at the bandit corpses around him who were only wearing winter clothes and said:

"In the middle of the night, wearing armor to raid this group of unarmored bandits, pfft."

Looking at the caravan in the distance,

The Police Inspector added: "Screen them carefully! We'll just accept this merit that fell from the sky."

After speaking, he led his men away from the forest.

After walking a dozen steps, a young constable beside the Police Inspector said:

"Uncle, didn't you say last time that you saw blood-stained armor outside the stronghold? Why this time..."

"Shut up!"

Another person said: "Uncle, could this also be the work of the Imperial City Division's Arrow-Pointing Team?"

The constable who had just called him uncle looked over with curiosity.

The Police Inspector said: "You shut up too!"

At this moment, someone shouted: "My lord, this person has been identified! It's on the wanted poster we sent to Yuncheng..."

The Police Inspector smiled and hurriedly walked over.

The two young men left behind,

One said:

"Cousin, what is this Arrow-Pointing Team you mentioned? Tonight when we go back, I'm treating at the Yuncheng restaurant!"

The other replied:

"Fine, it's a deal! The name of this Arrow-Pointing Team was something Uncle had a hard time finding out from the mouths of big shots in the Imperial City Division!"

As he spoke, he looked around and whispered:

"That Arrow-Pointing Team is a military unit specifically used by our Great Zhou's Imperial City Division to suppress bandits and destroy thieves!"

"Everyone in the team is a fierce soldier capable of using finger-thick feathered arrows! That's why they got this name!"

"Hiss!"

The listener gasped at the cold winter morning air.

At this moment, someone rode over from the direction of the post station, and the two young men hurriedly followed.

Upon arriving close, they heard that person say:

"Police Inspector, the thief captured by the post-station laborers this morning has confessed!"

"There were informants in Dongping who passed the news that they saw boxes of pearls, sable fur, and gold in the caravan, which is why they were tempted."

On the road to Bianjing,

In many cold and shaded places, there was still unmelted white snow.

Although it was noon, the north wind still made the faces of the carriage drivers uncomfortable.

Someone rode a tall horse past the caravan.

The boy who had spoken the previous evening pulled up the old scarf beneath his nose that didn't quite match his clothes to ward off the cold.

He moved his gaze away from the knight's boots; there were several splattered blood spots on them.

In the cold winter,

The caravan traveled and stopped like this for several days.

This evening, when they entered the post station, the sky was already dark.

The population and traffic in the vicinity were much denser than before, and there was a faint glow in the night sky in the distance.

The next day, the caravan set off exceptionally early.

After walking for less than an hour, a magnificent city wall that the boy had never seen before appeared before him.

All around, there were many commoners pushing handcarts loaded with meat, game, and various goods, preparing to enter the city.

At this time, the boy had already gotten off the carriage and was leading the horse pulling the carriage by the bridle at the front.

Soldiers came to the side of the guarding knights, and after some negotiation, the group was let in through an empty side gate.

Passing through the wide and deep gate tunnel, it suddenly became much warmer; the air smelled of burning coal, and there was also the aroma of various mouth-watering foods.

After following the caravan inside for two quarters of an hour, there were many fewer passersby than at the city gate.

Under the deep blue sky, there were a few dim lanterns on the street.

More prominent was the sound of the caravan horses' hooves.

After walking for another two quarters of an hour or so,

The roadside was still somewhat quiet, but tall wooden buildings appeared on both sides, with red lanterns hanging on them.

At the entrance of the wooden buildings were large plaques, and one of the two characters on them was the same as the character hanging in the caravan—both were the character "Pan".

After passing the wooden buildings, the caravan walked for quite a while longer, and at an intersection, the caravan split into two.

The boy's carriage became the lead carriage, continuing to follow the escorting knights.

"Clang, clang! The third quarter of the Mao hour!"

The sound of time-keeping from the streets and alleys traveled from afar.

At this moment, they arrived at another wide crossroads.

In the boy's line of sight,

The knight beside him suddenly clamped his mount, halted, and raised his left hand to the side.

The boy hurriedly stopped the carriage, and the sound of "Whoa" continued to come from behind. He followed the knight's gaze and saw several people riding handsome horses on the road to the right.

Their mounts were all tall and large.

Especially the one in the lead, wearing a cloak embroidered with gold threads that looked exceptionally valuable.

Beneath him was a mount of extraordinary spirit, a head taller than the other horses accompanying it.

The spirit of this horse was something the boy had only seen in this life.

In the time it took to describe it,

This group of people had already reached the middle of the intersection; for every step the lead dragon-horse took, the horses behind had to take nearly two steps to catch up.

The boy driving the carriage had excellent eyesight; he gripped his whip,

And could see that the various joints of the leather straps fitted on the dragon-horse's head were fixed with beautiful jade, and there were exquisite gold ornaments on the leather straps on the horse's chest.

When the group of knights passed by,

The lead boy's gaze paused, and then he bowed slightly and nodded respectfully toward the caravan.

The escorting knights were somewhat startled and hurriedly bowed in return.

The boy driving the carriage tilted his head and looked at the "Pan" flag hanging on the carriage.

After the dragon-horse group passed,

At the intersection, one more person appeared beside the escorting knight:

"Zongjun, what's going on? Why stop the horses?"

The lead knight loosened his right hand from his tightly gripped waist saber and shook his head, saying:

"Just now I thought I was being targeted by a White-Browed General (tiger), which is why I waved to stop the team."

The person who caught up said:

"What whistling wind! Could it be that you stayed in the trees too long these past few days and froze yourself stupid?"

"However, that boy's mount is truly spirited, on par with the dragon-horse the Emperor received from Northern Liao as a peace offering!"

The caravan restarted and turned a corner,

Walking to the entrance of a courtyard with a plaque hanging that read "Jin Kingdom Guanyi,"

And turned inside.

Xu Zaijing rode the dragon-horse toward the Sheng family residence,

Qingyun was talking to him from the side,

Xu Zaijing, having finished listening, smiled and shook his head.

He had just seen the knights in foreign attire wearing armor at the intersection,

And had been unable to stop himself from staring fiercely, which ended up affecting Qingyun, who was very familiar with him, and almost caused him to draw his sword directly.

Arriving at Jiying Lane,

When entering the lecture hall, Gu Tingye, Qi Heng, and Changfeng were laughing happily.

Seeing Xu Zaijing, Gu Tingye said: "Jing-ge'er, today is a holiday, do you have any good places to go tomorrow?"

Xu Zaijing shook his head, handed his cloak to Hua Xiang, and glanced at little Xiaotao, who was sitting in the back, drowsy.

After school in the afternoon,

Just like last year, Scholar Zhuang assigned holiday homework.

But this time Zaihang didn't leave early; last year he had been tricked quite badly by someone.

"While resting at home, everyone must not be lazy!"

"Thank you, Scholar, for your teachings!"

"Hmm, you may leave."

Subsequently, the scholar put on his ear-warmers and walked out of the lecture hall with his hands behind his back, leisurely.

Everyone's servants and maids tidied up the desks, while Xu Zaijing and the others put on their cloaks and capes,

Walked out of the school, and listened to Gu Tingye's celebratory "Yo-ho!"

Everyone laughed; after all, who doesn't like holidays!

Leaving Jiying Lane,

When Xu Zaijing and his elder brother were returning home,

After crossing the bridge and passing a two-story restaurant,

A flatbed carriage was parked at the entrance.

Under the wine banner,

A young man dressed in wealth and wearing a jade crown was affectionately talking to several fellow disciples.

One of the fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys saw Xu Zaijing, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Look, I didn't lie to you! That's the divine horse I saw this morning!"

Xu Zaijing looked at the group of people turning to look from the roadside and revealed a smile, cupping his hands.

Xu Zaihang, beside him, heard this and asked in confusion:

"Xiao Wu, do you know them?"

Xu Zaijing smiled and said:

"I do!"

"It's been a long time, everyone."

Luan Tingyu suppressed the corner of his mouth, cupped his hands in return, nodded, and then proudly glanced at his younger brother, saying:

"See that? This is the person your brother knows in Bianjing! Isn't it impressive?"

Lu Junyi, beside him, smiled and said: "I'm the host today, let's go!"

On the road, Xu Zaijing explained the identities of those people to his elder brother.

Returning to Quyuan Street and entering the Marquis's mansion gate,

They saw the Pan family's carriage parked near the stables.

"Two young masters, the Da Niangzi has spoken, asking you to go directly to the courtyard to see her."

Hearing the words of the servant beside him, Xu Zaijing didn't even massage the horse and went straight to the mistress's courtyard.

The two brothers entered the room, bowed, and saluted:

"Greetings, Da Niangzi."

Da Niangzi Pan smiled slightly: "Good! Sit down quickly."

Xu Zaijing and his elder brother took their seats, and only then did they see several wooden boxes placed on the table.

In the wooden boxes were ginseng roots; Xu Zaijing didn't know much about them, but he could see they were definitely not ordinary ginseng.

Da Niangzi Pan said: "These are little trinkets the family bought from the Jin Kingdom."

"This box of pearls, the young masters and young ladies can take them as toys."

As she spoke, the Pan family nanny beside her presented a wooden box; seeing the size of the pearls inside, Xu Zaijing widened his eyes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 290 =====