Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
It took a whole day to cross the desert from Beiguan City to Xiaozhen Oasis. It was already past noon, which was not a good time to cross the desert. Xu Jiao did not want to stay in the garrison for a long time, so she rode the camel back to Beiguan City, planned to stay there for one night, and set off again tomorrow morning.
Beiguan City was the junction of Yan, Han and Bal, with frequent trade. Most of the people coming in and out of the city were merchants from Bal, Qiangya, and even the Western Regions.
Arriving at Beiguan City after dusk yesterday, Xu Jiao was worried about Cao Fushui and didn’t sleep well all night. Now that Cao Fushui’s matter was settled, Xu Jiao felt relieved and asked for water at the inn early to rest.
“Mr. Xu.” Peng Qinyun knocked on the door.
Xu Jiao opened the door with a whoosh, “What’s up?”
Peng Qinyun smiled and said, “There is a Lanzi Festival in Beiguan City tonight. All tribes will dress up and wear masks, and party until midnight. Do you want to go, Mr. Xu?”
“No.” Xu Jiao closed the door.
Peng Qinyun was quick-witted and quickly stretched out a hand to block the door, but Xu Jiao really closed the door. Peng Qinyun screamed in pain, “Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…”
Xu Jiao reopened the door, looked at him sharply, and said impatiently, “If you don’t want this hand anymore, I can ask the guard to do it for you.”
Peng Qinyun quickly retracted his arm and said with a playful smile, “I dare not trouble Master Xu.”
Xu Jiao closed the door again.
Peng Qinyun’s voice called out from outside the door, “Master Xu, are you really not going? It’s Lanzi Festival tonight, it’s very lively outside, the whole city is revelling, it will be too noisy for you to sleep! Let’s go together.”
Xu Jiao was too lazy to pay attention to him.
Sure enough, soon Peng Qinyun’s voice was heard outside the door, howling, “Master Xu, if you don’t go, they won’t let me go~”
Xu Jiao suddenly remembered that when she brought Peng Qinyun out from Fancheng, she had told Hulu in front of Peng Qinyun that if Peng Qinyun ran around, he should break his legs.
No wonder there was no peace the whole night, with ghosts howling and screaming…
The door opened with a whoosh. Peng Qinyun was just about to howl at the top of his lungs when he saw Xu Jiao opening the door. He quickly held back his howl, which caused him internal injuries.
Xu Jiao glanced at him and said to Hulu guarding outside the room, “Let him go.”
Peng Qinyun was pardoned.
Xu Jiao glanced at him and said, “If you cause trouble, both his legs and arms will be broken at the same time.”
Hulu felt relieved. He had long wanted to go up and give him a beating.
“I know, Master Xu!” But Peng Qinyun had already run downstairs and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Xu Jiao finally found peace.
With the presence of troops stationed there, Beiguan City was actually safe and secure. Especially since today was the Lanzi Festival, and most people in the city had gone to party, so the inn was deserted.
Xu Jiao took off her clothes, and the steam in the bathtub was curling. The warm water touched her skin and the warmth flowed. Xu Jiao sighed comfortably, leaned her head back on the edge of the bathtub, and seemed to relax slowly. She had to go back to Beijing. She had sneezed ten times in a row just now. Ms. Cen must have been thinking about her.
Thinking of Ms. Cen, Xu Jiao couldn’t help but smile.
When she first said she was coming to Beiguan City, Ms. Cen was extremely worried and sighed, wondering why a girl would go to such a far place.
What Ms. Cen was concerned about was when she would get married and have children so that she could have grandchildren.
All mothers were the same.
The journey from central Beijing to Beiguan City took a full two months, and Ms. Cen must have missed her.
She missed Ms. Cen.
Finally, I am going back to Beijing to see Ms. Cen…
After taking a shower, Xu Jiao wrapped himself in layers of chest covering again.
Even if there was no one around, it was still better to be cautious.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with disguising herself as a man, but it was really uncomfortable to bind her chest. If she was not used to it, it would probably be unbearable for a day. However, compared to getting married, having children and being trapped in the rear house, she would rather bind her chest and enter the court.
It was the Lanzi Festival, and there were cheers and noise outside the window, it was very lively.
Xu Jiao put on her clothes and stopped in front of the window to take a few looks. There were people dancing in the streets in various costumes, some were drinking, some were breathing fire, some were wearing vats on their heads, and some were even playing musical instruments and making snakes twist their waists. Xu Jiao felt a little scared.
She was afraid of mice and snakes. Snakes had no legs but could “run” so fast, which was simply going against the will of heaven.
Xu Jiao shivered inexplicably and quickly closed the window. She then seemed to feel a little more at ease.
Even with the window closed, the noisy sounds outside could still be heard.
Xu Jiao lay back on the bed, put on her specially made silk eye mask, and plugged in her earplugs. The surroundings suddenly became quiet.
She thought she had not slept well in the past few days and must feel sleepy, but she tossed and turned on the bed but couldn’t fall asleep. After a while, Xu Jiao propped herself up and sat up, taking off her eye mask. It was a rare trip to Beiguan City, so she should bring some gifts back to Ms. Cen. Although Ms. Cen always said that she didn’t like it and that she would like it most when you get married, she actually kept every gift she gave to Ms. Cen carefully and took them out to look at them from time to time.
Suddenly, Xu Jiao no longer felt sleepy.
Instead she reached out and grabbed her clothes from her side and bent over to put on her shoes.
Go buy a gift for Ms. Cen!
….
Beiguan City was indeed bustling today. Xu Jiao had only seen the description of Lanzi Festival in a book before but reading it in a book and seeing it with her own eyes was completely different.
“Girl, buy a hamster. This kind of hamster is easy to raise and smart. It can hide things in its mouth, so it will never starve to death, and it will reproduce many in its lifetime. Take a look, girl.” A street vendor suddenly jumped out, and Xu Jiao shuddered with fright.
She was most afraid of snakes and rats, and hamsters were also a type of rats.
Hulu stood in front of Xu Jiao at the right time, and the street vendor suddenly disappeared.
Xu Jiao sighed in her heart, Ms. Cen actually likes small animals very much.
She likes kittens, puppies and rabbits, which was completely girly. She should like hamsters too, but there were no hamsters for her to raise in Beijing, and she had never seen a hamster before. Maybe Ms. Cen would like them.
While she was thinking, another vendor came up and said, “Girl, buy some jewellery. This batch of jewellery is from the Western Regions. Look at the quality of this ruby. It is absolutely perfect for you.”
Xu Jiao actually took a look at the ruby.
In addition to liking small animals, Ms. Cen also liked jewellery.
But Ms. Cen’s jewellery was mostly plain and elegant, and she didn’t like brightly colored ones.
Xu Jiao put it back silently.
“Girl, why don’t you buy some spices? This batch of spices is from the Western Regions. They are new goods that have just arrived. They are definitely new products. Look, girl, the merchants from the Western Regions are still dancing over there!”
The vendor pointed, and Xu Jiao looked over. There was a bonfire on the street on one side, and indeed many people were dancing around it, wearing all kinds of clothes, from all over the place. But by chance, Xu Jiao saw Peng Qinyun dancing happily in the crowd. This guy must have been in prison for a long time, and must have wanted to dance when he got out…
“Hulu, let’s go.” Xu Jiao didn’t stay long and called Hulu to leave together.
This was Beiguan City, and no one recognized her here.
Today was Lanzi Festival again, and everyone was dressed up and wearing masks.
She hadn’t worn women’s clothes for a long time. If she hadn’t worn a veil, she would have felt a little uncomfortable. But it happened to be the Lanzi Festival, so she could go out and have a look freely.
As long as Hulu was there, she wasn’t worried.
Hulu had been following her since a long time ago and knew her inside and out.
There were both men and women at the Lanzi Festival, all dressed in fine clothes and with graceful figures, and there were also many exotic women. Xu Jiao mixed in with them, wrapped up tightly, and was not very noticeable. But if you looked closely into her eyes, you would know that she must be an extremely beautiful woman.
Xu Jiao looked at a lot of the woman’s things, with envy in her eyes, but finally put them all back.
She didn’t need it and couldn’t use it.
Xu Jiao looked reluctant.
In the end, Xu Jiao still bought the two hamsters in the cage.
Although she wanted to live in peace with them, she was still afraid and let Hulu carry them the whole time.
Hamsters were rare in Beijing, so Ms. Cen must like them. Especially these cute little animals, which Ms. Cen must find cute.
Xu Jiao also bought a pair of pearl earrings for Ms. Cen. She had thought about it all. When she got home, she would first tell Ms. Cen that she had brought a gift. When Ms. Cen saw it, she would think the pearl earrings were the gift. Then she would take out the hamster. Ms. Cen would definitely be happy. The saying of “first suppress and then praise” must work for Ms. Cen.
When she was almost turning back, Xu Jiao stopped and her eyes fell on a dagger inlaid with a jewel.
“Oh, you have good taste, girl! This dagger…” Before the vendor finished speaking, Xu Jiao said in a deep voice, “I want it. How much…”
Before Xu Jiao finished speaking, the dagger was taken by someone else, who exclaimed, “Wow, the Eye of the Gobi Desert, there is such a good thing at this Lanzi Festival! Boss, I want it!”
The vendor was embarrassed, “It was this girl who first…”
Peng Qinyun just realized that there was a murderous aura beside him. It was hard to tell, but it seemed familiar…
Peng Qinyun turned his head to look to the side, and immediately couldn’t help laughing at Hulu, “Hey, you also secretly came to the Lanzi Festival?”
You even bought a hamster…
Peng Qinyun almost laughed out loud.
Peng Qinyun looked at the woman beside him who was wearing a veil, had a narrow waist and clear eyes. Peng Qinyun smiled knowingly, “Hey, don’t worry, you and the girl can go shopping slowly, I won’t tell Master Xu!”
After Peng Qinyun finished speaking, he patted him on the shoulder and turned around with a smile. However, he had just taken a few steps when his feet stopped. He trembled as if he had seen a ghost. He then turned around slowly, as if he had lost his parents, “Xu… Master Xu…”
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next