Union

Chapter 12 On the road

Since we're sending several grown women over, and these women are all delicate young ladies, we need to arrange for a suitable number of people to escort them. Also, since it's a trip there, we'll inevitably need to bring back some clothes, shoes, socks, food, and other necessities for the Second Master.

It sounds simple, just a few words, but in reality, it took three days to get everything ready.

Three days later, after having breakfast, everyone prepared to leave the capital.

Madam Feng was naturally reluctant to part with Aunt Ding, but she was even more concerned about her son, so she couldn't help but repeatedly instruct Aunt Ding, "After you arrive in Lingnan, please stay for another year or two and see what these girls are really like. If they are truly good, then you can come back."

Aunt Ding said, "I understand, Madam, please rest assured." Then she added jokingly to reassure Madam Feng, "On another note, I watched Second Master grow up. Now that he's going to be a local official, I want to see him establish himself in Lingnan before he comes back. I'll learn from Second Master's prowess when I return."

Upon hearing this, Madam Feng smiled and couldn't help but reply, "Okay."

The group bid farewell to Madam Feng, who watched them leave, her expression gradually turning silent.

On the contrary, Lin Shuqing breathed a sigh of relief.

This matter has finally come to an end.

She sent someone to Chen Yanzhou, which was considered fulfilling her duty. No one should bring this up again.

The matter was resolved perfectly, and Lin Shuqing should have been happy, but for some reason, she still felt uneasy and uncomfortable, as if someone had pinched her hard. The feeling was sour and bloated, making her feel uncomfortable all over.

But she didn't go back on her word in the end, and just stared blankly as the figures of the crowd disappeared before her eyes.

Yunying and the others all boarded the carriage and headed towards Jinan Ferry.

From Jinan to Hangzhou, and then from Hangzhou to Lingnan Prefecture.

Let's start with the section from Jinan to Hangzhou. Because there's a canal along this route, they decided to travel by water.

It was summer, and the southeast winds were prevailing. Boats traveling south would be going against the wind, making them much slower than in other seasons. However, it was still faster than traveling by land. Furthermore, the passenger ship offered more space and easier movement, which was especially convenient for the women. Despite the considerable expense, after careful consideration, the Duke's mansion decided to allow them to travel by boat.

The carriage traveled for a whole day before finally reaching Jinan Ferry.

There were already arranged boats waiting at the ferry dock.

The boat was a small passenger ship, and the crew was simple, consisting of a few boatmen and Yunying and her group.

Their group was quite large.

There were several female relatives who were prepared to be given to the Second Master, as well as Aunt Ding and two cooks, five maids, an old doctor, the second steward of the Marquis's mansion, and thirty tall and burly guards who looked very intimidating.

The reason for arranging so many guards to accompany them is that there are many bandits in the Lingnan Prefecture area. Without a strong military deterrent, they might disappear without a trace halfway there.

Leaving aside these distant matters, by the time we settled down on the passenger ship, it was already completely dark.

After everyone had dinner and washed up briefly with water, they all went to bed.

Yunying lived in her cabin, along with a young maid who slept on the floor.

The young maid was quite carefree; she lay down on the ground and fell asleep. Perhaps because she was too tired from a day's carriage ride, she even made soft snoring sounds.

Yunying, however, could not sleep.

She got up lightly and gently pushed open the window.

The moon is exceptionally bright tonight, casting countless silver rays across the sky. Accompanied by the gurgling sound of the river flowing below, everything seems so tranquil and peaceful.

As Yunying watched, she gradually became lost in thought.

She didn't even know what she was thinking. By the time she finally felt sleepy, it was already past midnight. Yunying slipped on her shoes, yawned, and went to the bedside to continue sleeping.

The boat trip was very boring.

Aunt Ding was strict with the rules, partly because she worried that the beautiful girls might get bored and get entangled with the hot-blooded young guards, causing some scandal. So, during the day, she would either gather them together to do needlework or keep them quietly in their rooms.

Yunying obeyed all these arrangements very well, but contrary to her unconditional cooperation, her thoughts became increasingly heavy.

Aunt Ding is so meticulous in her work, do you really think she can escape?

Moreover, there's the travel permit, and the indenture...

Yunying gradually began to suffer from insomnia.

She didn't know that if she were really sent to a strange man's side and became his concubine—no, not even a concubine, they wouldn't even have a title, just a maidservant.

Of course, rank is not the issue; the biggest problem now is that she might have to serve one man along with several other women.

This is suffocating.

Even while still on the estate, she had prepared for this. She even felt that as long as she could escape the estate and temporarily save her life, it wouldn't matter. But now that things had come to this, she avoided it like the plague, unable to convince herself to take that step. She hadn't reached a dead end; she still had her principles, and she couldn't accept that version of herself. So, she still had to escape…

On the journey south, Yunying developed a habit of sitting by the porthole and listening to the sound of flowing water.

The weather hasn't been as scorching these past few days, and a gentle breeze occasionally blows across the river. The water in the canal flows very calmly, and accompanied by the murmuring of the flowing water and the basking in of the evening sunset, it is only at this time that Yunying can take a short nap.

On this day, the passenger ship sailed for a while and prepared to dock at the pier ahead.

Yunying's heart skipped a beat, and Qiu Ning and Mu Jin's eyes also lit up.

The passengers were so bored on the passenger ship. They spent their days either embroidering or staying in their rooms. They were getting restless and wanted to get out for some fresh air, even if it was just a short walk around the dock.

Aunt Ding shook her head and refused, saying, "The docks are crowded with people, and the girls are beautiful; it's not good for them to go into the crowds."

Aunt Ding then told them another story.

That happened more than ten years ago on the Lantern Festival.

It is said that a girl of similar age to Xiao Feng was kidnapped on the night of the Lantern Festival. Fortunately, the yamen runners did their best to investigate and found her a few days later.

But after the girl returned, no one dared to marry her. Her father and brothers, concerned about the family's reputation and worried that she would delay the marriages of their sisters and nieces, had no choice but to send her to a temple. It is said that the girl initially hoped that her parents would take her home, but later, perhaps feeling that there was no hope, she hanged herself in the temple.

When Aunt Ding recounted this story, her expression was filled with regret, and her eyes shone with genuine sadness. It was clear that this had truly happened, and who knows, the girl might even have had a past connection with them.

The girls were all intimidated and stopped mentioning getting off the boat to relax.

The passenger ship stopped at the dock for about an hour before continuing its journey.

After they set off, Aunt Ding gave each girl some seasonal fresh fruit, two exquisite pearl flowers, some rouge and face powder, and a piece of fashionable fabric.

These are all things that were just purchased.

Fresh fruit was left for them to enjoy, and pearl hairpins and rouge were for them to adorn themselves, thinking about how they should appear before the Second Master when they arrived in Lingnan; as for fashionable fabrics, they were to be used to make clothes—just to give them something to do, so they wouldn't be bored and think about all sorts of nonsense all day long.

Sure enough, with these things, the girls settled down and stopped complaining about being bored.

The passenger ship sailed for a few more days, and the sky gradually darkened. The old man who was steering the ship came to find Aunt Ding and Steward Wang, saying that the air was much more humid and there was likely to be a heavy rain ahead. He asked whether they should move to the shore to avoid the storm or continue sailing.

Aunt Ding never cared about these things; the journey was handled by Steward Wang.

Steward Wang was once a close attendant of the Duke, but he was wounded in the arm on the battlefield, which led to his retirement and becoming the second steward in the mansion.

Steward Wang was experienced and shrewd, and let the old man go ashore first.

Before he set off, he had asked someone to scout out this section of the canal and knew that there were many hidden reefs underneath.

Heavy rain and hidden reefs could easily be fatal. To be on the safe side, it's best to wait until the storm has passed before setting off.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one with this idea. As their passenger ship docked, many more merchant ships and passenger ships also gathered there.

As evening approached, dark, heavy clouds pressed down on the horizon, giving one a sense of impending doom. Suddenly, several flashes of lightning crackled in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour of large raindrops.

The sky seemed to have been punched with a huge hole, and the rain poured down for a full hour without stopping.

When it was time to rest, Butler Wang came to find Aunt Ding and told her to be more alert while sleeping that night.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Ding's expression immediately became serious. She didn't ask any further questions, but after Steward Wang left, she got up, dressed, and walked through the cabins where the four girls lived one by one.

Yunying had been having trouble sleeping lately. When Aunt Ding reminded them to "sleep alertly and not rush out the door if you hear any noise, but find a place to hide first," her intuition told her that something bad was going to happen. Could they have encountered river bandits?

With this thought in mind, Yunying became even more uneasy, tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.

The usually carefree maidservant inside was trembling with fear, clinging to herself and asking Yunying in a trembling voice, "Miss, will we be alright?"

"We'll be fine. We brought thirty guards with us when we came out, and they're all skilled fighters. Even if someone attacks us, we'll be safe."

The young maidservant responded tremblingly with an "Oh".

Yunying saw her trembling like a leaf, her small face showing great fear, and she looked extremely pitiful.

She lifted the covers, called out to her, and asked her to come to bed.

The little maid was truly terrified. At this moment, she couldn't care less about etiquette and quickly ran to the bed, lying down next to Yunying.

Perhaps relieved, the little girl fell asleep after a short while. Influenced by her, Yunying also became drowsy.

(End of this chapter)