Ye Xiaotian and his companions continued their journey to the west. The area they passed by gradually became a place where different ethnic groups lived together. The Han, the Miao, the Hui, the Zhuang, the Yi, the Yao, the Bai, the She, and more than a dozen other ethnic groups lived in the small villages along the way.
The customs here were very different from the Central Plains and the control of the government was also relatively weak. In some places where the geography was bad and the people were tough, the area that the magistrate could control was actually limited to the county. Under such circumstances, the public security was naturally even worse. For safety reasons, Ye Xiaotian would always find a merchant traveling the same way before continuing on the road.
On this day, they finally arrived at the Huangzhou Prefecture. As long as they passed through Huangzhou, there would be a road connecting the north and south and they could then turn towards the road to the capital. Ye Xiaotian was both happy and worried. He was happy that he could finally set foot on the road home, but worried that he only had a single copper coin left in his pouch.
Although there was a road connecting the north and south after Huangzhou, this road was a relay road that was opened up in the mountains. From Huangzhou to the next big city was a long and winding relay road in the mountains. It would take at least four days to pass through.
In this period of time, it was almost all mountains and lofty ridges. It was very difficult to meet signs of human habitation. A penniless and lonely person would not be able to pass through no matter what. But Ye Xiaotian did not stop because of this. When the car arrives at the mountain, there will always be a way out. The optimistic Little Tian had always believed that there would always be a way out.
After entering the city, they spent the last copper coin and bought three vegetable buns. The three of them barely managed to eat a mouthful and immediately headed towards the west of the city.
Ever since they entered Huangzhou, Xue Shuiwu had been somewhat preoccupied. But at this moment, Ye Xiaotian was both happy and worried at the same time and did not notice at all. Xue Shuiwu was preoccupied and could not help but fall a few steps behind. Looking at the back of the person carrying Le Yao, she wanted to say something but in the end closed her mouth.
Now that the west gate was just around the corner, Shuiwu finally gathered her courage and quickly caught up. Just as she was about to say something to Ye Xiaotian, Ye Xiaotian suddenly stopped and pulled her up, quickly flashing towards the corner of the street.
Xue Shuiwu asked in shock: "Brother Ye, what's wrong?"
Ye Xiaotian said: "Silence!"
He handed Le Yao over to Shuiwu and stuck his head out of the wall. Looking into the distance, he frowned and his expression gradually darkened.
At the city gate, commoners and merchants were entering and exiting. There were only two half-dead soldiers leaning against the city gate with their arms crossed, lazily sizing up the commoners. Under the shadow of the city wall, there were five or six burly men standing there.
They looked left and right as they stood in front of a city gate that wasn't very lively. One of them was skinny, and it was none other than Skinny Yang. Ye Xiaotian had never expected that they would chase after him, and that they would be guarding the only exit leading to the north!
Thin Yang was sitting on a stone block, wearing a straw hat and eating a piece of watermelon.
Yang was sitting on a stone block, wearing a straw hat and chewing on a piece of watermelon. Unless there was a vehicle that could hide people, there was no need for him to deliberately go forward to check. Ye Xiaotian, Xue Shuiwu, and a child, such a combination was easy to recognize.
That day, he had chased Ye Xiaotian and the others for a long time on the official road north of Jing Province, but he had not seen any sign of Ye Xiaotian and the others. Skinny Yang immediately realized that something was wrong. Even if Ye Xiaotian and the others had borrowed someone else's carriage, it was impossible for them to be faster than their horses. Since he could not catch up with them, it was very likely that they had fallen behind, or that they had not left Jing Province at all.
Yang immediately turned around to search for Ye Xiaotian. All the way back to Jingzhou, he did not see any sign of Ye Xiaotian and his companions. Skinny Yang angrily went to report to Madam Yang. He had thought that Ye Xiaotian and the other two would be lucky enough to escape. But, who would have thought that Madam Yang would give him a strict order to find Shui Wu and her daughter and kill them?
Yang did not understand why Madame was so insistent. He could only curse in his heart. Narrow-Minded women are scary. As a servant, he could not and did not dare to disobey his master's order. He could only carry it out to the letter.
But to catch Ye Xiaotian and his companions was easier said than done. Yang went through a lot of trouble to find out that Ye Xiaotian and his companions were heading west. Yang chased after them, but he was always one step too late.
Because of this, Yang Sanskinny decided to split half of his men to follow the trail, while he brought the other half to rush to the Huangzhou Prefecture, blocking the only road to the capital.
Ye Xiaotian said to Xue Shuiwu, "Yang is here. He is in front of the city gate."
"What?" Xue Shuiwu's face turned pale.
Ye Xiaotian stared at her with a sharp gaze. He asked in a low voice, "Why does Madame Yang want you dead?"
Xue Shuiwu was confused. She thought carefully and shook her head, "I … I don't understand. It doesn't make sense. Why does she hate this little … this little girl? It doesn't make sense."
Ye Xiaotian felt that Shuiwu's words were not entirely true. Unreasonable persecution was not unheard of. If a person could enjoy almost unrestrained power, then no matter how crazy or unscrupulous they were, there was no reason for them to be reasonable.
However, Madame Yang obviously did not have such power. She was heavily restricted. Therefore, if she insisted on doing this, she must have a motive or a reason. But now was not the time to interrogate her. Ye Xiaotian looked deeply at Shuiwu and poked his head out to observe the movements at the city gate.
Shuiwu bit her lips and stammered, "Since they are guarding the city gate, what should we do? Should … should we hide in the city for a few days? "
Ye Xiaotian shook his head, "Who knows if there are only a few of them? What if there are others spying on us in the city? A long night is fraught with dreams. We need to leave the city as soon as possible to be safer. "
Xue Shuiwu looked at the few burly men guarding the city gate and worriedly said, "How can we leave? We can't sneak out and we can't barge our way out …"
Ye Xiaotian rubbed his chin and muttered, "It's not easy to get out, but it doesn't mean we can't. There is always a way. We will find a way. "
At this time, a group of people slowly walked towards the intersection where they were hiding.
There were two people walking at the front. One of them was a girl from the Miao family. She was about sixteen or seventeen years old and wore an exquisite silver corolla on her head. On the corolla, there was a pair of silver horns about a foot tall. The tips of the horns were tied with colorful streamers, and there was a silver ribbon hanging from the bottom of the silver corolla and a small silver flower pendant.
A gorgeous batik pleated skirt was tied around her slender waist, and a string of silver bells was tied around her waist. The silver ornaments on her body did not stop there. There were also silver ornaments around her neck. There were seven layers of silver necklaces hanging around her neck, shining brightly. There was also a silver lock and a silver collar in front of her chest.
When she strode forward with her pair of slender and light legs, her gait was gentle and beautiful, and her small waist was also strangely graceful. It was as if she was in a painting, and the sound of the silver bells that came out from her body became a melodious tune.
The flowery and silver dress complemented her beautiful face like a full moon. Her eyebrows were black and bright, and she had a pair of big eyes. The bridge of her nose was tall and straight, and her mouth was slightly bigger than the cherry lips of the Central Plains beauties, but it gave her plump and beautiful lips a unique flavor.
Her lips were not painted with vermilion, but they had a healthy and bright luster. Her red lips were clear on the outside, and her white teeth were fresh on the inside. There was a kind of healthy and sexy beauty, and it made her exude a kind of sexy vitality. Coupled with the gorgeous silver ornaments, she was bright and moving.
Beside her was a scholarly man in a green robe. He waved a folding fan in his hand, and his behavior was full of elegance. Although his face was not ugly, it could not be said to be elegant. He could barely be considered as a middle-aged man, but he was full of the aura of a scholar.
Behind the two of them, there were more than ten strong men of the Miao family with sabers on their horses. Wherever they passed, the pedestrians on the street would give way, afraid that they would provoke people they should not provoke.
Seeing that they were about to reach the intersection, the scholar suddenly closed his folding fan and said to the lady of the Miao family politely, "Lady Ning 'er, let's eat something here first before leaving the city. Otherwise, there won't be a single wild inn on the road ahead, and it won't be easy to eat on the road."
"Young Master Xu is still so thoughtful. Then let's do this."
The lady of the Miao family smiled shyly like a small stream. If someone who was familiar with her saw her at this moment, they would definitely not admit that this gentle and beautiful lady in front of them was the Lady Zhan that they were familiar with. The second of the "Shuixi Three Tigers", Zhan Ning 'er, Lady Zhan.
The "Shuixi Three Tigers" were all women, all very young women. They were all noble ladies who were doted on by many. Thus, they became the nightmares of the hundreds of chieftain young masters in Guizhou. Who knew how many chieftain young masters were tortured by them to the point of insanity, hoping that a great hero would descend from the sky and "eliminate the three evils" for them. Unfortunately, no one was willing to sacrifice themselves, so their nightmares could not be dispelled.
For this Zhan Ning 'er Lady Zhan, her father was the head chieftain of the Zhan clan of Shuixi, and her mother was from the number one chieftain of Guizhou, the Shuixi' An clan. Zhan Ning 'er shouldered the responsibility of two chieftain clans, so naturally, her status was beyond words.
As the saying goes, a hundred-year Emperor, a thousand-year chieftain. The Emperor also had to suffer all kinds of restrictions and could not do as he pleased, especially the Emperors of the Great Ming Dynasty. Generation after generation, they were bullied by the officials, each more miserable than the other. But these chieftains were arbitrary in their power and had the power to kill and seize, even more powerful than the Emperor by a hundred times.
The "Shuixi Three Tigers" sounded awe-inspiring, but when such a nickname was used on a woman, it was enough to show how terrifying they were. Lady Zhan was only ranked second among the three tigers, but she was the only tomboy among the three tigers who knew martial arts.
This Lady Zhan had loved martial arts since she was young, but who would have thought that she would be infatuated with literature when she grew up. Even though she was limited by her talent and could quickly fall asleep the moment she opened a book, this could not dispel her desire to learn.
"Since I can't become a talented woman, then I'll marry a scholar!"
This was what Lady Zhan thought and did. She publicly announced that she was going to marry a scholar with profound knowledge.
When the news came out, the young masters of the several hundred chieftains of Qiandi all held their foreheads and celebrated, "This tigress has finally confirmed the target that she's going to harm for the rest of her life. Luckily it's not me!" Some young masters of the chieftains who clearly knew nothing about learning but still felt that they were very talented, in order to be safe, they even announced, "This young master is illiterate."
Actually, they didn't need to be so worried. If they wanted to find a scholar, was there anyone more outstanding than a scholar from the Han family? The men of the Miao family were straightforward and boorish, they didn't have the talent of a scholar from the Han family. A scholar from the Han family was a fatal temptation to almost every girl of the Miao family!
Zhan Ning 'er had originally gone to the Central Plains to settle a matter, and on the way back, she coincidentally met this scholar named Xu Boyi. Hearing him recite a poem and play a song on the zither, her heart fell.
Young master Xu was almost thirty years old. Because his family was poor, he focused on studying and was still unmarried. When Zhan Ning 'er found out about all this, she immediately set him as her ideal match. She was afraid that her roughness would scare away this refined scholar, so she always pretended to be weak and obedient in front of him.
Following young master Xu's suggestion, a pair of fiery red sleeves fluttered in the wind. Amidst the melodious sound of silver bells, Zhan Ning 'er floated past Ye Xiaotian with a fresh breath.
Ye Xiaotian sniffed the faint floral fragrance that assaulted his nostrils. Looking at the dozen or so fierce looking men of the Miao family who followed closely behind Zhan Ning 'er and young master Xu, he snapped his fingers at Xue Shuiwu and said in high spirits, "I have an idea."
Xue Shuiwu asked happily, "What idea?"
Ye Xiaotian smiled naughtily and said confidently, "I naturally have an idea! You just wait here patiently. When Skinny Yang and his men leave the city gates, we will immediately leave the city! "
