"Li Zhifeng." You Miao said, "Come and have a cup of tea to warm yourself up."
Li Zhifeng did not answer. After loading the things, he stood behind You Miao with his head bowed. You Miao smiled and said, "Sit down. Drink if I ask you to. The young master has something to say."
Li Zhifeng looked at You Miao for a long time and said, "What is it?"
You Miao said, "Sit down first."
Li Zhifeng replied, "I am your slave and cannot sit. I am willing to serve you."
You Miao said, "You are not now."
Li Zhifeng was startled, and then his sword-like eyebrows slightly twisted. You Miao solemnly took out a small bag from his bosom, put it on the table, and said, "Here, this is for you."
"It's fate that we can know each other." You Miao smiled and said, "I'll return the indenture to you, and you will be free from now on. This little change will be used as your travel expenses. Go home so that your family members won't worry about you. We'll say goodbye here."
Li Zhifeng was stunned. The wind blew the cloth on the inn and rustled it. He opened the indenture, revealing the change inside.
"Why?" Li Zhifeng seemed confused for a moment.
You Miao said, "No reason. They say that a love affair lasts for one night... well, a hundred days of grace, it's like that anyway, go live your own life. The young master has nothing to give you."
Li Zhifeng's eyes were red, and he stared at You Miao silently. You Miao knew that Li Zhifeng was very touched, but he felt a little embarrassed. He said, "Originally, I didn't want you to leave like this, but you are from the outside of the Great Wall, there is no reason for you to be a slave. My mother said before she died that people have good and bad lives. If you have a hard life, you can't blame God... What am I talking about? Anyway, live your life well in the future, just treat it as making friends."
You Miao was talking nonsense, and he didn't know what he said. Hao Sanqian was shouting in the distance.
"Young master - we have to leave -"
You Miao stood in the sunset, and Li Zhifeng just stood there silently. You Miao was a young man, a head shorter than Li Zhifeng. He raised his hand to touch his face, and patted him, a little reluctant. But it was useless to be reluctant, and he couldn't take him home. If his father knew, he would be driven away sooner or later.
Although it cost two hundred taels of silver to buy him back, he saved his life with his own hands, so he had some feelings for him. In addition, they had been together day and night for these days and even slept together once. You Miao began to understand why his father doted on his concubine.
It was better to let Li Zhifeng go, just as a good thing.
"I'm leaving." You Miao said, "Don't come to beat the Han people again. You have to remember that I saved your life. Don't come to beat the Han people again! I'm leaving! The mountains and rivers will never change."
You Miao smiled and got on the carriage. Li Zhifeng held his indenture in his hand, standing there like a piece of wood, watching the convoy leave in a mighty manner, without saying a word. You Miao opened the window, blew on his hands and looked back. The carriage left Yanbian City, and Li Zhifeng's figure gradually became smaller, leaving only a small black dot.
The convoy set off, and You Miao sat alone in the carriage. It was getting dark outside again. Hao Sanqian rubbed his hands and came in to serve him. When asked about Li Zhifeng, You Miao said that he simply couldn't bring him home, so he had to send him away.
"Young Master is really a living Bodhisattva." Hao Sanqian said with a smile after hearing this.
You Miao said, "Hey, it's just a little bit of good deeds, but it's pitiful to see."
Hao Sanqian said, "This person, sometimes you can't guarantee that he will be in trouble. Young Master lives in the capital, and his family is a wealthy family in Jiangdong. He is not like us, the peddlers who have been outside for years and have given our lives to God. Don't blame me, Hao San, for being unpleasant to hear. That's the truth. Young Master is a good person and will be rewarded. Whatever you do in your daily life, God has eyes and is watching..."
You Miao smiled and said, "Isn't it?"
Hao Sanqian ate a lot, lit the stove for You Miao, and roasted tea. The wind was whistling all the way, and someone was shouting outside, so Hao Sanqian got off the car to lead the way.
The snowstorm came again, and it was getting stronger and stronger. This time, the porters were walking against the wind, sometimes heading south, and sometimes turning north along the official road. This was the most difficult road outside the Great Wall. The empty wilderness was endless. The snowstorm had no obstacles, and it was like a roaring giant on the plain, rushing towards them with one step of ten miles.
You Miao knew that it would be too peaceful and stable when they left Huangzhou and entered Liangzhou.
These merchants brought the goods from the capital to the Great Wall to exchange for good things from the Hu people, and then turned south to resell them in Liangzhou, Liuzhou and Yangzhou for a second time, in exchange for white silver bills, and returned to the capital to make deals.
The Ministry of Revenue in the capital was the most ruthless. The Ministry of Revenue issued a trade order. Without a trade order, it was not allowed to do business anywhere, so 50% would be taken. You Deyou, who was in charge of the list, and the officials took 40% of the goods, leaving only the last 10% for the merchants.
Even so, every year there are still many people who send money and gifts to You Deyou's house, and fight for a place on the list, just to earn the forty taels of silver from being a merchant.
When they get to Jiangbei, these skins, bones, incense and other items can be sold at a sky-high price, and then exchanged for Yangzhou embroidery, tribute tea, rouge... You Miao dozed off leaning against the car window, subconsciously touching the side, but couldn't touch Li Zhifeng.
He had been using this man for several months, and now he was gone, which made him a little uncomfortable. The cold wind outside surrounded the car, making a series of howls, causing You Miao to shrink into his clothes again, feeling very exhausted.
The carriage stopped in a forest, and Hao Sanqian shouted outside against the wind: "Master! The wind is too strong! We can't go! We have to spend the night in the wild!"
You Miao patted the car window to indicate that he understood. This place is hundreds of miles away from Yanbian. He should not have left the city earlier, but no one expected that the blizzard would come so quickly. It is too late to go back now, so he had to hide in the woods behind the hills. The porters bent like shrimps to put cloth on the truck to block the wind and snow, and nailed wooden stakes. The wind blew the cloth and the cloth rustled from time to time. After nailing, the merchants each got into the truck bed full of meat skins to save their lives first.
You Miao was sleeping and waking in the car, feeling uncomfortable all over. The wind was leaking from all sides of the carriage, which gave him a headache. The bedding was cold and wet. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he climbed down, took a book, wrapped himself in a thick quilt, and warmed himself by the fire.
The wind outside gradually died down. You Miao missed Li Zhifeng and didn't know how he was now. There was a faint sound of horse hooves approaching, and You Miao thought it was the officials from Yanbian City coming, but there was no movement around. When he was about to open the window, he suddenly heard a scream.
"Ah——"
You Miao's heart was instantly gripped, and he understood what happened in an instant. The whole caravan woke up, and Hao Sanqian's voice shouted outside: "The robbers are coming! Everyone be careful!"
Screams came one after another, and You Miao was immediately frightened and his face turned pale, and his legs trembled. Hao Sanqian shouted again: "Everyone draw your swords! Young master stay in the car! Don't get off!"
You Miao was alone in the car, his pupils contracted slightly, and his mind was instantly confused. He had heard people talk about robbers. In the past, when the world was unstable, there were bandits everywhere who killed people and robbed goods. However, in recent years, the world has been peaceful, so how could there still be robbers? !
You Miao's heart was pounding, and he kept comforting himself that it was okay. These people were able to come out, so they had some skills. The merchants in the northwest have always been more fierce than horse thieves, so they must have been prepared. There was another scream outside, followed by the panicked neighing of horses. You Miao immediately held his breath, bent down and crawled under the couch, found the dagger that Li Yan had given him before he left, held it in his hand, and hid under the couch.
The shouts of the Hu people became louder and louder. There was a chaos outside. You Miao could not see anything, let alone stick his head out to see. He judged how many people were outside and how the battle was going based on the sound.
"Be careful, they have bows--"
The shouting stopped abruptly, followed by another scream.
The sound of feather arrows swished, and an arrow shot through the car window with a "click" sound, nailed to the wooden wall and kept shaking. Screams rang out one after another, and then all fell silent after a while.
The voice of the Hu man said something outside, followed by footsteps approaching from all directions.