Dong Si drove the carriage, Zhou Sui sat on the shafts, and inside the carriage were Jiang Jin and the other two women.
Jiang Jin smelled a faint scent of herbs, knowing that Zhou Sui's wounds must have been treated with the captured medicine.
The dirt road was full of potholes, and the carriage's poor suspension made the bumpy ride leave Jiang Jin feeling a bit dizzy.
Beauty Feng and Talent Liu huddled in a corner, appearing extremely constrained, keeping their heads down and not daring to speak.
It was only then that Jiang Jin learned their names: Feng Qingzhu, seventeen, and Liu Mi, nineteen.
After traveling for about fifteen minutes, they encountered a group of fleeing refugees coming towards them.
There were not many in this group, about a dozen old and young people in total. They were all in rags, emaciated, with numb expressions in their eyes.
Seeing the luxurious carriage, the eyes of the two slightly sturdier refugees leading the group flickered.
However, upon seeing Zhou Sui sitting on the carriage shafts holding a sword, they lowered their heads again and stepped aside to the edge of the road.
The carriage quickly passed the refugees and continued forward.
The closer they got to Liang City, the more desolate the road became. There were even many corpses scattered in the wild fields by the roadside, attracting crows to peck at them.
Jiang Jin remained expressionless, but her heart was somewhat moved. This was her first time directly facing the cruelty and ruin of this world.
In these troubled times, human lives were as cheap as weeds; white bones lay exposed in the wilderness, and for thousands of miles, not a rooster's crow could be heard.
Dong Si, see if you can find a household register by the side of the road, Jiang Jin called out to the driver.
Entering the city usually required identity papers. Picking up a ready-made one would save them a lot of trouble.
Understood, Dong Si replied quickly.
In his heart, he did not quite agree. No matter what, their appearances and temperaments could not be compared to these corpses by the road.
But this was the princess's order, and he instinctively obeyed.
Zhou Sui looked at the devastation all around, his heart filled with sorrow.
Dong Si found a household register on a relatively fresh corpse.
He also stripped off a few sets of clothes that could still barely cover a body. Fortunately, it was the sweltering summer; otherwise, even these tattered clothes would not have been left for them.
The register was a piece of yellowed, somewhat thick paper, bearing the names of the head of the household and family members, as well as their ages and distinct physical features.
Jiang Jin took it and looked it over. Having the original owner's memories, reading the writing of this era was a breeze.
In addition to the detailed address of their residence, the register included a description of the family members.
Head of household: Niu Daniu, born in the first year of Jingwen, triangular eyes.
Wife: Zhang Erhua, born in the second year of Jingwen, mole on the left cheek.
Son: Niu Xiaoniu, born in the fourth year of Dechun, triangular eyes.
Daughter: Niu Chouya, born in the fifth year of Dechun, triangular eyes.
Daughter: Niu Gouya, born in the eighth year of Dechun, triangular eyes.
...
Jiang Jin: ... Well then, this was a family of triangular eyes. However, the ages were roughly similar; Niu Daniu was slightly older than Zhou Sui.
She looked outside the carriage. Zhou Sui, is there any place near Liang City where we can hide the carriage and horses?
This carriage was too luxurious and recognizable. She feared they would be spotted the moment they entered the city. Moreover, it was getting late, and she planned to rest well for the night before entering the city tomorrow.
Their group was physically and mentally exhausted at the moment and needed to recuperate. Entering Liang City would be a tough battle.
Zhou Sui thought for a moment before saying, About three miles from Liang City is Mount Changyu.
Jiang Jin nodded. Then we will spend the night at Mount Changyu today.
Just as she was about to return to the carriage, she suddenly remembered something and looked at Dong Si, who was driving. Teach me how to drive the carriage.
In an era where travel relied mostly on horse-drawn carriages, learning how to drive one was highly necessary.
One carriage was too few. After arriving at Liang City, she planned to get one or two more.
Dong Si was taken aback, his eyes instantly turning red. The princess was of noble birth, yet now she had to learn how to drive a carriage herself. That was work meant for servants!
Jiang Jin was speechless. Hold those tears back, or else do not follow me anymore.
Dong Si jumped in fright and quickly forced his half-pouting mouth into a straight line. Yes, Your Highness.
When the morning light shone on the mottled and dilapidated walls of Liang City, the heavy city gates slowly opened. A few gate guards lazily yawned and chatted.
This damn weather. It is boiling hot right from the early morning.
Hehe, I do not think you are hot. You have just been drained of your strength by that camp prostitute.
Haha, she did not drain me; I was the one who made it so she could not get out of bed. She was a lady from a noble family. That skin, that complexion, tsk tsk tsk...
The Jiao tribe occupying Liang City is not actually a bad thing. Otherwise, we would not have even been qualified to look at those noble ladies before. Now, hehe, I get a new one every day without repeating.
Who says otherwise? It is just a pity that the most beautiful Third Lady of the Commandery Governor's family and the Fifth Lady of the Chen family were taken by General Jiao Liang. I heard those two ladies look like heavenly fairies.
Hey, just be content with what you have.
Did you hear? Yao Ji is going to be sold today. Tsk tsk, that is the young general from the Commandery Commandant's family. With a cavalry lance in hand, he used to beat the Jiao tribe's cavalry...
Shh...
Ah? Right, right. No matter how formidable he was, is he not still being sold off as a slave like a dog now?
Wait, are they not afraid that such a formidable master might turn around and seek revenge after being bought?
Who would dare? This is Liang City, controlled by General Jiao Liang! I heard that the general's daughter, Jiao Zhu, took a liking to him. But even as a prisoner, he actually insulted Jiao Zhu, saying she smelled like sheep dung.
Pfft, I heard about that too. It made Jiao Zhu so angry that she slashed his face and pierced his collarbones. He deserves to be sold.
The once bustling city gates now only had a sparse few people entering the city.
The barbarians were cruel. Even though they were now imitating the Han people, trying to become a state of etiquette, recruiting talent, and promoting the idea that barbarians and Han were one family.
However, the mass grave in the west of the city still reeked of corpses. If not forced by absolute necessity, no one would enter a city occupied by the barbarians.
Soon, it was the turn of a father and daughter, both with triangular eyes. They both carried bundles and were dressed as refugees. The gate guard checked their household registration and asked, Where are the rest of your family?
Zhou Sui, who had disguised himself as the triangular-eyed patriarch Niu Daniu, put on a bitter face. They could not hold on until we reached Liang City, sigh.
He had no idea how the princess did it. Holding something that looked like a thin thread, she managed to change the shape of his eyes into triangular ones in just a few quick moves.
Dong Si and the other two had no combat ability. To prevent them from dragging her down, Jiang Jin had them hide in the dense forest of Changyu Mountain along with the carriage.
The gate guard did not harbor much suspicion. In these times, it was already quite good for a large family to have two surviving members.
He looked at Jiang Jin again and thought to himself that this old farmer's triangular eyes were truly resilient traits.
A perfectly fine daughter had grown a pair of incredibly ugly triangular eyes. The eyes of this father and daughter looked exactly the same, thoroughly triangular. It was unbelievable.
Jiang Jin was also secretly observing these men; surprisingly, they were all Han Chinese.
The gate guard asked Jiang Jin, Are you Niu Gouya?
Jiang Jin lowered her head and timidly hid behind Niu Daniu, her voice low and hoarse. Y-yes.
After verifying the documents, the guard at the city gate handed the household register back to Niu Daniu: "Entry to the city is twenty copper coins per person."
Niu Daniu looked distressed: "Good sir, it usually costs only one copper coin to enter the city. Why are you charging twenty? Could you perhaps make an exception?"
The guard sneered: "Liang City is now under the command of General Jiao Liang. Things are naturally different from before. Pay up if you want to enter; otherwise, get lost!"
............
[Note: In this story, the term "barbarians" is used as a general term by the Han people for surrounding ethnic minorities and foreign tribes. Please do not associate this with real historical events.
This story is set in a fictional world, though it draws inspiration from the technological and agricultural advancements of a specific historical period.]
