The morning mist hadn't completely dissipated from the river, and the moisture made my face feel wet.
The hatch to the cabin opened, Gu Moran walked out, rubbing his temples. He paused on the deck.
All six pairs of eyes fell on him.
Xie Wanqing was sitting on a low stool flipping through a book when she heard the door open. She immediately lowered her face, the pages of the book almost touching the tip of her nose.
Liu Ruyan walked over carrying a copper kettle, poured a cup of warm water, and handed the cup to him without saying anything.
Su Yao sat at the table flipping through the account books without even raising her head, but the tip of her brush clearly paused for a moment on the paper.
Murong Xue crossed her arms and leaned against the ship's railing, her gaze fixed on the crescent-shaped tooth mark on the side of Gu Moran's neck.
Lin Qingdai stood the furthest away.
She stood at the bow of the boat with her back to the crowd, her hand habitually resting on the hilt of her knife.
The morning breeze lifted her ponytail, revealing a small section of the nape of her neck.
The ear next to the back of the neck was so red it was practically dripping blood.
Shen Ling'er had somehow acquired a bowl of medicine in her hand.
The medicine was shiny black and had a bitter smell.
Gu Moran looked at the bowl of medicine, her eyes twitched twice, and she obediently reached out to take it, tilting her head back to drink it down.
The moment the medicine slid down his throat, his face contorted in pain, and he grimaced.
It's even more bitter than yesterday. So bitter it makes my tongue numb.
"I added three qian of Coptis chinensis." Shen Ling'er took the empty bowl, her voice calm but clear to everyone on deck, "To make up for the loss you made last night."
"Plop".
The book in Xie Wanqing's hand fell onto the deck.
afternoon.
The river widened, the current became calmer, and the boat stopped rocking violently.
The group hid inside the cabin and dealt with Gu Moran.
Shen Ling'er turned the medicine box upside down and finally pulled out three tattered booklets.
After hesitating for a moment, I still held it in my arms.
Life on the ship was incredibly boring; the sisters spent the whole morning tidying up their husbands.
If this continues, my husband will be exhausted.
She carried the book, walked to the small square table inside the cabin, and slapped the booklet on the table.
"My husband said this is a textbook for studying our opponents." Shen Ling'er glanced at Gu Moran and pointed to the book on the table. "Sisters, let's take a look together."
Su Yao glanced across the table and picked up one of the books.
After turning only two pages, Su Yao's lips began to twitch uncontrollably.
Lin Qingdai glanced at the book cover and read aloud, "After being divorced, I, who used to clean the chamber pots, turned around and married the emperor... Shen Ling'er, did you take the wrong medicine and the wrong prescription?"
Murong Xue, being the most curious, leaned closer and stared at the page in Su Yao's hand.
"Woman, you're playing with fire." Murong Xue stammered as she read the sentence from the book, then slammed her hand on the table and burst into laughter. "Playing with fire? Is this person the one who tends the fire in the kitchen?"
Xie Wanqing sat in the far corner, her face flushed, but her eyes kept glancing at the books on the table.
Liu Ruyan quietly picked up the remaining book, flipped through it, moved her lips slightly, but didn't utter a sound.
"Alright, we'll read them aloud in roles." Shen Ling'er tapped the table, setting the rules. "The male lead's lines are all his."
Gu Moran lay on the soft couch pretending to be dead, but Shen Ling'er forcibly dragged him up.
She handed him the first book, thoughtfully turning to the page marked with a folded corner.
Gu Moran looked at the chilling sentences on the paper and cleared his throat.
He forced a stern expression and said in an extremely affected, low voice, "Woman, you have successfully caught my attention."
The cabin was quiet for two breaths.
Murong Xue laughed so hard she slid to the ground, clutching her stomach and unable to get up.
Lin Qingdai grabbed the wooden sword sheath from her hand and smashed it onto Gu Moran's knee.
Su Yao's finger slammed into the paper, punching a hole in the page.
Xie Wanqing buried her face in her wide sleeves, her shoulders trembling.
Shen Ling'er said, "As expected, you've read it so many times that you know it so well," but the tips of her ears were blushing.
Liu Ruyan, sitting in the corner, closed her book and asked softly, "What did the female lead say in response?"
Everyone was taken aback and crowded around to look at the original book in Shen Ling'er's hand.
After reading the female lead's lines, Murong Xue sprang up like a carp leaping across the water and retorted with great confidence, "Who do you think you are!"
Over the next few days, this "story reading" inexplicably became a regular pastime on the ship.
One chapter each night, with six women taking turns playing different roles.
Gu Moran will always be the "male lead" tormented by all sorts of absurd plot twists.
Every time he finished reciting those embarrassing lines, he would be hit with different things.
Sometimes it was a cushion, sometimes a book, but the worst time was when Lin Qingdai threw half a cold steamed bun at me.
But Gu Moran discovered a pattern.
After each incident, the lady who was on duty to look after him that night would always glance at him a few more times than usual.
The hand that poured the water was lighter, and the movement of covering the blanket was gentler.
The fourth day of the voyage.
To resupply at the port.
The town was small, and the dock was lined with sheds made of wooden planks, selling salted fish, coarse cloth, and some hard, dry food.
Gu Moran changed into a faded long robe, wrapped in a thick cloak, and followed behind the crowd with a hunched back, perfectly portraying the "terminally ill and destitute prince".
His gaze, hidden behind his disheveled hair, swept over the few idlers on the dock, making sure there were no spies from the capital.
Murong Xue went straight to the butcher shop and bought all three and a half catties of beef jerky that were left on the owner's stall.
Lin Qingdai stood in front of the wine shop for a long time, and finally bought a pot of liquor and hung it on her belt.
Shen Ling'er sneaked into a dilapidated herbal medicine shop, rummaged through the drawers and cabinets for a long time, and bought out all the good astragalus in the shop.
Xie Wanqing squatted down in front of a secondhand book stall, picked out a copy of the Yi Prefecture Gazetteer that was half-eaten by worms, dusted it off, and tucked it into her bosom.
Su Yao walked the whole way but didn't buy anything.
But Gu Moran noticed that she had a small notebook hidden in her sleeve, and every time she passed a grain shop, cloth shop, or salt stall, she would make a few marks in the notebook with her finger.
Liu Ruyan lagged behind by a few steps.
She walked up to a shoe and sock stall and picked out a pair of soft-soled cloth shoes with multi-layered soles.
On the way back to the boat, Liu Ruyan handed the cloth shoes to Gu Moran.
"The ship's planks are hard."
She didn't say anything else.
Gu Moran took the shoes, slipped them on, and tried them on; they fit perfectly.
After traveling south for a few more days, the mountains on both sides became higher, the river narrowed, and the current became faster.
"The waterways around here are not safe." The old boatman squatted by the rudder, took a puff of his pipe, and his voice was broken by the wind.
The border of Yi Prefecture.
As dawn broke, a thin mist climbed up from the foot of the mountain, partially enveloping several crooked bamboo huts.
The sound of chopping wood in the yard stopped after three clicks.
Old Master Sun's back was acting up again, so he sat on the wooden stool, rubbed it a couple of times, then simply put the axe aside and went to watch the fun.
In the very middle of the courtyard, a person was standing on a crooked rock.
She was slender, with her hair tied up and wrapped around her chest. She wore a black short brown garment with four patches, a chipped dagger at her waist, and straw sandals on her feet.
He stood on the rock, hands on his hips, his voice low and hoarse.
It was clearly intentional.
Repeat after me!
Five or six children were gathered around, three women cooking porridge in front of the stove were listening with their heads tilted, and seven or eight old people were chopping wood or weaving baskets, glancing up intermittently.
Black Wind Mountain Stronghold!
" Black Wind Mountain Stronghold!" the children shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Act on behalf of Heaven!"
"Act on behalf of Heaven!"
"Passing by this mountain!"
Leave your toll!
Yun Shuyue nodded in satisfaction, changed her posture, stepped onto a higher edge of the rock with her right foot, put her left hand on her hip, and pointed her right hand to the sky.
"One more time! This time, make it more powerful! The sound should come from your dantian, you know dantian? Your stomach! Push hard with your stomach!"
The old people responded weakly, their voices barely audible, like the buzzing of mosquitoes.
The children got really excited, each one shouting louder than the last.
The seven-year-old girl at the front added an "Oh~" after shouting, drawing it out in a long, high-pitched voice, not much different from the cry of a monkey in the mountains.
Just as Yun Shuyue was about to praise her for her quick wit, a hand shot up from the back row.
"Boss."
The boy, who was seven or eight years old, was named Tiedan.
He was dark-skinned and thin, with not a single mud stain on his face.
He stood up, his hands behind his back, his expression serious, unlike that of a child.
I have a question.
Yun Shuyue raised her chin. "Ask away."
"Our stronghold has been open for three years," Tiedan counted on his fingers. "Every time, you said you'd lead us on a big heist."
"Um."
"As a result, you always go out at night by yourself."
Yun Shuyue interrupted him, "That's called reconnaissance! Scouting!"
Tiedan ignored her and continued counting on his fingers, "Come back before dawn, with plenty of silver and grain in the chest."
"They've never included us in their work," Tiedan said, then spread his hands. "Boss, are we even considered bandits?"
[Thanks to Jiuzhou for the likes, Pangpang for the Chen Qing for the flowers x2, Guizhou for the milk tea, Qingshan for the milk tea, euzhg for the update reminder, 4992 for the flowers, and all the babies for their love and support. Happy Dragon Boat Festival!]