The road into the city wasn't long, Gu Moran observed the journey the whole way.
The street isn't wide, but it's lined with shops on both sides.
Rice shops, cloth shops, tea houses, and salt shops—the signs were densely packed together.
Some people deliberately stood out from the roadside to watch the commotion.
Gu Moran noticed a few details.
The salt bags displayed at the shop's entrance were three times more numerous than those at the neighboring general store, piled up in a conspicuous place, as if deliberately meant to be seen.
The price tags at the cloth shop were 20% higher than at the dock. The shopkeeper stood at the door, his eyes not on the motorcade, but on the street corner.
Four soldiers in worn-out armor stood on the street corner, their boots almost worn through, holding no weapons, just standing there.
One of the soldiers glanced in Zhen Daijin's direction and immediately lowered his head.
Gu Moran didn't speak, but used her Eye of Detection to check and found it was Lin Xin, Zhen Daijin's subordinate.
In the car behind, Su Yao had already written down half a page of prices for the shops along the way.
Liu Ruyan heard it.
Inside the teahouse, people were chatting and eating melon seeds, their voices neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough to carry to the roadside.
"Have you heard? Prince Yi is in very poor health; he has six wives running the household."
"Really? A prince like you, being controlled by a woman?"
"That's right. It's said that even the medicine was forced down her throat by the madam."
Liu Ruyan lowered the curtain, her lips expressionless.
That's such a convenient coincidence.
Gu Moran did not stop her.
The Eye of Detection told him that this was the work of Fang Bi, Si Renyou's old steward.
We've stumbled into a fox's den.
The carriage stopped in front of the old mansion gate.
This place is indeed dilapidated.
Most of the paint on the main gate has peeled off, and the words on the plaque are blurred by rainwater.
A section of the courtyard wall has been clearly repaired, but the bricks used for the repair are two shades darker than the old bricks, making it look like a patch from a distance.
Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin started arguing again at the door.
Si Renyou cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. The mansion has not been fully repaired, and I fear it may have caused you distress."
Zhen Daijin interjected, "Your treasury can't even afford to repair a wall, and you're worried about being wronged? If Your Highness finds it unpleasant, my military camp has space; it may be simple, but it's draft-free."
"Last time, half of your thatched hut collapsed, crushing three horses. How could you be so shameless?"
"That was a rainstorm! What does it have to do with the quality of the thatched shed?"
Gu Moran was helped out of the car and stood between the two people. Her gaze went from the broken door to the leaky wall, and then to the boxes and cages unloaded from the six cars behind her.
He turned to look at the women behind him.
Su Yao held the account book, her brows already furrowed.
Shen Ling'er was inspecting the water vat. She dipped her finger in the water, smelled it, and her expression turned pale.
Lin Qingdai had already walked half a circle around the wall and returned, tapping the wall twice with her scabbard.
Murong Xue rushed into the stable and came out three breaths later, her face as black as the bottom of a pot.
"The fodder was mixed with moldy bran!"
Xie Wanqing had already reached the entrance of the main hall. She reached out and touched the old plaque on the door frame, flipped it over to look at the back, and raised her eyebrows slightly.
Liu Ruyan stood at the back door and glanced into the alley. When she returned, her lips were pursed, and she said nothing.
Gu Moran saw all of this and turned to Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin.
"I'm not afraid of my mansion being destroyed."
They were both looking at him at the same time.
Gu Moran counted on her fingers.
"The key is that it needs to be able to store account books, medicinal herbs, horses, books, flowers... and also the ladies' trunks."
He added one last sentence.
"I'm fine with living anywhere, even sleeping in the woodshed. But my ladies must not be wronged."
Si Renyou's eyes flickered.
That sounds like the ramblings of a spineless coward.
But the order of "ledgers, medicinal herbs, horses, books" made him hesitate.
Zhen Daijin saw the imposing manner with which Murong Xue rushed out of the stable, he unconsciously shrank back.
This woman's grip... is probably stronger than that of the deputy general in his camp.
The two stopped arguing, assured each other that the new palace would be completed as soon as possible, and then took their leave.
As he stepped outside, Zhen Daijin turned back once.
Just then, Su Yao opened the warehouse door, and a cloud of dust rushed out.
" Si Renyou," Zhen Daijin in a low voice.
"Um."
"That woman carrying the ledger has an even sharper eye than you."
Si Renyou didn't speak, but quickened his pace slightly.
Inside the old mansion, Gu Moran sat on the only chair that hadn't fallen apart in the main hall, watching six women stab into the dilapidated courtyard like six knives.
Su Yao had already found three dusty old ledgers in the warehouse and was checking each item of the outstanding repair costs.
Shen Ling'er squatted by the well, dripping well water onto a silver needle to test for poison, and then checked the stove and drainage in the kitchen.
Lin Qingdai walked through all the blind spots of the wall, and when she returned, she drew four gaps and three high points on a piece of paper.
Murong Xue had already dumped all the moldy chaff in the stable and was now reprimanding a cowering old groom.
Liu Ruyan returned through the back door and stood in front of Gu Moran.
"The back alley leads to the small river dock in the east of the city. Xiaochuan pass by at night, allowing for the connection of secret lines."
Xie Wanqing was the last to walk in, holding a few lines of text copied from the back of the old plaque.
"The year the previous governor inscribed it. This old mansion was where the previous prince of Yi Prefecture lived thirty years ago."
Gu Moran took it and glanced at it.
Thirty years.
The previous vassal king is long gone.
This place has been empty and uninhabited for many years; no wonder it's in such a dilapidated state.
He placed the paper on the table and said to Uncle Fu, "Send a return gift to Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin each."
Uncle Fu bent down. "What are you bringing?"
"For Si Renyou, a packet of ordinary tea brought from the capital. And a note: This prince doesn't care for salt taxes, he only loves drinking light tea."
Uncle Fu wrote it down.
"Give Zhen Daijin a packet of the liniment that Madam Shen prescribed. And a note: This prince knows nothing of military pay, only that leg pain needs treatment."
Shen Ling'er looked up.
You took my medicine and gave it away?
"Consider it a meritorious service."
Shen Ling'er snorted but didn't stop her.
At the foot of Black Wind Stronghold Mountain.
Tuoba Mang carried two bags of dried meat, a bag of coarse flour, and three old hens with their feet tied, and strode up the mountain path.
The chicken flapped on his back, its wings whipping the back of his head, but he was completely unaware.
There was only one image in my mind.
The three women holding babies had their hair neatly tied up, their hands covered in calluses, and their eyes held a tenacious spirit for getting by.
He didn't care about anything else; all he thought about was delivering the dried meat and asking if the child needed milk.
Just past that bend at the foot of the mountain.
Fifty paces ahead, by the stream, stood several people.
Two thugs were shoving a scholar in a gray cloth gown.
The scholar was thin and pale, with a hint of sorrow in his eyes.
There were several fresh tears on the long robe, and the mud on the cuffs looked freshly applied.
He was pushed, stumbled a few steps, and almost fell into the stream.
"Get out of here! This isn't your road!" the thug cursed, giving him another shove.
The scholar steadied himself against a stone by the stream, raised his head, and showed no anger on his face, only an extreme restraint and forbearance.
"I was just passing by..."
"Just passing by? I don't believe you'd believe me dressed like that! I've been watching you loitering around here for three days straight!"
The scholar was pushed back two steps, getting closer to the stream.
He glanced at the rushing water, his lips moved as if he were making a decision.
Tuoba Mang stopped in his tracks.
As he looked at the pale-faced scholar, an image popped into his mind.
Gu Moran with a serious and solemn expression.
"A fair-skinned, delicate scholar with a belly full of tricks, always feigning pitifulness—he's the best at deceiving women."
Tuoba Mang narrowed his eyes.
The guy in front of me.
He was fair-skinned and frail, and wandered around the foot of Black Wind Stronghold for three days.
Three days!
Was he waiting for my dear sisters-in-law to come out and fetch water?
(๑·̀ㅂ·́)و✧
[Thank you 0942 for the milk tea, Chen Qing for the update reminder, Rabbit Lord for the flowers, and many other fans for their love and support, I'm so touched!]