Chapter 24: Unusual Circumstances

Wei Yunlan tried to push the mist aside to see more clearly.

But the white mist tightly surrounded the dark object, unmoving.

Did she have to wait for the mist to disperse by itself? Or perhaps she should mutter her maternal grandfather’s name more during the day, hoping he would come to her in dreams at night to clarify things?

Just as she was pondering, Cheng Yue’e approached, holding Little Jiarong. “Lan’er, you should ride in the carriage. The weather is nice today, and I want to walk around by myself for a bit.”

She gave a knowing glance.

Wei Yunlan immediately understood; her mother probably wanted to discuss something privately without others overhearing. She nodded in response, “Alright, Sister-in-law. If you get tired, just let me know, and we can switch.”

After saying that, she walked towards the mule cart, climbed into the carriage, and indeed found her mother taking out a hand-drawn geomantic map, whispering, “Lan’er, this is what your father drew last night.”

“Father knows about this?” Wei Yunlan looked at her mother with new eyes.

“Your father was well-read and loved travelogues before entering government service. This map is based on several travelogues he’s read. While it may not be very detailed, the general locations should be accurate.”

Madam Gao pointed to a spot marked near the mountains on the southern side of the map. “We are currently at this position.”

“Liangzhou to the west and south is mountainous, while the east and north are relatively flat. If there are a large number of displaced refugees coming from Suizhou and Hanzhou, traveling west would be impractical; they would most likely detour from the northwest.”

Madam Gao’s finger moved to the northernmost border of Suizhou on the map.

Several points were specially noted here, all of which Wei Maolin had speculated might be locations where they could encounter refugees based on the terrain and environment.

Then, Madam Gao shifted her finger to the northeastern corner of Suizhou on the map. “This is Suijiang City. Your father’s intention is that no matter where we get scattered, we should all gather at Suijiang City.”

This map was the result of Wei Maolin’s sleepless night. It also contained an approximate distance calculated between each point.

The nearest place where they might encounter refugees was just over two hundred kilometers away, and at their current pace, they would reach there in four days!

Madam Gao handed the geomantic map to Wei Yunlan. “Lan’er, keep this map safe. Since the guards from Tianshu Pavilion are reliable, find an opportunity in the next couple of days to share our plan with them, so they can also have a strategy in mind and coordinate with us when the time comes.”

Madam Gao and Wei Maolin had considered everything they could.

Wei Yunlan tucked the map close to her and felt increasingly encouraged.

She was not alone in turning around the tragedies of her past life.

Her mother was right; she wasn’t fighting a lone battle. Her entire family would work together to overcome challenges.

The tragedies of her past life would never happen again!

Wei Yunlan lifted the curtain of the carriage and let her sister-in-law climb in. As she walked beside the mule cart, she noticed that the convoy had several unfamiliar faces today.

There were a total of ten people, all equipped with horses, armor, and long-handled sabers, giving them more military air than the previous officials who had come from the capital.

Wei Yunlan guessed that these must be reinforcements dispatched from the military by the Liangzhou commander after their encounter with the bandits yesterday. The strength of these ten was likely comparable to the previous twenty or so officials.

If the dangers the exile convoy faced in her previous life were the same, with so many more reinforcements, how terrifying must the number of displaced refugees have been to still scatter the convoy?

Or perhaps something had happened that she had not anticipated?

Reflecting on these matters, Wei Yunlan became even more cautious than before. As she observed carefully, she quickly noted that the atmosphere ahead was somewhat unusual.

The Feng family members, usually loud and boisterous, were unusually quiet today, almost as if they were trying to make themselves invisible.

Meanwhile, the Liang family servants gathered around the mule cart occasionally glanced back, discreetly observing the expressions of the Feng family members.

During the midday break, Old Madam Feng approached the Wei family with a basket in hand.

Wei Yunlan frowned slightly, wondering what scheme this old woman might be up to again after a brief lull, but she was surprised to see Old Madam Feng lift the cotton cloth covering the basket and politely say, “After passing Mount Yueheng, the weather is getting cooler. Your family has children, so these are some homemade herbs for warding off the cold. You can brew them for the children to drink.”

Fearing that the Wei family might not believe her, she pointed back towards her own side where a woman sat. “My third daughter-in-law’s father is the village’s herbalist, and he formulated this remedy. It’s very effective. Look, I’ll trade you this basket of herbs for a bucket of your sheep’s milk. How does that sound?”

Before the Wei family could respond, she sighed again, her eyes pleading. “You can’t blame me for asking. My family’s little ones haven’t had anything good to eat in many days, and they’re really craving. As you know, I just lost three grandsons, and I can’t bear to see the rest of them go without. Besides, your family has more than enough sheep’s milk to go around, so why not do me a favor?”

The Wei family had received sheep’s milk over the past few days, and aside from what they consumed themselves, they had one full bucket left.

This was after Wei Yunlan had secretly stored a portion in her dimensional space when no one was looking.

Even though they had passed Mount Yueheng and the weather had turned cooler, fresh sheep’s milk could only last for two or three days before spoiling.

Giving it to the Feng family wouldn’t be a problem, not because she felt sorry for them, but because Wei Yunlan wanted to see what the Feng family was truly scheming.

“Suihe, go and fetch it.” Wei Yunlan pointed to the wooden bucket beside the mule cart.

Old Madam Feng set down her basket and moved to grab the bucket, but Wei Yunlan shook her head. “We don’t need these herbs. If you want the sheep’s milk, you’ll need to pay in silver.”

“Twenty copper coins will do.” That was about the market price, so it wasn’t an extortionate offer.

“Alright…” Old Madam Feng gritted her teeth and counted out twenty copper coins, handing them to Suihe. She took the wooden bucket from her hands but left the herbs behind.

“Just consider the herbs a gift for your family. They were picked by the roadside and aren’t worth much. Just return the basket to me later!”

With that, Old Madam Feng hoisted the bucket and turned to leave.

Wei Yunlan exchanged glances with Madam Gao, and in the next moment, they both fixed their eyes on the basket of herbs.

Not long ago, they had just dealt with Old Madam Feng’s grandsons. How could she suddenly be so kind as to give them herbs?

Where there was an unusual circumstance, there was often a hidden agenda!

“These are just ordinary bitter herbs and silver hemp leaves. Some folk remedies use these two herbs for phlegm and cough relief. While they aren’t very effective, they aren’t toxic either. They taste rather bad for humans, but if your livestock is short on feed, you can use them for the mule or sheep.” Madam Liu, who was beside the old lady, commented after inspecting the basket of herbs.

“Thank you, madam.” Wei Yunlan didn’t touch the basket of herbs but instead handed over a package of medicinal herbs that the old doctor from the village had prepared earlier. “I heard your two little ones have been coughing a bit. This medicine should be helpful.”

After sending Madam Liu away, Wei Yunlan pretended not to notice Old Madam Feng’s scrutinizing gaze. She picked up the bamboo basket and casually poured the herbs into the feed for the livestock.

However, as she poured, the herbs, which looked like weeds, had already been switched with the feed she had stored in her dimensional space.

Not far away, as she witnessed this scene, Old Madam Feng showed no signs of anger. Instead, a glint of intelligence flashed in her murky old eyes.