Chapter 66: Xingzhou

The world spun for Si Yun, and she felt dizzy from the impact.

She inwardly regretted her choice to block this family’s carriage. While she had successfully avoided the Jiang family’s servants sent to capture her and escaped being sent back to the Liu family, where she faced the threat of execution or being sent to the brothel, it was clear that this family was not composed of kind-hearted individuals either. They not only lacked compassion but also possessed impressive skills, appearing no less formidable than the protectors beside a saintess.

Had she just escaped from the tiger’s den only to fall into the wolf’s lair?

Moments later, the Jiang County Magistrate’s servants arrived at the Wei family’s convoy.

Seeing that the carriage in the middle had gathered quite a crowd, they scanned the group warily. Not spotting the Liu concubine, they let out a slight sigh of relief and, with a more courteous tone than before, clasped their hands in greeting: “I wonder if anyone has seen a woman in a green dress pass by on this road?”

“No, we haven’t seen her,” the Wei family members replied, their demeanor somewhat distant.

The two servants noticed that the Wei family members seemed eager to continue their journey, with some preparing their horses and others readying the carriages. They hesitated to insist on searching the carriages.

After all, the magistrate was just a minor official, and while they could flaunt their authority in the county, they wouldn’t dare offend passing nobles outside its borders.

“Thank you, everyone. We will continue our search elsewhere,” the Jiang servants said before departing, and the Wei family’s convoy resumed its journey.

As they reached a fork in the road, Si Yun in the carriage struggled to get out.

Just as her head poked out of the carriage, Feng Ping struck her on the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious.

“Miss Wei.” Qi Xu rode a few steps back, coming up alongside Wei Yunlan’s carriage.

Wei Yunlan knew what he wanted to ask. The experiences of her past life were difficult to articulate, so she subtly reminded him, “The Liu family is deeply involved in the iron mine affairs, and now we have a Liu family member delivered right to us. This is an opportunity to investigate the people behind them.”

Qi Xu’s deep eyes met Wei Yunlan’s clear gaze through the parted curtain. There was a hint of inquiry in his expression.

However, he ultimately did not ask further questions; he simply nodded. “Miss Wei is correct. We will take Liu Si Yun back to the Pavilion for interrogation.”

“Mr. Xiao, please proceed.” Wei Yunlan lowered the curtain and leaned against the carriage wall, her brow slightly furrowed.

She began to suspect that her previous assumptions might be somewhat off. This Xiao Huwei’s position in Tianshu Pavilion was likely not comparable to that of Yu Wu or Seventh Lady Yu, who carried rank, but rather of a higher caliber.

Although Xiao Huwei spoke little with others, Wei Yunlan could still tell…

In that group, it was clear that among the ten, he was the one who could truly make decisions.

Wei Yunlan had no idea what his actual status in Tianshu Pavilion was—perhaps a hall master, a captain, or a leader of a certain rank. Regardless of his position, as long as he held no ill intentions toward the Wei family, she would continue to pretend she was unaware of it.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Lianzhou, Si Yun, who had been hiding in the carriage, was taken away by a group of Tianshu Pavilion personnel.

Seeing the respect with which the group treated Xiao Huwei only reinforced Wei Yunlan’s suspicions.

The convoy left Lianzhou and entered the territory of Xingzhou.

As the largest of the ten northern provinces, Xingzhou’s area was almost equivalent to the sum of Zhuozhou and Linzhou near the capital.

Yet the population residing in Xingzhou was far less than even half that of Zhuozhou, primarily due to its proximity to Lianzhou, which featured a stretch of cracked and barren land that extended for miles.

This area had suffered a natural disaster twenty years ago. The character “Xing” in Xingzhou was named by the late Emperor, symbolizing the hope for revival and reconstruction.

Unfortunately, even after twenty years, there was still no vegetation to be found in this region.

Upon entering the desolate area, the most notable sensation was the dryness. Pulling back the carriage curtain, a somewhat pungent odor wafted in.

Wei Yunlan and the maidservants in the carriage hardly noticed the smell, but Heiyun, who shared the carriage with them, had been scratching at his nose with his hind paw for a while before burying his head into the soft cushions of the seat, covering his nose tightly.

Even Heiyun reacted so strongly; Wei Yunlan instinctively felt something was off.

“Have the convoy speed up. We need to make haste tonight and not linger on the road,” Wei Yunlan instructed someone to inform the other carriages.

The carriages moved a bit faster.

However, no matter how much they rushed, they couldn’t increase their speed to the maximum.

This area had not only dried land but also deep cracks in the ground. In some places, there were deep pits, the deepest of which was nearly a person’s height. When they encountered these pits, the carriage had to take detours.

Wei Yunlan had taken Heiyun onto the first carriage.

Looking at the environment outside the window, Madam Gao sighed, “This is the result of the heavenly wrath from twenty years ago.”

Even without having experienced the disaster firsthand, just observing the state of the land now revealed how terrifying the scene must have been at that time.

No wonder the late Emperor was willing to sacrifice his lifespan to quell the “heavenly wrath.”

Compared to the late Emperor, the current Emperor Xiaoming truly… was not worthy of being an emperor.

If only the Crown Prince could ascend to the throne. I wonder if he has safely reached his destination after leaving the capital for Tanzhou?

“Achoo.” Qi Xu sneezed unexpectedly while on horseback.

Feng Ping immediately looked over with concern, riding closer and lowering his voice, “Master, the North is cold and dry. You should wear an extra outer garment.”

“I’m not cold,” Qi Xu gently shook his head. He was dressed warmly enough, but he still accepted his subordinate’s kindness, shaking out his cloak and draping it over his shoulders.

The sky was dimming.

With each hoofbeat, clouds of dust rose, making visibility even more unclear.

As they passed another deep pit, Wei Yunlan squinted to look outside and suddenly noticed several conspicuous black dots on the yellow earth across the pit.

Just as she became aware of the situation over there, many people in the convoy noticed it as well.

Liu Quan, who was driving the carriage, turned back and said, “Master, Madam, Miss, it seems there are a few people lying over there…”

As they got closer, it became clear that there were figures covered in sand on the other side of the pit. Next to them lay two overturned carriages and scattered belongings, but it was unclear where the horses that had pulled the carriages had gone.

Wei Maolin said, “Let’s go check if they’re still alive.”

Wang Gui, who was sitting on the front of the carriage, jumped down along with Liu Quan, running over to crouch down and check each person. After a moment, he returned to report, “Master, there are six people here, and three of them still have signs of life!”

Qi Xu dismounted his horse and, with a few light steps, leaped over to the other side of the pit. He waved his sleeve to brush off the sand covering the overturned carriage, revealing the markings underneath.

“They are traders from either Yuezhou or Baizhou.”

“The carriage is loaded with medicinal herbs from those two provinces.”