The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1026 - 864: Entering Xiliang

The days of travel were always dry and dull, but thankfully, Daohua kept herself busy with various Xiliang books and preparing food for Gu Jian and Xiao Yeyang, so time passed fairly well.

As they moved farther west, the weather grew colder, and now being in the midst of winter, snow was falling in many places, often forcing the caravan to press on through the snowflakes.

Fortunately, Daohua was well-prepared, carrying enough warm clothing, and at each post, she would boil a large pot of soup to ward off the cold, preventing almost anyone from falling ill along the way.

After bringing Gu Jian tea and fresh fruit, Daohua saw Xiao Yeyang trying on an ear-flap hat and a military coat against his body.

"This hat that protects the ears and the cotton robe are quite well-made, very suitable for wearing in the bitter cold of Xiliang. When did you prepare this?"

Daohua smiled, "The day after I learned we were heading to Xiliang, I had Xiaoliu organize the women in the estate to start making these, just in time to try out the warmth of the cotton we grew."

Xiao Yeyang draped the military coat over himself, "I feel pretty warm, it’s very cold-resistant. By the way, how many sets did you make?"

Daohua, "There wasn’t much time, only a few hundred sets of clothes, but we do have over a thousand hats. Besides what I kept for the caravan, the rest were all taken by the Guard Squad."

Xiao Yeyang thought for a moment, "I’m going to send a Carrier Pigeon Message to Jiang Wenming right away, asking him to distribute them to the Guard Squad. We’re this cold; they must be even colder out front."

Daohua had no objections, served their food, and set it out on a small table inside the carriage.

Xiao Yeyang took several big sips of the steaming meat porridge, "By the way, how’s the old master’s appetite?"

Daohua nodded and holding a bowl of porridge, said, "Thankfully, Doctor Ge has been discussing medical skills with Master along the way, keeping him from being too bored. Master is in good spirits."

Xiao Yeyang was relieved; the old master was indeed getting on in years, and he had been truly worried his health wouldn’t hold up. Fortunately, Yiyi took good care of him.

"In another ten days or so, we should reach the border of Xiliang. I need to go scout out the situation there first and might have to separate from you all for a while."

Daohua, "You do what you need to; I’ll take good care of Master and myself." With a hundred members from the Guard Squad left behind, and with Cao Chuan Bald and the others, she wasn’t worried about safety on the road.

...

On November 16, after nearly a month of travel, Daohua and the rest finally stepped into the borders of Xiliang.

Xiliang truly lived up to its reputation as a place of bitter exile; due to the Imperial Court’s neglect, even the official roads were extremely uneven.

Daohua would rather wrap up like a zongzi and ride a horse than suffer the jolts inside a carriage.

However, since it was so bitterly cold outside, she rode for less than half an hour before retreating back into the carriage.

"Xiao Yeyang, this road is just too rough. We’ve just arrived in Xiliang, and the Gan State Guard is at the far west of Xiliang. Surely the roads there won’t be so bad that carriages can’t pass?"

Xiao Yeyang extended his hand to cover Daohua’s frostbitten cheeks, "It won’t come to that; it’s just bumpy."

Daohua pouted, "I already foresee that I’ll be staying in the Gan State Guard for a long time to come."

Xiao Yeyang chuckled, "What else? Did you think you’d be traveling around?"

Daohua, "The terrain of Xiliang is complicated, with mountains, basins, plains, deserts, and Gobi all in one place. Now that I’m here, of course, I want to wander and see everything."

Xiao Yeyang knew Daohua loved to explore and quickly reminded, "Xiliang is on the frontier with complex situations, externally threatened by Xiliao’s covetous eyes, and internally anything but peaceful, with endless bandit troubles. Without me accompanying you, you are not allowed to wander off."

Daohua, "I know my limits." Sighing, she added, "If only the roads could be repaired."

Xiao Yeyang laughed upon hearing this, "The reason the Grand Secretary sent me to Xiliang is precisely to have me administer Xiliang properly. Not only do I have to eliminate the Xiliao threat, but I also need to manage Xiliang’s internal affairs. Once I have full control over Xiliao, I’ll have the official roads properly repaired."

Daohua’s eyes shone as she looked at Xiao Yeyang, "I believe in you, you can definitely do it." freewebnσvel.cѳm

Xiao Yeyang smiled, "I’m afraid only you would believe in me so. Before leaving, I promised the Grand Secretary I would administer Xiliang well, and he just laughed. Beside him, Grand Secretary Yang and Governor Wu said I was ambitious, but their eyes were full of disbelief."

Daohua: "That’s because they lack foresight. You just manage to build a prosperous Xiliang, and then you can give them a good slap in the face."

Xiao Yeyang smiled and hugged Daohua tightly, "Alright, I’ll listen to you, manage Xiliang well, and go back to slap Uncle Emperor and the rest in the face."

Daohua nodded with a beaming smile.

Xiao Yeyang had left on the third day upon entering Xiliang with the Jinling Guard. Once he left, Daohua took charge of the entire team.

Along the journey, every time they arrived at a new place, Daohua would resupply. When they entered Xiliang, the caravan actually had more supplies than they started with, totaling up to fifty carts of goods.

After Xiao Yeyang had left, Daohua was not in a hurry to rush on her journey. Whenever they passed through towns, they would almost always stop to browse around. First, to see if there was anything to purchase, and second, to personally understand the local culture and customs of Xiliang.

During the winter, there were few people outside, mostly small vendors carrying their merchandise on their shoulders.

The majority of these vendors wore only thin, worn cotton clothes. Seeing their cheeks and noses turned red from the cold, Daohua couldn’t help but feel terribly cold for them.

After all, the outdoor temperature in Xiliang was definitely below freezing in winter.

’Clang!’

A vendor, because of stiff legs, stumbled while trying to lift his load, and fell to the icy snow-covered ground, along with his goods.

Watching the elderly vendor scramble to his feet, with his frost-reddened hands trembling as he hurriedly picked up the scattered items, Daohua glanced at Bi Shi.

On receiving the signal, Bi Shi quickly went to help the old man pick up his items.

"Thank you, thank you!" The old man, upon seeing Daohua and her group, seemed a bit scared and nervous.

Daohua didn’t let Cao Chuan and the others approach. She walked over herself and kindly asked, "Old sir, what kind of seeds are you selling?"

The old man looked at Daohua and, seeing her gentle demeanor, relaxed a little: "To answer the distinguished one’s question, this poor old man is selling grass seeds for grazing."

Daohua’s interest peaked upon hearing this, "May I see them?"

"Of course."

The old man hurriedly opened a small opening in a bag filled with grazing seeds, cautiously explaining: "These seeds are freshly harvested this year, and are the favorite grass of cows, sheep, and camels. These seeds are highly adaptable to different soils, and are cold-resistant and drought-resistant. They’re not expensive, one copper coin per jin."

Saying so, he quickly dug out a small bag of seeds.

"This bag of grass seeds is slightly more expensive because this grass has certain medicinal values. Cows and sheep who eat it get sick less often. Three copper coins per jin."

After examining the seeds, Daohua said to the old man: "Old sir, I’ll buy all your seeds."

The old man froze for a moment, then his face lit up with ecstatic joy: "Thank you, noble one, for your patronage, thank you."

There were roughly a hundred jins of grazing seeds in the load. Daohua motioned Bi Shi to directly hand a string of copper coins to the vendor: "Old sir, it’s so cold, you should head home quickly."

After speaking, she left with Bi Shi and the others.

The old man watched Daohua and her party’s retreating figures for a while, then hurriedly tucked the copper coins into his inner jacket pocket with shaking hands.

His seeds would have sold for a hundred copper coins on a very lucky day, yet the noble one had just given him a thousand.

The old man, excited, lifted his now empty load and headed home full of hope.

With these thousand copper coins, his family could survive the harsh winter.