Volume 2 Chapter 17 Today's Journey into Many Forks
According to Lin Jianlan's thinking, no matter whether Dr. Cheng agrees with him taking Wan Xiu to treat the disease alone, Madam Wan will definitely not miss this glimmer of hope, and the trip will definitely take place this time.
After waiting for a few days, when Lin Jianlan went there again, he saw that Madam Wan's place was already busy inside and outside, with a pile of boxes and cages prepared. Madam Wan was instructing the servants to pack up in the courtyard. When she saw him coming, she hurried forward and said, "Alas, I wanted to take you to the foot of Baiyun Mountain in person, but Ah Xiu refused to let me go, so I have to trouble you to take care of her along the way."
Lin Jianlan said, "Of course, but it's too cumbersome for you to prepare so many things, just prepare the necessary ones. It's just Ah Xiu and I, and managing all these things on the road is a headache."
Madam Wan was stunned and murmured, "I didn't think about this. In the past, I had my attendants to take care of everything." Then she smiled and said, "Alas, this is the first time Ah Xiu has left me. I don't know how to start."
Seeing that she was just like an ordinary mother, Lin Jianlan sighed and said, "Madam Wan, in my opinion, you only need to prepare two or three sets of clothes for Miss Wan that are suitable for cold and hot weather, and especially prepare medicines for the journey. Nothing else is needed. I know Miss Wan is weak, so I won't let her travel in the carriage for a long time during the day. I will take good care of her."
Madam Wan said, "That's true. It's better to travel light on a long journey." After that, she dismissed all the busy people inside and outside and said, "Mr. Lin, if nothing unexpected happens, how will she be in three days? Ah Xiu is weak and has had a poor appetite in recent days. I want to give her some nourishment these days."
Lin Jianlan nodded and said, "That's great. By the way, since we're going to treat the disease, can Madam Wan sort out the medical prescriptions that she used to treat Ah Xiu so that I can take them with me? Maybe it will be a reference?"
Madam Wan said, "I have already put this away. It is with Ah Xiu. We will take it away when the time comes." But there was still worry on her face.
Lin Jianlan couldn't help but comfort her, "Madam Wan, Miss Wan has been with you since she was a child. Because she was weak and sickly, she has been alone in the room most of the time in the past ten years. It is inevitable that she feels depressed. This time she went out, on the one hand, to treat her illness, and on the other hand, she can walk around and have a look. Maybe she will be in a better mood, which will be more beneficial to her body. Miss Wan still needs to rest and recuperate, so I won't disturb her anymore. I will come back in three days." After that, he said goodbye and left.
Madam Wan relaxed her brows, listening to Lin Jianlan's sincere words of comfort. Seeing his back hurriedly walking away, she felt mixed emotions for a moment. She stayed where she was and sighed after a long while.
At this time three days later, Madam Wan stood here, watching Wan Xiu's frail body being carried onto the carriage. The carriage carrying the two of them rumbled away, and the sound of the wheels rolling on the long street became smaller and smaller, and gradually disappeared. Although she knew that this was just a long-term plan, and she would have to follow them secretly after waiting for a while, she still felt a little sad. A person flashed behind her and said in a deep voice: "I have sent people to keep a close eye on the carriage in advance. Madam Wan, why do you have to worry about it? If you have time, you might as well prepare to set off. We are much harder than them."
Madam Wan turned around slowly and saw an old man with a sick face and a slightly doubtful expression. He said coldly: "Doctor Cheng, since I have done what I should do according to your instructions, it is not your turn to say anything more to me."
Doctor Cheng had never thought that Madam Wan would be so angry at the moment. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Madam Wan must have done a foolproof job. Their carriage has already traveled a long distance, so let's get going."
The two used their skills, and the stalkers arranged by Doctor Cheng had come out to show the way. They followed from behind, and although they could not see the vehicle, they could ensure that nothing went wrong. The carriage was moving very fast, and after following for about an hour, someone came up to point the way forward.
The two looked in the direction the man pointed. A long straight street led to the west gate of Chang'an. There were crowds of people. The car appeared and disappeared in the crowd. The speed was much slower. It took some time to get out of the city gate. Doctor Cheng asked, "Can you see it clearly?"
The minion said, "There is a dark purple tassel tied to the back of the carriage. It is indeed Miss Wan's vehicle." Doctor Cheng nodded, exchanged a glance with Madam Wan, and ran towards the city gate.
The population outside the city gradually sparse, and there were not enough people to keep up with them. The two had to speed up and just look at the carriage from afar. Madam Wan worried in her heart, "We have been walking for so long, I wonder if Ah Xiu can stand the bumps?"
After following for a long time, Madam Wan was slightly out of breath, but Doctor Cheng was still strolling leisurely, staring at the carriage, not daring to take his eyes off it for a moment. He gradually realized that the carriage was not going in the right direction, and was not driving along the official road, but was going further and further away. He felt that something was wrong, so he stopped in a hurry and said to Madam Wan, "Even if the two of them don't know the way, they won't leave the main road. I'm afraid there is something fishy going on."
Madam Wan looked closely and saw that the carriage stopped outside a thatched shed in the field. She heard several horse neighs and the two of them walked closer. They saw that behind the thatched shed, there were piles of broken and old cart shafts and wheels like a small mountain. There was also an unfinished carriage leaning to one side. It turned out to be a family that made a living by raising horses and making vehicles.
Doctor Cheng was hesitating whether to go forward when he saw a man jumping down from the front of the vehicle with a short whip in his hand. He grabbed the horse reins and pulled them back, muttering "da da jia jia" non-stop. It was definitely not Lin Jianlan.
The two men were startled and rushed forward quickly. When the coachman turned around, he was frightened to see two more people appearing out of nowhere. The two men ignored him and opened the door, but found it empty. They lowered their heads and looked around, the ears of corn were still floating on the shaft, but the people were gone.
Doctor Cheng didn't expect such a mistake to happen at the last minute. He was furious and grabbed the driver and asked, "Where did this car come from?"
The driver was about to struggle when he saw the unfriendly woman next to him had already drawn her sword. He turned pale with fear and stammered, "Someone told me to wait in that alley and change the car and then let me run out of the city through the west gate."
Doctor Cheng became impatient and threw the driver into the car, saying, "Where did you change the car? Come back now!" After that, he and Madam Wan hurried into the car. Madam Wan pointed a long sword at the driver's vest. As the car was shaking, the driver felt the tip of the sword was close to and away from his back. In a moment, he was sweating all over. How could he have the leisurely energy to drive the car slowly? He whipped the horse faster.
In less than an hour, Madam Wan felt that the surrounding scenery was becoming more and more familiar. The driver stopped the carriage with a "whoosh" and uttered a scream. Madam Wan's sword was not retracted in time, and the horse suddenly stopped, immediately cutting a bloody wound on the driver's back. The driver was in so much pain that he cried and rolled off the carriage and knelt on the ground, saying, "This is it. Please forgive me, both of you!"
Madam Wan looked around and found that it was a long alley close to where she lived. If she wanted to go to the main street, she had to go through this alley. She was filled with hatred and anger. She kicked the driver and shouted, "What's going on?"
The driver was terrified, fearing that he would lose his life if he failed to speak well, so he said in a hurry, "About ten days ago, a young man ordered a carriage at the horse market, and then three days ago he found me again. In addition to the fare, he gave me some more silver and asked me to drive the carriage to this alley and wait. I came here and saw that he was also driving a carriage, which was much better than the one he ordered. I was wondering, but he hurriedly came out holding a young lady, asked me to move all the things in the carriage into my carriage, and then stepped on it. Then he asked me to go straight to the west gate. My home is just outside the west gate, which is on the way. He gave me more money, so I agreed, but who knew that I would offend you two." At this point, he was already crying and snotting, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "I have a wife and children, sir, madam, please be merciful and let me go, I don't know anything!"
Doctor Cheng said, "No need to say more. Do you still remember what the car looked like?"
The driver said, "He ordered a very ordinary carriage. If you go to the streets and look around, you will find that most carriages are made !"
Doctor Cheng waved his hand and sighed, "Forget it, go now." Seeing the driver hurriedly tumbling and crawling out of the alley, he hated Lin Jianlan for being fooled for the second time. He gritted his teeth and said, "He knew that the closer he was to where you lived, the less guarded he would be. I was afraid that he would get suspicious, so I only sent someone to guard the corner of the alley. I didn't expect him to take advantage of the opportunity. It's really hateful!"
Mrs. Wan thought about her daughter's whereabouts and felt like she was in boiling oil. She pointed the sword at Doctor Cheng and said, "If anything happens to Ah Xiu, I will fight you!"
Doctor Cheng pushed the sword away and said, "It's not easy for us to have any more disputes now. Although that kid cunningly got rid of us, he will definitely take Xiu to Baiyun Temple."
Madam Wan said in a trembling voice, "That's easy for you to say. If he takes Ah Xiu there again after ten days or half a month, won't Ah Xiu be in danger?"
Doctor Cheng said, "Don't worry, the antidote is always with her. Her life is definitely not in danger. We should go to Sanyuan and wait in advance without delay."
Seeing Madam Wan reluctantly gathering people to prepare vehicles and things for the road, Doctor Cheng slowly walked to the alley entrance and saw that on , the styles of the carriages were generally similar. If any one of them was lost in the crowd, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack to find it. Thinking of how Lin Jianlan cried all the way and couldn't adapt when he first arrived in Jiangnan, but now he has deceived himself twice, and thinking that he has waited until such an old age, if he lets him go again next time, who knows what kind of changes will happen. He sighed and resentful, and unconsciously squeezed his pair of hands as dry as branches until they crackled.
Outside the south gate of Chang'an, the pedestrians and vehicles on the official road were all in a hurry. Only a horse-drawn carriage was moving slowly along the road, quite leisurely. A pockmarked young man was sitting in front of the carriage, swinging his legs. One hand gently held the reins, and the other hand held a whip and swung it in the air. He did not whip the two horses pulling the carriage, but rather seemed to be driving away flies for them.
Although this carriage looks very ordinary, the interior is very comfortably furnished. The curtains on both sides and the door curtains are covered with two layers, the outer layer is thick brocade, and the inner layer is a layer of gauze. The seat is much wider than the usual ones, covered with thick fur cushions, with two or three pillows scattered underneath. A small lantern is hung on the upper wall in the middle, burning a faint light. A girl is curled up on the seat, the black veil on her face has been taken aside by her, she is holding a book in her hands, and the corners of her mouth are slightly raised.
After a while, the girl seemed to suddenly remember something and shouted softly, "Mr. Lin, you don't have to pretend to be a pockmarked boy anymore!"
The pockmarked young man in the carriage smiled, stopped the carriage, turned around and leaned inside. The girl took out a bronze mirror from somewhere, and the young man lifted a corner from his chin in front of the mirror, and the whole thing was peeled off from his face, revealing his true face. It was Lin Jianlan who had left behind Doctor Cheng and Madam Wan.
Seeing that he still had a towel tied on his head, Wan Xiu chuckled and pointed with her finger. Lin Jianlan took off the towel again and said, "You're still laughing at me. I'll use this sesame seed dough to make you a sesame cake tonight."
Wan Xiu stuck out her tongue and said, "I didn't expect Master Lin to be so disgusting."
Lin Jianlan smiled and said, "I'm going to continue driving the carriage. Please put the curtain up so it won't be exposed to the sun." After saying that, he lowered his head and turned around, adjusted the curtain behind him, gently pulled the reins, and shook the whip slightly, and the two horses started walking slowly again.
Wan Xiu whispered inside: "Mr. Lin, are you heading southeast?"
Lin Jianlan leaned back slightly and said loudly, "That's right, Ah Xiu, don't worry. Sanyuan is in the northwest of Chang'an . I have to walk to the southeast first to delay for some time, and then go to the Taoist priest to see if I can treat you."
Wan Xiu said: "I'm not in a hurry. In fact, I don't want to go to the hospital for treatment and then go back after the treatment."
Lin Jianlan laughed loudly and said, "Silly girl, if you are cured, can't you go wherever you want? Why do you still envy Sister Man?" When he mentioned Lu Man, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. He didn't know whether Lu Man had returned to the South China Sea safely after they parted that day, and he didn't know when he would see her again. A trace of melancholy slowly surged up. But he heard Wan Xiu whisper something, and hurriedly asked, "What did Ah Xiu say?"
Wan Xiu said, "Nothing much. Master Lin, how is Hangzhou? I have never been there. You said your hometown is in Liaodong, but I don't know what it is like. Can you tell me about it?"
Lin Jianlan smiled and was about to speak, but found that his memory of the village had long been blurred. He didn't know how to start. The only thing that was deeply in his mind was the pear tree in the yard. On the contrary, the four seasons in the headquarters of the Kuangyi Gang in Hangzhou were vivid in his mind. He said with some disappointment: "Okay."
