Chapter 102 Husband Sings Wife Follows

  Xiaojun and Ximen Qing returned to Lulongguan once again, this time accompanied by a delicate and charming Peng Dagniang. Peng Dagniang was still dressed as a man, but whether she was sweet and lovely was just Ximen Qing's speculation. A young woman who had just experienced the taste of love would always be especially gentle and passionate, and Ximen Qing couldn't help but think that when they were alone together, they wouldn't be affectionate and loving, doing something intimate.

  It is said that Ximen's family's little Dong sister, had also been gentle and affectionate towards him at first. Looking at the two of them being loving and intimate, Ximen Qing would sometimes think sourly to himself: "Don't be too happy yet, just you wait, once she enters your household, the little white rabbit will turn into a fierce tigress, humph!"

  The agreed-upon cargo trucks continued to converge on the designated location in an orderly manner. Those truck drivers, although small roles, had been doing this for a long time and were experienced. Without contacting the main house, they also knew that something was unusual, but they hadn't made a deal yet. Now they were just driving an empty truck, not afraid of being inspected or caught by anyone. Anyway, the east house had already paid half of the transportation fee, taking people's money and doing things for them, regardless of whether the main house came or not, they only followed orders to go there.

  Xia Jun and Xi Menqing were delayed for three days from the scheduled transaction time, and after rushing to Lulong Pass to contact Ren Rishang, they only knew that the people of Harrah Mongolia had arrived early, and they had been waiting outside the pass for several days in the wind and snow. Xia Jun hastily let Ren Rishang get in touch with Harrah Mongolia outside the pass, and the transaction was carried out that night.

  By nightfall, on the top of the pass, Vice Captain Shen Jia gave an order and two-thirds of the lanterns were extinguished. The entire pass was suddenly plunged into darkness. Under the dim light, the personal troops of Captain Shen quietly opened the gate, and the camels carrying goods began to enter the pass in an orderly manner. Inside the pass, more than a hundred large carts formed a long dragon, with goods being loaded onto one cart and then another leaving, all under the leadership of Xi Menqing, heading towards the mountain valley where he and Xia Chuo had previously found hiding places.

  Xia Yu stood at the pass, under the coordination of Ren Ri Shang, checking and receiving goods.

  The tribes of Harrahm had not many carts, and the goods were mainly loaded with cattle, horses and camels. After entering the pass, they had to unload the goods and load them onto large carts, which delayed time. One hundred carts of goods were finished, and the sky was already bright.

  "All right, you take the cattle, horses and camels back, we'll go buy some grain and cloth."

  Dai Yubin loudly instructed the people going back, then turned to Ren Rishang, bowing and smiling: "Lord Ren, it's cold and we don't have much grain stored, so we need to buy some grain and cloth on our way back. We'll be back in a few days, and at that time, we'll still trouble you..."

  "Alright alright, you guys be careful yourselves, don't stir up trouble, buy your stuff and get out of here."

  "Right! Right! Right!"

  Dai Yubin nodded, and with a glance at Xiribajie and the others, they led their several large carts to follow behind Xia Zhen's cargo vehicle.

  Slow!

  One day, he suddenly stepped forward and blocked a car, looking suspiciously at the car and pointing his hand: "What's going on here?"

  Xia Xun, who was about to leave with the last few carriages, stopped in his tracks. Under the dim light, he saw an old man with white whiskers lying on the carriage, covered with a thick dog skin blanket. Dai Yu Bin nodded and bowed: "Sir, this is... my father. My father is old and has caught wind chill and fallen ill, the tribal shaman couldn't cure him, I'm worried, so I brought him along this time to come into the pass and have his illness looked at."

  He pinched his chin, leaned in to take a closer look at the seriously ill old man, stretched out his hand to touch his forehead, lifted up the dog skin blanket to carefully examine underneath, and confirmed that there were no hidden weapons. Only then did he frown and say: "If you're just buying some grain and cloth, the surrounding towns would be fine. But with such a severe burn, I'm afraid you'll have to go to Beiping to find a doctor. There..."

  "Please be assured, sir. I've been to Beiping before and our route is absolutely safe. Even if I enter the city, it's just to see my father who's ill, grab some medicine and leave. I won't cause any trouble."

  "Any day now," he hummed, turning to Xia Jie, "you're also heading back to Beiping, would you mind keeping an eye on them? If anything really happens to them, it'll be a real hassle."

  Although Xia Yu had planned to return to Jiangnan after completing this task, he was dragged into the matter of Cheng's marriage until Jianwen ascended to the throne and the wind of reducing vassals began. However, since this business was something that Prince Qi intended to do long-term, he couldn't appear too cold towards his "long-term" business partner. Moreover, he was heading back to Beiping anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to take care of this matter along the way. Thus, he readily agreed.

  Dai Yubin repeatedly thanked and refused, Xia Xun smiled and said: "Okay okay, anyway it's on the way, seeing that the sky is about to brighten up, don't decline anymore, let's hurry up and leave this place."

  Dai Yubin had no choice but to agree.

  They traveled in silence until they arrived at Beiping. Ximen Qing had been to Beiping several times before and was familiar with the roads, so he enthusiastically led them to a doctor's residence, pointing to the flag at the entrance: "Here it is, this doctor is extremely skilled, among my peers... Ah, take your father over for diagnosis and medication, we'll take our leave now."

  Dai Yubin and others, although they were pretending to take care of their father's illness, but Shi Rihulüge indeed contracted a cold and fever, and the condition was quite severe. It was questionable whether he could follow them into the palace in this state, and it was necessary to have him treated first. Therefore, several people sincerely thanked them and wanted to bring Shi Rihulüge down.

  Xia Liu got off his horse and also lent a hand to help, pulling down Xier Degui. Xier Degui quickly took a step forward, snatched Xier Degui's arm from Xia Liu's hands, and said: "Don't bother, we're here now."

  Dai Yubin, who was pretending to be a filial son, thanked them repeatedly and only after they had finished thanking the two of them did they help the old eunuch into Lang Zhong's residence.

  Ximen Qing mounted his horse and said to Xia Chou, "Let's go see Xie Zhongzheng and have him arrange for the water and land routes to start transporting immediately."

  Xia Fu got on his horse, looked deeply at the gate of the courtyard, saw several Mongolians adjusting their horses and carriages in front of the gate, kicked his horse's belly, and hesitated to move forward.

  "What's wrong, you have something on your mind?"

  Peng Ziqi leaned over and asked in a low voice.

  Although they had never explicitly expressed anything, they had already understood each other's intentions. Peng Ziqi used his actions to confess his feelings to her, and Xia Xun also used his actions to show his acceptance of hers. The two people didn't have any earth-shattering or sensational words or deeds; their emotions flowed like a gentle stream, forming a small brook.

  Having already taken him as her own lover, love had thoroughly changed Peng Da's appearance, she began to become gentle and meticulous. Although Ximen Qing did not feel the slight fluctuations in Xia Chuo's emotions, she felt it.

  Xia Yu hesitated and said: "That old man who was ill... I think there's something wrong."

  Peng Ziqi said: "What's wrong? I think his condition doesn't seem fake, what could be the problem?"

  "The illness is not the problem, it's the person who has the problem."

  Ximen Qing pulled on the reins and said: "Huh? What have you found?"

  Xia Jie urged the horse forward, drew closer to him and said in a low voice: "When I went to help him up, I smelled a strong smell of urine, it was very unpleasant. If they had a fishy smell on their bodies, it would be easy to explain, but wearing such thick clothes, with such a strong smell of urine, I feel that something is not quite right."

  Ximen Qing rolled his eyes and asked: "What did you say?"

  Xia Yuandao said: "I like to read idle books, I once read a book that mentioned this matter. It says that the eunuchs who had undergone castration because of their injured urethra would always have a kind of foul and corrupt smell on them, unable to control their urination, so they could only sprinkle fragrances to cover up the stench. This is also why eunuchs are called 'rotten men'."

  "What book are you reading?"

  Xia Xun said: "I'm watching 'Back to the Ming Dynasty as a prince', even if I tell you, do you know?"

  Ximen Qing hadn't really wanted him to answer, and instead said with a smile: "I didn't think you were so well-read, even medical books are among your repertoire. Not bad, eunuchs indeed have this problem. But surely you wouldn't suspect someone of being a eunuch just because they have a whiff of urine about them? Ha ha... A eunuch from the grasslands, and with a big son to boot? Ha ha..."

  He smiled twice, and his smile suddenly froze.

  Xia Yu slowly said: "Although it is said that people on the grasslands do not love cleanliness, they will not urinate on themselves. If it's because of illness and it's inconvenient to relieve oneself, urinating in one's pants is also not right. That smell of urine is not fresh at all. I just smelled that smell and for some reason thought of a saying from a book I read, so I intentionally looked at his chin."

  He fell silent for a moment, then said: "The goat beard on his chin, when looked at closely up close, looks very unnatural, as if it was stuck on."

  At this time, Ximen Qing finally spoke up: "On the grasslands... there should also be eunuchs, the Northern Yuan Emperor... was served by eunuchs..."

  The two of them exchanged a glance, and both saw a hint of frostiness in each other's eyes. Peng Ziqi looked at the two of them, feeling somewhat perplexed, but seeing their expressions, Peng Ziqi wisely shut his mouth.

  Ximen Qing thought for a moment and felt that this idea was really absurd. He couldn't help but say, "Will there really be a problem? Is that person really sick?"

  Xia Fu said: "Bringing a sick person to ask for medical treatment, originally there was no problem. The question is, if that old man really was a eunuch, why would he lie and say he was the father of someone with the surname Dai?"

  Ximen Qing hesitated, saying: "Perhaps... he just lost his vitality due to injury? Perhaps... the child was indeed born before he lost his vitality? Perhaps... he really was a eunuch in the Northern Yuan palace, but had a higher status in the Harrah Mongolian tribe. In order to treat his illness, it would not be convenient for people at the pass to know that this person used to be..."

  "What you said is possible, but if these possibilities are not true, then they... must have a big problem!"

  Ximen Qing said, "I think... your suspiciousness is a bit too heavy. They came over with only ten or twenty people, and they didn't even have any weapons in their hands. If there really was some kind of plot, what kind of waves could it stir up?"

  "The enemy with a knife in hand is not to be feared, but an individual with malicious intentions and no weapon in hand is truly terrifying, because you don't know what he will do next."

  Ximen Qing shook his head and said, "I still think you're being overly suspicious. You don't actually know anything yet, but just because you smelled something like urine on him, you started having wild ideas about eunuchs and then inexplicably jumped to conspiracy theories, which is a bit..."

  Xia Fu said: "At first, I was indeed a bit fanciful, and in my heart, it was just a flash of thought, and this absurd idea came out. If I hadn't seen the strangeness of his mustache, if that Mongolian big man hadn't been in a hurry to snatch his arm back from me, I wouldn't have been so suspicious."

  "Now that I have my doubts, I want to find reasons to support them. So I thought... the Hala Meng tribe isn't doing business with us for the first time, and it's not just this one deal either. That is to say, since the old man is so seriously ill, his filial son didn't need to wait three days and nights in the wind and snow outside of Lulong Pass, only to bring him over after we made a deal with them. If he wanted to take his father to see a doctor, even if he only brought one cart of goods through the pass, the guards wouldn't have been so serious about it. Even if no one came to meet them, as long as they paid their taxes, they would have let him through."

  Ximen Qing pondered: "Hmmm, what you say does make some sense..."

  Xia Fu said in a low voice, "They were able to get in because they traded with us. If they really have any ulterior motives... I do things, but seek a clear conscience! Without investigating clearly, I won't be at ease."

  Ximen Qing bitterly smiled and said, "In Beiping we are also outsiders, if you want to investigate him, how can you do it? Ask for help from Xie Chuanzhong? Old Man Xie has a closer relationship with these Harrah Mongols than we do."

  Peng Ziqi stepped forward and said: "What's so difficult about this? Let me handle it!"

  Xia Liu and Ximen Qing looked at her together. Peng Yiqi smiled softly at Xia Liu: "You want to investigate, I'll help you!"

  Xia Liu anxiously said: "This is very difficult and also very dangerous. Those big men, not one of them is easy to get along with. You are alone, it's hard to keep an eye on them."

  "No problem, I may have come alone, but in Beiping, I have my own... My Peng family has extensive connections and some local influence in Beiping. I can seek help from them. Those city foxes and country rats are useless for anything else, but they're experts at keeping an eye on people and gathering information."

  Xia Fu's eyes lit up with excitement: "This plan is not bad, let's hurry to see your friend from the Peng family, while those Mongolians are busy with their illness and will be delayed for some time, ask them to keep a close watch."

  Peng Ziqi said: "Then what about me? Don't I need to keep an eye on them?"

  Xia Fu said, "If these people are not a problem, then I am just being paranoid. If there really is a problem, the local contact person Lakshen must also have a problem. Brother Xi Men knows where Lakshen lives, you only need to keep an eye on him, he is the Mongolian leader in this area, if there is indeed a plot, he will definitely take action."

  "Alright, I'll listen to you," said Peng Ziqi gently.

  Ximen Qing said with a red face: "The ancients said: The husband leads, the wife follows, this is the ultimate principle of the world. How can it not work in my own home?"

  PS: The second chapter is finished, I originally wanted to wait six hours before posting it, so that the updates would seem more frequent and increase clicks, since clicks are only counted once every six hours, but I just couldn't help myself, posted it!