Long Live the Empress

Chapter 321 Arrival at the Cold Land

Agate was very smart. She changed to a more shabby carriage and took the bag that Yue Jinghao had asked her to prepare a long time ago. Even the driver, Old Ding, disguised himself.

Yue Jinghao and his companions left the capital in a low-key manner. The carriage squeaked and twisted for a whole day until it arrived at the post station in the suburbs of Beijing in the evening.

Wang Er thought Yue Jinghao wanted to rest for a night, so he went in to book a room.

"No need, go buy two fast horses and we'll continue on our journey." Yue Jinghao said.

Wang Er also knew that Yan Liyuan was in critical condition, so he went to pick a horse without arguing.

Yue Jinghao took out a set of men's clothes from her bag and changed into them.

"Miss, I will change too!" As she said this, Manju was about to get another set of clothes.

Yue Jinghao held Manou's hand and said, "Manou, you have more important things to do! After I leave, take this golden phoenix hairpin to the princess's mansion to find the eldest princess at night, and tell them that I have an important matter and I have to go on a long journey. You should wait for me at the princess's mansion!"

Agate was anxious, "How can that be? Miss, I won't cause any trouble for you..."

"Manou, I will be gone for at least seven days. If anything happens in the capital, there will be fewer rumors with you around! You don't want your young lady's reputation to go back to what it was before, do you?" Yue Jinghao said patiently. The journey was long and Manou's body could not bear it, so she could only find an excuse to let Manou stay in the capital.

Agate's eyes were red, and she bit her lips tightly, "I understand! Then... Miss must come back safely..."

Yue Jinghao made a lot of promises and finally Manju stopped crying.

When she got off the carriage again, Yue Jinghao was already dressed as a man.

"Young... Sir, even if you wear this kind of coarse cloth, you are still very dashing! If you were in the capital, I wonder how many young ladies you would charm!" Agate said with a smile.

Yue Jinghao tapped Manjue's forehead and said, "If I were a man, I would marry a woman named Manjue!"

Manju's face turned red, "Young Master is always teasing me!"

The horse that Wang Er picked was very strong and had a shining body. It was obvious at first glance that it was a well-bred and excellent horse.

Yue Jing climbed onto the horse swiftly, held the reins and said to Manju: "You and Uncle Ding should be careful when you go back!"

"Little... Young Master, you must take care of yourself! I'm waiting for you to come back!" Seeing Yue Jinghao's figure getting farther and farther away, Agate burst into tears.

Lao Ding drove the carriage to Manju and comforted her, "We must do what the young lady asked us to do and not let her come back to cause trouble!"

Agate nodded, glanced in Yue Jinghao's direction, and got on the carriage.

"Uncle Ding, let's go to the princess's mansion!"

In the dark night of early spring, they galloped at high speed. Apart from the occasional chirping of insects, the only sound was the clatter of horses' hooves beneath them.

After traveling day and night for two days, Wang Er, as a secret guard, was a little exhausted, but Yue Jinghao still waved the whip stubbornly.

Wang Er has been following closely behind Yue Jinghao, watching her petite figure swaying with the horse, and he feels admiration in his heart!

"Young master, there is an inn ahead, you can take a rest here!" Wang Er really couldn't bear to see Yue Jinghao like this, so he suggested taking a rest.

"No need, I'm fine!" Yue Jinghao's face was tired and a little pale.

"Sir, if you keep traveling like this, you will collapse before we even reach the cold land! Besides, the horse also needs a rest!" Wang Er advised.

Yue Jinghao patted the horse's head and nodded, "Then let's rest for two hours, keep the horse at the post station, and then we can go change horses!"

Wang Er finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Yue Jinghao would insist on doing things his own way and exhaust himself! Then their governor would definitely skin him alive.

When they arrived at the post station, Yue Jinghao threw a bottle of medicine to Wang Er and said, "Apply it on your legs."

Wang Er subconsciously took the medicine bottle and looked at Yue Jinghao's legs. There were some blood stains on her robe.

Yue Jinghao asked for some water, wiped her face simply, and began to take off her trousers. Because the inside of her thighs had been rubbed bloody from riding, the cloth and skin were stuck together, so she could only wet it with water and then slowly peel it off.

Yue Jinghao gritted her teeth, and cold sweat broke out from the pain...

After applying medicine on the wound, he wrapped the thighs with clean cloth.

After all, Yue Jinghao was a delicate young lady who had been kept in the boudoir. After two days of traveling, she fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

Two hours later, Yue Jinghao and his group set out again.

When they were tired, they leaned against a tree to rest; when they were hungry, they ate hard steamed buns; when they were thirsty, they drank water from the stream. When they arrived at the cold land, Yue Jing was so thin that her eye sockets were sunken.

The reason why the cold land is called the cold land is that there are no four seasons here, it is covered with snow all year round, and there are only a few families living at the foot of the mountain.

When Wang Er reached a door, he was about to knock, but Yue Jinghao stopped him. "The people here are simple and honest, and have never seen any outsiders. Guard Wang looks righteous, and I'm afraid he will scare them! Let me do it!"

Wang Er scratched his head. The young lady was really good at talking. She could turn a murderous look into a righteous one...

Yue Jinghao knocked on the door gently a few times, and a child about five or six years old came out of the house.

"Who are you looking for?" The child looked at Yue Jinghao innocently, thinking that this older brother was so handsome, even more handsome than the second boy of the Li family at the village entrance!

"Little brother, are your parents at home?" Yue Jing said with a smile, touching the child's head.

"Yes! My grandma is in the house!" the child said as he ran into the house, "Grandma, grandma, there are guests!"

"Xiaobao, who's here? Cough cough..." An old man's cough was heard from the room.

As soon as Yue Jinghao entered the room, she saw an old woman sitting in front of the stove pulling the bellows.

"Mother-in-law, we are here to look for medicine. Can we stay here for a few days?" Yue Jinghao took out a few pieces of silver from her bosom and stuffed them into the child's hand.

The child had never seen so much money before, so he ran to the old woman happily and said, "Grandma, we have money now! With the money, we can take care of your illness!"

But the old woman frowned and said to the child, "Don't take other people's things!"

The old woman stood up, stuffed the silver coins back into Yue Jinghao's hands, and said, "Even if I sell this house, it's not worth that much money. There are a few shabby houses in the side yard. If you don't mind, you can live here as long as you want!"

Yue Jinghao did not refuse, and took out one of the silver coins, saying, "Grandma is so kind! We can live here for free, but we can't eat for free. Please use this little money to buy some food!"

The old woman took the silver with both hands and said, "Hey, I'll go now! Xiaobao, you stay at home and talk to big brother for a while!"

Not long after, the old woman came back with a small bag of rice and a piece of meat. As soon as she entered the door, she saw Yue Jinghao hugging Xiaobao who was eating candy.

Wang Er took the food and went to the kitchen to cook.

Seeing his grandmother coming back, Xiao Bao happily held up the candy and said, "Grandma, look! This is the candy that big brother gave me! He gave me a lot! I'm going to show it to Gousheng, because he said I had no parents a few days ago! Humph, he's so jealous!"

Yue Jinghao asked: "Xiaobao's parents..."

"Oh, they both said they were going out to make a living, but they never came back again! They left us two, the grandparents and grandchildren, behind..." The old woman wiped her tears with her sleeves as she spoke.

"What are their names? We can ask for them for Grandma when we get back."

……

After dinner, they talked for a while and then Yue Jinghao went back to her room to sleep.

Because the cold land is covered with snow, the search for Shui Linglong can only be carried out during the day. Now all Yue Jinghao needs to do is to have a good rest and try to find it tomorrow!