Chapter 231: Snow White Yu
The fire burned for half the night, and in the second half, fog rolled in.
There was nothing left on the mountaintop to burn.
Everything that could burn had been consumed, and since it was a sheer cliff, it naturally cut off the fire.
This wave of setting the mountain ablaze—the timing and location were all in the Jiang Family’s favor.
One doesn’t just set fires randomly; you have to consider the wind direction and terrain.
If you were foolish enough to just light it, and it ended up burning yourself, that would be the end.
Chu Xi hadn’t expected that an all-in gamble would truly be an all-in.
They were ruthless.
Jiang the Second was no slouch either.
Both were Rebels by origin.
Why would they grant you a way out?
The vultures had waited for so long; they had to eat.
The winner is king, and the loser dies.
No survivors.
That night.
Commander Jiang waited for his daughter to finish her late-night snack, returned to sleep soundly, coaxed his wife to sleep, and then went to kill.
A massacre.
The starry sky twinkled.
In the eyes of the stars, humans slaughtering each other is the same as Ants slaughtering each other—there is no difference.
At this moment, Jiang Changtian was also like an Ant, a cold-blooded animal.
The enemy ambushed my whole family, wanting to wipe us out, from the old to the young, including the unborn child in the womb, and now you beg for mercy?
I spare your life, and then wait for you to rest up and come kill me again?
For Commander Jiang, there is only death!
About a hundred people ran down from the mountain.
A hundred survivors.
Jiang Changtian arrived and directly ordered their execution.
Swords slashed across bodies, blood splattered, and those being killed let out wails and curses before they died.
Jiang Changtian listened to these curses very carefully.
If they were just cursing him, he didn’t care.
If someone cursed his wife and children.
He leaned down and said to them: “You dare curse my wife and children? I will find out your identity, and when the opportunity arises in the future, I will personally kill your father, Mother, wife, sons, daughters, brothers, and relatives. If you are a lone person, that’s fine too; I will first grind your bones and scatter your ashes, so you can never be reincarnated.”
Consequently, the cursing from those about to die became much more civilized.
Because others felt that this man meant what he said.
He had no emotions, he was the most handsome, and he was the most decisive when taking action.
That night, vultures gathered in flocks; it seemed as if all the vultures from all directions had come.
They tore at the food frantically, and when they were full, they stood on the rocks, looking like a black umbrella.
The next day.
There was frost and ice, but no sunlight.
It was a vast expanse of fog.
Thus, the brilliant scenery of the previous day was gone.
Only the feeling of cold shivering remained.
Mianmian had high internal heat; she got up, washed, and tidied up, and after moving around, she was warm again.
As she rose, the entire carriage convoy seemed to wake up and become lively.
Jiang Mianmian also loved to talk and could talk to anyone.
After all, she was the type of person who could chat with Ant for a long time.
Seeing that her sister’s carriage also had movement—the brother-in-law was away—Jiang Mianmian routinely took a book to read to her future niece or nephew.
Even on the road, prenatal education could not be neglected.
After everyone finished breakfast and packed up, they set off again.
When passing through a canyon, Jiang Mianmian felt the smell here was strange. Looking at the two dark mountains from afar, it was only when the carriage got close that she realized the mountains weren’t black, but covered with black birds.
These birds stood motionless, covering the mountaintops.
Seeing them up close was actually quite scary.
There was a charred smell, and it seemed there was also the smell of blood.
However, the wind was strong today. Seeing the mountain full of birds, especially a super-large bird on the peak, Mianmian felt it was quite scary.
Those eyeballs seemed to be staring at her.
She lowered the curtain and played with Little Tree in the carriage, feeling a bit more secure.
This canyon was very long; it took a while to walk through.
After passing the canyon and walking for a while longer, the view suddenly opened up.
What was even more magical was that it was still a plain in front of them, but they were on high ground, as if in a world on top of a cliff.
Below, there was a very, very wide riverbed.
Because it was winter, there was only a little running water in that wide riverbed, branching into several streams, winding along, with ice and snow covering the distance.
Vast and beautiful.
Having lived in Jingzhou all her life, she felt that the mountains and waters were normal, and she hadn’t expected such a landscape outside of Jingzhou.
It felt very suitable for ten thousand horses to gallop.
If there were no horses, no cattle, or donkeys, walking in such a place for a long time without seeing a tree, one would feel very lonely.
One might be sun-scorched or frozen to death.
Therefore, the fact that the people of Jingzhou could live so stably and happily was indeed beyond Censor He’s expectations.
It was like a mirage in a desert, unbelievably beautiful.
Continuing forward, after half a day, there was a small village, but the village was too small to accommodate so many people, so they continued to move forward.
They walked for another two days before reaching a proper large town.
Commander Jiang was with his wife and children, so they naturally had to rest in this city.
Riding in a carriage was okay for others, and although tiring, it could be endured, but it was really too unfriendly for a pregnant woman.
Pregnancy is already prone to edema, and if one has to stay huddled in the carriage, both legs would be swollen.
Fortunately, along the way, Qin Luoxia and Jiang Changtian both saw that their daughter was not polite at all. It was one thing for a maid to massage her feet during the day, but at night, her son-in-law still had to massage her feet, sometimes continuing until she fell asleep.
Every time she saw her son-in-law reach out to get something or hand over food, Jiang Changtian would silently look away.
Although the son-in-law was massaging his daughter’s feet, he still disliked it.
Hands that massaged feet every day might have athlete’s foot.
Dislike and praise coexisted; after all, she was his own daughter.
They arrived at this town, called Aima Town, where business was exceptionally bustling.
Perhaps because this town had formed the largest livestock trading market for horses, mules, cattle, and donkeys, there were many people coming and going, and it was very lively.
After finding a large inn and checking in, Jiang Yu couldn’t wait to go out and stroll.
No choice, if she didn’t go out to walk and see people, she would be suffocated.
To go out, with so many eyes, and given the ambush on the road, the group went out with protection in the open and protection in the dark.
Jiang Mianmian suddenly felt like she was a little princess. Not only did she have a very sturdy manservant, Student Wei Biao, and a very sturdy maid, Student Pang Ya, but she also had a group of bodyguards behind her, and then others in the shadows.
She had seen them, back and forth, looking like they were strolling casually, but actually, they were surrounding them very neatly.
The only insecurity was worrying about someone firing cold arrows from high buildings somewhere.
However, this was a small town; although prosperous, there were no high buildings.
In ancient times, buildings were built by hand, and the cost of building high-rise buildings was very high. At this time, land was cheap, so they built wide rather than high.
There was no place to fire cold arrows, so basically, just watching the surroundings was fine.
Mother was also worried about her eldest daughter. Sometimes, after marriage, there were some inconveniences. With her son-in-law present, it was awkward to scold her daughter, but with people coming and going, she insisted on coming out to stroll, and with such a big belly, it was worrying to death.
Aunt Yin was also very worried, but a pregnant woman’s thoughts are sometimes very stubborn. You don’t allow it, but she insists. It makes no sense. The masters in the palace used to be quite smart, but when they were pregnant, for some reason, they would lose a screw in their brains.
Jiang Mianmian knew this was because of pregnancy; hormones changed, and emotions followed.
Postpartum depression and the like were all caused by hormonal changes.
Anyway, she advocated that pregnant women should be in a happy mood and walk around.
Those who were too cautious, who didn’t dare to walk or move, were extremely nervous, and their bodies lacked exercise, which made them easier to have problems.
In fact, small lives are very robust; as long as you pay attention, they won’t be lost so easily.
The market was very lively and relatively wide. The bodyguards protected them well, so no one could suddenly rush in and bump into them.
They couldn’t rush in, first of all.
On the roadside stalls, there were many things for sale, dazzling, with many small knick-knacks, many foods she had never seen before, and all kinds of spices.
Mianmian and her sister would buy a little of whatever they saw that they liked.
It wasn’t expensive, and money lasted a long time.
After strolling for a while, they saw a snack shop on the street.
The boss was boiling food on the street, emitting a rich fragrance.
It was actually boiled clear soup meatballs.
In the cold winter, drinking a bowl of hot soup made the body warm, and adding meatballs filled the stomach, which was very affordable.
It was written above that you could add soup.
Not far away, there was actually a public toilet!
A paid public toilet; it was worthy of being a commercially developed town.
There was a vague feeling of a chain store.
Drinking soup here, relieving oneself over there—I don’t know if they were relatives, but this business was done with a lot of flavor.
Seeing many people eating, Jiang Yu stopped.
Jiang Mianmian also stopped and honestly secreted saliva.
No matter how good her own food was, after eating it for a long time, she would get tired of it and want to eat takeout.
The couple boiling the meatballs was very enthusiastic.
Great-Aunt had also inquired that they had been doing this for over ten years, not newcomers.
Snacks that could last for ten years were indeed delicious.
The soup was fresh, the meatballs were chewy, and they were very satisfying upon entering the mouth; it was worth it.
No wonder the small stools and small tables on the roadside were oily, with a thick layer of grease; they couldn’t be wiped clean anyway—the kind of ‘it’s dirty but you won’t get sick from eating it.’
Jiang Mianmian thought it was delicious and asked for a small plate to pick out a meatball for Ant.
Ant was not a picky eater and was very elegant. The little pincers were like knives, cutting it piece by piece, stuffing it into its mouth, and it was still clean after eating.
Jiang Mianmian’s table manners were now also very standard.
Under Great-Aunt’s gaze, Jiang Yu added +1 to being well-behaved, satisfied with eating a bowl of meatballs, and completely whetted her appetite.
They continued to stroll and eat.
Everything went smoothly, and they had a full harvest.
Back at the inn.
Jiang Mianmian was tired from walking, but Jiang Yu, with her big belly, actually felt she hadn’t had enough.
Under Mother’s death glare, she obediently went back to rest.
While waiting for her husband in the room, a waiter came to deliver something.
He said it was food sent by Young Master Meng.
Jiang Yu took a look; it was the clear soup meatballs she had just eaten, and she was very happy.
Sure enough, her husband knew her. She had just eaten this and was still thinking about it, but it was too far to turn back, so he had actually packed some for her.
She sat in the room excitedly and started eating.
It just felt like the smell of the packed one was a bit strange, not as delicious as just now.
Halfway through the bowl, Meng Shaoxia returned, carrying a bowl of packed clear soup meatballs in his hand…
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