New World's Empress

"Xiao Ran, my heart is beating so fast. I can't believe I just did this." Liu Mei held Xiao Ran's hand and patted her c.h.e.s.t.

Hua Roulan held both thumbs up. "You are amazing. Your tone was scary even to me. Let's get out now. They are scared as hell from us now. Even if they would find us, I think they would shit their pants and run back home in fear."

Xiao Ram started laughing. "Actually, I love it. Our Guifei is amazing. I mean Miss."

Hua Roulan poked her head and started making jokes with her while they walked to a house in the corner of the city. Pots everywhere.

A middle-aged woman in dirty clothes came out of the house and held an even dirtier child. She saw three women and approached.

"You came for the pots. We have the ones that carry liquid and the ones you can use for cooking. Which do you want?" She was overworked and sleepy so she went straight to case.

"We need big pots for liquid. How many do you have?" Liu Mei went forward and the wan showed her whole corner filled with huge pots.

"That is all we have." She pointed at about few dozen big pots, then few dozen medium pots and huffed smaller pots.

Liu Mei had an idea so she smiled at her. "How much all of them?"

The woman was so stunned that she almost dropped the wiggling baby. "Huh, what?"

With a soft voice, she repeated the question. "How much for all pots.''

" All pots?" The woman came quite quick out the daze. "Big pots ten coins, middle five coins, small two coins. I can see you are educated, please count it. I'm not hood at it."

Her honesty made Liu Mei smile. "Let's do it this way, I will just give you a gold nugget for all. "

She took out her bag took big gold nugget that was worth in the north half of the city and gave it to shaking lady. Then she came closer and looked at the child.

"Is it a girl?" Seeing her nodding she took pearl-encrusted headpiece with swinging butterfly. "This is my present to the child. Keep it safe for her. Don't let anyone else touch it."

The woman nodded and with shaky hand went inside the house when she came out the pots and the three women disappeared and another story started. About the three fairies.

When the two stories clashed came a new story of doing good and bad deeds. Even tho the woman was just another normal person.

That is the thing with stories. They become big with time. The headpiece became girls dowry and was for long long time precious item that only females could inherit.

With the gold piece, they bought land and became wealthy. With time the once potters became famous trough the land as 'the one that is blessed by heavens' and became a calm literary family that did many good deeds.

But that is another story.

"Why did you buy all the pots miss?" Xiao Ran couldn't understand.

"Why not. The healing herbs we can gather now and then dry. Who knows if further north these even exist. Let us stay a couple of days here and see if the well will disappear and at the same time we can gather and dry the herbs. I even saw many mushrooms."

"I'll go hunt. I saw rabbits and deer's nearby. We can dry some meat for us." Hua Roulan took her bow and arrows and went straight yo the forest while Liu Mei made small bundles of herbs and let them dry on a string between two trees.

Birds chirped around while she took off the dirty clothes and finally washed off the dirt on her skin. On end, it didn't matter anyway. They get bothered this or that way.

Xiao Ran helped her with drying hair while a pot of hot water bubbled and waited for her and Hua Roulan to wash.

"This water is amazing. My skin feels so soft and smooth. Look." She rose her sleeve and Xiao Ran could see pearl white skin shining on the sun.

"Miss, you had good skin even before. Maybe the mud did us all some good. Should we take dome more?" She heard a long time ago that mud was hood for the skin.

"The yellow mud should have made my skin yellow and ugly. I think its the water." That was not the mud Xiao Ran was thinking about.

While they chatted about beautiful surrounding Hua Roulan came back with a huge animal in tow.

"Wild pig, rabbits and even pheasant?" Liu Mei was truly astonished. "How did you catch it so fast?"

Hua Roulan pointed at the forest with a huge smile. "Miss, let's stay here next few weeks. Just until I don't capture few deer. We will need some warm clothes and meat. There is to many."

But saw Liu Mei shaking head. "Weather is going bad. We will gather more herbs. You have two days. About warm clothes... let's go straight to a bigger city and buy what we need. And we need anyway house and place to stay. Winter is near and I think we should for now station somewhere. Five years is not a long time, but I do not plan to stay on the road all five years."

Hua Roulan sighed. "Didn't you hear the old guy. He said that the country will become problematic and filled with war. What can you do to stop it ?" She was curious how will Liu Mei's presence in this country stop wars.

"Shall we go straight to capital then? We don't have to buy a big house. Just buy one that was inconspicuous in or near town. What do you think?" Only there she could see what he was talking about.

"Then let's do that. We can just take a house with a small garden and live calmly day by day." Xiao Ran still remembered the words that the old man said and glanced at Liu Me'si flat belly.

Hua Roulan dragged her pray bit further away and started dismantling it and cleaning while Xiao Ran helped her. Liu Mei took out the salt and few medium pots and chose to salt meat well and dry it for a couple of days and when they were travelling to keep it drying.

After a couple of days, a carriage filled with pots and three women were seen travelling. It was not strange or rare sight so people saw them and forgot about them after a while.

On their way, Liu Mei bought many things in villages and towns. Dried meat, dried vegetables, pickled vegetables, oils, rice, flour, wheat, soy paste and sauce and many other things.

The well really dried two days after they found it, so they had just big pots filled with that water in one corner of the secret room.

Liu Mei chose to fill other pots with as much food as possible. But she bought more things bit by bit. Warm clothes, warm beddings, good quality coal, wool... and many more.

Looking at filled space she happily smiled before going to sleep. When they slept at night, they chose to sleep on beds in space.

Slight rain started falling over them and their horses when they arrived in one city. Strange silence enveloped the whole place and when their carriage stopped near one of the lodgings a young man hurriedly came out and helped them with carriage and horses. He brought horses to the stall, dried them and gave them to eat while women sat in a warm room and looked at the bunch of dark-faced soldiers.

A woman with a pale face came closer. "Rooms is usually full but you are lucky. One room is free. But is one of the better rooms. The price is a bit more expensive. Is that OK?"

Liu Mei nodded. "Can you warm it up. We are freezing and if its nor to much to ask, some warm water to bath. The child is freezing. We need to get out wet clothes. Do you have anything warm to eat?"

The woman nodded. "Want yo eat here or in the room?"

"If it is fine, we would like to eat in the room." Liu Mei patted Xiao Ran's wet hair. "You must get out the wet clothes. Let's go."

When they left one of the men rose his face and looked after them. "Check their stuff."

Soldiers went out and carefully opened the pots and came back. "Sir, few pots with something that looks like dried plants. Then a few pots with rice and dried meat and one-pot with oil. There is a box with beddings, simple cloth and few clothes as well. It seems they took all that they own and are heading to a new place."

He nodded. People just sometimes looked for a new place to stay. "No weapons?" And saw him shaking head. "Find out where they are going. If they are in our way, we will protect them. The country is getting crazy, they might even get robbed even for that little they have. Gutsy I must say. To travel all alone."

A soldier sighed. "Maybe there was no other way. Why else would three women travel alone."

The country is currently living in fear of war. Many nobles started to have some even have bigger plans. So many bullies were supported by those people to make trouble.

Their face became dark again and they continued sitting in silence again.