The Possession of My Beloved

Because of the war, those fat sheep with black tails became very popular.

The Masters in the Checkpoint are picky! They are not short of money and silver. If they can get it, they will sell it at a high price when it is not easy for them to enter the Checkpoints.

Miantang negotiated the price, and she was confident.

The last time she exchanged sheepskin with the Master of the farm, she also talked briefly with him. When the barbarians attacked the farmer, he ordered the herdsmen to drive a large number of sheep into the dense forest in the river branch and hide with his family. Only a few lambs and old and weak cattle were taken away by the barbarians.

But the border has been blocked for too long, and no one knows when will the ban be lifted.

If he can’t sell sheep, his daily expenses will be unbearable.

So when he heard that the boy with a dirty face wanted to buy his sheep, although he was uncertain of the truthfulness, he gave a low price even though he was skeptical.

When Miantang came to the three Checkpoints for the second time, she asked two escort agency assistants to sell medicine and daily necessities on the street corner. She followed Uncle Liu to the ranch to negotiate.

The rancher didn’t expect that this ugly boy could really afford to buy sheep. The man on the grassland did not have the hypocrisy and courtesy of the businessmen in the Checkpoints, so he simply sold 200 sheep to Liu Miantang at the previous price.

Liu Kun looked at the sheep and worried. It was not a dead thing, but how can they move it to the carriage?

Miantang had already discussed this with the rancher. He borrowed five herdsmen to drive the sheep so that they could get to Jintuo Town.

Hearing this, Liu Kun whispered to Miantang, “If you let people follow us, wouldn’t that shortcut for the Checkpoint clearance be exposed?”

Miantang was marking the sheep’s foreheads one by one with vermilion paint. Hearing Liu Kun’s words, Without looking up, she said, “Otherwise, this shortcut can’t be used again. The border will be lifted as soon as half a month later. By then, a large number of businessmen will come in and we will have nothing to do. After doing this, we will have a lot of money in our pockets, so we won’t be ashamed to see the people when we return. But if we still remain here, I’m afraid that we will become fat sheep in others’ mouths.”

Liu Kun was surprised to hear that and asked Miantang why she said so.

Miantang tilted the leather hat, showed her bright eyes, and said, “On the street today, there are two barbarians who have been whispering behind us. Their dialect is a little heavy, and I can’t hear it clearly, but I heard them say the word ‘Hu’. Hu is the jargon for barbarians to kill more people. It is similar to the meaning that sheep should be killed when they are fat. Those two people have followed us for a long time these days. It seems that our business has more or less come to an end. They are going to attack when we leave the town. ”

When Liu Kun was shocked, he was still a little ashamed. He is an old man in the Jianghu. Why hasn’t he noticed that someone follows them?

But Miantang burst into a smile and said, “Those barbarians can track wolves on the grassland, they are sneaky one after another. What’s more, these two are experts at first sight. If they didn’t know that I can speak barbarians, they might not give themselves away. But I don’t know how many of their friends are there except these two who came to check us out…”

Liu Kun actually knows the barbaric language, but old people have no advantage in learning foreign languages, and they are not as good as Liu Miantang. So apart from some daily and business words, he really can’t understand anything else.

Miantang asked Liu Kun to take over and continue to give the sheep redheads, while she rubbed her hands on the wool, took out the map from her bosom, and muttered to herself, “If I were the robber, where can I do it without fail…”

Liu Kun looked sideways at the Young Eldest Lady Liu of their family and suddenly felt that she was a very nice little girl. He doesn’t know why the banditry composure always leaked out.

If it was changed to another girl and be watched by barbarian bandits. Won’t they panic and ask their elder uncle to discuss the countermeasures? But looking at her reading the map, it seems that she is thinking about how to take care of those b*stards!

That ruffian spirit is just like that of Master Lu Wu when he was young!

Unexpectedly, the Master’s shrewd and capable spirit has not been inherited by his two sons, but by his granddaughter!

Sigh, the Old Master is seriously ill and his energy is not as strong as before. Otherwise, the prestige of the Shenwei Escort Agency will not fall sharply!

Liu Kun couldn’t help thinking of the past glory of the Escort Agency. Wherever he goes at that time, who doesn’t call him Master Liu with respect?

When he thought about the “clever” business he was doing, he couldn’t help feeling frustrated.

But the most important thing at the moment is the matter of being watched.

After Miantang’s advice, Liu Kun paid attention this time. Isn’t that true that there are two sneaky barbarians following them?

In fact, the three Checkpoints are a mixed zone of good and bad. In the past, there were even a large number of bandits and swordsmen gathering here. But now, after being recovered by Prince Huaiyang, some local officials such as sheriffs have been set up to manage a group of militiamen to maintain order on the street.

So the number of barbarians is less than before, But there are still many barbarians merchants who are free from nomadic life.

It was precise because of this that Liu Kun had not noticed the two barbarians who followed them.

Miantang bought a large number of black tail sheep, and the purpose of this trip has been achieved. What’s more, the goods she shipped the second time sold almost as well. After all, iron pots and salt are used by every household.

Although Miantang resells well salt, it is not as white as the well salt in Sichuan, and it doesn’t look good. However, such salt made by digging wells to extract brine can easily escape the official tax and was difficult to trace, so the price Miantang sold was also very low.

Although the people at the three Checkpoints can also eat salt, the price is very high, comparable to the price of meat. Many poor families can’t bear to give up money. They haven’t eaten salt for a long time. So when they bought a small jar, they can’t wait to dip their fingers in it and put it in their mouth to fill the taste. Only a little bit of it can make them feel alive.

In a short time, a small cart of well salt and six or seven iron pans were sold out, while the medical materials were collected by the boss of a local medicine shop for processing pills.

Miantang’s cart is emptied and can be loaded with sheep. However, so many sheep can’t be loaded into the cart at once. Miantang only asked people to pick up the old and weak sheep and load them into the cart, so that they wouldn’t be unable to walk when they were driving.

After loading, Miantang and the others spent the night in the cart and horse shop before they started on the road. The sheep and the cart must be watched, but Miantang didn’t use anyone else. She volunteered to stay overnight.

Since she knows someone is watching. On this return trip, Miantang did not want to rush. Moreover, driving a large number of sheep, there is no way to be too fast.

However, after leaving the town, those who followed disappeared.

Miantang knew that it was the bandits who had found out the route of their departure and set traps at the boundary of the field in the morning.

Although Liu Kun often escorted goods, at that time, the escorts of the Escort Agency deployed almost everyone. Many people were brave, and the officials along the way were well organized. As long as they don’t take shortcuts and go into the wild, they will not have too many accidents.

But now there are only four of them, not counting the borrowed herdsmen and cart drivers. Among them, Miantang is still useless and can’t be fought against at all.

Liu Kun knew it was a dangerous journey with tigers in the mountains.

Therefore, when he was about to reach the desolate land, Liu Kun could not help but persuade the Eldest Lady to stop going forward. They could stay for a few days. After the border was unsealed, they could go back from the main road.

But Miantang said firmly, “No. If the ban on official affairs is lifted, I’m afraid these sheep won’t sell at the agreed price. Don’t worry, Uncle Liu, I have a good idea…”

With these words, she approached Uncle Liu and whispered in a low voice.

Liu Kun’s eyes widened as he listened, and he looked suspiciously at the ten carriages ahead. The carriage was also full of sheep. They were all single sheep who were weak and could not keep up with the large army. They were temporarily moved to the carriage. So when it was dark, they only felt there was a bunch of white flurry moving on the cart.

A group of horses and sheep walked slowly into the wilderness.

When they came to a canyon, Miantang suddenly ordered the caravan to stop moving forward and prepare to take a rest on the spot and cook some hot soup for dinner.

Several herdsmen were puzzled and said to Miantang in men’s clothing, “Little brother, there will be a stream after crossing the valley. Isn’t it more convenient for us to camp there?”

Miantang was unmoved and said, “Just rest here.”

Since the Master spoke, other people naturally listened, so they stopped to prepare for camp.

But when they stopped, the bandits in the dark turned eager with red eyes.

If they go a little further, they can just enter the canyon. There are hidden traps they have buried. They can easily outflank these dealers.

But now, they have given up such a good campsite and stayed only at the bare edge of the road.

When the time comes to encircle and suppress them, it will be hard to go around the wilderness

Just as the leader of this gang of bandits frowned, one of his subordinates came up to him and asked in barbaric language, “Do you want to wait until dawn?”

The bandit shook his head. According to his original intention, he did not want to leave a single person alive. But now, the most important thing is to rob their silver and fat sheep.

The three Checkpoints is a place where barbarians and Han people mixed. It’s easy for them to turn back to the barbarians. At most, they can avoid the limelight first and then make a living in the three Checkpoints again.

With this in mind, the bandit leader decided to launch a sneak attack while they were slack in preparing meals.

Barbarian bandits are also tough. There is no prologue to “This mountain is opened by me”. When they can cut people with a knife, there is absolutely no other nonsense.

So when they emerged from their hiding place, they quickly approached the camp with fierce eyes and prepared to kill them in the wilderness and feed the wolves.

One of the bandits took the lead in shooting a powerful feather at the dirty boy who was standing on the carriage!

He thought that boy would fall, but unexpectedly, he blocked his face with a small iron pot, and the arrow was blocked by the iron pot with a clang.

The boy was very quick. After blocking the arrow, he immediately jumped off the carriage with a sharp iron whistle, and then disappeared into the white fluffy sheep.

The coachman and herdsman in the motorcade were ordered by Miantang in advance to drill into the sheep once they heard the whistle.

They didn’t know the situation for a moment, but they still did as ordered.

The bandits couldn’t help laughing when they saw this situation. These soft Han people are really interesting! Is it safe to shrink their neck and hide in the sheep?

What a group of undead lambs!

But when they put down their minds and rushed forward with all their strength, more than twenty “sheep monsters” suddenly appeared in the sheep pile of the semi-circular carriage.

It is too late for the bandits to see that the sheep standing up are actually big men with sheep’s horns. Those big men were all armed with bows and arrows, and they were all good at shooting at the bandits like raindrops.

With a whine, the bandits fell to the ground. Even if some people managed to push away the arrow rain, they were also cut to the ground by the big men who jumped out of the carriage with wide and long sabers.

Liu Kun did not hide with the cart drivers. He took two escorts to fight against the bandits with the sheepskin men hiding in the carriage.

The battle ended much faster than expected. Without a cup of tea, most of the bandits were killed. Only one or two of them fell off the cliff and escaped.

When Miantang emerged from the flock, Liu Kun was cleaning up the battlefield with the men who helped him, and mending the sword for the undead bandits.

As for the cart drivers and herdsmen, their legs trembled with fear and they are still in a state of shock.

Miantang walked over and arch her fist at the leading man, Ah Lian, and said, “Thank you for your help. I really wronged you for letting you huddle in the carriage and sheep all the way.”

Ah Lian returned according to the barbarian etiquette and said in skilled Chinese, “You are the Godmother of our Little Prince and the benefactor of our tribe. It’s not worth thanking me for killing bandits.”

It turns out that these people are all Lin Siyue’s subordinates.

When Miantang found that she was being watched by barbarian bandits, she thought that relying on herself was not enough to ensure a safe journey.

She then thought of asking Lin Siyue for help.

When Lin Siyue heard Miantang speak, she did not hesitate to send the warriors from the tribe to Miantang for help overnight.

So Miantang decided to make use of the plan. On the night when she was ready to leave in the cart and horse shop, she let these barbarian warriors hide in sheep’s clothing on the ten carriages loaded with sheep, to confuse the bandits who followed them and make them unclear. She then stopped in the open field where arrows are suitable for shooting and wait for the bandits to take the bait.

As expected, the bandit had no patience. After they stopped, they began to show themselves.

Those cart drivers didn’t even notice that there were so many people in the cart. They stared straight for a moment and complained that their Master didn’t tell the truth.

Miantang smiled and said, “I’m sorry for not telling you guys, but I’m afraid that you all will be scared and show it in your expression. If the robbers sense something wrong, they may be more prepared. There may not be only a dozen of them by then. If there are a large number of hungry wolves, we will require some effort even if we are prepared, right?”

The cart drivers and the herdsman said that if he had said earlier, they would not have taken the job, and they would have left!

But now that they have traveled more than half the way, according to this Young Master’s temperance, he will never pay for anything unless they reach their destination. So there is no other choice. They have to go on their way. They just hope it will be smooth and no more robbers!

Miantang was relieved of her worries. The rest of the journey can be traveled safely and boldly.

Because they are in the wild, they can only eat cold food when they travel in the daytime. Only at night can they use a little more effort in cooking.

To thank the warriors of the Guli tribe for their help, Miantang asked the coachman and the herdsman to help her the next night. She found some wild fruits and dug some wild vegetables and wild ginger. Liu Kun selected three fat sheep. After slaughter, he cut the meat into large pieces and put them into the pot one by one. He then threw several handfuls of wild vegetables and sliced wild ginger into the pot. After they were boiled, he directly dipped them in the condiment.

For a while, even if there was no wine, people drank the mutton soup and ate heartily.

The taste of the Black Tail Sheep is originally fresh, tender, and fat. It does not need too rich seasoning to cook. When it is cooked, it will have a special flavor if it is eaten with salt. What’s more, Miantang took out her chili oil and mixed it to resist the mutton smell. The feeling of spiciness beat on the taste buds.

Not to mention the warriors of the ancient tribes, even Liu Kun thought the chili oil was very fragrant.

After asking Miantang, he knew that the chili oil was made by crushing small peanuts, which are special in Jiangnan, together with spices such as cardamom, licorice, dried orange peel, and licorice, and then fried them with ginger and scallions. After filtering the dregs, poured the hot oil on the Lingnan red fine chili powder. Even the fine sesame seeds in it were imported from far away.

Liu Kun originally asked casually, but he didn’t expect that the jar of pepper oil that Miantang carried with her was so particular.

Miantang smiled bitterly. Originally, she was tricked into being a military family member. All day long, except for the medicine shop, she only dived herself in the kitchen and let Servant Li teach her how to cook and serve her husband.

She hasn’t learned anything else. The Prince’s Residence has a very picky taste of the wealthy. Thus, she learned a lot from Servant Li. Even this jar of chili oil was learned from Servant Li.

When she came out of the Wuning Checkpoint, except for a few big pots of steamed buns, Servant Li almost emptied the small kitchen. She brought her all kinds of spices, including three big bags of her favorite preserved pork with honey sauce.

Unfortunately, on the way, Fan Hu and others were so able to eat that they finally used up her snacks to replace them with steamed bread.

Fortunately, there is still such a jar of chili oil left. When Miantang stays here, she also takes it with her. Even a hard cake can be appetizing with chili oil.

Miantang now thinks of her relatively comfortable days in the house for the past two years, and she has a feeling of “her previous life”.

After the chili oil in this jar was used up, she also decided not to recall the past events around the kitchen stove and the house…… Now, the jar she had been eating thriftily was quickly shared by everyone.

In the future… she probably won’t think about it again! Miantang closed her eyes and drank a bowl of mutton soup.

During the meal, Miantang chatted with Ah Lian and inquired about the situation of the barbarians.

According to Ah Lian, Agufan is a tyrannical man, and he was not supported by the tribes of the barbarians. He was fine when he won the war, and everyone shared the meat with him to pursue profits.

But now Agufan has been beaten by Prince Huaiyang, and all the tribes following him have begun to be dissatisfied. The war he ordered to fight is even more guilty and tiring. He hopes that both sides can make peace soon.

However, Prince Huaiyang had no intention of making peace. It seemed that he would kill Agufan completely.

Miantang listened quietly and suddenly asked, “Did your Guli tribe fight with Agufan?”

Ah Lian spat on the ground and said, “Who will associate with the rich wolf who eats rotten meat? Even if the people of the Guli tribe are dead, we will never surrender to Agufan…”

After saying this sentence, Ah Lian seemed to consciously make a mistake, so he kept silent and stopped talking. He just kept eating mutton.

Miantang held the bowl and drank the mutton soup slowly. For some reason, she suddenly had some strange thoughts.

She once heard Cui Xingzhou tell the story of the change of the barbarian throne when he told the pillow side story.

For a moment, she suddenly thought of the barbarian Old Shan Yu who died at the hands of Agufan. It is said that the only daughter of the old Shan Yu disappeared after her father’s death.

It coincides with the time when Lady Lin committed herself to the second son of the Hu family. Besides, Lady Lin can speak Chinese and has a good conversation. She should have invited Han people to be teachers when she was very young. The young daughter heir of ordinary tribes has no such ostentation…

Now, these warriors around her look very different from those barbarians with flat noses, not to mention ordinary barbarian herdsmen.

Listening to what they said was the pure Wangqi accent that they could understand, Miantang couldn’t help wondering whether Lin Siyue was the Old Shan Yu’s missing daughter.

However, since the other party didn’t want to be investigated, Miantang was also insightful and didn’t ask, but urged them to turn back quickly.

If her guess is correct, Lin Siyue and his son, Little Walnut, are also in danger.

If Agufan knew that the Old Shan Yu’s bloodline was still alive, he would definitely want to eliminate them. So Lin Siyue can’t be short of people around her.

So in the early morning of the next day, Miantang invited Ah Lian to come over and thanked him again, saying that they were about to arrive at Jintuo Town. They didn’t need to escort her further and asked them to return.

Ah Lian refused. He only said that his hostess had told him that they must escort Lady Liu to a safe place before heading back.

But Miantang said seriously, “I heard that Prince Huaiyang has planted many spies in Jintuo Town. You look too conspicuous. If you get close and are arrested by those officers and soldiers for interrogation, I’m afraid you won’t get away for a while. Then Lady Lin will be left alone. What will you do then?”

Ah Lian hesitated. The leader and the Little Prince are the last hope of their tribe. If anything goes wrong, nothing can be made up for.

Miantang is very good at persuading people. Thus, she persuaded Ah Lian to return in the end.

Miantang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ah Lian and his subordinates leave. This group of strange soldiers of Ah Lian had seriously injured the bandits, so the rest will not be a big issue. Even if the bandits wanted to revenge, they were powerless for a moment and could not hinder themselves.

This time, the goods are mainly sheep, all of which are breathing animals with hair. They should try to hurry up on the next journey and leave the Northwest as soon as possible. She also hopes that Lady Lin and her son can have a happy life.

Sure enough, the journey behind was very safe, and they came to Jintuo Town smoothly.

It was quite a sensation that such a large group of sheep was driven into Jintuo Town. After all, it’s not easy to bring a flock of sheep here at this time. Sheep dealers in the town came to Miantang one after another to talk about purchasing, and the prices they quoted were higher than each other.

Finally, Miantang divided the sheep into three groups and sold them to the three highest bidders.

Liu Kun’s smiles wouldn’t stop. Although the journey was risky, the profits were also very rich, which was worth four or five times the normal times. Miantang took Liu Kun and several escorts, changed all the silver into silver notes, wrapped them in thick oilcloth, and sewed them into the interlayer of the sheep’s jacket and they won’t take off even sleeping at night.

It is said that when they got up the next morning, Miantang and the others left early. Miantang found a small forest and changed back to women’s clothes. She also asked several escorts of Liu Kun to shave off their beards.

A man who walks the Jianghu has a beard. How can they shave it? Liu Kun and the others refused to agree.