Su Muqing saw their embarrassed expressions and proposed eating instant noodles. She also said that she knew instant noodles were precious and that everyone could just have a little to taste. Their attitude towards such rare treasures made her want to laugh and cry!
Except for Old San, who Su Muqing had brought a lot for his trip to Guang'an Prefecture last time, allowing him to eat on the road, she rarely took out instant noodles afterward.
This was because Su Muqing always felt that instant noodles lacked nutrition, and Old San and the others were people who did physical labor and should eat better. Who knew they had misunderstood, thinking she rarely took them out because they were too precious!
Now that Su Muqing knew, she directly took out several boxes of instant noodles in different flavors. She told them not to be frugal and to eat as much as they wanted; she would get more if they finished.
Everyone excitedly had another hearty meal of instant noodles, with expressions of satisfaction on their faces. After eating, they rested. Once they had recovered, they continued their journey after the sun went down.
After traveling for seven days like this, the group arrived at Yueping County in Changning Prefecture. Not only was there no drought here, but there was also abundant rainfall. They had experienced several heavy downpours in just these two days.
The continuous heavy rain had washed the dirt roads into muddy, difficult terrain. The carriage got stuck in mud pits several times. Although Su Muqing and the others were protected from the rain inside the carriage, it was not good for those riding horses to be exposed to the rain for a long time, even with raincoats.
They had originally planned to rest at an inn by the roadside, but after walking for a long time, they hadn't encountered a suitable one. Thus, they decided to enter Yueping County to stay temporarily until the rain subsided before continuing their journey.
Carrying the household registration certificates issued by the village chief, they all got off their horses and carriages. After queuing for inspection at the city gate passage, each person also had to pay a 2-wen entrance fee.
As they passed the bulletin board in the city gate passage, Su Muqing casually glanced at it and was immediately drawn to the content. She had never seen what ancient wanted posters looked like before.
There were over a dozen wanted posters pasted on the bulletin board, as well as a long list of names of wanted criminals. The most prominent position was occupied by a large portrait with the words "Huo Qiyuan, Son of a Traitorous Official."
The charge section stated that his father, Huo Sizhun, had attempted to usurp the throne, colluded with the enemy, and committed treason, and had now committed suicide to avoid punishment. His mother, Leng Muran, had shown disrespect to imperial authority and attempted to assassinate the current Emperor, for which she had been sentenced to death. Huo Qiyuan, as a general, had deserted his post on the battlefield, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers of the Great Yu Dynasty, and was suspected of being on the run.
Anyone who discovered Huo Qiyuan's whereabouts and reported it to the authorities would receive a reward of five hundred taels of silver.
The poster also stated at the end that, considering Huo Sizhun had saved the late emperor's life numerous times, the current Emperor had specially decreed to spare Huo Qiyuan from the death penalty. If captured, he would only be detained and placed under house arrest, thereby preserving a trace of the Huo family's lineage.
Below Huo Qiyuan's wanted poster, more than a dozen other portraits were pasted.
One of the wanted posters depicted a man who appeared to be in his fifties. His name was Xu Zhongliang, the former chief steward of the Prince of Beijian's manor, and also a personal guard who had followed Huo Sizhun for over forty years.
Next to him was a wanted poster of a woman. The woman's name was Zhou Lifang, Leng Muran's personal wet nurse and the former managing wet nurse of the manor.
Su Muqing propped her chin on her hand, staring at the portraits and names for a long time, and couldn't help but frown. How could it be them?
Lu Yuzhi and Leng Ren saw Su Muqing staring at the wanted posters. They clenched their fists tightly, looking at her nervously, wondering if she would recognize them.
Seeing Su Muqing looking there for a long time, Su Cuiping, along with Lin Rongrong and Little Milk Bun, ran over. "We're about to enter the city, what are you still looking at here?"
"Who are these people drawn here? Why does this person look a bit familiar?" Lin Rongrong and Su Cuiping, who couldn't read, pointed at the man named Xu Liangzhong and asked Su Muqing next to them.
"Alright, stop looking! It's our turn to enter the city." Seeing the two of them starting to discuss the people on the wanted posters, Su Muqing quickly reached out and pulled them along. Without looking back at Lu Yuzhi and the others, she walked straight towards the inspection point.
Old San saw that the three girls were finally no longer staring at the bulletin board and breathed a sigh of relief. The portraits still differed significantly from the actual people. Moreover, the young master's appearance had also changed considerably due to poisoning. He figured they probably hadn't recognized them.
Lu Yuzhi glanced at their retreating figures. He didn't say anything more and followed, standing behind them.
The soldiers at the gate carefully checked everyone. When they saw Lu Yuzhi, they couldn't help but look at him a few more times. This young man was handsome; why did he have a head of white hair at such a young age? One might mistake him for an old man!
However, as long as they weren't on the wanted list, it had nothing to do with them. After they paid the money, the guards waved their hands casually, urging them to go in quickly.
The group arrived at a place called the Yuelai Inn. The inn was large and quite clean. The waiter, seeing their ordinary attire, assumed they would opt for the common dormitory.
Who knew that one of the very pretty young girls would directly ask for six superior rooms? A superior room cost one hundred wen, and six rooms would cost more than half a tael of silver.
Su Cuiping took out two pieces of broken silver, each worth one tael, from her purse and handed them to the innkeeper. The silver was from the five-thousand-tael bank notes that Xu Fu had given them before they left.
Lu Yuzhi had given Su Muqing four thousand taels. He then found a bank on the way and exchanged one thousand taels for small denomination bills and some loose silver. Everyone else carried several dozen taels for emergencies.
Finally, the three girls shared one room, and Lu Yuzhi had his own. The remaining rooms were divided among the other ten people. After paying the money, Su Muqing asked the waiter to heat water, so everyone could take a simple bath. By then, it was evening.
They ate something casual at the inn. It was still raining heavily outside, so they couldn't go sightseeing. Su Cuiping and Lin Rongrong took Little Milk Bun to sleep first.
Su Muqing stood at the end of the second-floor corridor, watching the rain water drip incessantly, and suddenly thought of her past life.
During this period, she had been very busy and fulfilled every day. She had almost forgotten that she was a transmigator.
Lu Yuzhi also came out of his room and stood behind her, looking out at the rainy night together. "Why aren't you resting yet?"
"Can't sleep, just came up to listen to the rain." Hearing Lu Yuzhi's question, Su Muqing leaned against the wooden railing and replied lazily.
"I… what you saw today… isn't real!" After a long while, Lu Yuzhi finally said this.
"Saw what? I didn't see anything!" Su Muqing turned and smiled at him.
Su Muqing had guessed before that their identities might not be what they claimed. However, everyone had their secrets. Although their relationship was good now, it hadn't reached the point where they had to share their deepest secrets.