It was just dawn when the exhausted Zhao Luoning finally slumped over the table and fell into a deep sleep.
She only opened her bleary eyes when she felt someone playing with her hair in her dream.
Sure enough, it was the Yunhua and Yunbo brothers causing a ruckus.
By this time, it was already broad daylight.
The morning mist lent a touch of chill to the air.
Aunt Li's voice, as gentle as the mountain mist, drifted over from the kitchen.
"Yunhua, Yunbo, stop bothering Sister Shen. Let her have a good rest."
Yunbo didn't seem to care. He moved a small stool over and picked up some enlightenment poems that Zhao Luoning had worked on all night. He read them with great interest.
"Sister Zhao, are these for us?"
Zhao Luoning stroked Yunbo's red - fringed hair and replied with a smile.
"Yes, they are for you. Pick out the characters you don't know, and I'll teach you how to read them."
Yunhua and Yunbo were just kids after all. They were simply overjoyed and didn't notice anything amiss.
After breakfast, Big Brother Li brought up the notice, and Zhao Luoning took the opportunity to bid farewell.
When the people in the mountain valley heard about it, they all came with gifts to see Zhao Luoning off. The girl on the ox they had seen that day even led out her family's ox.
Fearing that Zhao Luoning couldn't endure the rough mountain roads, she wanted her to ride it out.
The kids didn't realize what was going on. They just thought the family meal was the most sumptuous they'd ever had and ate with grease on their lips.
Early the next morning, Zhao Luoning left the mountain with Big Brother Li. The black dog insisted on following them for a long way and finally turned back at Big Brother Li's shout.
Zhao Luoning had just recovered from her injuries and walked slowly, stopping from time to time.
It took almost five hours to get out of the mountain.
Outside the mountain, a group of people were going crazy with worry.
Ji Shisu was extremely anxious, and his soldiers didn't have a moment of peace either.
They had searched the roads from Chaomen to Shiguan more than a dozen times but found no trace of her.
Soldiers were sent to every inn in Shiguan to inquire every day.
Those who didn't know might have thought there was a spy from Chaomen.
Although the posters were all over the city, since Zhao Luoning wore a veil to avoid trouble, few people recognized her.
When they reached Shiguan, Big Brother Li took her to the city gate where the reward poster was posted to find the soldiers on duty.
When they got there, they found a long queue in front of the poster.
Everyone claimed to have clues about the general's wife.
After all, the reward Ji Shisu offered was so tempting.
It was hard for anyone not to be tempted.
With so many people around, Zhao Luoning didn't dare to take off her veil for fear that the people from Sima Villa were also watching.
She knew that if she was caught by the people from Sima Villa, Ji Shisu would be in a difficult situation.
Since she couldn't see Ji Shisu, she might as well find Caixue first.
Zhao Luoning had inquired when she entered the city.
Princess Nuobu was still in the city.
Both Caixue and Ji Shisu had high - status now, and it wasn't easy for Zhao Luoning to meet them.
She had to settle down first and then figure out a way.
With Big Brother Li's help, Zhao Luoning checked into an inn.
Due to the ongoing war, this once - bustling border city seemed rather deserted.
Most of the shops were closed.
There were few civilians on the street; only patrolling soldiers.
Knowing that Big Brother Li had farm work to do at home and couldn't stay long, Zhao Luoning persuaded him several times before he finally left.
Not long after Big Brother Li left the city, Ji Shisu rushed back to the barracks from Chaomen.
He didn't even have time to take a sip of water when he heard there was news of Zhao Luoning.
Although Yu Chi said it was very likely that someone was impersonating her.
There had been too many false leads these days.
But every time Ji Shisu heard the name Zhao Luoning, he couldn't stay calm.
He quickly mounted his horse and galloped towards the city gate.
Yu Chi had no choice but to follow him out of the barracks.
Worried about Zhao Luoning, Ji Shisu didn't care if he would disturb the civilians. He rode his horse at full speed. Pedestrians had to sigh at his increasingly abnormal behavior while making way for him.
Wherever the horse's hooves flew, dust billowed.
Zhao Luoning had to turn around and cover her face with her hand to prevent the dust from getting into her eyes.
After the dust gradually settled, she dusted off her clothes and prepared to continue walking towards the guesthouse along the street.
There was a small glutinous rice cake stall beside her.
The stall owner was an old man. He didn't have time to cover the glutinous rice cakes with a cloth before the horse came, so the originally white - as - jade glutinous rice cakes were covered in dust.
"Alas."
The old man sighed. These glutinous rice cakes were ruined.
"Sir!"
Looking at the old man's staggering figure as he cleaned up the glutinous rice cakes, Zhao Luoning finally felt pity.
"How much are these glutinous rice cakes?"
The old man looked up in surprise.
In this chaotic era of war, even if her glutinous rice cakes were clean, not many people would buy them, let alone these dirty ones.
Looking at this girl again, she was simply dressed and didn't look like a rich person.
The old man couldn't help but sigh and said helplessly.
"Girl, you're too late. These glutinous rice cakes are dirty."
Zhao Luoning was just about to say that she didn't mind, but the old man had already seen through her thoughts and directly refused.
"Girl, although I'm running a small business, I know the importance of integrity. Come back tomorrow, girl. I'll prepare some hot ones for you."
Zhao Luoning was also a businessperson. How could she not understand the principle? She had to suppress her original plan.
The old man was not as strong as a young person. It was a bit of a scramble for him to put so many glutinous rice cakes into the bag.
Seeing this, she helped the old man arrange the bag and neatly put the dirty glutinous rice cakes back into it.
"In this chaotic time of war, why didn't you go somewhere else to take shelter, sir?"
"My old man was a teacher in Shiguan all his life. This place has long been our root. Anyway, I don't have many years left. I feel more at ease staying in my own home."
The old woman's words were filled with the bitterness and helplessness of life.
Ordinary people didn't care who was in power or who became the emperor.
What they cared about was whether the court could feed them and whether the crops in the fields could have a good harvest.
If those in power cared about the same things as the common people, there wouldn't have been so many wars that exhausted the people and wasted resources.
As the one responsible for soiling the old man's glutinous rice cakes, Ji Shisu still felt uneasy after riding a short distance. He quickly reined in his horse.
He turned back along the original path.
Yu Chi was surprised and quickly pulled his horse to a stop.
"Master, where are you going?"
It was him who was in a hurry to rush to the city gate when he heard the news of the second young mistress, and now it was also him who inexplicably turned his horse around.
But Ji Shisu didn't even answer him.
Yu Chi had no choice but to follow his master back.