Chapter 747: Chapter 742, Chapter 743: Madam Xiao: Prince, Sister Yunxi Will Come Too
August 16th, morning.
Outside Prince Wei’s mansion, several carriages loaded with family members and maids, along with the women living within the Copper Sparrow Garden, arrived outside the mansion under the escort of the Personal Guard Battalion.
Inside the mansion, Yi Shiyin was instructing her father that while they were going to the Capital, the Wei Prince’s Mansion in Xiangyang would be looked after by the Yi Family.
"Xiaolu, are you ready? It’s getting late," Han Anniang came to urge.
"Coming. Dad, when you’re free, you and mom can come to the Capital for a visit too." After saying this, Yi Shiyin left the mansion and got on the carriage.
In the convoy, Wu Mi sat in Chen Mo’s carriage. As an Alien King, Chen Mo’s chariot was drawn by six horses. The carriage was quite spacious, and with Han Anniang, Xiaolu, and the two children, it was buzzing with chatter inside.
Xia Zhiqing and Xia Zhining’s sisters shared a carriage. Xia Zhiqing, a typical official’s daughter and a famous talent from Qingzhou, spent her time raising children for Chen Mo, now sewing clothes and shoes for the kids.
Meanwhile, Xia Zhining took care of the dragon and phoenix twins, who laughed and called out, "Auntie."
Xiao Yunxi and Xiao Ya shared one carriage; both ladies from prominent families, not very skilled in needlework, considering they were born to be served. Yet, knowing the journey was long and to pass the time, the two were playing chess.
Song Min and Nangong Ru, though Song Min was actually close to Han Anniang and Xiaolu, the carriage of Chen Mo was full, especially with children inside.
Ning Wan and Liang Xue were companions.
Nalan Yiren was alone in one carriage.
Behind the main convoy were the carriages from the Copper Sparrow Garden.
Madam Gan and Madam Xiao shared one carriage.
Xu Ying, Chu Ran, and Chu Juan shared another.
Originally, Chu Juan was to share a carriage with Yang Qingqing, but Yang Qingqing didn’t want to ride a carriage; dressed in armor, she rode the White Tiger at the front of the convoy.
Chu Juan, unfamiliar with Xu Ying and Chu Ran, hadn’t met them much before, though they were somewhat related.
Chu Ran, no need to mention, was an Imperial Princess, and once the daughter-in-law of the Xu Family.
Xu Ying, former Empress, a member of the Imperial Family, and a Xu Family lady.
Chu Juan, a Vassal King’s daughter.
If one were to discuss it, Chu Juan should address Chu Ran as aunt.
Originally, Chu Ran and Xu Ying could have chatted easily along the way, but the arrival of Chu Juan made things awkward.
...
Chen Mo wasn’t in the convoy at the moment; early in the morning, he instructed Sun Meng to gather the armored warriors from the Personal Guard Battalion after assembling the scholars who passed the palace examination, to head to the Capital together.
He then went to the Military Workshop, planning to have Bai Quanmin, the head engineer of the compound bows, along with a few experienced old hands, proceed to the Capital because Chen Mo intended to set up a compound bow factory there to expand production.
Finding new people in the Capital would be time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Eventually, these two teams joined the mansion’s convoy, forming a long procession leaving Xiangyang City.
...
Linzhou was unlike Qingzhou, as Qingzhou had been affected by the Celestial Master Army and later plundered by Prince Huai, making it difficult to achieve the former glories in a short period.
Also unlike Yu State, mountainous Yu State, aside from the invasions by Jin Xia, faced inherently inconvenient transportation, which hindered development.
However, Linzhou was different, with fewer mountains and flatter land, both land and water routes available, and being near Jiangnan. With Prince Wei’s mansion there, Linzhou became one of the safest places in the Great Song, with an extremely developed commerce and a large population.
The former Prefect of Linzhou, Zuo Lianglun, and the current Wei Linchun, were both very capable, managing Linzhou efficiently, keeping the official roads smooth, with a post station every fifty miles and governmental officials on duty.
Once the convoy left Xiangyang City, all post stations received the message, and various counties sent governmental officials to maintain the smoothness of the official roads.
Therefore, in less than five days, the convoy reached the southern shore of Linzhou at the important town of Xunwang City.
The flotilla had long been docked at the pier, ready for boarding at any time.
After moving things onto the ship, nightfall was coming.
Chen Mo decided to set sail early the next morning.
Xiaolu, lively and restless by nature, felt stifled staying in the carriage for days, uninterested in returning directly to the ship. She invited Wu Mi and Han Anniang to stroll around Xunwang City for some leisure.
Wu Mi, as Princess Consort Wei, had already familiarized herself with Linzhou’s situation before departing, saying, "Xunwang City has a curfew, it’s getting late; the city’s vendors have likely packed up and left, not much to see anyway."
Hearing this, Xiaolu returned to the ship obediently.
Though Chen Mo had many women, it wasn’t enough to require two ships to accommodate them, thus the women of the Copper Sparrow Garden and the family members were on one ship.
Inside the ship, the maids were bustling, tidying up and preparing.
In the room at the back of the first floor, Madam Gan, weary from travel, saw the maid tidying up the room. As she was about to lie down, Madam Xiao came over and invited her to pay respects to Wu Mi.
"Is this alright?" Madam Gan was somewhat surprised, since they were just concubines, usually expected to avoid appearing before the principal wife, not to mention taking the initiative to pay respects.
"It’s not about whether it’s alright, it’s about attitude. When we were in Xiangyang, we didn’t live together, but now, all on one ship, always running into each other, it’s impossible to keep avoiding. Besides, last time Xu Ying and Princess Zhaoqing went to see her, Princess Consort Wei didn’t say anything. Now if we take the initiative to pay respects, she can’t find fault with us," said Madam Xiao.
