Shi Qingxue and the other two rode fast horses, and it would take less than half of the time to Jiangzhou.
At night next day, they had reached a small town near Jiangzhou City.
This small town was only about thirty-five kilometers far away from Jiangzhou City, and if they urged the fast horses, they could enter the city in three hours.
However, they decided to stay in the small town for a night. Firstly, they had plenty of time, and it was unnecessary to push themselves so hard. Secondly, it was not early now, and if they moved on a little slowly, the city gate might be closed. If they didn’t want to reveal their identity, they had to stay in the wildness for one night.
The last point was the most important. They didn’t know anything about the situation in Jiangzhou City, and they’d better inquire everything clearly and enter the city at dawn tomorrow.
The three came to the only hotel in the small town. Because this town was on the only way which must be passed to Jiangzhou City from the north, and it was a traffic fort, there were many customers although it looked crude.
Wei Ziye paid more money and ordered two high-quality rooms.
“Master, you and Lady Qingxue have a good rest tonight. I will guard the stable as usual. If there is anything, please order me.” Wei Ziye was experienced in society and knew that the horses were important to their journey, so even though they stayed in a hotel, he tried his best not to leave their equipment as he was afraid that there would be something wrong in the emergency.
Mo Junyang would agree with him in the past, yet tonight he stated, “You are tired these days. Select a high-quality room and stay inside tonight. Don’t need to guard the stable.”
“But there are only two high-quality rooms left…” Wei Ziye looked hesitant.
He knew that the two masters hadn’t been married, and Mo Junyang didn’t say that he would stay with Shi Qingxue in the same room at night these days.
So Wei Ziye didn’t know what Mo Junyang meant.
Mo Junyang didn’t plan to explain to him but ordered, “It’s decided. Go and make preparations.”
Afterward, he turned to Shi Qingxue. “It’s still early now. Let’s go out for a walk.”
Shi Qingxue naturally had no objection and followed Mo Junyang out of the hotel’s gate.
They walked ahead along the street at leisure. In the beginning, Shi Qingxue kept quiet and waited for Mo Junyang to speak.
She peeped at Mo Junyang several times, while he still walked forward with his head lowered and didn’t plan to speak.
Shi Qingxue got impatient and stopped, calling, “Mo Junyang.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Mo Junyang stopped and asked.
Shi Qingxue glared at him. “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
She thought that Mo Junyang made such an arrangement for the accommodation tonight, and even though she would unconditionally support his arrangement, at least he needed to talk with her after that.
However, Mo Junyang looked confused and asked, “Say what?”
“You…” It was not Shi Qingxue’s first time to stay in the same room with Mo Junyang alone, so she didn’t fear him.
Nevertheless, she was shy. Especially under such an environment, if they stayed together for one night, wouldn’t they announce their identity to the outsiders?
At the thought of it, Shi Qingxue had a blush on her face, while Mo Junyang, the jerk still played dumb, so she was pissed off.
Qingxue’s face balled up, and she looked furious.
Mo Junyang stared at Shi Qingxue’s angry face. In the beginning, he was confused, but he suddenly understood after he noticed the hidden shyness in her big eyes.
He explained in a hurry, “It’s not true. Don’t worry. I will find another place tonight. You will stay in that room.”
“Gee?” Shi Qingxue was stunned and finally realized that she had misunderstood Mo Junyang.
The shyness on her face was more evident, yet she was more confused. “Where will you stay?”
Mo Junyang avoided Shi Qingxue’s eyes and replied casually, “I will have a place to stay. Don’t worry about me.
“Forget it. Did you find anything while walking?”
He changed the subject too abruptly, and Shi Qingxue didn’t expose him but pondered over his words.
“Hmm, there are many beggars on the street. The workers in the hotel have said that this street is the busiest one in this town, yet there is almost no stall or pedlar on the street. The sun hasn’t set now. Even though it is merely a small town, it shouldn’t be so empty.”
While speaking, Shi Qingxue felt more strange.
She finally found that there were only beggars groaning and tossing about in the corners besides one or two vendors selling sesame seed cakes and food on the street. Some of the beggars lay still by the road, and Shi Qingxue didn’t dare to confirm if they were still alive.
What shocked her more was that there was no pedestrian except the two on the street.
“Even though the epidemic spreads and there are a lot of disasters, it shouldn’t be so cheerless, right?” Shi Qingxue looked around and had goosebumps because of the cold and cheerless environment.
Speaking of which, the hotel which looked crude and shabby was the busiest place in this small town.
Shi Qingxue expressed her surprise, while a voice around cut in.
“Beipo Town has become a dead town since long ago. Why are you surprised? You must be from another place.”
Shi Qingxue and Mo Junyang turned to the voice source at the same time and noticed that the speaker was the shopkeeper of a sesame seed cake shop.
The shopkeeper was an old man, about fifty or sixty years old. He was short and thin with white hair all over his head. There were wrinkles on his forehead, and he was dressed in rough linen clothes, but he was agile. He made sesame seed cakes skillfully, which made him look much younger than his age.
While making sesame seed cakes, he greeted them warmly as he saw that the two looked at him. “Would you like some sesame seed cakes?”
Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue looked at each other, and the latter showed a bright smile, saying briskly, “Sir, your sesame seed cakes smell good. How much is it?”
“It’s cheap. Four coins for each. As you are a girl, if you buy three cakes, I will charge ten coins.” The shopkeeper seemed to like Shi Qingxue and gave her a discount before she bargained.
While speaking, the shopkeeper took out a sesame seed cake which was just roasted in the oven and wrapped it with a piece of clean oil paper. Then he gave it to Shi Qingxue and expressed with confidence, “Girl, have a try. If it’s not delicious, it will be free of charge.”
Shi Qingxue had been raised with rare and luxurious food since childhood. Even though she had been trained in the military camp, the elders always provided her with enough food, and she had never eaten such food in the roadside market.
Looking at the sesame seed cake she had seen only in the story books, Qingxue couldn’t help but look excited. She hurriedly received the sesame seed cake from the shopkeeper. “Thanks, Sir.”
However, before Shi Qingxue bit the sesame seed cake, Mo Junyang put his hand between her and the cake.
Shi Qingxue was petrified, and the shopkeeper goggled at him.
For a moment, it was embarrassing.
Shi Qingxue instantly understood that Mo Junyang stopped her because he didn’t want her to eat the food of questionable origin, but the shopkeeper had given it to her. If she refused, could she sound him out?
Seeing that the shopkeeper’s smile faded, Shi Qingxue got anxious.
At the crucial moment, Shi Qingxue had a brain wave and immediately pouted, snorting at Mo Junyang with displeasure.
She intentionally lowered her head and looked as if she dared to get angry yet didn’t dare to express it. She said in a low voice, “Honey, you are so partial. You support Concubine Gui in everything. You have gone too far.”
Mo Junyang and the shopkeeper were speechless.
The two men were dumbfounded in different ways.
However, Shi Qingxue was addicted to acting and said to the shopkeeper anxiously, “Don’t need to taste. Sir, your sesame seed cake is delicious at first sight. Please give us five more cakes, and I will give you twenty coins.”
“Ah? Okay.” The shopkeeper answered and still looked at Shi Qingxue in confusion. He hadn’t come back to earth from her words, and his eyes fell on her and Mo Junyang occasionally.
Shi Qingxue ignored Mo Junyang and walked to the shopkeeper. She seemed to have finally found a listener and pouted, pitifully complaining to him about her harrowing experiences.
“Sir, you know what? My husband is so partial. We are going to visit relatives and passed Beipo Town today. Concubine Gui refused to go out with him as it is tiring, so I think that I am his wife anyway, and I hope that I can share his worries, but unexpectedly, he has come out yet still misses Concubine Gui only, and he wants to give the delicious food to her first. He even embarrassed me in public. It’s so…”
She said in a soft voice and slowly talked about her family. Her voice was sad, and the listener seemed to feel her misery as she was a wife yet was depressed and frustrated because her husband favored his concubine and mistreated her.
The shopkeeper thought that Shi Qingxue was lively and adorable, like his youngest daughter. After hearing her “experiences”, he instantly thought about whether his youngest daughter would be treated in this way in her husband’s family in another place.
His pity for Shi Qingxue turned into sorrow at once, and he glared at Mo Junyang with indignation, seeming to curse him quietly, “Jerk!”
Even though Mo Junyang had seen a lot in two lives, he was speechless under the shopkeeper’s silent glare which was more than saying anything.
When he saw Shi Qingxue, she wasn’t pitiful anymore. The tears in her eyes were gone, and a smile was flashing in her big bright eyes. She even winked at him in secret.
Mo Junyang was unable to speak a word.
The shopkeeper didn’t know Mo Junyang’s breakdown hidden in his calm expression but thought that this young man didn’t examine his own conscience, so his face fell, and he started to rebuke seriously, “Young man, after marrying a wife, you should…”
He had several children, and his eldest child was at the same age as the two young people’s fathers, so he had rebuked others like this many times.
He said that logically and smoothly.
Mo Junyang didn’t find a chance to cut in but had to listen to him.
Shi Qingxue was happy to see that.
She had known Mo Junyang for two lives, and it was her first time to see the man’s helpless expression.
It was so laughable.
However, Mo Junyang wouldn’t swallow insult and humiliation silently. While he was listening, his brows trembled.