Chapter 533: Go
Translator: Atlas Studios ‘ Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling went straight into Li Jinghua’s inner room and woke her up without alerting anyone.
After opening her eyes, Li Jinghua was shocked to see Mu Yangling. Mu Yangling gently covered her mouth and said in a low voice, “Sister-in-law, let’ get up and leave.”
Li Jinghua’s expression changed slightly, but she did not ask further. She got up and put on her clothes. Outside, Wen Cui woke up and hurriedly asked in a low voice, “Is Eldest Madam going to get up?”
Li Jinghua froze and looked at Mu Yangling. Mu Yangling nodded slightly, and Li Jinghua said, “Come in.”
Mu Yangling and Li Jinghua did not bring many people with them. Other than the old servants and servant girls who knew some martial arts, Mu Yangling only brought Spring, Li Jinghua only brought Wen Cui, and the two children’s wet nurses, while the others stayed behind.
When Mu Yangling was preparing to run away, she had also prepared Li Jmghua and Little Treasure’s portion, so they could leave after changing into light clothes.
An old servant who knew martial arts took the initiative to carry the sleeping Little Treasure. Mu Yangling also handed Little Bear to an old servant who protected him. The two children were wrapped in blankets. Dressed in a cloak the old servants carefully shielded the children in their arms from the wind. ‘ The group quietly left through the side door.
After they left, Mama Wang extinguished the incense in every corner and turned around to return to the courtyard with Rain and Wen Mian.
When the few of them walked out of the side door, Fan Zijin nodded slightly at them and left with Yanmo.
After their figures completely disappeared, Mu Yangling led them in another direction.
Other than the two wet nurses whose faces were pale, everyone’s faces were still relatively calm. Because they were all women, the sound of footsteps was not heavy. Mu Yangling led her servants and turned a few corners in the alley. After walking for about 45 minutes, they finally knocked on the side door of a small courtyard.
The person inside quietly opened the small door and let them in. There were already more than ten young men standing in the courtyard. Clearly, they had just gotten out of bed.
Mu Yangling only nodded slightly at them before bringing her servants into the house. She actually had no intention of discussing anything.
Only then did Li Jinghua completely understand that Mu Yangling had long prepared for this.
After entering the house, Mu Yangling pointed at the huge brick bed in the house and said, “Lie down and rest for a while. We’ll leave as soon as the city gate opens.”
There were only two hours left before the city gate opened. Those old servants and servant girls who knew martial arts had undergone training and naturally sat upright calmly. They could even lean back in their chairs and close their eyes to rest. However, the two wet nurses were a little flustered.
Mu Yangling looked at them and nodded slightly. She said with a smile, “Don’t worry, your families are very safe.”
The two wet nurses heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly.
Mu Yangling turned to Li Jinghua and said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll explain to you later. We’ll be hurrying on with our journey soon. You should take the opportunity to rest.”
Li Jinghua glanced at everyone in the room and nodded slightly, then slept beside the two children on the couch at the side.
However, she could not fall asleep at all. In a daze, she was woken up by a push. When she opened her eyes and saw that Mu Yangling was already washing up she quickly got up to wash up.
When they went out, the people in the courtyard were already prepared Mu Yangling arranged for Li Jinghua, the two children, and her to take a carriage while the others sat in separate carriages.
After leaving the house, Li Jinghua lifted the curtain and took a look. Only then did she see seven to eight carts in the alley. They were all pulled by mules and the top was covered with oil paper, looking as if they were transporting goods.
At this moment, the sky was still dark. Even with the lanterns, one still could not see what was tied to the cart. When Mu Yangling saw this, she explained, “It’s filled with tea leaves on top. Ours is a trade caravan that sells tea leaves ‘ from the south to the north…”
Mu Yangling explained the story they had fabricated in detail. As she said this, the carriage started moving.
At this moment, the city gate was not open, but the curfew was over, so they could walk in the city.
When they arrived at the city gate, Li Jinghua lifted the curtain slightly and took a look. She realized that there were many trade caravans leaving the city as soon as possible, and their group was right in the middle. Only then did her anxious mood ease a little.
Mu Yangling knew that she was anxious, but at this moment, she did not know how to comfort her because she was also anxious herself. Only by leaving the range of Lin’an City would they be safe.
When the time came, the city gate slowly opened. The soldiers guarding the gate did not strictly check the trade caravans that were leaving the city.
As Lin’an City was the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, countless merchants came and went every day. In order to rush for time, there were a lot of trade caravans that left the city early every day. Due to the war, the number of trade caravans had decreased recently.
Most of the more familiar trade caravan leaders were allowed to pass after a mere symbolic inspection of the documents. As for the unfamiliar ones, the guards only randomly selected some to check their goods. On the other hand, the inspection of the trade caravans entering the city was very strict. After all considering it was a sensitive period, they were afraid of assassins and spies ‘ sneaking in.
Therefore, there were two gates. One was to leave the city, and the other was to enter the city. Leaving the city was very fast. For every one trade caravan entering the city, there were four to five caravans leaving in that same period of time. Hence, it was soon Mu Yangling and the rest’s turn.
Not only Li Jinghua, but even Mu Yangling tensed up.
Although the gatekeeper was not well-acquainted with their leader, he was familiar-looking to him. Knowing that they were selling tea leaves, he only flipped through the documents symbolically. Then, he pointed at two carriages that were obviously carrying people and asked, “Why are there two more carriages? I remember that you only used to have one carriage.”
That carriage used to carry the steward, but now there were two more.
The steward immediately nodded and bowed. “The people sitting inside are our two madams and two young masters. Amidst the chaos of the war, our master doesn’t want to do business anymore, so he wants to bring the two madams and two young masters back.”
The gatekeeper stepped forward and lifted the curtain. Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling carried their children and lowered their heads obediently. The gatekeeper’s eyes swept across their clothes and hair accessories before he lowered the curtain and nodded slightly. He waved his hand and said, “Go ahead.”
He pursed his lips in jealousy and disdain. Mistresses? Damn it, these itinerant merchants really knew how to enjoy life.
It was not until the entire convoy left the city gate that Mu Yangling and Li Jmghua heaved a sigh of relief. Mu Yangling suppressed her voice and said, Let s go quickly. We’ll follow the schedule we set previously.”
The steward outside the carriage responded and got the coachmen to speed up. About an hour after they left the city, the sky finally lit up. It was only when the sun gradually rose in the sky that the remaining servants in the Qi Manor realized that something was wrong.
The West Manor was too quiet today.
However, because the two sides lived separately, although the servants had doubts in their hearts, they did not think too much about it. It was not until the sun rose and a steward in charge of reporting the residence’s matters that he had not seen Li Jinghua nor her servant girls for a long time, that they felt that something was wrong.
In the end, everyone could only ask a young lass to go to the West Manor to ask if Li Jinghua still wanted to listen to the report today.
The young lass knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered, let alone open it. Only then did she panic and hurriedly run back to report..
Chapter end
