Qingyun Ridge

Although Yunzhou is located in the west, or more precisely, northwest, it is still very cold in winter. The closer we got to Yunzhou City, the temperature dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye. The temperature was already above zero. It was only late autumn. If it were winter, I'm afraid the water would really freeze.

The current temperature is already equivalent to the deep winter in the city where Gulan lived in her previous life. It is really cold. However, she had foresight and while resting outside Yucheng, she went into the city and did some shopping. She bought a lot of food, daily necessities and clothes. She also spent a huge amount of money to buy a fur coat, but when it comes to keeping warm, cotton-padded clothes are really not as good as fur. Two tanned wolf skins were left in the carriage, and the others were sold in Yucheng. In the cold weather, they were sold for a good price, but it was far less than the price of a few furs.

The wind was biting cold all the way and it was only because of her fur coat that she didn't freeze stiff. I felt really bad when I bought it, but when I got there, I felt it was worth it. Not only does her son have one, she also has one. The mother and son are made of the same material. The grey fur is really beautiful, and of course the price is also very attractive.

Xiang Yunjin also bought one, but it was too expensive so of course he paid for it himself. Daya and Erya didn't, although she was indeed nice to them, but Gulan knew what was going on. She would give what she could, and she would be able to calm down if she couldn't.

As soon as she got off the cart, Gulan took off her cloak. This thing keeps warm and looks really good, but it is really not practical for work. Most importantly, the fur is afraid of fire. The wind was freezing and eating cold food made her stomach uncomfortable. Although the lunch was simple, Gulan still lit a fire to heat it up and also boiled some hot water.

At this moment, Gulan was sitting by the fire with her son in her arms, roasting the rice balls she had made before setting out. Each one is about the size of a fist, and one is enough for a child. She and Xiang Yunjin only have two in total. Add fried diced meat and vegetables to the steamed dry rice and roll it into a ball. In order to hurry on the road these days, I do this almost every morning. It is simple and delicious, and just needs to be slightly heated over the fire. The rice ball heats up quickly, and as the heat spreads, the fragrance of the rice ball also spreads. The youngest AnAn is the first one who can't resist it. After eating and drinking, they gathered around the fire to keep warm and rest.

Gulan looked in the direction of Qingyun Ridge and asked, "Brother Jin, we can reach Qingyun Ridge in one day at most. Is Qingyun Ridge easy to travel?"

The name reminds people of mountains. Thinking of the bandits he encountered in Panshan, Gulan was a little worried. Their team had both horses and carriages, which was really conspicuous.

Xiang Yunjin glanced at Gulan and said, "Qingyun Ridge is made up of a series of mountain ranges. The mountains are steep and stretch for a long time. It will take three days to get out of Qingyun Ridge even if you gallop your horse at full speed."

Sure enough, it is really made up of mountains. There are quite a lot of mountains in Yunzhou along the way.

"Are there any bandits in the mountains?" This is what Gulan is most concerned about, and of course it is what everyone is concerned about. As long as they cross Qingyun Ridge, the next destination is Yunzhou City, and no one wants to cause any trouble.

"Decades ago, there was a group of powerful bandits entrenched in Qingyun Ridge. However, after the arrival of King Yunzhou, it took two years to wipe out all the bandits on the mountain. In recent years, I haven't heard of any murders or robberies here."

"Really?" Gulan felt relieved.

"At least nothing unusual happened when I passed Qingyun Ridge from Yunzhou before." Xiang Yunjin said in a deep voice. This is the only way to reach Yunzhou City and the shortest way. It is also the way he returns to Yunzhou. What he is worried about is that someone will set an ambush here to prevent him from returning to Yunzhou. Thinking of this, Xiang Yunjin looked at Gulan seriously, "But that was a few months ago. I don't know what the situation is now, so we can't take it lightly."

These words made Gulan's heart, which had just been somewhat relieved, rise again in an instant. Well, she was relieved too early, because she knew that it would not be so easy to pass through the mountain. Although we are not in a chaotic time now, the beginnings of chaos have already appeared, and we must not take it lightly.

Gulan nodded to show that she understood. Then she went to find the village chief and repeated what she and Xiang Yunjin had said, reminding the village chief and asking the village chief to remind everyone. In short, when we reach Qingyunling, we can be mentally prepared that we can go faster than before and cross this mountain range as quickly as possible.

After the rest, they continued on their journey until night fell, when they chose an open place as their resting place for the night. This place is deserted and uninhabited. Looking around, apart from the wasteland, there are patches of woods. Their resting place is chosen to be the edge of the forest. This place is not far from Qingyun Ridge, only more than ten miles away at most, and they will definitely arrive there tomorrow morning. As soon as the convoy stopped, everyone started working in an orderly manner to set up tents.

In the past, we could just build a shelter away from the wind and barely get through the night, but that's not the case now. It is very cold at night now, and with the dew getting heavier, a person can be frozen to death even with a fire. Therefore, when we were doing resupply in Yucheng before, the first thing people who were short of oilcloth bought was this. Compared with the silver for the oilcloth, the money spent on typhoid fever is much more, so everyone can still make sense of it. As for setting up tents, they had become very skilled after these days of practice. Soon, tents of all sizes stood on the open space at the edge of the woods.

Before the night fell, wisps of smoke floated out of the tents of each family, and they were eating the most carefully prepared meal of the day. It is just coarse grain pancakes and coarse grain porridge, but there will be an extra stir-fried dish. This is the best food when you are fleeing from famine. The weather was cold, so everyone went to bed early after dinner.

Gulan also lay down with her son in her arms. The little guy was very energetic and it was very warm to sleep with him in her arms.

These days, Xiang Yunjin also moved from the carriage to the tent. To be honest, resting in the small space of the carriage is really not relaxing. If Xiang Yunjin was not used to being with others, he would not have been able to hold out for so long. Now, he have changed from being uncomfortable at first to being accustomed to it, and can fall asleep in a short while after closing his eyes.

Dahei was still lying diligently at the entrance of the tent, and no movement could escape its eyes. Now Dahei is no longer the skinny look he had at the beginning. He has a strong body and shiny fur. He is more intimidating than before and is AnAn's best friend.

The next day, the convoy set off when the sun was shining brightly on the earth. Gulan, who was sitting in the driver's seat, put on a fox fur coat and drove in the cold wind. Xiang Yunjin has recovered well. In the past few days, he and Gulan will take turns driving. Each of them driving for half a day makes Gulan feel much more relaxed.

However, Wang Yun and others who were following closely in the dark were almost shocked that the prince would actually have a day to drive. Of course, although the speed is good, it cannot be too fast. After all, the speed of ox carts and mule carts must be considered. Even so, it is several times faster than before.

As they expected, the convoy arrived at Qingyun Ridge at the end of the morning hour. The convoy stopped involuntarily and looked at the towering mountains in front of them, which shocked everyone. Without stopping for too long, the convoy headed towards the only passage to Qingyunling under the guidance of Xiang Yunjin.