A humble carriage, followed by four horse-mounted guards in front and back, passed through a bamboo forest. The road was muddy, and the sky was drizzling. Although the rain was not heavy, it was cold.
The four guards and the coachman were all wearing coir raincoats and had large bamboo hats on their head. Even so, they served only to keep them out the rain, not the cold.
A guard sidled up and shouted to the man inside the carriage. “Uncle Li, the weather is too terrible. I am afraid that the rain will only get worse. Should we find a place to rest first?”
Li Zheng, the butler of Ling family, lifted the curtain of the carriage. He said, “Okay, let’s find a place to rest first. Young man, do you know any places around where we can find shelter from the rain?”
“We can get to Liantang Town after we go through the bamboo forest and another mountain.”
“Alright, then we will go along with your plan,” the butler said.
Guard Wang nodded, and yelled to the other three men, “Ride steadily, brothers! We can rest after we go a bit further.” Then, the butler pulled down the curtain and got back into the carriage.
“Butler, we’ve been travelling for six days. How long will it take us to get to the capital?” asked Stone, the manservant of Ling family, who had followed the carriage from Tanyang along the way.
“Soon. We will arrive at the capital in about four days,” the butler answered.
“Huh? Four more days?” Stone said in disappointment.
“What’s with the impatience, you brat? Guard Wang is the one riding the horse, and yet he didn’t even complain! And you’re complaining when you’re sitting comfortably in the carriage?” the butler complained.
“Oops, I wouldn’t dare complain. It’s just that this carriage has been shaking too much. And I’ve been sitting for so long time that my body’s aching all over.”
The butler raised his hand and slapped Stone on his head. “I’m much older than you, and yet I never complained! You’re so young and you’re grumbling?”
Stone rubbed his head and dared not complain anymore. He gave an ingratiating smile and then exhaled, rubbing his hands together, after appeasing the butler’s anger.
Gradually, the carriage passed through the bamboo forest and entered the mountain path.
Before they entered the mountain path, Stone lifted the curtain and looked outside the window. Surprised by what he saw, he yelled, “Look, butler, there is an official road.”
The butler immediately leaned out to look. As expected, he noticed a wider road which led towards the west.
Guard Wang said, “That path leads to Sheng Zhou. We’ll arrive at the border if we move further west from Sheng Zhou and cross a small town. This official road is one of the official roads that will take us from Sheng Zhou to the capital. If it doesn’t rain, we should be able to meet someone from the border.” Excited, Stone yelled, “So that’s the way to the border. Brother Wang, is it possible to see Marshal Yuwen if we go from here?”
Guard Wang and the three other guards burst into laughter. Guard Wang said, “You still want to see Marshall Yuwen, Stone?”
“Stone, stop daydreaming! There’s no way that you’ll get any chance to see Marshal Yuwen,” teased Guard Wang as he burst into laughter with the rest guards. “If only I could be a soldier working under Marshal Yuwen. I mean, I just want to see him one more time,” Stone said longingly.
“Oh, ho, looks like somebody’s got a great ambition!” Guard Wang and the other three guards laughed again.
Feeling humiliated, the steward raised his hand and gave Stone another knock on his head.
Stone was really an idiot. Fortunately, he didn’t tell anyone in advance that his destination was Yuwen Family.
“Shut up! Sit there quietly and don’t bother Guard Wang and the others again.”
Stone looked like he had something else to say, but Guard Wang and the others changed the subject before he could get the words out. “We will enter the mountain road in a few minutes. Hey! Pay more attention, brothers! It is hard to travel on rainy days. Lao Liu, you’re manning the carriage, so you need to be extra careful.”
“Okay,” answered the coachman. Clearly, he was a man of a few words.
The carriage inched along the mountain road. Just like Guard Wang said, it was difficult to travel along the mountain road; the path was either potholed or muddy. And it was impossible to judge the actual depth of the pits because of the water. They would run into big trouble if their wheels got stuck in one of the pits. Besides, certain spots on muddy path was so soft that the wheels of their carriage might actually sink down.
The coachman, Lao Liu kept his eyes fixed on the road and drove the carriage carefully. The two guards were also exploring ahead, alerting those behind them whenever they came across potholes.
“A part of the road ahead is uphill. Lao Liu, later you get off and walk.” Guard Wang said.
Lao Liu, the coachman nodded.
After a while, they reached the uphill section. Lucky thing was that there were no potholes and mud. Lao Liu jumped out of the carriage and ran as he urged the horse with whip in hand.
When the carriage had reached the top of the hill, Guard Wang in front suddenly felt something was wrong. He scanned around with a sharp look in his eyes, finding some suspicious signs that could easily be ignored. He immediately raised his hand and shouted, “Be careful, something is wrong here.”
“What’s wrong?” The butler’s heart jolted at the seriousness in the words and he immediately poked his head out to ask.
“Uncle Li, stay in the carriage and don’t came out!” Guard Wang said with a grim face.
“Ha,ha, you guys are a little bit smart. You can actually find the hidden cheval-de-frise!” a ferocious laughter broke out. Out of the woods on both sides of the mountain road emerged a dozen bandits with knives in their hands.
As soon as the bandits came out, the atmosphere changed. The four guards immediately took out their weapons, prepared for battle.
“Oh, I didn’t expect that we would still run into bandits so far away from Tanyang,” the butler turned pale in the carriage.