Chapter 101 Destined Disaster
The three set off at dawn, and it was noon when they arrived at Yongzhou City.
When there was still one mile away from the city gate, there were already many people. But most of them were old and weak, women and children, with few young adults.
Chunmei stopped and said to her father who had been following her, "Dad, just stop here. You can wait for us under that poplar tree. Jiuyue and I will come back soon."
But Su Jiuyue didn't expect they could hurry up today. She added: "I don't know what's the current situation of the city. If we can't come back in time, uncle, don't worry. Tell the local government after one day."
She was just in case something were to happen, although she was reminded by the dream and also knew how to get out. But there were exceptions to everything. If they were not able to escape, they had to make plan B.
Liu Dalin's frowning brows didn't loosen at all. One side was his mother and the other was his daughter, and he was reluctant to choose either side.
"You must be careful. Don't join in the fun among a lot of people. Stay away quickly."
"Got it." The two said in unison.
To enter the Yongzhou City, people still needed to pay a fee. But compared with the previous days, there were much fewer people. The two queued for a quarter and entered the city after paying ten qian.
It was the first time for Chunmei to visit Yongzhou City. She looked around curiously, and all she could see was fresh to her.
"Sister, the house here is so beautiful, and the pillars are all red! What is that bird on the eaves? That lantern is also pretty..."
Su Jiuyue also didn't know, since she had been here just twice, including this time's visit. Last time, she had only seen the beheading and had really paid no attention to other stuffs.
There were stalls selling perfumes and cosmetics on the street. On the stalls, there were a few silk flowers, which were most liked by little girls.
Chunmei's eyes lit up when she saw the flowers. She then pulled Su Jiuyue closer and cheered, "Jiuyue, let's have a look at that!"
Nowadays, not many people had the spare money for dressing up, and wealthy people looked down on these cheap doodads. So women who sold flowers sat behind the stalls with their hands in sleeves and yawned.
Suddenly looking up, one woman saw the two ladies in front of the stall, and she immediately greeted them.
"Ladies, may I help you?"
Chunmei picked up a peach-colored silk flower and asked her, "How much is this?"
"It usually costs three qian, but since you are my first customer today, I only charge you two qian!"
Chunmei did save some money, but she hesitated, looking at the cosmetics beside.
Su Jiuyue was different. Her eyes fell on a small eyebrow trimmer on the table.
"How much is this?"
"A superb choice! Lady, this eyebrow trimmer is the most popular among noble ladies nowadays. Just look at the outer shell. It's made of ceramics!"
"So...it's expensive?" Su Jiuyue held the handle of the trimmer with slender fingers and looked up at her.
The vendor was stunned for a moment, thinking that this lady just looked dull and normal at the first glance, but with the graceful look she had when raising her eyes, no one could match her, including those noble ladies in this city.
There was a saying: "We are born with a keen thirst for good looks."
So the old vendor spoke in a gentle voice, "It's not so expensive. If you want it, please give me five qian."
"Five qian?!" Before Su Jiuyue spoke, Chunmei, who was beside her, exclaimed, "Quite expensive!"
As she said that, Chunmei turned Su Jiuyue's face, and carefully looked at her eyebrows.
"Do you still need to trim your inborn willow-leaf eyebrows? Don't you think it is unnecessary to buy this trimmer?"
The old woman actually owned the same opinion as Chunmei, since Su Jiuyue's facial features looked so great that she didn't need it at all.
Therefore, she persuaded: "Lady, why not buy some cosmetics? They are quite cheap."
How expensive they were! Su Jiuyue would not pay. She only wanted that knife because it was small, and it wouldn't be easy to discover if it was hidden in her sleeve. Maybe it would come in handy later.
"No, I want this. I buy it for others, not for myself."
Chunmei finally bought only one red silk flower, which she planned to pin on her hair when she got married.
The two paid the money. Then, Chunmei wanted to walk around on the street, but she was stopped by Su Jiuyue. Su said: "Uncle is still waiting outside. Hurry up. Let's buy the medicines."
She was also worried about changes in the future, so they had to quickly buy what they needed and left. Maybe they could avoid the disaster?
Chunmei agreed and they asked for directions along the way to the largest medicine shop in the city.
Yongzhou was worthy of being the largest pass in the entire Northwest. Here, they did buy all the herbs needed in the shop.
Their worries could be set aside eventually. Chunmei carried the medicines and said to Su Jiuyue, "Let's go back quickly. Grandma is still waiting for the medicines!"
Su Jiuyue also nodded, "Well, let's go."
They were walking along the roadside to leave the city, when suddenly there was a commotion from behind.
They looked back and saw a group of people riding horses rushing about on the street. Even many stalls were knocked over.
"What's wrong?" Chunmei looked back as she ran.
Su Jiuyue didn't know what happened, but the scene at this moment began to overlap with the one in her dream. So she quickly pulled Chunmei to run in the opposite direction to avoid meeting the same things in her dream.
"I don't know. Anyway, uncle warns that we shouldn't go to places with many people."
Chunmei also approved it, since the more people there were, the easier it was to cause troubles.
Not long after they ran, Su Jiuyue faintly felt that someone was following them.
She bit her lips and sighed in her heart.
Was this the destined disaster?
She held Chunmei to run at a quicker pace. After turning a corner, she saw a door open and pushed Chunmei in.
"Sister, hide yourself. I'll lead the person away. Then you can quickly get out of the city later. Let's meet outside the city."
Before Chunmei could react, Su Jiuyue had already run away.
Chunmei was so anxious that she wanted to call Su, but she was afraid of attracting people. At this time, she didn't know what to do.
Su Jiuyue walked through the streets and alleys, and finally was put in a sack at a corner by some strangers.
She could faintly hear someone talking outside, "Another one! How many women do we have up to now?"
"Seventy-three. But the boss commands that we need at least three hundred. Luckily, no one makes troubles and hinders us because of the recent chaos."
"Recently, there are obviously many more women in the city, which is really advantageous to us!"
"Hahahaha! Let's go. Send this one back first."
Su Jiuyue had already known this would happen, but she couldn't help being afraid when she really fell into the hands of the evildoers.
Her whole body trembled violently, and her little hand held the eyebrow trimmer in her sleeve pocket. It seemed that this action was the only way to give her a little strength.
Soon she felt that she was being carried on one's shoulder, and she didn't know how long he had walked before she was put down.
Then she heard the man said, "Is this woman so scared to be dizzy? She does not shout along the way. It will be nice if everyone is like her."