"This Bai Family is truly worthy of being merchants, always so quick to curry favor." Gu Kaiping said with feigned depth, "Back then, when Mr. Bai came to us, he promised a large dowry, secretly meant for the entire Gu Family.

We thought this Ms. Bai would be a bit more sensible, willingly offering it up, so that our family’s days could be a bit easier.

Who knew that Ms. Bai would be as stubborn as a piece of wood, unwilling to let go.

Look, mother sets rules for her every day, but she hasn’t caught on, which shows how foolish she is.

This is why father and mother are increasingly displeased with their branch of the family, the third son is unmotivated, and his wife is like this, it surely dampens the heart.

Now Kai Yuan, who knows what got into him, dares to be so brazen. You’d better keep your distance from him in the future, so as not to incur father and mother’s anger."

"Indeed, elder brother holds father’s favor and knows much more than I do," Gu Kaicheng continued with a hint of jealousy, "Don’t worry, I certainly won’t go seeking Kai Yuan."

Gu Kaiping lowered his gaze; this one is foolish too.

The ox cart was surely sent by Mrs. Bai, people’s hearts are biased, and the Bai people surely prioritize their own.

The journey ahead is still unknown in its difficulty, he still needs to find a way to maintain good relations with Gu Kaiyuan to see if he can gain any benefits.

A bit regretful, he should have asked Anliang to give up his spot earlier, to avoid being so passive now.

"Elder brother, you go ahead with your work, I’ll go discuss with Yu Lan, my legs really can’t walk anymore," Gu Kaiping was still pondering, when Gu Kaichen tossed the ox rope into his hand and ran to the back.

"Yu Lan, I really can’t walk anymore, get down and let me up."

"But I can’t walk either," Xu Yulan was reluctant to move, it was so comfortable up here, who would want to get down and hurt their feet?

"Get down quickly, don’t make me use force," Gu Kaichen said irritably, "I’m not discussing this with you; I’m informing you.

I’ve let you sit for so long, you should be content. In the future, we’ll take turns."

Xu Yulan still wanted to refuse, but Xu Huizhen had already withdrawn her foot blocking her, "Yu Lan, you’re in better health, you should take care of Kai Chen a bit more. If he gets sick, it’ll be even more troublesome."

"Alright then," Xu Yulan reluctantly slid down from the ox cart, and Gu Kaicheng jumped up first, fawningly massaging Xu Huizhen’s feet, "Mother, how’s this pressure?"

"You," Xu Huizhen was very pleased, although the second doesn’t have the steadiness of the first, he is more filial.

Leaving the Beijing border, post stations aren’t as plentiful, and it might take several days on the road to come across one.

This night everyone was destined to camp in the wilderness, Liu Pingkang and his group were already used to it.

They were escorting prisoners, and even if there was a village, people wouldn’t let these unknowns in. Finding an abandoned temple along the way was a pleasant surprise.

They arrived at a mountain bend, where a flat area near a recess in the mountainside bore a heavy air of life. It seemed many exile groups had camped here before.

"Find a spot to make a fire for yourselves, we’re spending the night here," the escorts began speaking loudly, knowing the first night in the open would cause trouble, so they wielded their whips frequently.

"How can anyone live here?" Many were dissatisfied, they had accepted sleeping in a communal bed, but what was this place? There was no shelter from the wind or rain.

At night, it’s so cold, isn’t this killing us? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"What kind of status do you think you have now? Do you have the right to negotiate here?" Guo Baoshu swung his whip at the speaker, and only when everyone was completely silent did he speak with a cold smile, "Let me tell you, this is considered good.

Later, there may not even be a mountainside to shelter from the wind, let alone during storms, you’ll have to overcome these yourselves.

If you have the ability, you can make it safely to Lingnan, if not, that’s your fate.

If you don’t want to freeze at night, get moving quickly, while there’s still daylight, hurry and gather some firewood. This doesn’t need us to teach you, right?"

Bai Suihe asked Gu Kaiyuan, "How are these escorts? They don’t seem so bad."

Though they said no teaching was needed, they still hinted at gathering firewood and warned everyone in advance.

"They are just making a living, how bad can they be?

But they are responsible for escorting prisoners, if they’re not a bit overbearing, they can’t control them.

Look, they take the silver and do their job, that’s already enough for us."

Gu Kaiyuan truly didn’t care whether the escorts were good or bad, as long as they didn’t make things difficult for them, and provided some convenience, he didn’t mind giving more silver, as they currently didn’t lack it.

"True," Bai Suihe handed his hand to Gu Kaiyuan, and the two got off the cart.

Zhuang Datou led the ox to graze, Huang Pingguo went to gather firewood, Dongmei and Chunxiang took out the prepared food.

"You sit here, I’ll go help," Gu Kaiping found a clean and stable stone for Bai Suihe to sit on.

"Why don’t you go take a look at the Gu family?"

"What’s there to see over there, if I go they’ll still have to give me food." Gu Kaiyuan helped move the makeshift stove down, while carrying a bucket to fetch water.

"Sir, let us handle it," Dongmei quickly intervened, "How can we let you do such things?"

"It’s fine, I’ve sat for half the day, it’s good to move a bit.

You two keep an eye on your lady, don’t let anyone disturb her rest."

"Don’t worry, sir, we’ll take good care of the lady.

Better let Datou fetch the water later."

Gu Kaiyuan waved his hand and left, going straight to Ma Zhi, "Lord Ma, where do we fetch water around here?"

Even though he knew, he had to pretend he didn’t know a thing.

"Follow the mountainside, there’s a small stream ahead," Ma Zhi, grateful for this generous man, responded warmly.

Thanks to the Bai Family, this journey allowed his family to improve their life, maybe even save a little.

"Thank you," Gu Kaiyuan cupped his hands and headed in the direction Ma Zhi pointed.

Ma Zhi watched his departing figure, smiling and shaking his head, even among family, the disparity here was quite large.

Moreover, with the backing of the Bai Family, this man, even in Lingnan, would likely live better than ordinary families, far better than them.

"Ma Zhi, come distribute the grain," an escort called out.

Though many had bought grain at the post station, their daily rations still needed to be distributed.

Some, having no one to see them off and no silver, relied on their rations, so a few mantous a day were still essential.

"Coming," Ma Zhi responded and ran over, eager to finish up so they too could rest well.