Traveling to ancient times, with space

Chapter 32 Qing Shi Town

We had to stop and rest when it got dark, and only then did we find a place to rest.

The surrounding area was filled with refugees, and they dared not light a fire to cook.

Su Yue couldn't understand how some people had gone without food and water after only a few days of fleeing the famine.

Su Yue wanted to find a secluded place to rest that night, but all around her were homeless people lying in bed. Their hair was filthy and messy, probably covered in fleas. If one of them jumped on her head, she would feel disgusted.

In the end, they rested with Aunt Wei, who looked relatively clean.

That night, Su Yue barely slept, remaining in a semi-conscious state because someone wanted to steal her horse.

She knocked out the slowest runner, stripped him naked, tied his hands and feet with clothes, and hung him on a tree branch. Only then did things calm down that night.

We set off before dawn, hoping to reach the town as soon as possible.

Aunt Wei and her group didn't notice that a naked person was tied up not far away.

As soon as the sun rose, Su Yue, riding on her horse, could see the city gate in the distance.

Qingshi Town

"Wow, so many!" exclaimed a child in the line.

Why aren't so many people going in? Some of them look like they've been here for days, which doesn't seem like a good thing.

Su Yue was about to share with Aunt Wei and the others, but fearing they would try to persuade her to stay, she didn't say anything.

After waiting a while, they saw the hunter's son, who had gone ahead to gather information, come running back, panting: "Father, I found out that it's one tael of silver per person to enter the city, and fifty coins for a cart or something. If you don't pay, you can forget about entering the city. Father, what are we going to do!"

When the villagers heard that it would cost one tael of silver per person, they wondered where they could get so much silver, since each family had more than ten members.

The joy of seeing the town had vanished from the ranks; their faces were filled with sorrow.

Soon someone suggested that each family send only one person in to buy the necessary supplies, and see if they could also buy some food and medicine.

Then take a longer route to the next town, heading closer to the capital, where you'll always find a place to stay.

The town of Qingshi is situated right between two mountains. Entering through one gate and exiting through the other, you can easily bypass both mountains.

Otherwise, one would have to take a long detour to get over these two mountains, no wonder they dare to charge such an expensive entrance fee.

Su Yue didn't tell Aunt Wei that she was leaving. She dismounted and followed the selected people into the city.

Before leaving, Su Yue left a bottle of spiritual spring water for Aunt Wei, telling her to keep it safe so that if Aunt Wei's husband's wound became infected, she could pour some out and apply it.

Aunt Wei held Su Yue's hand and said worriedly, "Girl! If you need anything, just have them bring it to you. It would be better to save that much money. Be careful when you go out; we don't know what the situation is like in town."

"Aunt Wei, I want to go to town to take a look. You can go and take care of Uncle Wei first. I'll go now." Su Yue withdrew her hand and went to queue up outside the town.

Before long, it was their turn in line, and the villagers in front of them were reluctant to take out their money.

"Hurry up and line up. Once you pay the entry fee, you can go in." The soldiers pointed their machetes at those trying to cut in line.

Those who cut in line didn't dare to confront the officers and soldiers, so they had no choice but to slink away to the back.

The villagers had fled because they couldn't pay their taxes and there was a drought. If they hadn't touched the corpses of those bandits earlier, they wouldn't have been able to afford the city entrance fee.

Su Yue was only allowed to enter the city after handing over two taels of silver, because she was carrying a horse, so they had to charge her more.

If you're not happy, leave your horse behind, and then we'll kick you out.

Su Yue wasn't going to fight them now; she'd deal with these greedy guys later that night.

She'll remember this grudge.

The town was more prosperous than she had imagined; at least there were still shops open and doing business along the streets.

There were still many migrant workers coming in to buy things on the streets, and several soldiers were patrolling not far away.

The refugees who came in didn't dare to cause trouble in the city.

After Su Yue and the others entered, they separated and first explored all the streets of the town before finding an inn that was open.

The inn was deserted; there were refugees everywhere, and hardly anyone would stay at an inn.

Before Su Yue even entered, the innkeeper trotted over to greet her, politely instructing the waiter to lead the horse Su Yue was holding to the backyard, showing no concern that Su Yue couldn't afford the room.

They weren't afraid of Su Yue being small; that's precisely why she was easier to deal with.

If he can't afford it, that's exactly what he wants. Even if the horse he takes away is a bit thin, it's still a horse!

Anyway, the county government is short of horses right now, so why not give them ten or eight taels of silver if I send one to them?

"Sir, would you like to stay overnight or have a meal?" The innkeeper greeted us with a bright, cheerful smile and invited us inside.

"How much does accommodation cost, and how much does food cost?" Su Yue asked as she entered and sat down near the door.

"A superior room costs ten taels of silver a night, while a common room costs three taels of silver a night. The shop only has some kinds of flatbread, as you can see. There's nothing good to eat these days."

Before Su Yue could complain about the price, the innkeeper said again, "You saw it when you came in, right? My inn is the only one still open in the whole town. If you're not staying here, you'd better buy your things and leave town as soon as possible!"

"Why?" Su Yue asked, puzzled.

"Those soldiers outside are there to keep out you refugees. And the north gate will be closed after noon. If you're still wandering around outside at night, you'll be kicked out of town at best, and taken away at worst. We ordinary folks don't know where they'll take us. Anyway, none of us have ever come back." The innkeeper was still thinking about Su Yue's horse.

Su Yue really didn't know about these things. No wonder there were so many refugees outside the town who didn't leave. She wondered if they were all waiting for people to come to the city.

"Alright then, a superior room." Su Yue had plenty of money and would never squeeze into a dormitory with someone covered in fleas, nor did she have any masochistic tendencies.

"Pay first." The shopkeeper spread his hand and watched as Su Yue took out her money, secretly hoping she wouldn't be able to.

Su Yue took out ten taels of silver from her crossbody bag and put it in the shopkeeper's hand.

"Waiter, please take us upstairs to the second floor." He then happily went to the backyard to check on the horses.

I followed the waiter upstairs to the second floor and was led to the innermost room. After bringing me there, the waiter went back downstairs to continue his work.

After entering the room and closing the door from the inside, Su Yue looked around. There was a wardrobe against the wall, a bed on one side, a table in the middle, and a long bench in the other side. It was a very simple room.

After putting the basket into her spatial storage, Su Yue took out a quilt from her storage space, put it inside the quilt on the bed, and pretended that someone was sleeping before slipping into her spatial storage.

I haven't had a proper meal in the past two days because of Aunt Wei and her group. I smell bad and my head is a little itchy. I don't know if I've caught fleas from them.

Once inside the space, he started taking a shower, abandoning his tattered clothes and throwing them out of the space.

After taking a shower, Su Yue changed into a clean set of clothes and immediately felt refreshed.

I cooked another pot of rice, a pot of braised pork, and a pot of stir-fried vegetables.

They also made a lot of pancakes, and collected a basket of eggs from the mountain, which they also cooked in a pot.

I never expected that the chickens we brought in would hatch so many chicks; the mountain is so lively now.

Huang Mao's children have all grown up quite a bit, and they're all round and plump.

There are so many rabbits running all over the mountain that they've almost formed a food chain, so Su Yue doesn't need to feed them at all.

The cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs, and sheep that Qian's family had taken in all gave birth to calves.

As soon as the rice was cooked, Su Yue weighed out a large bowl, topped it with a layer of braised pork and some greens. The aroma alone was enough to make your mouth water; her cooking skills were getting better and better.

I ate while holding my bowl, observing everything in the space, and felt extremely at ease.

I might not have noticed when I first came in, but once I looked, I actually discovered something.