The mule cart hurried into town; it was the busiest time of day at the steamed bun shop. Xiaofeng and Liu Yan were so swamped they didn’t even have time to greet their older brother and the others when they arrived.

Zheng Beiqiu was anxious, but with so many people around, he couldn’t say anything. He had no choice but to have Luo Xiu and the others get off the cart and wait inside while he helped sell the buns.

One hour later, the first batch of buns was finally sold out, and Xiaofeng returned to the back room to prepare the second batch. Luo Xiu quickly grabbed her and said, “Xiaofeng, don’t rush to make more buns just yet—something major has happened!”

“What’s so serious?”

“War is coming. Your brother is taking us to the southern lands.”

“What?!” Zheng Xiaofeng was deeply shocked upon hearing this and hurriedly called Liu Yan and her older brother into the house. She dismissed the customers who were still waiting in line to buy buns.

“What does my sister-in-law mean when she says there’s going to be a war?”

Zheng Beiqiu said gravely, “The Prince of Jing in Pingzhou has rebelled. He’s leading a 200,000-strong army south to purge the court of traitors. When that happens, our Changsheng Town will surely suffer the consequences. I plan to take your sister-in-law south to seek refuge. Will you and Liu Yan come with us?”

“Well…” Liu Yan turned to look at his wife; he couldn’t make this decision on his own—he had to listen to Xiaofeng.

“Is the news my older brother mentioned reliable?”

“The men Liu Yan brought from town to my house yesterday were all close friends of mine from my days in the army—otherwise, they wouldn’t have gone out of their way to find my address and come all this way just to deliver a message. One of them, surnamed Chen, was also a former hundred-house commander, and he has an uncle who is a thousand-house commander.

After Prince Jing’s rebellion, his uncle refused to continue fighting. He’d intended to lay down his arms and return to farming, but was arrested and executed as a sacrificial offering to the banner… With no other choice, he managed to escape.” Zheng Xiaofeng listened, her heart pounding with fear. “So where do you plan to go, big brother?”

“First to the county seat. We’ll withdraw some silver and buy a spacious horse-drawn carriage. Otherwise, with this bumpy road, I’m afraid we won’t get very far relying solely on this mule cart. Once we’ve switched to the carriage, we’ll decide where to go next. You two, hurry up and pack your things—we’re leaving right away!”

Zheng Beiqiu didn’t care what the others did—he couldn’t force them to stay or go—but he was determined to take his only younger sister with him no matter what. Xiaofeng knew her older brother’s temperament well; he would never leave in such a hurry unless it was absolutely necessary.

“All right, we’ll pack up right away!”

Liu Yan looked a bit anxious. “If we leave, what about the shop…?” 

“Close it up. We’ll come back after the fight’s over.”

“Well, should I go back and let my parents know?”

It was indeed best to let them know. Zheng Beiqiu unloaded the items from the cart and told him to drive the mule cart there and back as quickly as possible, giving Xiaofeng just enough time to pack up the things they needed to take with them.

“Is that Xiaohu? How come he came along with you guys?” 

She’d been so preoccupied with her worries just now that she hadn’t even noticed the child standing nearby.

Luo Xiu: “Your brother sent a message to the second son yesterday. When we left early this morning, we saw him standing alone at the village entrance. He said his father told him to come with us.”

Xiaofeng stroked her nephew’s cheek. “Are you cold? Did you eat breakfast this morning?” Xiaohu shook his head.

Fortunately, the fire in the stove was still burning. Xiaofeng boiled water and cooked a large pot of frozen wontons, and everyone had a bowl to warm themselves up.

Having gotten up early that morning, Luo Xiu and Zheng Beiqiu hadn’t eaten anything either; they’d only managed to feed Xiaoyu some steamed egg custard. Now, with their stomachs feeling empty, they picked up their bowls and began to eat. After downing a large bowl of wontons, they started to feel warm all over.

Niuniu had no idea they were about to leave for a long journey; she curiously eyed Xiaohu, and the two children quickly became friends.

Xiaofeng, meanwhile, took the time to pack their belongings. They were bringing very little—just two sets of bedding and a few old clothes, all of which fit into a single bundle.

They decided not to take any pots, pans, or kitchenware—Luo Xiu and the others were bringing those—but they had to take the rice, flour, and other grains; if they left them behind, they’d go bad. There were still two sacks of whole wheat flour and one sack of foxtail millet at home; they’d load them onto the cart later when Liu Yan returned.

While waiting, Zheng Beiqiu made a trip to the gambling den to send a message to Zhang Linzi and Yang Erzhu, telling them that war was coming and they should leave as soon as possible if they could. The two men were quite reasonable; as soon as he spoke, they immediately asked, “What’s going on? When do we leave?”

Zheng Beiqiu replied, “My brother-in-law has gone back to the village to notify his family. We’ll leave as soon as he returns.” 

“Is it that urgent?”

“We have no choice but to hurry. If the main army sets out, they’ll be here in six or seven days at most.”

“Then we’ll pack up right away and go with you!”

Zheng Beiqiu was taken aback—he hadn’t expected them to believe him. “I only have one mule cart, and I have to take my sister’s family with me. I’m afraid there won’t be room for you two.”

“No problem. I’ll find a cart.”

Er Zhuzi scratched his head and said, “Where are we supposed to find a mule cart?”

“Never mind that. You go inside first and pack up your bedding and clothes; I’ll go out and borrow a cart.” The gambling den owner has four or five mule carts. If he borrows one and says he has to run an errand, he doubts he’ll ask too many questions.

It wasn’t until noon that Liu Yan returned. Just looking at his dejected expression, it was clear he hadn’t managed to persuade anyone.

Not only that, but his parents had also given him a good scolding, telling him he jumped to conclusions too easily and asking why he had to run off when he could be living a peaceful life.

When his second older brother heard they were leaving, he actually came over—which was highly unusual for him—to ask what would happen to the shop after they were gone. Between the lines, it was clear he wanted to take over the shop.

Lately, he’d seen how Liu Yan and his wife had made a name for themselves selling steamed buns in town—he’d heard they could earn several hundred wen a day—and it had made him green with envy. Now that Liu Yan and Zheng Xiaofeng were leaving, wouldn’t the shop be his to run?

Liu Yan stammered, “It’s not up to me to decide this. Why don’t you go ask Xiaofeng…?” With that, he hurriedly drove off. Zheng Beiqiu had long anticipated this outcome.

Apart from the border regions, the Great Zhou Dynasty hadn’t been at war for nearly seventy years; over the course of two generations, the common people had long since forgotten the pain of war.

But the bleached bones outside Changsheng Town hadn’t been forgotten; the area had once witnessed several major battles, and even now, one could still see numerous human skeletons scattered across the wilderness outside the town.

“Once we’re all set, let’s head out. If fighting doesn’t break out, that’s for the best—we’ll go lie low for a while and then come back. And if it does break out, at least we’ll have escaped unscathed.”

Liu Yan looked at Zhang Linzi and Er Zhuzi, who had followed behind driving a cart, with some confusion. “Are they coming with us too?”

Zheng Beiqiu nodded. “These two are brothers I’ve known since childhood. Since they’re willing to come with me, of course I’ll bring them along.” After locking the shop door, the group set off toward the county seat.

The journey from Changsheng Town to Sitong County was over a hundred li; traveling light, they could have reached it in two days.

However, their mule carts were heavily laden, and the snow on the road made travel difficult, so it took them a full three days to reach the county seat.

Entering the city took some effort as well; with the Lunar New Year approaching, security checks within the city were particularly strict, and no weapons were allowed on the cart.

Zheng Beiqiu’s long sword was hidden beneath the mule cart; if it had been discovered during a search, it would have caused quite a problem. Fortunately, he gave two taels of coins to the gatekeeper and, after a few kind words, was allowed to pass.

Once inside the city, Zheng Beiqiu first went to the silver exchange to cash in his notes, converting both 100-tael silver notes into physical silver.

After all, once war broke out, the money houses would surely close their doors, and by then the silver notes would be worthless scraps of paper—impossible to spend. Exchanging the silver was quite a hassle; two hundred taels was no small sum, and an ordinary money house couldn’t exchange that much silver in a single day.

The manager even came over personally to verify the authenticity of the two silver notes, then carefully questioned Zheng Beiqiu about their origin, afraid that cashing in counterfeit notes might land him in trouble.

Zheng Beiqiu told the truth: “I received these two silver bills as a reward while serving in the army in Pingzhou—I even have the document signed by the general.”

He rummaged through his robe for a while before pulling out a crumpled award document and handing it to the manager. Only after the manager had examined it did he return both the silver and the document.

“It’s strange, really—why have so many people been coming to exchange these for cash these past few days?”

Zheng Beiqiu paused as he was putting the silver away, his keen senses picking up on something amiss. “Have there been a lot of people coming to exchange for silver?”

“Yesterday, one family exchanged six hundred taels of silver, and the day before yesterday, another exchanged three thousand taels. You’ve come at just the right time—if you’d been a few days later, I’m afraid our silver reserves wouldn’t have been enough. You’d have had to wait until after the New Year to exchange silver in the prefectural city.”

Zheng Beiqiu pondered to himself—most likely, someone with well-connected sources had already heard news of the impending war and had fled with their silver ahead of time.

“With so much silver, sir, please be sure to keep it safe.” 

“Thank you for the reminder, shopkeeper.”

As they stepped out of the money exchange, Luo Xiu hurried over and asked, “Why did it take so long in there?”

“Exchanging the silver was a bit of a hassle, but at least I managed to get it. Let’s go find out where in the county they sell horse-drawn carriages—we’ll buy one that’s ready to go.”

Along the roadside, they came across a peddler. After spending a few copper coins, they learned from him that there was a carriage dealership in the West Quarter specializing in ox carts and horse-drawn carriages—and that they also sold horses. Once they had the information, Zheng Beiqiu drove straight to the West Quarter.

Although horses and mules look similar on the outside, their prices are worlds apart. A good horse costs between thirty and fifty taels of silver, while an ordinary one goes for around twenty taels.

Then there were the Dayuan horses imported from the Western Regions—a single one was worth several hundred taels. Of course, such horses were nowhere to be seen in a small county town; even if they were, no one could afford them.

Zheng Beiqiu parked his mule-drawn cart and entered the carriage shop alone.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, business at the shop was slow. Only an elderly man was minding the store. Seeing him enter, the man stood up and greeted him: “Sir, are you here to look at mules or horses, or to order a cart?”

“I’d like to look at some horses and also buy a carriage.” 

“Follow me to the backyard to take a look.”

Passing through the front hall and exiting through the back door led to a spacious courtyard, where six or seven carriages—some new, some old—were lined up along the side.

“All these carriages are for sale. They vary in age and materials, so the prices differ as well. Just let me know which one you like.”

Zheng Beiqiu walked around and took a look, then chose the roomiest one. Although it looked a bit worn, the wood was solid—all old beech—and it wouldn’t break down even after eight or ten years of use.

“How much is this carriage?”

“You have a keen eye, sir. This carriage was previously owned by a wealthy family in the county. It even has a tea stove inside—it’ll come in handy for cooking and boiling water on long journeys.”

The old man opened the carriage door, and Zheng Beiqiu’s impression of it improved even more at first glance. They were embarking on a long journey, and with the weather this cold, if there were no post stations along the way, they’d have to stop by the roadside to rest. It wouldn’t be a problem for an adult, but he was worried the children might suffer from frostbite or catch a chill.

During their journey to the county seat, they’d stayed at post stations for two of the days; on another day, they’d stopped to rest at a dilapidated temple by the roadside, where they hadn’t dared let the fire go out all night.

“How much does this carriage cost?” 

“Sixty taels of silver.”

As soon as Zheng Beiqiu heard this, he turned to leave. It was way too expensive! Sixty taels just for the carriage alone—and with a horse on top of that, it was nearly a hundred taels of silver! He needed to save the little money he had for his family’s future; how could he possibly spend it all on a carriage?

Seeing him about to leave, the old man hurriedly grabbed him and said, “The price is negotiable. Why don’t you make an offer? If it’s right, you can take it.” 

Zheng Beiqiu replied calmly, “Let’s go take a look at the horses first.”

He walked around the stable. The horses were all standard Sanhe horses—tall and sturdy—the kind best suited for long-distance travel.

“How much are these horses?”

The old man stroked his beard and shifted his gaze nervously. Having just seen Zheng Beiqiu object to the sixty taels price for the carriage, he didn’t dare ask for a high price for the horses. “Twenty-five taels of silver. The horseshoes are already on, so they’re ready to go right away.”

“If the horses and the carriage I looked at earlier come to sixty taels of silver total, I’ll take the deal. If not, I’ll go check out other places.” 

“Well, sixty taels is too little—it should be at least sixty-five taels!”

Zheng Beiqiu couldn’t be bothered to haggle with him and turned to leave; there were two other carriage and horse dealers nearby, so if this didn’t work out, he’d just check out the others.

The old man waved his hand. “All right, all right. You’re quite the haggler, sir. It’s almost the end of the year—I need to sell this quickly to have a good New Year. I’ll give you a good deal.” In the end, for sixty taels of silver, he picked out a chestnut-colored horse, along with the large horse-drawn carriage he’d seen earlier.

The price wasn’t exactly high, nor was it particularly low. Ordinary families rarely bought such a large carriage, and since the dealer had had it in stock for nearly half a year before finally selling it, the price had naturally dropped considerably.

As soon as they stepped out of the carriage shop, Luo Xiu and Xiaofeng loaded the children onto the horse-drawn carriage. The mule cart had been too cramped—they’d been so squeezed inside they couldn’t even stretch their legs—but this large horse-drawn carriage was spacious, like a small room, and the children could even stand up and play inside.

Some of the grain and luggage were loaded onto the mule cart, while the rest was placed on the roof of the horse-drawn wagon. Liu Yan drove the mule cart behind them, while Zhang Linzi and Yang Erzhu drove another wagon bringing up the rear.

After buying the carriages, they began stocking up on supplies for the journey: a few fire strikers, a bundle of candles, and a windproof oil lamp. Speaking of that lamp, they’d actually scored a real bargain.

Normally, a windproof lantern like this would sell for dozens of guan in the provincial capital, since its shade was made entirely of glass. But in this small county town, no one recognized its value, and an old woman sold it to them for just fifty wen.

With a cart now free, they bought several sacks of grain. With more people came greater food demands, and there might not be opportunities to enter a town along the way; running out of provisions would be a real problem.

They also bought plenty of fodder for the horses and mules, loading it onto Zhang Linzi’s mule cart for later use.

Zheng Beiqiu also went to a general store to buy some iron tools and farm implements, from which he forged two reliable weapons for Zhang Linzi and Erzhu. They were bound to encounter bandits ambushing travelers along the way, and he feared he wouldn’t be able to protect so many people on his own—which was one of the reasons he was willing to bring these two young men along.

In addition to these items, Luo Xiu also asked him to buy some medicine from the clinic to keep on hand.

With three children on the wagon, it would be a real problem if any of them fell ill with a cold. He bought several packets of medicine for cold symptoms, a packet of pills for diarrhea, as well as ointments for external wounds and safflower ointment for bruises and sprains.

After purchasing everything—spending over eighty taels of silver—the three carts were loaded to the brim, and the group set out that very night without stopping.

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month—a time when families should be reuniting—a large army was racing toward them from a distance under the cover of night.

“Old man, whose house is setting off firecrackers out there? Why is it so loud?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go take a look. Judging by the noise, whoever’s setting them off must have bought a whole lot!” The elderly man put on his hat and stepped outside. He listened intently for a while but couldn’t tell whose fireworks they were; instead, the sound only grew louder.

The old man grew increasingly uneasy as he listened. He recalled his parents telling him when he was a child that when the Earth Dragon turned over, it would produce a tremendous rumbling sound. Judging by the noise, could it be that the earth was shaking?

Terrified, he hurriedly called out to his family, “Come out quickly—the earth dragon is turning over!” 

“The dumplings aren’t cooked yet…”

“Forget about the dumplings—the house might collapse and crush us to death!”

Six or seven family members, young and old, threw on their padded jackets and followed him outside. They stood in the courtyard for half an hour, when the rumbling suddenly stopped.

“Dad, it doesn’t seem like the ground moved at all.”

“Grandpa, I’m cold—can I go back inside?”

“Wait a little longer—what if the earth starts rumbling again?”

After waiting another half-hour, the children could no longer stand the cold and began clamoring to go back inside. The old lady said, “No matter what, let’s eat our New Year’s Eve dinner first!”

Everyone went inside. The dumplings in the pot had boiled down to nothing but a soup of soggy dough, which infuriated the old lady so much that she scolded them for a long time. In the end, she fished them out, and everyone managed to eat them anyway.

After finishing the dumplings, the children began kowtowing to the elders to wish them a Happy New Year. The old lady reached into her bosom, pulled out the copper coins she’d prepared in advance, and handed them out to her grandchildren.

The family spent New Year’s Eve in joyful harmony, completely unaware that this would be their last Spring Festival spent together.