Thefirstfewdaysofthejourneyweresurprisinglypeaceful。Afterleavingthefroheroadgraduallyged。Theroughmountainpathsgavewaytowiderroadslinedwithtalltreesandfieldsbeginningtreenagain。Thefarthertheytravelled,thefewermilitarypoststheysaw。Thereweremorefarmers,merts,cartsloadedwithgrain,andtravellersheadinginbothdires。
ForSuyuan,itfeltstrange。
Shehadspentsolongsurroundedbywalls,mountains,soldiers,andthedrylandsofYounisthatseeingordinarytravellersgoingabouttheirlivesalmostfeltlikewatganotherworld。Theirgroupwasnotparticularlylarge。XieZhengrodeatthefrontwithseveralsoldiers,whileSuyuan,Ayao,andNannyZhangtravelledtogetherinacarriage。Afewridersfollowedbehindtoguardthem。
Atfirst,Suyuanthoughtthejourneywouldbequietbutshewaswrong。Bythese,Ayaohadalreadybegunplaining。“Mylegshurt。”
Suyuanlookedatherfromacrossthecarriage。“Youhaventevenbeenwalking。”
“Ihavebeensittingfortoolong。Sittinghurttoo。”
NannyZhangsighed。“Thenliedown。”
“It。Thecarriagekeepsmoving。”
“Thensitandstopplaining。”
AyaostaredatherforseveralsedsbeforequietlyturningtowardSuyuan。
“Yournannyisfrightening。”
Suyuancoveredhermouth,tryingnottolaugh。NannyZhangimmediatelylookedather。
“Andwhatareyoulaughingat?”
“Nothing。”
Ayaopoiher。“Shewas。”
Suyuanturowardthecarriagewindow,butthesmileonherfacebetrayedher。Forthefirsttimeinalongwhile,thecarriagefeltwarmwithsomethingotherthangrief。Theystoppedaroundnoonnearasmallstreamwherethehorsescoulddrink。ThesoldierstooktheopportunitytorestwhileAyaoimmediatelyjumpedoutofthecarriage。
Suyuanfollowedmoreslowly。Thestreamwasclearenoughtoseethestonesbehthewater。Beyonditwasasmallgrassyslopescatteredwithwildflowers。Ayaolookedattheflowersthen,shelookedatSuyuan。
Shesmiled。Suyuanimmediatelybecamesuspicious。
“No。”
“Ihaventsaidanything。”
“Youreaboutto。”
Ayaopoitheflowers。“Letspie。”
Suyuanlookedattheguardsnearby。
“Wearetravellingwithageneralandagroupofsoldiers。”
“So?”
“Sopeoplewillthinkwerestrangeifwesuddenlyrunintoafieldtopickflowers。”
Ayaed。“Letthemthinkwerestrange。”
BeforeSuyuancouldanswer,Ayaowasalreadywalkingaway。
Suyuanstaredafterher。
NannyZhangshookherheadfromihecarriage。
“Lethergo,shehasbeenplainingaboutthejourneysincesunrise。Letherexhaustherself。”
Suyuanlaughedsoftly。Intheend,shefollowedandtheyspentnearlyhalfanhatheringsmallwildflowershestream。Ayaomadeacrookedlittlebundleandproudlycarrieditbacktothecarriage。Suyuanheldupherown,herswasmueater。
Ayaolookedatit。