Chapter 384 - 220: The River Surface Freezes Over

Chapter 384: Chapter 220: The River Surface Freezes Over

Three days passed like this, and in four or five days, they would reach the Capital. However, the weather was not favorable, as a blizzard with snowflakes the size of goose feathers had already begun to fall from the sky.

Gu Chengyu sat in the room, watching the snowflakes fall into the river outside the window. His thoughts began to wander. With such heavy snow, the ships would soon be unable to sail and would have to stop again.

"Young Master! I didn’t expect the snow to come so early this year. It’s been snowing all day, and if it doesn’t stop, we don’t know if our ship can make it to the Capital."

Ming Yan also looked worriedly out the window. If they had to switch to carriages, it would be much more troublesome. There were several women accompanying them to the Capital this time.

"If it’s going to snow, there’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to wait and see. It’s still a four- or five-day journey. If we really can’t make it, we can reach it in seven or eight days by carriage."

Worrying in his heart wouldn’t help, so it was better to calm down and practice his calligraphy. Gu Chengyu laid out the paper and had just dipped his brush in ink when someone knocked on the door.

Ming Mo, who was standing nearby, quickly went to open the door, "Young Master! Mr. Ye is here!"

"Chengyu!" Ye Zhiqiu, recovering from a cold over the past two days, was now able to move about.

"Brother Ye, why aren’t you resting inside? It’s very cold today." Gu Chengyu glanced at Ye Zhiqiu’s clothes and almost couldn’t help but laugh.

He was wearing a sky-blue cross-collared long jacket outside, which was so thick that it made Ye Zhiqiu’s originally slender figure look round and plump, adding several sizes at once. On top of that jacket, he even wore a thick, royal blue fine cotton cloak, wrapping himself tightly as he came in.

"There’s a brazier inside, quickly take off your cloak, or you’ll catch a cold when you go out again."

"It’s really cold today." Ye Zhiqiu entered the room, enveloped by the warm air, and sneezed loudly.

He rubbed his hands vigorously, took off his cloak, and Ming Yan casually took it and hung it on the rack.

Ye Zhiqiu looked at Gu Chengyu’s thin clothes and said enviously, "Your martial artist’s physique is indeed different. Look, you’re just wearing a padded straight-collared robe, and I’ve worn so much that I can barely move."

Gu Chengyu shook his head with a smile, "That’s why I always asked you to practice horse stance with me, but you refused! Even practicing some strength exercises is good to strengthen your body."

Ye Zhiqiu shook his head vigorously, "That horse stance is too exhausting. Besides, even if I practice every day, I can’t become like you. I don’t want to suffer."

"Have you and Brother Sun decided which academy to apply to?" Gu Chengyu asked Ming Mo to clean up the pens and ink on the table, as writing was no longer an option at the moment.

"The first choice is, of course, Boshan Academy. The teachers there are all well-known, and there’s even talk that some are officials!" Ye Zhiqiu had heard of Boshan Academy long before during the last Provincial Examination.

"I heard that the entrance exam for Boshan Academy is very difficult, but with you and Brother Sun’s solid foundations, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Gu Chengyu was not worried about their chances of getting into Boshan Academy. Both of them were quite talented; although Sun Xian’s knowledge was not as profound as Ye Zhiqiu’s, he had a solid grounding.

"We won’t know until we take the exam, but even if we don’t get in, there are other good academies. We can choose one that’s closer."

Having brought his family to the Capital, Ye Zhiqiu felt relieved. Although he was reluctant to part with his elder sister, she was married now and had a husband who cherished her. As long as he wrote back often, it would be fine.

Then, Ye Zhiqiu mentioned the purpose of his visit, "Today’s snowfall is much heavier than in the past few days, and if it continues tomorrow or the day after, and the river freezes with thick ice, can the ships still travel?"

"We’ll have to see. If we can’t continue, we’re not far from the Capital. We can disembark at a nearby county and hire an escort agency for protection."

There were many people coming this time, and Gu Chengyu planned to hire an escort agency because their group would definitely be too much for Ming Mo and the others to handle alone.

"This year’s cold weather has come early, usually, it doesn’t snow until a few days later!"

A day later, everyone’s concerns proved true—the river had indeed frozen.

"Ming Mo, while the ice is not thick yet, the ship surely has to dock. Let’s disembark here. In this county, find an escort agency. With all these people and luggage, we definitely need one for protection."

The most troublesome part was that there were several women in their party, which was quite inconvenient.

Gu Chengyu packed their luggage carefully. He didn’t have much, and the valuable items could be kept in a secure space; the rest would be bought once they reached the Capital. He only carried some clothing, toiletries, accessories, and such, which fit into two small chests. However, Gu Wan had a lot of things, so they would need to rent more carriages.

"Chengyu! Our luggage is on the ship behind us, we need to find someone to unload it." Sun Xian hurriedly came to Gu Chengyu’s room as everyone on the ship was preparing to disembark, causing quite a commotion at the dock.

"Let’s find some dock workers to carry it. We don’t have enough manpower, just spend some money on it."

The porters counted on earning more during such weather; otherwise, the whole winter would be hard to get through, and doing it themselves would be exhausting. Sun Xian was used to saving money, but he didn’t want to wear out his second sister.

Ming Mo and the others worked efficiently. There were three escort agencies in the county; they found a large one with a good reputation.

They enlisted dock workers to carry the luggage onto the carriages. Gu Chengyu’s group rented ten carriages in total, and they were tightly packed. The escort agency happened to have a mission to the Capital, so they tagged along. The fee was not expensive, costing only a little over eighty taels of silver.

"Is this Mr. Gu? We’re planning to set off tomorrow. Please let us know if this works for you?"

The Wu Men Escort Agency’s Chief Wu was surnamed Wu, and everyone in the agency called him Chief Wu. He was personally overseeing this escort mission.

"Chief Wu, you’re too kind. We’re ready to leave anytime. Tonight, we’ll stay at an inn, and please inform us before you set off tomorrow morning."

"Of course, I won’t disturb you then."

Gu Chengyu sized up Chief Wu, who was burly with a square face, a full beard, and eyes as large as copper bells, looking like a straightforward man.

"Xiao Bao! This escort agency should be reliable, right?" Gu Wan, who had never traveled far before, felt a bit scared yet excited.

"We asked around nearby, and it has a good reputation, with a very renowned name. Second Sister, don’t worry, I’m here with you."

Of course, Gu Chengyu wouldn’t really entrust their safety entirely to these people; vigilance was still necessary.

They found a clean inn in the county for the night. The inn wasn’t large, so they booked all the rooms on the first floor, leaving the courtyard at the back for their luggage.

"We’ll need to stand watch tonight as before, it might be a rough stretch for you all, did you find out what kind of goods the escort agency is transporting this time?"

Generally, for ordinary goods, they’d let the second-in-command or other leaders handle it, with the Chief stationed at the agency. So the goods might be very important this time.

What Gu Chengyu was worried about was that the more valuable the escorted goods were, the more danger they faced. If they encountered robbers halfway, it would surely lead to a bloody battle.