Chapter 9

As they walked each segment of the journey, Mo Wen and Lao Wu would inquire about the army’s movements from the surrounding shops to ensure they were not going in the wrong direction.

At noon, the two stopped at a food stall in the northern part of the city, buying two bowls of hot porridge and eating the flatbreads they had brought with them.

Mo Wen well understood the principle that one cannot live off one’s savings forever, so he was very frugal throughout the journey. This stop was only to converse with the kind-faced stall owner, who, having set up his stall by the roadside for years, must be well-informed and knowledgeable.

"Brother, have you seen a group of Hu soldiers carrying looted grain and women pass by here in the past few days?" Mo Wen asked the stall owner, who was in his thirties and dressed in a hemp robe.

"I have, it was a while ago, they went north. Young brother, where are you from?" the stall owner asked.

"From the south," Mo Wen replied vaguely.

"Are you from the Jin State?" the stall owner asked.

"Why do you ask, brother?" Mo Wen was startled, breaking out in a cold sweat. He and Lao Wu were deep in enemy territory, and it was easy to be overly suspicious.

"The Zhao State government has long issued a notice prohibiting the use of the word 'Hu.' They should be referred to as 'nationals,'" the stall owner crossed his arms and stomped his feet, as it was cold even at noon.

"Thank you for the reminder, brother. To be honest, my servant... my brother and I are indeed from Jin, but we did not sneak in; we were given a pass to enter the city," Mo Wen explained, fearing the stall owner might report them.

The stall owner, who was not talkative, nodded and did not say anything more.

"Brother, we are new to this place and ignorant. Could you give us any advice?" Mo Wen asked.

"Never show your wealth, to avoid being robbed by the nationals. They can take anything they want, and the Han people cannot resist," the stall owner said kindly.

"We are in trouble and have no wealth," Mo Wen said, becoming tense again.

"Is this not wealth?" the stall owner pointed to the bundles they carried, which were full of dry rations.

Mo Wen suddenly realized that ordinary families nowadays had only two meals of thin porridge a day, and such a large amount of dry rations was indeed not something a poor person could carry.

"Thank you for the reminder, brother." Mo Wen stood up and took out three small coins, giving them to the stall owner. The porridge cost only two coins, and the extra one was a tip from Mo Wen.

"Thank you, young brother. In the future, if you encounter nationals, avoid them if you can. If you cannot avoid them, bow and let them pass to avoid trouble," the stall owner said, taking the three coins.

Mo Wen bowed to the stall owner and prepared to leave with Lao Wu. Suddenly, he thought of something. "Brother, may I ask, how much silver would it cost to buy a woman in the Zhao State?"

"If it's a young woman, it would cost three taels of silver. For the elderly or children, it would be a few dozen coins, depending on the person," the stall owner replied.

"Thank you for your guidance, brother." Mo Wen and Lao Wu left the food stall.

"Master, what's wrong?" Lao Wu asked. After leaving the food stall, Mo Wen had been sighing.

"Currently, buying a horse or a cow would cost nearly ten taels of silver. In times of chaos, people are treated like grass, not even as valuable as livestock," Mo Wen shook his head, surprised by the low price of women.

Lao Wu could only sigh in response.

The further north they went, the harder it was to get information. There were more forks in the road, and no one could be found to ask for information at the forks. They could only follow one of the forks and then ask for information in a city or village with people. If the villagers had not seen soldiers escorting carts and women, they would have to return and take another fork, which could be hundreds of miles and take several days to walk.

Mo Wen had rarely been so hard-pressed before. By the end, his feet were blistered, as if walking on a bed of needles. Lao Wu, concerned for Mo Wen, suggested buying a horse to travel, but Mo Wen shook his head and rejected the idea. The people in the Zhao State lived worse than those in the Jin State, and there were few horse riders on the road. Their current appearance did not attract attention, but riding a horse would draw attention. Additionally, he was worried that the horse might be taken by the Hu people, whose brutality he had witnessed over the past few days, seeing them eat at Han shops and food stalls without paying.

After half a month, their dry rations were exhausted, and they had to buy more along the way to continue searching. Due to the time spent recuperating at home and mourning his mother, and the additional delay of over half a month on the road, it became increasingly difficult to gather information. Fortunately, Lin Ruochen had been wearing a red dress, which left an impression on the people along the way. Although it took a lot of time, they never lost track of her.

However, later on, things changed. Although some of the people along the way remembered seeing Hu soldiers, none of them had seen the captured women.

"Master, the two towns are less than ten miles apart. How could the people in the previous town have seen the lady, but she disappeared here?" Lao Wu asked Mo Wen.

"There are many people and eyes here. The Hu people would not eat here. She must have changed her clothes. I am sorry to have made you travel so much," Mo Wen said apologetically to Lao Wu. Over the past half month, they had endured many hardships, not only the physical strain of the journey but also the difficulty of finding accommodation in an unfamiliar place, often sleeping in the open. Both had lost weight over the period.

"Master, what you said is not right. I should be with you. Should we continue searching?" Lao Wu sat by the roadside, watching the passersby.

"Yes, we must find her, alive or dead," Mo Wen said firmly, his determination unchanged despite the hardships.

"Master, there's something I've been wondering about," Lao Wu shook his head.

"Are you wondering why I must find her?" Mo Wen smiled bitterly. He had often asked himself this question over the past few days. His answer was that they had been married in a traditional ceremony, and he had a lock of Lin Ruochen's hair, while she had his. This was a mutual promise, and Confucius and Mencius both taught that one must be trustworthy and not break one's word.

"No, that's not it. I'm wondering why your wedding night was so noisy, with music and singing," Lao Wu grinned.

"First meetings can be awkward, and the music and singing were to help us get to know each other," Mo Wen answered honestly.

"Master, have you... you know, with the lady?" Lao Wu asked curiously.

"How can one be so bold in broad daylight?" Mo Wen hesitated but answered Lao Wu's question.

"You scholars have too many rules. If it were me, I wouldn't care about day or night. Now, someone else has taken the lead," Lao Wu said, clearly unhappy.

Mo Wen looked at Lao Wu helplessly. Although Lao Wu had inherited his ancestors' loyalty, he had not inherited their simplicity. He had spied on the maidservants bathing more than once after growing up.

"Master, what should we do now?" Lao Wu, seeing Mo Wen's displeasure, quickly changed the subject.

Mo Wen stood up and walked east, "Let's ask around in the town."

The town was not large, and it didn't take long for them to get some information. The main Hu army had moved north with the grain, while a group of dozens of soldiers had occupied several houses in the eastern part of the town for a night. The next day, they took the captured women to a market eighty miles east, where the Hu people usually sold their captives.

"Madam, have you seen a young woman in a red dress?" Mo Wen asked an elderly woman whose house had been occupied.

"I haven't seen a red dress, but there was a girl in red pants, very pretty, who stayed in my house," the old woman recalled.

"Was she taken to the market by the soldiers?" Mo Wen asked urgently. There were no women in red dresses, but there was one in red pants, so he was sure the old woman was talking about Lin Ruochen.

"We were all driven away at the time. When we returned, the soldiers and the girls were gone," the old woman shook her head.

Mo Wen sighed deeply, bowed to the old woman, and said, "Thank you, madam."

"Who are you to her?" the old woman asked kindly.

"Since you ask, I will not hide it. We are from the Jin State. This is my brother, and the girl in red pants is my wife, who was captured by the Hu people a few days ago. We are here to find her," Mo Wen explained.

"Ah, those wicked Hu people, those evil Hu people. By the way, you came at the right time. Please wait a moment," the old woman said and went into the house. A moment later, there was a commotion inside, and it seemed the old couple was arguing.

Mo Wen and Lao Wu, waiting outside, looked at each other, unsure what the old woman was doing or whether they should go in to mediate.

A moment later, the old woman ran out of the house, holding a small cloth bag, which she handed to Mo Wen. "I found this under my bed. I believe it belongs to your wife. Here it is."

Mo Wen opened the bag curiously and found a hairpin inside. Seeing the hairpin, Mo Wen felt an urge to cry. It was the same one that had been used to secure the red veil on Lin Ruochen's head on their wedding day.

Just as Mo Wen was grieving, a short, fat old man came out of the house, holding a broom and shouting at the old woman, "How do you know it's theirs? I'll beat you to death."

"Sir, please don't be angry. This is indeed my wife's. Today, we are grateful to the madam for returning it. We are willing to pay three taels of silver as a reward," Mo Wen knew why the old man was angry.

After Mo Wen spoke, Lao Wu immediately took out the silver and handed it over. The old man was taken aback, as the hairpin was only silver at the flower part, and the rest was copper, not worth three taels of silver.

The old man naturally did not refuse, as three taels of silver was a significant amount for a farmer.

The two bid farewell to the old woman and continued eastward, traveling through the night. By this point, Mo Wen no longer hoped to find Lin Ruochen at the market, as she was very beautiful and would likely be sold quickly. He only hoped to find the person who had bought her and pay a high price to redeem her.

During the day, they stayed in the town, and at night, they traveled eighty miles. At dawn, Mo Wen and Lao Wu, covered in frost, saw the market the Zhao people had mentioned...