Edited by Ea

  In the carriage, the women all had tears on their faces and scattered hair on their temples. They were huddled together in the shaking carriage.

  The carriage finally calmed down after about a time.

  Outside came the sound of the coachman swearing.

  “A woman who has suffered a thousand knives!” One of them said, “Heaven strikes five thunderbolts!”

  They are all real mortals, and they don’t usually use immortals’ tricks, so they didn’t doubt that this was done by a human.

  The guards restored order and continued to escort the carriage forward.

  Ling Fengxiao lifted a corner of the curtain, through which Lin Shu saw the outside.

  There were about thirty guards—these female families are all weak women without even the power to bind chickens. They don’t need to be afraid that they would escape. They just need to prevent them from seeking death, so they were equipped with very few troops.

  As the carriage stabilized, the family members looked at him and Ling Fengxiao together, and looked at the lady in the center timidly.

  As the wife of Sima Youcheng, she is obviously a woman who has seen big scenes. At this time, she was the calmest among all the female dependents, and said to Ling Fengxiao: “Two female heroes, what should I do next?”

  “Don’t make any trouble.” Ling Fengxiao said lightly, “When you arrive at the Laundry House, naturally someone will meet you.”

  The Madam took a few deep breaths and said, “Okay.”

  “Girl……” A girl beside her said: “Are you here to save us?”

  Ling Fengxiao: “Yeah.”

  There was ecstasy in the girl’s eyes.

  Ling Fengxiao: “Don’t move.”

  The girl obediently did not shout out or make any movements, only the pair of joyful eyes, looking back and forth on Ling Fengxiao and Lin Shu revealed her joy.

  Ling Fengxiao said: “Continue to cry.”

  The female relatives glanced at each other, brewed a few times, and began howling a fake cry.

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  Suddenly, there was another mourning sound in the carriage.

  The coachman scolded outside: “Where is the funeral?”

  The female family members kept crying, and the coachman had nothing else to say&#k2014;it seems that this situation had happened countless times along the way.

  Lin Shu looked at the women in the carriage.

  Although they looked haggard, it can be seen that the clothes on their bodies were of extraordinary material, their skin were very delicate, and were spoiled at first glance.

  Such women had lived in a big house all their lives. Even because of the etiquette system, they had never seen a man outside. Now they’re in great trouble. It’s really worth crying if they have to go to the bitter and cold border area to be a prostitute.

  He thought again, girls in this world really have many looks.

  There were such gentle and weak noble women as Sima’s family members, such supernatural cultivators and chivalrous women as Yue Ruoyun, Ling Baochen and Ling Baoqing, and such literati as Xie Zishe who studied so much poetry and read so many books, and went to the capital immediately after leaving the academy to become prime minister, a scholar who is no different from a man.

  Of course, the Big Miss is the most outstanding.

  Not only does she stand out among other girls, even if she is put in the whole world, she is also unique.

  He looked at the Big Miss whose voice was concealed by the cry of the female relatives while she explained the situation and plan to Mrs. Sima in a low voice, and pondered this person’s character.

  Looking at Ling Fengxiao’s extremely calm eyes and listening to the unyielding tone, he felt that the Big Miss really did not look like a girl, she had no delicate and soft aura at all.

  Then, he began to imagine the Big Miss crying like these married women, or being as coquettish as Ling Baoqing.

  —— He couldn’t imagine.

  Lin Shu looked away in silence.

  He thinks that Big Miss is good like this.

  Otherwise, he really doesn’t know how to get along.

  Amidst crying, the convoy finally came to Jubei City.

  The guard at the head of the city verified the clearance certificate and shouted to the other side: “Let them pass!”

  After a dull shaft sound, the heavy copper door opened to both sides, revealing a gap that can only accommodate a carriage.

  The convoy lined up and entered one by one.

  Lin Shu looked at the city through the moonlight.

  Silence.

  The extremely regular streets extended in all directions, and the houses in the distance were shadowed by curfews. No one walked around. In the dead of the night, there was only the sound of horses’ hooves in unknown directions, like guards on patrol.

  The three checkpoints of Jubei, Zhenyuan, and Anning are easy to defend and difficult to attack, guarding the entire Southern Xia.

  Therefore, the defenses in these three places are also the most tight—as long as a checkpoint is breached, and without the dependence of a geographical advantage, the Northern Xia cavalry can drive straight in. Unless there are more than twice the force, it will be difficult to stop.

  The carriage went all the way north, and after passing this small town square which is a few miles long, they reached the Northern Pass, which is north of Jubei City.

  A large expanse of flat land, with no end in sight. A torch was lit every other way, illuminating the Northern Pass.

  The biggest yard, the one in the middle, is the Generals’ housing. Next to it, a few times smaller, it should be the territory of elite guards, deputy generals, and counselors.

  Further out, the soldiers’ barracks.

  Northern Pass is stationed with 30,000 elite soldiers, and there are 50,000 soldiers reared at Luoyang City, Lemapo, and Feishi Pass in the rear. Once the beacon smokes at Northern Pass, they can rush to help immediately.

  Lin Shu looked far away. He had only heard of the tension from others before, but now looking at the soldiers’ camp that stretched for more than ten miles, he finally felt the atmosphere of the approaching war.

  The carriage went to the northwest corner. Unlike the solemn silence of other places, the camp in the northwest corner was lit with lights and figures were walking.

  ——This is the legendary Red Tent.

  The women looked at the camp in terror.

  Ling Fengxiao had finished the conversation with Madam Sima and returned to him.

  Ling Fengxiao said faintly: “In ancient times, there was the custom of setting up camp prostitutes to accompany the army. It was said that because the soldiers have been away from home for a long time, setting up camp prostitutes can comfort the soldiers and reassure their hearts. In fact, soldiers’ money for prostitutes comes from military salaries, which can be collected from the Red Tent and used for the state again.”

  As she was talking, the carriage had driven into the northwest corner and entered the area where the Red Tent was located. Some unbearable noises faintly came from outside the carriage.

  Several young girls in the car gave an awkward “ah”, plugging their ears, or being held in their arms by the older ladies.

  Lin Shu felt that many dark eyes were anxiously looking at him and Ling Fengxiao, as if looking at the Savior.

  Without them, these female dependents would surely be among the Red Tent after tonight.

  Into the Red Tent, life is like duckweed, nobody cares about how noble their previous status was.

  Ling Fengxiao waved her hand and formed a barrier, and the next moment, the outside voice was completely cut off.

  He heard the Big Miss said with a sneer: “Because they have been away from home for a long time and have no wives and concubines, they want to prostitute and humiliate innocent women or kill them.”

  A female spouse bowed her head and said, “The crows in the world are usually dark, and the men in the world are the same thing.”

  There was a moment of silence in the carriage, and someone sobbed a few times.

  After a while, Ling Fengxiao said: “Maybe there are white crows, too.”

  Lin Shu thought he felt very white.

  The author has something to say: Your Brother Shao also feels that he is quite white and is trying to survive.

  *After checking the information, we found that places like red tents did exist, starting from the Spring and Autumn Period.