"Uncle Cen, your eyelid twitching is due to lack of rest, it has nothing to do with calamity or not." Mozi said while carefully inspecting each horse carriage.

  "Mo Ge, I didn't sleep all night and my eyelids kept twitching." Xun Huan heard Mo Zi's words, but didn't feel any better in his heart. Inauspicious, inauspicious, his years of business experience wouldn't be wrong.

  Is ginger old and spicy? It's not that spicy, is it? Relying solely on intuition, it's surprisingly accurate. Mu Zi is impressed, but can't show it.

  She could only say: "Dalan Erlang has reached the age of marriage, and when you should retire, you have to retire. Let those young people do the physical labor, you go to bed early and get up early, don't ruin your body, without you in charge, our Autumn Building won't be the same."

  "Dad, did you hear that? Mo Ge doesn't believe it either." Xian Er Lang found a powerful ally.

  Cen Huan is not a stubborn old man, although he had a premonition that this trip would be ominous, and couldn't take it as evidence, so he could only sigh and say, "Wait until you're my age and try it out. When doing things, don't rely on intuition or speculation, just go with your gut feeling. I also know that even if it's not the two of you, but when we get to the master's place, the same reasoning won't work. Delaying the journey by one day means taking on an extra day's risk, and I'm more aware of this than anyone else. However, I won't say anything, no matter what, my heart can't put it down."

  "Uncle Cen, I understand your concerns. To be honest, which time we go out isn't our heart a little uneasy? Just afraid of not coming back." Thinking about it, shouting the three major disciplines seems like yesterday's thing, but now she has become a "law-breaking" private goods trader, although in this era, the term "obeying the law" hasn't appeared yet. Not to mention that human life is as worthless as straw, just now she was still letting someone hold a sword to her neck. So, compared to those smugglers, being a private goods trader can still be considered a good citizen. After all, it promotes the prosperity of border trade between the two countries and satisfies the demand for supplies. Otherwise, let unscrupulous officials and merchants do as they please?

  "You've put your mind at ease. Or as you expected, this time we'll encounter some tricky situations. I've only made a few trips, but you should be clear that in the past, we haven't encountered big winds and waves, with the boat capsizing and cargo sinking, yet we've all managed to get through it. This time, I'll be extra careful, keep a few more eyes open, if we encounter trouble, first priority is survival, second priority is survival, third priority is still survival, bring out a few people, and bring back a few as well."

  Cen Huan had thought that Mo Zi was just like her own son, superstitious, but after hearing what he said earlier, although this trip is unavoidable, Mo Zi obviously values his feelings more than Er Lang does. She hasn't been working with him for long, but she's steady and thinks quickly, and never speaks empty words. With that, her hanging heart was put at ease.

  "Er Lang is not thorough in his work, Mo Ge you worry too much. I'll tell you something that might be disrespectful to our master: since my old wife left me, I only hope that my two sons can live a peaceful life, marry two daughters-in-law and have children and grandchildren, and I will be content. Wealth is just external, earning more won't bring it with me to the afterlife." They are all doing things for others, but Xian Huan speaks her true heart to Mo Zi without fear.

  "Uncle Cen, I understand," said Mozi with a smile. "Otherwise, this time Erlang will stay behind. Anyway, you won't say it and I won't say it, so the young lady won't know either."

  "Mo Ge, this is a test for me. If I'm so selfish, do I still deserve to be the head of Wang Qiulou? Since we've decided to go, how can Er Lang fall behind? As you said earlier, Mo Ge, just be more careful along the way. Maybe...I really am getting old." Cen Huan hastily waved his hand, looking embarrassed with a red face.

  "Dad, you're worrying too much." Er Lang hinted to Mozi with a subtle glance and said, "I'm going out, but big brother is still here, right? You just keep an eye on him and let him get into less trouble. I'll be back before he gets into any more mischief."

  Cen Huan finally burst out laughing and said a few words of praise.

  "Let's go." Meizhi looked at the sun and it was already late.

  The ordinary-looking carriage moved slowly. Cen Er jumped onto the first one, nodded to his father again, and bid farewell. Mozi lifted up her clothes and got on the last one, sitting alongside the coachman. With a dignified appearance, they left the Wang Qiulou, heading north, passing through the city gate after being checked by the garrison soldiers.

  If someone asks why no contraband was found, she would reply, "Who is so foolish as to load contraband onto the carts?" The three horse-drawn carts were loaded with fine wine brewed by Wang Qiulou. Of course, it was just a smokescreen. The real purpose was - to transport people. What kind of people? Keep reading to find out.

  About an hour later, the three cars arrived at Xiannü Town outside Luozhou City. This town was bustling with large and small ferry terminals. From here, it would take only three days by water to reach the border of South De. Merchants of all shapes and sizes came and went along the riverbank until late at night, and the market near the terminal was open for twelve hours a day, unaffected by curfews. Boatmen, porters, and peddlers were like fish in the sea here, with endless work to do and business to conduct; as long as they worked hard, they could live a good life with enough food and clothing.

  Ke Mozi heard the flavor of the river water entering and found that the roadsides were different from before.

  "Mo Ge." Cen Erlang ran over, "Has anyone noticed that there are half as many people?"

  "I'm afraid it's really been affected by the battle between Daqiu and Yuling." Mozi thought of what he heard that day at Wangqiulou, "I heard that the navies of Dazhou and Nande are stationed at the Jiang border, with a menacing atmosphere. Moreover, the customs spies have become stricter than before, and the amount of silver collected for passing through has been increased. Ordinary small merchants may not be able to afford it." At this time, it's an opportunity for those who have money to get even richer, as long as they make accurate calculations.

  "Don't mention ordinary small traders, even if they can afford to pay, they'd rather put it off for now and wait until the situation is not so tense. Many people are worried about being implicated innocently, so they don't dare to take risks crossing the border." Xun Erlang returned from Shangdu not long ago, with some news that could be considered new, "When I was in Shangdu, I saw officials and soldiers arresting people on the street, and later heard it was a spy for Dasu. If it's true, Dasu's ambition is terrifying."

  "Dahsu is the land of wolves," said Mozi.

  "This is a fresh statement." Xun Erlang thought for a moment, "Everyone knows that the founding emperor of Dagu was a nomadic tribe on horseback, so they were called barbarians, and many were horse-riding tribes. In Dagu, people do not believe in Buddhism or Taoism, but worship eagles and the moon as gods. Wolf Country, I've never heard of it before."

  Mozi thought to herself, it was also the first time she said it, and didn't know why she said it. Most likely, it was a deeply hidden memory. But as a person from Yuling, how could she say something so profound? She didn't think she had said anything wrong either.

  The horse carriage stopped as the driver in front let out a sigh.

  No time to explore another self, she jumped off the car and looked at the tall stone pillar in front of her, with three beautiful seal characters engraved on it - Wild Chuan Du.

  Crossing over the stone pillar one step, the river wind rustled, that was her favorite breath.