Several more days of travel brought them to Qingzhou.
Due to the large number of refugees from Bianzhou and Changzhou, many checkpoints were set up at the Qingzhou border. Anyone entering Qingzhou had to pay an entry fee of five hundred wen per person. This effectively blocked many refugees from entering.
Qingzhou was no longer a desert region. Green mountains were visible everywhere, and the number of birds flying in the sky and creatures running on the ground gradually increased.
To everyone's surprise, once they entered Qingzhou territory, the carriage carrying Bai Sheng and Lu Ye found itself constantly followed by wild animals.
Either flocks of birds would perch on the carriage, chirping incessantly, or wild rabbits would suddenly leap onto the carriage, or pheasants from the woods would flutter over.
Initially, Bai Sheng thought her spiritual spring water had attracted them. However, she soon realized she was mistaken. The wild creatures weren't drawn to her; they were attracted to the four cubs.
When the four cubs were brought to their carriage by the wet nurse, the wild animals shifted their focus and followed them. This happened several times.
Bai Sheng then concluded that her cubs were more attractive to wild animals than she was.
Were all four cubs like this? Or was it just one of them?
Bai Sheng secretly conducted another experiment.
The result was that her youngest daughter, Hua Hua, was the true magnet for wild animals!
The fourth child possessed strong perceptive abilities. The eldest attracted wild animals, while the second and third children's magical abilities were yet unknown. Bai Sheng sighed at this revelation.
It seemed she had unjustly blamed that little black snake.
The little black snake shed tears: Master, you finally noticed.
Lu Ye said that Hua Hua likely had the ability to control beasts. However, as an infant, she didn't know how to protect herself and simply allowed small animals to accompany her.
Bai Sheng agreed wholeheartedly.
Her little daughter was simply amazing!
Everyone else also noticed the wild animals inexplicably flocking to their carriage. Bai Sheng and Lu Ye explained it away by saying they had food and water in their carriage, and the animals were surely trying to steal their provisions.
It was understandable. In these times, even humans on the road would snatch food from others, let alone animals.
After everyone's doubts were dispelled, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye returned to their carriage, intending to have a serious "talk" with Hua Hua. Regardless of how much Hua Hua could understand, they needed her to hide her abilities, lest she appear too intelligent and attract disaster.
In the evening, the group stopped in a wooded area. Within moments, birds from the trees once again approached and landed on Bai Sheng's carriage.
Lu Tong exclaimed, "Everyone, hide your food! Don't let these feathered beasts get any!"
Everyone immediately clutched their food pouches tighter.
Inside the carriage, Hua Hua looked at her parents' worried faces, opened her mouth, and giggled. As she giggled, she blew a few bubbles.
The rear door of the carriage opened. In the pigeon cage hanging on the railing, two pigeons inexplicably began to fight. One pecked the other, and the other pecked back, cooing angrily.
Hua Hua's gaze shifted towards them. After a few "aah aah" sounds, the two pigeons immediately quieted down. Furthermore, they instantly became like brothers, preening each other's feathers with their beaks, as if their fight had only been a figment of imagination.
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye's eyes widened in astonishment. They couldn't help but exchange glances.
Alright, their little "cotton-padded jacket" could indeed control beasts. At this moment, her parents felt a mixture of excitement and worry, a truly complex emotion.
Bai Sheng poked her head out to look around. Seeing that everyone had tactfully moved away and wasn't surrounding their carriage, she lowered her voice and said to Hua Hua, "Hua Hua, Mommy's little darling, if you want to play with animals, you must do it secretly, okay? Don't call all the animals over so openly. Otherwise, it's easy to arouse suspicion. If bad people learn of this ability, it might bring disaster. Be good, listen to Mommy, and quickly chase those birds away."
Hua Hua listened quietly to Bai Sheng. Her little brow furrowed for a moment, then she let out a loud "aah aah." The birds flapped their wings and flew away.
Bai Sheng smiled and kissed her little face, "You're truly Mommy's good darling."
Hua Hua clapped her little hands and giggled, "Ah-gah-gah."
Heavens, raising a child with special abilities truly exhausts parents.
A few days later, the group arrived at Qingcheng, the prefectural city of Qingzhou. Like in Yecheng, Bai Sheng planned to rest in Qingcheng for a day before departing.
As they approached the "Guilai" inn, several beggars nearby immediately crowded around, holding out their hands for alms.
Lu Ye threw a few coins into their worn bowls.
One of the beggars, who limped and had matted hair and an all-pervading stench, froze for a moment upon seeing Lu Ye. He quickly regained his composure, turned, and walked away.
After Lu Ye and his companions had all entered the inn, the beggar crossed two alleyways and approached a fortune-telling stall. He threw two coins onto the stall and said in a hoarse voice, "Help me write a note."
The fortune-teller, looking at the filthy and smelly beggar before him, was reluctant to do business with him. However, as business had been slow, two coins were still money. So, he wrote a small note according to the beggar's request.
Upon entering the inn, the first thing Lu Ye's group did was bathe. Fortunately, Qingzhou was not too short of water, and the bath cost only 2 taels of silver.
Having eaten too much staple food on the road, Bai Sheng ordered a large pot of white rice. She then ordered braised beef, braised pork belly, rib soup, and braised fish. She hadn't eaten fish in a long time and was craving it.
She also ordered several plates of stir-fried vegetables and two plates of peanuts.
To top it off, two jars of osmanthus wine were added.
The innkeeper was still delighted. Such generous guests were naturally most welcome.
The group sat at three tables. Yang Ming, Tong Tie, and the others were drinking for the second time; the first time was at the full moon banquet for the young masters.
After a few cups of wine, they were all arm in arm, calling each other brothers.
Lu Yun and the other four cubs saw how happy the older brothers were after drinking, and they assumed the wine was something good. Lu Yun secretly poured a cup for each of his four younger brothers to taste. As a result, Lu Yu's eyes watered from the spiciness, and Tianya and Tiezhu soon became dazed.
He and Tian Dou's faces turned red.
This stuff didn't taste very good either. It wasn't as delicious as Sister-in-law's sweet corn juice. They decided they wouldn't drink it again!
Lu Ye, Wen Zhi Mo, and Wei Han also drank to their heart's content. It was Wei Han's first time drinking. After drinking, he became unusually talkative. Lu Ye, fearing he would let something slip, kicked him under the table several times.
At this moment, a young beggar suddenly entered the inn. The waiter, having heard that he was delivering a letter to a guest, did not stop him.
The young beggar looked around the lobby and walked directly to Lu Ye's table. He timidly asked Lu Ye, "Excuse me, are you Lu Ye?" The beggar who asked him to deliver the letter said that Lu Ye was the most handsome man, and this man before him was indeed the most handsome.
People at several tables turned to look at the young beggar, confirming he was a stranger.
Lu Ye looked at the young beggar. "Do you know me?"
The young beggar shook his head. "Someone asked me to give you a letter."
After saying that, he dropped a note into Lu Ye's arms and ran away.