Dear Brother, Your Chest Wrap Has Fallen Off - Chapter 13

The horse racing festival was held near Kunlun Mountain, which would take more than an hour to ride a donkey. Along the sides of the road, there were villagers of all ages who were going together. Jiarou just needed to follow the crowd.

The sun was getting scorching hot near noon, casting a brilliant golden glow on the Xichuan River.

After a while walking across the Chang’an Bridge over the Xichuan River, the shadows of the Anxi Army’s garrison houses could be seen.

The soldiers were sweating profusely and were busy as hell.

Ever since Prince Baiyin granted this fief to the Anxi Army, the construction of the house has been progressing at a rapid pace. A few days ago, she had to walk a bit further before she could even see their shadows, but now she could even clearly see the mud on the soldiers’ faces.

Afraid in a day or two, they’d be building near the Bai family’s manor. That vicious beast Xue Lang would take an afternoon stroll, and with a single stride of his long legs, he would be standing right in front of her.

That was really terrible news.

When one person and one donkey reached the other end of Chang’an Bridge, they saw a group of sheep circling behind the house. Gulan was among them, and the bundle of grass on her back made her small body bent.

In recent days, she often grazed sheep here. While the soldiers were digging the ground, she collected the fresh grass they dug, dried it and stored it, so that she would have hay available in autumn and winter.

Jiarou rode up on her donkey, took the haystack from Gulan’s back, and asked her, “I’m going to the horse racing festival, I heard you’re going too? Quickly go back and change your clothes. I’ll wait for you.”

A few days ago, Gulan was so yearning to attend the Horse Racing Festival that she had even asked for half a day’s leave from her young master, Third Young Master Bai. But now, she shook her head and said, “Grandma is ill, and elder brother and this servant need to take care of her. If Master is going, can you ask the senior monk at Que Li Temple for a talisman? The talismans there are most effective in warding off illness. Third Young Master said the senior monks go to the Horse Racing Festival every year. If this time is missed, it would take a whole day to walk to Que Li Temple.”

Jiarou just learned in recent days, although there were five people in Ah Ji’s family, during the bandit raids on the grassland last year, the bandits broke into the sheep pen that Ah Ji’s family was looking after and stole two hundred sheep.

Although the prince did not punish her, Ah Ji’s family had been loyal servants for generations, so how could they feel at ease? The next day, Gulan’s mother went out to look for the sheep with a bundle on her back.

It had been nearly four months now, and there had been no news. The remaining people in the family were all old, young and sick.

“What’s her illness? Have you seen a doctor?”

Gulan shook her head. “A witch doctor saw her a few years ago and said she was haunted by an evil spirit from a past life, and it couldn’t be cured.”

How can you believe in witch doctors?

Jiarou couldn’t help but frown and looked over her shoulder.

When the weather was fine, Old Ah Ji would always sit outside the tent cutting fodder while facing west. Her son and daughter-in-law had gone west, and if they returned, they would definitely come back from the west.

From where Jiarou was currently standing, she could see Prince Baiyin’s massive sheep pen of Prince Baiyin as well as the small felt tent beside the sheep pen.

As expected, there was no sign of the granny.

Jiarou said, “If you say, ‘Master Pan is the most handsome man under the heavens’, it’s not impossible for this Master to run an errand for you.”

Upon hearing this, Gulan, whose face had been tense in the first half the morning, finally broke into a smile. She wasn’t someone who usually flattered, so her compliments came out a bit stuttering.

After she finally finished speaking, Jiarou deliberately frowned, “It sounds a bit forced!”

“I’m not forced, I really mean it. Master Pan is the most handsome, the most most handsome!” Gulan emphasized hurriedly.

Jiarou then smiled and said, “Okay, since you are so sincere, this Master will help you this time.”

Gulan hurriedly said, “Master, please wait a moment…..” Then she hurriedly grabbed the haystack, jumped onto the mule tied on the side, and headed toward the felt tent by the sheep pen.

Not long after, she returned with a bulging cloth sack, half a man’s height. Inside the sack was full of loose, broken wool. A glance could tell that it was the stray wool she’d picked up while herding sheep, not the neatly sheared wool that was supposed to be handed over on schedule. While the stray wool wasn’t pretty, it had been cleaned thoroughly, without a speck of leaf or weed mixed in.

“This is the sesame oil money for the talisman. Please tell the monk that my brother and this servant kowtowed a hundred times towards the Que Li Temple last night, which is enough to obtain the talisman.”

After this reminder, Jiarou realized that the purple spot under her messy forehead was not caused by mud.

Jiarou took the cloth sack and weighed it in her hand; it was not light.

She tied the sack around Dali, broke off two willow branches and bound them to become a straw hat, which she put on her head to protect herself from the sun. She waved to Gulan and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring it back for you!”

In April, Qiuchi was enveloped in endless green, the sky was blue and clear, as if it had just been washed, and the billowing clouds were startlingly white, clustered one upon the other, like waves frozen in an instant, piled up motionlessly on the horizon.

The Immortal Peak of Kunlun Mountain nestles beside the clouds, showing a bit more cordial indolence than its usual noble and cold display.

Dali had not left the yard for a long time and was extremely happy. He chased butterflies and bees all the way. When he was tired, he stopped by the stream to drink a few sips of cool river water, panted briefly, and then continued to move forward happily.

So by the time she finally arrived at the racecourse, it was already packed with people. Not to mention there was only one Xue Lang among them, even if there were ten, she probably wouldn’t run into him.

The racecourse was located on a grassland surrounded by mountains, half the size of the city of Qiuchi. However, the actual racecourse only occupied a maximum of one-fourth of the area, with the rest divided into several sections.

Some were used to lock up horses, and some were used to set up tents for dignitaries to rest.

Most of it was used as a market, with countless people buying and selling food, livestock, cloth, and farm tools.

Although the horse race had not yet begun, the people of Qiuchi, who were naturally fond of excitement, were already enjoying the sound of musical instruments, singing and dancing, and were extremely happy.

Jiarou raised her hand to shield her eyes. She saw that among the row of precious tents on the east side, there was a tent that was the largest and particularly different. The layers of felt cloth were embroidered with interconnected treasure patterns, which was indeed the design and color that the Buddha liked most.

The tent of Que Li Temple that Gulan mentioned should be that place.

At this time, the Ferghana horse had not arrived yet. She tied Dali to a shady grass slope, untied the water bag and hung it around her waist, and holding the sack of wool entrusted by Gulan, she went to the tent of Que Li Temple first.

When she came to a row of extremely spacious and gorgeous tents, she happened to meet her good disciple.

Third Young Master Bai had prepared several sets of dice cups, brimming with excitement to show off his skills in front of the dozens of cousins, eager to take the lead and impress everyone early on.

But who would be interested in a game where the winnings and losses are only one penny each time?!

He arrived here early in the morning with a restless heart, yet had not even started a single game yet.

At this moment, he had just been rejected by his most talkative cousin, and was feeling dejected.

As soon as he saw Jiarou, he rushed towards her with almost the same force as he had used to pounce on his father.

She was quick to move to the side and avoid colliding with him.

“Master! Is it possible to change the sect rules? I can’t find anyone to play with me for just one penny!”

Jiarou’s hands happened to be sore, so she conveniently stuffed the sack into his arms and said, “Master will think it over.”

“How long to think it over?”

“The secret of heaven cannot be revealed.”

By now, she could see many soldiers passing by in groups. Although the crowds were so large today that the chances of her encountering Xue Lang were slim, she decided to be on the safe side and ask, “Where is the tent of that evil ghost?”

“Who? Who is the evil ghost?”

“Of course it’s Xue Lang, with his green face, fangs, and hideous appearance!”

Third Young Master Bai looked around and said, “Nearby is the tent of the Beiting Protectorate. The Anxi Protectorate is still ahead.”

“That’s good. Last time, the beast Xue almost used a trick to separate you and me, this master and disciple, it was our effective cooperation that foiled his scheme. This man is cunning, with evil intentions, and is my, Pan An’s, great enemy.”

Although her voice was not loud, a corner of the curtain of a nearby tent was gently lifted, and a military general in armor poked his head out.

He watched the excitement with great interest, and teasingly said in a low voice to the handsome young man beside him, who was looking over old documents at his desk, “Someone is praising you…..”

The young man raised his eyelids and glanced out the window expressionlessly. His eyes were as deep as the calm sea surface where a sea monster was lurking.