Gu Kaichen hurried after his son, "Big brother is really something, even picking up some firewood requires my help."

Along the way, they hurried, and with people passing by now and then, Gu Anwei really hadn’t found a chance to tell what he had heard.

"Dad, later you must be steady, don’t agree to everything Uncle and Third Uncle say."

As they approached, Gu Anwei quickly pulled Gu Kaichen aside and cautioned him.

"Your Uncle, your Third Uncle?" Gu Kaichen turned to stare at his son, "Tell me clearly, what do you know?"

Seeing no one around, Gu Anwei tiptoed and whispered in his ear.

Gu Kaicheng’s expression kept changing, realizing the whole family conspired to keep him in the dark.

Taking two deep breaths, he then strode towards Gu Kaiping and the others, "Big brother, turns out your ’fortune’ was found here at Kai Yuan."

The brothers exchanged a glance at Gu Anwei standing next to him, knowing the kid must have spilled the beans, they didn’t care for Gu Kaichen’s sarcastic remarks.

The three brothers, behind Gu Baijiang’s back, began dividing his "assets."

After half an hour, the brothers were each satisfied, intending to see how things play out in the future.

After sending the people off, Gu Kaiyuan eagerly called Dongmei and the others to warm up while he returned to the shelter.

"Did you send them off?" Bai Suihe sat there reading, glancing up only upon hearing a noise.

"As long as we maintain a superficial peace with them in the future," Gu Kaiyuan’s lips curved upwards, and it was a much-welcomed bit of good news these days.

Bai Suihe, "The two of them didn’t start a fight?"

Gu Kaiyuan, "Without my share, the two can still get along for now, and as for the allocation, neither mentioned it in front of me, probably each looking to press Father."

Bai Suihe put down her book, "Then your second brother is at a disadvantage."

He might have stood a chance only if Xu Huizhen was still alive.

"That’s their business," Gu Kaiyuan stayed just a moment, feeling restless, quickly took off his coat, "Your method is quite effective, should we encounter such severe weather again, it won’t be so frightening."

"Of course," Bai Suihe lifted her chin proudly, often watching little videos during idle time, not really retaining much, but seeing them enough leaves a mark.

"This is also a way to help everyone, the winters and springs in the south are particularly cold and damp, and we won’t have a place to rest temporarily when we reach Lingnan, so erecting a simple shelter at least offers a transition."

Gu Kaiyuan could always hear some new terms from Bai Suihe, and after thinking about it, he could roughly understand.

Noting the late hour, he put aside any concerns over gender differences, quickly inviting Dongmei and the others inside to rest.

Zhuang Datou and the others wanted to keep watch, but Gu Kaiyuan refused, the wind was bone-chilling outside, and they could just as well keep watch from inside.

When Gu Baijiang saw Gu Kaiping and the others returning, each dragging wood in hand, he didn’t say much.

Under the attentive care of his two sons, he returned to the carriage to rest.

The night passed in silence, but the cold snap caused many to fall ill.

The next day, as they packed up, sneezes and coughs could be heard all around.

Bai Suihe too was ordered to stay in the carriage all day, keeping clear of the sickness.

Fortunately, that night they reached the post station.

In front of the doctor consulting at the post station was a long line, and over at the stalls selling thick cotton coats and quilts, everyone scrambled madly, not sparing a thought for thrift.

Bai Suihe had brought plenty of supplies and didn’t need to join the scramble, heading to her room early on. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

But the chilling cold in the room made her huddle tighter in her robe, "It’s too cold."

"Miss, I asked for two braziers, they’ll bring them over soon." Chunxiang also found the room extremely cold, even worse than the shelter they slept in the night before.

"Forget it," Bai Suihe had a fear of burning charcoal in a room, preferring to pile on more quilts.

Not feeling reassured, Bai Suihe reminded again, "If you burn charcoal at night, ensure good ventilation, don’t seal up all the windows and doors."

The two maids laid the inn’s quilt at the bottom and their own on top, fetched some hot water to assist Bai Suihe in washing up, though Bai Suihe declined.

"Just leave the water, I’ll handle it myself later, go arrange your things," Bai Suihe instructed.

Dongmei and the others, used to Bai Suihe’s increasing preference for self-reliance, didn’t object, understanding that the lady was preparing for the lifestyle ahead.

They had promised many times to accompany the lady to live in Lingnan, but the lady seemed to believe otherwise, often saying they were married off and should have their small families, having released their indentures while in the household, there’d be no turning back.

Once the girls left, Bai Suihe immediately returned to the space.

Inside this space with a comfortably constant temperature, Bai Suihe let out a long breath, feeling most warm and cozy there.

Rarely did she and Gu Kaiyuan appear in the space together now, preferring to have someone outside acting as a cover, though it took just a split second, what if they got discovered?

Gu Kaiyuan bade farewell to Liu Pingkang, slipped him a silver note, and left through the back door with Zhuang Datou.

Lin Hua had been early waiting there, overjoyed at seeing Gu Kaiyuan, "Young Master, you’re finally here."

They had been waiting a few days, hindered by the exiles’ tardy pace.

"How have arrangements been?" Lin Hua led Gu Kaiyuan to the neighboring inn, where Lin Wei and several men awaited.

"Young Master, this is Head Escort Liu from Eternal Escort Agency, and this is Head Escort Xu from Lichang Escort Agency, who have been helping transport our ordered goods," Lin Hua helped introduce them.

Since Young Master had to start anew in Lingnan, they’d prearranged for scarce resources, hiring two escort agencies to accompany and transport the goods.

Gu Kaiyuan greeted them one by one before inviting everyone to sit down for a chat.

Lin Wei had instructed the waiter to serve dishes while standing by Gu Kaiyuan’s side to serve him.

"Besides having you escort the goods, I also hope you could assist us along the way," Gu Kaiyuan revealed without holding back, explaining his current status and future plans.

"Following us means not proceeding at your usual pace, but I’ll compensate you with double pay."

Head Escort Liu glanced at Head Escort Xu before he replied, "That’s not much of an issue, but we need to confirm, you’re in a large group of exiles, we can’t protect all those people."