Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 245 - 20: Many Single Men in the Army (Update 2)

After experiencing the "aphrodisiac" incident and the sleeping posture security issue, the relationship between Susu and Hong Sheng not only remained unaffected but also heated up rapidly. Wherever they were, the atmosphere was so sweet that it was almost sickening, causing a group of single people to howl in despair.

But not to mention the soldiers and escorts who were blinded by Susu and Hong Sheng’s flamboyant public displays of affection along the way, even Susu hoped to reach Hami soon. She was really tired of riding in the carriage and had reached the point where seeing a carriage made her feel sore.

Although Hong Sheng occasionally took her horseback riding, the feeling of riding a horse wasn’t much better.

Fortunately, they had now arrived at Jiayuguan. Jiayuguan is over twelve hundred li away from Hami, and even at a normal pace, it would only take five or six days to arrive. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Hong Sheng and his group traveled nearly five thousand li from the Capital to Jiayuguan. Although the official roads of Great Chu were well-built, the means of transportation were inadequate. Take the Mongolian horses, for example; normally, a Mongolian horse can travel sixty kilometers in eight hours without any load.

But you have to know, in Susu’s group, even the horses for riding had to be regularly swapped with those pulling the carriages, and almost every horse was bearing a considerable load. Even later on, when they spent a large sum to replace all the horses with Yili horses, along with mules pulling carriages and three camels, they could only travel about two hundred li a day at most.

Including unexpected delays, it took them over a month to cover five thousand li. By the time they reached Jiayuguan, it was already early May. The days were already scorching hot, but at night the temperature plummeted, and they had to put on quilted jackets. If Hong Sheng hadn’t reminded everyone to be prepared early, they would have experienced a kind of cold called "forgot to wear warm pants."

After graduating from university in her previous life, Susu stayed in that second-tier city, continually circling in that small place until she traveled back in time. She longed to go out and explore, but lack of time and, more importantly, lack of money were the main reasons she couldn’t.

In this era, she has surprisingly witnessed both the northern and southern regions. As they traveled, the landscapes and customs were entirely different from the Capital and Yangzhou. The closer they got to the Northwest, the more there was a feeling of "the vast land, who reigns supreme."

Out of Jiayuguan, it seemed as if the surrounding air suddenly became dry. When Susu wanted to go out and enjoy the scenery, Hong Sheng had Susu put on the Arabian region women’s clothing again, this time even covering her eyes with a light veil.

"If you don’t wear this, when the wind starts, the feeling is simply overwhelming." The speaker was "Li Si," who was as famous as "Zhang San." He was conscripted from Jiangnan and transferred to the Northwest. Now he was gesticulating while recounting the miserable life he led when he first came from Jiangnan to the Northwest.

The few other soldiers had already heard him tell this story countless times, so the only one really listening was Susu, who was riding the same horse as Hong Sheng. Li Si was only in his twenties and had already been engaged when he was conscripted, but the girl didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to marry him, and certainly didn’t want to follow the army to the Northwest. Li Si, being reasonable, could only say goodbye to his former fiancée.

When he saw Susu, and realized Susu was willing to follow Hong Sheng to the Northwest, Li Si truly envied the boss from the bottom of his heart. How come he couldn’t meet such a wife? It didn’t matter if she didn’t look as good as the little sister-in-law or if she had no dowry; he only had one requirement, that she knew how to cherish a man, "I would follow you to the ends of the earth."

But just this one requirement kept many soldiers single.

Even though Great Chu vigorously supported frontier construction, Han people inherently have a strong attachment to their native land. Especially in the eyes of the inland Central Plains people, the Great Northwest is a "godforsaken" desolate place. They would rather stay at home guarding two mu of poor land, producing little, or even not having enough to eat, than leave their homeland.

Even when Saint Martial Emperor conquered large tracts of land in Xinjiang and Tibet, declaring, "Each immigrant can open fifty mu of land and be exempt from taxes for three years," the Han people who came were still pitifully few.

Ultimately, it was only after Saint Martial Emperor modified the conscription system, implementing the "southern soldiers transferred north, northern soldiers transferred west" policy, allowing regular soldiers to be allotted land and relocate with their families, that Han people started to settle in border areas.

However, these military household settlements still could not compare to the prosperity of large towns, and naturally, the number of family members willing to come was even fewer. Most soldiers found a solution nearby.

But the customs in the Northwest were bold and vigorous. The young women and brides all came from military households; "getting on the horse to fight, getting off the horse to cook" had become ingrained in their bones. Accustomed to the sight of fierce women, when they thought about the gentle ladies of their hometowns, it was also a major reason why many foreign soldiers remained single.

All this is to say that Susu had become the key obstacle for Hong Sheng’s group of brothers in finding wives. Even if they had no feelings for the little sister-in-law, after having seen fine banquets, how could they be expected to eat plain meals?

So apart from the two or three who had wives at home causing a ruckus, whenever it was Susu’s "windshield" time, even with the possibility of being beaten by Boss Hong, the others who didn’t have wives tried everything to please the little sister-in-law.

And why? Just to have the little sister-in-law consult with them on their marriages. Moreover, soldiers have keen eyes; even though because of the propriety between men and women, they wouldn’t approach Susu’s maidservants too closely, it didn’t stop them from sneaking a few glances their way.

If the little sister-in-law was willing to help matchmake for the maids, wouldn’t they count as "potential stock"? They had long heard that Boss Hong managed to marry his sister-in-law by being thick-skinned and recommending himself.

Oh, the term "self-recommendation" was coined by "Cold Scholar." People who read books sure have a knack for words.

As for Boss Hong’s darkened face? Let it be dark then; at worst, he would give them a beating. If a few beatings could secure them a wife, they wouldn’t mind daily beatings at all. Just the right chance to flash a bruised face and call out where it hurts, and the little sister-in-law would make them something tasty as "sick meals," wouldn’t that be quite a bargain!

Hong Sheng, with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, said to Susu, "From now on, don’t spoil them so much. Look at them, all fat and sluggish. If they go to war, they’ll be slower than others to even run."

Hearing this, Susu replied helplessly, "Isn’t it because you always resort to using force to discipline them? Each of them just stops short of running in front of me pretending to be pitiful. I know it’s not about the food, but besides using food to appease them, I can’t offer anything else."

Susu wasn’t naive. She knew those soldiers sneaked peeks, thinking she was blind or something? But seeing as they were all Hong Sheng’s brothers and underlings, who behaved with some decorum and knew how to cover for each other, she let it slide.

After all, these people’s prospects weren’t bad. If they truly had intentions towards her maids and came to her, she could help ask around, but whether the maids would agree was out of her hands. She couldn’t force the girls to marry, after all.

Others might do so, but Susu couldn’t, whether it was because she was a maid in her past life and wanted to empathize, or because she embraced equality in her past life. Either way, Susu believed that even the lowest slaves had their dignity and the right to choose.