Being transported south from Sandaoyan, Ji Yingying, and her six maids had managed to preserve their strength, having been crowded onto ox carts from the beginning. Many young women who couldn’t get onto carts nearly collapsed within half a day. Slowing the convoy’s progress, orders were given to crowd up to ten young women onto each ox cart, with strong young men assigned to push them.
Initially, the young women in the convoy cried endlessly, but after just a few days, all expression vanished from their faces. They walked or sat in numbness. The soldiers’ footsteps, horse hooves, and creaking cart wheels merged into the only monotonous sound on the road.
The southward road seemed endless. The convoy was like a great river, continuously swelling with newly captured people from Meizhou, Qiongzhou, and Jiazhou. The first time new captives joined, it was like stones dropping into the river, stirring everyone’s curiosity. People constantly asked where the newcomers were from, about their families, and whether the Nanzhao army had withdrawn. Later, new captives arrived in silence, with no one gathering to question them.
The captives were separated into male and female groups from the start. The Nanzhao treated the women relatively well, requisitioning all available mule carts, ox carts, and horse carts from local areas to prevent the young women from slowing their progress. When there weren’t enough animals, they made captured young men pull wooden carts.
Everyone still received two meals of two flatbreads daily, with hot soup at night when they made camp. They weren’t driven with whips. However, young women who attempted escape and were caught were thrown directly into the military camp. This method proved more effective than whipping, instantly destroying any thoughts of escape among the women.
Ji Yingying understood now. The captives were valuable property. It wasn’t Nanzhao’s kindness but rather an unwillingness to damage their assets.
The long convoy slowly advanced across the vast plain, growing ever more distant from Yizhou Prefecture. Hills rose at the plain’s edge, and late autumn winds blew freely under increasingly clear skies.
“Beyond here lies Songzhou territory,” Ji Yingying clutched her felt blanket tighter, as if this could keep anxiety from invading her heart.
Almost a month had passed. No Tang army had pursued them. Perhaps they had tried but were held back by the hundred thousand Nanzhao troops far behind. The captives were evacuated first and sent south with the plundered wealth even before Yizhou city fell.
She looked up at the sky. Autumn night stars filled the heavens. In recent days, she had noticed the Nanzhao guards growing more relaxed, joking about their homes in Nanzhao. Once past Songzhou, they would enter Nanzhao territory. Chances of escape grew slimmer by the day. Ji Yingying couldn’t help but glance toward the large bonfire ahead. Madam Niu Five managed the women from Sandaoyan, while Zhao Xiuyuan managed the men. They had become camp leaders. If those two would help, gathering information would be much easier. Yet neither seemed to act like Tang people anymore. They were willing to leave their homeland and become faithful dogs of the Nanzhao.
Chunlan hurried back, whispering, “Miss, I’ve gathered some information.”
Six people gathered naturally in a circle. Chunlan lowered her voice: “Nanzhao fears local women might escape with help from relatives. The men pulling our carts all come from other regions. Master Zhu and the others have been assigned to pull carts for the Meizhou women. They leave at dawn and are escorted back to their original camp by soldiers at nightfall.”
“Men and women are kept separate, unable to meet. The women’s camp isn’t guarded as strictly. Chunlan continues finding ways to visit the Meizhou women’s camp daily. Share what we know with them.”
Fortunately, the assignments weren’t completely scrambled. Ji Yingying had already asked the two men to help pull their ox cart, confirming they were from Meizhou.
Women trying to escape from Nanzhao soldiers couldn’t succeed without men’s help.
From information gathered over these days, only a few thousand Nanzhao soldiers were responsible for escorting the civilians and property. However, nearly half the captives were young women, and the men had no weapons. Still, Ji Yingying believed opportunities would arise—once the full two hundred thousand troops arrived, there would be no chance at all. Coordinating everyone to escape together had better odds than a few people trying alone. Reluctant to leave their homeland, no one wanted to become slaves in Nanzhao. In their numb southward journey, people only lacked courage and opportunity.
“If we can contact Second Brother Zhu, we’ll have more chances.”
At that moment, several Zhao family maids walked over from the bonfire. One said, “Second Miss Ji, our Second Madam requests your presence.”
Ji Yingying obediently stood and silently followed them.
This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Perhaps due to fear of the lion-carved gold token in Madam Niu Five’s possession, or because the Zhao household’s servants numbered over a hundred people, holding absolute advantage among the three hundred-plus young women from Sandaoyan, Madam Niu Five had become camp leader.
The Nanzhao only cared that the young women didn’t escape or die, ensuring smooth progress. They granted camp leaders extensive rights, including distribution of food and nighttime bedding for warmth. And the right to use the latrine.
While one could eat less food and huddle together for warmth, using the latrine was crucial. Three times daily—morning, noon, and night—the convoy would stop. Temporary shelters would be set up by the roadside. With so many people and time running short, being forced to wait at the end of the line could make one faint from holding it. At night, camp leaders could heat water for bathing, while others had no such privilege, at most being able to quickly wash their faces and hands when they encountered streams at camp. Ji Yingying could smell her sourness, and she didn’t want to soil her dress, adding another odor.
Madam Niu Five sat on a reed mat by the bonfire, still wearing her wide-sleeved brocade clothes, her temple hair neat. Ji Yingying stood three paces away, covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve.
Ji Yingying’s lake-blue nomadic dress had long since lost its original color. The silver hairpin in her topknot had been replaced with a cloth strip. Madam Niu Five knew well that along this journey, women had given their valuables to the Zhao family maids in exchange for earlier latrine visits or an extra bowl of hot soup.
“Still keeping such a straight back,” Madam Niu Five sighed languidly.
Ji Yingying replied calmly, “If I bent my back, Second Madam Zhao would surely be even more displeased.”
Ji Yingying understood that Madam Niu Five needed an enemy to kindle her fighting spirit at any moment. Cats had no interest in playing with dead mice. If she became as humble as a servant before her, Madam Niu Five would likely not let her live.
“Indeed.” Madam Niu Five’s eyes beneath her veil shone like stars. The firelight reflected in her pupils, making her gaze particularly eerie. “Such a straight back makes one want to break your spine. Bend it, and I’ll lose interest and let you die. Such a difficult choice. It makes one sympathetic.”
“Sympathetic? Sympathetic that Yang Jingyuan cares for me so deeply he’d come to save me even with broken legs? For women, power, wealth, and beauty can’t compare to marrying a good husband.” Ji Yingying laughed. She looked toward the men’s camp. “Second Master Zhao doesn’t seem to care much for you.”
Camp leaders had relative freedom. At least they could manage to secretly pass messages of concern and well-being. The Zhao family’s eldest son had secretly sent a fragrance pouch through Meizhou women. When the First Madam Zhao received it and knew her husband was safe, she cried like a fountain. After crying, her face showed more vitality. Though separated on the journey, once in Nanzhao, even as slaves, they could reunite with their husbands. Yet no one had seen Zhao Xiuyuan send even a word to Madam Niu Five.
In the monotony of travel, this detail had spread widely. Madam Niu Five’s face had been publicly thrown down and trampled. Whether she despised Zhao Xiuyuan or disliked him, in everyone’s eyes, she was a woman who had failed to win her husband’s affection.