These words reached Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao's ears in less than the time it takes for a cup of tea to steep.
The young couple, upon hearing them, both expressed surprise and said in unison, "Quezhou City?"
Su Miaomiao, having no memories, was equally clueless. She turned to Cheng Hao and asked, "Where is Quezhou City? Is it far from here? What kind of place is it?"
Cheng Hao, without a hint of impatience, showed a hint of thoughtful hesitation. He looked at his childhood sweetheart and then said, "Quezhou City is not far from here. If we're going to Gaojiazhuang, it's on the way. However, if we want to go to Quezhou, we'll have to deviate from the route towards the border pass and head east. The terrain there has high mountains, but it's mostly plains, so the cities are very large, though it gets a bit cold in winter."
Su Miaomiao nodded, indicating she was listening.
Cheng Hao, however, suddenly dropped a bombshell that left her stunned.
"Your… parents are also there. I heard your elder brother successfully passed the provincial exam, and then with the help of a distinguished patron, they happened to move their entire family to Quezhou City just as your wedding date was approaching, making it impossible for you to even have your three-day return visit..."
In just a few sentences, Su Miaomiao was rendered speechless. She let out a bewildered "Ah?" and then a more expressive exclamation.
She then calmed herself down.
She gained a deeper understanding of the feudal marriage customs of this place.
After all, in this era, a married daughter was like spilled water. No matter how favored, she was diminished after marriage.
Her maternal family.
They had raised their daughter in seclusion, as was proper, until she was grown.
And then married her off.
This could be considered fulfilling their obligations to her parents after calling them parents for over a decade.
After marrying off their daughter, they felt their task was complete and no longer needed to worry about her. Now, with their son's promising future and upon receiving good news, they had abandoned their daughter and moved the entire family.
And based on what her childhood friend had said later, her connection with her parents in this life was also very shallow.
Her maternal family was quite well-off, and her parents were people of strict adherence to tradition, even a bit rigid, and very concerned with appearances. Therefore, since the two families were already betrothed, they couldn't break the engagement just because the family was relocating.
So, on the very day they sent their daughter off, they turned around with their packed luggage and embarked on their journey, claiming it was an auspicious date calculated for travel, and any delay would mean waiting for half a month.
And their son's celebratory feast was not far off, so they couldn't afford to delay.
And thus.
This scenario unfolded where they abandoned their daughter and rushed towards their son.
Su Miaomiao became a pitiable soul with no maternal family to rely on. While it was true that a married daughter was like spilled water, even an unfavored daughter would have some leverage with her in-laws if her maternal family was nearby.
But on her wedding day, she lost even this single, albeit small, source of support. She couldn't even manage a three-day return visit.
The reason was that the entire family lacked the travel expenses, and they had even put their ancestral home up for sale.
Su Miaomiao cursed again.
Unbelievable.
She hadn't cared much about her shallow parental relationship before. After transmigrating, she hadn't dwelled on it either, her mind filled with her childhood sweetheart and the journey. But now, being informed of her original family's affairs made her feel disgusted.
Cheng Hao also hadn't thought to mention it, and Su Miaomiao hadn't asked.
Now that they encountered this Quezhou City.
It was indeed worth mentioning.
After all, in those critical circumstances, with the outside world becoming chaotic, it was unlikely they would ever encounter such a situation again. There was nothing to say about it. But now that they had encountered it.
It had to be mentioned.
Su Miaomiao wished she hadn't heard any of it. This was too depressing. In her modern life, she had been abandoned by her parents as a child, and now after transmigrating, she was abandoned by them again.
Was this her fate?
Her connection with her parents was truly too weak.
Cheng Hao saw Su Miaomiao's dejected expression and sighed, patting her head.
It was meant as comfort.
Su Miaomiao immediately remembered that in this life, Cheng Hao also had a shallow connection with his parents. His mother was gone, and his father was barely present, as good as not being there. If anything dangerous happened, he would likely push his son forward first.
She immediately raised her hand and patted Cheng Hao's head, leaving him with a puzzled expression: "??".
"Forget it. What's the point of looking for parents who are as good as nonexistent? If they can bear to abandon me, what else is there to say? In this world, a married daughter is like spilled water, which is quite normal."
Su Miaomiao declared she didn't mind anymore and didn't want to deliberately search for them. This was fine. They felt they had fulfilled their duties, so why should she burden them? It was better for them to be clean and unburdened by each other.
Cheng Hao looked at her like this and felt a pang of heartache. He then looked into her eyes earnestly and said, "It's okay. No matter where you are, I'll be there for you."
Su Miaomiao's eyes immediately curved into a smile, and she giggled, "Why are you so good?"
She even reached out and clasped his long, beautiful hands. These hands clearly belonged to someone from a wealthy family – fair and clean, as smooth as jade, looking like they were meant for writing. However, recently, from doing manual labor, the palms had become a bit rough.
Su Miaomiao didn't mind. She was deeply moved by Cheng Hao's occasional words, and now everything about him seemed endearing, even his hands.
Cheng Hao chuckled at her behavior, pulled his hand away, and tapped her forehead, saying, "Are you being clingy?"
He was clearly imitating her words.
Su Miaomiao quickly replied, "Not clingy, not clingy, I can be even clingier!"
Cheng Hao originally wanted to ask who had gotten off the carriage without waiting for him earlier. But then he thought better of it and decided not to say anything, as it would make him seem petty.
He cleared his throat and began to speak of serious matters: "Regardless of whether we look for them or not, do you think there's anything in Quezhou City worth checking out?"
Su Miaomiao pondered and said, "Whether we go or not, if it's on the way, it would be good to replenish our supplies. If they accept payment, they'll naturally be willing to trade. We could buy some things."
Otherwise, with their current supplies, how would they reach the neighboring country?
As for this General Wu.
Cheng Hao gave a brief explanation. He was an old general from years past.
But he was no longer alive.
However, his ancestral home was in Quezhou City. Therefore, a shrine had been erected for him there, and every household highly respected martial arts. So, the rumor that children there practiced martial arts from a young age was not groundless; it had a basis.
Every year, many children became martial arts scholars, and martial arts academies were widespread.
Therefore, it was indeed relatively safe.
However, whether the people were easy to get along with, or if there were bandits ruling the roost, these things were unknown, so there were risks in going there.
Cheng Hao also had some desire to visit. After all, a place with such a strong heroic culture would be unlikely to produce truly wicked people. Moreover, the place was currently quite renowned, so resources would surely be plentiful, and information would be readily available.
It was also a considerable distance from the occupied territories, making it a relatively safe place. It was indeed worth exploring or replenishing other supplies.