Chapter 8: The Theft of Clothes in the Small Village
Upon reaching the two individuals, he fixed his gaze on their faces, held his breath, and slowly bent down. Carefully, he picked up the clothes from the ground, crumpled them into a bundle, and gently withdrew from the room.
Your Majesty, how did Your Highness know that Mang Mountain is only fifteen to twenty miles away?" Seeing Liu Bian merely gesturing with his hand to estimate the distance to Mang Mountain, Tang Ji asked with some confusion. However, just as she began to speak, she suddenly remembered Liu Bian's instruction not to address him as Your Majesty, and quickly changed her form of address.
Taking advantage of the time when the local dog turned and ran off into the distance, Liu Bian gently pushed open a crack in the door of the house in front of him and slipped inside.
"That sounds really unpleasant!" Liu Bian reached out and gently patted her head twice, lowering his voice as he said, "This is called borrowing! When someone who doesn't have suitable clothes takes some, it cannot be called stealing; it should be referred to as borrowing. Also, please do not call me Your Majesty again."
After walking for about ten more miles, a series of barks from dogs came from ahead.
Upon hearing a woman speak, Liu Bian's heart nearly leapt to his throat. He was not particularly afraid of being discovered by the people inside the room; he simply did not wish to kill any more innocent civilians.
Lady Tang opened her eyes wide and looked at Liu Bian, quietly asking, "Your Majesty, are you not planning to steal ... ... ?"
The mountain path is difficult to traverse; it is hard to say whether there will be steep slopes covered by grass and trees on the way up. We are tied together; if you accidentally step into thin air, I can still catch you. After securing the rope for Tang Ji, Liu Bian smiled gently at her, offered a brief explanation, and turned to walk along the chosen path up the mountain
Furrowing his brows and listening for a while, he confirmed that there were only three dogs in the village, two of which were quite far away, and the other one was not approaching him for the time being. Liu Bian then crouched down and quietly made his way towards the nearest household to the village entrance.
A rope stretched between two trees near the village entrance appeared to be used by the villagers for hanging clothes to dry. Initially intending to slip under the rope to hasten his search for Tang Ji, Liu Bian reconsidered and ultimately decided to cut the rope with a hatchet, taking it along with him.
The hills of Mangshan are covered with vegetation. Although it is still early spring and most of the plants have not yet revived, the gaps between the trees are quite narrow. The mountains are densely populated with thorny brambles, making it nearly impossible to see any path leading up the mountain
After the two changed their clothes, Liu Bian straightened his body and looked towards the dark forest to the north. He extended one hand, forming a figure resembling the number "8" with his thumb and index finger. Using his fingers as a reference point, he gestured roughly and turned to Tang Ji behind him, saying: "If I remember correctly, the mountain ahead should be Mang Mountain. From here to Mang Mountain, it is at most fifteen to twenty li. Once we enter the mountain, we will be safe."
Having donned the deep robe, Tang Ji took two trouser tubes from the side and put them on her legs. After securing the trouser tubes tightly, she stood by and watched Liu Bian change his clothes
After looking at the nearby mountain for a while, Liu Bian chose a relatively gentle slope as the path to ascend. He turned around and tied one end of the rope he had previously stolen from the village around Tang Ji's waist, while the other end was secured to his own side.
After entering the room, Liu Bian heard a series of snoring sounds coming from inside.
Returning to the outer room, Liu Bian glanced around the interior. Noticing a chopping knife standing in the corner by the door, he casually picked it up as well before exiting the household.
The two individuals groped their way forward, unaware of how far they had traveled. At last, a ray of dawn emerged from the horizon, piercing through the thick darkness and bringing a new light to the earth.
"Sleep, sleep! The dog’s barking isn’t as loud as your fuss!" As soon as the woman finished speaking, a man's voice echoed from within the room, and shortly after, the sound of his snoring drifted out again
Standing at the door, Liu Bian observed the furnishings in the room and confirmed that there were only two heads lying side by side on the bedding, fast asleep. He then quietly approached the two individuals lying on the ground.
This time, upon hearing the barking of dogs, Liu Bian did not stop his steps; instead, he pulled Tang Ji and made his way further away from the village.
Liu Bian glanced at the eunuch's attire on Tang Ji, then lifted his sleeve to smell the strong stench of excrement emanating from his own clothes. He quietly said to Tang Ji, "Wait here, I will go get two sets of clothes to change into."
"From now on, when you speak to me, you must refer to yourself as 'this humble servant.' Do you understand?" Liu Bian smiled and did not explain to Tang Ji why he understood such things. After giving her a brief instruction about titles, he took her small hand and stepped towards the northern Mang Mountain.
Looking up at the distant Mang Mountain, Liu Bian turned to Tang Ji, who was walking behind him holding his hand, and said: "It’s not far now; we are almost at the foot of Mang Mountain"
Standing at the foot of the mountain, Liu Bian looked up at the endless mountain ranges that seemed to have no boundaries. He turned his head slightly and, with some breathlessness, said to Tang Ji, who was bending slightly behind him: "We have arrived. As long as we enter the mountains, it will not be so easy for that old thief Dong Zhuo to catch us."
The trousers of the Han Dynasty did not have a waistband. In winter, to keep the legs warm, they made two separate trouser tubes, which were tied around the legs.
With her large, bewildered eyes blinking twice, Tang Ji sat in the wilderness with her shoulders pressed down by Liu Bian. She watched as Liu Bian crouched and ran towards the small village.
The mutt did not chase him out of the village, and Liu Bian was too lazy to waste time with it. He first walked backward for a distance, and only when he could no longer see the mutt at the village entrance did he turn around and run towards the place where Tang Ji was hiding
Upon reaching the village entrance, Liu Bian did not rush to enter the village. He crouched in a dark corner, quietly listening to the sounds of barking dogs coming from within the village
Hearing the barking of dogs, he quickly pulled Tang Ji down to crouch in place and stretched his head forward to look ahead
Pressing his body against the corner of the wall, he took a deep breath, first tightly closing his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he cautiously made his way toward the inner room.
The road in the wilderness was uneven and bumpy. After the sky had completely darkened, Liu Bian pulled Tang Ji, cautiously making their way forward, stepping deeply with one foot and lightly with the other.
Liu Bian quickly took off the driver's clothes and changed into the men's clothing he had just stolen from the village.
The small village is situated in a wilderness, with most of the houses constructed of adobe walls and thatched roofs. Judging solely by the architecture of the residences, this village does not appear to be particularly affluent
The journey of nearly 20 li is neither too far nor too close.
At that moment, he heard a woman's languid voice coming from inside the house: "This dog is really annoying, barking aimlessly in the middle of the night."
The sky grew increasingly bright as the sun leapt up from the horizon, and the two finally arrived at the foot of Mount Manghe and the Library Mountain
The local dog saw him crouch down and thought he was going to pick up a stone to throw at it, so it quickly turned and ran away. However, it did not run far before turning back, looking at the spot where Liu Bian had just been standing, but Liu Bian was no longer in sight.
The doors of common people's homes are mostly mere decorations. In the village, thieves rarely enter, and many families simply close their doors symbolically at night while sleeping. This provided Liu Bian with the opportunity to infiltrate smoothly
Seeing that Tang Ji had consciously changed her form of address, Liu Bian nodded in satisfaction, reached out to embrace her shoulder, raised his other arm, and with his index and thumb extended, said to her: "From my fingers, look at Mang Mountain, imagine it as a point, then use your two fingers as a scale. The point of Mang Mountain and the point of your two fingers form an angle, which allows you to roughly calculate the distance."
How could my husband possess such abilities?" Looking at the distant Mang Mountain through the gap between Liu Bian's two fingers, Tang Ji turned her head in astonishment and said with deep respect, "In the past, my husband concealed his talents and never revealed such brilliance. If it were not for today's escape from the palace, even I would not have known that my husband is so remarkable!
After taking only a few steps, he felt as if his neck had collided with a somewhat elastic rope
This outfit is made of linen, lined with a thin layer of hemp cotton. For commoners accustomed to hardship, it can provide some protection against the cold. However, for the pampered Tang Ji, it appears somewhat insufficiently warm.
Holding onto Tang Ji, Liu Bian could not walk too quickly. The moon gradually descended behind the mountains, and the sun had yet to rise above the horizon. The darkest moment before dawn had arrived
In the darkness, he faintly saw a cluster of houses; not far ahead, there was actually a village.
In the past, within the palace, Tang Ji always wore palace garments. The winter palace attire was lined with thick silk wadding for warmth, and the fabric was made of silk, making it very warm to wear. The outfit that Liu Bian threw to her, however, was a deep robe worn by common women
Lady Tang obediently took the clothes that Liu Bian handed to her and began changing in the wilderness. The weather was very cold, and as she changed her clothes, she trembled all over from the chill
Just as Liu Bian retreated to the village entrance holding the items he had stolen from the village, the stray dog followed him, barking at him from a distance
As soon as he stepped out of the door, a burst of barking sounded behind him. Liu Bian quickly turned around and crouched down, and the mutt that had been causing him trouble darted away once again.
As he approached the door of that household, a dirt-colored dog with yellowish fur ran towards him, standing not far away and gazing at him, emitting a low "woof woof" sound.
Upon reaching the place where Tang Ji was hiding, Liu Bian threw everything he was holding onto the ground. He first sorted the clothes briefly, selecting the women's garments and handing them to Tang Ji, saying to her: "Hurry and change. If we are seen wearing eunuch's attire after leaving the palace, we will be in serious trouble."
A dog that bites does not bark; this dog did not bark furiously at him but instead assumed an aggressive posture. Liu Bian naturally would not let his guard down. Fixing his gaze on the dog, he suddenly crouched down, pretending to pick up a stone, and then with a swift motion, he stood up.
Leaning against the wall, he quietly waited for a moment until he heard the man snoring again, and then he quietly retreated towards the village entrance
However, if someone discovers this and spreads the news, Dong Zhuo will surely deduce that it was he who stole the clothes from the village. Once Dong Zhuo issues an order to search the vicinity, the likelihood of him and Tang Ji being captured and taken back will greatly increase