Just as Jie Chen had anticipated, Xiang Ying took the official road and walked through the night with the children.
By daytime, she led the children to a nearby town.
After settling them down, Xiang Ying excused herself to go buy a carriage and left the room.
Though she said she was going to buy one, she actually just strolled around the market.
She pawned some pearl jewelry and exchanged them all for broken silver, which would be more convenient to use on the road later.
Then Xiang Ying went to sit in a teahouse for a while.
Here, people of all sorts came and went, and she wanted to see if she could overhear any useful information.
For example, whether Jie Chen would set up checkpoints or arrange a large force to capture her.
However, she gained nothing.
It was so quiet on Jie Chen's end that it seemed as if he didn't even know she had escaped.
