To better discern directions, she specifically bought a "road map." She had spent quite so ti studying it before she could understand, but having the map alone wasn’t enough, she also needed to be able to discern directions, so trees were planted on both sides of the official road, helping to identify the road’s direction.
These trees served two purposes: one was to provide shade and a cool retreat for passersby, and the other was to mark the road’s course. Consequently, as long as they followed the regularly arranged trees, they hardly strayed from their path.
As for determining how far they had traveled, in Yan Country, the governnt erected stations at regular intervals along the main official road, which served governnt officials, similar to the service areas on our modern highways, while the official road was akin to the highways of this era.
Besides the official roads, there were main roads and, of course, smaller paths, which weren’t as smooth and easy to travel as the official roads.
The official roads mainly catered to carriages and horses, perfectly fitting the criteria.
However, ancient people would definitely prefer waterways over land, yet she chose to travel by land, because she wanted to observe Yan Country’s native customs and spending habits along the way, and thereby gauge the general trajectory of this era to strategize for her business.
Like in the Tang Dynasty, every thirty li, there would be a station where one could dine, lodge, and change horses. Although ordinary citizens couldn’t enjoy these facilities, they could use them to determine distances.
One could imagine how bumpy the route was. Normally, it was manageable, but Xiao Yu had forgotten about her nstruation, which ca in her eighteenth year.
Having nstruation at eighteen was considered late in ancient tis.
In ancient tis, nstruation was referred to as "monthly affairs," which required a nstrual pad, but these were not publicly produced and sold. The manufacturing thods were passed from mother to daughter; thus, each family’s nstrual pads had their unique features. No matter the style, they were all long strips with widened centers, similar to today’s leak-proof wings, and had small strings at both ends to tie around the waist.
In the middle, there was a small pocket filled with plant ashes, which are the ashes left after plants burn, having water-absorbing, dampness-removing, and antibacterial properties. After one use, the plant ashes needed to be emptied, and the pad washed clean with water and dried for the next use.
More fastidious households would add alum to the water when washing nstruation cloth, which also functioned as an antiseptic.
So noble families used cotton or paper in place of plant ashes, but these were less effective in absorbing fluids and were more expensive than plant ashes.
Xiao Yu had space and could buy sanitary pads, so she usually wouldn’t bother with such a troubleso thod, but when this body experienced nstruation, it was so painful that she trembled all over.
This pain was sothing she had never experienced in her past lives, and she had never imagined nstruation could hurt her this severely.
Under such conditions, naturally, she couldn’t drive, so Xiao Yu had to relinquish her seat and let Yaya drive while she lay on a mat, curled up in a ball with a warm baby sticker, utterly pitiful.
Yaya was quite frightened too; anyone who saw their usually lively sister suddenly beco so frail would be sowhat disconcerted.
August was prone to heavy rains, and sotis there would even be sun showers—rain falling on one side and bright sunshine on the other, a curious spectacle indeed.
But she had no interest in appreciating such wonders, as her entire focus was on how to survive these few days...
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