She Only Cares About Cultivation
Chapter 266: 【265】Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 116 (9 more updates)

Chapter 266: 【265】Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 116 (9 more updates)

To better discern directions, she specifically bought a "road map." She had spent quite some time 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 government erected stations at regular intervals along the main official road, which served government 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 menstruation, which came in her eighteenth year.

Having menstruation at eighteen was considered late in ancient times.

In ancient times, menstruation was referred to as "monthly affairs," which required a menstrual pad, but these were not publicly produced and sold. The manufacturing methods were passed from mother to daughter; thus, each family’s menstrual 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 menstruation cloth, which also functioned as an antiseptic.

Some 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 troublesome method, but when this body experienced menstruation, it was so painful that she trembled all over.

This pain was something she had never experienced in her past lives, and she had never imagined menstruation 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 become so frail would be somewhat disconcerted.

August was prone to heavy rains, and sometimes 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...