Chen Xiang looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wen Xiuying holding Zhu Borong in the grass, crying her heart out.

Wen Xiuying's crying was so loud that even Zhu Yanyan, who was deep in the woods, could hear it.

She stepped out of the carriage in astonishment, trembling all over, and hurriedly grabbed the official who was walking out from the direction of the firelight.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Suddenly a heavy rain started, and the enemy attacked. Now, countless brothers have been killed or wounded."

The official knelt on the ground in a sorry state, his face filled with terror, his fingertips trembling as he pointed towards the woods ahead. "Goddess, hurry! They're coming to kill us."

"Have you seen my parents? Where are they?"

All Song Yanyan wanted to know was her parents' current situation. Her eyes were bloodshot as she frantically shook the official.

The officer, who was seriously injured, suddenly vomited blood and fainted while being shaken by Zhu Yanyan.

The surrounding officers were all terrified and looked at each other in disbelief. Zhu Yanyan, her eyes red, took the sword from the officer beside her and ran into the woods like a madwoman.

In the woods, Wen Xiuying held Zhu Borong's cold body, crying until her voice was hoarse.

After dealing with the officials in the county government, Chen Xiang brandished a large knife and roared at everyone.

"Hurry up, get out of here right now."

Wen Xiuying couldn't bear to leave Zhu Borong alone in the woods, so she hugged him and shook her head.

"My lord, please allow me to give my husband a dignified funeral!"

"What kind of time is this to still need a funeral? If we stay any longer, everyone else will have to be buried with you."

Chen Xiang didn't have time to play along with Wen Xiuying's antics, so he signaled the guards to drag her away.

Upon seeing this, the escorts all surrounded Wen Xiuya and roughly dragged her away.

Zhu Zinan's mother was forcibly dragged away and sat on the ground in a daze, crying loudly and shaking Zhu Borong's body.

Zhu Chenfeng glanced at Zhu Borong's unseeing eyes, sighed, picked up Zhu Zinan, and turned to leave.

No sooner had everyone left the woods than Zhu Yanyan rushed in with a sharp sword.

She looked around helplessly, trying to find her parents, but in the end she only saw that her father was covered in arrows.

He lay in the grass, covered in blood, his body already cold.

She walked shakily to Zhu Borong, staring blankly at Zhu Bowen's corpse, her pupils dilated, her hands trembling as she touched her father's cold face.

"Father, Father..."

Zhu Yanyan's hoarse voice echoed in the woods, while Old Lady Zhu and the others had already pulled the carriage away from the woods.

She sat in the carriage, holding her granddaughter, and looked back at the depths of the forest where white smoke was rising, sighing repeatedly.

"Oh well, it's all fate!"

Xixi, who had already emerged from the space, looked curiously into the depths of the forest and shook her head.

If only they had known this would happen, why did they do it in the first place? All that trouble, and in the end, they even dragged their families down with them.

Hopefully, after this incident, this wicked Zhu Yanyan will learn her lesson and stop causing trouble.

[An unusual phenomenon is about to occur, and the court will be in turmoil. It would be better to focus our energy on self-preservation than on causing trouble for others.]

After leaving Lujia Town as the plot unfolds, an even greater challenge is about to begin.

Despite the family purchasing enough winter necessities, the desolate environment still plunged them into despair.

Granddaughter's reminder also roused Grandma Zhu, who hurriedly reminded Chen Xiang.

"Lord Chen, is it possible to leave Lujia Town by bypassing Lujia Village?"

"Yes, after Lujia Town is shown on the map, we enter a desolate area and need to travel thousands of kilometers to reach the post station."

At Zhu's suggestion, Chen Cong took out the leather map and examined it by the light of the torch.

His brow furrowed with worry when he mentioned the post station.

[There are no more post stations left; they've long since fallen into disrepair. The imperial court has no money to support the maids and guards at the post stations.]

The post station is probably gone; we'll have to rely on ourselves until we reach a new town.

Grandma Zhu was wondering why Chen Cong looked unwell, but after her granddaughter reminded her...

Only then did I understand the reason: if the imperial court didn't have the money to support the post stations, wouldn't the military pay be extremely scarce?

In this way, deserters will surely increase, and they will likely be powerless to resist whether they encounter escorts or refugees.

Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Zhu shifted her body and looked at Chen Cong, whispering something to him.

"Lord Chen, why haven't we rested at any post stations along the way?"

"Could something have happened to the imperial court?"

This question made Chen Cong's face grow even uglier. He pursed his lips and pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Something's happened at the post station... The imperial court hasn't allocated funds for its expenses for a long time, so..."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Zhu pretended to understand, nodded silently, and muttered to herself.

"If that's the case, I wonder if the military pay is tight at the border. We'll probably encounter people other than refugees on the road."

Zhu Haotian, who was leading the horse, heard his mother's mutterings and, without thinking too much, immediately shouted in alarm.

"Mother, will there be many deserters? Should we prepare more gunpowder as a precaution?"

"Brother, stop talking."

Zhu Chenfeng wanted to shut Zhu Haotian up, but he didn't expect him to speak so quickly and directly reveal the crux of the problem.

They were prisoners, and these were issues that were none of their business to discuss, even though they had worked together to deal with the officials from Lujia Town.

Even after leaving Lujia Town, Chen Xiang and his men remained the officials escorting them to the border.

Given the vast difference in their social standing, the more they talk, the more trouble they'll get into.

However, Zhu Haotian's reminder caused Chen Xiang and Zhu Wen to look at each other with worried expressions, remaining silent.

The team hurried along and finally left Lujia Town before dawn, officially embarking on their journey into the desert.

Seeing that they were already hundreds of kilometers away from Lujia Town, Chen Xiang finally told everyone to stop and rest.

"Let's all rest for a bit, and continue our journey this afternoon."

After walking all night, the group finally found an open space to lie down and rest.

Grandma Zhu was worried that her granddaughter was hungry, so she put her on the cart and told everyone to bring down the eating utensils.

Under the arrangement of Old Mrs. Zhu, the Zhu family members busied themselves, unloading all the pots, pans, and utensils from the carriage.

Chen Xiang stood in the middle of the line and glanced at the prisoners around him. Some had died or gone missing along the way.

In the end, apart from Zhu Laota's family, only three or four prisoners survived.

Among them were Zhu Yanyan's mother, Wen Xiuying, and her younger brother, Zhu Zinan.

Thinking that there weren't many people, Chen Xiang came to Zhu Laotai Huocuo's side and gently suggested something.

"Grandma Zhu, there are already a few prisoners. Why don't you cook for everyone while you're at it?"

Tao was washing rice nearby. Following Chen Xiang's gaze, she saw Wen Xiuying, who was staring blankly, pouting and muttering to herself.

"Lord Chen, we have no obligation to support them."

Chen Xiang followed Tao's gaze and knew who she was talking about. He remembered that Zhu Yanyan had given him a lot of money before.

He took out some silver from his pocket, handed it to Old Lady Zhu, and said, "This is for your meal. Thank you for your hard work."