67 Chapter 67

Natural disasters

There were nine beggars in total. When they heard that they were being taken to meet the master, they lined up very obediently and came up one by one to congratulate Cheng Mu.

"Your family is very happy. We are all here to offer our congratulations. Congratulations!"

"Boss, you are a prosperous family. You are popular and prosperous."

"Today is auspicious, with trumpets blowing and cannons going off..."

“…”

Everyone spoke auspicious words, and it seemed they were used to celebrating. Judging from their accents, they were from the Central Plains. Cheng Mu asked, "Are you all not from this place?"

"Madam, we are from Henan. Two years ago, we suffered a drought and fled to Yingtian Prefecture. There, we encountered floods, and most of our family members died. Later, we were caught in the war... Alas! There is no way out! A few months ago, we were fortunate enough to be guided by a young general and came to Yunzhou. When we got here, we were the only ones left..."

As he spoke, the ragged old man began to sob.

Others continued, "Yunzhou is indeed a place where hidden dragons hide. We used to eat tree bark and grass roots, and even ate the rotten meat from mass graves. After entering Yunzhou, we can actually beg for rice and grain. Here we can even eat meat..."

Cheng Mu asked, "Do you know that if we go a little further, we will reach the border?"

"Who knew now... I should have come here when I first fled the famine..."

"No! No! We all have straw tags stuck on our heads. As long as we are given food..."

These are the people who bravely escaped the famine and persevered to the end. I don’t know what their physiques were like before, but now their tattered clothes can’t cover their bony bones and skin.

With tangled hair, black face, dry hands and tattered clothes, Cheng Mu's gaze moved to their feet.

The straw sandals on his feet still looked somewhat neat.

Pull up any grass you can find, and as long as you know how to weave straw sandals, you can change them as you go.

Cheng Mu motioned for Gui Er to serve them some broth. She said, "We are all honored guests at the table. Please eat here."

Then, voices of "thank you" and blessings rang out one after another.

Back in the house, Gui'er was still muttering, "Who showed them the way to the border..."

Cheng Mu asked her, "Where's Mu Yun? Did you see him in the back just now?"

Gui'er was shocked and said, "Could it be that the young general they are talking about is Mu Yun?"

"What are you guessing?"

Gui Er said with certainty, "It must be him! He knows that you, Madam Cheng, will not ignore it. I'll go find him and ask him!"

"Gui'er!" Cheng Mu said calmly, "Just tell them I'm looking for him. Don't say anything else."

Cheng Mu was sitting in the side room. After a while, she heard the noise outside become noisy again. The beggars who were eating quietly and voraciously no longer cared about eating and were talking excitedly about something.

Cheng Mu waited quietly. Soon, Mu Yun came in.

"Where did you go?"

"Play with Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi at the foot of the hill behind."

"Do you recognize these beggars outside?"

"Maybe they've seen me before, when I was leading troops to capture rebels." Mu Yun's voice was low. "Years of drought and flooding have left the land barren, the trees fruitless, and even their bark stripped. The people are suffering, and I can't do anything. I just pointed them in a direction. I released nearly fifty people at the time, and only these few are left."

Cheng Mu's expression was filled with pity, as she thought of the things she had heard over the past few years. "Are both the Central Plains and Jiangnan areas suffering?"

"There was widespread grief and starvation, and the roads were choked with corpses. Further south, in Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang—I haven't been there—I heard disasters and epidemics were also rampant."

People’s lives are difficult.

Natural disasters and epidemics are common in modern times, but life and security are basically guaranteed.

This dynasty can only hope for its own good fortune.

"What are you going to do with them?" Cheng Mi also heard it just now. The people outside hoped that the young general would accept them.

"There aren't many of them, so I'll take them with me. The gold and silk in this box will keep them going for now."

Cheng Xi nodded, "Then you arrange it."

Mu Yun thought she had nothing else to say, and just as he was about to leave, he heard her say, "One more thing."

"What?"

"When you were escorting the grain to the Dingcang, I hired four bodyguards. Why did you withdraw?"

Mu Yun couldn't figure out what she wanted to say, and said vaguely: "Is there? I don't remember."

"I told you I was worried about encountering bandits and rebels, and that hiring bodyguards was to protect your life. But you said you'd rather hire someone from the Puyang City Escort Agency. Is it because you don't like them because they're from the Wuwei Escort Agency?"

Mu Yun remained silent.

He waited for Cheng Mu to reveal her purpose herself.

Cheng Mu said leisurely, "I remember when Uncle Qi approached us through Aunt Jiang to be our doorman, you firmly disagreed. And before that, when you first met Uncle Qi in front of the teahouse, you were very wary. Uncle Qi used to be a bodyguard at the Wuwei Escort Agency—do you have a grudge against the Wuwei Escort Agency?"

Mu Yun tightened his mouth, just like he always did when he kept silent.

He used to hide a lot of things from her. As long as he didn't want to say it, he would be like this. She used to think he was a little stubborn, but now she finds him so annoying.

"You still don't want to tell me?"

"Sister-in-law," Mu Yun's palms curled slightly, and he restrained himself from clenching them into fists. "The Wuwei Escort Agency has a vengeance on me for the murder of my father and mother."

"Wuwei Escort Agency killed your parents?"

"My parents died because of them."

"Big boss Wu Tao?"

Mu Yun closed his mouth again.

Cheng Mu deliberately said, "Qi Bo knows about this, right? I'll ask him."

Mu Yun pulled her sleeve without even looking at her, "I'll find out what happened."

"Check it here?"

Mu Yun's scalp trembled, and he felt blank for a moment. Cheng Mu directly stated what she meant, "If you want to find out, go to Wuwei Escort Agency."

Mu Yun quickly realized, "Did those escorts today use my sister-in-law as their lobbyist?"

If it has thorns, they should all be standing up at this time.

Cheng Mu raised her hand. He was quite tall now, and she wanted to pat him on the head, but lowered her hand and patted him on the shoulder, "Go ahead. You can become a sixth-rank official now. You have the ability now.

Or are you afraid that the truth might not be what you thought, and that you hate the wrong person?"

"Don't let yourself get stuck in this matter. Find out the truth. Revenge where it's due and repay where it's due."

"Or, will my sister-in-law take you to seek justice?"

The joking remark turned Mu Yun's thorns into soft hairs. He said, "I'm not a child anymore."

When winter came that year, Mu Yun returned to the Wuwei Escort Agency in Yunzhou City with Qi Bo, the boxes and cages he earned from the army, and the nine beggars who had come to him for refuge.

His name in Wuwei Escort Agency is Wu Muyun.

It happened that the new dynasty had just established a new household registration system, and only the sixth and seventh children were left in Cheng Mi's household registration.

"Mom, where's Dad?" Xiaoliu always asked, "Did he go to the war again?"

"No, he's in Yunzhou City."

"Can we go play with him?"

"He'll come back to see us when he's free."

…

In the winter of the first year of Tianding, there was heavy snow in the north of Yan.

During the winter month, Mu Yun came back once and told them that he had settled in the Wuwei Escort Agency.

It had snowed since the beginning of winter that year, and it hadn't stopped. Mu Yun had found a way back that time, and he'd even brought a lot of vegetables from Songzhuang to the kitchens of Prince Jing's mansion. By the twelfth lunar month, the snow was knee-deep, making it impossible to walk. Even getting from Songzhuang was a struggle. Gui'er and her two male husbands, Xu Xiuying and Sao Hu, were trapped in Songzhuang.

The people in Zhaojia Village hardly ever leave their homes, but Cheng Mi's house has a patio. To get from the front house to the kitchen in the back, they have to leave a small path, so they have to shovel snow every day.

I built two snowmen in the patio a few days ago, but they have been covered up so much that their shapes are unrecognizable.

"Xiao Qi! Don't come over here, the road is slippery!"

Cheng Mu was breathing out hot air. She was hot from shoveling snow. She stood under the eaves of the kitchen and took off the windproof towel.

The day before yesterday, Yu accidentally slipped and fell, and she might have a broken bone. Cheng Mu hasn't asked her to get off the kang in the past two days.

Xiaoliu dragged Xiaoqi into the side room and came out wearing clogs. "Mom, I'll help you. I'm not afraid of falling."

Cheng Mu looked at the thick layer of snow on the roof and felt for the first time what bitter cold was.

They had encountered heavy snow in previous years, but with Gui'er, Mu Yun, Qi Bo and others around, she didn't have to do these hard chores. This year's snowfall was exceptionally heavy and had become a disaster. In addition, no one was there, either driven away or trapped by the snow. It was really difficult for them, an orphan and a widow.

Xiaoliu held Cheng Mu's hand and said, "Mom, your face is red and your hands are cold." She showed the gloves on her hands and said, "Grandma Yu added cotton to them, so they are very warm. Do you want to wear them?"

"You wear it. It's hard to work with it on. Mom needs to shovel the snow off the roof. The greenhouse collapsed last night, so the roof can't be too heavy."

Xiaoliu ran forward and said, "I'll go take a look."

The roof of the greenhouse could not bear the weight of the snow and collapsed, taking the barn with it as well.

Some of the vegetables in the greenhouse had frozen to death earlier and were now buried under the snow. Cheng Mu was too lazy to dig them out.

"Mom!" Xiaoliu's crying voice came.

"What's wrong?"

"They froze to death." Xiaoliu pointed at the animals in the barn.

A sheep and two chickens died, frozen solid.

The remaining old cow, two sheep and a horse were all in low spirits.

The barn is not enclosed, so adding more hay will not help.

Zhao Datian came to help when sweeping the snow from the roof. He had just made a new snow rake, which was somewhat useful, but quite strenuous. Cheng Mu's arms were not strong enough to pull a rake of snow down.

Zhao Datian said: "I climbed to the top and pushed down to save energy."

Cheng Mu warned: "Be careful! There are icicles all over the ground."

"I'm watching."

Zhao Datian climbed onto the roof carefully. The method he imagined was indeed easier to push the snow down. He pushed a little on the roof ridge and walked forward a few steps. Snow blocks fell down and soon the roof was empty.

The only thing is that the ground has to be shoveled again.

"Master, be careful!"

As Xiaoliu shouted, Cheng Mu looked up in horror and saw Zhao Datian falling from the roof to the ground like a pile of snow, and the ladder he was not holding on to also fell down with a clang.

Cheng Mu ran over quickly and had her neck filled with flying snow.

Xiaoliu thought someone was crushed to death and cried loudly. Yu and Xiaoqi both ran out.

Cheng Mu helped Zhao Datian up and asked, "How are you? Did you fall anywhere?"

"No, no, there's so much snow underneath. I'm fine."

Zhao Datian tried his best to look relaxed.

Yu said worriedly, "Come in and rest."

"No, no, I'll go back first." Zhao Datian looked like he was fleeing in panic.

Cheng Mu asked, "Are you really okay?"

Looking at his back, Yu complained, "Why are you so flustered?"