Chapter 35: Can Cross the River

When Li Rou saw Zhang Liang woke up, tears started to flow again.

"Husband, you are finally awake. We are now on our way to Yunshui City, but the food distributed to us by our family has all been snatched away..." Li Rou choked up and told Zhang Liang what had happened.

Zhang Liang weakly propped himself up and looked at the victims and prisoners who had not yet dispersed not far away, and began coughing violently again.

"My husband, my husband, how are you? Don't scare me."

"Cough cough cough..." Zhang Liang coughed for a long time before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He patted Rou Niang soothingly, "Don't, don't worry, I'm fine, help me up quickly, we have to thank our benefactor properly."

Rouniang nodded with sobs, helped him up, and knelt down in front of Su Ying and the others.

"Thank you for saving my life. I will never forget it."

Su Ying didn't expect Zhang Liang to wake up so quickly, "Okay, get up."

"Thank you very much, benefactor."

"Rouniang, what are your plans now? Are you going to continue to Yunshui City? But when we arrived, the gate of Yunshui City was already closed. Do you have any way to get in?" Zhang Cuiniang asked with concern.

Zhang Liang frowned. Li Rou had just told him everything that happened after he fell into a coma. There were too many victims outside Yunshui City and a riot could break out at any time. It was actually not safe to go to Yunshui City now.

"Let's go to Zhuzhou."

Su Ying raised her eyebrows when she heard this. "We need a ferry to go to Zhuzhou. Do you know where there is a ferry?"

Zhang Liang heard that it was Su Ying who asked the question, so he said, "My benefactor, you may not know that I have accumulated some savings from my business trips over the years. I bought a merchant ship two years ago. Although it is not big, it will be enough to cross the Wujiang River."

Su Yingfeng's eyes lit up, "How many people can your boat hold?"

Zhang Liang was stunned. "Do my benefactors also want to cross the river?"

Su Ying nodded, "Yes, we are going to Zhuzhou too."

"Then if the benefactor is willing, we can go together."

"That's great, but I have to tell you first, we are all exiled prisoners. You, aren't afraid?"

Zhang Liang was stunned again, and quickly shook his head and said, "No matter who the benefactor is, he is the benefactor of my family. Even if the benefactor wants to take my life, I will never complain."

Su Ying was happy to see him agree, "Taking your life is much easier than crossing the Wujiang River."

The veins on Xiao Jin's forehead twitched. He had never seen anyone speak in such a scary way.

Zhang Liang agreed to take them across the river, but they were now exiles and could not go on their own, so they had to discuss this matter with Li Da.

So Su Ying immediately found Li Da.

Li Da saw Su Ying coming over, looked at her warily and took a step back.

"What's the matter, Princess Qi?"

Su Ying raised her lips and smiled, which made Li Da feel a chill down his spine.

"Good thing, I found a boat to cross the river, but the boat can't hold many people at a time, so I asked you what you think."

When Li Da heard what she said, his brows raised. It was really good that they found the ferry.

"It's okay if we can't fit too many people at once. We can go separately. One group can go first, and then we can go back to take the rest."

"The boat is not mine. You have to ask the owner of the ferryboat if he agrees."

"I wonder who owns this boat?"

Su Ying pointed in the direction of Zhang Liang.

Li Da understood and ran towards Zhang Liang.

After negotiations, Zhang Liang agreed to lend the ferry to Li Da and his men, but the condition was that when he and Su Ying and their men crossed the river, there could only be a few officials on the boat and no more prisoners.

Li Da agreed immediately and ordered two officers to accompany him and He Suying.

"Boss, we just counted the number of people, and there are only 117 people left in the team." Most of them are the elderly, the weak, women and children.

Li Da's face was not looking good, but the people had already escaped, and their numbers were limited. If they went after them in such a disaster year, they might get themselves killed. "Just compile the list, and when we get to Zhuzhou, find a way to send the list back to the capital. Let the Ministry of Justice worry about finding the fugitives."

"yes."

There were still a dozen guards left in Zhang Liang's team. Although they all had injuries, they were not fatal and would be fine after taking medicine.

"Please forgive us, sir. We failed to protect the food." The head guard had followed Zhang Liang for many years. He felt very sad to see the food being snatched away.

Zhang Liang looked pale and shook his head. "It's good that everyone is okay. Everything will be fine when we get to Zhuzhou. Go and check and collect any useful items. We will leave for the dock immediately."

"yes."

Su Ying also wanted to leave this hellhole as soon as possible, so she packed up with He Shouyi and the others and prepared to leave.

After packing up, Su Ying asked Zhang Liang, "Is this place far from the pier?"

"It's not far. If we walk fast, we can get there before dark."

"Okay, let's talk about it when we get to the dock."

Although all the food in the carriages of the Zhang family guards was looted, they still managed to keep a carriage, which was just enough for Zhang Liang and his family of three to sit in.

Su Ying also carried the two treasures onto the carriage, then jumped on it and headed towards the pier.

Li Da sorted out the remaining prisoners and followed them.

As we went down, the closer we got to the dock, the fewer people there were. Everyone was afraid that if the dam completely broke, the first thing to suffer would be the dock, so they all stayed away.

They walked faster than they had expected, and they arrived at the pier just as the sun set.

However, the pier had been completely submerged by the river water at this time. From a distance, it looked like an endless expanse of turbid river water, which was frightening.

The Zhang family's guards had already found the hidden ferry. When the flood just happened, the ferry was in short supply and could be robbed if not careful, so they hid the ferry early to prevent it from falling into the hands of others.

Soon, the guards drove the ferry out.

Su Ying looked up and found that the ferry was larger than she had imagined, and it was no problem to accommodate hundreds of people at the same time.

The guards put down several thick templates and pulled the carriage directly up.

Li Da looked at the huge ferry and actually wanted Zhang Liang to let all the prisoners get on board together. But then he thought that all the food and grass had been robbed, and it would be great if Zhang Liang could be so kind as to give them a ride. So he did not dare to make any other requests.

"You stay here first, someone will come back to pick you up soon." Li Da instructed the officers who stayed behind.

"Got it, boss."

Su Ying also pulled the carriage onto the boat.

When they got on the boat, looking at the vast river, Mother Zhao and the others felt a little dizzy, so Su Ying asked them to go to the cabin to rest first.

After settling everyone, Su Ying was about to follow into the cabin when she saw Li Rou walking towards her.

"My benefactor, I have something I want to ask you."

(End of this chapter)