Except for those who followed into the city and those who were sent to investigate the horse feeding and fodder yesterday, there were only twenty officers guarding the team. Ten of them were military officers sent by Liangzhou. They would no longer follow the team after crossing the border of Liangzhou.
Among the team, the ones who complained the most about not being able to enter Qingfeng County were none other than the Liang family themselves.
The one who took out some silver and begged the officers to allow his family to be brought into the city as well was Liang's half-brother. Because he had never separated from his brother, he, his wife, concubine, and two children were also exiled to the North Gate this time.
The officer took the change from Master Liang, weighed it in his hand, and said with a wry smile, "Master, please don't embarrass me. I can't take you to the city, but if you want to buy something, I can run an errand for you."
The imperial court stipulated that exiles must travel fifty miles a day, and staying in Qingfeng County for the past two days was a violation of the regulations. It was already difficult to bring a few people into the city.
If more people come into the city, and someone with ulterior motives sees them and reports them to the capital, it will be troublesome.
The officer patiently explained to Mr. Liang Erye and put the silver in his arms, but had no intention of taking it out.
Seeing that if he didn't make some demands, his money would be wasted, Mr. Liang had no choice but to compromise and said, "Okay, then help me go to the city to get two pots of wine, and buy some roast meat and snacks."
"No problem." The officer agreed but stood there without moving.
Mr. Liang gritted his teeth and took out another piece of silver and handed it over.
The officer then said with a smile: "Please wait a moment, sir. I will go to the city to buy things for you!"
One more officer was missing from the team, and the remaining nine and the ten soldiers were divided into two sides, guarding the two ends of the team, one in front and one behind.
Wei Yunlan took the lead and led his family to stop at the end close to the nine officers.
Dong Da and Liu Quan parked the mule cart and unloaded the utensils for making fire and cooking from the cart board. Nanny Wang skillfully set up the pot, took out rice and bacon, and started to simmer the rice.
Ningshuang and Tingxue were about to unload the rolled-up blankets on the car board when Wei Yunlan came over and stopped them, "Don't unload them yet. Help my sister-in-law boil a pot of hot water and make some rice noodles for little Jiarong."
In fact, one person was enough to do the job that Wei Yunlan assigned, but the two maids were already accustomed to obeying the young lady's orders. Without asking the reason, they immediately let go of the bedding roll and turned to go to Nanny Wang.
Everyone in the family has something to do.
Gao was helping Wei Maolin apply ointment on his neck, while Wei Mingxuan and Wang Gui were feeding the mule and ewes at home.
Steward Wang was chopping wood, while Cheng Yue'e was taking care of Jiayan and little Jiarong.
For a moment, Wei Yunlan was the only idle person left. Her gaze passed over the busy crowd and fell on the woods beside her.
The green grass swayed, as if something was running through the bushes. Wei Yunlan approached cautiously, and when he got closer, he unexpectedly discovered that what was running out from the depths of the forest was actually a group of more than a dozen weasels, big and small, with their families!
They obviously noticed Wei Yunlan's gaze, but they did not dodge or evade, and continued to run eastward in the original direction.
Wei Yunlan took a step back and stepped on a branch, which made a "crack" sound.
She subconsciously looked down in the direction of the sound, but out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a fist-sized hole in the soil not far from her feet. She didn't know what animal had made that hole.
Judging from the traces, this cave appeared not long ago and is still a bit damp. The animals in the cave obviously left just in the past two days.
"Big sister, look!"
Wei Mingxuan followed Wei Yunlan into the woods at some point, tugged at her sleeve, and asked her to look at a large, somewhat withered tree next to her.
There are fine and dense spider webs woven on the tree branches, and the spiders climbing on the webs are constantly spinning silk.
"Sister, this is the first time I've seen a spider spit out so much silk!"
It was the first time for Wei Yunlan to see this bird. Just as he was about to speak, he heard bursts of "cawing" birds coming from afar.
The brother and sister looked up at the same time, following the sound, and saw a flock of crows circling over the woods.
Wei Yunlan's uneasiness reached its peak at this moment. She retracted her gaze and looked behind Wei Mingxuan.
"Mingxuan, where is the bag I prepared for you?"
"In the camp!" Wei Mingxuan followed Wei Yunlan's instructions and carried the bag with him all the way, and only took it off when he arrived at the camp.
"Let's go back." Wei Yunlan took a deep breath and turned around to walk out of the woods.
"Sister, I haven't collected the firewood yet..."
"No more!" Wei Yunlan grabbed Wei Mingxuan's sleeve and said, "Let's go back. You carry your bag with you."
Wei Yunlan's tone was serious. Wei Mingxuan finally reacted after hearing what she said and said nervously: "Sister, is something going to happen?" In the past two days, he often heard his elder sister and father discussing the possibility of a major disaster.
Wei Yunlan nodded. "The animals in the forest are not acting right. The mules and horses in our team are also very restless today... We should not leave the camp again. Tell Wang Gui and Manager Wang to take their bags with them and stay alert at all times."
Wei Yunlan had just taken Wei Mingxuan back to sit by the fire at home when he heard two officers talking not far away, "Isn't the weather today a bit off?"
"What's wrong with that? Isn't it just a little redder than usual? Don't those bookworms call this... something like sunset glow?"
It was evening, so it was not surprising to see the sunset, but this sunset was so red that it seemed like it had a bit of blood in it, which was a bit scary.
Wei Yunlan only felt that his heart was beating faster and faster, and the strong sense of uneasiness continued to intensify.
She walked over to Cheng Yue'e and Jiayan and reminded them in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, you must keep a close eye on Jiayan and Jiarong. Don't let them out of your sight."
"Yunlan, don't worry, I know." Cheng Yue'e nodded solemnly.
"Aunt, I will definitely be a good friend to mother and take good care of my sister!" Xiao Jiayan puffed out his chest and promised.
"Okay, our Jiayan is the most sensible." Wei Yunlan gently stroked Jiayan's head.
A pot of bacon stewed rice was ready at this time. The Wei family members sat around the fire in silence, eating the rice that was distributed to them. There was a bundle next to each person within easy reach.
Today's meal was cooked to perfection, with the rice grains having been stained with an oily sheen from the bacon, but Wei Yunlan was eating absentmindedly.
She heard the officer who had said "the sky is different" ask others, "Do you feel the ground shaking?"
"Where is that?"
"Old Lu hasn't come back from the city to get some wine yet, and you're drunk without even drinking?" The officers who were asked joked with a smile.
But the next moment, the smiles froze on their faces.
The ground is really shaking!
"Oh no, the earth dragon is turning over!"
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