She shooed Liu Dayong away and stared at the group, saying, "Didn't you leave with the village chief? Why are only you two back? Where are the others?"
Seeing that Old Man Liu and his son ignored them, Liu Dafei had no interest in listening to Jiang Yimian and continued to curse, "Old Man Liu, you heartless bastard, why don't you let us go? We are your own nephews. You will be struck by lightning sooner or later for doing this."
Jiang Yimian frowned, and seeing that Liu Dafei was about to open his mouth to continue cursing, she reached out and grabbed his neck, saying coldly, "If your tongue can't say anything nice, I think it's better not to have it at all."
Having said that, he twirled the curved dagger in his hand.
Upon seeing the sharp dagger, Li Xiaofang and the others were startled.
Seeing her husband's face turn bright red, Li Xiaofang was terrified and quickly said, "I, I, I'm telling you, we won't curse anymore, please let my husband go."
Jiang Yimian then let go of her hand and looked at her.
Liu Dafei was able to breathe, but he was gasping for air. The feeling of not being able to breathe for a moment still seemed to linger in his throat. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to look at Jiang Yimian again, for fear that she would really cut off his tongue.
Li Xiaofang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her husband was alright. She swallowed hard, staring at the gleaming dagger in Jiang Yimian's hand, and said, word by word, "We were attacked by a group of refugees halfway there and got separated. When we arrived at Jincheng Prefecture, we only met a few villagers. We don't know where the others went. They may have gone to other counties or prefectures."
At first, the village chief didn't say where they were going, so they just wandered around aimlessly, intending to go to Jincheng Prefecture to check on the situation.
Fortunately, when we arrived, the mutinous soldiers had already been driven to other prefectures by the imperial army.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to save any of their lives.
Jiang Yimian nodded and continued, "The officials and soldiers in the prefectural city only told you to come back, they didn't say anything else?"
Li Xiaofang thought for a while before saying, "Those soldiers said that we need to pay money to enter the city, and the same goes for registering our household. Several families in the village who had money went directly to the city, but we didn't have any money and were sent back."
They were unlucky; they lost all their silver on the way to escape, and no one knew which refugee had stolen it. They only discovered it when they reached the city gate.
Jiang Yimian then nodded.
Paying money allows one to settle down in other places, avoiding the dangers encountered on the road. Anyone with a little money will definitely go directly to the city or settle down in other places.
Only those without money were sent back.
She continued to ask questions, such as what was happening in Qingshui County, the closest county to Xinghua Village, but Li Xiaofang didn't know, so she had to give up.
The prefectural city is in complete chaos; the situation in the counties and villages below must be even worse.
It seems that these refugees on the mountain will stay for a long time and are unlikely to leave anytime soon; in fact, more will likely come.
These are just the people who have arrived at Jincheng Prefecture. There are many more who have gone to more distant prefectures, or who have stopped along the way and have not yet arrived.
Seeing that Jiang Yimian was no longer asking questions, Li Xiaofang hesitated before speaking, "We were driven out by Wang Zhuzi to look for someone. He said there were people from Xinghua Village on the mountain and told us to come and take a look, so we came. Please let us go."
We will definitely not tell anyone about what happened here.
Jiang Yimian understood; she had indeed guessed correctly.
After thinking for a while, he looked at Old Man Liu and asked, "Grandpa Liu, what do you plan to do with them?"
Old Liu was still angry and didn't even glance at Liu Dafei and his group. He just said irritably, "I can't be bothered with them. Do whatever you want."
He made a pointless trip. He even wanted to give them some food, but pshaw, he might as well have fed it to the dogs.
He wouldn't give any of that food to these people.
Hearing this, Liu Dafei and the others became even angrier. Just as they were about to curse, they met Jiang Yimian's gaze and were so frightened that they quickly shut up.
They had just watched closely as this young girl acted without hesitation, nearly strangling Liu Dafei to death.
No one would dare to provoke them now.
Just as she was feeling uneasy, Jiang Yimian took a dagger and cut the rope, saying calmly, "Let's go."
Li Xiaofang was stunned, still somewhat incredulous that she could leave so easily.
Liu Dafei was the first to react, grabbing Li Xiaofang and running away. Liu Xiaofei quickly grabbed the child and followed.
The group ran very fast and soon disappeared from sight.
Liu Dayong suddenly regretted it and worried, "Yimian, what if the news that we're staying here gets out if we just let them go like this?"
With so many refugees coming up the mountain, if they all come to rob our food, we'll be completely doomed.
There aren't enough people in the small depression.
"How can you fish without leaking the information?" Lu Cijian said calmly.
Liu Dayong paused, somewhat confused, "What kind of fish are you fishing for?"
He has no interest in fishing now; his family is about to be lost.
Jiang Yimian glanced at Lu Cijian in surprise, not expecting that he had the same idea as her. No wonder he didn't stop her earlier.
She only managed to explain, "Didn't you hear Li Xiaofang say that Wang Zhuzi sent them? If these people don't go back, how will Wang Zhuzi find them?"
If she doesn't come looking for them, how can she deal with the hidden dangers in the mountains?
Instead of worrying every day about when those people might come looking for her, she decided to lure them there directly.
Liu Dayong then realized what was happening. Looking at the nearby woods and the hillside not far away, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Although this place is all woods, there are so many refugees on the mountain. If they all rush over, no matter how many traps we dig in the woods, we won't be able to stop them."
The refugees will continue searching on this hilltop, and sooner or later they will find the small depression.
Old Liu glanced at his foolish son and said helplessly, "That Wang Zhuzi only sent Dafei and his brother this time. Do you think he'll bring all the refugees next time?"
Putting aside the risks of coming into the dense forest, how could so many refugees possibly listen to Wang Zhuzi and come to their deaths in the dense forest?
Threatening one or two people might work, but if there are too many, and the refugees rebel together, how could he possibly suppress them?
Jiang Yimian nodded and said, "There aren't many people in the small depression, so they certainly won't all come."
After all, if food is actually found, how will it be distributed among so many people?
Humans are inherently greedy and will inevitably think of themselves.
Liu Dayong then understood and stopped asking questions. He discussed it with Old Man Liu and Lu Cijian and started digging traps in the nearby woods and hillsides.
Jiang Yimian returned to the small depression and called the three Zhao brothers and Gou Sheng to help.
The group worked for almost three hours and finally managed to hastily make a number of traps, which were distributed on the hillside and in the nearby woods.
Although it's not a sophisticated trap, at least the sound of someone stepping on it will alert those nearby, serving as a warning.
As the sun began to set and darkness fell, Old Liu called everyone to go back.
After walking a few steps, he looked at Lu Cijian and said with a smile, "Young Brother Lu, come back with us."
After several hours of busy work, he found that this young man was quite capable. He didn't talk much, just worked quietly, and was also good-looking, which made him quite appreciative of him.
It's probably not very safe for the person to live here alone, especially since those refugees will come sooner or later.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
