On the way to the west, Wan Jinlan and Xiao Feng learned from the refugees the news that Prince Guangling was captured by Prince Su, and the rumors that the emperor was not the legitimate son of the previous emperor, nor the biological son of the empress dowager, and that he had come to the throne illegitimately.
Most of the refugees were so hungry that they looked pale and thin, and they had no clothes to wear in the cold winter.
People like Wan Jinlan and Xiao Feng, who wore thick clothes and had some flesh on their cheeks, were robbed. If they hadn't been good at martial arts, they would have been drowned in the crowd and robbed.
As we headed west, the number of refugees increased, some of whom were sick.
The towns along the way would not accept refugees, but would send soldiers to drive them away to prevent the spread of epidemics into the city.
The refugees had nowhere to go, and in the middle of winter, many died on the road.
At this time, Wan Jinlan and Xiao Feng were stopped on the loess road by two hungry, skinny, half-grown children.
"Please save my mother."
The two children knelt in front of the two men, crying and sobbing, their hands and faces covered with frostbite, wearing tattered straw sandals, and their black toes were not only swollen, but also ulcerated and oozing pus.
In the dry grass in front, there lay a thin, dark man with a pale face, eyes closed, and no sound.
As for the children's mother, she was lying on the side, dying.
Wan Jinlan and Xiao Feng both had a veil covering their faces.
This was not the first time the two had met this family of four, but before that, the children's father was still alive.
It was also because they gave dry biscuits to the two children that they were seen by other refugees and were almost robbed of everything.
"Please, take my two children with you in the future. They will serve you like slaves and servants. Just give them food to eat."
The woman's mother's face was red to the point of turning purple, her cheekbones were protruding and her eye sockets were sunken, but her eyes were filled with pleading and hope.
The two children cried and wiped their tears.
Xiao Feng sighed and said, "There's a doctor in the village behind. I'll go get him."
Wan Jinlan didn't say anything. She felt that it was very likely that this doctor would not be available.
If it is an epidemic, calling a doctor is equivalent to taking someone's life, and doctors are afraid of death.
The two children kowtowed and cried, "Thank you so much, benefactor."
Xiao Feng rode back on his horse, and Wan Jinlan sat on a stone beside him. He took out three cakes from his bag, handed them to the little girl, and asked the three of them to share them.
"After you finish eating, find a place to dig a hole and bury your father so he can rest in peace."
Wan Jinlan felt that her heart had hardened a lot. Although she sympathized with the two children who had lost their father and were displaced, she could calmly look at the cold body.
The mother was reluctant to eat the cake and wanted to leave it for her two children.
Wan Jinlan said, "Eat it, I still have some. If you don't have any, you won't be able to see what kind of life they will live in the future."
"Your own child, of course you have to watch him grow up yourself."
Along the way, many people died of starvation, disease, and freezing. In Wan Jinlan's opinion, the most important reason was the lack of food. Minor illnesses could develop into major illnesses, and major illnesses could even kill people.
Looking at the mother and her two children eating biscuits and drinking cold water with tears in their eyes, Wan Jinlan turned his eyes away.
She thought she was very unlucky. She had lived a life of luxury since childhood, but fell into misfortune after getting married and became an exile. But compared with these refugees, she seemed to be lucky.
Voices were heard from the other side of the yellow earth. Wan Jinlan looked up and saw a group of ragged refugees supporting each other and walking towards this side.
Wan Jinlan said, "Hurry up and swallow the cake."
The two children opened their eyes wide, no longer caring about crying, and swallowed the biscuits in a few bites. The children's mother did the same, chewing them ravenously.
Wan Jinlan held the long knife in his hand, leaned on the ground, and looked at the group of refugees with sharp eyes.
Seeing her look of "this road is mine", and frightened by the red birthmark on her face, the refugees all walked into the dry grass on the side of the road to avoid her.
Wan Jinlan had no choice but to do so. She would rather be a bully than be robbed.
Although I haven't seen cannibalism with my own eyes, I have heard of it.
"Aunt, Uncle Zhang is dead?"
Feng Guihua, the mother of two children, looked up at the crowd and saw Li Dazhuang, a former fellow villager.
"Da Zhuang, where are your parents?" Feng Guihua looked around but didn't see Li Da Zhuang's parents.
Li Dazhuang paused, "My father fell into the glacier while fishing and froze to death, and my mother died of illness on the way."
"Aunt, do you want to come with me? Let's go to the border town. I heard that the border town is recruiting troops now. Once we enter the military camp, we will have a place to stay and food."
Hope appeared in Li Dazhuang's numb eyes. Although they had hope, they knew that because of their illness, no one would even want them to join the army.
Wan Jinlan observed this group of refugees and found that they included both old and young people, not all of them were young and strong. When Li Dazhuang invited a woman who looked seriously ill and a child to go to the border town together, no one objected, thinking that the three of them were a burden.
Wan Jinlan nodded secretly in his heart. A person's character is best revealed when he is in adversity and at his lowest point.
Feng Guihua glanced at Wan Jinlan and asked, "Benefactor, where are you going?"
Then Li Dazhuang heard the young man with the birthmark dressed in men's clothes speak in a woman's voice.
"If you follow me in the future, I will provide you with food and lodging. You will obey my orders in the future. If you are willing, come to my side."
Li Dazhuang and others looked at her.
Wan Jinlan stood up on the stone with a knife in hand and looked at everyone.
Li Dazhuang spoke first: "You are just a little girl, what can you do in the future? What do you need us to do?"
Wan Jinlan raised his eyebrows: "I can make sure you have enough food and clothing to live well. As for what to do in the future, we can talk about it later after you settle down."
Wan Jinlan took out all the cakes from the bag and gave one to each person.
The cakes in Liangzhou are dry, hard, and thick. They are difficult to chew, but very easy to store. In this kind of weather, they will not go bad for half a month.
Wan Jinlan also chewed a dry biscuit with water.
This group of refugees was led by Li Dazhuang.
Li Dazhuang finished chewing a cake and asked, "Where are we going to stay tonight?"
Wan Jinlan said, "Help Xiaohua and Tieniu bury the body first. Wait for my husband to bring the doctor back and show him to you all."
Wan Jinlan took the lead in digging the pit, and Li Dazhuang and several young men also came to help.
After the body was buried, when Xiaohua's brother Tieniu was kneeling in front of the grave and crying, Xiao Feng actually brought a doctor.
The doctor, a middle-aged man in his forties, was wearing a plain coat and had his mouth and nose covered tightly. After asking about Feng Guihua's condition and examining her from a distance, he frowned and said, "I've prescribed some medicine, but given your current condition, you can only leave it to fate."
The doctor didn't say what the illness was, but Xiao Feng told him that if it was a cold, there was no need to say it out loud and cause panic.
The doctor did not have any close contact with Feng Guihua at all, and was able to make a rough diagnosis by asking about her symptoms.
"I'd also like you to examine them as well. The consultation fee will be doubled."
It cost Xiao Feng ten taels of silver to invite the person.
Ten taels of silver could cover the expenses of an ordinary family for three to five years, which was already a lot.
Doctor Li Fugui saw that these people looked healthy except for being extremely thin, so he examined them carefully for the sake of money.
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