Chapter 69 Hiding◇
◎ It was terribly cold in Liaodong in November, but the Tartars were not afraid to go out to fight in the snow. Their cattle and sheep had been well fed.
It was freezing cold in Liaodong in November, but the Tartars weren't afraid to go out and fight in the snow. Their cattle and sheep had already perished in the snowstorm that had lasted almost a month. If they didn't go out to fight, their women and children would starve to death!
The combined forces of the Tatars and the Oirat, who had just crossed the Taibai Mountains, did not rush to attack the city after descending the mountain. Instead, after surrounding Fuzhou City, they first sent out more than a dozen teams of several hundred people each to plunder the villages and towns around Fuzhou City.
This was always the case when they went out to fight. They did not bring too much dry food. Before each battle, they would first plunder some nearby towns to steal enough food for the next battle. They could also capture some slaves and push them to the front to block the arrows and thunder stones for them when they were attacking cities and seizing lands.
But for some reason, their attack wasn't very successful this time. They managed to snatch some food, but it wasn't much, and the number of slaves was even smaller. The Tartars were terrified. They captured a Han slave and questioned him, only to learn that two hours earlier, the commander of Fuzhou Guard had already sent a message to all the villages and towns under his command, saying the Tartars were attacking and that no one within a hundred miles of Fuzhou Guard could stay there. They were told to flee! There was no time to lose!
Therefore, by the time the Tartars arrived, most of the people had already fled or hidden. Those who were caught were mostly misers who were reluctant to part with their wealth and always wanted to empty their homes, but in the end, they even lost their lives!
…
Taohua Village was about 120 miles away from Fuzhouwei. By the time we heard the news, it was already half a day after Fuzhou City was besieged.
The news was brought back by Zhou Zemao and Zhou Li. After Captain Han was transferred to Fuzhou City, those in charge of farmland and some of the former 100-household clerical staff were retained and continued to serve under the new 100-household...
After receiving the news from Fuzhou City today, Zhou Zemao and his team were sent out to inform the towns below. Zhou Li was in Baili Town and received the news first. Worried that his family didn't know, he hurried back.
Everyone was shocked by the news the two men brought back. It was not only because they were afraid that the Tartars would come and burn, kill and loot, but also because Fuzhou City was under siege!
Zhou Po, Zhou Dai, Zhou Jin, Zhou Yu, Zhou Luo, and Zhou Gong from several families are all in Fuzhou City! !
Upon hearing the news, all the female members of the family, except for the Bai family and their daughter-in-law, who didn't have to worry about this, nearly fainted. This was especially true for Zhou Zemao's wife, Wang. Zhou Gong was her son after she had two daughters. If anything happened to him, it would be the end of her life!
So, he couldn't help but collapse on the ground and started crying, and his words seemed to blame Zhou Luo for taking his son to Fuzhou City...
Zhou Ruiquan...
Zhou Zemao...
…
Zhou Zemao had long heard from his father that his wife was short-sighted and cunning, and that hiring her as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhou family was one of the most wrong decisions he had ever made. However, because the couple had been together for almost twenty years, and Wang had accompanied him in the confiscation of property and exile and suffered so much, Zhou Zemao could not bear to blame his wife.
But now, seeing that Zheng and the others were not as upset as her wife, and hearing her wife complaining about Luo Ge'er in her words, she was immediately furious. She stepped forward and picked up Wang, and lectured her:
"What are you making a fuss about?! Is this the time to cry? Is our Gongge the only one in danger right now? Are other children safe? Have you seen any of your brothers and sisters crying like you?
At least in our family, only Brother Gong was trapped in Fuzhou City. My cousin Zelin and Brother Jin's mother both had their children trapped there!
Especially cousin Zelin, the brothers Poger and Luoger are all his children! "
"Woo~~ But if it weren't for Luo Ge'er, how could our Gong Ge'er have gone to Fuzhou and now be trapped in Fuzhou City!!"
Wang Shi still refused to accept it and even wanted to say that if it weren't for Lord Zhou's involvement, her family would still be living well in their hometown. Why did they have to come to Liaodong to suffer so much? Zhou Po and Zhou Luo were Lord Zhou's grandsons, so they should suffer for him, but why should her brother Gong also suffer this?!
"Why didn't you tell me when Gongge'er followed Luoge'er back to earn money? I think you took that money more happily than anyone else!!"
Zhou Zemao was so angry with Wang that his head was about to explode. If his father hadn't warned him not to hit women since he was a child, he would have wanted to slap this stupid woman a few times. But no matter how he tried to persuade her, Wang still kept making trouble.
Zhou Ruiquan got angry and said that if she made trouble again, he would lock her up forever and never let her out again. Only then did Wang calm down...
A few days ago, after Zhu Xi returned, he confessed his identity to the Zhou family. The family members then learned that Chang Sanlang, who had been living off Zhou Jin's family for several months, was actually the Crown Prince's legitimate son and the fifth grandson of the current emperor...
Others were fine when they heard the news, at most they were shocked or a little happy. After all, if he could establish a good relationship with the Fifth Emperor's grandson, and if he could speak well of the Zhou family in front of the Emperor in the future, maybe the Emperor would pardon them?!
Only the Wangs, mother and daughter, finally understood at this point why Zhou Ruiquan had been so enraged when he learned Zhou Han intended to stab Chang Sanlang with scissors, and why he had locked them up for a full six months before giving up...
The mother and daughter were both terrified at the time, fearing that Zhu Xi would bear a grudge against them. They avoided him whenever they saw him, and only felt relieved after he went to Fuzhou City.
Little did she know that Zhu Xi had actually forgotten about the incident long ago, and she was even a little confused about who was who between Zhou Han and her sister Zhou Yan...
Therefore, Wang Shi now has a psychological shadow over being put in solitary confinement. When she heard her father-in-law say that she would be punished with solitary confinement again, she immediately thought of this incident again. Knowing that Zhou Ruiquan would do what he said, she immediately dared not make a fuss...
If it weren't for the fact that they were in Liaodong and Wang Shi had nowhere else to go except their home, Zhou Ruiquan would have wanted to divorce this foolish woman on behalf of his eldest son. However, he also knew that now was not the time to argue with her. Seeing that she had stopped making a fuss, he anxiously asked Zhou Zelin beside him,
"Ah Lin, what should we do now? Our children are all in Fuzhou City!"
That was their Zhou family's only hope for revival! He would be heartbroken if he lost any one of them, let alone a group of them!
And even the fifth grandson was there!!!
Zhou Zelin was also anxious, but he didn't know much about military affairs. He had no other choice but to hope that the new General Mu could hold out for a few more days until reinforcements arrived...
I could only suppress my worry about my two sons and comfort everyone:
"Everyone, rest assured. The current commander of Fuzhou City is Miss Mu, who came here with the fifth grandson the other day. This Miss Mu followed General Mu Feng to the Yunnan-Guizhou campaign when she was twelve or thirteen years old. She has made countless achievements at such a young age and is highly regarded by the current emperor. She is also very good at arranging troops and battle formations. She will definitely be able to defend Fuzhou City!
We must also believe in our children. They have all been exiled and have made a difficult journey to Liaodong. They will definitely be able to protect themselves!"
"Yes, yes!" Bai's mother-in-law Wei also hurriedly followed suit and said:
"Alin is right! We have to trust the children! Especially Jin'er and Po'er, they are both capable children and will definitely take good care of their younger siblings!
Everyone, stop being sad here. Now is not the time to be sad! Hurry up and pack up. We need to find a place to hide. Although our place is remote, we can't be prepared for the Tartars to come.
"Yes, our top priority now is to protect ourselves first, otherwise the children will be fine while we are all wiped out by the Tartars!" Zhou Ruiquan also stamped his feet and said:
"Listen to me, hurry up and pack your things. Don't take anything except your cotton-padded clothes, quilts, food, and silver! Hurry up! Gather in my yard in a quarter of an hour!"
After saying that, he ordered Zhou Zemao to quickly inform Li Gui and the others that if they had to run, they should all run together...
After hearing this, everyone suppressed their grief and hurried to pack up their things. After all, the children were still safe and sound, so they couldn't give up hope just yet...
…
A quarter of an hour later, everyone had packed up their things and helped the men move out the forty or so baskets of potatoes from the cellar.
But then, everyone became worried about where to hide.
"I do know a cave. Ayu and I often stop there when we go to collect herbs. It's a very hidden place and won't be easily discovered."
Zhou Ruifeng hesitated and said:
"It's freezing cold today, and with so many children in our family, will they freeze to death if we go there?!"
this……
Everyone hesitated...
"I think that cave is good. At least it can block the wind on all sides. We can build a few shacks inside with oilcloth and make a simple kang with mud underneath. If it gets really cold, we can burn something to keep warm. There are so many of us, there must be a way!"
Everyone was hesitating when they saw Li Gui leading Lao Sun and others hurried over. It was Lao Sun who was speaking. He had always been regarded as the best craftsman in Taohua Village. When they heard him say that he had a way to keep warm, they immediately believed him.
In addition, Zhou Ruifeng said that the cave they found was located at a very high altitude. If the Tartars came into the mountain to search, they would be able to see them standing at the entrance of the cave, and it would be convenient for them to run away. So they unanimously decided that the whole village would hide in the cave for a few days!
"Uncle Gui, quickly go and gather all the men in our village. We still have several thousand kilograms of crop seeds to offer to His Majesty. We absolutely cannot afford to lose them. We must take them all away!"
Zhou Zelin pointed at the dozens of baskets of potatoes in the yard and felt that they were definitely not able to carry them away by themselves, so he immediately decided to ask for help from the Li family!
"What?! Crop seeds dedicated to His Majesty?!"
Li Gui was shocked when he saw the baskets all over the yard, but he immediately thought that this might be an opportunity for their Li family.
Since the Zhou family has something that can be presented to His Majesty, they must have close friends and relatives who can come into contact with His Majesty.
Their Li family has been out of the Kyoto circle for many years. Even if they want to make a plan, they can't find a way, so they can only endure in Liaodong. If they can help the Zhou family protect the things presented to the emperor this time, even if they can't make the emperor remember them, they can make the Zhou family grateful to them. If the Zhou family has an opportunity, they can also help them!
So, he immediately said, "Okay, I'll go call someone!"
………
A quarter of an hour later, all the people of Taohua Village, young and old, about a hundred in number, carrying large and small bags, large baskets, and small baskets, began to march towards the mountains. The men in front, led by Li Gui, each carried a hundred or so kilograms of potatoes on their backs, while the women behind them carried their own food. Even the children were more or less carrying a few cotton coats, cotton pants, quilts, and other such things. Because it was cold, they also carried out the hundreds of sets of cotton clothes that were abundant in the Zheng family's workshops...
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2022-07-11 08:52:24 and 2022-07-11 14:53:49~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Lan 10 bottles; Chengcheng 1998 5 bottles; Chenxi 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
