The village head of Lujia Village, holding an umbrella, accompanied Peng Laosan and Yao Liu to his home and arranged for the officers to have a meal. The other officers guarding the prisoners were placed in a school at the entrance of the village along with the Gu family and the other people from Yuezhou Prefecture.
There was an old student in the school who taught enlightenment to children from several surrounding villages. Now, during the heavy rain, the old student was the only one in the school.
They stopped here to rest and eat something. The old scholar stayed in his room, not daring to come out, and could only peek through the dim window paper.
Seeing that the weather had improved a little, everyone started on their way again.
Walk into the village.
Su Qi noticed something was wrong. It was supposed to be the busy farming season, but the sudden downpour had disrupted the farmers' plans.
Many families did not have time to harvest their rice, and when they finally did, they had to return home in heavy rain.
There is no sun.
I'm afraid we won't even be able to pay the autumn taxes.
Due to the continuous heavy rain and increasingly cold weather, farmers are unable to grow crops such as wheat.
The situation was even more serious than what she had read in the article.
Su Qi looked at the crops lying on the ground with concern. The arrival of a cold wave after the rainy season would definitely lead to the displacement of people.
I wonder what the situation is like in Jinyang Prefecture?
We can take the opportunity to cultivate land and buy people back.
However, they had been struggling along the way, and by the time they arrived in Jinyang Prefecture, it would probably be the Spring Festival.
We have to hire a carriage.
Gu Beiheng turned his head and saw her delicate face, which was as small as a palm, with her brows relaxed for a while, then frowned, and various expressions appeared on her face in turn.
He reached out and squeezed Su Qi's hand, "Qiqi. Don't worry, if anything happens, we'll face it together."
Su Qi nodded gently. "Well, I just saw that there was so much rice in the fields of Lujia Village that was not harvested in time. I thought it was the same in other places. Not only did they miss the autumn planting, but they also lost a lot of autumn harvest.
If there's no food stored at home during the winter, there will inevitably be a flood of refugees. Food is the most important thing for people, and no matter how hard it is to leave your homeland, can it really prevent you from starving to death?
If Su Qi hadn't said anything, Gu Beiheng wouldn't have noticed it at all.
He grew up in a general's mansion and then joined the military camp for training.
I had never paid much attention to farming or business, but as I glanced at the vast expanse of farmland, I quickly realized what was going on.
Gu Beiheng felt a deep pain in his heart.
It was not for the Dashun Kingdom under the protection of Emperor Wu.
Instead, he thought of his comrades in the Northwest Camp who had shared life and death with him. What would they do in the face of natural disasters?
How can those veterans who retired due to injuries survive such days?
This moment.
Gu Beiheng couldn't help but complain in his heart that Emperor Wu didn't focus on the people's livelihood, but spent all day thinking about how to fight. Sooner or later, one day, this beautiful land would be lost in the struggle.
"It's not something we can take care of right now. I'm waiting for Yingyi and the others to contact me." Gu Beiheng leaned close to Su Qi and whispered quietly.
Su Qi nodded.
Indeed, right now they only wanted to reach Jinyang Prefecture as quickly as possible. Otherwise, there would be countless casualties along the way.
We still looked for a cave to rest at night.
After leaving the several villages surrounding Lujia Village, the road was filled with endless mountains and land. It looked like the farm of a wealthy landlord, but after dozens of miles, there was no village or people in sight.
Fortunately, two caves were found.
There were some firewood and two clay pots left by hunters in the cave.
Gu Beiheng also knew that Su Qi preferred to find a quiet place near the cave entrance. He had long legs and could walk fast, so he directly occupied a smaller cave that could only accommodate a dozen people.
Gu Beiheng arranged the thatch from the cave and spread it near the entrance. He then spread the oilcloth on top, and then the small quilt and cloak. He pressed it with his hands and found it soft and warm.
"Qiqi. Come here quickly. Let's live here."
Others following behind: ...you take advantage of your long legs and run fast, and the best spots are always snatched away by your family.
Zhang Yunyu rolled his eyes and muttered to Gu Wushen, "You're the boss, can't he just give that place to you?"
Gu Wushen now knew that this son was not to be messed with, so he said coldly:
"Go ahead and tell me, is it interesting to talk about this even though we've already split up?"
Zhang Yunyu curled her lips and said nothing. She was so angry that she walked with a cold wind, wanting to pounce on it and snatch it away. But she didn't dare. She could see that the new messenger was won over by Su Qi's food.
Su Qi took off her raincoat and rain boots and put them aside.
Dabao and Erbao ran to play with Dundun and other kids. She sat comfortably against the wall, covered with a cloak and closed her eyes to rest.
Without waiting for others to enter the cave.
Yao Liu stopped him with a shout, "Go to that cave. We have requisitioned this one."
"Then Gu Beiheng's family is also in there?"
"Get out. Can you compete with his family?" Yao Liu slapped the man on the head, then ordered the monkey to arrange a few people to guard the cave.
He followed her into the cave and saw Su Qi resting with her eyes closed while Gu Beiheng was dozing off beside her.
Yao Liu walked in and coughed twice to clear his throat. Seeing Su Qi and Gu Beiheng open their eyes, he grinned and said, "Su Qi, I want to discuss something with you. Do you want to cook?"
Su Qi originally didn't plan to cook, and the family of four ate the food in the space.
but……
Su Qi's slightly tired face showed a hint of hesitation, "Yaotou, let's cook. I have an idea, please listen to it. If you think what I said is wrong, just ignore it."
"Just tell me what you think." Yao Liu sat down against the wall.
"Look, this weather is truly abnormal. It's even harder to travel in winter." Su Qi pressed his fist against his nose, coughing a few times before pausing. "We've been demoted to commoners, not exiled criminals. How about hiring a horse and donkey cart to get us through when we get to a village?"
"Not to mention that it's difficult for us to walk. Even you officers will suffer as well. The mudslide incident last time must not happen again." Su Qi's earnest tone made people think deeply.
The bearded man at the cave entrance looked at Su Qi coldly, and then his eyes fell on Gu Beiheng and Yao Liu.
Peng Laosan, who was about to come in, also heard Su Qi's words.
A pair of mustaches twitched on his dark, cold face. "What you said makes sense, young lady. I've been walking this path for years. I've never seen such awful weather this year. Usually, it only rains like this in the summer."
In the summer, criminals and common people were rarely exiled.
Exile usually begins in autumn.
Yao Liu's brows were furrowed so tightly that a few flying insects could be pinched to death between his eyes.
After a moment, it stretched out.
As if he had made up his mind. "Your idea is not bad. We were originally going to walk another hundred miles or so and remove the shackles and ropes. Now it's just a matter of hiring a horse and donkey cart to get us there. We'll make the decision."
"But you have to pay for the carriage and donkey cart yourself."
Su Qi heaved a sigh of relief. Even if they hired a car, they could reach Jinyang Prefecture before winter.
"Of course. I'll cook dinner tonight." After solving the next big thing, Su Qi felt refreshed, and even the air felt fresh.
"Okay. I'll let Monkey help you." Yao Liu laughed and called Monkey over at the top of his voice. "Monkey, bring the oilcloth bag from the horse's back. Come and help Madam Gu cook."
Yao Liu raised his eyes and looked at Gu Beiheng, "Gu Beiheng, how about going out hunting?"
"Okay." Gu Beiheng also wanted to stretch his arms and legs.
Su Qi opened her mouth but said nothing, and quietly handed Gu Beiheng a sharp dagger. This dagger was given to her by Su Tianci for self-defense, and it was obvious that it was a dagger that Su Tianao, the eldest brother of the Su family, had kept privately.
It's very sharp and can really cut through iron like mud.
Gu Beiheng took it and gave Su Qi a soothing look. "Qiqi, I'll go see if there's any pheasant or something to nourish your mother and the others."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
