Chapter 44: So what if he’s protecting me?
Ruan Mian shook his head: "In this situation, no place is safer than under our watch. We have so many people who can take turns to look after you, and you won't have to worry about food and clothing."
"Although there's still a long way to go, it's not as hard as we imagined, right?"
Rui Ge'er opened his bright eyes and quickly agreed with her, hugging Ruan Mian with his little arms and said.
"I don't want to be separated from my aunt, she's so awesome! I also want to be with my dad, grandparents, and grandparents!"
"Good boy." Zhang smiled and took the child in her arms with a kind look, loving him very much.
After walking for a few hours, it started snowing again ahead.
Moreover, the road became increasingly rugged, and the carriage began to shake.
Everyone was so hungry that they got off the bus to rest for a while and eat some dry food.
Ruan Mian asked Cuizhu to get some charcoal to replenish everyone's small heater. As they were on the mountain road ahead, the temperature would definitely be colder, so they had to put on the animal skin blankets.
Then another official came and said that they needed to unload the carriage because the mountain road ahead was difficult to walk on.
Ruan Mian looked ahead, a little puzzled: "Sir, I looked at the map at the post station before, and we can take the official road to Ji County. Now that the heavy snow hasn't closed the road yet, why do we have to take the small road?"
The official pointed at the armored soldier and said, "My Lord, this is the shortcut. We've already wasted too much time. The official road might take us several more days to walk! We should reach Ji County as soon as possible while the snow doesn't get too heavy."
"I heard the weather in Ji County isn't very good. If we take the official road, our trip will definitely be delayed!"
The armored soldier was the guide sent by the post station.
Just as Ruan Mian was looking at him, he discovered that Aunt Chen from the Bo Mansion was chatting with him. After a few words, she ran back to Li Ming and gave him the dry food in her hand with a shy look.
No one else paid much attention to it, but Ruan Mian saw it all.
The original book did not describe the character Li Ming in much detail. At most, he appeared a few times as cannon fodder when his brother rebelled in the later period.
Ruan Mian was more cautious. She thought for a moment and seemed to guess that it was not so simple for the armored soldier to come here. However, they were just waiting for Cheng Yaojin to kill them on the way.
It’s not a big deal, but it allows us to see what the other party is up to.
On the other side, Ruan Jiao passed by a tree with some dry food.
She saw that Qi Nanfeng's lips were purple from the cold. After thinking for a moment, he put the broken pottery he had picked up in her hand.
The charcoal in the pottery was the one that Ruan Mian had given to the people in their uncle's mansion before. She had snatched it from a servant girl.
Qi Nanfeng was slightly startled, and was a little surprised when he saw that it was Ruan Jiao.
Ruan Jiao smiled sweetly and whispered, "Master Qi, take this to warm yourself up first. We still have a long way to go, don't get cold."
Qi Nanfeng was moved and called her: "You...are my sister-in-law?"
At first, Concubine Xian wanted the third daughter of the Ruan family to marry her, but after some inquiries, she found out that the third daughter was not favored in the Ruan family and would not be of any help if she married into the family!
Then it was the second girl's turn.
I didn't expect that this third girl is such a thoughtful and wonderful person. She is so much better than that vicious woman Ruan Mian.
In this situation, he was still willing to give himself some warmth. Qi Nanfeng's heart moved, and he held the pottery jar tightly and expressed his sincere gratitude.
After watching Ruan Jiao leave quickly, his heart felt like a small stone had been thrown into it, causing ripples...
When they set out again, everyone got off and walked.
Deep in the valley, the snow is white and the cold wind is biting.
Fortunately, we have family members who support each other, thick clothes and warm stoves, so we don’t starve or freeze.
We walked until it was getting dark, and when we came to a mudflat, we suddenly saw a camp ahead.
There were also many torches.
When they were confused, dozens of armored warriors suddenly ran out from the camp and surrounded them.
"Gentlemen, we are here to escort the fugitives to Wuheng for reform. We all have local documents. Please allow us to pass."
The leading officer took out the document tremblingly and cursed in his heart. He had escorted so many teams, but this one was the most troublesome.
Either I encounter bandits or beggars, and now I even encounter this kind of military officer!
They are so unlucky.
But before the document could be handed over, the leading soldier in armor roared, "Bring all these women to the tent! Throw the men into the toilet!"
Everyone was shocked and shrank back in fear.
No one knew what they would face next, and Zhang was so afraid that she held Ruan Mian and Ruan Qing in her arms.
Try not to show their faces as much as possible.
She knew that the soldiers had bad intentions, and it was easy to imagine why they wanted to capture the woman!
At this moment, the soldiers were numerous and powerful, and the people in the team were in chaos again. Ruan Mian looked at them calmly.
Until someone pulled them up.
One of them saw the good looks of Ruan Mian and Ruan Qing, grinned, and pinched her chin.
"She's still a beauty, take her away!"
"Sister! Sister! I want to be with you!" Ruan Qing struggled to come to Ruan Mian, and Cuizhu did the same.
The woman behind was screaming for help at the top of her lungs, but in such a huge valley, there was no kind-hearted person to save them.
Cuizhu looked at the swords and weapons outside the tent and cried out in fear, "Miss, these people... are probably worse than bandits!"
They all had real guns and swords, and they were all very rough.
Ruan Mian remembered what Guard Liu had said before.
He said that the war situation at the border was tense, and there were some deserters coming here from Ji County. This valley was at the junction of Ji County and Huicheng. These people were probably the deserters who had lost their food and were fleeing everywhere, right?
"Sister, I don't want anything to happen to you..."
Ruan Qing couldn't help but feel scared when he experienced this again. When he was tied up in a cave by bandits, he fainted on the spot.
Ruan Mian comforted him softly, "It's okay, I'm here."
Her gaze was as firm as a rock as she looked at the tents along the way. Through the gaps in the tents, she actually saw a lot of good things inside.
It seems that these are some supplies looted from Ji County.
Until they were brought into a large tent, and dozens of women were thrown to the ground.
After a while, someone picked out all the women in the Bo's house, untied the ropes and let them out.
This also includes Ruan Jiao.
Just when everyone was confused, Aunt Chen followed Li Ming and walked in with a swagger after opening the tent.
Aunt Chen's shrill voice pierced through her eardrums.
"Finally, you've suffered a lot!" She came to Ruan Mian with a smug look on her face and pinched her chin.
"Aren't you very powerful? How did you end up like this? If it weren't for you, our entire Bo Mansion wouldn't have fallen into this situation."
"Look at you, you've been enjoying yourself all this time. You think you can do whatever you want with the Prime Minister's blessing, right?"
"So what if he's protecting us? The emperor is far away, and he can't reach here no matter what! But our brother-in-law is different."
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