During the break, the village chief called a meeting with representatives from each household.
When Wang Degui returned, his brows were furrowed.
Seeing this, Chen Chunhua's heart tightened, and she quickly chased after him to ask, "Honey, what did the village chief say? Why do you look so pale?"
It turned out that when the village chief passed by the refugees earlier, he used grain to inquire about some information.
The drought in Yazhou is severe, and more and more disaster victims are being forced to leave their hometowns and flock to the surrounding areas in search of a chance to survive.
Currently, a large number of refugees are surging towards Ping Chau behind them.
The group we just met were in a similar situation to them; they were all unable to make a living in their hometowns and were preparing to go to Yangzhou to try their luck.
"What are we going to do with so many refugees running away?"
Seeing his wife's worry, Wang Degui comforted her, "Don't worry too much. We left early, and the refugees won't be able to catch up for a while. Besides, we're just passing through Yangzhou. The village chief was just worried about something else going wrong, so he told us to hurry up."
Hearing Wang Degui say this, Chen Chunhua breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded hurriedly, saying, "It's good to hurry on our way! Then let's hurry on our way!"
"Yes, we'll leave at dawn tomorrow. The journey will be long and exhausting for everyone, so our family will take turns riding in the donkey cart to rest."
Wang Degui made the final decision. After speaking, he turned around, took two pieces of mixed grain cakes, and went to feed the donkey in front of the donkey cart.
At this time, life is tough for people, and it's tough for donkeys too...
After traveling for nearly ten more days, the group finally saw the gates of Yangzhou.
The people of Stone Village rested not far outside the city, waiting for the village chief to inquire about the news.
Those who frequently traveled were even more puzzled upon seeing the current state of Yangzhou.
When the village chief returned with the news, everyone's hearts sank to the bottom.
Yangzhou had learned of the severe drought that had struck Yazhou and Pingzhou long ago.
Upon learning of this, Yangzhou did not try to take in the disaster victims, but instead sent people to reinforce the city walls.
Moreover, they specially deployed a group of state soldiers to garrison outside the city to prevent any unrest.
Now, the situation is becoming increasingly serious.
The government of Yangzhou stipulates that anyone wishing to enter Yangzhou must pay taxes per person, regardless of age or gender, unless they are a native of Yangzhou.
The village chief pleaded with the official, earnestly explaining that he only needed to pass through Yangzhou, but the official remained unmoved and refused to make any exceptions.
"Good heavens! Since when do we have to pay silver to enter Yangzhou? In my opinion, it's clearly just that those corrupt officials in Yangzhou are trying to line their own pockets!"
Someone in the crowd started shouting indignantly.
"That's right! I don't see many soldiers standing guard at the city gate. Why don't we all charge in together and see what they can do to us!" another person chimed in.
Seeing the situation gradually getting out of control, the village chief quickly raised his cane and slammed it hard on the ground.
"Shut up! All of you shut up! Don't spout nonsense here!"
The village chief was highly respected, and after his rebuke, the crowd quieted down a bit.
Thus, the village chief continued with a solemn expression: "Gentlemen, you may not know this, but the prefect of Yangzhou is no ordinary person. He has already borrowed a large number of soldiers from nearby prefectural offices to reinforce you. I advise you to abandon this idea of forcibly breaking through the pass as soon as possible! Don't harm yourself and others!"
Seeing the pillars of each household looking dejected, the village chief couldn't help but sigh heavily.
"Everyone, go back and discuss it carefully. Tomorrow morning, hand me the number of people and the money you want to go through. If you've decided to leave, we'll cross the border together at noon tomorrow."
As soon as Wang Degui returned, he pulled Chen Chunhua aside and began to whisper among themselves.
The two of them were chirping crickets.
Wang Xiuxiu watched this scene from afar and muttered to herself: Judging from the sneaky way these two are acting, nothing good is going to happen!
So when she went to cook, she deliberately perked up her ears, wanting to hear what they were saying over there.
I could vaguely hear things like "one or two taels of silver" and "why don't you just rob someone?"
The Wang family has a total of six members. If all of them are to pass the test, they will have to pay six taels of silver.
When she took out the money, Chen Chunhua felt as if her heart had been stabbed with a knife, and the pain was excruciating!
After finally making it through the checkpoint, the group arrived at the city gate, only to find that not only were there soldiers on guard, but also some merchants dressed differently from ordinary people.
Wang Xiuxiu was filled with doubts, but she didn't dare to ask too many questions at the moment.
Later, while they were waiting in the city to change their travel permits, Wang Xiuxiu saw an aunt who had been wiping away tears ever since they entered the city.
Driven by curiosity, Wang Xiuxiu quietly moved closer.
Suddenly, she shouted angrily, "You damned bastard! How could you be so heartless as to sell your own daughter? Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
"What can I do! If we don't sell her, our whole family will starve! Besides, she's being sold to a good family as a servant; who knows, she might have a better life than you and me in the future!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiuxiu suddenly realized that the group of people standing at the city gate were actually brokers.
They stood there, squeezing every last drop of profit from these poor people.
How heartless!
Wang Xiuxiu was very familiar with the family that had just been arguing.
That family had three sons and one daughter.
When we lived in Stone Village, although our family wasn't particularly well-off, we were certainly not so poor that we had to sell our daughter to raise six taels of silver.
Yet at this moment, they cruelly abandoned their own daughter.
Ultimately, it all boils down to selfishness!
At that very moment, Wang Xiuxiu's thoughts suddenly drifted back to the instant she had just entered the city.
She clearly remembered that Chen Chunhua seemed to be frozen in place, her eyes fixed on the direction of the brokerage firm, and she didn't look away for a long, long time.
Only at the very end did he turn away with a conflicted expression.
Given this situation, Wang Xiuxiu couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Chen Chunhua had also considered selling herself at that time?
But what were the reasons for choosing to give up halfway through?
Wang Xiuxiu didn't think Chen Chunhua had a change of heart.
Chen Chunhua has no conscience.
Wang Xiuxiu preferred to believe that she still had something that could be used against her.
After all, although he had never boasted about earning a huge amount of money at home over the years, he had always delivered a certain amount of money to his family every month without fail.
This amount of silver far exceeds the amount of customs duties paid.
While Wang Xiuxiu wasn't utterly disappointed by Chen Chunhua's idea, she was acutely aware that Chen Chunhua was someone who couldn't be trusted.
Wang Xiuxiu secretly resolved that once she got through this ordeal, she would find a way to escape this family and no longer be controlled by others.
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