Chapter 101 Pirates
Almost the moment Lu Shili jumped onto the donkey cart, the cart sped away.
After a while, Jiang Tangtang finally recovered from her panic and asked, "What happened?"
Lu Shili clenched his fists and shouted angrily, "It's a pirate!"
Jiang Tangtang was thinking about the boxes of weapons she found in the cave last time, and her eyebrows suddenly jumped. Could it be that someone was colluding with the pirates?
She subconsciously looked at Lu Shiyan, and at the same time, Lu Shiyan was looking back at her.
Obviously, the two of them thought of the same thing.
At this time, Lu Shili was still filled with anger and self-blame. "I was afraid that my mother and the others would be in danger. I saw the villagers being slaughtered, but I didn't save them."
Lu Shiyan swung the whip in his hand more vigorously.
When they returned to Zhuangzi, it was already in chaos.
Seeing her son and daughter-in-law come back, Su Shi seemed to have found her backbone. She grabbed Lu Shiyan tightly and asked, "What should we do?"
Lu Shiyan comforted his mother and said to Lu Shili, "Look after the family. I'll go find Manager Xia."
However, before Lu Shiyan left the house, Manager Xia arrived first.
"Manager Xia, have pirates come to rob the manor before?" Lu Shiyan asked.
Manager Xia said, "They come too, but they rob the villages less often. They mostly go to the county towns of Xili and Quchun to steal property. After they're done, Yang Fan runs away."
"What about Raoying County?" Jiang Tangtang is most concerned about the safety of his family.
"The walls of Raoying County are stronger than those of Xiliquchun. Plus, General Song's family is in Raoying County, so the defense is stronger. Those pirates didn't dare to attack Raoying County."
"Then why don't we go to the county town to hide?" Su asked anxiously.
"I came to you to discuss this matter," said Manager Xia. "But we're worried about accidents along the way, so it's best for us to go to the city as a team."
"What about the villagers?" Lu Shiyan had been on the battlefield since he was fifteen and had never been a deserter. Although he was no longer a general, he was unwilling to escape without a fight.
"There is a cave in the back mountain."
Manager Xia only said this. Obviously, he no longer cared whether the cave could be hidden or the property in the house could be preserved.
"Shi Yan, I know you can't just leave the villagers alone, but can you please consider me and the children?"
Su anxiously grabbed Lu Shiyan and cried, "You went to the battlefield at the age of fifteen, and your father even lost his life on the battlefield, but what happened to us in the end? This time, listen to your mother and don't be stubborn, okay?"
"Mom, I'll listen to you!" Lu Shiyan said with his eyes lowered.
The family began to pack their things in a hurry. They definitely couldn’t take the big items, so they could only take the more valuable things.
Jiang Tangtang took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and put all the beeswax and other materials into the space.
The Lu family only had one donkey cart, which was too big to accommodate so many people. Fortunately, the Xia family had an old ox cart, and the Lu family happened to have an extra ox, so they could make do with it.
The two families, with just one donkey cart and two ox carts, squeezed together and hurried to the county town.
Just as the car was about to leave the village, Ge Shuanniang caught up with her son and daughter, "Manager Xia, Sister Jiang, wait a moment, can you give us a ride? We're going to the city too."
If it were anyone else, Jiang Tangtang would have let them squeeze in. But for that gossipy Ge Shuanniang, forget it.
Not only did she not stop, she even yelled at Lu Shili to hurry up. Ge Shuanniang had been suffering from diarrhea all day, and her legs were already weak. The donkey cart was speeding up, so there was no way she could catch up.
In the end, I could only go home cursing.
On this side, Jiang Tangtang and his group entered the city gate at the last moment before Raoying County closed the city gate, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"My sister is getting married in the county town. Why don't you come with me to my sister's house to hide for a while?" Manager Xia wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.
"No, we just rented a shop in the city today, which is just right for us to stay."
Jiang Tangtang concealed the fact that she bought the shop, but told the Xia family the address and invited them to stay in her shop.
Manager Xia naturally refused, "This is a mess. I have to go check on my sister first, otherwise I won't be at ease."
The two families parted at the intersection, and Jiang Tangtang took her family to the new shop they had bought today.
Only after they entered the yard and closed the gate did the family feel relieved.
"We rented this house at the perfect time, Tangtang. You are the lucky star of our family." Su said thankfully, covering her chest.
Jiang Tangtang said: "It's just a coincidence!"
She took out some pork from her bag and shared it with everyone, saying, "Fill your stomachs first!"
She had originally planned to make more pork jerky and sell it as gift boxes during the Lunar New Year. But before she could discuss the gift boxes with Shopkeeper Song, their partnership fell apart. Now, she had the pork jerky ready to fill everyone's stomachs.
He Qiuniang felt embarrassed to eat such a precious meal from the host family, so she stood up and said, "Madam, I see there's a stove and firewood over there. I'll go boil some water for everyone!"
After she said that, everyone felt very thirsty and hungry.
Having experienced the hardships of exile, Mrs. Su and Mrs. Lu both knew the importance of food. The first thing they packed during this escape was the food at home.
Now I might as well take out the grain and make porridge.
Everyone was busy, but Lu Shiyan said, "I'm going out for a while."
Su was immediately anxious, "Your leg isn't healed yet, what are you doing outside?"
"Don't worry, mom. I won't risk going back to the village alone." After Lu Shiyan said this, he gave Lu Shili a few instructions and left.
Su was so angry that she cursed, "This is so troublesome!"
"Mom, although we have entered the city, it is not necessarily safe. It would be better for my husband to go out and get some information, in case something unexpected happens and we are blind and have no way out." Jiang Tangtang advised.
"You said he went to get information?" Su looked at her daughter-in-law suspiciously.
"Of course!"
Jiang Tangtang actually didn't know what Lu Shiyan was doing, but based on her interactions with him these days, she felt that he was a very responsible person.
People like him want to be heroes and rescue innocent people, but they will also take care of their families first.
Only then did Su stop cursing.
In the evening, everyone had a simple meal of pork jerky mixed with porridge. After dinner, Lu Shiyan still hadn't returned. The children were already exhausted and gradually dozed off.
Jiang Tangtang said, "Mom, let's squeeze in and rest first!"
The car was too small to carry so many things, so after taking away all the food, only two quilts were taken.
Plus, there weren't any extra beds in the house, so they decided to squeeze all the men into one room, and all the women into another, and sleep there that night. Everything else would be dealt with tomorrow.
Mrs. Lu couldn't hold on any longer and went to sleep with the children. Lu Shili didn't sleep, but held a big knife in the yard, shouldering the responsibility of guarding.
Jiang Tangtang couldn't sleep, so she secretly hid in the space and made a lot of steamed buns and other dry food in case of emergency.
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