A man in a green robe took the driver's hand and jumped directly from the carriage.
Lianyi had excellent eyesight. Through the half-open door of the carriage, she saw a gray-clothed servant with a dagger stuck in his chest. He should be this man's subordinate, but she didn't know how he killed himself.
The man got out of the car and bowed to Lianyi to thank him:
"Thank you, lady, for your generosity and help!"
"You are too polite, sir! But the city ahead is Haoyuan City, and there are many disaster victims gathered at the city gate. If your carriage rushes through it recklessly, it may cause trouble."
Lianyi also bowed and briefly explained why she was helping.
Then Lianyi prepared to turn around and leave. To these officials, if you act too aggressive, they will suspect that you have an ulterior motive in approaching them, so she might as well retreat. After all, there was a dead body in the other party's car, and they would definitely need the help of her, a "heroine" who was willing to help.
Sure enough, after Lianyi took five steps out, the man called Lianyi:
"Lady, please stay!"
This time it was Lianyi who pretended to be alert and turned around to ask:
"My lord, what can I do for you?"
The man saw that Lianyi had stopped walking but was still very wary of him, so he put aside some of his worries and said, “I’m so worried about you.”
"To be honest, I was going to Haoyuan City, but I was betrayed by the servant who had followed me for many years. I almost died in a car accident. Fortunately, I got the help of the female hero. However, I am just a scholar and I am powerless. I hope to get the protection of the female hero. When I successfully enter Haoyuan City, I will definitely reward the female hero with a large sum of money."
Yu Junyu said immediately, with a very sincere attitude, fearing that Lianyi would refuse.
"Are you a scholar or a juren?"
Ripple asked, tilting her head.
"I am a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in the 184th year of Dagan."
Yu Junyu immediately stated his identity as a scholar. After all, scholars had a very high social status. As for his identity as an imperial envoy, he did not deliberately explain it to Lianyi.
"If you are really a scholar, you should be able to enter Haoyuan City smoothly. I don't want you to pay me a lot of money. As long as you bring my family into Haoyuan City without spending any money, I will agree to be your bodyguard and keep you safe."
Lianyi made the request at the right time.
"You mean, you can't enter Haoyuan City without silver?"
Yu Junyu's radar was activated immediately, he grasped the most critical word, and asked immediately.
"Moreover, even if we have money, we may not be able to get in. Haoyuan City is now closed. Only a small gate is opened for those rich families and civilians who are willing to sell their children to enter. Even if my family is willing to tighten the belt and pay the money, we may not be able to get in."
Ripple told the truth.
“Is the situation already that bad?”
Yu Junyu frowned.
"If you don't believe me, ask your driver to find out. The soldiers guarding the city gate have colluded with the human traffickers. I think it's only a matter of time before Haoyuan City gets into trouble."
Ripple said nonchalantly.
Yu Junyu thought for a moment, called the driver over, whispered a few words in his ear, and then said to Lianyi:
"I agree to your request. Shall we set off now?"
"It's getting dark now. It's not safe at night. Please follow me into the woods to hide for one night. I will escort you into the city at dawn tomorrow."
Yu Junyu looked at the sky and accepted Lianyi's proposal.
"The horses must also be led into the woods, otherwise they will become food for the victims overnight."
Lianyi reminded casually.
Yu Junyu nodded to the coachman, who climbed into the carriage first, put away the dagger that was stuck in the dead man's chest, searched the other person's body, and when he found nothing, he threw the body into the ditch in the field. Then he led the carriage and followed Lianyi to the place where the Zhang family was hiding.
Before Lianyi walked out of the woods, Song Dachuan and Zhang Fengliang came to meet her. After seeing the two people and the car behind them, they became very alert. Song Dachuan said nothing, but just signaled Lianyi with his eyes.
"Dad, this is the scholar. He can take us into Haoyuan City. We will follow him into the city tomorrow, and he will rest with us tonight."
Lianyi explained the situation succinctly.
“Is it reliable?”
Song Dachuan asked in a low voice.
"Give it a try. If it doesn't work, we'll think of another way."
Lianyi knew that the other party's identity was reliable, but she couldn't say it directly, so she could only answer like this.
"Sister Lianyi, it's a horse!"
Zhang Fengliang said in a low, excited voice.
"Yes! It's a horse! A horse that made it here alive!"
Ripple said with a smile.
Because they were traveling through the woods, it was very inconvenient to drive the carriage, so in the end the coachman led one horse, and Zhang Fengliang took over the task of leading the other horse. Lianyi cooperated with Song Dachuan to move the separated carriages into the depths of the woods, and Yu Junyu was responsible for making sure he didn't fall behind.
The group walked deeper into the woods for another quarter of an hour before they saw the Zhang family.
When Old Zhang saw Lianyi and Song Dachuan coming back with two strangers, he immediately went over to ask about the situation. When he learned that they were scholars who could take them into Haoyuan City tomorrow, Old Zhang said three good words in a row.
Yu Junyu also made full use of his advantage as a juren and quickly struck up a conversation with the men of the Zhang family. He learned that they were the first group of people to flee the famine, and because they made a decisive decision, they did not encounter any major crisis and were able to keep their families safe. It was not easy for them to escape here.
He was even more surprised when he learned that the place they wanted to go was Huangzhou, not the nearest Huzhou.
"Old man, you have a family with you, and a newborn baby. Why do you want to go to the more distant Huangzhou instead of going to the nearby Huzhou? After all, Huzhou is richer than Huangzhou."
"Alas! We are just common people, we only know how to farm. In a big place like Huzhou, even if we spend all our money, we may not be able to buy land. Without land, what will we eat? We can't leave even a piece of land to our descendants after a hundred years!
Huangzhou is far away and a bit desolate, but there is land there. As long as we are willing to open up the wasteland and cultivate it, with the labor of our family, we can always save a few acres of thin land. With the land, we can survive. Land is the foundation of our farming family."
Although Old Zhang couldn't say anything profound, he was speaking the truth, so Yu Junyu listened very carefully.
In the evening, Yu Junyu and the driver ate brown rice porridge with them. It tasted a bit spicy to the throat, but seeing that the Zhang family members were drinking it with relish, he said nothing and finished the porridge in his bowl.
Lianyi glanced at the other person, then drank the porridge in her bowl in a few gulps. Then she hugged Hu Zi and warmed his body again. Then she fell asleep with Hu Zi in her arms. She didn't have to keep watch tonight and could rest peacefully.
Nothing happened that night. As soon as the sun rose, the Zhang family started to move. Today's breakfast was richer because of Yu Junyu's arrival. Also because they were going to the group of disaster victims, Old Zhang asked for a thick rice porridge to be made, the kind that chopsticks could stand up when inserted into it, so that everyone could have enough food to eat and have the energy to deal with any emergency.
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