Zhou jumped to her feet, excitedly asking, "Really?"
Perhaps she was too excited, because she rubbed her forehead and felt that sharp pain in her head come back again.
Li and Yu were also very excited, "Is it really possible for our elder brother to be reinstated to his original position?"
Xiao Youran nodded, "I dreamt about it."
Zhou calmed herself down and said to Madam Yun, "Mother, Xiaoyou Ran is right. Even if her dream is inaccurate, returning to the capital will definitely benefit Kuang Ge'er and the others."
Madam Yun hesitated, "What about Wan'er? What will happen to her?"
Xiao Youran said matter-of-factly, "Of course he'll come back to the capital with us! My brother-in-law is going to be a great general!"
Madam Yun, brimming with confidence, immediately made the decision, "Alright! Wan'er will return to the capital with us! And her sister-in-law will come along too!"
Anyway, since his grandson-in-law Zhao Huai has no roots or property here, it doesn't matter where he settles down.
The three Zhou sisters-in-law smiled with relief upon hearing this.
Since they were going to leave anyway, they didn't bother tidying up the house and split into two groups. One group went to the county town to buy carriages, horses, clothes, and food for the journey, while the other group stayed in Yunjia Village to make proper arrangements for the rest of the matter.
The instant noodle workshop will continue to operate. Xiao Youran promised to deliver rice and noodles within three days, and the personnel and materials have been fully entrusted to the clan chief and his wife. As for the technical issues, the previous workers were on an assembly line, so it wasn't difficult. Granny Wang taught the clan chief's daughter-in-law step by step.
This instant noodle workshop is related to the livelihood of two villages, so Yun Laoqi dared not be careless and instructed his son Chengwang and daughter-in-law to carefully understand and take over the business.
After signing a monthly salary and profit-sharing agreement with Yun Laoqi, Su took Yun Chengwang to the Wufeng County government office to meet with the clerk in charge of collecting instant noodles and transporting them to the Ministry of War to coordinate the work. Only then was the matter considered settled.
Before leaving, Xiao Youran remembered the fruit trees she had been clamoring to plant. She asked around and found out that the fruit trees had only just ripened when the Westerners entered the pass and almost all of them were ruined.
She had no choice but to give up, and instructed the clan chief to write to her when the harvest came next year.
However, the Zhou family and their companions, who went to Wufeng County to buy grain, returned empty-handed with furrowed brows. The reason was that Wufeng County was almost completely empty at this time, and even with money, they could not buy a single grain of grain.
The common people fled, and the merchants' grain had long been requisitioned by the county government.
Although the group of Great Zhou troops that returned a few days ago headed straight for Sanyang Mountain, they reached out and asked him for food supplies when they passed through this place.
This made Magistrate Cao so anxious that a few more strands of his hair turned white.
What could he possibly offer? Fortunately, the five hundred soldiers were eager to save lives, and seeing that he had no food, they didn't linger and ran away.
However, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, another soldier who had been looking out from a high vantage point rushed in with a frantic report: "Lord Cao! More bandits are coming from the north, and this time, judging by the looks of them, there are at least a thousand soldiers!"
Magistrate Cao was startled. "The North Gate?"
"right!"
"Quickly, close all four city gates!"
"yes!"
Another round of chaos ensued. Many refugees who had fled here had been blocked outside the city for more than ten days. They thought that being around the county town was safer than being in the countryside. But before they even entered the city, Westerners were attacking from outside. What should they do?
So the refugees fled south in droves.
Magistrate Cao immediately climbed to a high place and deployed his meager number of archers, ready for battle.
As the thousand Western barbarians galloped towards the city, the archers gripped their weapons tightly, calculating how many volleys the few arrows in their quivers could sustain them.
The young recruit at the head of the group raised his arm high, shouting, "Ready—"
The archer raised the arrow and aimed at the distant black dot.
The young recruit silently counted down in his mind, "Ten, nine, eight... three, two..."
Huh?
The last word almost slipped out, but then the dense black dots circled the high city wall and rushed along the official road.
Looking at the densely packed Western barbarian cavalry beyond firing range, the soldiers guarding the city wall and Magistrate Cao and others all had blank, bewildered expressions: ???
Weren't they coming to the county town?
Magistrate Cao's eyes darted around, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Sanyang Mountain!
They must have gone to rescue the thousand prisoners who were trapped on Sanyang Mountain!
I wonder if those five hundred soldiers can withstand it?
He was already struggling to take care of himself, so there was no way he could provide support. The few hundred soldiers left defending the city had been starving for more than ten days, so how could they possibly fight?
If we empty the area, what if more Westerners come? We'll definitely lose this county.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a soldier, pulled out a hard, dry biscuit of unknown origin from his pocket, and stuffed it into the soldier's hand. "Quick! Go and report a message near Sanyang Mountain!"
Over there in Yunjia Village, every household was busy cleaning their houses and bringing out the potatoes and some grains that had survived in the cellar to dry.
Early in the morning, the Yun family patriarch and the Zhao family patriarch led some able-bodied men to the instant noodle workshop between the two villages to check the grain reserves. They found that although the grain had been mostly destroyed, there was still a considerable amount left, so they hurriedly moved it to their respective villages.
Just as they were busy at work, several people dressed in tattered clothes rushed over.
They arrived at Zhao Family Village first.
Upon seeing this, Elder Zhao immediately pulled several able-bodied men forward to stop them and asked, "What's going on?"
Those people looked like refugees.
A young man helped the panting woman up, bowed deeply, and said, "Grandpa, we came from Wufeng County. Western bandits are attacking from the north. We're thirsty from running. Could we ask for a drink of water?"
The old clan chief Zhao was startled. As he led the group toward his home, he asked, "Have more Western barbarian bandits attacked? Are they besieging Wufeng County?"
"Perhaps, we didn't see them. We heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance and ran away as fast as we could," the boy said weakly.
An ominous premonition rose in the heart of the old village chief Zhao. He asked his wife to pour two glasses of water for the mother and son, and then took them out.
A young man rushed over, shouting, "Village chief! Something terrible has happened! The Western barbarians are here again! I heard they're massacring the entire village of Lijia Gou up ahead!"
Old Village Chief Zhao was shocked.
The boy was dumbfounded and muttered, "Could it be...could it be that they didn't attack the city at all, but instead bypassed Wufeng County?"
The young man said, "There are many refugees along the way. I heard that the Western barbarian bandits are asking around whether there are any prisoners in the mountains!"
Village Chief Zhao immediately realized, "This is bad! They must be after the thousand prisoners held on Sanyang Mountain! Quick! Tell everyone in the village to head south, preferably around Sanyang Mountain!"
The young man felt a pang of sympathy and immediately went to inform them.
The boy, supporting the woman, didn't say much and quickly walked away, his steps uneven.
Village Chief Zhao then sent someone to immediately notify Yunjia Village.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com