Chapter 219 The Passerby Who Froze to Death
Shen Muyang used to practice martial arts when he was in the manor, but the martial arts instructors in the Yongyi Marquis's manor either didn't care about him or taught him things that were not suitable for him.
Gu Yunrou had mentioned many times back in the manor that she wanted to change Shen Muyang's master, but Shen Tingshan had never agreed.
Now that they've made an excuse to leave the Marquis of Yongyi's residence, they can do whatever they want with it.
Although Shen Muyang desperately wanted to improve himself as quickly as possible, he knew his body wouldn't allow it, and he couldn't rush things. But he could…
"Mother, I know I'm not in good health. I'll talk about practicing martial arts when we get to Yunlu City, as I promised you."
But I want to train with Ningbao and the others.
Gu Yunrou was stunned for a moment.
"Ningbao and the others? You mean those kids from Shanglin Village?"
Shen Muyang nodded.
"Yeah, I think they're pretty interesting. Although they seem to be just messing around, I think they're practicing quite seriously, and it doesn't look like they're just practicing randomly. I feel like their moves look a bit familiar."
Shen Muyang paused for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
“Mother, I know what they are practicing now. It seems to be a military style of boxing. I’ve seen Grandpa practice it before.”
Unfortunately, I was too young back then and didn't remember many moves. Military boxing is best for strengthening the body and practicing basic skills. Now that I'm physically weak, I think it's good that I can practice with Ningbao and the others. What do you think, Mom?
Gu Yunrou looked up at Shen Muyang.
"I have no objection, as long as you are willing."
…………
At night, because the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) was on, everyone slept very soundly for the first half of the night, but in the second half, the more they slept, the more they felt something was wrong.
Ningbao burrowed into Shen Yuzhen's arms, and Li Guizhi, who was next to them, was immediately awakened by the cold. She opened her eyes and looked at Ningbao.
"Yuzhen, do you feel cold?"
It was still late at night and the house was pitch black. When Shen Yuzhen heard her mother-in-law's voice, she quickly looked in Li Guizhi's direction.
"Mother, you're awake. Are you too cold to sleep?"
Li Guizhi rubbed her slightly cold hands.
"It is indeed a bit cold. The kang (heated brick bed) is clearly warm, but why do I still feel cold?"
Shen Yuzhen hugged Ningbao closer to her.
"Mother, do you think this could be the cold wave that Ningbao mentioned?"
At this moment, Liu Qingru, who had also been awakened by the cold, sat up immediately.
"Yuzhen, do you mean a cold wave is coming? To be honest, we've never experienced a cold wave like this before, but I heard about it from Aunt Wang's mother next door."
She said that there was a cold wave more than 60 years ago, and everyone was fine before going to bed. Not only did they not feel cold, but they also felt much warmer than usual.
However, some people are lucky to be woken up by the cold in the middle of the night because they know that when the weather gets cold, they can add more quilts and heat the kang (a traditional heated brick bed).
Those who remained unconscious and were frozen solid were the unfortunate ones; they stopped breathing in their sleep.
Thankfully, we listened to Ningbao and heated the kang (a traditional heated brick bed) in advance, otherwise we would have been in real trouble.
Li Guizhi and the others added some more firewood to the kang (heated brick bed), put their quilts together in pairs, and slowly got used to the cold before going to sleep again.
The next morning, everyone rubbed their hands together as they got out of bed. As soon as they pushed the door open a crack, they felt a bone-chilling cold rushing towards them.
Shen Yuzhen, Liu Qingru, and the others had just put on two more layers of cotton clothing and were about to open the door to go to the kitchen to cook when Ningbao poked her little head out from under the covers.
"Mother, Aunt, Aunt Liu's kitchen is too cold. You'll freeze if you go there to cook."
Li Guizhi, who had been forced by Shen Yuzhen to stay in bed and sleep with Ningbao, sat up and looked at them.
"Yuzhen, it's too cold outside. Be careful and don't linger outside."
All morning everyone was talking about the cold wave, and the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) in the house never stopped burning. After a night of warming the room, the temperature had risen considerably.
The daytime chill didn't seem as intense as the nighttime chill, so Shen Junshan and Gu Xiang sent guards outside to check the situation.
Recently, we've frequently seen refugees coming to the temple. In the past, there were fewer of them, but now that there are more of them, the other side doesn't dare to cause trouble.
It's during a cold wave now, and those refugees on the road who haven't found shelter yet will definitely be looking for a place to stay today if they didn't freeze to death yesterday.
I don't know why, but there used to be almost no refugees on this road to the east, but now there are slowly starting to be more and more.
I had heard that the imperial court had already provided disaster relief, but it seems that the effect was not very good.
The village chief and Gu Xiang were worried that the refugees might try to sneak into the temple together, so for safety reasons they still needed to check it out and find any suspicious people so they could prepare in advance.
...
At this time, many refugees who had frozen to death were lying haphazardly on the official road outside.
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