Chapter 134 Chapter 134 Just follow...
It took Chen Qing three whole days just to follow him out of Chang'an.
The moment she stepped out of Chang'an, she suddenly realized what kind of disaster the floods and snowstorms that had lasted for several months had brought to the people.
Corpses were scattered all over the ground, and people were starving for thousands of miles.
Wherever there is shelter from the snow, there are people everywhere.
These refugees huddled together to keep warm, half-naked, with disheveled hair and dirty faces. Their numb eyes blankly scanned the passersby.
This scene is completely different from the scene when August Chenqing went to Weinan County.
She felt indescribable in her heart.
She had seen this kind of refugee phenomenon before, but it was only limited to some remote areas.
Now, no matter where you go outside of Chang'an, you will see the same corruption and desolation.
The most terrifying thing is the endless despair.
The deep emotion also affected the mood.
Li Daoxuan pinched her soft knuckles and asked, "Does it hurt?"
Shen Qing pursed her lips.
"If you feel uncomfortable, don't look at it. Many places are like this. Once the turmoil in the court subsides, someone will take care of these things soon."
As soon as these words came out, the depression lingering in Chen Qing's heart dissipated a little.
Li Daoxuan: "Do you know why I chose to go to Guisou Hill to pray for the souls of the wronged?"
"Didn't you say you would take me to worship your mother and appease her resentment?"
“Just one of them.”
Li Daoxuan: "Have you noticed? Since August this year, Chang'an, which rarely experiences rain, has been raining continuously. It rarely stops, and now it's winter, and it's snowing."
"Have you ever seen so much rain and snow in Chang'an?"
It was as if a hole had been opened in the sky, eager to release all the rain and snow that had accumulated over the years. The people were the ones who suffered.
Because there is no snow all year round, there are not many warm clothes, and the people have no habit of stockpiling food in advance. Even though Emperor Jingren issued an order to reduce taxes this year, the people are still living a miserable life.
Chen Qing said, "Isn't this because the Crown Prince went against the will of Heaven and forcibly raised a great demon?"
For this reason, Li Zhibai even dug a long underground palace in Mount Li. Mount Li is close to Chang'an, and no one knows if there is a dragon vein of the Li Dynasty here. If the dragon vein is broken and the fate of the great demon interferes, wouldn't the Li Dynasty's fortune be disrupted and natural disasters continue?
Chen Qing believed that this year's disaster was caused by the prince's reckless meddling.
But according to Li Daoxuan, the truth seems to be more than that.
Li Daoxuan: "You may be right. But the seal will eventually break. If it does, it will be bad if these things get out and disturb the people. I'm taking precautions."
It seems she was overthinking it.
If he was afraid that the seal would loosen, why did he walk over there? Chen Qing cursed in his heart, he was simply sick.
However, no matter how dissatisfied Chen Qing was, she could only follow him obediently.
Suddenly, a burst of crying was heard, and a child who was not even as tall as Shen Qing's waist ran over crying, shouting "Aye".
Behind him, a man with a ferocious face and as thin as a bamboo was chasing him, holding a shiny knife in his hand.
Li Daoxuan held the little boy down, but did not draw his sword. Instead, he kicked the man out.
After losing the knife, the man covered his chest with his hands, his face ashen, and curled up into a ball, groaning in pain from his mouth and nose.
Seeing this, the boy rushed to the man again, crying, "Aye!"
It turned out that the man he called Aye before was the man who chased him with a knife.
The man seemed to be brought back to his senses by the kick. Looking at his young son in his arms, who was crying with a look of concern on his face, he suddenly broke down and cried.
"Dog! Aye was wrong! Aye shouldn't have wanted to eat you! Aye was wrong! Ahhhh——"
As he cried, he searched around with his eyes and finally found the lost knife on the ground. Then he raised it fiercely to his arms.
Neither Chen Qing nor Li Daoxuan made a move.
Suddenly, a scream erupted. The man held his bleeding arm, picked up the broken arm on the ground, and said to his son, "Dog! Aye was wrong. Aye won't eat you. Let's eat meat tonight! Aye will never do this again!"
He stood up trembling, holding his broken arm, and moved out step by step. His young son followed him, crying particularly miserably.
Chen Qing pursed her lips, pulled Li Daoxuan's clothes and left.
"What are you still looking at? Let's go."
Li Daoxuan held her palm with his backhand.
Neither of them mentioned helping the poor father and son.
There are too many poor people, and it is impossible to help them one by one. If we help them, the others will seem to see hope and will all come forward. There is only one bag of food, so who should we give it to?
The snow was still falling, but it was getting lighter and lighter.
Li Daoxuan knocked on a door.
The person who opened the door was a kind-faced old lady. Her eyes were cloudy and she seemed unable to see, but her smile was particularly kind.
"Who is it?"
Li Daoxuan: "Grandma, I am a wandering Taoist priest. My wife and I are passing through here and would like to stay for one night. Could you please help me?"
The old lady opened the door completely and said with a smile, "Come in. My son is away on a long trip, so there's a room available. I'm sorry to bother you two."
She was clean and tidy, unlike anyone from a poor family. Although her room was small, it was tidy and clean.
Li Daoxuan asked, "Can I borrow something from you in exchange for something?"
The old lady smiled and said, "Okay. Then help me shovel the snow in the yard."
"No one has shoveled the snow these days while my son is gone, and it's inconvenient for me to do it alone, so I'm sorry to bother you."
Li Daoxuan put it down and immediately rolled up his sleeves to start shoveling snow.
After about half a day, the snow was almost cleared. Chen Qing chatted with the old lady, and most of the time it was the old lady who asked questions.
"How old is the young lady?"
"Is the young master good to you?"
"When are you planning to have a baby?"
Hearing this question, Shen Qing choked and her face turned red.
She smiled awkwardly and said, "Haha, grandma, don't worry, we haven't traveled enough yet."
The old lady said with a look of "I understand", "That's right, there is no rush to have children, the most important thing is to live a happy life."
Chen Qing was surprised by the old lady's insight and secretly raised his thumb to show his approval.
"Shen Youan, come here."
Li Daoxuan's shouts were heard from afar. Li Daoxuan had shoveled all the snow without knowing when, or not completely, as there was still a pile of snow as big as a fist under his feet.
Li Daoxuan pointed at the fist-sized snow pile under his feet, clutched his stomach, and supported his forehead with one hand and said, "I'm so tired, help me shovel this pile of snow."
She looked at the man who was half a head taller than her. His face was calm and his heart was not beating fast. His breathing was very even. He did not look like he was about to be "tired to death" as he said.
“…”
She said, "That didn't tire you out," and went to shovel snow obediently.
The fist-sized pile of snow was cleared away in no time, and the snow was thrown out of the yard. Chen Qing turned back and saw Li Daoxuan chatting with the old lady.
Seeing Chen Qing coming back, Li Daoxuan thanked the old lady and took her hand and walked out of the yard.
Chen Qing was puzzled: "Didn't you say you wanted to stay overnight?"
Li Daoxuan said, "I've changed my mind. It's still early, so it's a good time to continue on our journey."
So he pulled her out.
After the hustle and bustle, there was endless emptiness. The old lady sat alone in the house and sighed.
There seemed to be a slight pecking sound coming from the window. She thought it was a bird trapped in the house by mistake, so she went to open the window.
A yellow thing flew in and landed on the old lady's shoulder. Its wings flapped continuously, making a slight sound. The old lady paused and touched her shoulder with her rough knuckles. It looked like a paper bird.
The talisman bird sensed the old lady's touch and stretched out its paper beak to touch the old lady's fingertips, which seemed to be playful.
The old lady didn't mind the noise, but instead felt a little less lonely and smiled more.
.
Chen Qing had been folding talisman birds all the way, and finally folded one that was decent. She shook the bird's wings, released it, and then turned around and asked, "What did you ask grandma for?"
Li Daoxuan took out a palm-sized bag from his arms and shook it.
The bag was empty and swayed weakly with the movement of his hands. It was obvious that there was nothing inside.
Chen Qing said angrily, “You’re trying to scare me with an empty bag. If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t tell me!”
Seeing that she had no intention of opening it, Li Daoxuan carefully put the bag away and said, "If you don't want to look at it, then don't look at it. Even if I show it to you, you won't believe it."
Chen Qing said: “I saw it, it’s just an empty bag!”
Li Daoxuan: "Then let me ask you, what's inside the empty bag?"
"Tsk, there's air."
"That's it, isn't air a thing?" A smile flashed across his eyes.
Chen Qing knew that she had been fooled by him again, and she immediately exploded. She threw herself into his arms and kneaded his hateful face fiercely.
Li Daoxuan yelled, “I was wrong, Shen Youan, stop pinching, if you pinch your face, you will only have an ugly husband.”
He grabbed the girl in his arms and held her up with one hand.
It was the same posture again. Chen Qing always felt that this was the posture for holding a child. This was how her senior brother and Aye held her when she was young.
Now being held like this by Li Daoxuan, Chen Qing always felt as if she was a generation lower than him, so she struggled and said, "Don't hold me, I want you to carry me on my back!"
Li Daoxuan: "Oh." He put the person down obediently and turned to carry her on his back.
After carrying her for a long time, Li Daoxuan knocked on another door.
The person who opened the door was an old lady who looked to be in her sixties. She asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Daoxuan asked the same question: "Can I borrow something from you in exchange for something?"
The old lady seemed to have never encountered such a request before. She was puzzled for a moment and asked, "What do you want to exchange for?"
This time Shen Qing knew what he wanted.
The old lady didn't ask for much, she just wanted him to help shovel the snow. The old lady had difficulty walking and her children were not around, so she could take care of herself, but she couldn't help feeling tired when shoveling snow.
Li Daoxuan spent some more time shoveling the snow, leaving the last small pile of snow. Li Daoxuan leaned against the tree and waved at her with a smile in his eyes.
This time he didn't need to say anything, Chen Qing had already stepped forward and shoveled out the small pile of snow.
The most difficult problem had already been solved by him. It was just a small pile of snow, a piece of cake.
After exchanging what Li Daoxuan wanted, the two of them set off again.
Before she knew it, it was already late at night. Chen Qing was so sleepy that she dozed off behind Li Daoxuan. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, took a deep breath, and felt the faint scent of grass and wood in his hair.
"Why don't you rest? Aren't you sleepy?" She was very sleepy.
Li Daoxuan: "It's okay, I can still walk for a while. You go to sleep first."
Chen Qing ignored him, found a comfortable position on his shoulder, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
When she woke up again, it was already bright outside. As if knowing that she was awake, Li Daoxuan put aside his deep feelings and knocked on another door.
This time, it was an elderly couple who opened the door.
Chen Qing rubbed his eyes, but before he woke up, he was pulled in by Li Daoxuan.
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