Xiao An sat quietly, like a timid little animal, listening attentively to her "second sister" and eldest brother.
When he heard Song Liyun talking to Song Zhenping about whether to stay or leave, he quietly moved closer, tightly holding Song Zhenping's hand, his dark eyes filled with terror.
Song Liyun's heart tightened, and she immediately realized that she had been thinking too simply.
I and Song Zhenping are normal people who can foresee danger, but Xiao An has obvious intellectual problems and poor physical condition.
It is indeed quite difficult to become a refugee in such a chaotic area.
Pulled back by his younger brother, Song Zhenping's brows gradually relaxed. He looked at Xiao An and said, "Alright, if we're going to be refugees, then we'll be refugees. Let's go into the mountains. No matter how hard it gets, we siblings will die together."
When he heard Song Liyun say that even if he returned to Xiaoshi Village and started a new household, he would still have to deal with his stepmother and second uncle coming to make trouble every day, his heart sank to the bottom: he didn't want his younger sister and brother to live in fear anymore.
Second Sister is right, we must leave Little Stone Village.
The wild beasts in the mountains only attack people when they are hungry, but returning to Xiaoshi Village would mean endless torment, a fate worse than death.
Song Zhenping felt inexplicably calm. Since his second sister came back, he felt as if he had found a pillar of support, and everything was different from before.
Seeing that Song Zhenping agreed, Song Liyun was overjoyed. She didn't think that far ahead; all she needed was for Song Zhenping to agree to go with her.
At this moment, the noise ahead grew closer and closer. Song Liyun wasted no more time, stood up and walked to the side of the road, preparing to find a suitable place to leave immediately.
Song Zhenping said, "Yun'er, wait a moment. Uncle Kui is good to us. Even if we are leaving, we should tell him. We can't let the village head worry about us."
In Xiaoshi Village, the only person who cared about the Song Zhenping brothers was the village head.
Although he failed to fulfill his duties as village head due to personal reasons, he did his best to keep Xiao An alive and prevent her from dying in her swaddling clothes.
Since he and his sister might never see each other again after this departure, it was only right to say goodbye and give some farewell instructions to Song Dekui.
Just as the three siblings were getting ready, they saw a large number of people suddenly running backward. However, they were not moving fast, walking and stopping, hesitating, and looking back as they ran.
Soon, Song Liyun also saw what was happening in the distance.
Some people rode horses back and forth through the crowd, as if trying to stop the people who were scattering.
Song Dekui also arrived at this time. He was tall and thin and ran with a bouncy gait, making him stand out among the group of people carrying bedding.
Before they even got close, Song Dekui started shouting, "Daping, run! The Zhenbei Army is trying to kidnap people!"
Military camps are snatching people? Are they conscripting able-bodied men for the army?
Like everyone else around her, Song Liyun listened in a daze.
Song Dekui rushed over, grabbed his bedding, and said breathlessly, "It's the Zhenbei Army building a border fortress and they need laborers. They're gathering people, but no one wants to go, so they're just forcibly taking them."
Hey! Let me tell you, repairing border fortresses is a tough job, much tougher than repairing roads outside the county town.
Repairing it would take several months, and there was no guarantee that the repaired item would be ready for the day. Even if you offered fifty coins a day, no one would do it.
"Come on, Daping, you carry Xiao'an, let's hide in the back a bit before heading to the county town."
Song Liyun did not move. Her eyes showed joy. She was worried about where to go. Building a border village was better than being a refugee.
Song Zhenping also looked delighted, as he had thought of the same thing.
To build a border fortress, of course we should go to the border fortress!
If he didn't know Yun'er's plan, he might have thought it was a chore.
But things are different now. Building border fortresses is not only safer than being a refugee, but it also allows you to make money. This is a fantastic thing.
"Uncle Kui, I'm going to repair the border fortress!" Song Zhenping said.
Song Dekui's hand, which was holding the bedding, stopped abruptly, his eyes widening in disbelief: "Daping, are you out of your mind? Do you know what the Zhenbei Army means? Do you know what building border fortresses means?"
Song Zhenping shook his head: "I don't know, as long as we have food to eat, we're fine! We're going!"
Song Dekui was stunned. Seeing that Song Zhenping and his sister didn't seem to be joking, he immediately bent over, stomped his feet, and shouted, "Are you asking for trouble?!"
Half an hour later, Song Liyun and Song Zhenping got into the back of a carriage, along with several other dejected people.
The commotion in the crowd had given Song Liyun a pretty good idea of what was going on.
The Wu Dynasty had ten prefectures, and Yun Prefecture, where I was located, was the northernmost, on the border.
The Zhenbei Army was stationed in the Xiashi Pass area of Yunzhou, separated from the nomadic Di people by a vast grassland and Gobi desert.
The two sides are frequently at war, and a major battle occurred five years ago, resulting in nearly 10,000 deaths and injuries, so everyone is afraid to go to the border.
Xiashi Pass is nearly 400 li away from here, and it would take these laborers at least ten days to walk there.
The Zhenbei Army was competing with the government for labor services. They prepared a large number of troop transport wagons early on, and once a wagon was full of people, they would leave as soon as possible.
As for why the Zhenbei Army would conscript laborers from such a distant place, even the minor officials of Qingping Town couldn't explain it.
He could only watch helplessly as the unfamiliar soldiers dragged and robbed his laborers away.
Inside the carriage, apart from the Song siblings who came voluntarily, everyone else was forcibly brought there.
Xiao An leaned against Song Liyun's chest, staring intently at several soldiers outside the carriage, dressed in leather armor and holding waist knives.
Just now, my second sister and eldest brother were going to repair the border fortress, but because they wanted to take me with them, those menacing-looking people refused, saying that they would only allow my eldest brother to go if they abandoned me.
My second sister said: Those who can easily abandon their brothers and sisters can also easily betray their promises. She said that those who fight on the battlefield should hate this even more.
If Xiao An hadn't been left behind, she wouldn't have gone to repair the border fortress.
Finally, those fierce-looking people only agreed after seeing the second sister smile!
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