In the evening, when Chen Nian came back from his shift, Xia Tian told him that he was going to Pingyang City.
Shen Nian frowned, "It's not peaceful outside right now. Many refugees are coming to the capital. What if something happens on the way?"
The last time Xia Tian told him about the refugees in Lingwu Temple, he sent people to check the situation outside the city the next day, and it was indeed as she said.
Later, after leaving the court, he found an opportunity to meet the emperor. After reporting the refugees outside the city, the emperor had already arranged people to be responsible for their resettlement.
However, the refugees were not allowed into the city for the time being and were all settled outside the city.
We will be leaving the city, especially going to other cities, so there will probably be more refugees on the road.
"But what should I do since I have already promised Madam Xu?" Xia Tian sighed. The main reason was that Madam Xu treated her very well. Now that the Prime Minister's wife had come to her for a request, it seemed unreasonable not to agree.
Shen Nian thought about it for a while, still a little worried, "Then I'll let Mu Lin bring people to escort you there."
Since I have already promised Madam Xu, I cannot go back on my word now. For safety reasons, I can only send more people to protect her.
"No, Mu Lin is gone, what are you going to do here?" Mu Lin is the captain of the guard on Chen Nian's side. If Mu Lin takes his men away, there will be fewer people protecting Chen Nian, and then the Liu family will take advantage of the opportunity.
"I'm in the city, just be careful." In just three days, he didn't believe that Liu would dare to take action again in the capital.
"I'll take Mu Feng and Muchen with me." Xia Tian gave in, saying that having these two people with them would be enough.
"Besides, Madam Xu wants to accompany me, and the Prime Minister's Mansion will definitely send guards to follow."
"Well, okay, let Mu Feng and Muchen follow, and I'll have Muchen bring a few secret guards to protect us in secret." Shen Nian agreed, "In short, be careful on the road."
He is not only worried about the refugees, but also worried that the Lingxiu Marquis's Mansion will take advantage of the chaos to take action.
"I know." Xia Tian hugged Shen Nian's waist like a spoiled child and rested her head on Shen Nian's chest.
I won’t be able to see you for at least three days, so I’ll collect some interest first!
The next day, Madam Xu's carriage came to pick them up early. Xia Tian said hello to the old lady, Mrs. Liu and the second lady before leaving with Ningxiang and Ningxue.
Originally, she thought she would only need to bring one maid, but these two insisted on going along, saying they were worried about her going out alone.
The two of them followed along so they could have someone to look after them.
There is no choice but to take them all with him.
After going out, Xia Tian got directly into Mrs. Xu's carriage.
Originally, Shen Nian wanted to let Mu Feng drive the carriage, but then she thought that it might be safer to sit with Madam Xu.
Even if the Lingxiu Marquis's Mansion wanted to take action, they would have to consider the Prime Minister's wife.
Mrs. Xu only brought a maid, Le Rong.
Xia Tian was embarrassed. "These two girls have never been far away, so I thought I would take them along to have a look."
"It's okay. You can take them to Pingyang City when the time comes. It's not much different from the capital." Mrs. Xu comforted with a smile.
When this girl goes out, it is better to bring someone with her so that she can have more companions.
Even though the journey is long, we can still talk together.
Anyway, the carriage was big enough to accommodate the five of them.
When we got out of the city, we saw Xu Mansion's guards waiting nearby, about twenty of them.
There was also a carriage with a man about thirty years old standing next to it.
This man is the relative that Mrs. Xu mentioned.
This relative is not far away. He is the son of her aunt's cousin, named Yi Mochen.
It turned out that Yi Mochen came back again after returning home, specifically to pick them up and take them back to Pingyang City.
Seeing them coming out, I quickly came over to greet them, "Thank you for your help, cousin."
"It's okay. Your mother and I haven't seen each other for many years. It's a good opportunity for us to meet and chat." Mrs. Xu replied with a smile.
What she said was true. Before her aunt's cousin got married, she also lived in the capital, and they could often meet and play together.
Later, her cousin married to Pingyang City, and they hardly ever saw each other again.
Yi Mochen looked at Xia Tian, who was standing next to Madam Xu, and quickly greeted her, "Aunt, this is the wife of the prince of Wu'an Marquis Mansion, right?"
He only knew that the person who painted the portrait was the wife of Prince Shen from the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, but he didn't know her.
"Yes, she is the one who went to paint the portrait of your old lady."
"Thank you for your hard work, Madam Shen!" Yi Mochen said gratefully.
"It's okay." Xia Tian nodded slightly.
"Hurry up, it's too cold. Let's get going soon," Mrs. Xu urged. "We can talk when we get there."
"Okay, aunt and Mrs. Shen, get in the car quickly." Yi Mochen was also a straightforward person. Seeing them get in the car, he shouted and set off.
His carriage led the way, Xia Tian and Madam Xu followed behind, and the guards followed beside them.
Mu Feng and Muchen rode their horses and followed her carriage.
Along the way, the farther we got from the capital, the more refugees we encountered on the road.
These refugees all brought their families with them and headed towards the capital.
I didn’t see any refugees outside the capital just now. I guess the emperor has resettled them somewhere else.
"Why are there so many refugees?" Mrs. Xu asked in surprise. She had heard from her husband Xu that there were refugees outside the city, but she didn't know there were so many.
"I heard that there was a severe drought in the south this year and the harvest was poor, so that's why there are refugees." Xia Tian was also frightened.
The refugees on this road were even more miserable than those she had seen in Lingwu Temple. Almost all of them were skin and bones, with thin clothes on their bodies. They were all shivering with cold. They probably didn't expect that the winter in the north would be so cold after coming from the south.
Madam Xu's face was solemn. "Let's not get off the car for a while. Let's hurry on. I'm afraid the journey will be unsafe."
Although the journey was not far, she brought more than 20 people with her. If there were too many refugees and a fight broke out, they might not end up well.
Now she was a little regretful about going out, especially bringing Xia Tian with her. If something happened on the way, she would not be able to explain to Shen Nian.
"Got it. We won't get out of the car." Xia Tian quickly agreed. Seeing that Madam Xu looked unhappy, he comforted her, "Don't worry too much, Madam Xu. We brought a lot of guards with us. We should be fine."
"Well, I hope so." Madam Xu felt a little guilty. "It's all my fault. I wasn't thoughtful enough to think about it. I didn't expect so many refugees to appear. I was mainly worried about getting you into trouble."
"It's okay, nothing happened. Don't worry, let's hurry up and get on with our journey. Pingyang City isn't far away."
"Well, that's all we can do." Mrs. Xu was helpless. She had already left for a long time and couldn't regret it.
Fortunately, Yi Mochen also brought many people to pick them up, otherwise it would be difficult to say what would happen on the road.
At noon, Xia Tian and the others did not stop, but ate some snacks they brought with them to fill their stomachs.
Yi Mochen originally wanted to get off the car to eat something hot, but seeing so many refugees, he didn't dare to stop.
He sent someone to distribute the dry food he had prepared to everyone, and they ate a few bites while they were on the road.
In the summer, we didn’t dare drink much water along the way. Ningxiang and Ningxue were the same, for fear of having difficulty going to the toilet.
It was not until dark when the carriage arrived at an inn that Yi Mochen asked everyone to stop.
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