Many followed the village chief; they only trusted him. As for the village chief's decision to flee the famine with Li Lanzhen, they remained silent, as long as the village chief was there.
On the other side, Old Mrs. Wu was making a fuss, waving her hand and cursing, calling out to those who wanted to leave with her, as well as a few hesitant people.
Old Mrs. Wu gave birth to five daughters before finally having a son, Wu Laosan. All four daughters are married, and they all married into families in Hanjia Village. In her words, it's because they live close by so they can help their precious son.
So now she is trying her best to persuade these families to follow her. She feels good about herself and thinks that the village chief should follow her. Another major reason is that Wu's younger brother works as a clerk in the county government of a neighboring county.
His brother sent a message asking her to bring her family to meet him in the capital. That's why these people agreed to follow her.
This is also why she was angry that the village chief wouldn't follow her; she had a younger brother in the county government, who was no better than that awful Li Lanzhen.
She was seething with anger and wanted to take most of the villagers with her, but only the in-laws of her daughters were willing to go. There were also three families with ulterior motives who thought that if they went to the capital with Old Lady Wu's brother, they should be able to find a village that would accept them.
When Li Lanzhen learned that they were going to the capital, she scoffed inwardly. "Don't they see the current state of the Le Dynasty? They still want to go to the capital. Sigh, let them go. They chose this path themselves."
After greeting the village chief, she turned and went back to her family. From a distance, she saw Xue Laohu talking to Han Mingjiang. When she got behind them, Xue Laohu nodded to her and walked away. Han Mingjiang, holding something in his hand with a solemn expression, reached out and handed it to her, saying, "Mother, this is what Nizi's father gave me. He asked me to give it to you."
Li Lanzhen took a look and saw that they were five reddish-brown, long wooden splinters, each about the thickness of her middle finger, very solid and smooth, probably from long-term use.
She looked at Han Mingjiang with a puzzled expression, then glanced at where Xue Laohu was standing after surrendering, and turned to Li Lanzhen, "Mother, Nizi's father told me to tell you that we used this poisonous wooden spike to kill those bad people today."
Li Lanzhen felt a chill run down her spine. That's it! Xue Laohu, who spends his days roaming the mountains and forests, has a sharp eye. He must have noticed that the stun guns they were using were different from the others. Now that there are so many people around, he's afraid something might happen to her and her children.
She glanced gratefully at Xue Laohu's group, took one for herself, and handed the rest to Han Mingjiang. "Go, give one to your older brother and tell him what your father-in-law said. You two give me your sticks, I'll keep them and give them to you when we need them."
After resting for a while, they prepared to set off.
There were 11 households in Hanjiacun who fled the famine with Li Lanzhen and her family.
The village chief and his group followed behind Li Lanzhen and her family. The village chief's family had an oxcart, which was also piled high with various things. They followed behind Luo Luo's mule cart.
The last family in the group was the butcher's family. They had a donkey cart, three handcarts, and three married sons. They had six grandsons, all of whom were tall and strong. Now, holding the large knife they had just taken from the bandits, they were no longer afraid of the fleeing crowds.
Behind them were 10 households led by Old Lady Wu, who walked along muttering curses and swearing, clearly wishing Li Lanzhen a terrible death.
Li Lanzhen didn't hear her, and even if she had, she wouldn't have had time to pay attention to her. The more you talk to such a rogue, the more arrogant she becomes. Ignoring her is the best way to deal with her.
Because they had been delayed in the morning, they decided not to rest at noon. They would eat some dry food and drink some water and continue on their way. Li Xishui, Li Erhan, Ye Shi, and Zhang Yueniang were sitting in the big blue mule cart.
Fearing that the bumpy cart pulled by Han Minghai might harm Zhang Yueniang's unborn child, Ye insisted that she get on the cart. Miaomiao walked beside the cart pulled by Han Minghai, with Li Lanzhen holding her hand.
Around noon, the sun overhead was so bright it made people dizzy. Han Deshun ran over to Li Lanzhen and said, "Let's rest for a while and continue after noon. The weather will be cooler in the afternoon, so we can walk an extra mile."
Looking up at the pale sky and the fiery red sun, Li Lanzhen felt dizzy and lightheaded. "Okay, tell the old village chief we're going to rest."
The message that they should rest before continuing was relayed to Xue Laohu, who was leading the way. Xue Bao drove the donkey cart off the main road and into the mountains. Everyone laid out straw mats and lay down to rest at the foot of the mountain.
Old Mrs. Wu, walking behind, snorted, "They're all a bunch of sickly people, and they're still fleeing famine like this. Let's keep going. Turn right ahead, and we'll reach my brother's county town. Once we get to the county government, we'll have a good meal and a good drink. Let Li Lanzhen walk on this bare road."
After saying that, he draped a wet cloth over his head, straightened his back, and walked very fast.
Since we've stopped to rest, everyone's ready to boil water and make some porridge to drink.
Xue Nizi and her group, as usual, prepared the porridge for all four families. However, when they invited Gou Dan and his grandson, their own parents, and Zhang Deshui's family to come and drink the porridge, they all said that they had caught up with the main group and would eat separately instead of eating together.
When Xue Nizi came back, she told Li Lanzhen about it. Li Lanzhen thought it was a good idea, but since the porridge was already cooked, she decided to treat it as a farewell meal.
After hearing Li Lanzhen's words, everyone came over to get their own bowls of porridge, and then took them back to their own homes to drink.
Ma Dazui from the village, carrying a bowl of vegetable soup, slowly sidled up to Gou Dan and his grandson, glanced at the greasy soup in their bowls, and swallowed hard.
The vegetable soup in her bowl, though called vegetable soup, was actually just a soup made from coarsely ground tree bark and grass roots, and it was also very watery.
"Dog Egg, you've been eating at Li Lanzhen's house the whole time you've been out here? You're really lucky. What's this dark stuff? It looks like grain. Tsk tsk, we haven't had any proper grain for a long time, and Li Lanzhen's house still has some. We're all from the same village, and she didn't even offer me a share."
Gou Dan retorted, "We've already ordered food for Auntie's family. To walk faster and catch up with the village chief, Auntie said we should all eat and drink together to save time. Why should you eat the food from Auntie's family? Why didn't you give your food to Auntie's family when you had your own?"
Ma Dazui was teased by a child, his face turned red, he glanced at Grandma Gou Dan who was drinking her porridge with her head down, rolled his eyes, stood up, and walked away muttering to himself.
Li Lanzhen heard Ma Dazui's words, but she shook her head and didn't respond. She didn't think it was worth wasting her breath on such a person. Suddenly, she thought of a problem.
Which side is east? Which prince's fiefdom is in the east?
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