After reading the letter, Lu Chuan put it away, briefly explained it to the Taoist priest, and then spoke.
"Let's look around the house first! See if there's anything we need, and if so, we'll take it with us."
After saying that, he walked into the courtyard. Once inside, he found that apart from the fact that no one had lived there for a long time and it looked rather desolate, there were no signs of anyone else having broken in.
Lu Chuan opened the door with his key and looked inside. He saw that most of the furniture and other items were still there; he had only taken some personal belongings and valuables such as gold and silver.
The house was fully furnished, and you could move in immediately. Lu Chuan thought to himself that if he had the chance to come to the county town again in the future, he wouldn't need to stay in that expensive inn.
The two strolled around the yard again and discovered a deep well in the backyard, with plenty of water inside!
Lu Chuan found a bucket, carried a bucket of water up, washed the pot, boiled a pot of water, and the two of them each filled two bamboo tubes with water. After putting out the fire, they closed the door and left.
The house has everything it needs, and Lu Chuan never intended to take anything from inside. Maybe the Li family will come back in the future!
I didn't really need anything, so I just walked around for a bit and then came out.
After leaving, Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest went straight to the pharmacy, bought the medicinal herbs that Grandpa Zhao needed, and then began their return journey.
When I was leaving the city, I discovered that now you need a household registration to enter the county town. This is to prevent some bad guys from taking advantage of the current chaos and sneaking into the town to do whatever they want.
Fortunately, the Taoist priest led Lu Chuan over the wall yesterday, otherwise they really wouldn't have been able to get in!
When the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan stepped onto the official road, they noticed that many carriages were heading south.
Lu Chuan guessed that they must be wealthy families from the north! You know, nowadays rich people are afraid of dying, and they think of running away at the slightest sign of trouble.
After all, they're not short of money, and who wouldn't want to live a good life?
Even if it's a wasted trip, it's not a big deal; it's our own home, we can afford to go through all that trouble.
But if we leave too late, it will be disastrous. This is a matter of life and death, and we can't be careless.
The Taoist priest and Lu Chuan traveled along the official road, encountering four or five carriages rushing forward along the way.
It was lunchtime, and we happened to run into a family taking a nap.
When Lu Chuan saw a man walking out alone, he quickly went up to him and said, "Brother, I've seen many carriages coming from the north along the way. What's going on?"
The man was not going to speak to the stranger, but Lu Chuan secretly slipped him a piece of silver.
The man weighed the item in his hand and said with satisfaction, "It hasn't rained in the north for over a year. Now we don't even have drinking water, which is why everyone is heading south."
Upon hearing the man say that it hadn't rained for over a year, Lu Chuan quickly pressed on, "Didn't it rain there during the Lunar New Year either?"
"No, since the light rain after the New Year two years ago, it hasn't rained at all for more than a year. Farmers can't grow crops, and people have no water to drink, so they've all started fleeing south."
Are there any other refugees who have come here?
"Yes, there are many farmers and ordinary people behind them. They don't have oxcarts or horse-drawn carriages, so they are walking behind them!"
We should arrive here in about a month. We're considered to have started relatively late! Those who started earlier are probably already settled in by now.
After getting the information he wanted, Lu Chuan chatted with the man for a few more minutes. The man, having received the money, readily answered Lu Chuan's questions.
He also advised Lu Chuan, "While the large group of refugees from the north hasn't reached this area yet, I suggest you head south as soon as possible! Otherwise, once the government takes control, it will be difficult to escape."
After thanking him, Lu Chuan went to meet the Taoist priest.
He then recounted the news he had heard to the Taoist priest, who frowned and said...
"It's not that easy to escape famine. Do you think that escaping will guarantee a way to survive? When the government intervenes, I'm afraid they'll have a hard time even if they want to use the official roads."
Lu Chuan asked, puzzled, "They are all citizens of Yuanqing Kingdom, don't they even have the right to flee famine?"
“You haven’t been exposed to these things, you don’t know what’s going on inside. What does it mean when the people flee? If no one lives in a city, there’s no economy. Doesn’t that just give other countries an opportunity to take advantage of you?”
In other words, it's tantamount to handing over the city to someone else. Do you think the people in the imperial court would do that? Just wait and see! There's going to be a big commotion!
Seeing Lu Chuan deep in thought, the Taoist priest continued, "However, none of this concerns us anymore. Since we've decided not to flee the famine, we must find a way to survive here."
It's still over a year before it rains! Our days ahead won't be easy. We'd better hurry back and find more water sources! Those two reservoirs won't last much longer.”
After saying that, she ignored Lu Chuan and continued walking forward.
Seeing this, Lu Chuan quickly followed, and the two of them began to hurry on their way. They knew they wouldn't be able to get home that night, but they still needed to find a suitable cave to stay in.
While traveling along the official road, Lu Chuan noticed a problem: there wasn't a single person to be seen in the fields. At this time last year, people were still carrying water to irrigate their fields!
This year, however, there is no water at all. It hasn't rained for a long time, and the farmers have lost the will to farm.
Even if you plant them, it's a waste of time and effort, and there's no guarantee of a harvest.
Even if there is a harvest, it is impossible to maintain it. Nobody is stupid, so they simply stop planting.
It wasn't until after 1 p.m. the next day that Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest finally got home.
"Open the door quickly, we're back!" the Taoist priest shouted.
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Zhao hurriedly came out to open the door, while Xu Han poured out the chrysanthemum tea she had prepared in advance and brought it into the main room.
"Come and have some tea and rest for a while. There are steaming buns in the pot! They'll be ready soon, I'll go get them."
After Xu Han finished speaking, she walked out of the main room, and Lu Chuan followed her into the kitchen.
As soon as he entered, he hugged Xu Han from behind, buried his head in her shoulder, and said, "Wife, I missed you so much! Are you doing well at home? Is anything bothering you?"
Xu Han held Lu Chuan's hand on her waist and said, "I'm fine, and the baby is very well-behaved. He doesn't bother me at all. I have a good appetite now and I don't have any morning sickness."
"That's good. My wife has worked hard at home these past few days, cooking so many meals. She must be tired!"
"I'm fine, Grandpa Zhao is helping me! I'm not tired at all. How about you? You must be exhausted from traveling these past two days!"
"Your husband is in great shape! I'm perfectly fine."
"That's good. You haven't eaten anything since you got back at this time! Go wash your hands, and I'll get the steamed buns out."
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