Chapter 22 Arriving at Yongcheng!
People who have personally experienced severe drought run away.
Liu Laohu whipped him with a whip. While whipping, he shouted: "Whoever keeps talking nonsense, I will chop him to death!"
"Is there a severe drought ahead of me? No matter whoever dares to run away, he is a fugitive and I will kill him without mercy!"
Liu Laohu didn't stop until blood was visible on the whip and the runner was lying on the ground half dead.
This hand shocked all the exiled prisoners, and no one dared to speak anymore. People were panicked along the way. At night, in order to prevent the prisoners from talking to each other, all the exiled prisoners were separated from their guards.
Mother Li brought back the food. There were a lot of fingerprints and dirt on the clean clothes.
"Mother Li, why are your clothes torn?" Qiu Shuang asked sharply.
Mama Li walked up to Shen Lanxi and replied: "When I brought the food just now, luckily the officer saw it, otherwise all the food and drink would have been robbed." Mummy Li was frightened for a while when she said it. .
Shen Lanxi: "Chunxue, give Mama Li some money, and wait until Yongcheng lets Mama Li buy a new set of clothes!"
Haruyuki quickly took out the money and pushed the money into Li's hand without allowing her mother to refuse.
"Miss, when I was a child, I heard from my family that there was a severe drought. Everything growing in the ground died. People were so hungry that they gnawed the bark of trees, and they were so thirsty that they even drank blood. Nine out of ten people died, and many people were sold. They sell their daughters and even eat them when they get desperate." Haruyue finished speaking fearfully and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
Shen Lanxi looked at the exile team in trance, no one knew what she was thinking.
"There is no end to the road, we are afraid, aren't the government officials afraid?"
Qiu Shuang's eyes lit up: "Master, will they put the prisoner in jail? Wait until the drought has passed before setting off?”
Shen Lanxi thought to herself that it might be possible if it were just ordinary prisoners in exile. But among these exiled prisoners were members of the Shen family, which just provided opportunities for people in the dark.
But it is also an opportunity for the Shen family!
Under the supervision of the government officials, the prisoners did not dare to speak and went to bed early. The next day, we set off an hour earlier than usual.
After walking for less than half an hour, he encountered three groups of refugees. Liu Laohu stopped one of them to question them. After the questioning, he looked very unhappy.
Shen Lanxi saw the opportunity, found Liu Laohu, and thrust a one hundred tael silver note into his hand.
Liu Laohu didn't dare to accept it, the banknote was hot!
"Brother Liu, I believe you have noticed that the refugees we met today are worse looking than yesterday, and there are very few mules and carts. They must have come from farther away. Those refugees passing by When I was carrying the goods in the car, the look in my eyes made me want to snatch them away."
Liu Laohu silently put the banknotes in his pocket. He knew in his heart that the further you go, the more expensive the goods will be and the more money you will have. It’s becoming less and less valuable!
“We do extraordinary things in extraordinary times. I have a suggestion and I want to discuss it with Brother Liu!”
Although Liu Laohu looked serious, he did not refuse immediately.
“Say!”
Shen Lanxi: “We are about three or four hours away from Yongcheng on foot. If we use a carriage, we can definitely shorten the time by more than half. . I want to send the government officers and deported prisoners in batches by carriage, and enter Yongcheng before it is closed!"
Liu Laohu looked at her with a scrutinizing look.
Yongcheng is close to the capital. As it is now, the city will not be closed. She deliberately said it was serious.
Liu Laohu has been escorting prisoners all year round and is well-informed. It is not difficult for him to believe her words!
"Yes, but I must arrange which batch goes first!"
Shen Lanxi clasped her fists and smiled: "Of course!" Liu Laohu made arrangements with a solemn expression, and soon the two carriages on their side were requisitioned. Among the first group of people to leave were Shen Congwen and his wife, and several servants of the Shen family, followed by other exiled prisoners who were separated.
Liu Laohu didn’t leave, so Shen Lanxi invited him to ride in the bullock cart. Liu Laohu didn't refuse this time. The oxcart couldn't accommodate so many people. Mother Li's family of four went down, leaving the two children in the oxcart.
Their group made the government officials completely let go of their vigilance and left together.
The Shen family looked at Shen Lanxi sitting on the bullock cart with envy.
"Lan Xi is going too far. If there is an ox cart, you won't invite your grandparents to sit on it!" Shen Congyi said while gritting his teeth and walking away.
Shen Yuanjing retorted angrily: "Fourth uncle, it's not easy for my eldest sister to convince the government official to let us go in a carriage. If you say that again, you will embarrass my eldest sister!"
< br>Shen Yuanjun: "That's right, my eldest sister is not a government official. It is already very difficult to let exiled prisoners ride in carriages. What if I make other requests and annoy the government officials? Do you want to be whipped?"
Shen Congyi stared at the two of them with a livid face: "Won't she come down by herself and let your grandparents go up?"
Shen Yuanjing: "Fourth uncle, why don't you ask the Yamen if they are willing to sit with the exiled prisoners? At their age, are my grandparents willing to kowtow to the Yamen?"
Mrs. Shen thought of her granddaughter and the Yamen. He almost bent down to salute, his face looked ugly.
In the past, even Mrs. Yipin would bend down and salute when she saw her. She was a little embarrassed when she was asked to salute and say something nice to a government official!
"Song Yi, say less. Yuan Jing and the others are right. We are not related to the Yamen. We have repeatedly made demands to the Yamen. The Yamen have annoyed us. There are many ways to help us on the way. It’s different now. Don’t offend the villain!” Just move forward as if you didn't hear it, and you can only postpone it to the next person!
The first group to leave were Chunxue and Qiu Shuang. After they arrived, they immediately went to Yongcheng and rented four carriages without carriages. They let the two horses rest and the four carriages continued to pull the prisoners. .
After a total of six trips back and forth, we finally brought all the prisoners to the foot of Yong City.
I was not in a hurry to take people in, because half an hour ago, people started paying money to enter the city at the city gate!
Liu Laohu asked his men to watch the prisoners at the city gate. He took two government officials and entered the city with official documents.
It is no longer necessary for Shen Lanxi to inform the Yamen in advance when talking to the Shen family, but she still abides by the rules and talks to her father and mother in front of the Yamen.
"Father and mother, I am going to the city to sell the goods. I will leave Qiu Shuang here and come back after the goods are processed. Do you have anything to take with you?"
Shen Congwen said worriedly: "No need to give it specially. What did we bring along? We sold the money. You can buy some food and save some water. Don’t spend the money randomly!” Exchange carriages and food, and make an appointment to meet at the city gate in an hour!
She took Chunxue to leave the carriage at the inn, and then asked Chunxue to buy clothes and a pair of shoes for everyone in the Shen family. She went to buy food and made an appointment to meet at the inn half an hour later.
The price of grain in Yongcheng has doubled. As usual, Shen Lanxi rented an empty room and asked the clerk at the grain store to transport the grain there. She passed by the grain store and bought a lot of grain and vegetable seeds.
Repeated it a dozen times, changing identities to buy it, and after buying it, threw it directly into the space.
Taking advantage of the cheap prices on bedding, cotton, and needlework, I bought a lot and put them into my space.
(End of this chapter)