Traveling through ancient times: daily life on the run

When I returned to the village, I heard Aunt Cai say, "Just now, a group of guards came to search the village again, and then went into the mountains. They said that the search will not stop until the white tiger is found."

Luo Yu was surprised: "Why did they start searching the mountain again after stopping for a while?"

"I heard that two days ago, at dawn, someone saw someone burning a fire in the mountains from afar, with smoke billowing out. Then they heard the roar of a white tiger."

The order of events was reversed, but it was true.

Luo Yu deduced from Aunt Cai's calm expression that the guards hadn't found their home. The elderly woman's residence was close to the mountains and peaceful, so she probably hadn't encountered a white tiger. No one would secretly keep a tiger, a public nuisance.

Luo Yu calmly walked towards the west wing, chattering as he walked: "Auntie, I'm going to go back to my room to put things away first. Don't rush to cook. I bought some meat and will bring it to you later."

"There's no need to be so polite, haha."

The girl was very polite and the old lady was too embarrassed to ask any questions.

After lunch, Uncle and Auntie would go inside to take a nap. Luo Yu took the opportunity to bring the cooked meat to the woodshed and told Xia Liang to keep quiet. Fortunately, there was plenty of firewood. Luo Yu, fearing exposure, still covered the white tiger's body with a pile of straw.

Xia Liang was well fed and well-watered, which was much more comfortable than going hungry in the mountains. It was still much more reliable to follow Sister Luo Yu.

"We may have to wait until these guards finish searching the mountain before we can consider how to leave the city. I will go to the city in the next few days to explore the route and see how to escape."

"Well, Brother Bingrui is not so quick. He said he has to wait until the bows and crossbows are made and he gets the silver before he can leave."

Xia Liang tried his best to speak in a low voice in his throat, neither too loud nor too soft. The old couple were old and their ears were not very good, and they were sleeping soundly, so they were not afraid.

"Well, now we have to find the space-time chassis. I estimate that the chassis is still at the longitude and latitude where we came from. Fortunately, the development trend of this parallel space-time is somewhat similar to that of our world."

"Sister, which dynasty do you think this is more like?"

"The architectural style should be after the Tang Dynasty, most likely the Northern Song Dynasty, and some institutional developments are similar to those of the Ming Dynasty, such as the need for a pass to enter and exit the city gates."

"Yes, I heard from Brother Bingrui that even the prince has the surname Zhu. It's very strange. Compared to the same dynasty in our time and space, is history developing or regressing?"

Luo Yu shook her head. After all, she had only been exposed to the outside world for too short a time, and the words in the palace seemed quite conservative, making it difficult to distinguish them.

"We'll definitely find more on our way to find the time-space chassis. Right now, nothing is certain, and I don't know whether to go or stay."

Xia Liang ate up all the meat in a few bites and was eager to go out for a walk. He couldn't just stay at home like this for a few days, right?

When Luo Yu left the woodshed, he repeatedly told her not to come out in the middle of the night, as the guards might take turns searching the mountain day and night.

Baihu nodded sensibly, tilted his body, and lay down in a mess, just like Xia Liang's heartless little temper.

Luo Yu came out of the woodshed and shook her head. She still had to take Xia Liang away from the capital as soon as possible. If the three of them were reincarnated as normal people, perhaps she would consider staying in this dynasty to see if she could be plasticized.

If you travel with a creature as big as a white tiger nowadays, you won’t be welcomed anywhere, right?

A headache.

The next day, Luo Yu woke up early to chop firewood. The kitchen was already occupied by Auntie, who was worried that Luo Yu's hands would shake and the porridge would turn into dry rice. Uncle went to the fields to weed early in the morning, working tirelessly every day.

Although Luo E's body looks weak now, she is very strong. It can be seen that Concubine Ying had suffered a lot in the palace before. Luo E even suspected that she had merged the power of the two bodies after she was resurrected. In any case, she is full of strength.

In the woodshed, Xia Liang saw through the crack in the window how Luo Yu swung the axe to chop wood skillfully. It seemed as if she had regained the ferocity she had when she killed zombies in the real world. There was no trace of the pitiful look of a weak woman left.

After Aunt Cai finished cooking and walked out, she saw a huge pile of firewood outside the woodshed, and hurriedly told Luo Qi to stop chopping.

"Miss Qin, please stop busying yourself. I can't bear seeing you running around and paying money every day."

"Auntie Cai, you're welcome. You and Uncle Liu are both old and not in good health. Chopping wood is too tiring. I'll help you chop more wood so you can use it for a while after I leave."

"I didn't expect that a young girl like you could be so good at physical labor."

"That's right. I used to do everything at home. Don't look at my skinny face, I'm quite strong."

"Okay, okay, come on, let's go inside and eat first."

"Aren't you waiting for Uncle Liu?"

"Well, I saved it for him. He said the vegetables grew well this year and there was a big demand in the palace. He was so happy to see all the copper coins!"

"Oh, Aunt Cai, how much money can you and Uncle Liu earn from growing these vegetables all year round?"

Aunt Cai picked up an egg pancake and put it in Luo Yu's bowl. These were all bought by Luo Yu, so she should eat more. Aunt Cai was reluctant to eat it and prepared to leave the remaining one to the old man.

"How can we earn any money? Look at these hundred acres of vegetable fields. They actually belong to the palace. We are just tenant farmers hired to grow vegetables. After supplying the vegetables every year, there is not much left after paying taxes. Fortunately, we have one acre of land of our own, so we can take care of our food."

"Since you are tenant farmers, why do you still have to pay taxes?" This is different from the cases seen in history. If the land is rented to tenant farmers, the vegetables harvested are equivalent to tax offset. Aunt Cai and Uncle Liu grow vegetables for the palace, so the silver given by the palace must be only a part of the remaining part after tax offset. Why do they still have to pay taxes?

"That's what the eunuchs in the palace said. I'm not sure, but I can save 500 coins a year anyway."

Luo Yu suddenly realized that there was an extra layer of eunuchs collecting taxes.

I also understand why the porridge cooked by Aunt Cai is so thin that it can reflect people's shadows.

"Auntie Cai, have you ever thought about starting a small business? It's convenient to get in and out of the city. I can definitely make some money by cooking. It would be great if I could save some money for my retirement."

"Alas, what business can I do when I'm old? My eyesight isn't very good anymore. I used to be able to make shoe soles and sell them in the city, but now my hands are weak and I can't make a pair in more than ten days."

"What about making food? I went to the city yesterday and found that there are still many wealthy people. The East Market is especially bustling and the food business is booming. The rice dumplings alone are almost in short supply."

"Oh, it's almost Dragon Boat Festival, we have to make some rice dumplings ourselves."

"Auntie Cai, let's make some snacks and set up a stall to sell them. I'll cover the capital, and after I'm gone you can make and sell them yourself. I'll teach you the recipes."

"Why are you so kind, girl?"

Luo Yu certainly couldn't say that selling food could better conceal her identity, investigate the environment and plan an escape route. In fact, she also wanted to get close to the people and understand the true appearance of this era. She could only start from the real life of the people.

Whether to go or stay, perhaps time will slowly tell her.

They had traveled through different parallel universes thousands of times, but only this time was successful. The countless failures before only proved that those universes were nothing but apocalyptic nothingness, devoid of any living things. So, they had simply followed the time machine through those universes. However, this time, it was their soul that traveled through, and the timeline was earlier, so it should have been a success.

If it happened again, Luo Yu was not sure whether he would travel to the 21st century. The probability of this happening was one in tens of thousands.

"Auntie Cai, you are about the same age as my grandmother. I believe that if she were still alive, she would be a hardworking and kind woman like you. Whenever I see you, I can't help but think of my poor grandmother who passed away so young. Auntie Cai, I hope you can live a good life. This is all my gratitude to you and Uncle Liu for taking me in."

Aunt Cai was so moved by Luo Yu's sincere expression that tears welled up in her eyes. She held the girl's hand tightly with her wrinkled hands tremblingly, but she didn't know how to start.

I could only nod and praise: "Good, good, you are a good girl."

No matter how cold Luo Yu's heart was, she could feel the sincerity in Aunt Cai's sincere and simple eyes. Her heart could not withstand the slightest fluctuation, and this just right warmth made her remember it.

But what kind of snacks should he make? Luo Yu was a little distressed. Although there were countless foods in the world, he really didn't dare to make a big fuss at Aunt Cai's house.

I have been in this dynasty for more than a month and a half. When I arrived, it was the beginning of spring in March. Now it is almost May, and the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, which is almost June in the current solar calendar.

Luo Yu was walking in the fields and saw the spring radishes growing well. Her eyes suddenly lit up. She had to go to the city to find some related seasonings first.