The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

Lu Tianming saw that the problem was solved and most of the villagers had finished their breakfast and tied their legs, so he let everyone set off.

Because of the delay in the morning and the late departure, Lu Tianming increased his speed a lot.

No one in the village complained. Lu Tianming had said during the break yesterday that they had walked too little distance and the barbarians' cavalry were too fast. They had to walk at least thirty miles a day to avoid being caught up.

They are now walking on a small road. If they can walk thirty miles today, they will be able to reach the official road before noon tomorrow.

After entering the official road, the road became easier to walk on and everyone could travel faster.

At this time, the people pulling carts in the village were trying their best to keep up. Fortunately, most of the villagers had their legs bandaged, so it was not so uncomfortable to travel.

The villagers who did not bind their legs did not feel anything at first, but after walking for a while they began to feel uncomfortable, with their calves twitching in pain.

Looking at the person with his legs wrapped around him, they all began to regret it.

But the team had already set off, so it was naturally impossible to stop and wait for them to get tangled up. They had to grit their teeth and persevere.

It was like a forced march this morning, and by the time of the lunch break, those who didn't have their legs bound were so tired that they collapsed on the ground, their calves aching like cramps.

But they soon got up again, found some old clothes at home and cut them into wide strips, and asked people who had bound their legs before how to do it.

Some of those who had their legs bound were also re-tying them. In the morning, many people had their legs tied either too tightly or too loosely.

When we first set out with our leg wraps on in the morning, some villagers were not used to it and felt that the binding on their calves was too tight, so they took it off halfway.

At this moment, feeling the pain in their calves as if they were cramping, they all started to tie their legs again.

By the time we set off in the afternoon, everyone in the team had their legs tied.

In the evening, Lu Tianming saw that it was getting dark, so he struck the gong to signal everyone to rest.

Most of the men put down their luggage and sat down to rest. They were in a hurry today and shortened their rest time at noon. The villagers continued on their journey shortly after lunch.

At this moment, when the women began to collect firewood for cooking, Lu Tianming, County Magistrate Yao, and the village chief and elders gathered together to discuss the next itinerary.

I walked more than thirty miles today. We are not far from the official road now. I estimate that we will be able to reach the official road tomorrow morning.

They expected to arrive in Pingkang County the day after tomorrow. The Pingkang County Magistrate was a good friend of Yao County Magistrate. Their main purpose of going to Pingkang County this time was to apply for a travel permit.

At that time, the county town had fallen and the situation was urgent. All official seals were in the county government office. Lu Tianming and County Magistrate Yao only brought their household registration and private seals from home, but they did not have travel permits.

Anyone who wants to pass through the city again will need a pass.

After discussing the next itinerary and the people on duty for the night, everyone went back to eat and rest.

Lu family.

The group was having dinner. Old Man Lu glanced at Erya and the second son's wife who were eating with their bowls in their hands, and was thinking about the division of the family.

After dinner, everyone in the Lu family gathered together.

Old Man Lu spoke first:

"Everyone is here now, let me tell you something. Now that the second child is gone, your mother and I are both in poor health, and you are all grown up, let's divide this family today."

Lu Laosan was anxious because his father had promised him that he would pay him interest on the money he used to buy grain.

Now that he heard that his father wanted to divide the family property, he wouldn't be taking the money for nothing.

Thinking of this, he wanted to speak quickly.

Seeing this, Old Man Lu knew that he had strayed from the right path, so he held him down and continued:

"We have plenty of food now, but you all know that we ran out of money during the drought. The money to buy food was paid by the third daughter-in-law."

"When I borrowed money from the third son's wife, we agreed that when I repay this money, I will have to pay 20% interest in addition to the principal."

"Second brother's family, you haven't returned the food you ate before. This morning, our family used food to redeem Erya. We won't ask you to pay back what you owe us. This is the most we can do for you."

Second Aunt Lu looked at the hypocritical Old Man Lu in front of her and knew that he wanted to kick her and her daughter out of the house.

But now they are fleeing from famine. If there is no food, it will be difficult for them to survive relying only on wild vegetables.

Second Aunt Lu looked at the Lu family, her eyes fell on Qin Li Niang, and she pleaded:

"Third sister-in-law, I am willing to pay you 30% interest. Please lend me some food. As long as you stop, I will work to earn money to pay you back."

Qin Li'niang looked at Aunt Lu and little Erya and couldn't help feeling a little pity for them. Just as she was about to speak, she was stopped by Lu Lao San.

"Second sister-in-law, we don't have any extra food at home to give you. Besides, who knows if you can pay it back."

Qin Li'niang was a little embarrassed, and didn't say anything else when she saw her husband like this.

Second Aunt Lu knew that it was useless to say more, as household registration was more important to her, so she turned to Old Man Lu and said:

"Dad, since we're splitting up, give me the second wife's household registration. Also, the second wife's bedding was my dowry back then, and if there's anything else like pots, bowls, and chopsticks, we should also have a share when the family splits up."

After hearing these bits and pieces, Old Man Lu nodded indifferently, went to find the household registration in his luggage, and handed her the second room's household registration separately.

"Okay, go pack up and live alone with Erya tonight."

Aunt Lu walked straight to the second room where the luggage was stored and packed the things in the bamboo basket.

Most of the second room's luggage was in bamboo baskets, so the Lu family didn't bother about it anymore.

Aunt Lu was just about to leave, but after thinking for a moment, she went to where the farm tools were kept and got a shovel and a sickle.

Mrs. Lu saw it and was about to stop it when she heard Second Aunt Lu holding the sickle and saying:

"This journey is not peaceful. I need the sickle to protect myself. If mother doesn't agree, then I'd better stay at the Lu family. Otherwise, I will die if I leave."

Old Man Lu stared at Second Aunt Lu with a gloomy face. Seeing her firm attitude, he called Old Lady Lu back with a cold face and watched Second Aunt Lu carrying the load and taking Erya away.

Seeing that the second family had left, Mrs. Lu Li thought that the next step would be to separate her family from the third family, and she said excitedly:

"Dad, it's time to divide my family."

Old Man Lu was originally quite happy that there were two less people to eat at home, but when he heard what the eldest brother said, his face fell and he cursed at Boss Lu:

"Watch out for your wife, you idiot! If it weren't for your father's plan, you would have starved to death long ago. Why don't you get out of here!"

The eldest brother Lu and his wife shrank their heads and returned to their mattresses after being scolded. Mrs. Lu Li grumbled in her heart, thinking that her family would get some things, but who knew that they would just drive the second brother's family out.

Lu Li was lying down, thinking about how to get some food. Her mother had told her several times that the family was running out of food.

Aunt Lu carried a bamboo basket and walked to the front of the team, finding an open space to settle down.

When people nearby saw this, they knew that the Lu family had separated the mother and daughter, and many of them whispered about it.

Aunt Lu didn't care about these things. She took out the bedding from the bamboo basket and spread it out. She held Erya and lay down with her. She patted her back and spoke to her in a low voice.

"Xiao Erya, from now on, it's just the two of us, mother and I, who will live together. Mother has our household registration, so you don't have to worry about being sold off anymore."

Erya nestled in her mother's arms, feeling her mother's breath spraying on her head. She felt very safe and asked softly:

"Mom, won't we live with grandpa and grandma anymore?"

Aunt Lu listened to her daughter's question and said with a smile:

"Yes, we have separated. From now on we will be two families."

After hearing this, Erya said happily:

"That's great, Mom. From now on, we'll be together. I'll help you with the work and won't let you work so hard."

Aunt Lu smiled, but she thought of her mother.

Her parents' home is quite far away from Lujia Village, close to the provincial capital.

Ever since she heard the news about Manzi, she has been a little worried about her parents, but time is too tight and she has to protect her daughter, so she has no time to go back and see them.

She could only comfort herself in her heart that her father and two younger brothers were butchers all year round and that they had plenty of strength, so she would be safe.

At this time, on the official road.

The Wang family, father and son, fled with Wang Mother, pulling the food on the cart, and looked back from time to time to see if there were any deserters chasing them.

Just now, a group of deserters attacked the villagers of Wangjia Village who were resting.

The sudden attack caught them off guard, and not many people even put up a resistance. Most people were frightened when they saw the sneak attack and murder, and fled in all directions.

The Wang family, father and son, slaughtered pigs all year round. When they saw someone attacking them, they chopped down several of them before pulling Wang's mother away and escaping.

There were many villagers behind who, seeing they could not defeat the enemy, knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. Wang Dashan saw with his own eyes that the kneeling man was stabbed to death with a knife.

Seeing this, the Wang family father and son ran even faster.

The deserters who launched the sneak attack were busy robbing the wealthy people in the village. The ox carts were full of food. Seeing these people who didn't have much running away, no one chased them for the time being.

The Wang family father and son ran for more than an hour before they stopped. They did not dare to stop by the roadside, so they found a forest and walked into the forest for a long time before stopping to rest.