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

While traveling in the afternoon, Lu Tianming was driving the carriage forward when he saw many refugees running back in front of him. His expression suddenly became stern and he hurriedly stopped the team. Everyone took out their weapons and took a defensive posture.

But the refugees did not stop, but bypassed their group and continued to run back.

Lu Tianming jumped out of the car, grabbed an old man, and asked:

"Old man, what happened up ahead? Why are you all running back?"

The old man ran away in a hurry, and after struggling twice but failing to break free, he said anxiously:

"There's a fight ahead! A group of people are trying to rob the rich man! Let go!"

When Lu Tianming let go of his hand, he saw the old man running away at an extremely fast speed.

County Magistrate Yao heard the old man's words, looked around, and pointed to the woods next to him.

Lu Tianming looked in the direction he pointed. The forest was very deep, and if they walked inside, they could hide there.

Lu Tianming drove the carriage inside first. Before they all went in, he saw two men in the back running towards him while shouting for help.

The two men were dressed in silk and carried a large bag on their backs. More than thirty refugees were chasing them from behind, and blood was still dripping from their knives.

Lu Tianming was the first to react. They couldn't be allowed to get close, so he ordered the men in the village to stand in front with their weapons and signaled the two men not to come over.

Seeing this, the two men had no choice but to continue running towards the main road. Before they had run far, they were caught up by the people behind them and hacked down with a knife.

Those people opened the bundle, looked at the things inside, and then picked up the bundle and walked back with satisfaction.

When the people of Lujia Village passed by, they saw such a large group and were obviously very alert.

Both sides were very vigilant, and the people of Lujia Village did not relax until the group of people went away.

After a long while, when there was no more movement ahead, Lu Tianming ordered everyone to set off again.

When they got to the front, they understood why the refugees passing by were running away.

There were more than forty corpses lying on the ground in front, almost every corpse had multiple wounds, and the blood flowing out dyed a large area of ​​​​the land red.

These people had expressions of horror on their faces. There were severed arms and fingers, broken knife heads and various debris on the ground, all of which were traces left behind during the fight.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, and one could tell how fierce the fight had been.

Among the corpses, except for a few young women and children dressed in bright clothes, most of them were wearing uniform clothes and might be guards hired by the rich man.

There were also several corpses wearing tattered clothes, similar to those of the refugees who had just chased the two men. They were probably killed in the fight.

Everyone in Lujia Village gasped when they saw this, and most of the women covered their children's eyes, fearing that they would be frightened and have a fever.

Everyone silently quickened their pace and quickly passed through the area before they all breathed a sigh of relief.

After this incident, the villagers became more vigilant and unconsciously sped up without being reminded.

At this time, a woman with tattered clothes and a dirty face that could not be identified raised her head from the hillside next to her and looked at the convoy from Lujia Village in front of her.

The convoy was large and most of them were pulling carts, and there were many men in it.

The woman forced herself to stop shaking. She had just witnessed a massacre. Not only the wealthy people, but even the scattered refugees passing by were killed.

It was unknown how long they would have to flee, as the team of more than 30 people with guards and knives were all robbed.

She and her child were afraid that it would be difficult to escape alive, so she had to find a larger team for herself and her child to rely on.

The group in front was the largest group she had ever seen in all her years of fleeing famine. With so many people, no refugee would dare to attack them easily. She had to find a way to get in.

She looked down at the child beside her. The child had a big head on his skinny body, a sallow complexion, and looked very hungry.

A trace of heartache flashed in the woman's eyes, and she seemed to have made up her mind. She quickly went to the side of the road, took out a water bag, poured some water to wash her face, and tidied her hair. Then she hurried towards the team in front.

After following the team and observing for a while, the woman set her target, which was Lu Tianfu.

Although Lu Tianfu's cart was covered with bedding, a corner of it was exposed, and the bags of grain inside could be seen.

At this time, Lu Tianfu's mother was pulling a cart, and Lu Tianfu was following behind with a backpack on his back.

The woman led the child to Lu Tianfu, and Lu Tianfu was startled by the sudden appearance of the woman.

But after seeing the woman's appearance clearly, Lu Tianfu hurriedly stopped the villagers who were about to take action.

Seeing Lu Tianfu looking at her, the woman thought it might work and said:

"Brother, I came here to escape famine from Ling County. My family suffered a disaster and my husband is gone. Can you find a place for me and my child to eat? I can work and do all the housework."

Lu Tianfu looked at the pretty woman in front of him and was immediately attracted.

When Lu Tianfu's mother saw some refugees harassing her son, she picked up a hoe and wanted to drive them away, but was stopped by Lu Tianfu.

"Sister, do you think I can do it? I'm 32 years old and still unmarried. If you're willing, I'll support you in the future."

Lu Tianfu stared at the woman's face and said, then noticed the child beside her and quickly added,

"To support you and the child."

The woman listened to this and said softly:

"Okay, big brother, you are a good person, just call me Xiu'er."

Lu Tianfu said with joy:

"Hey, Xiu'er, don't worry, I will treat you and the child well."

When Lu Tianfu's mother saw that her son was bewitched by a seductive woman, she was so angry that she cursed.

But he noticed that they were lagging behind the group, and worried about the danger, he hurriedly shouted to his son:

"Okay, Tianfu, hurry up and catch up with the team."

Lu Tianfu finally came to his senses, hurriedly grabbed the woman's hand, and rushed to the front of the team.

Many people in the team saw this scene and teased Lu Tianfu:

"Oh, Tianfu has found a wife. He will have a wife and children in the future. He must work harder!"

Lu Tianfu spat and said:

"Need you to tell me? I will treat them well."

Lu Tianfu kept secretly glancing at Shi Xiu'er who was beside him along the way, and the more he looked at her, the more he liked her.

After a while, I noticed that Xiu'er and her mother were shivering as they walked, probably because they were hungry.

He hurried to the cart, took out some white flour cakes, and stuffed them into the hands of Xiu'er and her mother.

The two hadn't seen white flour for a long time. They had been living on wild vegetables these days. Now that they saw white flour, they didn't care about anything else and stuffed it into their mouths in big mouthfuls.

While waiting, he paid attention to his surroundings and only felt relieved when he saw that he was in the team.

Shi Xiuer stopped after taking a few bites. Seeing her son eating with relish, she wanted to leave the pancake in her hand for the child.

Seeing this, Lu Tianfu went to get two more pancakes and stuffed them into her hands, forcing her to eat them.

Shi Xiu'er then started eating again. After she was full, she saw her son touching his stomach with satisfaction, and then she felt that she had done nothing wrong.

I think her deceased husband wouldn't blame her for letting her son live.

Shi Xiu'er looked at Lu Tianfu beside her and decided to stay in this team.

Thinking of this, he took the initiative to pull the cart.

Lu Tianfu hurriedly stopped him.

"You don't need to. You should rest well and take care of your body. You look so thin."

Shi Xiuer looked at Lu Tianfu's mother staring at her and said hurriedly:

"I've already eaten my fill. It's not good for Mom to pull the cart. I can do it."

Seeing this, Lu Tianfu grabbed the cart, asked his mother to go and rest aside, and pulled the cart himself.

After walking for a while, I saw that the child was staggering, so I carried the child into the car.

It was already dark and it was time to stop and rest, but Lu Tianming didn't call for a stop.

In the evening, they encountered a team consisting entirely of ox carts and mule carts. That team was faster than them and they had just passed them before, but now they had not seen that team anymore.

Most of those who stopped to rest on the surrounding roads were scattered disaster victims who did not bring any luggage.

Lu Tianming felt uneasy and continued to move forward. However, the sky was getting darker and darker, and he could not see the road farther away. He did not dare to go any further and found a flat place to stop.