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

As soon as Lu Qingqing returned to her resting place, Mrs. Yao came over with a gift to thank her.

Soon other people came over. It was already very late, and the people who came just thanked me, put down their things and left.

Many women from the village came this time, even a few aunts who were usually a bit mean came.

Most of the gifts the villagers gave her were half a pound of grain and a handful of wild vegetables. They put down the gifts and left without giving her a chance to refuse.

When they set out the next morning, Lu Tianming couldn't hide his excitement and encouraged everyone:

"Everyone should work harder this morning and we can reach Pingkang County before noon!"

Everyone in the village was very happy. There were so many inconveniences during the journey to escape the famine, and every family had some things that needed to be replenished.

Along the way, the further we went, the more people we met. Many of them were carrying their belongings. They should be the group that escaped before the barbarians attacked the city.

When Aunt Lu was passing by a group of refugees, she felt that the figures pushing carts in front of her looked very familiar. When she saw that it was her mother sitting on the cart, her nose felt sore and she ran towards her mother's family with sobs.

The Queen Mother looked at her daughter who suddenly appeared, hugged her excitedly and burst into tears.

Wang's father, standing by, looked at his daughter who was being held by his wife. She looked dark and thin, with wounds on her arms.

The king's father felt sad, as he knew his daughter had suffered a lot.

After crying for a while, Aunt Lu came to her senses and remembered that her daughter was still behind her. She quickly wiped her tears and looked back, only to see Erya being held happily by her two uncles.

Aunt Lu looked up and saw that the team had already walked some distance, so she hurried forward with her parents.

After catching up with the team, Second Aunt Lu introduced Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang to her family.

When Wang's father and mother heard their daughter say that Lu Qingqing had taken care of their granddaughter for a long time, they expressed their gratitude to Lu Qingqing. Wang's mother also gave them a big bag of homemade dried meat.

Without giving Lu Qingqing a chance to refuse, Aunt Lu directly put the dried meat on their ox cart.

When Wang's father saw that his daughter had no luggage, he asked and found out that after they were injured, their luggage was placed in Lu Qingqing's carriage.

After thanking them, Wang's father put the luggage back on his cart. His daughter had already been taken care of by others many times, so now that they were here, he naturally couldn't take advantage of them anymore.

Wang's father was a generous person. He told Lu Qingqing that if she had any problems in the future, she could just come to him and he would never refuse.

Lu Qingqing looked at her father Wang, who was a burly man with a beard. His appearance and personality were a bit like the one who punched Zhen Guanxi in Water Margin.

Looking at her two uncles who were playing with Erya, Lu Qingqing was really happy for Erya and Aunt Lu.

The three members of the Wang family, father and son, were all of strong build, a rare sight in that era. They loved Erya very much, and they would have someone to rely on on their journey to escape famine.

Near noon, the team finally arrived at Pingkang County. There were two long lines at the city gate.

A team of soldiers with swords were guarding the city gate, and everyone in line followed the team forward obediently.

The people from Lujia Village also lined up at the back of the queue. While waiting, Lu Qingqing saw several men who were being inspected being pushed to the side and taken away by the soldiers.

Those men were still clamoring to go into the city, making so much noise that the people behind them began to stare at this place, and discussions could be heard from the crowd.

The soldiers guarding the city shouted loudly in fear of causing chaos:

"The county magistrate knows that the barbarians are coming and no one has a pass. Now, only household registration is needed to enter the city. These people don't even have household registration, so we must check it. Don't worry, as long as the household registration is correct, they can enter."

The people queuing behind finally felt relieved. They had fled as soon as they heard that the barbarians were attacking, so they had no time to apply for a travel permit.

Yao County Magistrate in the team frowned when he heard the soldier's words. The imperial court had strict checks on travel permits, and his good friend had openly disobeyed the order, and he was afraid that he would be punished later.

But think about the current situation. If we still block the pass, I'm afraid that 99% of the people will not be able to pass through the city. We can't just watch the people being killed by the barbarians.

Pingkang County has a special location. If you take a detour, the surrounding mountains will make it difficult for most people to travel.

County Magistrate Yao couldn't help but shook his head when he thought of this. How difficult!

Soon, the group from Lujia Village arrived, with County Magistrate Yao at the head. He showed his private seal to the soldiers guarding the gate and said that he was a good friend of the county magistrate.

The soldiers guarding the city called the city gate officer. The city gate officer looked at the seal, hurriedly asked the person to step aside, quickly checked the household registration of the people in Lujia Village behind, and then took everyone to the county government office.

After the city gate officer brought them to the county government office, County Magistrate Yao and Lu Tianming asked everyone to rest at the gate and they would come out after they had obtained everyone's travel permits.

In the county government office, County Magistrate Guo, County Assistant Secretary Yao, and Lu Tianming exchanged pleasantries and then started talking about the issue of travel permits.

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Guo gave a wry smile:

"Wenlin, I know it was a grave mistake to let so many people into the city without a pass. But having to watch so many people die outside of Pingkang County, I'm afraid I won't be able to close my eyes at night!"

"Pingkang County is in a special location. It's extremely difficult to take a detour from the edge! I can't block this way out for the people!"

Yao County Magistrate looked at his friend who was in pain and said:

"Xue Hai, I'm afraid the barbarians will attack us in the next few days. Do you have any plans?"

County Magistrate Guo looked up at County Magistrate Yao and said:

"Pingkang County is the only checkpoint among the surrounding counties that can stop the barbarians. If Pingkang County is captured, countless civilians will be slaughtered."

"Fortunately, Pingkang County has a military camp and strong city walls, so it can hold out for a while. If the imperial court can send reinforcements, we still have a chance to hold out. If... there are no reinforcements, then all of us swear to live and die with Pingkang County!"

County Magistrate Yao and Lu Tianming looked at County Magistrate Guo for a long time in silence. They stood up and bowed deeply to County Magistrate Guo.

County Magistrate Guo smiled and said,

"Don't think I'm so noble. Although I can't leave, I have already sent my wife and children away."

"By the way, I'm now opening the county office to issue travel permits to the people who have fled. I'll have my advisor take your household registration and get the travel permits. Without a travel permit, I'm afraid the next county won't let you through."

Seeing the two men looking at him with admiration, County Magistrate Guo said self-deprecatingly:

"I won't survive the barbarians anyway, so I might as well do a good deed and consider it as a blessing for my frail child."

Lu Qingqing waited at the door for a while, and then someone took them to apply for a travel permit. This time she directly changed her name to Lu Qingqing. She and Qin Lang were registered under the same household registration.

After getting the pass, Lu Tianming and County Magistrate Yao also came to meet up.

The people of Lujia Village originally wanted to do some shopping in Pingkang County, but they found that all the shops were closed and there were very few people on the streets.

After asking around, I found out that County Magistrate Guo had already sent all the elderly and weak away.

In addition to the stationed officers and soldiers in Pingkang County, there were also a small number of people who volunteered to stay and guard the city. Some elderly people who were unwilling to leave their hometown also stayed.