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

Everyone found an ancient well on the street to replenish their water. Because the water level in the well had dropped a lot, it took a long time to fill the buckets.

Families who previously had little dry food started making dry food again while there was still water.

County Magistrate Yao found Lu Tianming during his break.

"Brother Lu, we have known each other for many years. Forgive me for being frank. Your daughter is gentle and virtuous. I came here to ask on behalf of my second son, would you be willing to give her up?"

When Lu Tianming heard this, he thought of Yao family's second son, Bowu. The boy was mature and steady. Unlike his other brothers who were only interested in literature, he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child.

Yao Bowu is a good boy, only one year older than Yuan Fang. It would be a good thing if they really succeed.

Lu Tianming had already accepted it in his heart, and thinking about the fact that they were on the road to escape the famine, he said:

"Bo Wu is a steady and down-to-earth kid. I like him very much. But now we are all on the road fleeing famine, so I'm afraid it's not convenient."

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Yao hurriedly said:

"Of course, we can't let Yuan Fang down. I think these two children are old enough, so why not let them get engaged first, and then hold a wedding for them after we settle down."

Lu Tianming thought it was okay and took the initiative to speak:

"The journey is difficult, so we should keep the engagement simple. We can just exchange tokens of love and then have a proper wedding once we're settled."

Seeing that the matter was settled, County Magistrate Yao said goodbye and went back to prepare the engagement gift.

When Cui saw County Magistrate Yao walking away, she came over and said:

"My dear, the Yao family is actually willing to come and ask for Yuan Fang's hand in marriage. Madam Yao used to think her family was superior and looked down on us. I mentioned it to them in a subtle way before, but they always brushed it off. Why are they willing to do it again this time?"

Lu Tianming looked at his wife and said:

"Things are different now. All of us are from Lujia Village, and most of us are related. During the previous attack by deserters, two of the four male members of County Magistrate Yao's family were slightly injured, but Shuhe and I were both unharmed. Why do you think that was?"

Cui suddenly understood that no matter how noisy the people in Lujia Village were on weekdays, they would still help their own family members when something really happened.

Yao County Magistrate's family was very sad. They had only walked a short distance and didn't know how long it would take. The best thing would be to marry into their own family and become in-laws, which would make them closer.

Cui was still a little worried and said:

"Bo Wu is indeed a good kid. The Yao family and his maternal uncle's family will be able to help him in the future. What I'm worried about is that once things settle down, will the Yao family change their minds?"

Lu Tianming glanced at Cui, who was worried, and comforted her:

"Brother Yao is a man of his word. This time, he took the initiative to ask for our Yuan Fang's hand in marriage. You don't have to worry too much."

County Magistrate Yao went home to find the token and the gifts he had prepared earlier, asked Madam Yao to pack them up and prepared to exchange the token.

Mrs. Yao was still a little hesitant.

"This girl from the Lu family is good, but her family background is not good. It will be difficult for her to help our Boyu in the future. Do you want to reconsider?"

Seeing that his wife was still hesitant, County Magistrate Yao went over to embrace her and comforted her:

"You saw the deserters' sneak attack earlier. Bowen and I were both injured. We don't know how much danger lies ahead. Lu Tianming is in command of the team now. The closer our relationship with his family is, the greater our chances of survival."

When Mrs. Yao heard this, she stopped talking, quickly packed up, and the two of them went to the Lu family.

......

After leaving Pingkang County, there was almost no food to be found in the fields along the roadside. A large number of people fleeing famine were rushing forward along the way, and the wild vegetables on the ground were basically eaten up.

Moreover, the people from Lujia Village did not encounter any water source along the way. The ditches they encountered were empty, revealing the dried mud and sand underneath.

Fortunately, everyone replenished their water in the county town, so if they conserved it, they could have enough to drink for a few days.

Guihua heard the news that her cousin was engaged to the second son of County Magistrate Yao while having dinner in the evening.

He had seen the second son of the Yao family before. He was a heroic young man with a handsome face.

Guihua had never seen such a handsome man in the village. She told her mother about it secretly once, but was scolded by her mother.

Her mother said that it was impossible for a young man from a wealthy family to marry someone from the village, and told her not to have any such thoughts, as her family would worry about her when she got older.

He also sternly warned her that no girl could find a husband on her own, and if her reputation was ruined, her life would be ruined.

But now, my cousin can marry the second young master Yao!

They are obviously girls from the Lu family, and her father and uncle are brothers.

Guihua felt sad and bitter. She thought for a long time and felt that there was no better man around her than the Second Master Yao.

Guihua looked towards her uncle's house next door, stared at it for a while, then lowered her head.

When they rested at night, there were refugees resting around the camp. After the previous experience of being ambushed, the people in Lujia Village became more vigilant.

In addition to the night watchmen that night, some families with large populations also arranged for separate night watchmen. Each person could watch for two hours, which was enough to hold the day.

Lu Qingqing, Zhuzi's family, and Aunt Lu's family also took turns to keep watch. At this moment, Lu Qingqing was curled up by the fire with a quilt wrapped around her. The wind blew dust and sand over, making her eyes a little dizzy.

I rubbed my eyes and felt better. I looked around and saw that everything was quiet.

Lu Qingqing's consciousness entered the space and looked at the potatoes and sweet potatoes she had planted before. They were growing very vigorously. There were only some tomatoes and a small bunch of greens planted in the vegetable garden.

There haven't been any eggs collected in the chicken coop for several days, and now there are quite a few eggs in the chicken coop.

Lu Qingqing took advantage of the quilt to take out the eggs and put them into the basket specially for eggs on the shelf.

After cleaning up, Lu Qingqing looked at the previously cooked yam beans on the shelf and took out a bowl.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, he ate the yam beans with his back to the light and under the cover of a quilt. He felt that the taste was not good enough, so he took out some more sugar powder and dipped it in the sugar.

The glutinous texture of yam and bean flour paired with sugar is really good.

It didn't take long to finish eating, and the peeled yam skin was put back on the ground in the space.

Lu Qingqing took out the water bag and drank a few sips, then poured some water to wash her hands, and then sat down to continue keeping watch.

When the time came, Zhuzi's wife came to keep watch, and Lu Qingqing went back to sleep.

Nothing happened that night, and the next day everyone continued on their journey.

In the middle of the morning, the temperature was getting higher and higher. Everyone on the road was sweating. Sweat beads kept coming out of Lu Qingqing's head. She took a handkerchief to wipe it and continued walking.

The air is dry and hot at this time. Since no water source has been found since leaving Pingkang County, the villagers are very frugal with drinking water.

During the lunch break, Lu Qingqing took down the frame as usual. Seeing that the cow was sticking out its tongue due to the heat, she went to the water bucket in the carriage and scooped half a basin of water for it to drink.

Probably because it was hot on the road, the cow put its head into the basin and drank the water in one gulp in a short while.

Other families with livestock were not so generous. They scooped a small bucket of water for their livestock.

When replenishing water in Pingkang County before, many families thought they could still find water on the road as before, so they only filled their buckets halfway.

It’s not that they didn’t want to fill it up, but the car was already heavy with a lot of luggage, and it would be even heavier if the full buckets of water were added.

No one expected that there would be no water source after leaving the city. After one or two days of consumption, almost one third of the half bucket of water was gone.

At this moment, everyone naturally didn't dare to waste any more time.