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

Old Zhuang felt very relieved after hearing about Master Wang's fate.

"That old bastard killed so many people in the village, now he's finally been taken away by God!"

Sun Dahai nodded in agreement, recalling the thrilling experience of that night.

In addition, he also mentioned a separate piece of news.

From this day forward, the villagers will no longer go to the watchtower to stand guard.

Instead, they were assigned to guard the road they had to pass on their way from the front street to the village.

Actually, they were specifically keeping an eye on the group of soldiers on the street in front.

If they really intend to attack, the guards should sound the gong as a warning, giving the villagers a chance to escape further away.

Old Zhuang sighed, recalling what his fifth uncle had said earlier and considering the changes.

"Do you think we should continue packing?"

The implication from Uncle Wu was that it wouldn't be long before those soldiers came to rob them.

Although the positions they were guarding had changed, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.

Even if we knew beforehand and escaped a certain distance, it wouldn't be of much use!

Actually, they had discussed this issue before.

Even if Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang were more skilled, it would still be too risky for the two of them to face more than two hundred people.

But they were unwilling to leave just like that and travel in the freezing cold.

Just like Sun Dahai's family, their ancestors have lived here for generations.

Before disaster truly struck, they still clung to a sliver of hope and didn't want to leave their homes.

The group discussed it for a while, but couldn't reach a conclusion, so they all went home.

After returning to her room, Lu Qingqing stored away all the infrequently used items in her spatial storage.

After thinking for a moment, I went for another walk around the yard.

I put away some of the less frequently used items and piled them up in a corner of the house.

In case it really comes to the point where we have no choice but to flee.

It's easier to store these things if they're piled together.

At this time, Old Man Zhuang and Sun Yue also tidied up the things in the house.

They loaded the items they didn't use often directly into the carriage.

They even packed two sacks of coal and stuffed them into the carriage beforehand.

In Old Zhuang's words, if they really encountered danger, they could just drive away in their horse-drawn carriage.

Sun Yue did the same, loading the grain and coal into the wagon in advance.

They even put the quilts in beforehand.

Apart from the kang table, the quilt where the person was sleeping, the stove and the large pot, there was almost nothing else in the entire room.

Not only their family, but all the other families in the village were the same.

After dinner, Sun Yue heard a knock on the courtyard gate.

Before opening the door, I cautiously climbed the ladder and peeked inside.

Upon seeing that it was Manager Wu and his son, they opened the door and let them in.

After the three entered the house, Manager Wu and his son explained their purpose.

"Uncle Zhuang, my son and I have come here today to buy two horses from you."

As you know, my family only has one mule.

In normal years, it's okay to haul something.

In this situation, a mule is not as fast as a horse.

Old Zhuang and Sun Yue were both quite happy to hear that the two wanted to buy horses.

When it came time to travel, each of them would only need to keep two horses at most.

The extra horses are constantly wasting fodder.

The two of them then discussed it with Lu Qingqing.

Seeing that Lu Qingqing had no intention of selling, they each sold a horse.

As for the price of the horses, they were sold for thirty-five taels of silver each.

This price is higher than in normal years.

But at this time, this price is considered very reasonable.

Manager Wu thanked the two men profusely, and before leaving with his horse, he revealed a piece of information.

"Uncle Zhuang, I heard that Da Tou and Mai Zi's families in the village are planning to leave under the cover of night."

Old Zhuang was very surprised.

Where are they going?

Besides, it's quite cold walking at night.

Shopkeeper Wu's voice carried a hint of envy.

"Their in-laws are from nearby villages, not far apart."

Even if you travel overnight, you'll get home in an hour or two.

Oh, what a pity, my wife's family lives dozens of miles away from here.

In weather like this, we can't go even if we wanted to!

After seeing the Wu family off, Old Man Zhuang returned home feeling very anxious.

Lu Qingqing offered a few words of comfort, but there was no improvement.

That night, Old Man Zhuang volunteered to take the night watch.

Lu Qingqing received the news on the morning of the following day.

The group of soldiers on the front street loaded their carriages and headed east.

Judging from their posture, they're going to the charcoal kiln to buy charcoal.

This news did not bring much relief to the villagers.

In the morning, two more families left with their children.

Uncle Wu simply stood at the village entrance and silently watched them leave.

Around noon, Bai Song and Yan Xu, along with several soldiers, arrived at the village entrance again.

He took the money and wanted to buy some things from the villagers.

The young man on duty at the village entrance dared not slack off and went back to the village to inform the villagers.

After everyone arrived, Uncle Lao Wu, on behalf of the villagers, chatted with Bai Song and the others for a while.

Bai Song then suggested that he wanted to buy some things in the village.

But having learned from Master Wang's experience, this time, no one in the village paid any attention to it.

But since they wouldn't leave, the villagers didn't dare to leave either.

Uncle Wu didn't want to offend them directly, so he just chatted with them casually.

During this time, Bai Song deliberately steered the conversation towards Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang.

Through a series of provocations, I learned the information from several children.

They went up the mountain a few days ago and hunted some wild boars.

Uncle Wu simply told the adults to take the child back without getting angry.

There are plenty of wild animals in Dongshan. If these soldiers are really capable, they should go hunting in the mountains.

Bringing back prey would be far better than keeping an eye on them.

Bai Song and Yan Xu stayed at the village entrance for more than an hour until they could no longer get any information out of the villagers before they took their leave.

As evening fell, the villagers who had been keeping watch on them in the front street returned to report the news.

The group of soldiers returned with more than a dozen cartloads of coal.

It looks like it was delivered by the people from the charcoal kiln.

Those villagers who ran for days in the freezing cold to haul coal.

I felt terrible when I heard the news.

But these days, might makes right.

Even if you have something to complain about, you have to keep it to yourself.

The next morning, Lu Qingqing and the others were practicing boxing in the yard when they saw the village boy Ping An running over.

"Brother Lu, Brother Qin, the young manager of the grain shop has been captured by those soldiers."

They specifically asked for you; you're at the lookout tower at the east end of the village.

Upon hearing this, Old Man Zhuang stopped punching.

He took a step forward while maintaining that posture and almost fell to the ground.

After hurriedly regaining his balance, his face was filled with disbelief.

"What? You mean Manager Qian of the grain shop?"

"Didn't they go into hiding a long time ago? How could they have been arrested?"

Ping An shook his head and said anxiously:

"I don't know either. I'm in a hurry to inform the other families in the village, so I'll leave now!"

Having said that, he ran away.

Old Zhuang looked at Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang, his brows furrowing.

"Young man, Xiao Lang, Bai Song specifically asked you two to come here, I'm afraid he has no good intentions."

Even if you have some connection with Manager Qian, it shouldn't be to the point of getting yourselves involved.

"If Bai Song and the others say anything then, don't agree to it."

Lu Qingqing nodded, grabbed her weapons, and followed Qin Lang toward the east end of the village.

When they arrived, they found that Uncle Wu and several other men from the village had already arrived.

Behind them, more and more people were rushing here.

Lu Qingqing took a few steps forward and saw Bai Song and Yan Xu talking to Uncle Lao Wu and the others.

Behind the two, several soldiers were holding Qian Shao, the shopkeeper, and his brother hostage.

The two shopkeepers, Qian and his companion, looked disheveled, their faces bruised and purple, clearly having been beaten.