An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

After seven or eight people, two horses and a carriage, two more carriages left the city. This time, there were two coachmen and eight guards following in front, behind, left and right of the carriages.

In the first carriage sat two slender maids and two young masters, a boy and a girl, about eight or nine years old. The two children were obviously curious about the journey and would look out from time to time, while the maids comforted them with gentle words.

The second carriage was filled with luggage and miscellaneous items. The driver drove the carriage steadily, following closely behind the first one.

Further on, there were many individual travelers on horseback mixed in with the people leaving the city.

Sometimes they rode fast, sometimes they slowed down a little, and they were not too far away from the two carriages. On the surface, they looked like ordinary passers-by.

After leaving the city, several waves of people continued their journey, each less than half a mile away. The official road headed east, and the pace of the carriages and horses was neither fast nor slow, with a tacit understanding between the front and the back.

After walking about thirty or forty miles, a large stone tablet with the three characters "Jiujiang County" engraved on it appeared in front of us, and the boundary of Jiujiang County was in front.

The first level has arrived.

The checkpoint is located on a wide official road, with no obstructions except for a few large trees.

Several huge stones are piled on one side of the checkpoint. The stones have a rough surface and are obviously transported from the nearby mountains. These stones not only serve to block external forces, but also symbolize the power and majesty of the checkpoint.

Beside the stone, a wooden log, as thick as a bowl, stretched across the air. One end of the log was suspended high in the air by a thick rope. The log, seven or eight feet long, was clearly intended as a bolt at the checkpoint, quickly blocking the road once lowered. The other end of the log was fixed to a stake buried deep in the ground, appearing both sturdy and heavy.

On the other side of the checkpoint, about two or three feet away, there are two small wooden houses. Although the wooden houses are simple, they are solidly constructed and the roofs are covered with thick thatch.

The doors and windows of the wooden house were tightly closed, clearly a place for the yamen runners to rest and take shelter from the rain. Outside the house were piled some practical items, such as wooden barrels and ropes.

Several yamen runners in official uniforms stood before the checkpoint, holding spears and looking serious. The leader, a yamen leader, was a large man with a stern expression.

He stood at the front of the team and shouted loudly: "Everyone get off the horses and vehicles and accept inspection!"

The sound was loud and powerful, echoing on the empty road, making people tremble in their hearts and dare not be negligent in the slightest.

There were only a few people who had stopped ahead and had not yet passed the checkpoint. It was completely different from the crowded scene when we just left Ezhou City.

Everyone fell silent here, no longer shouting or making any noise. The carriages and horses were lined up in order as they moved forward, and those who got off the carriages and horses lined up to wait for inspection.

Unlike other checkpoints, the yamen runners did not mainly check the pass documents and travel permits of pass holders. Instead, they focused on searching the luggage and miscellaneous items in the car.

The five men walking in front had long disappeared, obviously they had passed away first.

From a distance, I saw the woman and the fat maid being inspected in front of the checkpoint.

The woman seemed a little nervous, her face slightly pale, her fingers tightly clenched a handkerchief, and from time to time she looked up at the yamen runner who was interrogating her, and then nervously glanced at the yamen runner who was rummaging around in the car, with a hint of uneasiness in her eyes.

The fat maid was much calmer. She supported the woman steadily and whispered something in her ear, probably to comfort the lady.

On the contrary, the two children and two maids who got out of the two cars at the back seemed particularly calm.

After getting off the bus, they stood quietly by the side waiting without saying a word. Although the two children were young, they behaved well and were obviously well-educated.

Two maids stood behind them, their eyes lowered and their expressions respectful.

The guards were also very cooperative. Except for four who stood in line in front and behind their master, the other four stood in pairs next to the two carriages, waiting for the next order from the yamen runners.

Ah Qi stood quietly behind Jing Chunxi, looking like a passerby. He avoided the faces of the yamen runners and scanned the surroundings like an eagle, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

They were at the back of the line, but they could still hear the noise of the interrogation going on in front of them, and the movements were quite loud. A yamen runner was loudly asking, "Where are you going, Madam? Are you going into Xunyang City?"

Some of the people who left Ezhou City with them had already turned into other forks along the way. Those who still had to enter this checkpoint were definitely going to Jiuzhou County, but not everyone would go to Xunyang City. Even the villagers living outside the city had to be checked when entering and leaving, and they were not allowed to take anything with them.

The woman's voice was calm and sincere as she replied, "Come in! My aunt married to Xunyang City a few years ago. We haven't heard from her in over a year. We don't know if something happened to her. The elderly people at home are very worried.

We happened to be passing by here, so we wanted to go in and see if my aunt was still there. If she was, we could let her family know she was safe.

After the woman said this, her eyes turned slightly red and her voice was a little choked. It was obvious that she had already thought that her loved one was gone.