get married first, fall in love later

After stabilizing their figures, the two stepped forward and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, but saw a person and a rider standing in the middle of the road. When they looked closely, they turned out to be Li Zirong, the son of General Li, who had befriended by accident the day before when they were visiting the lake.

The road out of Beijing was really not smooth, and people stopped him one after another before they even got out of the alley.Ouyang Xi had a pleasant chat with Li Zirong that day, and without waiting for Qian Xiaobao to speak, he sat on the shaft of the car and asked, "I said Mr. Li, why are you stopping our car?"

Li Zi Rongjun wrinkled his facial features tightly, got off his horse and walked up to him, and replied with a bitter expression on his face: "I just went to visit the two of you at the mansion, and I was told that you had already left, so I borrowed the mansion's horse to find you as a last resort." Come over here, please don't blame Brother Qian and Madam."

Qian Xiaobao turned around and jumped off the carriage, looked at Li Zirong face to face and said, "Brother Li came here today, what's the matter?"

"Brother Qian's eyes are really bright." Li Zirong hastily bowed and saluted, and then said: "I don't know where the two of you are going this time, is it convenient for you to bring your little brother along?"

What, another one who wants to follow along?Are there any attractive qualities about her and Xiaobao? Why do both of them want to follow?It's okay for Jiang Qingxiao to say that he can't do without Wuying, but what's the situation with Mr. Li in front of him?

Li Zirong naturally knew that his request was abrupt, so he continued to explain without waiting for the two of them to ask: "I told you before that my father ignored my thoughts and blindly forced me to practice martial arts and go to the battlefield. I just I received news from people around him back to the mansion, saying that within a few days he will return to the imperial court with his troops, and after three to five days of rest, he will bring me back to the battlefield."

"So you ran away because you didn't want to go to war?" Ouyang Xi pointed out his true thoughts.

Li Zirong blushed when he heard the words, lowered his head and murmured, "I'm not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, but on this battlefield, massacres are inevitable, and I really don't like it."

After hearing this, Ouyang Xi leaned forward and pulled Qian Xiaobao's sleeve, and asked in a low voice, "Xiaobao, what should I do?"

"Being forced by close relatives to do something you don't want to do, you can neither refuse nor resist. It seems that the only way to go is to escape." Qian Xiaobao looked at him thoughtfully for a while, then smiled again, and said: "It's true. To be honest, we are returning home to Yongshan County this time, a rough place where conditions are far worse than those in the capital, if Mr. Li doesn't mind, welcome to visit us for a few days."

Since the others have already agreed, Li Zirong will naturally not have any other opinions except that he is full of joy. He bowed deeply to the two of them and said solemnly: "The kindness you two have helped each other today, Zirong will never forget it in his life. If there is a chance in the future, he will definitely do it Full return!"

"Oh, why don't you pay back for such a trivial matter. Don't you think so, Xiaobao?"

Qian Xiaobao turned his head to look at her, and said with a faint smile: "My lady is right, of course." After speaking, he turned to face Li Zirong and said, "Brother Li really doesn't need to take it to heart. So let's go on our way .”

"Okay, thanks again, both of you." Li Zirong clasped his fists in both hands, bent down and saluted again, then walked back to the original place and got on his horse.

After the little incident, Qian Xiaobao and Ouyang Xi had officially embarked on their way home.

In order to satisfy Ouyang Xi's playfulness, Qian Xiaobao deliberately avoided the official road and chose a different path from when he came.Because of the different routes, not only the scenery and landforms are different from when we came here, but even the villages we pass are no longer the ones we have seen before.

Since there is plenty of time and there is nothing urgent to do, everyone enjoys the scenery and chats along the way, and stops for a short rest when they encounter beautiful scenery. A cluster of bonfires, just sleeping on the ground overnight, this special experience really made Ouyang Xi, a modern person, feel a lot fresh.

After walking like this for four or five days, the scenery on the road gradually began to change.Different from the tall grass and trees before, the jungle began to decrease as they moved forward. They originally set off from the northernmost capital, not to mention that it was early autumn at this time. As you walk forward, the greener you get, how can you still see such a situation where the vegetation is dried up and the sand is everywhere?

What surprised them even more was that there were some dead pedestrians appearing in twos and threes on both sides of the road that day.These people were dressed in rags, they were all old, weak and young children, no obvious wounds were found on the corpses, but judging from their emaciated appearance, they seemed to have died of starvation.However, in this bright and bright world, how could someone starve to death by the roadside?

Seeing this scene, several people all looked dignified. Qian Xiaobao ordered Wuying to park the carriage aside, and asked everyone to find a stable place to sit down. In the information received, can you mention any places that have suffered disasters?"

Qian Er only thought for a moment before replying, "It's the rainy season, and the information I received a few days ago mentioned sporadically that there are floods in Yuzhou."

Qian Xiaobao frowned: "How long ago was the news?"

"It should have been more than a month before the young master's trip this time."

Ouyang Xi remembers seeing many such situations in TV dramas before. In ancient times, technology was backward, and natural disasters have always been obediently endured.Therefore, every time a disaster occurs, it must be like a catastrophe.It is perfectly normal for people to be displaced and people to die of starvation on the road.

However, the imperial courts of all dynasties, regardless of whether the monarch is wise or not, will definitely send people to rescue the people in the first place. Otherwise, it will easily lose the hearts of the people.

Thinking of this, she also asked: "The disaster has been happening for more than a month, so it is reasonable for the imperial court to send people to help, right?"

Qian Er nodded: "This subordinate also thought so."

Ouyang Xi said again: "It doesn't look like it has been rescued now, otherwise so many people would not have starved to death by the roadside."

Qian Xiaobao said: "Xi'er is right."

"Could it be that the money allocated by the court for disaster relief has not reached the hands of the people? Or is it that your emperor Mu Huaijin has no intention of helping them tide over the difficulties at all?"

Ouyang Xi's words shocked everyone, Jiang Qingxiao's eyes widened in shock after having been with her for a long time, let alone Li Zirong, who had just met her for the first time, was even more shocked. It's all about to fall to the ground.

"Uh...I mean...maybe he doesn't know about the disaster here yet?"

This is nothing to say, even Qian Er, who only collects intelligence from the people, already knew about it a month ago, let alone the leader of a country who needs to keep an eye on the dynamics of the whole country. , so what else can such an emperor and the people expect from him?

Qian Xiaobao, who had been silent all this time, said at this moment: "In my opinion, the villages that have been affected by the disaster should not be farther ahead. Instead of making judgments here, it is better to go to the field to investigate."

Hearing the words, Jiang Qingxiao hurriedly echoed: "Yes, Xiaobao is right."

Several people rested in place for a while, and after eating some dry food, they set off to move on.

As the car drove forward, the closer we got to the disaster-stricken village, the more and more corpses there were on both sides of the road, and then there was almost one corpse every ten meters.Finally, after passing a stone tablet with the inscription "Niujia Village", everyone began to vaguely see the shadow of a village.

At the beginning, there were only a few scattered thatched houses at the entrance of the village. Qian Xiaobao got out of the car and went into the house to check, but found no one living there. Judging from the accumulation of dust in the house, this family should have been gone for more than half a month. .

The carriage continued along the winding path to the village. After making an appointment for a cup of tea, they finally heard intermittent voices. Everyone followed the prestige and saw a dozen people gathering together not far away. Talking about something, at first it seemed to be arguing in a low voice, but gradually the quarrel became louder and louder, so that in the end they all started to fight.

Qian Xiaobao asked Qian Er to park the carriage aside, then carefully helped Ouyang Xi down and walked towards the crowd.As they got closer, they gradually heard that they seemed to be arguing about where to go in the future.

"Naturally, head east to Yuzhou City, which is only a hundred miles away from here. If you walk for three to five days without rest, you can always arrive." The person who spoke was a dark-skinned young man. Although his face was haggard, his voice was still It's loud.Just as he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a middle-aged man in his 40s: "So what if we can get there, didn't the person I met yesterday say that Yuzhou is now closed and no one is allowed to enter? Let me tell you Or go west to Zhuzhou, although the distance is half the distance, but because of the long distance they are not familiar with our situation here, maybe they will let us go into the city."

Hearing this, the young man raised his eyebrows immediately: "It's easy for you to say. The remaining dry food we have can last for three to five days at most. Go to Zhuzhou? You should starve to death halfway!"

"When you arrive in Yuzhou, if people don't let you enter the city, you will starve to death at the gate of the city. Why don't you go to Zhuzhou to gamble!" The middle-aged man was also angry, and his tone became harsh without realizing it.

The young man's cheeks were flushed, and he just insisted on his own opinion: "Go to Yuzhou!"

"Anyway, I am determined to go to Zhuzhou."

"You?!" The young man was angry, seeing that he couldn't talk to the other party, he just stomped his feet and said, "Then divide the dry food and let each go his own way!"

Everyone was arguing, and no one had the time and energy to devote to the few people who were approaching.Qian Xiaobao listened quietly for a while, and finally stepped forward and said, "Sorry to bother everyone."

The quarrel stopped abruptly, and everyone turned their heads to look at Qian Xiaobao and the others with surprise in their eyes.The atmosphere froze for a moment and stayed for a while, then the young man in the quarrel looked Qian Xiaobao up and down, and asked, "What's the matter?"