Tongcheng didn't know what happened. Originally, no one was strictly checking the teams entering and leaving the city in the morning, but at this moment, a group of officers and soldiers suddenly appeared at the city gate to check the teams entering and leaving the city one by one, especially the teams leaving the city.
Zhou Yunshu didn't know if this sudden search had anything to do with them. She was just glad that they had simply changed their clothes before leaving the inn. There was nothing conspicuous about them at the moment.
When it was finally Zhou Yunshu's turn, Zhou Yunshu looked at the officers and soldiers who were holding portraits and comparing them carefully with her. She smiled and handed her new household registration and road guide to the officer who asked her to lift the curtain.
Going out with the household registration and Lu Yin, there was also a fifty-tael silver note.
The officer calmly put the banknote into his sleeve, opened the curtain and looked into the carriage. When he saw that there was no man who matched his portrait, he lowered the curtain and said to Zhou Yunshu: "The mule cart behind is also yours. ?”
"Yes, sir. Because we are moving, we have a little more stuff."
"Lift the tarp off for me."
"Okay, sir."
Zhou Yunshu asked Chunque to remove the oilcloth. The officer who collected the money saw that the mule cart was indeed filled with food and luggage, and waved his hand to let Zhou Yunshu and others leave.
They left Tongcheng without covering the removed oilcloth again.
One hundred meters after leaving Tongcheng, Zhou Yunshu stopped the mule cart and waited for Chunque to cover the oilcloth again before heading towards the direction where Dujiacun left.
On the road, Zhou Yunshu recalled the man in the portrait, or rather he should not be a man, but should be called a boy.
The boy was about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a handsome face, and a look of familiarity in his eyebrows that Zhou Yunshu couldn't place.
Zhou Yunshu frowned slightly, feeling like she had seen this young man somewhere before, but she just couldn't remember.
In recent years, too many people have had their homes confiscated by the emperor. I don’t know how this young man offended the government and was wanted all over the city.
Zhou Yunshu thought of Cao Zhengxing who entered the city this morning, and thought that maybe the young man might not have offended the government, but he might have offended Cao Zhengxing.
But these have nothing to do with them. The most important thing for them now is to catch up with the team in Dujiacun and then continue to escape south.
Just as Zhou Yunshu had thought before, there were too many people in Dujia Village, and they didn't go very far in one morning.
It only took Zhou Yunshu and Chunque an hour and a half to catch up with the fleeing team from Dujiacun.
Du Laozhuang burst into laughter when he saw Zhou Yunshu catching up, but later felt that it was not very good to hide his happiness.
After all, Zhou Yunshu catching up now can only mean that her previous plan failed.
"Yun Shu, have you decided?"
Zhou Yunshu sighed and nodded, "My aunt's family is gone. Rather than staying, it's better to continue going south."
As she spoke, she raised her head and glanced at the sky, "I don't know when this drought will end. When I was in Tongcheng, I heard that all the refugees from the three northern states have gone south."
Du Laozhuang was shocked and said: "Where did you get the news? How could they all go south?"
Zhou Yunshu told Du Laozhuang the news she had heard in the restaurant before. After Du Laozhuang heard this, his eyebrows twisted into the character "Sichuan".
"I don't know where those refugees are now. If we bump into them..."
Zhou Yunshu did not explain everything. You must know that there is a difference between refugees fleeing famine and refugees.
There are refugees like Dujiacun who are prepared, have food, and plans; there are also refugees who have nothing, not even a few traces of their humanity left, and only one life left.
If we really encounter them when the time comes, if Dujia Village is less bloody, it might be looted by the kind of refugees behind it. I guess this is also the reason why Du Laozhuang suddenly fell silent.
"Thank you for this news. This is life-saving news." Du Laozhuang thanked him seriously.
He exhaled a breath and said, "I will inform you to go down and speed up the journey. You can just follow our mule cart."
"Thank you, Uncle Du."
With Uncle Du taking charge, the entire team was indeed much faster than before in the afternoon.
Before nightfall, the entire team found an open place on the roadside to camp.
Fang Huiwen and Chunque were cooking, Li Jialan was watching the children, and Zhou Yunshu was sitting with Uncle Du and the others to warm themselves by the fire. By the way, what she said to Uncle Du during the day was repeated to the people in the team who had more say. .
Du Youtian and Du Laozhuang are the same generation. When he was young, he accumulated a lot of wealth by selling things on the streets. He was also one of the few wealthy people in Dujia Village.
After listening to Zhou Yunshu's words, he frowned and said, "Since this news has reached Tongcheng, it means that those refugees have been going south for some time, and they may be near the capital soon."
Wei Zhong, the leader of Du Laoer's escort team, said: "Not necessarily."
"After the victims who fled the northwest were killed and cremated, the refugees from the north might go south directly bypassing the capital."
"Brother Zhong is right. Once the disaster victims in the northwest come out, who dares to go to the capital to die!" Du Laoer agreed.
Du Laozhuang banged his pipe several times against the wood in front of him, "We have to go faster, so we can't be overtaken by the victims behind us."
The refugees coming south from the north have gone through so much, and they probably have very little humanity left. There are so many of them and they have to guard against so many things.
Du Youtian and Wei Zhong nodded repeatedly. To them, the refugees behind them were like wolves, tigers and leopards. If possible, they should not encounter them.
Several people who had been sitting together during the meal returned to their seats.
Food is not plentiful in disaster years, not to mention that they are still fleeing the famine and cannot afford any extra food.
Because Du Laozhuang wanted Zhou Yunshu to teach his grandchildren, he wanted her to stay and have dinner with him, but Zhou Yunshu refused.
Although she did not stay, Zhou Yunshu promised to teach Du Laozhuang's four grandsons when she had time.
When Zhou Yunshu returned, Chunque and Fang Huiwen had already prepared dinner.
The place where Zhou Yunshu and the others ate was between the mule cart and the Du Laozhuang family, so no one except the Du Laozhuang family could see what they were eating, and at most they could smell it.
A pot of thick rice porridge with red dates was placed on the simple table, paired with the meat buns and roast duck that Zhou Yunshu bought in the restaurant during the day. It can be said to be a quite rich dinner.
Li Jialan and Chunque took the children and sat down to serve the meal. Zhou Yunshu didn't see her sister-in-law. Just when she was about to ask, her mother tugged her sleeve and whispered: "Shu'er, come here."
Zhou Yunshu watched the mysterious Li Jialan walk to the mule cart with her. She knocked on her carriage, and Fang Huiwen opened the curtain with red eyes.
Although the sky was dim, Zhou Yunshu could still vaguely see an extra person in the carriage through the firelight outside.
Zhou Yunshu frowned slightly, "Who is he?"
