After Lu Jing changed his clothes and tied his hair, he left the academy with Wen Xiaochuan and set off to celebrate the birthday of the latter's grandmother.
The destination of their trip is Huzhou. According to Wen Xiaochuan, most of the Wen family's industries are in Huzhou. Although Aunt Wen has been expanding to Huizhou next door in recent years, she even spends most of her time in Huizhou.
However, most of the Wen family members, especially the elderly and young children, still stay in Huzhou.
Lu Jing and Wen Xiaochuan left Si Tianjian's stronghold in Huzhou. Not long after they left, they saw a carriage on the street.
The driver was a strong man about forty years old. He was tall and strong, especially his arms, which were actually thicker than Lu Jing's thighs. The muscles on his arms looked as hard as rocks.
He didn't say a word, just stood beside the carriage. After seeing him, the passers-by subconsciously walked away from him.
However, when this oppressive strong man saw Wen Xiaochuan, his face showed a child-like happy expression, and then he spread his legs and ran towards Lu and Wen with a silly smile.
When Wen Xiaochuan saw the strong man, a joyful expression appeared on his face, and he shouted, "Uncle Ma, why are you here to pick me up?"
The strong man named Ma made a gesture when he heard this, as if to express his concern for Wen Xiaochuan.
Wen Xiaochuan was excited at first when she saw that gesture, but soon she smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle Ma, you didn't go to pick up those sisters of mine, but you came to pick me up instead, not because you miss me the most, but because you think I am the weakest and have no choice." Can you protect yourself?"
No matter what they think in their hearts when most people hear this sentence, they will at least deny it with their mouths. However, the strong man on horseback nodded innocently.
Then he made another gesture, first pointing in the direction of the Wen family, then putting his two thumbs together, and then pointing at Wen Xiaochuan, leaving only one finger.
This time, even Lu Jing understood what he wanted to express, and couldn't help but feel funny in his heart. Sure enough, discrimination against singles existed no matter which dynasty they were in.
But soon Lu Jing stopped laughing, because the strong man named Ma had turned to look at him again, nodded to him first, and then made a thumbs-up gesture to Wen Xiaochuan. action.
A blush appeared on Wen Xiaochuan's cheeks, and he said quickly, "Uncle Ma, please don't talk nonsense, Daxia Lu is my friend, and he came to congratulate my grandmother on her birthday."
The strong man surnamed Ma did not show any relief when he heard this. Instead, he looked even more confused. He first looked at Wen Xiaochuan, and then at Lu Jing, his eyes going back and forth between the two of them.
Wen Xiaochuan ignored his curious eyes and explained to Lu Jing, "Uncle Ma was accidentally rescued by my mother when she went out to collect grain in a nearby village. At that time, he drifted down the river and was discovered by my mother. Let the accompanying servants pick him up.
“Not only did we find a way to make him empty the river water in his abdomen, but we also prepared a decoction for him to take, but his high fever never went away.
"My mother saw that he had a strong back and strong waist, and all the muscles and bones in his body seemed to have been polished. She suspected that he had martial arts skills, so she asked the famous Crane Needle Xu Guangling Xu Shenxu to diagnose and treat him.
"It was only after Doctor Xu saw it that he realized that he had gone crazy while practicing Qigong and injured his brain, turning him into the stupid and stupid look he is now. Although Doctor Xu helped him bring down his fever and straighten out the raging Qi in his body, , but there is nothing that can be done about the head problem.
"He is probably only six or seven years old now. He can't even remember his own name, and he doesn't know where his home is. In addition, I don't know why he only has half of his tongue."
"My mother took him in because he was very good at martial arts. She wanted him to be a guard at first, but he seemed to prefer driving, and my mother was worried about what kind of trouble he would cause. , or being bullied, I might as well take him with me to drive the car for my mother.
"Oh, by the way, my mother also named him Wen Huangliang, hoping that he would wake up from his dream soon and remember who he is again. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to like this name. On the contrary, Because we kids saw him hanging out with horses every day, he was happier when we called him Uncle Ma. So over time, everyone started calling him that, too."
Wen Xiaochuan paused and said, "I have had a good relationship with Uncle Ma since I was a child, but he will not leave my mother's side without her permission. From this point of view, the situation here in Huzhou is also different." It’s not very good, otherwise my mother wouldn’t have sent Uncle Ma to pick me up on such a short journey.”
Lu Dingding nodded. He also noticed that compared to Lin'an Prefecture and Wujiang City, which had not been affected much for the time being, although Huzhou did not directly suffer from drought or floods, due to the fierce folk customs since ancient times and the numerous mountain waterways, .
However, many people could no longer bear it and raised the banner of justice for heaven. They recruited hungry refugees from nearby counties and counties as their subordinates, and then randomly chose a mountain forest or Heze as their base, and then continued The non-capital business started.
Some of these people are ambitious, some are fishing in troubled waters and want to take advantage of the opportunity, and there are also local wealthy families who are unwilling to be left alone and plan to take advantage of the situation.
In addition, the Huzhou Xiang Army was transferred to the southwest to suppress the rebellion, and the rural soldiers were unable to be used. Huzhou has been turbulent in the past two years. Fengxing County, where Lu Jing and Wen Xiaochuan are now located, can be regarded as one of the largest counties in Huzhou. However, the depression on the streets is also visible to the naked eye.
There are a lot less pedestrians, many shops are closed, and many people can be seen armed with weapons. Especially the rich and wealthy people often bring eight or nine guards with them when traveling. This shows how bad the public security in the city has become. The extent, let alone outside the city, is no wonder Aunt Wen asked Wen Huangliang to pick up Wen Xiaochuan.
When the two of them got on the carriage, Wen Huangliang drove in front and drove out of the city.
Although the Wen family's old house is still in Fengxing County, as Huzhou began to be turbulent, the people there gradually moved to Zhuangzi outside the city. Firstly, to concentrate their efforts on dealing with possible dangers, and secondly for Aunt Wen. A major winery and a rouge workshop are also located in Zhuangzi.
By evacuating everyone here, the main industry can be preserved.
This place has now been run by the Wen family into a small fortress. Not only have various traps and rifles been set up around it, but an earthen wall has also been built. Not only are soldiers patrolling the wall, but there is also a wall behind it. Two arrow towers.
