1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1159
In order to avoid being discovered by her family, Ma Yuling didn't even dare to take a servant with her when she left. After she came out, she realized that things were not as simple as she thought.Although she is not the kind of lady who does not go out of the house, but after all, there are not many opportunities to travel alone, and she has never thought about how difficult it is to walk long distances alone with a few large bags.

When I was leaving, I felt that I was reluctant to part with this dress, and I must bring that dress, and I must not let go of any rouge, powder, hairpin, earrings and bracelets.Before she left, Jiang Dongmei stuffed 50 taels of silver, half a penny of copper coins in her bag, the amount was about the same as adding two bricks. She was afraid that she would need money when she was away, but these messy things are now a big deal. It was a burden that she wanted to throw away.

Both the mother and daughter lacked social experience, and it would be a desperate act for a little girl, Ma Yuling, to go out alone with so many things.If Haihan hadn't wiped out all the bandits in Fushan County in the past few months, I'm afraid that Ma Yuling would be snatched away with people and things soon after she walked out of Majiazhuang.

Although it took only half a day to walk, and the road was relatively flat, Ma Yuling's physical strength was exhausted.When she sat on the side of the road and finished her dry food, she found that the water bag she brought with her when she went out was almost finished, but she didn't know where there was a source of water nearby to replenish it.Seeing that the weather was gloomy, it might snow again soon, but Ma Yuling didn't even have the slightest confidence in arriving at the scheduled destination, Guxian Town, before dark.

Ma Yuling originally planned to arrive in Dengzhou in two to three days, but now it seems that she may have to walk for six or seven days on the road.She planned to go to her eldest brother's house to avoid the limelight, and by the way, she also took this opportunity to show her family that she was determined not to marry to the death, and then went back to Majiazhuang after her father agreed to her request.But with my actual pace, my family members might have chased me out from Majiazhuang and stopped me before I reached Dengzhou.She believes that her mother will definitely keep the secret for herself, but this kind of secrecy must also have a time limit. At most, she can give herself a day or so to run away. If he was stopped by his family when he went home, then his trip to run away from home would become a joke.

The actual situation will always be worse than expected. Ma Yuling estimated that she would have one day to run away, but in fact, her sneaky actions only bought herself half a day. When the itinerary was going to be completed, her father Ma Dongqiang had already packed his bags in the village and was about to set off to catch her and go home.

From Fushan County all the way west to Guxian Town, there is only one official road to go. After passing Guxian Town, the route to Dengzhou City can choose to go to the official road north or take a shortcut to the west. The country lane is gone.If Ma Yuling wanted to avoid being chased by her family on the way, at least she had to go to the west of Guxian Town before that.But she felt that with her current situation, she would not be able to reach Guxian Town until noon tomorrow at least—or she might never reach Guxian Town, and she would be intercepted by her family before then.

If you want to escape smoothly, you have to throw away these heavy luggage and move forward lightly, or you can only change the planned escape route, go to other places to hide for a few days, and then depending on your mood, go to Dengzhou City or go back to Majiazhuang .But the problem is that not many people know her in Fushan County, but quite a few people know her father. If someone finds out her identity, most of them will report to Majiazhuang and ask her family to take her back.It is really not easy for her to hide incognito for a few days.

Ma Yuling thought about it for a long time, but decided to see if there are any nearby villages and towns that can replenish some drinking water. She rested at this three-fork intersection. Turn south towards the mountains.In Ma Yuling's memory, there didn't seem to be any big villages and towns in the south, but this road was built wider than the official road, and the traces of ground breaking here were still new, so it should be a new road that was built not long ago.

Ma Yuling also heard that the local bandits had been completely wiped out, so she didn't worry that this road led to a certain bandit den.Before the Denglai Rebellion broke out, she went to Dengzhou with her father and brother, and stayed in Guxian Town for one night. There is at least a dozen miles from this place to Guxian Town. Apparently there is a populated place nearby, and someone organized a road to connect it to the official road, so this place should be much closer than Guxian Town, maybe you can go there to try your luck and find an inn to hide for ten and a half months, It's better than being escorted home by father and brother after going to Dengzhou.

The more Ma Yuling thought about it, the more she felt that it was feasible, so she got up immediately, gritted her teeth, carried the big and small bags on her upper body, and slowly walked towards the south.More than an hour later, Ma Dongqiang drove through here with his entourage. He didn't hesitate for too long at the three-fork intersection. He glanced at the new road to the south before continuing to drive west.

But Ma Yuling, who didn't know about it, was very excited at this time, because she had already seen that there was indeed a village located on the hillside ahead of the road, surrounded by wooden walls built around the village, and the buildings inside were still The terrain is built sequentially, and it seems that the scale is not much bigger than the Majiazhuang where I live.This avenue from north to south leads to the entrance of this village.At this time, the sky finally started to snow, and Ma Yuling struggled to drag her luggage, gritted her teeth and walked the last part of the journey.

Outside the village, there were a few young men with eyebrow sticks. They seemed to be in charge of guarding outside, and they stopped her from a distance: "Little girl, what are you doing here? Are you looking for someone?"

Ma Yuling said: "The little girl is going out to visit relatives and wants to take shelter from the snow. I wonder if there is an inn here?"

Several younger students looked at each other and couldn't help laughing out loud. One of them asked, "Little girl, do you know where this is? You'd better go home early, this place doesn't accept passers-by."

Ma Yuling didn't understand what it meant, but seeing how friendly these people were speaking, they didn't look like bad people, so she boldly said: "The little girl's home is a bit far away, and I can't go back today. Brothers, please do me a favor." , help the little girl find a place to live here, how about avoiding the wind and snow?"

Upon hearing this, the younger students felt that it was not good to drive the little girl out, but this place has strict rules, and they dare not make decisions on their own.Immediately one of them said: "Then you wait here and wait for me to go in and ask for instructions."

Ma Yuling didn't feel that there was anything wrong with the other party's actions. During the chaos in Dengzhou in the first two years, all villages behaved like this to prevent traitors from sneaking into the village.There was a period when Majiazhuang was much stricter than here. Outsiders who wanted to enter the village not only had to show the way, but also had to have someone from the village as a guarantee.Although there are no rebels and bandits in Fushan County now, it is not a fault of people to be more cautious.

After a while, the young man brought out another person, who looked only in his 20s, but he was not dressed like ordinary Ming people. He was wearing a gray double-breasted short shirt and straight-leg trousers. He was wearing leggings, a small gray hat with a brim on his head, and a leather belt about an inch wide around his waist.The clothes and trousers this man was wearing were not as wide-sleeved as the Ming people, but rather docile. In addition, he was tall and strong, wearing this outfit, he looked very energetic.

"Master Sun, this is the little girl!" The young man who brought him out was quite polite. Even though they looked about the same age, he called the man in gray "Master Sun", which showed the gap in their status.

The gray-clothed man surnamed Sun looked Ma Yuling up and down, and asked unhurriedly, "Where did you come from, and where are you going?"

Ma Yuling heard that the other party's accent was a native of Dengzhou, and she was relieved at the moment, but she was afraid of revealing her identity, so she dared not tell her true origin, so she immediately made up: "The little girl's surname is Lin, and she is from Qixia County, Dengzhou. Shi, I came to Fushan County to visit relatives and was going home. Seeing that it was getting late and it was snowing, I wanted to come to Guizhuang to borrow a place to avoid the wind and snow."

Qixia County is located in the southwest of Fushan County, and there are tens of miles of continuous mountainous areas between the two places. From here to Qixia County, there are at least seventy or eighty miles away. Ma Yuling's words are not flawed.

"It turned out to be Miss Lin." The big man in gray nodded and said, "Do you have any fire starters, weapons and other things on you? If you have any, we will keep them for you and return them when you leave here." Give you."

Ma Yuling shook her head in denial.At first, her mother Jiang Dongmei tried to put a self-defense knife in her package, but Ma Yuling felt that the luggage was too heavy, and the knife was useless to her, so she didn't take it with her when she left.As for the fire starter, she didn't plan to camp in the wild, so she didn't bring these unnecessary things.

The other party just asked her lip service, but did not actually search her luggage. She asked a young man to carry her luggage for her, and then led her into this village.

Ma Yuling soon noticed that the appearance and size of the houses in this village were all exactly the same, and there were new houses under construction.These houses have adobe walls and gabled roofs, and they all look like new houses that have just been built.As far as the village can see, there are no old people or children, almost all are young and strong, and many people are wearing the same clothes as the gray-clothed man who leads the way, which looks quite weird.

Although Ma Yuling felt that the clothes of these people were a bit weird, she didn't realize what it meant until she was taken to an open area and saw hundreds of uniformly dressed men in gray lined up neatly in this place After practicing the phalanx, I suddenly realized that this place was not a village, but a military camp!
After discovering the truth, Ma Yuling's complexion immediately changed. Although she didn't know the true identities of these people, she had heard that the military camp was definitely not a place where women could come in and out at will.Ma Yuling's mind suddenly came up with some rumors that she had heard before. During the Denglai Rebellion, the rebel army and the Ming army who came to quell the rebellion. There were also instances of Ma's relatives being persecuted during this period.Anyone who is a soldier is not a good person in Miss Ma's eyes. The other party just brought her in like this, I'm afraid they have no good intentions.

Ma Yuling was flustered, but she didn't dare to ask, she was afraid that the other party would find out that she was guilty, but she was thinking why she was so confused, and instead of leaving the official path, she came to this ghost place to seek accommodation.Even if I want to leave now, I am afraid that the other party will not let me go easily, and I don't know if the other party will put me in the face of my father Ma Daguan if I reveal my identity.

But she changed her mind, if this group of unidentified soldiers knew that their family was well-off, they might use their own safety as a condition to threaten their family with a sum of money to redeem their status.Don't rush to reveal your identity yet, let's see the situation.

"Sun Zhen, who is this girl you brought? Is it your family or a fellow villager?"

When Ma Yuling was distracted, the big gray-clothed man leading the way stopped suddenly, and she almost ran into this fleshy wall.When she came back to her senses, she noticed that someone had stopped the big man leading the way.

Ma Yuling couldn't see what was going on in front of her, so she tilted her body and poked her head out from the side of the big man, and saw that the person who asked the question was also a young man in gray clothes, but the fabric of his clothes was obviously much more advanced It's not cotton, but a thick and straight material. In addition to the double-breasted blouse, he also wears a gray overcoat, leather boots with calf wraps under his feet, and a pair of black leather gloves on his hands.And what can show this person's identity the most are the cold-eyed armed guards behind him.

As soon as Ma Yuling poked her head out, she found that the other party's eyes were fixed on her face. She stuck out her tongue immediately, and quickly retracted her head, thinking that this might be over. Grab a current one.She had heard from her uncle Jiang Sheng before that the rules in the army were extremely strict, and she might not be able to escape a punishment. She wondered if she would be given a military stick for violating the prohibition later.

Sun Zhen stood up straight and paid a military salute, and then responded: "Report to the chief, this Miss Lin is visiting relatives and returning to Qixia County through here, and wants to stay for one night to avoid the wind and snow. Seeing that she is pitiful, my subordinates want to take her in. Let her live with Mother Zhao and Mrs. Liu in the kitchen, and send her away when the weather improves."

"A little girl, taking so much luggage for a long trip? Qixia County is tens of miles away from here, and no one will take you?" The young officer seemed to have discovered some blind spots immediately: "Sun Zhen, have you checked her luggage? "

Sun Zhen scratched his head and said, "This little girl's luggage...is it not easy for my subordinates to look through it?"

But the young officer didn't intend to let the matter go. "Just let the female soldier come to check, come here, and tell Squad Leader Feng of the medical squad to come here immediately."

After a while, a female soldier also dressed in gray came and took some of Ma Yuling's luggage aside and began to search.Although Ma Yuling really wanted to stop the other party's rude behavior, she couldn't say a word because of fear, tears rolled back and forth in her eyes, and she didn't know how to deal with the current situation.

(End of this chapter)