Graceful spring color

Chapter 68 Desolate Road
  Xie Fengyue and his party walked around for five days before they managed to get out of Chen County's jurisdiction.

Since her last escape, she has learned to be smart. She asked several people to change into coarse linen clothes early, and hid valuable hairpins and jewelry in the mezzanine of the carriage. Even the money manager, Zhe Zhi, only had nothing on his body. Five taels of silver were left for emergencies.

As soon as they left the jurisdiction of Chen County, the official road became bumpy, and even the wind blowing on their faces felt like cutting their faces.

After the carriage traveled several miles, Li Xiaobao stopped the carriage and said towards the inside of the carriage: "Girl, it's time for the horse to eat. Let's rest for a while before leaving."

"Don't call her a girl from now on, as it will be heard as a cause for trouble." Xie Fengyue's voice was a little hoarse. She had been having headaches these days.

A few people were sitting on the open ground roasting sweet potatoes. The horses were grazing leisurely and the sound of the stream beside them was very pleasant.

Xie Fengyue asked Huarui, "Do you know the prices outside?"

Hua Rui stopped her movements and said, "There are differences in prices in each county. Take Chen County as an example. The price of fine noodles is not much different from the price of rice. But in Chen County, a pound of fine noodles can be bought once the rice is old." ”

Zhezhi curled his lips and said, "How can you eat thick steamed buns? It hurts your teeth."

Hua Rui's expression was hard to describe, "Sister Zhezhi, you've never seen those who eat bark, dig roots, and shovel white mud."

After hearing this, Zhezhi grinned and replied, "Can you digest that kind of food?"

It was the first time for Xie Fengyue to learn about the world outside from other people's mouths. She used to learn about it from various records of mountains, rivers and local customs, but those were books after all, and they must have been beautified.

This was the first time she heard about shoveling white mud.

Seeing that everyone was interested, Hua Rui pulled the sweet potato off the stick and threw it into the fire.

Zhe Zhi originally wanted to stop it, but saw Li Xiaobao do the same.

"Nowadays, the farmland cultivated by ordinary people is basically low-grade farmland leased by aristocratic families. During harvest time, 80% of each acre of land will be collected as rent and paid to the aristocratic family. If there is a disaster and there is no harvest in the land, it will still be treated as follows. In previous years, the rent was paid to the family in separate rows.”

Zhe Zhi couldn't wait to interrupt her and asked, "Then what if I can't afford it."

"That's easy to do. If you can't afford it, sell yourself. If you don't want to sell yourself into slavery, you will be deregistered by a noble family and become a refugee."

Xie Fengyue's face darkened when she heard this, and she defended, "Not all aristocratic families are like this." After finishing speaking, she felt that she didn't have the confidence to add on the spur of the moment, "Our family is not like this."

Hua Rui smiled reluctantly, "The girl is also a member of the Xie family. They just act a little more humanely and won't seize fields and force people into slavery."

Li Xiaobao on the side saw Xie Fengyue's embarrassment and said, "The fire is too big. The sweet potatoes will be burnt later." After that, he picked up the pick in his hand and poked the fire.

Hua Rui also understood his clumsy change of subject and echoed: "Oh, my sweet potato is placed in the middle of the fire, don't let it be my first one."

Xie Fengyue smiled reluctantly. She had always heard about the practices of the aristocratic family. Although she was also the daughter of the side branch of the Xie family, she and the main branch had already left the fifth server, so her grandparents moved to Peixian County very early. , but even after moving away from Yong'an City, their family still enjoyed the blessing of the aristocratic family.

Although she is not as luxurious as Xie Fengyu, her life is much better than that of those businesswomen and peasant girls who only have money but no foundation. She has a family education to go to, servants to take care of her daily life, and whether the main branch is still there. Excerpts of current articles are sent regularly for study.

She originally laughed at Liu Yaozu for being a person with vested interests and eating steamed buns made of human blood, but didn't Xie Fengyue do the same thing?

Thinking of these, my mood became even lower.

Zhe Zhi was the one who could best detect the changes in the girl's mood. She knew just by looking at the girl that she retracted her hands into her sleeves that she must be in a bad mood at the moment.

She poked out the half-cooked sweet potatoes with a bamboo skewer like she was playing tricks and said with a smile: "Girl, do you remember that we roasted the sweet potatoes once when we were kids? That time, I even had diarrhea for several days." Xie Fengyue was amused by her vivid expression and some of the gloom in her heart dispersed. She pursed her lips and said, "You still have the nerve to say that when I asked you not to eat, you insisted on eating. My brother had it for one day and you had it for three days."

Mentioning the past, Xie Fengyue's thoughts began to drift away. She really didn't know what her family was hiding from her. She didn't dare to think about it, for fear that if she thought about it deeper, she would find that all the tender moments in the past were gone. It's a bubble in the water.

In fact, sometimes it is really difficult to admit that you are not loved by your family.

After several people finished eating the roasted sweet potatoes, the horses didn't have much to eat anymore. Li Xiaobao put on the carriage and called to the girls: "In another ten miles or so, we will reach the intersection of the official roads. Maybe there will be more people. Everyone should be more careful in their actions.”

All three of them nodded in agreement.

The journey was silent, except for the "creak" sound of the wheels running over the steep and uneven stone road. The car curtains shook, and from time to time the wind blew open large or small gaps. The scenery along the way became more and more desolate. In early spring, buds should have sprouted. , new trees are flourishing, but in this yellow sand sky, the absence of green really makes Xie Fengyue confused.

"Why is this section of road so desolate?" She gently knocked on the car wall and asked Li Xiaobao.

"Several kilometers in this area were all hit by snowstorms at the end of the year. The houses were crushed, and all the produce in the winter fields were gone. This is considered a no-care zone, so it is a bit desolate."

"Don't care? Is there such a place in Qian'an now?" Xie Fengyue asked.

Li Xiaobao waved his horsewhip and replied disapprovingly, "The girl only reads books and magazines written by celebrities, so of course she doesn't know. Qian'an has a vast territory. Although it has been divided into counties, there are still some places that are not included in the jurisdiction of the local government." .”

"why?"

He laughed loudly, "It's because of the poor people that come from poor mountains and poor waters. Most of the people in such places have taken over the mountains and become kings. The government is too lazy to spend energy fighting with them for such barren land, so they just let them go."

Xie Fengyuemo lowered his head and looked at the geographical annals of Qi in his hand, and replied seriously: "The people who compiled these books should actually go out among the people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiaobao, who was still smiling at first, suddenly said seriously, "There is the sound of a carriage driving behind."

"It's okay, the road is open to the sky, anyone can do it." Xie Fengyue opened the car curtains and took a look.

In the misty yellow sand, she didn't even see a human figure, let alone a carriage.

Li Xiaobao seemed to sense her doubts and immediately said: "It's still some distance away from here. There are about two or three carriages."

Without waiting for Xie Fengyue's answer, Li Xiaobao continued, "I'm going to speed up a little. The road may be bumpier. Girl, take care of yourself."

Hearing this, Zhezhi immediately put a soft pillow on Xie Fengyue's waist and said dissatisfiedly, "Why do you have to speed up when your waist hurts? This is just a passer-by. I don't understand why we can't see anyone."

Li Xiaobao knew that they had misunderstood as soon as he heard it, and explained: "This place is in a desolate place, and I am afraid that refugees who have migrated away may pass by. Among the carriages behind, two of them made a lot of wheel noise. They may have been dragging their belongings. It’s easy to get into trouble, so we have to avoid it first.”

Xie Fengyue then said in a deep voice, "You have considered it very carefully. If we really encounter each other, we will have no power to fight back."

　Many readers vote for me every day, which is really touching. From the beginning to now, this book has only been promoted twice.

　　So the numbers are never good, and you all are really my motivation to write.

　　thank
  　　From now on, all the treasures will help me make a fortune!
  　　But
  　　please remember

　　To be rich and honorable, don’t forget each other

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)