My game can make money starting from the Three Kingdoms period.

Lu Xiao conveyed a sense of urgency.

Lu Xiaoniu could clearly understand it.

Lu Xiaoniu was puzzled. "Choose an opportune time to head south?"

Now he owns fifty acres of land, and has married and had children.

As long as they don't end up like Lu Dafu, their lives will eventually prosper.

But when his mother urgently conveyed the instruction to go south, no matter how confused Lu Xiaoniu was, he would firmly choose to believe his mother.

He turned to look at his wife, Ah Xiang, who was burning paper money and incense, and there was nothing unusual about her.

This convinced Lu Xiaoniu that only he could hear his mother's two-word message every year.

This is the result of his years of research.

"Choose an opportune time to head south!"

Ah Xiang looked puzzled. "South? Why?"

Lu Xiaoniu didn't know how to explain, so he could only say with an unusually firm expression, "There's no reason why, we have to go south!"

"Easy for you to say. Our property and household registration are all in Tan County. If we go south, how are we any different from refugees? I don't want to live a life where we don't know where our next meal will come from."

Ah Xiang's words were also what Lu Xiaoniu was worried about.

If it weren't for natural disasters or man-made calamities, no one would leave their homeland to become a refugee.

Traveling is extremely costly, and once you arrive in a place where you are unfamiliar with the people and things, unaware of the government and the power dynamics, it's like a leaf falling into a river—a small ripple can destroy it.

Only when one can no longer survive in their hometown will they wander from place to place in search of a way to make a living.

But Lu Xiaoniu was extremely stubborn, insisting, "We must go south!"

Lu Xiaoniu had no idea how many more years he had to prepare.

He wanted to treat every Qingming Festival as an opportunity for his mother to issue the order to go south, and to make preparations in advance.

"Where are you going south? Why are you going south?" Ah Xiang realized that Lu Xiaoniu wasn't joking and pressed him for an answer.

Lu Xiaoniu couldn't answer, so he chose to remain silent.

"Since you won't answer my questions, then go ahead and leave; I'm not leaving!"

The couple had a disagreement.

Lu Xiaoniu had no way to explain himself.

In the days that followed, Lu Xiaoniu devoted all his energy to those fifty acres of land, renting out some and planting the rest himself.

By transforming extensive farming into intensive farming, more grain can be harvested than in ordinary households.

In their spare time, they would also work as servants for the newly appointed master to earn some money.

The year is Qingming Festival, 191.

Lu Xiaoniu burned incense but received no instructions.

He breathed a sigh of relief; he still had time to save up enough money for his family to move south.

Seeing Lu Xiaoniu return from visiting the graves, A Xiang asked, "Are you going south again?"

"Head south!"

Ah Xiang, carrying Lu Congtian's child on her back and also pregnant, expressed her dissatisfaction, "Look at the pavilion, there are quite a few refugees who have come from other places. Everyone else is running here, why are you going elsewhere?"

"Just take care of your housework, don't worry about anything else."

Although Lu Xiaoniu is stubborn, he is very kind and family-oriented.

Watching Lu Xiaoniu head off to the fields, his mother-in-law asked suspiciously, "Life is going so well, why insist on going south? Could it be that Xiaoniu inherited Lu Dafu's mental illness?"

Lu Dafu's illness had spread far and wide.

Her mother-in-law was a neighbor, so she knew perfectly well.

Lu Xiaoniu is a good son-in-law; he not only took them in, but also saved their lives.

If Lu Xiaoniu were to contract that disease, it would be a fatal blow to this family.

Ah Xiang trembled. Only this explanation could explain why Lu Xiaoniu made this foolish decision.

"No! We can't let dementia ruin this family!"

From their perspective, they certainly couldn't understand why Lu Xiaoniu would move his whole family south.

Now that Xuzhou is stable, refugees from all directions are fleeing to Xuzhou for refuge.

Why go to the south, a place teeming with insects and miasma, instead of staying in a safe place? Not only will you squander your family fortune, but you'll also have to abandon your land and household registration. This goes against human nature, which is to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Ah Xiang then searched far and wide for a doctor to treat Lu Xiaoniu.

Lu Xiaoniu couldn't bear to see Ah Xiang waste her money, so he never mentioned going south again.

Just when Ah Xiang thought everything was going well.

Qingming Festival 192

Lu Xiaoniu received instructions.

"Huailing".

This is a signal to head south, and indicates the destination.

Lu Xiaoniu knew that Huailing County, which belonged to the state of Xiapi, was already beyond the Huai River.

"This journey is about 500 li, and we haven't left Xuzhou yet. It's not the remote Jiangnan region I imagined."

The mother's instructions, which were concise and used two words, naturally had their reasons.

Lu Xiaoniu summoned his wife, children, and mother-in-law, saying, "Pack your belongings and let's head to Huailing."

"There's been no fighting lately. With the influx of refugees into the village, the county government even wants to lease our land to them. Are you leaving now? Have you gone mad again?" Ah Xiang held the hand of the toddler Lu Congtian, carried the wailing Lu Congshan on her back, and her belly was swollen again.

The mother-in-law also spoke up, "Xiao Niu, although the road to Huailing isn't far, your wife is pregnant and the two children are very young. What if something happens to them..."

"Mother, there's no need to persuade us. We must go to Huailing."

Ah Xiang immediately lost her temper, "If you want to go, then go! My wife and I will definitely not go!"

"Nonsense!"

"You think I'm being ridiculous? Then tell me, why did you want to go to Huailing?"

"It was my mother, or perhaps an ancestor of the Lu family, who sent me there in a dream!"

Upon hearing this, Ah Xiang and her daughter fell silent.

They exchanged a glance. "It's a relapse of his dementia!"

"I'm not sick! It's true! Every year during Qingming Festival, when I burn incense, my mother tells me two words! It's my mother who tells me not to rebel, and it's also my mother who tells me to stay true to myself. It's all because of my mother's guidance that we've come this far!"

Lu Xiaoniu grew increasingly anxious as he spoke, "Otherwise, my head would have long since become someone else's military merit! And I wouldn't have been able to take you in when my elder brother abandoned you!"

The mother and daughter looked at Lu Xiaoniu as if he were crazy. Ah Xiang said coldly, "Our ancestors appeared in my dream! Listen to me, am I the one being ridiculous, or are you?"

Lu Xiaoniu had no way to refute it. He was an honest and simple farmer, how could he be eloquent?

They had no choice but to make a firm statement: "We must go to Huailing!"

"The door is open, you may enter." Ah Xiang's voice gradually turned cold.

"Are you really not leaving?"

"Why leave? We can rent land and be small landowners now, and in a few years we can save enough money to buy more land and become big landowners. If we leave now, we will have nothing!"

The mother-in-law chimed in, "Who would give up wealth and status to become a rootless vagrant?"

Lu Xiaoniu stopped abruptly.

He was caught in the middle, torn between his newly formed family and his mother's instructions.

"For the dream your mother entrusted to you, we're going to abandon everything and follow you to Huailing to start as refugees. Lu Xiaoniu, can't you be more realistic?"

"You want to be the next Lu Dafu? If you're like Lu Dafu, indifferent to this family, I certainly won't allow it!"

Ah Xiang's scolding woke Lu Xiaoniu up.

Lu Xiaoniu knew that Ah Xiang was reluctant to part with it, but how could he possibly give up everything he had worked so hard for?

Lu Xiaoniu also knew how crazy his words and decisions seemed to Ah Xiang.

If he continues to go his own way, then what difference is there between him and Lu Dafu?

Lu Xiaoniu compromised; he had sworn he wouldn't end up like Lu Dafu.

Therefore, he made the decision to disobey Lu Xiao's instructions and stay for the sake of his family!

Little did they know, Lu Xiao had already anticipated this!

"I knew it. With the situation piling up, there would be instances of disobeying orders!" Lu Xiao said confidently.

"According to history, Cao Cao's first campaign against Xu was in the autumn of 193. I sent out the information a year in advance and saved two words to allow time for maneuver."

"No matter what, Lu Xiaoniu's family must leave Tanxian County before next autumn to avoid being slaughtered!"

Startup acceleration.

Stopped in Qingming Festival 193.

Ah Xiang's belly has never shrunk. The eldest son, Lu Congtian, can already walk on his own. The second son, Lu Congshan, is still babbling. Unfortunately, the third son died of illness before he could even be named. The fourth son is due to be born in three months.

Ah Xiang and Lu Xiaoniu arrived at the gravesite. "Look, nothing happened this past year, did it?"

"If we had listened to your nonsense, we don't know where we would be begging for food!" Ah Xiang was proud of her foresight.

Lu Xiaoniu, who was burning incense, was nowhere to be seen; his body froze on the spot.

Then, he overturned his decision and stubbornly repeated, "Huailing, we must go!"