Uncle Zhao led a few soldiers in front, and with his hand on the hilt of his sword, he carefully entered the small village next to the official road.
The village was quiet, with a dozen dilapidated mud houses scattered in a mess, scattered together, separated by a cross-shaped aisle, forming a simple street.
The roar of Uncle Zhao's crowd was extremely clear in this small village.
"Is anyone there?" Uncle Zhao walked to the entrance of the village and shouted inside.
The sound echoed inside, but no movement was heard for a while.
"Is anyone here?" he called again.
The village was still quiet.
The soldiers who followed also frowned a little, followed his gesture and dispersed, quietly entering the village to check.
Inspections were carried out from house to house, and each house was slowly passed by.
Snap.
A soldier accidentally touched the handle of a stone grinding stone, and the wooden handle broke and fell to the ground.
Immediately, several eyes hurriedly looked this way. Uncle Zhao took a few steps at a time and walked to the stone mill to take a closer look.
He reached out and touched the broken part of the handle, and his fingers were immediately stained with some fine yellow-brown wood powder.
"This village is quite old. Who among you has been here before? This place is close to the official road, so people passing by should see it from time to time."
The soldiers who gathered looked at each other and shook their heads.
"I heard that my father mentioned that he went to Yanshan City when he was young and stayed in a village for a night on the way. I don't know if it was here." A stocky soldier said in a rough voice.
"Your father is sixty now. When he was young, wasn't it decades ago?" Another soldier said speechlessly.
"It must have been more than thirty years ago. It has been so long now, and it is of no use anymore." The strong soldier replied with a smile.
"It seems like there is no one in this village." Uncle Zhao straightened up and looked around. "You guys go check again. If there is nothing abnormal, you can stay here temporarily."
Due to various accidents these days, many entire villages have been relocated or fled to the sea. Empty villages are not a rare thing.
Many times, an epidemic may cause a village to be completely relocated and ruined.
"yes!"
A group of people split up and began to check around. All the eighteen mud houses in the village were scanned by them, and half of them were broken. There were either big holes in the roofs or dangerous walls in the houses.
Uncle Zhao led people to clean up the remaining earthen huts, and then sent people back to inform Lu Quan'an who was waiting on the road.
Lu Quan'an also took a group of family members and drove their cattle and horses slowly into the small village.
"There are a few larger earthen huts. Let's look around and allocate them. Let's rest for one night and start our journey again tomorrow. The rest of the night watchmen will make arrangements." Lu Quan'an directed everyone to put down their things and set up camp.
These earthen huts alone are naturally not enough to live in. The people who need to be accommodated are mainly women and children. The Northland is no different from other places. The temperature difference between morning and evening is huge. It gets cold at night and even freezes. It is easy to accidentally get cold.
"There is a well in the center of the village where you can fetch water. There are woods next to it. Take someone to pick up some dead branches. Also check to see if there are game mushrooms or the like nearby. Don't go too far and be careful."
Lu Quan'an had traveled all over the country before, so he naturally had relevant experience, and he quickly arranged the dozens of people in the Lu family, big and small.
"Send someone to hurry up and go to Yanshan City to report the news. They say that the axle broke halfway, so we have to go slower and arrive a few days later." Lu Quan'an called a soldier and gave instructions.
"I understand, sir." These soldiers are city guards arranged by Lu Anping. They came to work this time because they were assigned by the boss. In addition, the Lu family treats them well. For such a trip, each person can earn five taels of silver.
.It’s already equivalent to their interest for two months. If you make one more trip like this, you can get some extra reward money, so naturally you won’t be dissatisfied.
The soldier got on his horse, packed enough food and drink, and galloped away in the direction of the mountain city.
At this time, a bonfire had been lit in the village and a large pot of soup was being prepared.
Lu Chenxin got out of the carriage and moved around. He was originally going to go out to study with Lu Yiyi, but with his long-lost temperament, he could not endure the bitter and cold life in the college. He tried every means to shirk and find excuses to pretend to be sick.
, finally failed to go and missed the departure time. In the end, only Lu Yiyi went to Xichuan Mansion.
"Hey, the city along the mountain is much more prosperous. What's more interesting than Xichuan Mansion? Brother Sheng must be enjoying his time there. I heard that there are many red boats with painted boats. There will definitely be something to do in the future." Lu Chen thought in his mind.
Hey, I waved a bit and looked around.
He was traveling in a carriage with Zhang Xiuxiu, the eldest lady's distant relative, and Lu Tianyang, so the carriage was a little crowded.
However, Zhang Xiuxiu had a charming face, a soft body, and excellent hand feel, so he lived quite comfortably along the way.
Zhang Xiuxiu is a distant relative of Lu Sheng's grandfather, and actually has no blood relationship with him, Lu Chenxin.
It was just because her father was not doing well, so he later went to the Lu family, where the family had a big business, and made a living in the family.
Zhang Xiuxiu was born to someone unknown by her father outside. There were rumors that she was a woman from a brothel. Anyway, her father was the only one who raised her when she brought her back.
This girl has grown up to have a very open temperament. Because she is beautiful, she always flirts with others. She has some confusion with the Lu family, Lu Tianyang, and the previous Sun Bajun.
Now that the others have left, Lu Chenxin finally tastes the taste of meat that he has never tasted before, and naturally feels comfortable.
He got off the carriage, and Lu Tianyang also got off from another car on the other side.
The two looked at each other and hurriedly came together.
"How's it going? How does Xiu'er taste?"
"Not bad, not bad. It's more proactive than Yuelan, and the taste is quite strong." Lu Chenxin chuckled and whispered.
"Share a room together for the night?" Lu Tianyang was born to Lu Quan'an's fourth concubine, and he was also a well-known prodigal son in the Lu family. Originally, he, Lu Chenxin, and Sun Bajun were collectively known as the three beauties of the Lu family.
, it is a pity that Sun Bajun accidentally disappeared later.
"It's a pity that Eight Horses..."
Thinking of this, Lu Chen felt a little sad, "The city along the mountain is bustling like a brocade. If Brother Bajun is here, I don't know how happy it will be. Then we, the three young ladies of the Lu family, will drink and chat and play on the Songbai River. How happy it will be."
"Stop talking about this, where is Jiaoyan? Have you seen her?" Lu Tianyang has recently become obsessed with a little maid at home.
"I'm helping to pack things. Do you dare to go to Dad's car?" Lu Chenxin pointed in the direction.
Lu Tianyang immediately stuck out his tongue and did not dare to answer.
*********************
Along the mountain city Chengshui Gate.
The large blocks of gray-white bungalows along the mountain city are as layered as fish scales and are divided into two parts. In the middle is the light red Songbai River, which divides the city into two.
Lu Sheng and Chen Yunxi stood on the stone arch bridge in front of the sluice, watching the weeping willows on the riverside swaying in the wind. Neither of them spoke for a while.
After a long silence, Lu Sheng smiled when he saw that the long-legged girl in front of him didn't respond.
"I haven't been to this place before. The air is good and the scenery is good. How did you come up with the idea of taking a walk here?"
Chen Yunxi looked at the sluice gate where water was constantly flowing out. Several strips of white water, like white silk, were continuous and gurgling as they merged into the Songbai River.
"The third renovation of this sluice was funded by my father. At that time, a lot of manpower and material resources were used. When the water was released for the first time, I came over to see it. I was really excited at the time.
Seeing the turbid flash floods and heavy rains, the water flow formed by this clear sluice is sedimented and filtered, and becomes a clean and clear river water. That kind of shock... you don't understand."
"It's okay, I've seen such a scene before." Lu Sheng touched his bald head, wondering why his hair hadn't grown out for so long.
"Brother Sheng, tell me, do you really dislike me?" Chen Yunxi turned around and looked at Lu Sheng with a pale face.
"You are so beautiful, well-educated and well-off, how could anyone dislike you?" Lu Sheng shook his head and said, "I just don't want to settle so early."
He knew that his future path was destined to be constantly dealing with ghosts. His character determined that he had the Deep Blue Modifier and would not be willing to live a life of mediocrity.
And this kind of life is destined to be unacceptable to Chen Yunxi. All she wants is to find a good man, live a good life, have children, inherit the family business, or obtain fame.
And these are not what Lu Sheng wants.
Since you can't give people a future, don't let them have hope, and don't delay others.
Lu Sheng understood very well, so after the sacrifice, he did not hide from Chen Yunxi who was approaching, and came here with her.
"I know you are different from us." Chen Yunxi lowered her head and her voice became softer. "My father also advised me not to be too persistent. From the changes in you, Brother Sheng, I can also guess what kind of life you lived before.
.”
"Then you still?" Lu Sheng asked helplessly.
"But, I only feel safe when I am with you..." Chen Yunxi took a step forward and gently approached Lu Sheng.
She wore a light long-sleeved white shirt, a wide milky white tulle, and a pink tube top underneath. Her legs were in a white lotus leaf skirt, tied with a bow from the right side. The hem of the skirt only reached her knees, which was even more
Highlights the slender and perfect legs.
"You..." Lu Sheng looked at Chen Yunxi who was approaching, and was slightly stunned. Even in the extremely open Northland, there were few women who were so close to a single man.
"I like you. Brother Sheng." Chen Yunxi looked at Lu Sheng tenderly with her beautiful eyes, looking into his eyes.
"Even if you lose your eyebrows, even if you become bald, even if you get more and more muscles, I still like you."
Lu Sheng felt strange, always feeling that something was wrong.
"So." Chen Yunxi took another step forward, and her chest just touched Lu Sheng's chest.
"Marry me."
Snap.
Chen Yunxi took out an exquisite jewelry box from nowhere and opened it gently. Inside was a white jade ring with a phoenix about to fly engraved on it.
"..." Lu Sheng's heart suddenly felt like shit.
Countless similar scenes kept flying through his mind, but those scenes were all of men proposing to women. What he didn't expect was that Chen Yunxi, a beautiful woman, would actually take the initiative to do this and specially customize it.
Such an exquisite white jade thumb ring proposed to him for marriage.
Feeling helpless, Lu Sheng calmed down.
"Sorry, I can't give you the life you want." He gently closed the jewelry box and pushed it back.