Chapter 70: Parting Ways

After resting for a while, Wu Cuihua thought that it was almost time to leave, so she walked to the back of the crowd intending to say goodbye to Song Shi.

Since they were going to different places, this separation meant that they might never see each other again in this lifetime.

As they talked, tears welled up in their eyes.

They’re old sisters of many years, so saying that they’re not sad is just pretending.

Seeing Wu Cuihua leaving, Song Shi, with red eyes, said, “Why don’t we tell everyone about our plan to go south? Whether they want to come or not is another matter, but at least we can say we did our part.”

Shen Yu’an watched her mother, unable to hold back her tears, and sighed in agreement.

Even though they may fight fiercely on ordinary days, they still consider others’ feelings.

Shen Yu’an didn’t know what to say.

But since they wanted to do it this way, let them do it. After all, after today, there won’t be another chance to see each other again. It’s better to say a few more words to ease their conscience.

Soon, the people at the front of the line finished packing and were ready to depart.

Grandpa Shen walked over with Shen Rong and told everyone about their plan to go south.

After hearing them out, everyone looked at them with a “Are you crazy?” expression.

“What’s the point of going south? If we keep going straight, won’t we reach the capital of our province?” Lizheng asked.

Shen Rong repeated the same explanation they had prepared earlier, similar to what Song Shi had said to Wu Cuihua.

As soon as he finished speaking, someone said, “Even if the capital can’t accommodate so many people, they definitely won’t abandon us. If they move our village closer to the capital, we’ll be considered lucky to have benefitted from the prosperity of the capital.”

“Besides, we’ve encountered two groups of soldiers these past few days. It’s not safe here. The capital is closer to the emperor of Great Wei, so it’s definitely safer,” someone added.

“Scholar Shen Rong, don’t go south. It can’t compare to the capital. Pack up and follow us to the capital,” another person chimed in.

“Yes, Scholar Shen, let’s all go to the capital.”

Along the way, they also witnessed the incredible strength of Shen Rong’s daughter. It could be said that she could take on ten men without exaggeration.

In addition to that girl, both the men and women from Shen family were all formidable. Walking alongside them gave a strong sense of security.

“We’ve made up our minds, and we just wanted to let everyone know so that they have more choices. If no one wants to come with us, then we’ll just part ways here,” Shen Rong said.

Everyone felt a bit regretful, but they couldn’t change Shen Rong and Grandpa Shen’s decision. After all, everyone knew that the capital was undoubtedly the best place to go.

Grandpa Shen and Shen Rong returned to their own group and shook their heads towards everyone.

Everyone wasn’t too surprised, but they had done what they were supposed to do, and if the villagers didn’t want them, there was nothing they could do.

At the back of the Shen Villagers, Zheng Li looked in the direction of the Shen family with unwillingness in her eyes.

That night, she planned to seduce Shen Erlang directly without any pretense.

Her requirements weren’t high, after all, this was on the road of fleeing famine. As long as she entered the Shen family’s door, she would be considered part of the family, and she was sure they would understand.

She had thought it all out, she could let the Shen family skip the betrothal gifts and the sedan chair ceremony, as long as they let her rest in the carriage during the journey and Shen Erlang was obedient.

But she didn’t expect that she had misjudged the situation, and Shen Erlang’s tongue was unexpectedly sharp.

It wasn’t easy to make a move on Shen Erlang, so she had planned to target someone else.

The boy from the Zhang family looked good, but they were just staying with the Shen family, so she wasn’t too interested in him.

But it also meant that people like Shen Erlang were not easy to manipulate. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found a chance to make a move in the past few days.

Now they were going to separate from the team?

Then how was she going to ride on the ox cart?!!!

The unwillingness in Zheng Li’s heart prevented her from immediately moving her feet to catch up with the front of the team.

Her father saw that the team had already moved several meters ahead, but Zheng Li was still standing there, so he kicked her.

“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and go.”

Zheng Li turned her head and glanced at Shen Erlang and Zhang Wendong, unwillingly following behind.

Watching the Shen Villagers go further away, grandpa Shen came back to his senses and said, “Let’s go too.”

The disaster area in the fiefdom of Changding Wang (the prince of this territory) was very extensive this time. They had already left Shen’s village for almost a month, but the land here was still very dry.

Looking around, all they could see was vast expanses of scorched earth.

Edible wild vegetables, tree roots, and bark had all been stripped clean.

The group quickened their pace, intending to find a suitable place to rest before nightfall.

Finally, just before it got dark, they found a relatively large flat land to settle on.

After they stopped, Song Shi and Zhao Shi, began unloading some things from the cart, intending to start a fire and cook.

The Bai father and daughter also sat down about two meters away from the Shens and started cooking over a fire.

Without the usual pointless arguments, it felt particularly peaceful now.

The group started chatting with no real topic in mind.

When it was time to rest, Shen Yu’an paced around the ox cart a few times before finally making up her mind to take out a few tents from the storage space.

Apart from the first few days when she slept in the cart with her third aunt, she had been sleeping on the ground like everyone else, simply spreading some things out to sleep on.

However, with the abundance of mosquitoes in the summer, it was inevitable that sleeping outside would result in being covered in mosquito bites.

Although she had some ointment in her space to apply, they couldn’t take a bath, and every day they were covered in layers of dirt, which she couldn’t stand anymore.

That’s why she thought of taking out the tents.

Shen Yu’an calculated the number of people they had and managed to fit eight tents under the things on the cart.

She gathered her emotions and shouted happily, “Grandma, mother, come and see, we forgot to use the good things we bought.”

Grandma Shen and Song Shi rushed over, asking as they went, “What did we buy and forget to use?”

“This thing, when we went to the town, that person said it was a rare thing from Persia,” Shen Yu’an said, winking at the two as she spoke.

The two of them were still confused for a moment before they understood what Shen Yu’an meant.

It was because the treasure box of their little granddaughter/daughter in her family hadn’t produced any new items for too long, and they almost forgot about it.

But fortunately, they quickly realized what she meant.

“Oh, right, right, look at us, how could we forget about this good thing!”

“Get it out quickly, let me help you,” said grandma Shen, and Shen Yu’an’s mother and second Aunt worked together seamlessly to help Shen Yu’an take out the tents.

As the two women lifted them, they exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, what is this thing? It’s so heavy!”

But since little Yu’an said it was a useful thing, they just went along with it.

“What is that, mother?” Shen Ming walked over and asked.

Grandma Shen rolled her eyes at her son who lacked any sense of perception and said, “Why ask? Hurry up and help your mother carry these things.”