Wu Chao: Take the whole family to escape the famine

"Just ride a horse, there is no need to switch to a carriage." Shen Yue said firmly, "The carriage can only take the official road. If you ride a horse, you can take the small roads. Along the way, visit the more remote mountain villages to see how their life is."

"Yes, Princess." Shadow nodded.

"Then pack up and let's go." Shen Yue said and stood up, while Jiang Yue wrapped the remaining fruit in a clean handkerchief and kept it for a while to eat on the road.

Soon the three of them checked out and left the inn.

After eating a bowl of noodles at a noodle stall next to the inn, we continued riding.

This time we were taking not an official road, but a country road, heading east towards the capital, so we just couldn't go wrong.

That evening, we came to a remote mountain village.

The village is full of low and dilapidated adobe houses, which look quite poor.

"Let's stay here tonight." Shen Yuyu said as she got off her horse. Shadow quickly took the rope from her hand, and the three of them led the horse towards the village.

Arriving at the entrance of the village, Shen Yuyu saw a hunched-over old woman in the courtyard of a farmhouse beside the road, with cracked teeth and a kind smile on her face.

At first glance, Shen Yuyu felt that he was very amiable and very similar to her modern grandma, so she greeted her through the fence.

"Hello grandma, have you made dinner?"

Even though the old lady has lost all her teeth, her ears are very bright.

He took two steps forward with his back hunched over and said in a vague voice:
"Not yet. I'm just waiting for my son to come back with food~~"

"Daughter, where are you going? It's getting dark. There are wolves in the mountains!"

The old woman's eyes were full of concern. The people in the mountains were kind and simple, and they were equally caring to strangers.

Shen Yuxi looked at her grandma with a smile, "Oh, we are not leaving. We plan to find a family to stay in the village. Does grandma know which family has a bigger house and can take us in for a night?"
The old woman hurriedly raised her waist, which was no longer straight, struggled to untie the rope of the fence door, and spoke enthusiastically.

"Although my house is older and more shabby, we still have beds. If you don't mind, you can stay at my house for the night."

"Thank you, grandma." Shen Yuyu hurriedly stepped forward and helped grandma unlock the fence door. Then he took the old grandma's skinny hand and walked into the main room with her.

Shadow and Jiang Yuyu tied their horses under the tree next to the house, and followed them in together.

There is an old table and several broken chairs in the main room.

One of the legs of the table was broken in half. It was built with stones and was crooked.

There are coir raincoats and bamboo hats hanging on the wall, and a mud-covered hoe is leaning on the corner. Apart from these, there is nothing else, and the house has only four walls.

The old lady asked them to sit down, and then poured them three bowls of boiled water.

Shen Yuyu took out some snacks from the bag and placed them on the table for the old lady to eat.

"Hey girl, isn't this expensive? You can't use it."

How could the old lady eat it? She waved her hand and Shen Yue took two pieces and stuffed them into her hand.

"Grandma, you can eat it, it's not a rarity outside.

"This looks quite rare. It's as beautiful as a flower!" The old lady looked at the peach blossom cake in her hand carefully, put it in her mouth like a treasure, and took a bite. "Hey, isn't this unusual? It's fragrant and sweet, and there's sugar in it!" The old lady's eyes lit up.

Sugar is a rarity in this era, let alone such a poor and backward mountain village?
Many people may not have tasted sugar in their lives, so it’s no wonder the old lady made such a fuss.

"If grandma likes to eat, eat more." Shen Yuyu stuffed a few more snacks into the old grandma's hand, and then chatted with her about household matters.

"Why is grandma's house so deserted? Where are my son and his wife?'

When grandma heard this, her eye circles turned red. Even the cakes in her hands seemed to lose their flavor. She choked and said:
"There are four sons in the family. The three younger ones were drafted into the army in the past two years. There was no news about them and they must have returned dead."

"How many daughters-in-law are willing to live as widows? They took their children and remarried! Now there are only me and an eldest son with handicapped legs and feet left in the family. There is no rice at home. My eldest son went to borrow rice from relatives.

As he spoke, he wiped his cloudy and dry eyes and looked at Shen Yue and the others with some humility.

"I, this old woman, was confused just now. I just looked at you like my grandchildren who were taken away by my wife, so I asked you to come in and stop. But~~I can't even bring out delicious food to entertain you~~Oh !"

After hearing this, Shen Yuyu couldn't help but feel a little moved.

Three of the four sons were expropriated. Either Wei Yuande did this, or Wei Yan's subordinate Zhu Xiangyu did it.

The greatest harm caused by the war was ultimately inflicted on the common people, so Shen Yue did not regret at all for sparing Xia Luoluo's life and placing her in the Dali Palace.

At this time, Shadow asked, "Grandma, there are always some subsidies or pensions from the Yamen, right?"

Grandma took out a yellowed handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of her eyes.

"How can such a good thing happen? If you die, you will die. The lives of ordinary people are worthless~~"

After hearing this, Shadow raised his eyes and looked at Shen Yue.

Regardless of who conscripted this grandma’s three sons, whether they died in battle or were still serving in the military camp, the court would receive subsidies and pensions.

If the old lady never received it, it must have been corrupted by someone above.

Shen Yue nodded silently

She and Ah Xun decided to provide subsidies and pensions to the families of soldiers who died in battle or served in the military camp. If the officials below did not implement it, wouldn't they be feeding a group of moths in vain?
Fortunately, Ah Xun reminded her to be considerate of the people's sentiments. Otherwise, wouldn't the family members of soldiers like the old lady shed blood and shed tears, and become completely disillusioned with the country?
She will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and behead him in public to see who has the guts to embezzle such money.

As they were talking, a simple and honest man in his early forties walked out of the courtyard. Seeing how lively his home was from a distance, he thought it was the sons and daughters of his brothers who had wandered away from home. There was such a surprise in his eyes.

But when I got closer, I saw that the three of them were cleanly dressed and in good temperament, and I knew that my happiness was in vain.

"Mom, who are these three?" The uncle came in with his feet on his feet, turned around and bolted the courtyard door, looking at Shen Yuyu and the others curiously.

The three of them stood up and greeted with a smile, "Excuse me, uncle, we are passing through the village late and would like to stay at your house for the night."

"That's right. You have to stay here. There are wild beasts outside at night, which can be dangerous."

After speaking, he looked at the old lady respectfully.

"Mom, you sit with the guests, and I'm going to cook." She said, taking off the shriveled robe and getting into the kitchen.

You don't need to read it to know that the uncle didn't borrow a few grains of rice, which is quite sad to see.