May of the eighteenth year of Yongping is destined to be an extraordinary time.

In this month, major events affecting Nan Chu's life have happened one by one, shaking everyone.

On the ninth day of the fifth month, the crown prince Zhao Zhe, who failed to supervise the transportation of military rations in Jiangnan, was punished by the emperor to be grounded in the East Palace for half a year, and was not allowed to interfere with any court affairs. Dou Qi, the servant of the household department, was taken into custody by the Yushitai for interrogation, and the case-handling personnel of the Criminal Department caught several officers and soldiers hiding in Cicaoyun in Yangzhou City, Huainan East Road, and sent them back to the Criminal Department for interrogation. And searched all the way down the river, and found the bodies of many Caoyun officers and soldiers on the section of Huainan East Road.

On the tenth day of the fifth month, more than 90,000 Shijiangnan military rations received by the Bianjing Forbidden Army were sent north to the Liangzhou front, which finally aroused the fighting spirit of the long-silent Southern Chu soldiers.

On May 12, Zhang Chi, the vanguard general under the privy envoy Wenbo, launched an attack on Liangzhou City, and the Northern Liao defender general Yelu A Baobao was defeated, and fled with 3,000 people to Luoxialing, 20 miles to the west, Zhang Chi led more than 30,000 people to chase closely, and on the evening of May 13, he was besieged by 50,000 Rao of the Northern Liao army in Luoxialing, and was annihilated more than 10,000 people, more than 10,000 were captured, and the vanguard general Zhang Chi was also captured alive.

When this matter reached Bianjing, the court was furious, and the emperor issued a military order, limiting the privy envoy Wenbo to capture Liangzhou City within two months, otherwise he would come to see him.

On May 14, Wenbo, who had been preparing troops in Xuanzhou Mansion, led 100,000 horses to the north.

On May 15, in the west, the horse of Princess Zhao Hanyan of Gaoping, and Zhang Xiang's carriage had just entered Yingzhou City.

Yingzhou is not as prosperous as Pingzhou, since entering the northwest Jin'an Mansion to Yingzhou this way, Zhang Xiang has seen only the barrenness of the land and the devastation of the city of Yingzhou, one because of the geographical environment, and the other is because of the perennial famine.

Jin'an Mansion is still better, after all, it is the richest place in the northwest, and there is always something that can support the façade.

But after passing through Jin'an Mansion, it was different, especially after arriving at Qinfeng Road, there was only desolation in sight.

The city of Yingzhou looks more like it is located on the Gobi Desert, and from the official road ten miles outside the city, you can see a small number of refugees who have left Yingzhou or come to Yingzhou from other more barren places.

The sun was scorching, some of them were carrying broken burdens, holding a dirty child, some were wearing a pair of broken straw sandals, holding a cane in their hands, and some were pushing a broken cart, with yellow faces and thin muscles.

When Zhang Xiang's carriage passed by them, he could also feel the envious and yearning gaze cast by them.

And often seeing refugees like them, Zhang Xiang's heart is like a knife.

The slave had stopped the car many times and brought baked cakes from Jin'an Mansion to many refugees.

Three days ago, when he left from Jin'an Mansion, the slave bought a lot of baked cakes, Zhang Xiang didn't know it at that time, until he saw the refugees along the way, Zhang Xiang didn't understand.

The girl is sensual and sympathetic, and every time she finishes the baked cakes, she has to get into the carriage and shed tears for a while, which comforts Zhang Xiang for a while.

Zhang Xiang can also understand her, after all, it is her hometown, after leaving for six years, and then coming back, although things are not people, but seeing these refugees, she will also think of herself and her parents.

After entering Yingzhou City, although the situation is better, along the way, you can vaguely see many beggars squatting on the side of the road begging.

Zhang Xiang asked the two guards to find an inn to stay in first, and then set off tomorrow to the slave's hometown, which was still in a remote village sixty miles west of Yingzhou City, so he had to at least catch up tomorrow.

Then he asked Lin Feihong to go around the city to inquire around to see if there was any news from the Yuandu Mansion, after all, this was already the tenth, because this was not far from the Yuandu Mansion, if there was news from the Yuandu Mansion, it would be known here one step earlier.

Just went for a while, Lin Feihong came back and didn't ask about anything.

This made Zhang Xiang feel a little relieved, at least it proved that his guess had not happened, and he had actually hoped that his guess was not true for the past ten years, so as long as it hadn't happened, he still hoped that he was wrong.

Because if it happens, he doesn't know what he's going to do.

That night, Zhang Xiang received a flying pigeon from Xueshen Mountain.

The letter came from Qin Elegy, in addition to showing her surprise and joy after Zhang Xiang came to Yingzhou, she explained what Zhang Xiang explained to her.

She, in fact, as early as half a month ago, the Snow God Sect discovered that the Zhending army in Dingzhou had withdrawn to the south, because the Snow God Mountain was not far from Dingzhou, and the forbidden army that the imperial court wanted to encircle and suppress them every time was stationed near Dingzhou, so they had already developed the habit of paying attention to Dingzhou, and half a month ago, after the spies of the Snow God Sect found out that the Zhending army had withdrawn to the south, they did not have any doubts.

It wasn't until ten years ago that Zhang Xiang's message was received, and the Snow God Sect sent people to check on the territory of Xijin, but they didn't find any movement, and Ming Xijin hadn't found out about the withdrawal of the Zhending army from Dingzhou.

Of course, Qin Elegy also specifically mentioned that if Sun Qing, the commander of the Zhending Army, really wanted to rebel with Wei Lie from the Yuan Capital, then even if Xijin knew, it would be impossible for Xijin to enter Southern Chu from the area of Dingzhou, after all, there was still Northern Liao watching in the north, and if Xijin seized Yingzhou, it would also directly pose a threat to Northern Liao, so Northern Liao would never allow Xijin to take Dingzhou, since there was no movement on Xijin's side, and the 50,000 people stationed on the grassland in Northern Liao had not moved, it would prove that Dingzhou was safe.

Therefore, if Xijin wants to enter Southern Chu and does not want to collide with the Northern Liao, he can only go further south, directly into the hinterland of Qin Feng, and directly point to Yingzhou, but in this case, in such a short time, the Snow God Sect will be powerless to investigate, so he has to let Zhang Xiang figure out his own way.

After reading Qin Elegy's reply, it was similar to what Zhang Xiang thought in his heart.

Since the Zhending army has withdrawn from the north, the intention is actually obvious, it should be transferred by Sun Qing to concentrate its forces to the Yuan capital.

It's just that I don't know when it will happen yet, and Xijin hasn't moved yet, so it's hard to guess the next move.

This night, Zhang Xiang also thought about a lot of things, and after the second time he set foot on the road to the slave's hometown, the bad mood that had been deposited for many days was temporarily diluted a lot.

Since the slave left Yingzhou City, the mood has been particularly good, along the way from time to time to get off the carriage and stop, recalling the picture when she left home, she and Zhang Xiang, this route is the road they took when they fled from their hometown in the past.

Her hometown is in a place called the Yokogawa Valley, although the name has a river, but she was a long time ago, there was indeed a river there, but many years later, the river was covered with silt, the river dried up, and the upstream river channel had long been changed from other places, so the dry river valley became a new gathering point for people, her parents' parents' parents... Anyway, she lived there for generations.

Except for the name retained, it has nothing to do with the river at all.

In this way, the group walked and stopped, and the sixty-mile journey came to this place called the Yokogawa Valley when the sun went down.

Because there used to be a river here, the road is actually quite easy to walk, you can walk along the previous river route, only occasionally turn over some hills, but the problem is not very big.

At this time, the Yokogawa Valley has almost become a deserted village, there are not many people, and when you walk into the village of Nuoda, except for some old, weak, sick and disabled, you can not see a single young person, and most of the houses in the village have collapsed.

The village was overgrown with weeds inside and out, and there were few crops to be seen, except for the occasional weathered skeleton or two lying on the side of the road.

In short, the entire Yokogawa Valley is barren.

After entering the village, Zhang Xiang and the slave got out of the carriage and walked.

Zhang Xiang instructed the guards to hand out the baked cakes they had brought to the old men who were staring at them blankly.

It's just that those old people didn't dare to take it, and they were afraid of the approach of the guards, so they turned around to avoid their gaze, and then they had to put the baked cakes a few meters away from them, and after they left, those old people went forward to get the baked cakes, and then devoured them.

Slaves, the current villagers here were left behind when they left, some of them are old, some are disabled, and some are reluctant to this piece of land, so they were left behind, these years, it should be by eating wild vegetables or still having the ability to grow some crops to survive until now.

Looking at the dilapidated appearance of this former hometown, the slave felt uncomfortable: "Donkey, in fact, it used to be very lively here, when I was a slave, there were many partners playing together, Aunt Zhang, Aunt Wang, Uncle Li, Uncle Yang... That's a lot of neighbors! In the place where we just came in, it used to be a field of crops, and the people here used to be very industrious, going out early and returning late, and the children were playing in front of the door, waiting for the adults to come back from the fields, and then the adults came to call us back to eat after they had cooked the meal, and some naughty children were disobedient and spanked, and then they cried and made a fuss, and the onlookers laughed non-stop, and when their parents came, they all ran away again..."

"But the slave and maid used to be naughty, very well-behaved, always went to the field to help their parents grow vegetables, dig the ground and so on, and some partners came to play with the slave and maid, and the slave and maid did not go, so they played tricks on the slave and maid, caught frogs and scared the slave and maid, and the slave and maid were scared and cried several times..."

"And Aunt Zhang next door, every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, I will go to the market to sell some vegetables, and after making some money, I bought zongzi and came back to wrap it, and after wrapping it, I will send a few to us to taste, there are many hares on the mountain, and the slave's father will go to hunt some game every time to come back, and then send one to Aunt Zhang..."

"The slave's mother's needlework is good, she will embroider a lot of beautiful handkerchiefs, and after embroidering, she will go to the market with Aunt Zhang to sell handkerchiefs, and after selling some silver, she will buy some delicious food for the slave and maid, and come back with fun. But the mother didn't let the slave learn needlework, she wanted the slave to learn to read and write, because at that time there was a gentleman in the village who walked the rivers and lakes, this gentleman was very powerful, and he knew a lot of poems, and the old village chief in the village was very in awe of Mr., and asked Mr. to teach the children in the village to read and write, and the gentleman agreed, and did not accept money, but each child gave him an egg every time..."

"At that time, my mother especially wanted the slave to go to my husband to read and write, so my mother raised a hen, and my mother kissed her, and let the slave and maid grow up to be a female gentleman..."

"It's just that the slave maid has only been in the school for a long time, and he has just learned a few words, and a team of officers and soldiers came to the village, they came to pick up Mr., and then the old village chief came, and that Mr. turned out to be a Darao staff, who temporarily borrowed to live in the village for refuge. What the staff is, the slave doesn't know, in short, he is a very powerful person..."

The slave remembered this, her eyes still shining with happiness, and she laughed and then shed tears again.

Zhang Xiang could feel her mood and comforted: "Silly girl, it's all over, don't worry, I will help you find the bones of your parents and come back." ”

"But... But..."The slave continued to choke: "But six years ago, there was a great drought here, in fact, this drought has started a year ago, there is nothing left in the crops, nothing grows, everyone began to dig wild vegetables to make a living, that year people began to starve to death, first Uncle Yang's dogs, and then the chickens and ducks in the village also gathered and died, and then people, one after another, dozens of people were starved to death in a year, and then Uncle Yang also died, The old village chief of the village and some uncles went to the county government of the curtain land together to ask the government for disaster relief, but the government never came, and then the wild vegetables in the nearby mountains were also dug up, and some people began to dig up things to eat, and some were poisoned to death, and the old village chief gave all the food left in the house to the villagers, but it was not enough to eat at all, until finally the old village chief also died, and the villagers had no choice, so they began to think about moving out, because if they continued to stay here, everyone would starve to death..."

"That year, the young and strong people in the village and the people who can walk around took their bags and left here, leaving only some who are unwilling to leave, or can't walk and are too old, the slave's parents also left with the slave and the maid, we went all the way east, to the direction of Yingzhou City, only after arriving in Yingzhou City, I knew that it was not only we Henghe Valley, in fact, the villages in many places in this area have suffered from a great drought, Yingzhou City has already received a lot of refugees, we went late, the city gate has long been closed, the officers and soldiers guarding the city, The pressure on the government in the city is too great, and it can't take it anymore, so let's go elsewhere, we have no choice but to continue the ASEAN."

"Later, on the official road leading to Xuanzhou Mansion, disaster victims joined one after another, and the team expanded to nearly 10,000 people, but there were many deaths along the way, and the slaves and maids saw many people starving to death, and when they died, they were so thin that only a pair of skins remained..."

"Later, the slave and the maid also passed with the horse, our group of refugees walked on the road for more than two months, more and more people died, the slave's parents also died when they were about to arrive in Xuanzhou, the prefect of Xuanzhou brought troops to receive our batch of refugees in advance, and brought us into the city, and then the slave and maid were taken to Bianjing with some partners of the same age, sent to the palace, and the slave and maid also went to the princess..."

"Whew... You see, this is the former home of the slave and the maid. ”

As he was talking, he came to a deserted yard, which was only fenced and contained only two thatched huts, which were already overgrown with weeds.

Although the thatched hut is deserted, it has not collapsed, it looks good, Zhang Xiang said with a smile: "Slave, it seems that your home is built quite well, it looks like it can be lived, just clean it, and then we will live here." ”

"Hmm—" The slave burst into tears and laughed, and then took the lead in pushing open the dusty fence gate.

Next, Zhang Xiang asked the guards to divide into two groups, one group used knives to flatten the weeds in the courtyard, and the other group went into the house to clean up the two thatched huts.

Many things in the house can still be used, such as pots and pans, but there is too much dust, and you can use it when you clean it.

The slave took Zhang Xiang to find a well along the memory, her well had no water in the previous drought, but the water in this well was very full, which was a very good thing, and then Zhang Xiang handed over the drudgery of carrying water to Lin Feihong.

After nightfall, everyone finally settled into a clean hut...