Uncle Zhao led a few soldiers in front, his hand on the hilt of his saber as he carefully entered the small village by the side of the main road.
The village was quiet. Dozens of dilapidated mud houses were scattered haphazardly, separated by a cross-shaped walkway in the middle. They formed a simple street.
The sound of Uncle Zhao and his men rushing through the streets was extremely clear in this small village.
"Is anyone there?" Uncle Zhao walked to the entrance of the village and shouted.
His voice reverberated in the village, but there was no response.
"Is anyone there?" he called again.
The village was still quiet.
The soldiers who followed him frowned. They followed his signal and dispersed, entering the village quietly to investigate.
They inspected each house, walking past each house slowly.
"Clack."
One of the soldiers accidentally touched the handle of a grindstone. The wooden handle broke and fell to the ground.
Instantly, several pairs of eyes looked in their direction. Uncle Zhao took a few steps at a time, walking to the grindstone to examine it carefully.
He reached out to touch the broken part of the handle. His fingers were instantly stained with some yellowish-brown wood powder.
"This village is quite old. Have any of you been here before? This place is close to the main road. Passersby should have seen it often. "
The gathered soldiers looked at each other and shook their heads.
"I've heard Old Dad mention it before. When he was young, he went to Mountain-Edge City. Along the way, he even stayed a night in a village. I wonder if it's here," a burly soldier said gruffly.
"Your old man is sixty now. Wouldn't it be decades ago when he was young?" another soldier said speechlessly.
"It was more than thirty years ago. It's been so long now. It's no longer useful, "the burly soldier replied with a smile.
"It looks like there's no one in this village." Uncle Zhao straightened up and looked around. "Go and check again. If there's nothing wrong, you can stay here for the night."
These days, due to all sorts of accidents, entire villages had either moved or fled to the sea. Empty villages were nothing out of the ordinary.
Most of the time, an epidemic could cause an entire village to move and fall into ruin.
"Yes!"
The group split up and began to inspect the village. The eighteen mud houses in the village had all been swept by them. Half of them were broken. There was either a big hole in the roof or a broken wall in the house.
Uncle Zhao led some men to tidy up the remaining mud huts, then sent someone back to inform Lu Quanan, who was waiting on the road.
Lu Quanan also brought his family members with him, driving the oxen and horses slowly into this small village.
"There are a few bigger mud huts. Let's take a look and distribute them. We'll rest for the night and continue our journey tomorrow. Arrange the rest of the night guards, "Lu Quanan instructed everyone to put down their things and set up camp.
Naturally, this mud hut was not enough for them to live in. The people who needed to be accommodated were mainly the women and children. The Northern Lands were not like other places. The temperature difference in the morning and evening was huge, and it was even freezing at night. It was easy to catch a cold if one was not careful.
"There's a well in the middle of the village. You can fetch water there. There was a forest on the side. Bring some people to pick up some dead branches. Also, check if there are any wild mushrooms nearby. Don't go too far and pay attention to safety. "
Lu Quanan had travelled extensively in the past and naturally had the relevant experience. In no time, he had settled down the dozens of Lu Family members.
"Send someone to Mountain-Edge City at top speed to inform them that the carriage broke down on the way. That's why we'll have to travel slower and arrive a few days later," Lu Quanan summoned a soldier and instructed.
"Understood, Old Master." These soldiers were the city guards arranged by Lu Anping. This time, they were assigned by their boss. Moreover, the Lu Family had treated them well. With this trip, each of them could earn five taels of silver. That was already equivalent to two months' worth of profit. With this extra trip, they could even earn some extra money. Naturally, they had nothing to complain about.
The soldier leapt onto his horse, packed enough food and drink, and galloped off in the direction of Mountain-Edge City.
At this time, a bonfire had already been lit in the village, preparing to cook a big pot of soup.
Lu Chenxin alighted from the carriage and stretched his body. He had originally wanted to head out to study with Lu Yiyi. However, with his long since lazy personality, how could he endure the bitter and cold life in the academy? He tried all sorts of excuses and pretended to be sick. In the end, he did not manage to go and missed the departure time. In the end, only Lu Yiyi went to Xichuan Manor.
'Heh heh, Mountain-Edge City is much more prosperous. What's so fun about it compared to Xichuan Manor? Brother Sheng must be having so much fun there that he'd forget home and home. I heard that there are many pleasure boats there. There'll definitely be fun there, 'Lu Chenxin chuckled as he looked around.
He was sharing a carriage with Zhang Xiuxiu's family, a distant relative of First Madam. Lu Tianyang was also with them, so the carriage was a little cramped.
However, Zhang Xiuxiu had a foxy face and a soft body that felt great to the touch. Thus, the journey was rather relaxing for him.
Zhang Xiuxiu was a distant daughter of Lu Sheng's maternal grandfather by marriage. In reality, she was not related to Lu Chenxin by blood.
It was only because her father was not doing well in life that he sought refuge with the Lu Family, which had a huge business, to make a living in the Manor.
Zhang Xiuxiu was the daughter of some unknown woman her father had on the outside. Rumor had it that she was a prostitute. In any case, her father was the only one who had taken care of her.
This girl had grown up to be extremely open-minded. Because of her beauty, she was always flirting with men. Her relationship with the Lu Family's Lu Tianyang and the previous Sun Bajun had been somewhat ambiguous.
Now that everyone else had left, Lu Chenxin finally had a taste of meat that he had never tasted before. Naturally, he was in a good mood.
He alighted from the carriage. On the other side, Lu Tianyang also alighted from another carriage.
The two of them exchanged glances and hurriedly huddled together.
"How is it? How's Xiu 'er's taste? "
"Not bad, not bad. Much more proactive than Yuelan. The taste is strong too," Lu Chenxin chuckled and said softly.
"Staying in the same room at night?" Lu Tianyang was the son of Lu Quanan's fourth concubine. He was also a famous playboy in the Lu Manor. Originally, he, Lu Chenxin, and Sun Bajun were known as the Three Talents of the Lu Family. Unfortunately, Sun Bajun disappeared in an accident.
"What a pity for Bajun …"
Thinking of this, Lu Chenxin felt a little sad. "Mountain-Edge City is as prosperous as a brocade. If Brother Bajun were here, I wonder how happy he'd be. When the time comes, we, the Three Talents of the Lu Family, can drink and chat merrily, and play by Cypress Pine River. How wonderful!"
"Let's not talk about this. Where's Jiaoyan? Have you seen her? "Lu Tianyang had recently fallen in love with a young servant girl in the family.
"She's helping to sort things out. Do you dare to go over to Dad's carriage?" Lu Chenxin pointed in a direction.
Lu Tianyang immediately stuck out his tongue, not daring to reply.
…
Mountain-Edge City's Crystal Sluice.
Large tracts of grayish-white bungalows in Mountain-Edge City resembled fish scales, divided into two. In the middle was the pale red Cypress Pine River, dividing the city into two.
Lu Sheng and Chen Yunxi stood on the stone arch bridge in front of the sluice, watching the weeping willows sway in the wind. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
After a long silence, Lu Sheng saw that the long-legged girl in front of him did not respond. He smiled.
"I've never been here before. The air is good, and the scenery is good. Why did you think of taking a stroll here? "
Chen Yunxi gazed at the sluice where water flowed out continuously. Like white silk, numerous ribbons of water flowed continuously, flowing into the Cypress Pine River.
"My dad paid for the third renovation of this sluice. At that time, a lot of manpower and resources were used. The first time the water was released, I came over to take a look. I was so excited at that time. Looking at the muddy torrents of the mountain torrents, after being filtered by the Crystal Sluice, turning into clean, clear river water, that kind of awe … you won't understand. "" It's alright.
"It's alright. I've seen something like this before." Lu Sheng rubbed his bald head, wondering why his hair hadn't grown after so long.
"Brother Sheng, tell me, do you really despise me?" Chen Yunxi turned around, looking at Lu Sheng with a pale face.
"You're so pretty, educated and well-mannered, and you come from a good family. Who would despise you?" Lu Sheng shook his head. "I just don't want to settle down so early."
He knew that his future path was destined to be one of constant encounters with ghosts. His personality had determined that with the Deep Blue Modifier, he would not be content with a mediocre life.
And such a life was fated to be unacceptable to Chen Yunxi. All she wanted was to find a good man, live a good life, have children, inherit the family business, or attain scholarly honors.
And none of these were what Lu Sheng wanted.
Since he could not give her a future, then he should not let her have hope, and should not hold her back.
Lu Sheng understood this very well. So after the ritual, he did not hide from Chen Yunxi, who was approaching, and came here with her.
"I know you're different from us," Chen Yunxi lowered her head, her voice turning softer. "My dad also advised me not to be too stubborn. From the changes in you, Brother Sheng, I can guess what kind of life you've been living."
"Then why are you still …?" Lu Sheng asked helplessly.
"But, I only feel safe when I'm with you …" Chen Yunxi took a step forward, lightly approaching Lu Sheng.
She wore a thin, long-sleeved white blouse, a wide, milky white chiffon, and a pink tube top. Her legs were covered in a white ruffled skirt, tied with a bow from the right side. The skirt only reached her knees, accentuating the slender perfection of her fair legs.
"You …" Lu Sheng looked at the approaching Chen Yunxi, slightly stunned. Even in the extremely liberal Northern Lands, it was rare for a woman to be so close to a single man.
"I like you, Brother Sheng." Brother Sheng. "Chen Yunxi's beautiful eyes looked at Lu Sheng tenderly, looking into his eyes.
"Even if you lose your eyebrows, even if you become bald, even if you gain more and more muscles, I still like you."
Lu Sheng felt strange, as though something was wrong.
"So." Chen Yunxi took another step forward, her breasts touching Lu Sheng's chest.
"Marry me."
"Pa."
An exquisite jewelry box was taken out of nowhere by Chen Yunxi. She gently opened it, and a white jade thumb ring was quietly placed inside. A phoenix with its wings flapping in the air was engraved on it.
"…" Lu Sheng cursed inwardly.
Countless similar images flashed through his mind, but they were all men proposing to women. What he did not expect was that a great beauty like Chen Yunxi would take the initiative to custom-make such an exquisite white jade thumb ring to propose to him.
Feeling helpless, Lu Sheng calmed down.
"I'm sorry, I can't give you the life you want." He gently closed the jewelry box and pushed it back.
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