One Piece of Song Dynasty

Chapter 531 Jianyan’s journey to the south (9)

Zhao Gou stood up and saw him off: "This journey is thousands of miles long and the journey is difficult and dangerous. I won't say much about the hardship."

Yu Wenxuzhong said: "It is the duty of an official to perform filial piety on behalf of His Majesty."

Zhao Gou choked up and said, "When you see your father, the emperor, and the queen, please say hello to me, and the queen. I wish I could see them right away."

"Xu Zhong is fully aware of the pain in your Majesty's heart. I will leave your Majesty now and go to the North Kingdom." Seeing that the emperor was so sad, Yu Wenxuzhong shed tears unconsciously. Zhao Gou wiped his tears and said, "We say goodbye today. I don't know when I will see you again. I am eagerly waiting for your news."

Every road and every land and water dock going south from the Central Plains was crowded with people crossing to the south. Li Qingzhao waited for two days on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Thanks to several soldiers from the Imperial Camp Division sent by Yang Yizhong to help escort the collection, he finally found the boat, crossed the Yangtze River in the rain at noon, and arrived at Zhenjiang on the other side.

The streets and alleys of Zhenjiang, in front of and behind houses, and on the walls and trees, are full of missing person notices for people who have been separated to find their families. Every shop and hotel is full of displaced people, and many people are simply hunched over. Resting in the mud on the street. Li Qingzhao and his party drove the carriage and settled in a temple full of refugees. While waiting in line for food, Li Qingzhao struggled to read the missing person notice that was soaked by the rain, hoping to find the whereabouts of the maid Xing'er.

It was Li Qingzhao's turn to cook. She took the porridge and rice, took out a few copper coins and handed them to the young monk who served the meal. The young monk saw that her clothes were decent, but she was too dirty, covered with mud and water, and her hair was dry and sticky. He quickly said: "Although the donor's family is rich, I don't dare to ask for this money. The emperor has a decree to provide food and accommodation for the refugees going south." It’s all free and cannot be requested.”

"This money is not donated to the temple, but should be used to help the people of Nandu." Li Qingzhao put down the money, turned around and left with the porridge and rice. After a bowl of porridge, the rain had subsided, and Li Qingzhao called for the convoy to set off.

Seeing that they were about to reach Jiangning, Li Qingzhao felt even more disgusted with the long journey and wished he could have met Zhao Mingcheng earlier. Besides, this is Jiangnan after all. The road from Zhenjiang to Jiangning should be easy to walk, and it should be relatively safe to travel at night.

Unexpectedly, he had not gone far beyond the gates of Zhenjiang when he was faced with a flood of terrified people, rushing past Li Qingzhao, followed by a large group of rebels chasing after him. Li Qingzhao couldn't help but be frightened: "The north of the Yangtze River is full of military thieves, so how can the south of the Yangtze River be full of thieves?"

Several soldiers from the Royal Camp Division were busy trying to turn their horses around with the coachmen. At this moment, the rebels came up. The soldiers immediately fought with the rebels, while the coachmen beat their horses and ran away. In the car, Li Qingzhao blended into the scattered people who were fleeing. When he turned around, he saw that the soldiers of the Royal Camp were outnumbered and died one after another. Li Qingzhao watched the soldiers die in tears in the bumpy car, covering his mouth in pain.

Not far away, the rebels caught up again. Without any explanation, they jumped onto Li Qingzhao's carriage, smashed open the box and rummaged around. Li Qingzhao was so anxious that he opened his arms hoarsely and leaned on the box as if to protect a child: "There is nothing valuable in the car."

The rebels smashed open the box and saw that it was full of scrolls and inscriptions. Then they left cursing. After the common people and rebels passed by, Li Qingzhao sat down helplessly. The humidity for many days seemed to have soaked into every bone of her body, and her whole body ached like a cat tickling her. She was rubbing her sore waist and was about to cry without tears. When she looked up, she saw a girl with a muddy face standing opposite. , looking straight at her. Li Qingzhao looked carefully and couldn't believe his eyes: "Xing'er is Xing'er? Xing'er, how did you get to Zhenjiang?"

After being separated from Li Qingzhao, Xing'er was extremely anxious. Later, she remembered that she was going to Jiangning anyway, so she went all the way south to find her. Myolie hugged Li Qingzhao and cried. Li Qingzhao hugged her and couldn't help crying: "At least we have arrived in Jiangnan. I will wait until Jiangning to see the master."

Li Qingzhao asked Myolie to get in the car and urged the team to set off. The convoy was turning around. Li Qingzhao stood on the car and counted the vehicles. He was so shocked that he almost fainted: "How come it turned out to be cars when we parked cars?"

"With all the chaos just now, who cares about one less car?" The drivers looked at each other.

Li Qingzhao was very anxious: "Go forward quickly, maybe you can catch up."

The convoy hurried forward. Li Qingzhao looked ahead in the car, eager to see what was going on. Fortunately, at the corner ahead, a carriage stopped on the side of the road. It was the carriage in Li Qingzhao's motorcade. Li Qingzhao shouted: "Hurry up there, hurry up!"

The motorcade sped up, but before the carriage could stop, Li Qingzhao jumped out of the car and ran forward staggeringly.

She rushed to the car and saw that the cracked box was open, and most of the ancient books, calligraphy and paintings that had been messed up inside were soaked by the rain. Li Qingzhao was so anxious that he collapsed and fainted: "Finally found it."

Myolie ran over, helped Li Qingzhao up, and shouted repeatedly: "Madam, madam, wake up."

Li Qingzhao didn't know how long he had been in a coma, and he had nightmares during his coma. She dreamed of the Qingzhou Return Hall being filled with smoke and fire, and it was burned down to only ruins. When she finally woke up, she saw that it was already dark. Looking around, there is no village in front or back, and there is no shop behind. It is surrounded by dense bushes. Apart from the fifteen coachmen, the only people who made the decision were Li Qingzhao and Xing'er, two women who had never been out before. They finally decided to drive the car into the bushes to escape tonight. They would set off at dawn tomorrow and reach Jiangning by nightfall.

The wind is cold by the river, and there are no fingers visible in the bushes. In the silence, it always feels like there are countless suspicious sounds coming from all directions. Myolie lay in the car in fear, looking at the dark cloudy night sky with fear, regretting that she should not have chosen to spend the night in the wild.

Li Qingzhao saw the roar of the wind, the trees and grass all around, and the terrifying silhouette of Xing'er with disheveled hair. He was beating a drum in his heart, but he still stubbornly refused to admit it. Xing'er was still mumbling: "How many risks have I taken from Shandong to Jiangnan, and all I have to worry about is this tremor, once..."

Li Qingzhao became even more frightened and looked forward: "If something happens, what sound?"

Sure enough, there was a rustling sound in front, and then a large group of soldiers appeared indistinctly. Li Qingzhao was really afraid of what might happen. Li Qingzhao was so frightened that his legs and feet were trembling. He lay flat on his back in the car, not daring to move. Outside the bushes, a steady stream of rioters passed by.

The horses didn't care about this, snorting from time to time, which frightened Li Qingzhao so much that his heart almost jumped out of his throat. Several rebel soldiers heard the noise and walked towards the woods. Li Qingzhao covered his head and trembled uncontrollably. Fortunately, the rebel soldiers did not notice them in their haste and walked away one after another. When Xing'er and the coachmen saw the rebels walking away, they stood up and said, "Madam."