It was the first time that Lixiang saw Mingyu get angry. She was so scared that she held back her tears. Mingyu looked at her with both anger and amusement. He reached into his arms to take out a handkerchief, but found nothing. He guessed that he had dropped it somewhere when he was running. He could only wipe Lixiang's face with his sleeve.
Looking back at Lixiang still carrying the heavy iron pot, Mingyu said with a smile: "Take the pot off and throw it away, it's too heavy to carry!"
Li Xiang was reluctant to take the pot off the stove. She was always timid and was afraid that a few Tartars would suddenly fall from the sky and shoot arrows at them. If she threw the pot, they would not be able to stop them. When Li Xiang turned the pot over, the two of them couldn't help but smack their lips when they saw the bottom of the pot. They were terrified. The bottom of the pot was made of cast iron, and there were several deep white marks, which were probably the marks of arrows.
If it weren't for this pot, I'm afraid the two of them would have died here.
Li Xiang picked up a big locust tree and threw the pot into the ditch next to the tree, muttering: "This tree is easy to recognize. If I come back again, I have to pick up this pot. It's a life-saving pot!"
Mingyu smiled and watched Lixiang throw the pot. Since she ran out of the Anxi Marquis Mansion, she had no intention of going back.
Neither of them mentioned the Tartars again, but they were both filled with fear and worry in their hearts. They led the horses and walked very fast, and soon arrived in front of the farmhouses.
One of the houses had left its door open, and Mingyu stood at the door and looked out, only to see a peasant woman in her forties sitting in the yard picking up beans from a winnowing basket. Hearing the noise at the door, the peasant woman looked up, looked at Mingyu and Lixiang in surprise, put the winnowing basket aside, stood up and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Mingyu smiled and said, "Auntie, our horses are tired from running, so I would like to ask you for a bucket of water to feed them."
The peasant woman was wearing a thick linen robe and had a dark red face that was honest and simple. When she heard Mingyu say this, she quickly took out a bucket from the kitchen, drew water from the well and gave it to Mingyu.
Mingyu thanked him and carried the water to feed the horse. Because the horse had been running for a long time, Mingyu did not dare to feed it too much at once. After it drank a few sips, she took the bucket away and waited for a while before continuing to feed it.
This small village was quiet and peaceful. Mingyu looked for a long time but could not see any panic on the peasant woman's face. He thought that it was because it was far away from Tianshui and the news was cut off. The Tartar invasion was too sudden and these people did not know the news yet.
"Auntie, please pack up and run away. The Tartars are invading!" Mingyu said to the peasant woman while feeding the horse.
The peasant woman laughed and continued to pick up beans with her head down, occasionally picking up a small stone and throwing it out, saying: "How is it possible? Aren't there soldiers from Longxi guarding Tianshui? You, a little girl from the city, are really funny!"
Seeing that the peasant woman didn't believe her, Mingyu became anxious, "We just ran away from Tianshui City. The Tartars have entered the city. The defenders of Longxi have been killed by the Tartars. Maybe the Tartars will fight here before tomorrow. You listen to me, run quickly, run east!"
She was just a weak woman, unable to carry anything, and had no way of being a hero who killed the Tartars. She could only run away desperately with Lixiang, saving whoever she could.
Mingyu spoke anxiously, Lixiang also tried to persuade her, but the peasant woman was still skeptical. After all, she had lived a comfortable life for too long. If two little girls came to say that the Tartars were coming, anyone would be suspicious. However, the peasant woman was not sure, and began to move the things drying in the yard into the house one by one, saying that the head of the family and the two sons had gone to the fields, and they would leave when they came back.
Mingyu then breathed a sigh of relief, looked at her and Lixiang's clothes, and asked the peasant woman, "Auntie, I want to ask you to buy two sets of men's clothes for my older brother and uncle, and two pairs of shoes." She and Lixiang were two little girls, and it would be inconvenient for them to walk to the town not far away.
The peasant woman was very straightforward and quickly took out two men's robes from the house. They were made of grey burlap and had a few patches on them. "Country people are nothing good, so please don't despise them, young lady."
Mingyu wished the clothes were as worn out as possible, so she didn't mind. She thanked him immediately and changed into the robe with Lixiang in the kitchen. She used branches to tie her hair into a man's bun. The robe was wide and could be worn after being wrapped around the waist a few times. However, the shoes were quite worn out. Since they had small feet, they had to put on cloth shoes with several holes in the front and back over their own shoes and tied them with cloth strips.
When changing clothes, Lixiang heard something jingling in her arms. She took something out and saw that in addition to silver and a few sachets and purses, there was actually a pair of aqua green jade bracelets, which were given to Mingyu by the old lady.
Thinking of Li Xiang running back to Yiqing Courtyard just to get these two bracelets, Mingyu couldn't help but poke her on the forehead, "These things are not yours, you can't bring them with you when you are born, and you can't take them with you when you die. It's not worth it to sacrifice your life for them!"
Li Xiang smiled embarrassedly, put the things back into her arms, and whispered, "I think it's a pity. Second Madam, you don't even have a piece of jewelry that you can show off. It's a pity that such a pair of good things will definitely go to the Tartars if they are thrown away in Yiqing Courtyard."
Mingyu sighed slightly, smiled and patted Lixiang's hand, pulled her out, and put a silver hairpin from his head into the peasant woman's hand.
The peasant woman's eyes widened, and she quickly pushed the jewelry into Mingyu's hands, saying repeatedly: "You can't use this, it's just two sets of tattered clothes, how can they be worth so much? I dare not accept it!"
Mingyu insisted on giving it to her, and the peasant woman had no choice but to accept the silver hairpin awkwardly. The horse had drunk enough water and was raising its neck to nibble on the grass that grew out of the farmer's wall.
Before climbing the mountain and mounting the horse, Mingyu rubbed his hands on the wet mud, smeared them on his face, and then used the same method to smear Lixiang into a dirty boy.
Before leaving, Mingyu sincerely said to the peasant woman, "Auntie, I really didn't lie to you. Hurry up and call the people in your village to go together, it will be too late if it's over!"
After saying that, Mingyu clamped her legs around the horse's belly and ran forward. Lixiang hugged Mingyu's back tightly.
The two men looked like a pair of brothers fleeing from disaster. Their heads and faces were dirty, they rode dirty horses, and they wore patched, wide, coarse cloth robes. They walked eastward, passing many villages on the way. Many people who came and went saw the two men, but none of them took them seriously.
After running for a whole day, they finally arrived at Gaoping Town, which was about a hundred miles away from Tianshui Prefecture, before the sun set. They were tired and hungry, their faces and bodies were covered with dust, and they were unkempt. They didn't care about anything else at the moment.
The first group of people who fled from Tianshui had already arrived in Gaoping, bringing the news that the Tartars had invaded Da Chu. The officers and soldiers guarding the city gates were extremely careful and carefully checked those who wanted to enter the city, for fear that there might be spies sent by the Tartars mixed in with the refugee group.
Lixiang was worried and whispered behind Mingyu, "Second Madam, what should we do if the soldiers find out that we are women?" In these chaotic times, they were no longer members of the marquis's family who were protected everywhere. If two lonely and weak women met bad guys, the consequences would be disastrous.
Mingyu patted Lixiang's hand, looked calmly at the crowd waiting to enter the city, and said, "Don't panic. When the soldiers ask questions later, don't make a sound. Pretend to be dumb and I will tell you. Also, why are you still calling me Second Grandma? From now on, you will be called Dali and I will be called Xiaoming. You are the elder brother and I am the younger brother. Remember, don't skip any words.
Lixiang nodded uneasily, and Mingyu sighed helplessly. Lixiang was just too honest and couldn't do anything humble. Look, she was so nervous before people asked her anything. If she was asked to answer, it would be strange if she didn't reveal the truth.
When it was Mingyu and Lixiang's turn, the soldiers guarding the city saw that they were two dirty half-grown children and did not suspect anything. They just asked, "Where are you from?"
Mingyu carefully recalled the accents of Master Bao and the others and said, "We are from Xi'an Prefecture. Dad sent my two brothers and me to Tianshui Prefecture as apprentices. My brother is a mute... Who knew that the Tartars would invade, and the shopkeeper and the owner would run away. We could only ride the only horse left by the owner and go home to find my dad..." Mingyu couldn't help crying as she spoke. The dust and mud on her face became even dirtier after being washed away by her tears.
Lixiang also started to cry. The two of them had been frightened for so long, and it was painful to think about it.
The two men were dressed in rags, with patches from head to toe. Mingyu was thin and looked like a boy less than ten years old, and the "mute" Lixiang was even more terrified. The officers and soldiers looked at the two men with pity and waved their hands to let them enter the city.
Mingyu had no impression of Gaoping Town and had never heard anyone in the Marquis' Mansion mention it. After entering, she found that the town was very small and she could reach the end of it very quickly on horseback. The doors of the inns on the street were full of horse-drawn carriages. As dusk approached, many ragged people gradually sat under the eaves of the roadside shops. They were probably refugees from Tianshui.
Li Xiang carefully watched the carriages along the way, and asked with a glimmer of hope: "Xiao Ming, will the people from the Marquis' Mansion be in Gaoping? Should we go look for them?"
Mingyu was stunned, then shook his head and sighed, "It's impossible. They left the city so early, they must have passed here a long time ago." Besides, Gaoping Town is so small and its defense capabilities are weak. For safety reasons, the cautious stewards of the Marquis' Mansion will not choose this place as their base.
Lixiang was very disappointed. If she could join up with the carriage team of the Marquis' Mansion, she wouldn't have to worry so much. Even after hearing what Mingyu said, Lixiang still didn't give up searching for the carriage on the side of the road.
At dusk, the sun was about to set, and the blood-red sunset filled the sky. The blood-red setting sun hung on the horizon. Mingyu looked at the sky. The blood-red color reminded her of bad things again. She was worried. She didn't know what happened to the fool who gave his life to let them escape. Did he escape from the fallen Tianshui City? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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