Matthew is not only a fleeing refugee, but also a fleeing slave.
When they heard him speak in a calm tone, both Jiang Pengji and Lu Zheng felt a restrained anger.
Back then, Matthew did escape to the relatively stable Beiyuan to avoid disaster.
It's just that he didn't expect that compared with the bloody troubled times, Beiyuan's soft knife would hurt people to kill people.
When Ma Xiu's family fled, he was carrying money with him. He also knew the truth of not revealing the money, so he was careful to escape all the way, but he did not attract coveted. After arriving at Beiyuan, trouble followed. Matthew is a commoner, and the commoner's status in Beiyuan is much lower than outside rumors. At that time, there were many people in Dongqing who went to Beiyuan to avoid disasters like Ma Xiu, and Beiyuan officials treated these people like animals. Corruption is the heaviest, tax items are the most, and people are exploited to death.
When Matthew realized the situation of Beiyuan and wanted to leave, there was a coup in the Beiyuan court.
The factions at the top of the coup d'état treated the commoners and refugees more harshly. If the tax revenue could not be collected, they would directly enter the low-ranking status and allow them to buy and sell. Some of Beiyuan's poor disciples were angry and tried to reason with them, but they ended up twisting their arms and thighs and bleeding.
Matthew's family's savings could not withstand such exploitation, so naturally they tried to leave.
However, this is a wolf's den, and it's easy to get in and get out.
Beiyuan's population is the smallest among the Five Kingdoms, and it is strictly controlled when people leave the country.
Matthew could only hold back and look for opportunities.
At this time, a disaster that fell from the sky smashed him right.
In order to fight against the upper faction forces, a group of insightful people gathered together and called it the "new faction", intending to use the coup d'etat to assassinate the old faction. As a result, they were discovered by the leaders of the old school before they even started.
One pot is not accurate, because there are fish that slip through the net.
The fish that slipped through the net swam to the back door of Ma Xiu's mansion, fell into the snow, and was rescued home by his wife who went out to buy.
The old school came to the door, and the Matthew family was arrested on the charge of "harbouring criminals".
Forfeited their property, the family entered a low-ranking register.
Ma Xiu became a handyman in the house of the Beiyuan nobility, his wife and daughter were arrested and sold to a brothel, and his son was sold at a low price to cleanse his body...
The wife blamed herself and committed suicide.
The daughter left the flesh and blood of an unknown benefactor, and died of illness in a dark alley.
The younger son was beheaded by the red-eyed Yi's private soldiers during the Yi's forced palace incident.
Matthew went to and fro several times, and took his young granddaughter to be sold again and again, and finally became a gatekeeper in a small town near the border. Hearing that the enemy soldiers were about to attack, Matthew packed his bags and walked to Xuecheng with the refugees.
Before coming, Matthew was actually ready to die.
Because he heard on the way that Officer Qi asked Jagged Blood to kill the refugees, he understood that the decision was correct, and he also knew that he would definitely lose his life if he tried hard. But... for the sake of being a native of Dongqing, I don't expect the bones to return to their homeland, but only hope that my granddaughter can be treated with mercy, whether it's adopted by someone or bought... I can't, accompany him in his burial is far away from Dongqing. The nearest Syracuse city is also good.
These refugees came on foot.
Matthew is still pretty good, anyway, there are broken shoes that some dead person has taken off, and many people are barefoot.
Before they reached Xuecheng, they were discovered by the patrolling cavalry scouts, and not all were caught.
I thought they would die, but I didn't expect these soldiers to let them take dry food, where to go, don't think about smuggling to Dongqing.
Matthew heard that the refugees around him were crying, and he knew the identity of the leader of the enemy soldiers from the mouths of some refugees.
In a trance, there is a feeling that when the mountains and rivers are about to despair, the willows are dark and the flowers are bright again.
"grandfather?"
The granddaughter is very thin, with a big head and a small body. Every time I see her like this, I worry that she will break her neck.
Matthew said, "Don't worry, Grandpa has a way."
Saying this with your mouth, you don't have a clue in your heart.
Even so, he still begged Jiang Pengji in a desperate mood and reported his name.
No one thinks that Matthew, a lousy old man, has anything to do with the Lord of the World. Even Matthew himself thinks that when he was young, he really knew such a person. Or, those young memories are just the daydreams of this lousy old man
When he waited anxiously, was summoned, and tremblingly came to see Jiang Pengji, time seemed to go back all of a sudden.
What he saw was not only the majestic female prince in front of him, but also the bright red-clothed young man who was laughing and scolding in Langya County back then. Obviously two completely different pictures, but at this time they overlapped in front of his eyes, and they fit together perfectly, whether it was a person or a scene.
Time flies, time treats me like a sword in the wind and snow, and you are still like a young man in fresh clothes.
When talking about these things, Matthew's turbid eyes did not waver at all.
Not the calm after the snowstorm, but the lifeless silence.
Jiang Pengji sent someone to settle Matthew, and sent a doctor to diagnose his pulse. Matthew thanked him with a smile.
The doctor diagnosed the pulse and prescribed medicine, and then replied to Jiang Pengji.
"The lamp is running out of oil... If you hang it with precious medicinal materials, it will only be a few months..."
Physicians can cure stubborn diseases, but they cannot save those who are dying.
The only thing Jiang Pengji could do was to make Matthew's last days a little better and live longer.
Her hand for correcting the official document paused, and the ink dripped into black dots.
"How many more days to live?"
The doctor said, "The end of spring and the beginning of summer in the coming year."
Jiang Pengji waved, "Go on, I see."
Today's live broadcast room was very silent, and those naughty salted fish didn't say anything.
Qi Guanrang asked her, "What is the lord thinking?"
She whispered slowly, "In the late spring and early summer next year, can the world become one..."
In another place, Matthew and Lu Zheng were silent, and Matthew's granddaughter was holding a fragrant and soft meat pie, chewing it slowly.
"...A person has his own destiny...it's just life...why does Shaoyin show such a sad expression?"
Lu Zheng laughed at himself, "I'm usually cold-hearted, but I seem to be a little sadder today."
Matthew smiled, "Today is a rare and festive day for me for more than ten years."
It is naturally festive to find someone who can support the solitary before dying.
Lu Zheng wanted to say something comforting, but when he came to his mouth, he couldn't say anything.
Reminiscing about the past is even more bullshit.
For Ma Xiu, who had been tortured for half his life, the better his youth, the more bleak and painful the rest of his life was.
The two really wanted to reminisce about the past, but they just sprinkled salt on Matthew's wound.
"... If you have three strengths and two weaknesses, I will treat this child as if I were myself."
Matthew was not pretentious and waved to the child, who hesitated to put down the meatloaf and sat down beside Matthew's bed.
"He" Matthew made a rare joke, "I will be your fake father in the future."
Lu Zheng's face darkened and he corrected, "It's grandpa!"
He adopted Ma Xiu's granddaughter as his adopted daughter, and he was just a generation short of Ma Xiu!
The girl blinked, not knowing what to shout.