The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 189 Settlement

Chen Cui understood that only after passing Jianmen Pass would they enter a safe area. With such a dangerous pass, the enemy would not attack easily.

To put it bluntly, the foreign tribes on the grassland attacked the Great Zhou only to plunder food and treasures. They usually stopped after getting enough benefits. They did not have the strength and courage to compete for the Central Plains.

After all, no matter how strong their military power is, their population is limited. They can hardly compare with the tens of millions of people in the Central Plains, and they cannot rule such a large population.

Moreover, they are not good at farming and are more accustomed to a nomadic lifestyle, a custom that has been difficult to change for hundreds of years.

Even if the Western Rong wanted to occupy land, they were only interested in the grasslands on the border and wanted to graze more cattle and sheep. They were not very interested in the arable land of the Central Plains people.

This is what Chen Cui figured out when she was free along the way. She was frightened by Zhang Ruomei's pessimistic arguments at first. As soon as she thought that the war might come soon, she felt an indescribable fear and involuntarily followed the route arranged by Zhang Ruomei.

During these two days on the road, after she calmed down, she kept thinking about the possibility of the Western Rong people attacking Longnan, and the risks that their group might face.

Finally, through her own analysis, she concluded that it was unlikely that the Western Rong would attack the city, and it was even less likely that they would attack Shuzhong.

Even if the Western Rong people broke through the border defenses, due to the characteristics of their cavalry, they would generally only advance towards flat areas for easier combat and looting. Longnan is a mountainous area, and the roads in many places are not easy to travel.

Chen Cui regretted her impulsiveness. When she thought of her eldest son who had no news at all, she felt even more guilty.

Although she left a letter for Changping at home, informing him of their whereabouts and asking him to stay temporarily in the palace, and Zhang Ruomei also promised to take care of Changping, Chen Cui was still not at ease.

"Guard Zhuang, if that's the case, then after we enter Jianmen Pass, we won't go south for the time being. Let's find a place to stay first and get news about the war and the movements in the city. Once we have definite news, it won't be too late for us to make a decision."

This was Chen Cui's decision.

Because of the continuous rush, everyone was in a very depressed state. Chen Cui suspected that if they continued walking like this, someone would definitely collapse.

Especially the two children, who have not eaten or slept well on the road these past two days, and the younger one often clamors to find his mother. If this continues, he might get sick.

Today's medical science is not very developed, and the child mortality rate is very high. Sometimes an insignificant symptom may take a child's life.

Zhang Ruomei entrusted the two children to her to ensure their safety. If the city was safe in the end, but something happened to the children on the way, she would become a sinner!

Guard Zhuang thought for a moment and then agreed, "Yes, Mrs. Chen."

So, during lunch, Chen Cui announced the next itinerary to everyone and asked them to hold on a little longer and wait until they entered Jianmen Pass so that they could temporarily settle down and rest.

Sure enough, no one in the group was unhappy. Everyone was a little fed up with this way of traveling and was looking forward to a rest.

The next afternoon, they passed through the Jianmen Pass guarded by soldiers and entered Jiange County.

At nightfall, we finally managed to stay in an inn in Jiange County.

Chen Cui silently calculated in her mind that in less than three days, they drove the carriage for more than 400 miles. Considering the road conditions at that time, this was already an incredible speed.

Jianmen Pass is the main road into Sichuan, so it is more prosperous than ordinary county towns and the inns are also larger.

As there were many people in their group, they booked a yard of the inn, which had a kitchen and toilet. This way they could reduce contact with the outside world and avoid being disturbed.

Today's dinner was the most comfortable one in the past few days, because we don't have to get up early tomorrow and don't have to travel anymore. Everyone relaxed a lot, including the four guards who finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The four of them worked in two shifts, taking turns riding horses and driving carts, and they were all exhausted these days.

In the past, they followed the Zhang family's caravan when they went out as escorts, but because the caravan had to take the safety of the goods into consideration, they generally would not move so fast.

They were indeed in a lot of trouble this time, but because they were considered the leaders of the team, they were too embarrassed to show it.

However, thinking of the reward their wives promised them, they felt that all the hard work was worth it. With that money, they could buy a house and land and live a more stable life.

While eating, Chen Cui saw Brother Yun silently crying while eating. She felt so distressed when she saw his pitiful little appearance.

The child is less than five years old, but not only did he not cause any trouble to the adults on the road, he was also able to help coax his younger brother. He is so sensible.

The nurse coaxed him softly, but it didn't work.

"Brother Yun, what's wrong with you?" Chen Cui put down her bowl and sat next to Brother Yun.

Brother Yun shook his head first, then he couldn't help but pout and cry softly: "Aunt Cui, I miss my mother. When can we see her?"

Chen Cui gently put her arm around his shoulders and said, "It will be very quick. We will stay here for a while and wait for your grandparents to come pick us up. Then we will meet your grandparents and go back to the city!"

This was her excuse to fool everyone. She said the road to Shu was difficult to travel, and they were waiting here for Yun Ge's grandparents to pick them up, and then they would set off after they met up.

No one will come at that time, but if the situation in the capital city stabilizes, they will not have to go to Shuzhong and can return home.

When Chen Cui and her group were finally able to settle down and gain temporary stability, the situation in the capital was quite different.

Wang Hengzhi realized his two sons were not at home when he was having dinner that night. Usually the family of four would eat together unless he was particularly busy or not at home.

Although Wang Hengzhi had a lot of things to do today, he was in an especially heavy mood after hearing the news of the war. He wanted to spend more time with his family while the situation was still relatively stable.

"Why are the children not here?" Wang Hengzhi asked when he saw that the children were not at the table and there was no food that the children liked on the table.

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Ruomei's tears began to fall again.

Only then did he realize that his wife's eyes were red and swollen, obviously she had cried a lot today.

"What's going on? Where are Brother Yun and Brother Yang?" Wang Hengzhi asked anxiously.

"I sent them away, sir. I saw the urgent message. I saw it by accident, so I sent all the children to my mother's home!" Zhang Ruomei said with tears in her eyes.

"you you……"

When Wang Hengzhi heard her say that she had read the urgent newspaper, he stood up angrily and pointed at her face. He wanted to condemn her, but he didn't know what to say!