The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

Chapter 142 Refugees

"Look at the refugees at the front. They are obviously different from the refugees at the back. Although their clothes are a little dirty, they are in high spirits. It is obvious that they have been well fed and well clothed throughout the journey."

"But despite this, the refugees at the back who were about to die of starvation did not rob the people in front. It was really strange."

Guo Zhi looked over as Guo Xin said and asked, "But if the people in front of this team are the masters, and the people behind are the servants, it's not impossible, right?"

Guo Xin shook his head and said, "If you were escaping, would you bring so many servants with you? At most, you would bring some familiar servants, and let the others escape on their own."

"And if they brought so many servants, the master's control over them mostly stems from money. Now they are all running for their lives. How could the servants not fight back against the master and steal their food?"

"If you say that it's because the master in front has many guards that the servants behind won't counterattack, but it seems that the master in front doesn't have many guards around him, so what you said doesn't seem likely."

After that, both of them fell silent.

As the carriage got closer and closer to the group of refugees in front, the entire escort team became more and more nervous and the driving speed became slower and slower.

"Miss, if there is any emergency, you must leave first. I promised the general that I would send you back safely." He Liu whispered against the carriage window.

Guo Xin shook his head and said, "I was also worried and scared at first, but now that I have walked into this long group of refugees, it seems that they are not as scary as I originally imagined. They don't seem to be aggressive."

He Liu did not respond. In his opinion, all dangers must be eliminated. If the refugees in front of him made any move that seemed like they were going to attack, he would immediately give an order and everyone would rush forward.

Guo Xin was silent for a long time and said, "He Liu, stop the car."

He Liu turned to look at Guo Xin in shock, as if he was looking at an idiot who never left the house, and growled in a low voice: "Do you know what so many refugees mean!?"

Guo Xin said calmly: "I know, so I asked you to stop the car!"

"Impossible! I am responsible for protecting your safety. You must listen to me along the way. Besides, I am always on the road. How would you ladies and gentlemen know how dangerous it is out there!!"

Guo Xin said again, revealing that there was no room for doubt in his words, "Stop the car. I want to go and ask what's going on. They don't look dangerous. If you exacerbate the conflict, you are the real culprit."

He Liu and Guo Xin stared at each other for a few seconds, and finally He Liu gave way and said, "If you want to go, it's not impossible, but you must be accompanied by four guards."

Guo Xin nodded, He Liu waved with a serious face, and the carriage suddenly stopped.

Guo Ruo and Guo Xi, who were behind, saw the carriage stopped and lifted the curtain in front. "What's going on?"

Guo Xin jumped off the carriage road and said, "I have something I want to ask those refugees. You and Guo Zhi should get in one carriage first."

Although she was not worried that the refugees ahead would hurt her, she still had to be prepared for the worst. So it would be better to let her eldest sister and the others sit in the same carriage so that it would be easier to travel.

Guo Ruo anxiously stopped Guo Xin and said, "Xin'er, don't go. They are all refugees. You don't know the harm of refugees, but I do!"

Guo Xin looked at Guo Ruo soothingly and said, "It's okay. If we can't ask clearly, given He Liu's current situation, it would be very easy to intensify the conflict. If the refugees don't want to attack us, then I won't be hurt."

Seeing that Guo Xin was very determined, Guo Ruo didn't know what to say, so he could only say worriedly: "You have always been very opinionated. I know I can't persuade you, so you should be more careful."

As soon as he finished speaking, He Liu came over with four guards and said with a serious face: "These are the best guards I picked out. They will accompany you."

After that, she couldn't help but say, "It's too dangerous for a little girl like you to go over there. If you really want to know something, let me go over and ask."

Guo Xin shook his head, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked towards the refugees in front of him. After walking for about an incense stick of time, he shouted loudly: "Uncle and aunt in front, I have no ill intentions, I just want to ask you something."

The uncle who seemed to be in charge in front said, "You are the caravan ahead, right? If there is anything, wait until we are closer."

Guo Xin stood there waiting, surrounded by the guards. When the uncle approached, Guo Xin asked the guards to step back and asked, "This is the first time we have seen so many people along the way, but we didn't receive any letter about this before we set out, so I am a little confused."

The uncle looked at the guards behind Guo Xin and said, "We fled here from the northern border. Those damned people suddenly attacked our Dazhao Dynasty, and the border was lost. Fortunately, our Dazhao army and generals reacted and fought back, thus saving our territory."

"But how dare we stay at the border? We stayed there because we believed we could hold it, so we didn't leave at first. But after what happened that day, how dare we stay there?"

Guo Xin signaled the guard to hand over a few steamed buns that had been prepared at the beginning, and said, "This is a token of our appreciation. I'm curious if all the members of this team are villagers from your border area?"

The uncle sighed and said, "Yes, but no. The ones walking in front are from our village, the refugees who seem to be doing well, but the refugees behind are the ones we met on the road. Seeing that we are strong, they begged to follow us."

"Why are the people in your village doing better? Logically speaking, if they were refugees from the border, they wouldn't be like you."

The uncle broke off a large piece of steamed bun and put it in his mouth, chewing it while saying, "You've hit the nail on the head. When we were leaving, the general at the border gave us some food. He was a very kind man. He said that we were forced to leave our homeland because of their mistakes, so he asked for the consent of the soldiers and gave us some of the extra food."

After that, he sighed again and said, "But the food can't last long. During this period, some people in our village also thought about robbing wealthy caravans like yours to fill their stomachs. After all, we have lived on the border for many years and are much stronger than you."

He looked at the guards behind Guo Xin, who tensed up instantly when he finished speaking. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Even if you have a lot of guards around you, we can still snatch them away. After all, we are all soldiers."

"But later, an elder in our village stood up and rejected this idea, saying that there are many children in our village. If we start robbing, the children will only learn the actions of adults, and the children's lives will be ruined. So he gave up."

Guo Xin agreed and said, "But if the people in your village can guarantee that they won't steal, can the refugees behind them also not steal?"

The uncle smiled proudly, raised his arms and said: "Don't forget where we came from."

In just a moment, the uncle looked at the crowd behind him and said, "Girl, you seem to be coming from the opposite direction. Do you know how far Suining City is from here? We are heading for Suining City this time."

Although Suining City is not the richest, its officials are the most honest among the prefectures, and they are the most dedicated to the resettlement of refugees. Therefore, Guo Xin was not surprised that the refugees wanted to settle in Suining City, so he said, "If you follow your current pace, it should take more than a day to walk."

The uncle frowned and said, "It will take so long? What should I do?"

After saying that, he turned around and said something to the woman behind him. After a while, a group of refugees behind him began to look for a place to make a fire. Some of them took slingshots and knives and went to the nearby mountain, as if they were going up the mountain to hunt.

Guo Xin asked, "Are you going to rest here?"

"If we still have more than a day left to complete the remaining tutorial, our food will not be enough to sustain the rest of the journey. We have been hungry for two days now. We thought we could reach the gate of the city today, but we didn't expect..."

Guo Xin hesitated for a moment, looked at the carriage behind her, and was about to say something when the guard frowned and said, "Miss, we don't have much food, only enough for our own journey. Even if we will continue to get supplies later, it will not be enough to share with so many refugees."

The uncle said quickly, "Young lady, no need for that. The few pieces of steamed buns you gave me are already a great gift. And if you share some of your food with us, it will be difficult for us to divide it. How can we share with so many refugees?"

"The elderly and children should eat first." Guo Xin said. She really wanted to help these refugees. In her previous life, she had fled everywhere just like the refugees today. That was why she always felt compassion for these refugees.

The uncle smiled helplessly and said, "Do you know how many children and elderly people there are here? Your food is not enough, and the problem is not the lack of food but the uneven distribution of food. Even if you share the food you give to the elderly and children who need it most, it will cause anger among others. It is better for them to starve."

Guo Xi, who was far away, saw that Guo Xin was late to return and it seemed that no fight had taken place, so he walked over, followed by several guards.

Guo Xi shouted, "Second sister, are you okay?"