Traveling to ancient times, with space

Chapter 57 Eating hot pot

Many people came to exchange grain this time, and they were busy until dark before they finished. Shen Lerong brought the copper basin to Su Yue.

Su Yue glanced at it casually; there was nothing of value, just some copper coins and a few small pieces of silver.

Many refugees also started cooking from scratch, determined to keep up with the "divine carriage" and not be left behind.

It was still a bit chilly in the evening. Su Yue had eaten barbecue for lunch, so she wanted to have hot pot for dinner.

She hasn't had hot pot even once since she came here, and she really misses it.

Soon, Dali, Chuntao, and Shen Lerong set up a stove for her and cooked a pot of chicken soup.

Su Yue took out a table and some vegetables grown in her space, preparing to make a chicken soup hot pot.

Since there wasn't enough time to make fresh hot pot broth, we just used some chili sauce made in oil to dip the food in.

Pork, mutton, beef, and various vegetables are cooked in a boiling pot, and the aroma wafts far and wide.

The refugees, who hadn't eaten meat for months, were so hungry they almost bit their tongues off.

Su Yue picked up a piece of vegetables with her chopsticks. They were delicious. Since fleeing the famine, she had rarely eaten such fresh vegetables.

"Dali, eat slowly. Nobody's going to take it from you." Su Yue pinched Dali's cheek, which was puffed up from stuffing his mouth with noodles.

"It's delicious." Dali has been eating, drinking, and sleeping well these days, and his little face has started to get chubby.

Several children were nearby, their mouths watering at the aroma, but they dared not approach to ask for a bite of food. Their adults had already warned them not to anger the gods, or they would starve to death if the gods refused to give them food.

They ate hot pot and drank watermelon juice until they were all stuffed.

Dali carried Su Yue back into the carriage to rest, and then lay down outside the carriage himself. No matter how much Su Yue pulled him, he refused to come in to sleep. Even when they arranged a separate carriage for her to sleep in, he still refused. Su Yue was worried that he would catch a cold, so she took out a thick blanket from her space for him.

Shen Lerong and Chun Tao slept in another carriage that Su Yue had brought out. This carriage was put away during the day and used as a sleeping place for the two of them at night.

Su Yue slept soundly. After waking up, she went into her space to wash up, while Dali was still sleeping soundly outside the carriage, wrapped in a blanket.

Su Yue didn't wake Dali. She climbed out of the window and found that Chun Tao and Shen Lerong were already awake, but hadn't gotten up yet.

It was unusually cold this morning, with a thin layer of mist. Su Yue even put on the little jacket that Shen Lerong had just made for her.

After having the porridge cooked by Chun Tao in the morning, the sky gradually brightened, the fog dissipated, the first rays of dawn appeared, and the red sun slowly rose.

They put everything into their storage space, leaving only a mule wagon, and set off.

On the way, Shen Lerong sewed the clothes, hat and gloves that Su Yue had requested while talking about what she knew.

Su Yue then realized that the dynasty she lived in was divided into five prefectures, each prefecture had twelve counties, and each county had twenty or thirty towns.

The five prefectures are Changdong Prefecture, Liuyang Prefecture, Huining Prefecture, Lingxi Prefecture, and Zhong Prefecture.

Su Yue's former village was in Huining Prefecture. If you keep going north, you will pass through Liuyang Prefecture, and then you will reach the very center of this dynasty, where the emperor resides.

Of the five provinces, none have been occupied by the old emperor's four sons. Only one province, Zhongzhou, remains, and these four sons are at odds with each other, attacking one province today and another tomorrow.

They're constantly fighting and there's never a day without them stopping.

Moreover, the old emperor is seriously ill, and Shen Lerong said he's nearing his end.

Sigh, after hearing Shen Lerong's story, it felt like this dynasty was about to end. What's the point of fleeing famine?

Where can they escape to? Everywhere they go is a dead end.

Even if they escaped to Zhongzhou, what if the old emperor suddenly died as soon as they arrived? They'd be riddled with bullets. What good would come of it for them if they escaped?

Shen Lerong also mentioned that besides this dynasty, there were five or six other dynasties in the surrounding area, all roughly the same size.

The Xiongnu dynasty was the smallest, but also the most hated.

The neighboring dynasties were all very troubled by him and wished they could get rid of him as soon as possible.

After hearing what Shen Lerong said, Su Yue no longer wanted to escape. Anyway, no one was allowed to enter the city now, and even if she did, it wouldn't be safe.

A fight could break out at any moment. Then there'll be no escape.

I want to live a little longer, and I don't want to die before I can enjoy life.

If this dynasty falls apart, I can go and see other dynasties; I don't necessarily have to stay.

"Le Rong, whose man does your father belong to?" Su Yue asked while eating the sunflower seeds that Dali had peeled.

“I don’t know either. That’s why Father always told me.” Shen Lerong’s eyes reddened and she started to cry again when she talked about her father.

Oh my god, this girl can cry so much! Su Yue quickly covered her face with a book. She was truly impressed; she could cry as many tears as she ate a meal.

The temperature only started to rise slightly after the sun was high in the sky.

Some of the refugees, shivering from the cold, felt better after the sun came out.

"Hey, there seems to be a village ahead." Chun Tao, who was sitting outside the carriage, saw many intact houses in the distance and shouted into the carriage.

Upon hearing that there was a village ahead, Su Yue perked up. She stopped pretending to read and peeked out. Hey! There really was a village.

They've been fleeing famine for so long, and they haven't seen a single normal village.

Su Yue initially thought it was another deserted village, but before she could even get close, she was stopped by people who appeared in the village.

"Go, go, hurry up! We don't let outsiders into our village!" A middle-aged man holding a kitchen knife shouted at the newcomer.

He was followed by a dozen or so men, all of whom were carrying various kinds of farm tools.

Seeing that they weren't welcomed, Su Yue didn't intend to fight back.

After all, it's their village. Look at how many refugees followed them. It was definitely the right decision not to let them in. If these refugees went in and started fighting and looting in the village, no one could stop them.

Su Yue simply had Chun Tao and Dali stop the carriage a short distance from the village, from where they could see half of the village.

Su Yue leisurely reclined on the chaise lounge, looking at the village she had just seen.

The reason I walked so fast was to see the people in the village.

Because she had just noticed that these people had a strong sense of hostility, much like the group that had kidnapped Shen Lerong.

Su Yue felt that the villagers had also eaten human flesh, otherwise how could ordinary people so easily take out kitchen knives to kill people?

I observed for a while before realizing that there wasn't a single child or woman out working in the village.

However, the villagers dared not come out, because the number of refugees following Su Yue had exceeded a thousand.

Dali pushed Shen Lerong aside and squatted down next to Su Yue to peel melon seeds for her.

Su Yue was worried that Dali would be bored while traveling, so she asked Shen Lerong to sew a larger crossbody bag for Dali and put a lot of snacks inside.