Chapter 64: Proposed To

At night, Liu Che and Liu Li lay together on the bed in the small room of the Wu family. The sound of snoring came from next door, like thunder.

Overhead, there was the sound of whistling wind blowing in from the cracks, making people unable to settle down no matter what. Liu Li wanted to turn over, but the space of the bed was too narrow, and she had no space to turn over at all.

"Sigh..." Liu Li sighed in depression.

Liu Che was also not asleep yet. Such a simple house and a hard bed made it difficult for people to sleep. Hearing Liu Li's sigh, Liu Che slowly opened his mouth and asked: "What are you sighing about?"

Liu Li thought about it, turned to look at Liu Che's somewhat blurry outline in the dark night, and whispered: "Father Emperor, when we leave tomorrow, let's leave some money for the Wu family."

The Wu family was not rich, and they were so kind to entertain so many of them at once, and they even ate three days of their food. Not giving some money was really a bit too much.

Liu Che responded dully: "Hmm, let Wei Qing give it tomorrow."

When Wei Qing talked to Da Wu and Xiao Wu last night, Liu Che was listening on the side.

This village was called Liang Village, and there were only a few dozen households in the village. Because it was in a mountain gully and there was no way to plant farmland, the people in the village basically lived by hunting in the mountains.

For the things hunted, everyone would hand them over to the village official, who would send them to the town for sale uniformly, and then the money sold would be distributed according to the proportion of the population in the family. When Da Wu and Xiao Wu's father was hunting in the mountains, he accidentally fell and broke his leg, and passed away not long after being carried back.

So the task of supporting the family fell on Da Wu, who had just reached adulthood at that time.

Over the years, Da Wu followed the men in the village to hunt in the mountains and learned quite a few skills. Later, he married Xiao Hui from the same village as his wife. However, the prey Da Wu hunted every time was not enough to pay the taxes.

In order to let the family get more food, Da Wu and Xiao Hui could only desperately make children to increase the population of the family.

Seeing that his wife was about to give birth recently, Da Wu secretly took his younger brother Xiao Wu into the mountains, wanting to hunt some wild game to bring back to supplement his wife.

Who knew that after wandering in the mountains for half a day, they didn't hunt any wild game, but instead encountered Liu Che and his party.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew outside, blowing the doors and windows with a clatter. Liu Li listened to the sound and was a bit scared, leaning towards Liu Che's arms: "Could it be that it's going to rain tonight?"

As soon as the words fell, raindrops pattered down. Before long, it was a downpour outside, accompanied by wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

Liu Li: "..." She really hit the mark.

Thinking that Wei Qing and those soldiers were still sleeping on the ground outside, Liu Li hurriedly poked Liu Che: "Father Emperor, should we call Leader Wei and the others in to avoid the rain?"

As she said this, a few drops of rain dripped directly onto Liu Li's forehead. Liu Li looked up slightly and saw that the roof seemed to have been blown out of a hole, and the rain was pouring directly into the house.

"Boom!" The thunder followed, as if it were going to blow up the world.

This wind and rain were both big and urgent, and it was clear that their house could no longer stay. Liu Che carried Liu Li and got off the bed. As soon as his feet landed, he realized that the house seemed to have been flooded.

The Wu family's children seemed to be awakened by the thunder, but the crying was soon drowned out by the sound of rain and thunder. Da Wu and his younger brother Xiao Wu climbed down from the bed, waded through the water to the door, and invited Wei Qing and the others who were getting soaked in the rain outside to come in and avoid the rain.

Finally, a few people squeezed into the narrow house, watching the water level in the house rise, and had no sleepiness at all. Some things in this house were basically submerged by the water.

Because it was leaking everywhere in the house, even the bedding was soaked, and there was no way to sleep anymore.

It wasn't until the sky turned slightly bright that the rain outside gradually stopped. Liu Che and Liu Li almost didn't sleep all night, sitting by the bed waiting for the rain to stop, and the whole person was soaked like a drowned rat.

The sky cleared and the rain stopped. Da Wu asked Wei Qing and the others to help clear the accumulated water in the house. Wei Qing and the others didn't refuse and took the initiative to help with the work.

Seeing Wei Qing's skillful movements, Da Wu said honestly: "Big brother, are you from the Huzi mouth side?"

Because it was inconvenient to expose his identity, Wei Qing nodded and said yes.

Da Wu opened the conversation: "I guessed it. Is the Huzi mouth breached again this year? In previous years, many refugees from Huzi mouth came to Chang'an. I didn't expect to run into you this year."

Xiao Wu interrupted: "I heard the village official say that the Huzi mouth breached last year, and the Emperor arranged for many people to build the river embankment. Didn't the village official come to the village to conscript soldiers at that time? Neighbor Er Gou heard that there was Zhu coin to take, so he signed up and left. As a result, a year has passed, and he hasn't come back."

What they were talking about was the breach of the Huzi mouth of the river at the beginning. Liu Li listened on the side, not expecting there to be such a connection.

Da Wu splashed the accumulated water out while saying: "The breach is repaired every year, and it will be washed away by the Yellow River every year. It might be that the people there offended the River God, so the River God is punishing them. Why does the Emperor still arrange for so many people to build the river embankment? It feels a bit wasteful of financial resources."

Listening to what Da Wu said, Wei Qing's movements froze.

Liu Li turned her head quietly to look at Liu Che's not-so-good expression. She hurriedly said: "According to what you said, then the heavy rain last night was because someone in your village offended the Rain God?"

When Da Wu heard this, he actually felt it made sense: "I'll go back and ask my mother to sacrifice something to the Rain God, let the Rain God bless the family, and don't blow off our roof next time it rains."

Liu Li: "..." Although she was very speechless, Liu Li also knew that these people could not be blamed for their ignorance.

In fact, after the construction of the river embankment for most of last year, plus the reminder Liu Li specially gave to Zheng Dangshi when the spring flood came this year, to reinforce and raise the river embankment.

So this year was very lucky, and the Yellow River did not breach. It was just that Da Wu and Xiao Wu lived in the deep mountains for a long time, and I'm afraid they didn't know about the outside world.

The heavy rain last night caused varying degrees of damage to dozens of households in the village. Some houses had their entire roofs blown away by the wind, and they were busy repairing the houses now.

The Wu family's roof also had a certain degree of loopholes. A soldier climbed up to help the Wu family repair the roof. They were so busy that it was noon.

Liu Che was ready to say goodbye and leave, but heard that because of the heavy rain yesterday, the road out of the mountain was blocked.

The village official was arranging for people to repair the road.

After Wei Qing asked Liu Che for instructions, he took two soldiers to the entrance of the village to see if they needed help. Only after the road out of the mountain was repaired as soon as possible could they leave.

Da Wu's wife, Xiao Hui, followed her mother-in-law to take out the bedding soaked by the rain to dry.

Liu Che and Liu Li, father and daughter, stood on the side watching everyone busy, appearing a bit out of place.

Mother Wu looked worried and said: "Trouble, a bag of flour at home was soaked by the water yesterday, and there is no food for these few days."

It was really a case of misfortune never coming singly.

The road out of the mountain had not been cleared yet, and everyone inevitably had to stay at the Wu family. It was summer now, and it didn't matter even if they slept outside. The key was that so many people had to eat.

Chen Fei thought about it, turned to look at Liu Che and Liu Li, and whispered: "Xiao Jun, why don't I take a brother to the mountain to see if we can hunt a few rabbits."

Liu Che nodded slightly, which was considered permission.

Chen Fei pulled Huo Qubing to go up the mountain together, leaving a soldier who looked quite strong to protect the Empress and the Princess.

Da Wu's eldest daughter suddenly called out to them: "Wait a minute, I'll go with you." The basket she was carrying on her arm: "I want to go to the mountain to see if there are any wild vegetables, and dig some back."

The girl was nine years old this year, but she looked a bit malnourished, thin and small, which reminded Liu Li of the initial Chen Fei.

Chen Fei looked at the girl, a bit unsure whether to take a

The road out of the mountains had not yet been repaired. They were busy until the afternoon before every household in the village had finished cleaning up their homes, which had become a mess due to the heavy rain.

The soldiers Wei Qing had taken to the entrance of the village to help clear the road returned to report that the road out of the village would take at least three days to recover. Liu Che's expression sank slightly upon hearing this.

However, there was no use in being anxious now; after all, this was the only road out. If they couldn't wait, they could go around through the mountains behind.

Out.

Liu Li sat listlessly on a stone stool at the entrance of the Wu family home, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at the desolate and bleak village before her. The Wu family's second daughter brought her three-year-old younger brother to Liu Li's side. The little girl was seven years old this year, but she was not as tall as Liu Li, and even her hair was that yellowish color caused by malnutrition.

Wu Erya had been curious about the group of people who had appeared in her home since yesterday, especially about Liu Li, who was about the same age as her.

She thought the big sister in front of her was so beautiful, with round cheeks, big eyes, and hair that was black and shiny, unlike herself, who was thin and short; the people in the village all called her a "yellow-haired girl."

Little Brother Wu squatted on the ground playing with mud, and Wu Erya carefully moved closer to Liu Li, her face showing a look of wanting to communicate but being timid.

Liu Li looked at her, gave a kind smile, and greeted her: "Hello."

Wu Erya: "H... hello." She hesitated for a moment and reached out to Liu Li: "This, here, for you to play with."

Liu Li looked at the wooden dog-shaped object lying in her palm and understood that this was the little girl showing her kindness. She reached out and took the wooden dog from Wu Erya's hand, and after playing with it carefully, she realized it was a small whistle.

"Father made it for me." A shy and innocent smile appeared on Wu Erya's face.

Liu Li played with it for a while and returned the dog whistle to Erya, but as soon as Wu Erya took it, it was snatched away by Little Brother Wu from the side.

"Let me play, let me play." Little Brother Wu snatched the whistle and ran away.

"Give it back to me!" Wu Erya wanted to chase after him, but stopped after running two steps, finally kicking the mud on the ground in frustration. She turned to look at Liu Li and asked in a low voice: "Do you have a younger brother at home?"

Liu Li thought for a moment and nodded: "I do." Although the two younger brothers currently in the Weiyang Palace were not born of the same mother as her, in terms of bloodline, they could be considered younger brothers.

And in the modern world, although her parents didn't give birth to a younger brother for her, her aunt's family had a cousin three years younger than her.

"Do you have to give everything you have to your younger brother?" Wu Erya asked. As the second daughter of the family, Wu Erya's current task was to take care of her young brother at home.

As a boy, Little Brother Wu seemed to have natural privileges in the family. The meat that the family could only afford to eat during the New Year was always given to the brother by the grandmother first, then to the father and uncle, and then to the mother and sister; Wu Erya was always ranked last.

Just like when Little Brother Wu snatched her whistle, if she snatched it back, the little brother would definitely cry and go find the grandmother. Once the grandmother knew, she would definitely blame her first.

Uh... this question made Liu Li immediately understand why Wu Erya would ask that. The preference for boys over girls exists at any time, even if it is the Han Dynasty more than two thousand years ago.

Liu Li suddenly thought of the years she had spent living under someone else's roof.

After her parents died in a car accident, she was adopted by her aunt, and that year she was seven years old. Although the person who adopted her was her own aunt, it was ultimately not her own home.

Every time her cousin wanted to snatch things from her, she was the one who compromised in the end; after all, she was an outsider in that house. She had to yield to that cousin because only then could she continue to live in her aunt's house and not be scolded as a burden by her uncle.

So Liu Li could really empathize with Erya at this moment.

If it were in the modern world, perhaps Liu Li could guide her to study hard, walk out of the mountains, and break away from her original family. But this was the Western Han Dynasty; she didn't even have words to comfort her.

Liu Li thought for a moment, spent 10 points from the system space, exchanged for a small bag of candy, and handed it to her: "This is for you. Eat one when you are unhappy. There are only 10 pieces in here; I hope you will be less unhappy in the future."

Wu Erya stared blankly at the item Liu Li handed over, then very solemnly took the candy from her hand, a faint smile appearing on her face: "Thank you, I will keep it well." She very carefully put the candy into her bosom, looked around like a thief, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one had discovered it.

She was most afraid of being seen by Little Brother Wu!

Chen Fei and Huo Qubing returned from hunting; looking at what they were carrying, it seemed the harvest was not bad. Following behind them,

Wu Daya also seemed to have returned with a basket of wild vegetables.

Wu Daya happily handed the items to her grandmother: "With the wild rabbit and fish from the river caught by Brother Chen and Brother Huo, plus these wild vegetables, it should be enough to eat for a few days."

Grandma Wu only said: "Silly child, such a small amount will be gone in two meals at most."

Wu Daya scratched her head: "If it's not enough, I'll go up the mountain to dig more with Brother Chen and Brother Huo tomorrow."

Their group stayed in the village for another day, during which the village head even led all the villagers to worship the mountain god.

After worshipping the mountain god, the village head specifically kept Liu Li's group behind to ask questions.

In the Western Han Dynasty, the common people believed that the Emperor was the son of Heaven and the representative of the gods on earth. Therefore, the people revered the Emperor just as they revered these gods. The people truly served the country, not the Emperor as an individual.

The Western Han Dynasty implemented a system of both commanderies and kingdoms; let alone those feudal kingdoms, let's talk about the distribution of officials in the commanderies and counties. The current commandery is equivalent to the future province or prefecture-level city.

A commandery would have many counties, and this county can correspond to the future district or county. A county can be divided into several townships, and a township governs several pavilions.

The pavilion chief is responsible for the security between villages and also acts as a messenger, conveying the government's decrees downward.

Back in the day, the founding emperor of the Great Han, Liu Bang, had served as a pavilion chief of Si River during the Qin Dynasty.

Generally speaking, a village has about a hundred households, but due to uneven regional distribution, the population of Xiaoliang Village is a bit smaller.

And the village head is not an official appointed by the imperial court, but rather elected by the villagers themselves, responsible for patrols and supervision in the village, and has no power of law enforcement.

So when the village head asked where they came from, Wei Qing still maintained the previous statement that they were all a group of homeless refugees.

Perhaps only after meeting the person in charge of the township could Wei Qing reveal his identity. After all, the Se Fu (similar to a township head) is a salaried imperial official.

After the village head finished asking questions, he also knew that the Wu family had difficulties, so to thank Wei Qing for helping to repair the road, he specifically shared a little bit of rice and flour from his own home with them.

Everyone returned to the Wu family with the rice and flour. Wei Qing gave the rice and flour gifted by the village head to Grandma Wu, and today's dinner was unprecedentedly sumptuous for once.

Little Brother Wu exclaimed: "Is it New Year again?"

Dinner was wild vegetable and fish soup porridge and wild rabbit meat steamed in a pot. More than a dozen mouths were sharing one small wild rabbit, so it was obviously not enough to go around; there was only a small piece of rabbit meat in each person's bowl.

Liu Li noticed that the pieces of rabbit meat in the men's bowls were still quite large, the rabbit meat in her own bowl had become small pieces, and the rabbit meat in Wu Erya's bowl didn't even look enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

Regarding this method of distribution, Liu Li frowned slightly, but after all, this was someone else's house, so she couldn't say much.

At this time, Little Wu from the side carried his bowl over. He directly picked the rabbit meat from his own bowl and gave it to Liu Che, revealing a very honest smile: "Lady, you eat mine."

The sudden kindness left Liu Che with a face full of question marks: "???"

Liu Li was drinking the fish soup in her bowl while paying attention to the situation here.

Little Wu said: "Lady, since you are refugees fleeing here and have nowhere to go, I think you might as well stay in our village."

Liu Che frowned: "Stay here... to do what?"

Little Wu said very sincerely: "I can marry you as my wife; I will take care of you and your daughter!"

"Pfft." Liu Li spat out the fish soup in her mouth, wondering if she had misheard just now.

And Liu Che's face had completely darkened by now, turning green; it was a precursor to his anger.

Little Wu did not notice and kept chattering about the things he had envisioned: "I am exactly eighteen years old this year, at the age for marriage. It must not be easy for you to be wandering outside with a child; why not stay and marry me? From now on, my home will be your home."

In fact, from the first moment he saw this lady yesterday, Little Wu had been deeply attracted. There was a temperament about "her" that other women in the village did not have; he couldn't put his finger on it, but he just liked it.

Now, because the road was blocked by heavy rain and they couldn't leave,

Little Wu gathered his courage and wanted to keep the lady he admired.

Before Liu Che could get angry enough to throw his bowl, Liu Li hurriedly ran over to stabilize Liu Che's fluctuating emotions and whispered: "Father, don't be angry. He doesn't know your identity, and he is proposing to you because he likes you. It shows that you, Father, have great personal charm!"

Liu Che sneered: "Is he worthy of liking me?"

Liu Li: "..."

She cleared her throat: "Yes, yes, yes, he is definitely not worthy, but the point is, our current identity is just ordinary refugees. He even gave us food and a place to stay. Just for this, you should endure it and refuse him with kind words."

Liu Li talked him into it, and only then did Liu Che suppress the anger in his heart. He sneered: "Fine, then I will give him some face."

Saying this, Liu Che turned to look at Little Wu and said in a very arrogant tone: "Who told you that my husband is deceased?"

Little Wu was stunned: "Ah?"

Liu Che raised his eyebrows and said: "My husband serves in Chang'an City. We came to Chang'an just to join my husband. In my heart, no one can compare to him."

Little Wu was dumbfounded: "..." The lady he admired was actually not a widow.

On the other side, Wei Qing had actually noticed the commotion here. He thought Little Wu was giving the "Empress" trouble, so he turned and walked over before he had finished the food in his hand, and then he heard that sentence:

——In my heart, no one can compare to him.

Wei Qing's steps stopped abruptly. He was stunned for a long while before turning back, picking up his rice bowl, and continuing to eat, the food tasting like wax.

Little Wu also turned away in disappointment. Liu Che looked at his back and sneered, lowered his head to take a sip of soup, and then spat it out in one mouthful.

It was too disgusting; he couldn't drink it.

Da Wu, who was hiding in the room, saw his younger brother return and, looking at Little Wu's expression, knew that his "proposal" had failed. Da Wu comforted him: "Are you giving up now? I told you before that they are definitely not ordinary people; how could they look upon our small village?"

Da Wu was more knowledgeable than his younger brother Little Wu; after all, he had already served in the military and had a little more experience. Although when the brothers met this group of people, their clothes were tattered, it was not hard to see that the clothes worn by the lady and the little girl were of the finest material.

And this lady looked extraordinary in every way, with a noble aura about her that could not be ignored; how could they, as small commoners, peek at such a person?

They said they were refugees, and Da Wu did not expose them. He thought about treating them well so that when these people became successful in the future, they would not forget the kindness of a meal today.

Da Wu patted his brother's shoulder and said: "Alright, don't be so dejected; go eat."

Little Wu was hit hard at this moment. He suddenly asked: "Brother, what is the world outside... like?"

Da Wu was stunned for a moment and said: "The world outside is very big, and it's easy to get lost."

Just as the two brothers were talking, Xiao Hui, who was eating in another room, suddenly screamed. Da Wu heard it, hurriedly let go of his brother, and rushed into the room.

Xiao Hui clutched her stomach and said painfully: "Husband, I think I'm going to give birth."

Da Wu's face turned pale, and he subconsciously turned to call his mother: "Mother, Xiao Hui... Xiao Hui is going to give birth!" The people outside the room also heard it, and Grandma Wu hurriedly ran into the room.

Giving birth in such an environment, is it really... okay?