After arranging for Chen Qiaoer to be taken away, Cui Hongyu and Huang Ying took the few remaining village guards to the back of their house.
Not far away, Shen Qiang led everyone down the mountain. At this time, Shen Hao was already on a stretcher. After all, his leg was injured.
Seeing two women appearing in the distance, Shen Qiang still behaved quite politely. He raised his hand to signal his soldiers to stop advancing, and walked forward alone.
Still two feet away from Cui Hongyu and the others, Shen Qiang stopped walking and raised his fists towards them.
"Don't be afraid, second girl, we are just passing by and have no other meaning."
Upon hearing that the other party was so polite, Cui Hongyu bowed slightly and said, "Please be careful not to disturb the villagers."
Shen Qiang nodded, "Excuse me, if we keep walking along here, can we go to the official road?"
Cui Hongyu nodded, "You go straight along the river bank. There is a small bridge. After crossing the bridge, go straight ahead and you will reach Shangguan Road."
Shen Qiang thanked him again and waved behind him.
The soldiers under his command then continued to move forward. Just as Shen Hao passed by Shen Qiang, he suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Brother, ask them if they can borrow some food, otherwise we won't be able to survive in Jizhou."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang's eyes lit up, he took two steps forward again, clasped his fists at Cui Hongyu and said, "Girl, please excuse me, we want to buy some food, can you sell us some?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Hongyu immediately became alert, but Huang Ying next to her blurted out.
"You are Zhu Meng's people."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang's expression changed slightly, but he immediately calmed down, "Yes, we are Marshal Zhu's people. We were ordered to retreat, but we didn't bring much food with us."
Huang Ying shook her head like a rattle, "No, not even one."
After hearing what he said, Shen Qiang had a bitter look on his face, but he still behaved very generously. He clasped his fists again and said, "In that case, I'll excuse you."
Cui Hongyu breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the group leave, "Huang Ying, what you said just now scared me to death. How did you know they were Zhu Meng's people?"
"Isn't that obvious? How can His Highness the Prince's people be short of food?"
After listening to Huang Ying's words, Cui Hongyu nodded, "That's what happened, but in the future, try not to say that. After all, our husband-in-law is on the side of the prince."
After saying "We are husband", both of them blushed at the same time.
After blushing lightly, Cui Hongyu remembered something.
Before leaving, Chen Xiaobei once told him to go to Liu Rumei for help and asked her to send someone to protect Hetou Village, but he never did this.
But now it seems that this matter is very urgent and must be done.
After all, there are so many old, weak, sick and disabled people in Hetou Village. With Huang Ying, Shen Ziyan and their two maids alone, these four people obviously cannot protect them.
As soon as he thought of this, Cui Hongyu immediately pulled out his horse and led Huang Ying towards Qingniu County.
At this time, Shen Qiang had already led everyone out of Hetou Village and onto the official road.
After reaching the official road, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Qiang greeted everyone and rested for a while under the shade of the trees on the roadside.
Taking advantage of the break, Shen Hao spoke again, "Brother, where will you go next? You have to think clearly."
This sentence touched Shen Qiang's mind, and he sighed heavily, "Everyone, everyone is asking, what should we do next?"
After saying one sentence, everyone was silent.
Seeing this scene, Shen Hao was the first to speak, "I don't think we can go to Jizhou anymore."
After saying this, many people present nodded, but did not speak. Shen Qiang knew that they were worried that he would not agree.
Shen Qiang looked at Shen Hao and asked, "Why did you say that?"
Chen Hao looked at everyone present and said, "Everyone, I think you have the same idea as me. When we go to Jizhou, our life and death are uncertain, our future is unclear, and we don't know whether the Marshal and the others will settle down in Jizhou, right?"
"Yes, that's what it means."
After receiving everyone's response, Shen Hao breathed a long sigh of relief.
In fact, this was a very decent statement. Or it was just a fig leaf.
Shen Qiang looked at him, "If we don't go to Jizhou, where can we go? Is there any place around here!"
Shen Hao said firmly again, "Brother, let's go to the prince's side. Let's submit and surrender. I believe the prince will not make things difficult for us."
After finishing the sentence, the scene fell into an awkward silence. No one nodded, no one shook their head, and no one expressed their opinion.
Although he did not express his position, at least no one objected. Shen Qiang's attitude will be crucial next.
Seeing that he was still hesitating, Shen Hao continued, "Brother, think about it. Once we heard that it was Zhu Meng's army, we couldn't borrow a grain of food. With such people, can we still have a future?"
Shen Qiang also fell silent after these words. Yes, Huang Ying's decisive look just now reappeared in his mind again, not giving him a grain of food just because he was in Zhu Meng's team.
Sad, so sad.
Thinking of this, Shen Qiang also let out a long sigh.
"Yeah, I didn't expect that when the name of the commander-in-chief was mentioned, the people would not even lend him a grain of food."
Having said this, he stood up and said, "In this case, why are we taking such a big risk and going to Jizhou?"
Hearing that Shen Qiang's attitude relaxed, the soldiers responded one after another, "Yes, yes, we are going to do more."
Hearing the soldiers' response, Shen Qiang immediately understood that the soldiers didn't want to go to Jizhou, but they just didn't dare to say it.
This also made him more determined.
"Everyone, since everyone agrees, let's go to Qingniu County. Last night, the mountain people said that the prince has led people to surround Qingniu County. How about we surrender."
After hearing Shen Qiang's words, everyone cheered, but this cheer was very harsh to Shen Qiang's ears.
At this moment, there was the sound of horse hooves in the distance, and someone shouted loudly, "Look, it's those two girls just now."
Shen Qiang waved, and everyone immediately hid aside to make way for others.
Cui Hongyu also saw the officers and soldiers resting here, but he and Huang Ying flew past them without squinting.
After running far away, the two of them looked at each other. Cui Hongyu breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Oh, I was scared to death just now."
Huang Ying smiled calmly, "What are you afraid of? It's okay. I'm here. If you dare to touch your hair, I will kill them immediately."
Dayingli outside Qingniu County.
When she heard that Cui Hongyu was looking for her, Liu Rumei was very surprised and hurriedly came out to greet her.
"Sister Hongyu, why are you here?"
As he spoke, he came forward and took Cui Hongyu's arm affectionately, then walked towards the military camp.
Cui Hongyu smiled and waved her hand, "Coming to see you is a private matter, so I won't go in."
"Brother Xiaobei is taking people up the mountain again. I'm worried that the village is not safe. I would like to ask you to send a few people over to help check the village."