Others naturally echoed, and upon hearing the collective voices and support, the Cheng family head and the Jin family head were somewhat dumbfounded.
Seeing their own servants so enthusiastically pledging loyalty to the young couple, the Jin family head was so furious he gnashed his teeth. "Whose servants are they now? To support others so openly in front of me?"
He remembered how listless they had been when he spoke to them before, and now they were so excited.
The Cheng family head, rarely sitting with the Jin family head, could feel the icicles forming in his gaze. Seeing his own son and daughter-in-law supported by their servants, the taste in his heart was indescribable, a mix of anger and discomfort.
But he wasn't foolish.
He could see how much everyone valued his son and daughter-in-law.
He couldn't possibly move these two children.
Even more terrifyingly.
He might not even be able to command the servants now. If he ordered them to deal with his eldest son, the servants might deal with him instead.
Thinking of this, the Cheng family head's face turned ashen, and his mood became even more depressed.
He wanted to say they shouldn't go.
But as he listened, he found their words made sense.
So, he could only let the children take the lead.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao were naturally comfortable, their every word met with enthusiastic support.
This feeling of excitement!
And when they directly decided to set off, everyone else naturally agreed.
Immediately, they began preparing supplies.
The minority obeyed the majority!
Horses were taken out for rides daily and were well-cared for.
There was no need to worry about the horses being unable to run.
Everyone discussed the departure date and then began packing their belongings.
In the past, they only brought essential daily necessities when disembarking. As they moved further down, the current temple had long been adorned with colorful cloth covers, with some people demarcating their own small spaces. This filled the temple, and there were many miscellaneous daily necessities inside.
Everyone cherished every useful item and kept it all.
The firewood from the outer walls of the Five Grains Temple was moved to the supply carts.
As usual, it was tied tightly with oilcloth.
Fortunately, a lot of grain had been consumed, and everyone could now fit into the carts.
Apart from these.
Cheng Hao continued to supervise everyone, urging Cai and Xi to store more boiled water.
There was no fear of it getting cold.
The fear was running out of water.
Once the snow melted, the dampness everywhere could easily breed bacteria.
And this winter, who knew how many people it would silently claim, and what kind of situations they might encounter…
Therefore, it was better to plan ahead.
Cai and Xi accepted this task without hesitation, even asking Ji Bo for grain to start making dried rations for everyone.
They once again led the children in busy preparations.
The two concubines, upon hearing they had to continue fleeing, turned ashen.
Clearly, they disliked the feeling of being on the road and longed for stability.
But in this chaotic world, that was impossible.
And after everyone had finished packing, they set off on the second day of the second lunar month.
Embarking on the journey again.
The Five Grains Temple was tidied up quite neatly by them. Even though they took their belongings, the place was still clean. It had been well-maintained, so leaving required little effort, just closing the main gate.
A little bit of firewood that couldn't be taken was left behind, otherwise, it was spotless.
Elder Ji Bo looked back with a reluctant gaze.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
Although they all knew it wasn't a permanent residence, they had nevertheless spent a period of peaceful life there. Everyone was grateful for this respite.
Now they could adjust to their best state and abilities to confront the unknown!
Leading the way were still Li Datou and Wang Daming, riding tall horses.
Li Datou's wound had almost healed, though he was still recovering. His hand was still not as good as before, but it was a fortunate recovery.
Through training and exercise, he had successfully improved his physical fitness significantly.
It no longer affected his ability to lead the way.
Everything else remained the same, except that most of the people on the Cheng family's supply carts were from Shana Village, not supplies.
Everyone vowed to work hard to repay their kindness.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao just smiled and nodded, thinking it was best for them to be ambitious.
The Jin family's convoy carried the elderly women and children from Shana Village in their carts.
The group, just like in the beginning, once again set off into the turmoil.
The convoy traveled rapidly.
The snow on the road had melted, with only a little snow remaining on the distant mountain peaks.
Most of it was gone, allowing them to travel at an unhindered speed. They soon left the Five Grains Temple far behind.
The feeling of reluctance also faded significantly.
Moving towards a new beginning.
At first.
Everyone was quite excited and expectant. Until they passed a stretch of road and began to discover people lying by the roadside, or rather, corpses.
The people who had been chattering on the carts immediately fell silent.
The atmosphere became heavy.
From the Jin family's convoy, sounds of nausea could be heard. Looking back, they could see that it was coming from the second cart of the Jin family.
Those young ladies had been very well protected, rarely having to do anything or worry about anything. Therefore, they were naturally unable to withstand such sights and would vomit for a long time upon seeing them, their faces turning green.
They were quite frightened.
Others were also startled, but they all instructed the women and children not to look at the roadside.
Fearing they would be scared ill.
Jiang Xiyue watched over her aunt, her aunt's appearance making her worried. She feared something would happen to her aunt, and how would she, an orphan, survive on her own?
She was very concerned about this.
Hearing the commotion outside that people had been found frozen to death by the roadside.
She dared not look at all.
She began to tremble, and it took a great effort to control herself.
The Cheng family head, after enjoying the joy of family with his several concubines and illegitimate children for a long time, had grown tired of it. Now, finding his position usurped, he was told he was the head of the household, but the servants now only recognized Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao, which made him extremely depressed. He had no interest in dealing with his concubines and illegitimate children, almost to the point of despair.
Now he just wanted some peace.
Seeing the frail Cheng family mother, he felt a sense of pity.
He followed her onto the second cart and feigned concern, when in reality, he enjoyed seeing her weak state, which made him appear more capable.
The Cheng family mother, seeing his "change of heart," felt both annoyed and pleased. She bickered with him, but thinking she still had to rely on him for a living, she could only go along with his wishes, using her identity as a frail beauty to coax him.
The two of them went back and forth.
Their relationship seemed to have improved considerably.
Jiang Xiyue watched this and only felt it was terrifying. This man, her uncle-in-law, was so fickle. When he wanted to ignore you, he would ignore you. When he wanted to coax you, he would come around. It was truly chilling.