We agreed that I would be married off to a short-lived general, but why is my husband so powerful?

Wen Rushi stood aside, quietly watching this scene, and for a moment, she didn't know what to feel.

These people before me, though their lives are as insignificant as weeds, are incredibly resilient.

No matter where they land, as long as they are given a little space to live, they can thrive and multiply.

Wen Rushi stared blankly at this scene.

"Sister, time to eat."

Wen Rushi came to her senses and looked down. She saw a little girl holding a bowl standing in front of her. She was thin and small, with timid eyes. When she looked at her, there was a faint light in her timid eyes.

It's so touching that it makes you feel soft-hearted and reluctant to refuse.

"Thank you!" Wen Rushi accepted the bowl of steaming hot wild vegetable porridge.

The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw that she had accepted the porridge from her.

My benefactor, I'm eating the porridge she served!

So happy!

Wen Rushi took the porridge and tasted it.

The congee was slightly salty, with more vegetables than porridge.

Even though Wen Rushi could conjure up food out of thin air with a wave of his hand, these poor people still didn't spare much food.

The bowl of vegetable porridge contained less than a third of rice; the rest was all wild vegetables.

Hers was considered the best; the porridge in the other people's bowls had very little rice, and was almost entirely made up of wild vegetables.

Right there, they ate with great relish.

Wen Rushi took a bite, then looked up and saw what was in everyone's bowls.

"Little girl, wait a minute." Wen Rushi called out to the girl who was about to leave.

"My benefactor, you called me?"

"Okay, you eat." Wen Rushi handed the bowl to her.

The little girl backed away repeatedly, saying, "I won't eat it, give it to my benefactor."

Wen Rushi looked troubled. "I don't like eating these. You eat them for me!"

Xiao Ya couldn't understand how anyone could dislike such delicious vegetable porridge!

That's rice!

She blankly accepted the bowl.

When she came to her senses, she had already returned to the fire with the bowl in her hand.

"Xiao Ya, why did you bring the porridge back again?" Cui Liu was the first to see Xiao Ya return.

"My benefactor said she doesn't like it." The little girl lowered her head, looking as if she had done something wrong.

Upon hearing this, no one doubted Wen Rushi's words.

If someone says they don't like it, they definitely won't believe it.

But if it's a benefactor...

That's certainly true. With my benefactor's abilities, what good food can't he enjoy?

It's normal not to like plain congee.

Xiao Ya didn't eat it all by herself; instead, she shared some of the rice from the bowl of porridge with the other children.

After everyone finished eating.

Upon hearing this, he found Cui Liu.

"I've decided to head south. Will you come with me?"

She has been gathering a lot of information in the city these past few days.

After the barbarians entered the pass, they seized most of the Jin Dynasty's territory.

The people of the Great Jin Dynasty and the officials of the court all fled to the south and established a new capital.

However, even if they moved to a remote corner in the south, the people's lives were not peaceful.

The barbarians gradually eroded the territory of the Great Jin Dynasty. Faced with the barbarian cavalry, the Southern Court of the Great Jin Dynasty suffered repeated defeats, ultimately either ceding territory and paying reparations or begging for peace. In short, under the control of those civil officials, the court was as pathetic as could be.

Wen Rushi had no desire to stay in this hellish northern land where people were eaten.

She wanted to go south to take a look.

As for rescuing these women and children, it was just something I did on the side.

If they don't go south, Wen Rushi naturally won't force them.

"Go! I want to go with you." Cui Liu paused, glanced at the others, and asked hastily, "Master, can those children also go south?" Before Wen Rushi could answer, she continued:

"Don't worry, we'll take care of those children and won't cause them any trouble!"

"Okay, those children are yours to keep."

For Wen Rushi, herding one sheep was the same as herding two sheep, and herding a whole flock of sheep made no difference to her.

Moreover, these women took good care of the children along the way.

Wen Rushi led his men on a journey for a while, and before nightfall, they found an abandoned village to stay in.

In the northern regions today, there are many such abandoned villages.

The original civilians were either killed or arrested.

The village was deserted and slowly fell into disrepair.

Wen Rushi discovered that there were still villagers in the village before he entered it.

However, she did not remind Cui Liu and the others.

The village is very desolate.

Many houses collapsed.

After entering the village, everyone found a relatively well-preserved courtyard to stay in.

After everyone put down their luggage, they didn't dare to rest. Before it got dark, the women busied themselves preparing dinner.

Some gathered firewood, others searched for wild vegetables, and still others sought water.

Wen Rushi was just about to go out for a stroll when she saw Cuiliu stingily scooping only a bowl of rice into the pot. She couldn't help but remind her, "Everyone has been traveling all day, cook more."

Cui Liu paused for a moment, then scooped up two more bowls of rice.

Eight women, six children, three bowls of rice, and some wild vegetables—that was more than enough for them.

Soon, a fire broke out in the stove, where one corner had collapsed.

However, Cui Liu did not expect that after the aroma of the vegetable porridge wafted out, a dozen or so strangers had gathered outside.

Everyone stared at the kitchen, swallowing hard.

You can hear the noises outside even through a wall.

They were so hungry.

They hid underground for a long time, not daring to farm, and could only secretly go to the mountains to get some wild vegetables to fill their stomachs, sometimes full and sometimes hungry.

As soon as I smelled the aroma of rice, I couldn't help but come out.

When they heard that the others entered the village, they hid in the shadows and watched them!

Seeing that it was just a group of women and children, the villagers didn't take them seriously.

Of course, they weren't saying they wanted to steal the food.

In those days, although there were man-made disasters, there were no natural disasters. There was still some food to be found in the mountains. Therefore, apart from being extra wary of barbarians, the people of the Great Jin rarely killed each other for food.

However, what the villagers were more curious about was where these women and children came from.

How did they manage to avoid the eyes of those barbarians along the way?

When Cui Liu looked up, she saw more than a dozen figures standing outside and was immediately startled.

"what!"

A scream rang out, and everyone else instinctively looked over.

The kitchen of this house is located in a shed in the yard, with no shelter on any side.

Only then will everyone look up and see the people outside.

The villagers, seeing that they had been discovered, came in.

The one leading the group was a middle-aged man.

There were more than a dozen men and women behind him.

As Cui Liu looked at the newcomer, her heart began to pound.

Her gaze unconsciously searched for Wen Rushi's figure.

Unfortunately, Wen Rushi did not intend to show himself at this time.

"Who are you? What are you doing in our village?" asked Wang Tiezhu, a middle-aged man, with a wary expression.

Cui Liu's wariness was even greater than his. "We're just passing through and plan to stay here for one night before leaving."

The middle-aged man frowned, but before he could speak, the person behind him whispered, "Village chief, we can't let them leave. What if they spread rumors that there are still people in our village? Then we..."

Upon hearing this, Cui Liu quickly explained, "We are preparing to go south to the Great Jin Dynasty. We will not have any contact with barbarians along the way. Don't worry, we will never reveal the situation of your village to anyone."

"Yes! We'll stay one night and then leave!" the other women echoed.

The villagers, however, did not hear this; their attention was entirely focused on the words "heading south."

"You mean a group of women and children are planning to head south?"

"How is this possible?"

"There are so many barbarians along the way; if anyone sees them, they'll be captured!"

"Yes! Not to mention the bandits and wild beasts along the way..."

The middle-aged man interrupted the villagers' discussion.

"Young lady, my surname is Wang, and I am the village chief here. May I ask your name?"

"My surname is Yang, and these are my younger brothers and sisters."

"Miss Yang, you just said you were going south to the Great Jin Dynasty. With only a few women and children, how do you plan to travel south? Aren't you afraid of being captured by barbarians along the way?"

Cui Liu paused, wanting to say that there was a real person protecting her, but then she remembered that she hadn't gotten Wen Rushi's permission and didn't know whether she should say it or not.

"Um...we...we'll take a slightly off-center route, we should be able to avoid being discovered."

Cui Liu's words failed to convince the villagers at all.

They were the villagers who failed to escape in time.

After the barbarians entered the pass, they had no chance to escape south.

They could only watch helplessly as the number of villagers dwindled.

They didn't even have a chance to escape.

Even though the barbarians aren't watching them as strictly anymore.

But no one dared to show their face, fearing they might be caught if they weren't careful.

If so many strong men can't escape, how can these women and children possibly escape?

You should know that what those barbarians like most are women and children.

Therefore, after a moment's thought, the villagers realized that the girl in front of them was not telling the truth!

The villagers' gazes toward Cui Liu and her group immediately turned hostile.

Cui Liu noticed the way these people were looking at her and became very anxious.

But I don't know how to explain it.

After all, their lives were saved by Wen Rushi.

Without Wen Rushi's permission, she dared not reveal anything about her affairs.

Wen Rushi returned at this time.

"Why are you all blocking the entrance?"

She wasn't surprised at all by who came.

By this time, it was completely dark.

Hearing this, he walked lightly.

She appeared out of nowhere, along with her voice, startling the villagers.