I asked Sister-in-law Seven: "Are there any difficulties in crossing the river?"

Sister-in-law Qi frowned before she spoke, but her son Ping'er, who had a loud voice, already said: "It's not that it's difficult, it's that there's no way to get through. My father is on the south bank of the Yangtze River now and won't be able to come back."

"What?!"

I was startled, and quickly turned to look at Sister-in-law Qi. I saw a somewhat sad expression on her face. She nodded and said, "Aqing, you are a foreigner. You probably don't know yet. Since a year ago,

Many years ago, after those things were built on the south bank, Yangzhou - places like ours are no longer the same."

Sister-in-law Seven is an ordinary woman. She doesn’t know much, but I already understand what she means.

When I was still in the capital, I heard a lot of news from the south. Several states and counties on the south bank of the Yangtze River were occupied by rebellious forces, while the big cities in Yangzhou on the north bank seemed to have ambiguous attitudes, although they did not explicitly break away from the imperial court.

But this situation is actually worse. They have become the outposts of the rebellious forces - fight, but you can't fight, because if you fight, you may be attacked from within Yangzhou and the south bank of the Yangtze River; but if you don't fight, if there is something wrong with the imperial court

If there is any movement, they will become a cancer within the imperial court.

Such a situation will definitely have a great impact on the local people in Yangzhou.

However, Ping'er actually said that his father was on the south bank of the Yangtze River and could not come back. My scalp suddenly felt numb, so I asked Sister-in-law Seven: "Has the traffic on the river been controlled?"

"If you want to talk about control, it's not bad." Sister-in-law Qi sighed and said: "Earlier when they first started to make trouble, they did control it. Although the ships crossing the river were strictly inspected, at least they were allowed to pass; but -

—Ever since what happened a year ago, the river has been completely cut off. Unless military ships from the south bank are crossing the river, others, not even fishing boats, are allowed to enter the water."

"Ah?" I couldn't help but frown after hearing this. What happened years ago? Could it be——

An idea flashed in my mind and I asked hurriedly: "You said something happened years ago. Did anyone want to cross the river?"

Sister-in-law Qi glanced at me and nodded: "Yes, I heard that they were people sent by the imperial court. They almost got into a fight on the river, but in the end they couldn't get over. The people over there," she said, pointing to the opposite side.

It means that people from the South Bank are "very fierce."

I understood immediately. What she was talking about was that Pei Yuanhao had sent a group of people, Du Yan and others, to go south to cross the river to find Li'er. What I didn't expect was that they almost fought against the rebellious forces, and even more so.

Unexpectedly, that action actually affected the traffic on the river.

I asked hurriedly: "After that, no one will be allowed to cross the river?"

"The government here in Yangzhou has not expressed its position, but there is no way for ships to go to and from the dock on the south bank. My boss originally went to the south bank to handle goods, but he was isolated there. People can't come back, the news

It can't be passed on, and I don't even know that he -" She couldn't go on at this point, her eyes were red, she lowered her head and wiped the corners of her eyes. I was about to comfort her when I heard her gritting her teeth and saying fiercely: "

Damn it, our family has been separated like this, and we don’t know when we will see him again.”

I fell silent.

A similar situation like this had happened before, and it was in Yangzhou City. Because the plague was rampant, Pei Yuanhao ordered Yangzhou to be divided into northern and southern cities, and the people infected with the plague and the healthy people were placed on one side.

But, this time...

At this moment, I just feel confused.

The situation is much more serious than I expected. I thought that as long as I entered Yangzhou, it would be easy to find Li'er. I didn't expect that the river is actually controlled now. How to cross the river is a big problem.<

/p>

The bigger problem is that the situation in the Jiangnan region has become like this. It seems that just as Fu Badai said before - chaos in the world is inevitable.

Now that I have found Li'er, where else can she and I stay?

Thinking of this, I just felt my heart twisting, and the seventh sister-in-law sitting opposite was also sobbing. The second girl blinked her big eyes, cautiously reached out and touched the rough back of her hand on the table, timidly

Said: "Mom, don't be sad."

Ping'er on the side also said: "Mom, don't be sad. They won't let us cross the river. Let's find a way. There will always be a way."

Before he finished speaking, Sister-in-law Qi changed her face and said loudly: "Ping'er, mother forbids you from messing around!"

Her voice was so stern that I was startled. Sister-in-law Qi said sharply again: "Did you hear that?"

Ping'er lowered his head and said yes, but when I looked at his dark eyes, he didn't seem to be really convinced, but he didn't say anything else.

Sister-in-law Qi turned to me again and said apologetically: "I made you laugh."

I waved my hands hurriedly, but I was not in the mood to talk. After eating half of the buns in my hand, I couldn't eat any more. Sister-in-law Qi asked me to rest for a while, and after packing up my things, I went out to sell the buns.

She came to see me specially. When she saw that I looked bad, she asked Ping'er to stay at home and look after me. After a few more instructions, she took the second girl out.

Ping'er said he was staying to take care of me. How could a boy of this age sit still? After a while, he disappeared. I didn't want to trouble him at first, so I sat by the bed for a while. I just felt uncomfortable.

The feeling came up one after another with my heartbeat, making me restless.

I vaguely felt something was wrong, cold sweat dripped from my forehead like water, and my eyesight turned black. I gritted my teeth and stood up holding on to the bedpost, wanting to ask Ping'er to pour me some water.

But just when I walked out of the door, before I could speak, I felt uncomfortable, lowered my head and vomited.

This vomiting made me feel dizzy.

In just a few seconds, I vomited out everything I had just eaten. I couldn’t help but retching. My hand holding the door frame almost used all my strength to keep myself from falling.

I don’t know how long it took before I finally suppressed the nausea. I could barely stand upright, but when I looked down at the filth I had vomited, my heart sank.

I understand very well that this is a symptom of poisoning.

I can't eat anymore!

After Alan gave me the poison just now, I felt uncomfortable and had difficulty eating, but I could still eat more or less. But now, it is obvious that the poison has become deeper. If I can't find her to detoxify——

Thinking of this, I felt dizzy again, as if my whole body had been hollowed out, and a hand in my stomach seemed to be twisting my heart and lungs, making me breathless. I could only hold on to the door frame hard to prevent myself from fainting.

, Fortunately, Ping'er came in from outside at this time. When he saw me like this, he hurriedly came over to help me: "What are you - are you okay?"

"I...well——"

I didn't dare to speak. He looked at my pale face and hurriedly helped me sit down by the bed. He poured me another glass of water. I reluctantly rinsed it out and felt better. He just looked at the puddle of filth at the door.

He said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, I originally——"

"It's okay."

This child was quite neat. He waved his hands and went out to get a broom and soot. He cleaned up the matter in a few strokes, then came back to me and said, "Are you feeling better?"

I pursed my lips and just nodded. I was worried about the taste in my mouth and didn't speak.

Ping'er sat by the bed and kept looking at me. At this time, he suddenly said: "Aren't you sick?"

I was startled and raised my head to look at him.

His dark eyes kept looking at me: "Right? I think you didn't tell the truth to my mother."

I can't help but face this child.

He is only sixteen or seventeen years old. He may not be too old, but he is not too young. Moreover, boys of this age are sensitive. Although he is thin and dark, there is a firmness in his dark eyes.

The light makes people feel as unmovable as a rock.

It's vague and makes me feel familiar.

I couldn't help but have a good impression of him, but I didn't answer him directly. Instead, I smiled and said, "You didn't tell the truth to your mother either."

"What?"

"Your mother asked you not to mess around, but did you really agree?"

"..."

"Neither do you."

"..."

"Your mother asked you to stay and take care of me, but where did you go just now?"

The child also froze for a moment, touched his wet hair that was still stained with water mist, and fell silent. The two of them looked at each other for a while, and I said calmly: "You are also thinking of a way to cross the river, right?"

?"

Ping'er lowered his head and bit his lower lip. After a while, he slowly said: "I am the only man left in the family. I must help my mother and find my father and bring him back!"

I asked: "What can you do?"

"There are two ways. The first one is -" he said, but he couldn't help but blush, lowered his head, and his original loud voice became lower: "I...can't swim..."

It turns out that he still wanted to swim across the river!

I couldn't help but gasped, but luckily he told me! He was still so young, and the Yangtze River was so wide and the water flow was so fast that even the experts at tide control didn't dare to try it easily. How could he dare to do this! What if?

Drowning, how can Sister-in-law Qi survive?

I hurriedly grabbed his wrist and said, "Ping'er, don't act recklessly! Even adults don't dare to try to swim across the river easily, not to mention you are still young. If something happens to you, the family here will be in trouble."

You don’t even have a man anymore, who do you want your mother and sister to rely on?!”

Maybe it was the last sentence that moved him. The child shook a little and nodded: "I know it too, so I didn't dare to go again. Last time I was almost there - my mother cried for a long time."

No wonder Sister-in-law Qi was so stern when he said those words today. There was a reason for this.

I changed the topic and asked hurriedly: "Then what is the other way?"

Ping'er raised his head and looked at me, a little wary: "You must also cross the river, right?"

"Yes." I nodded and said to him firmly: "Although I lied to your mother in some words, it was to protect you, but I didn't lie to you about this matter. I wanted to find my daughter and

You need to be like your father. We all need to find our relatives!"

Ping'er kept looking into my eyes. I don't know how long it took, but he finally seemed to have made up his mind and said, "Okay, I believe you."
Chapter completed!