After leaving Huainan Prefecture, the number of refugees decreased, but overall, it was still much larger than when the Jiang family was fleeing.
Huainan Prefecture was the outermost prefecture of Jiangnan, and further south were Jiangning Prefecture and Sunan Prefecture.
Most refugees, upon reaching Huainan Prefecture, had no strength left to continue south. However, many refugees knew that Huainan Prefecture could not accommodate so many people, so they gritted their teeth and continued southward.
Moreover, they heard that the further south they went, the warmer the weather became, and there was even unharvested grain in the fields there.
Grain was the hope for survival.
The Jiang family hurried along at their fastest pace. Along the way, they encountered many refugees or bandits who wanted to rob them. However, upon seeing the speed of their horses, they quickly and honestly moved to the side of the road.
After all, they only had one life.
On a few occasions, they encountered refugees digging traps on the road, blocking horses with ropes, and similar acts. But strangely, their horses were not afraid at all. They either perfectly avoided the traps or directly leaped over the ropes that were suddenly pulled up.
Even the two horses pulling the carriage could do this.
Yan Li and Gu Chenzhou were already numb from shock.
These horses were all of ordinary quality, so why could they achieve such a feat?
They had seen many intelligent horses, but they had never heard of any horses being so intelligent!
They really wanted to turn back and ask Lord Shen who had trained these horses!
Of course, turning back was impossible. Except for resting, the group hurried towards Jiangning Prefecture at their fastest speed.
Ten days later, they smoothly arrived at Jiangning Prefecture city.
However, upon seeing the tightly closed city gates of Jiangning Prefecture, their hearts sank.
The number of refugees gathered here had multiplied several times compared to before!
The prefect of Jiangning had likely sensed something was wrong. He had ordered the removal of all resettlement points, the soup kitchens of the wealthy households were all taken away, and even the medical tents of the Jin family's clinic were gone.
The situation was more serious than they had imagined.
The group did not linger in Jiangning Prefecture and drove straight to Yao County.
A day later, they entered the territory of Yao County.
Here, they also saw many refugees.
By this time, the grain in the fields had already been harvested. The traces indicated that the harvest was done in a hurry, and it had been some time since the harvest.
It was estimated that they had discovered something was wrong and had advanced the harvesting time.
Although this would reduce the yield, it would maximize the chances of their own grain being collected.
The city gates of Yao County were also tightly shut. They had to walk around more than half of the city wall before heading towards the small mountain village.
When entering the village, they found that there were also refugees at the entrance of the small mountain village.
The houses in the small mountain village were all made of mud walls and thatched roofs. Such houses could not defend against anything.
Jiang Pan was very nervous and waved his whip to scare away the refugees who were surrounding them.
As they entered the village, they found that the village was full of unfamiliar faces.
This place had been occupied by refugees!
The Jiang family's hearts pounded, and they rushed towards their own home.
When they saw the crooked state of their own front gate, they were both angry and anxious.
Their house had also been occupied by refugees! There were many people gathered in their courtyard, and these people were starting fires to cook in their courtyard. Their beautiful new house had been made dirty, and even the furniture inside had been moved to the courtyard.
Jiang Pan and Chen Yuezhi, looking at their newly built house being ruined by these refugees, felt their blood rush to their heads.
What worried them even more was where their family members had gone!
Jiang Pan, being hot-tempered and impatient, dismounted his horse, drew his weapon, and rushed into the courtyard. "Who allowed you to mess around in my house like this? Damn it, get out!"
Those refugees were not to be trifled with. After being blocked outside Yao County city, they had been looking for a place to stay. The small mountain village not far from the county city was soon targeted by them. However, this village was too poor, with only mud and thatched houses, so the stronger refugees disdained it.
But the Jiang family's house attracted a small group of refugees with considerable strength.
Seeing Jiang Pan's unfriendly expression, these people immediately picked up their clubs and stood up. "Who the hell are you? This is our territory, get out quickly, or we won't be polite!"
Someone shouted from outside, "Boss, they brought five horses, and there are women in the carriage!"
Upon hearing this, the refugees became frenzied.
"Attack! Beat him to death and throw him on the mountain behind, and bring those daughters and horses in!"
The refugees immediately rushed towards Jiang Pan, brandishing their clubs.
This group of refugees was not weak either. After moving into the Jiang family's house, they found a lot of grain there. Coupled with the abundant prey in the back mountain and the fish in the river at the village entrance, this group had been well-fed for a while and their bodies had recovered considerably.
Although their individual strength was inferior to Jiang Pan's, they had numbers!
Jiang Pan grabbed his weapon and began to fight back. Yan Li and Gu Chenzhou also rushed in immediately.
The courtyard was filled with the sounds of fighting.
Jiang Wan sat on the carriage shaft, holding a whip, and looked at the refugees who were lunging at her.
Seeing Jiang Wan's plump appearance, these refugees couldn't help but laugh. This was truly a fat sheep!
However, they soon stopped laughing.
This little fat sheep, despite her young age and seemingly helpless appearance, suddenly lunged at them! Before they could react, they were kicked flying by the little fat sheep, falling heavily to the ground.
Jiang Wan quickly dealt with the few refugees and climbed back onto the carriage shaft. She flicked her small whip nonchalantly, as if the screams from the courtyard could not reach her ears.
Soon, the commotion in the courtyard subsided. The sounds of fighting and shouting were replaced by continuous screams and wails.
Jiang Wan jumped off the carriage and called out to Chen Yuezhi and Jiang Xiao three times, preparing to enter the courtyard together.
Xiao Bao's little face was pale with fright, and he buried his face deeply in Jiang Xiao's neck.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw people lying all over the place.
Jiang Pan was looking through his houses with a dark expression. The more he looked, the more terrifying his expression became.
Jiang Wan also went into her own room to check the situation. Good heavens, she didn't know the extent of the damage until she saw it, and her blood pressure soared.
Her exquisite and beautiful little room had been ruined by those people. How did these people manage to make her furniture look so worn in such a short time!
The room smelled foul. Jiang Wan retreated with a stern face, then looked at the refugees in the courtyard and asked, "Who is the leader?"
Those refugees, lacking any backbone, all looked towards the man cowering in the corner.