In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 509 Internal and External Destruction

In this situation, the sudden appearance of Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi in the prefectural city seemed quite abrupt.

The only explanation is that the two came to buy daily necessities such as food and salt.

This doesn't make sense, because the weather wasn't good today. It was pouring rain in the morning, and although the rain has stopped, the ground is still wet, even though the city's roads are made of brick and stone.

Needless to say, the official road was a dirt road. In those days, whenever it rained, the official road was full of potholes. Even if Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi had no common sense, they would not choose to travel hundreds of miles to the prefectural city to buy grain at this time!

For some reason, Chen Dao suddenly had a bad feeling.

Noticing that Chen Dao had stopped, Zheng Qiuyan asked, "Young Master Chen, what's wrong?"

"I just saw Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi."

"Yu Cui? Lü Xiaoyi? What are they doing in the prefectural city?"

Zheng Qiuyan looked up at the gloomy sky. Even the most ignorant people would know that this kind of weather was not suitable for going out.

How could Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi possibly come to the prefectural city from Qingshui Village at this time?

"I don't know, but I'm a little worried about them."

Chen Dao's bad premonition grew stronger. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll go after them and see."

After saying that, Chen Dao ignored their reactions and quickened his pace, chasing after Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi in the north.

Chen Cheng naturally didn't hesitate and quickly followed in Chen Dao's footsteps.

Zheng Qiuyan and Qingying exchanged a glance and decided to follow.

"Brother Chen, Brother Chen."

Upon seeing Chen Dao suddenly change direction, Xue Qi shouted a few times. After seeing that Chen Dao didn't turn around, he said to Jiang Changye, "Old man, let's follow him and take a look."

"Can!"

Jiang Changye nodded, and the three of them quickly followed.

…………

…………

Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi ran breathlessly toward the north of the city, their faces filled with anxiety.

Yesterday, a villager named Lü Ming, who was related to Lü Xiaoyi's father, returned to Qingshui Village and told the two of them that he had seen Lü Xiaoyu in the prefectural city.

Lu Ming mainly worked as a porter in the prefectural city, but what he carried was not goods or food, but... corpses!

Two days ago, Lü Ming was sent by his employer to the Qingwang Mansion to help move some corpses to the mass grave in the city.

Having seen many corpses, Lü Ming was already quite used to it. He thought this job was just an ordinary one: move the corpse to the mass grave outside the city and dump it, then he could smoothly collect his payment.

But when he saw the corpses inside the Qingwang Mansion that he had to move himself, Lü Ming froze on the spot.

It was because among those corpses was a face he recognized very well: Lü Xiaoyu.

According to seniority, Lü Ming is probably Lü Xiaoyu's distant uncle, while Lü Xiaoyu is his niece!

When Lü Ming saw his niece's corpse right in front of him, his mind went completely blank.

The experience of witnessing one's loved ones die tragically in front of one's own eyes is unimaginable for ordinary people.

Lu Ming stood there stunned for a full quarter of an hour before, urged by the servants of the Prince's mansion, he lifted the mangled corpses onto the wooden frame and then, with a numb expression, carried them to the mass grave outside the city.

Originally, Lü Ming intended to bring Lü Xiaoyu's body back to the village, but he was unable to do so because people from the Prince's Mansion were watching him.

After hastily moving the body to the mass grave outside the city, Lü Ming didn't even rush to ask his employer for his wages. Instead, he immediately returned to Qingshui Village and told Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi the devastating news that he had seen Lü Xiaoyu's body.

Upon hearing this devastating news, Yu Cui and Lü Xiaoyi were struck dumb, their faces turning deathly pale.

As the eldest sister, Lü Xiaoyi was like a mother to her. From childhood to adulthood, because their parents were busy with farm work, it was his older sister, Lü Xiaoyu, who took care of Lü Xiaoyi the most. Lü Xiaoyu treated Lü Xiaoyi very well, and whenever there was something delicious or fun to play with at home, Lü Xiaoyu would give it to Lü Xiaoyi.

In his spare time, Lü Xiaoyu would also play with Lü Xiaoyi to keep him from feeling lonely.

It can be said that Lü Xiaoyu played many important roles in Lü Xiaoyi's life, such as mother, elder, playmate, and so on.

That's why Lü Xiaoyi harbored such deep resentment when Lü Xiaoyu was taken away by the Green King. He even went so far as to create a straw effigy of the Green King and slash at it with a wooden sword every day to vent his hatred.

Given the deep bond between Lü Xiaoyu and Lü Xiaoyi, one can only imagine the emotions Lü Xiaoyi felt upon hearing the devastating news of Lü Xiaoyu's death.

For a brief moment, Lü Xiaoyi felt his mind go blank, his body go numb, as if he had lost all hope.

Lü Xiaoyi was like this, and so was Yu Cui.

Upon hearing the devastating news of Lü Xiaoyu's death, Yu Cui felt a wave of dizziness and nearly fainted.

As a mother, the feeling when you hear that your child has died... it's no exaggeration to say that you are heartbroken.

In fact, when Lü Xiaoyu was taken away, Yu Cui was already mentally prepared that Lü Xiaoyu would never come back.

But when she actually learned of Lü Xiaoyu's death, her heart... still ached violently.

She desperately hoped that Lü Ming had misread the situation, and she also desperately hoped that Lü Ming had not told her this news, so that she could at least still hold onto a sliver of hope.

But the news brought by Lü Ming shattered Yu Cui's last glimmer of hope.

Her vision went black, and she almost fainted.

Fortunately, Lü Ming reacted quickly and caught her, comforting her, "Sister-in-law, don't be too sad. Maybe I saw it wrong?"

Although Lü Ming comforted Yu Cui in this way, he knew in his heart that he could never admit his mistake.

Although he, who came from Qingshui Village, spent most of his time working in the prefectural city after adulthood, he had seen Lü Xiaoyu quite a few times, and there was absolutely no way he could mistake Lü Xiaoyu's appearance.

I said this simply to make Yu Cui feel a little better.

"Yes, yes, Uncle Ming must have made a mistake."

Hearing this comforting remark, Lü Xiaoyi felt as if she had grasped at the last straw. She clung to Lü Ming's clothes with pleading eyes and said, "Uncle Ming, you must have seen wrong, right? Right?"

Hearing Lü Xiaoyi's anxious voice, Lü Ming had no choice but to nod and say, "Yes! Xiaoyi, Uncle Ming was mistaken."

"I knew Uncle Ming must have made a mistake!"

Lü Xiaoyi's sorrow turned to joy.

Yu Cui was still immersed in endless grief. She was not a child like Lü Xiaoyi. She knew very well that Lü Ming could not possibly be mistaken. The corpse he saw must be Lü Xiaoyu!