Chronicles of the Modern Empress Dowager

Li Wei held the reins tightly and walked all the way down the mountain. Luo Chong followed closely behind with unknown reason.

The mountains here are not too high, and the mountains are not too steep. After walking for a while, riding on horseback can already see some ordinary houses at the foot of the opposite mountain.

Li Wei rode his horse towards the opposite village.

The autumn harvest is over, but there are still many children in the field running barefoot in the field, holding baskets in their hands, picking up the ears of wheat in the field. Those ancient nursery rhymes came from far away, and I couldn't understand every sentence.

The older children looked like ten years old, and the younger ones were only two or three years old. They had just learned to walk, and some stumbled behind their brothers and sisters.

The weather is already very cold right now, Li Wei is already wearing cotton clothes, but the children in the field are mostly unclothed, patches piled up, and they have already turned pale after washing.

In that era, these children would wear clean and warm clothes and sit in spacious and bright classrooms to learn knowledge.

She clearly saw the huge gap between the two eras. Facing the current poverty, she was not without a solution, but the current situation did not allow her to have any solution.

Li Wei got off the horse and walked towards the children with the reins.

Not only are children in ragged clothes, they also have strange hairstyles, and their faces are tanned and red, as if they are not clean.

A stranger came to the village, and Li Wei became the focus of attention for a while, and some courageous children took the initiative to surround it, and smiled and asked, "Sister-in-law here to beg for help?"

"I'm not going to beg, just to see what you are doing?"

"We're picking wheat ears, and grasshoppers, look." A boy took out a few inches long, green insect from behind, and violently lifted it to Li Wei, as if trying to frighten Li on purpose. micro.

Li Wei bent down and reached out to catch the grasshopper, and said, "Do you know how to make grasshopper cages?"

"I won't, my daddy will, but daddy he..." The little boy said half but he stopped talking. He bowed his head and looked very depressed. Later he snatched the grasshopper from Li Wei and ran away. .

Li Wei was a little puzzled, and then a little **** the side raised her face and said to Li Wei: "Auntie, you don't know, Xiaohu's father went out to fight last year. I heard that he was killed by someone and will never come back. His mother ran away a few months ago, and he followed his grandma."

"Ah?!" Li Wei looked astonished. She looked around for the little tiger that the little girl said. The little tiger didn't run very far. Right now, she was sitting on the Tiankan with no other children beside her.

Li Wei saw Xiaohu, thought of Shujia, and thought of her once young self. She walked towards Xiaohu and followed Tiankan.

"I heard your name is Xiaohu?"

"Why should I tell you?" Xiaohu made the ugliest grimace at Li Wei, trying to scare Li Wei away. Not only did he make a grimace, he also said: "Women are the most annoying."

This sentence made Li smile, but she didn't blame Xiaohu.

"I will make grasshopper cages. Go and help me pick up some wheat stalks." Li Wei ordered. She sat there pulling some grass stems and weaving something else, but seeing her fingers flipping and dancing, it was dazzling to see. Not long after, there was an unusually exquisite and chic small flower basket in her palm, and she also picked two. Decorated with small flowers. Her technique made Xiaohu dumbfounded.

Sure enough, Xiaohu went to pick some wheat stalks and asked Li Wei to give him the grasshopper cage. Li Wei hasn't made up this stuff for a few years, but as long as he feels good about it, it won't be difficult to get started. She spent a little bit of effort.

Luo Chong sat cross-legged under a big tree over there, wondering why the dignified queen mother ran to this countryside to join the children. There is no scruples among the children, he just needs to look at it from a distance, not dare to step forward and disturb.

The grasshopper cage was finally woven, and it was pointed like a pagoda.

"Here, here it is for you."

Xiaohu had been stunned for a long time, and when he took the grasshopper's cage, he was still a little unbelievable.

"Auntie, really want to give it to me?"

"I'm not deceiving."

Xiaohu looked a little flattered.

Li Wei said again: "Maybe not as good as your father made up, but I hope you like it."

Xiaohu held the grasshopper's cage tightly, with tears rolling in his eyes. He was trying hard not to cry. His grandmother said that men can't cry casually. He has no father or mother, and now he is a man.

Li Wei talked to the children in the country for a while. Several of these children were sent to the army in their mature years. Some of them were still alive or dead, and some were killed in battle. There was no young and strong labor at home. The crops were cultivated. It is inconvenient to get up, so there is a large wasteland under the mountain. The days of the people will get worse and worse.

A woman saw a stranger coming from the village, dressed as a Taoist, could it be the Taoist in the Taoist temple on the mountain? He also came up to ask or greet Li Wei. Li Wei acquiesced in his identity as a Taoist aunt, and all the questions were about food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Looking at the faces that looked malnourished because of hunger, she felt more and more uncomfortable.

It was almost dusk that afternoon that she rode her horse back to watch. He was worried and frowning along the way.

The next morning she was still practicing swords in the Taoist temple, and then went out on horseback in the afternoon. This time she went to a village further away. The situation here is poorer than the village the day before. Only the old, weak, sick and disabled are left in the village, and those little children rarely have a successful family.

After visiting the villages for a few days, she went to Changzhen again and went to the market. Look at those people doing business, understand the market price, and when you are hungry, you just walk into a restaurant and ask for soup and noodles.

Just after eating a few bites, a drunkard suddenly stood at the table. The drunkard was in his thirties, and he smelled bad.

"Which temple does the little sister-in-law practice in? What are you doing going down the mountain today? The little sister-in-law doesn't know the way, I will show the little sister-in-law..." The drunk said, reaching out to touch Li Wei's shoulder. But before the drunk man's hand could reach Li Wei's clothes, he was stopped by Luo Chong who had caught up.

"You dare to move her hair again!" Luo Chong's face was fierce, but he was quite bluffing.

The drunk saw that there was a man here, so he didn't dare to bear with Li Wei. He stepped back a long way, and laughed drunkly: "Little sister-in-law now also raises a man. It looks like Sifan is already."

Luo Chong was about to go over and teach the drunk a good lesson. Li Wei stopped his behavior and said, "Forget it, why bother. Let him go."

Luo Chong is absolutely loyal to Li Wei and dare not fail.

Li Wei bought a bowl for Luo Chong to eat, and waited until Luo Chong had eaten and she paid the money before leaving the shop. Keep walking in the bustling market, and check out any novelty.