The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Jiang Wu felt guilty, but he knew he couldn’t let others know about his sister’s secret, even Brother Huzi.

He glanced at his sister, torn.

Yingbao took a few pieces of Poria cake out of her bag and placed them in Huzi’s palm: “Then you eat this.”

Huzi did not hesitate and finished them all in one breath.

They stayed in the reeds for the whole day. In the evening, while he could still see clearly around him, Yingbao took his brother to the river and released a Gourd Boat.

The boat is made up of four large gourds and bamboo rafts, further secured with kudzu vines and gourd vines and hemp ropes.

At first glance, it looked like a box with four large gourds hanging on the sides.

Jiang Wu opened his eyes wide and asked incredulously, “Sis, are you an immortal? How can you conjure up so many things?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Yingbao took out two long bamboo poles and placed them on the Gourd Boat, then went back with her brother to find Zhangmin.

“I’ve found a boat made of a gourd, let’s leave now.” Yingbao said calmly to Zhang Min and Huzi.

Zhang Min was curious, “What kind of gourd boat?”

Jiang Wu: “Go check it out and you’ll see.” With that, he took the lead and ran to the river.

When Zhang Min and Huzi saw the Gourd Boat in front of them, they were so amazed that they were at a loss for words.

“Why does this gourd look like the ones we grow at home?” Huzi climbed into the boat and touched the gourd, feeling a bit incredulous.

Yingbao and her brother also got on the boat, stepping onto the bamboo raft.

Once everyone was on, the bamboo sank a little, and the river water seeped onto the raft.

Fortunately, the four large gourds floating on the four sides kept the bamboo raft from sinking.

Zhang Min and Huzi used the long bamboo poles to row the boat, and they slowly left the reeds and headed toward the middle of the river.

Yingbao and Jiang Wu kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings, wary of Barbarian Bandits shooting arrows from the shore.

The sky gradually darkened, and several bonfires were lit near the riverside.

“Those are the bandits!” Jiang Wu pointed to the bonfires on the shore. “There are quite a few of them.”

Yingbao nodded, “Let’s be careful, we can’t let them discover us.”

Zhang Min and Huzi tried to move as lightly as possible, but the Barbarian bandits still spotted the Gourd Boat on the river.

They howled and ran to the river bank, drawing their bows and shooting arrows at the Gourd Boat.

“Get down quickly!” Yingbao had them sit behind the large gourds, quietly moving the boat forward.

Several arrows whizzed and stuck into the gourds, startling Yingbao.

These people are incredibly strong, they can shoot from such a distance.

The Gourd Boat finally managed to escape the bandits, but as they were about to enter the city water area, more arrows were shot at them.

Yingbao recognized them as city soldiers and immediately shouted: “We are relatives of Governor Zhang!”

The defending soldiers, hearing the voice of a child and seeing a boat, hurriedly stopped shooting.

“Bring your boat over here, we need to inspect it!” The soldiers ordered sternly.

Zhang Min and Huzi rowed the Gourd Boat over, and as soon as they docked, several soldiers ran over, holding swords and spears, their blades pointed at them.

The four children got ashore. Seeing they were unarmed, the soldiers slightly relaxed.

When they found out that Zhang Min was the young master from the governor’s house, they spoke with even more politeness.

One of them even volunteered to take the group to the Governor Residence.

Walking along the street with her younger brother and Zhang Min and Huzi, Yingbao clearly felt the tension and oppression among the townspeople.

From what she learnt from one of the guards, there were fewer than five hundred guards in the entire Jingzhou Prefecture. Even if all the prisoners were freed, they would still not be enough to match the thousands of enemy troops outside.

However, several army camps tens of miles away should be able to muster more than a thousand soldiers, plus the troops from Lin County, they should be able to gather two to three thousand.

It’s a pity that the authority to mobilize troops in Daqian was not in the hands of the general.

Even if foreign troops threatened the borders, without the Emperor’s decree, no one was allowed to overstep their authority.

When they returned to the Governor Residence, Zhang Min immediately went to see his parents and siblings.

Lady Zhang, seeing her son rush back, couldn’t help but cry out, “Are you a fool? Why did you come back now?”

As a governor, even if there was a chance to send his wife and children out of the city, he couldn’t do it. Otherwise, he would be despised by the world and blamed by the Imperial Court.

Previously, Lady Zhang was relieved that her youngest son was not here. Even if they all died later, at least Zhang Min could survive. To her shock, this little fool had run back.

“Mother, I have returned to help fend off the enemy!” Zhang Min knelt down and kowtowed to his parents.

Governor Zhang looked at his son, sighed then asked, “When did you hear the news?”

“Ten days ago.” Zhang Min answered truthfully, “There are rumors outside that the Jurchen have already captured Taiyuan Prefecture and are heading to Tokyo.”

Governor Zhang was shocked, “Has Taiyuan Prefecture really fallen?” The news in his area was so blocked off, by the time some news reached here, it had already been a long time.

“Yes, people from Tokyo and Yuzhou are fleeing south, and Jiankang is their first choice.”

Zhang Min said worriedly, “Father, when we entered the city, we saw many barbarian bandits. There are hundreds of them gathered by the river alone. I fear they will attack from Jiangkouzi.”

Governor Zhang frowned.

In previous conflicts, Jiangkouzi was always a breakthrough point, and many people had to be dispatched to guard it.

But now, the people outside the city were not ordinary bandits, they were the most fierce foreign soldiers. If they really found a way to attack by boat, they wouldn’t have enough manpower to defend.

“Alright, I understand, you should rest early, I have other matters to deal with.” Governor Zhang glanced at Yingbao and the others, saw that they were all children, and told Lady Zhang to take good care of them.

Then he went to his study to discuss defensive strategies with several staff members.

Lady Zhang saw that her son not only came back himself, but also brought three children, she couldn’t help but criticize him for being irresponsible. If something happened to these children, wouldn’t their parents be heartbroken?

After Lady Zhang asked a few brief questions, she allowed the maid to take Yingbao and the others to the guest room to rest.

She also ordered the servants to prepare some food and send it over.

Yingbao and her younger brother Huzi each had a bowl of vegetable noodles before returning to their room.

With the city gates closed, vegetables and grain can’t be transported in from outside. With tens of thousands of people in the city needing to eat every day, it won’t be long before every household runs out of food if this continues.

Looking at today’s meal, it seems that the governor’s house had already started to experience a food shortage.

What’s been just a few days?

The situation inside the city has already come to this?

After washing up, Yingbao immediately fell asleep. When she woke up the next day, it was already daylight.

Jiang Wu came running, knocked on his sister’s door, and shouted loudly, “Sister! Get up quickly! The barbarian bandits have started to attack the city!”

Yingbao sprang up from the bed, quickly dressed and opened the door. “What did you just say?”

Jiang Wu grabbed his sister’s wrist and led her outside, as he said, “Brother Zhang Min went to the city wall to guard, Brother Huzi also went with him. The barbarian bandits somehow found several fishing boats, all pouring into Jiangkouzi.”