Chapter 170 The Rebels Have Arrived

"Why me?"

Afu looked at Ye Wan with a dark expression.

Ye Wan glanced at him and said, "You look strong and have a loud voice. If they go crazy and beat you up, you should be able to run away."

Afu: ...

Pei Zhichuan frowned and glanced at Ye Wan. "Go and call them."

At least providing porridge will prevent people from starving to death for a while.

"The elderly, women, and children, please stand in front and line up. We'll be distributing porridge shortly!"

Ah Fu's voice is indeed loud; he shouted from his diaphragm so that everyone could hear him.

"We've traveled a long way to distribute porridge, could we please find a place to rest?"

"That's right, please have some mercy and let us at least have a place to stay when we get into the village!"

Officer Li also shouted, "No! What if you have bad intentions? What will happen to the women and children in our village?! Line up now!"

All the able-bodied men in the village came, carrying hoes and machetes, and the refugees obediently lined up in queue.

Under the village chief's direction, the women set up a large pot and began cooking porridge.

Seeing this, Pei Zhichuan took out a whistle.

Not long after the whistle was blown, a man came up behind Pei Zhichuan.

"Third Young Master."

Ye Wan stared at the man with shining eyes. So this was the legendary secret guard.

Secret Guard!

Pei Zhichuan:......

Why does this slut's eyes light up whenever she sees a man?

"Go and inform Magistrate Wu, and ask him to find a way to resettle these refugees."

"yes."

The guards left from the other side of the village.

"Everyone, don't rush, line up properly, what are those two in the back doing!" Afu shouted to maintain order.

The sun hadn't risen yet, and it was very cold. The refugees in front of us, dressed in thin clothes, were shivering, and several children had frostbitten hands and faces.

Pei Zhichuan frowned as he looked at the empty school in the village, saying, "The school in the village is still empty; it can be used to house those women and children."

Ye Wan looked at him and sneered, "Young Master Pei has really been out of touch with reality for too long. Others may be pitiful, but take a closer look. Are those people in the back refugees?"

The men in front might indeed be refugees, but the men behind them were not refugees at all.

Once so many people enter the village and start burning, killing, and looting, it will be impossible to control the situation.

Pei Zhichuan suppressed his anger and looked behind him. The men had full cheeks, but they were wearing tattered clothes and did not look like refugees.

"Is that all it takes for you to refuse to let people into the village?" Pei Zhichuan asked Ye Wan.

It's quite remarkable that a woman could command the entire village to obey her.

"That's how it is, so what?" Ye Wan didn't even bother to look at Pei Zhichuan.

Not long after, the village chief came over again.

"Madam Ye, this rice is expensive. If we put in too much, it won't work, and everyone's family is reluctant to eat it. If we put in too little, the porridge will be like water. What should we do?"

The rice for the porridge was collected from the villagers, who contributed handfuls here and there. Everyone was already struggling financially, so it was only after the village chief had done his best to mobilize them.

Just then, Aunt Hui arrived and said, "I've brought the things over."

Hui Gu and Ye Hua came together, each carrying two large baskets on their backs.

One basket contained mixed grain flour, and the other contained herbs.

Ye Wan said to the village chief, "Put these coarse noodles and herbs in and boil them together."

"good!"

The village chief didn't ask where these things came from; as long as someone provided them, that was fine.

The porridge changed color instantly when the coarse noodles and herbs were added to the pot.

Its earthy yellow color is disgusting to look at.

Pei Zhichuan looked at Ye Wan. "If I'm not mistaken, your family should have some surplus food."

“Young Master Pei, as I said before, don’t just stand there and talk without understanding the situation. Since you’re so kind-hearted, why don’t you take off your fox fur coat and sell it to help the disaster victims?”

"Or if your family is wealthy, you can open your granary and distribute grain!"

"You think this porridge looks unappetizing, don't you? People who are truly starving eat grass roots and tree bark; those herbs are for treating colds!"

Ye Wan felt that although Pei Zhichuan was good-looking, he wasn't very bright, which was a problem and could easily affect the intelligence of their offspring.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m just curious how you know so much?” Pei Zhichuan stared at Ye Wan.

The more he got to know her, the more he felt this village girl was not simple. Apart from her coarse language, her actions were decisive and efficient, almost like...

Just like a man.

Ye Wan winked, "What, has Pei Lang fallen for me? Want to stay and become my live-in son-in-law?"

Pei Zhichuan immediately took a few steps back, turned around, and left.

The porridge was cooked quickly, and people went from house to house collecting bowls for the refugees to drink.

Suddenly someone broke a bowl.

"Pah! This porridge is awful! The people in your village have no intention of saving us!"

"Yes, what's in it? Are they trying to poison us?!"

Old Yu tapped the gong in his hand. "What's all the noise about! It contains herbs. You guys aren't bandits, are you? Pretending to be refugees! Men, pick up your weapons!"

A woman hurriedly came out to explain, "No, no, it's not like that. My husband is just like that. I'm sorry!"

The crowd quieted down again.

Ye Wan watched as everyone drank the porridge, and only after seeing that everyone had finished did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Mr. Yu watched with excitement as these people lined up to drink porridge.

It's good to drink more.

Magistrate Wu drank an extra bowl of porridge for breakfast this morning and felt a bit bloated.

Just as he finished dressing with the help of his wife, a servant came to report that a large number of refugees had gone to Kaoshan Village.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wu thought, "He went to the countryside? Great! Doesn't that solve my problem perfectly?"

Fortunately, he didn't come to the prefectural city. Without orders from above, he dared not provide relief to the refugees.

Moreover, because of what happened last time, there aren't many grains left in the granary.

The mere thought of this made Magistrate Wu grit his teeth in hatred for Lin Anyuan.

The next second, they suddenly heard a slightly familiar voice.

"Lord Wu, how have you been? I bet you've missed me!"

...

...

"Young master, run! The rebels are coming!"

Afu hurriedly found Pei Zhichuan sitting in the classroom and urged him on.

"The rebels are here? Where are they?"

Pei Zhichuan is looking at the characters written in the classroom.

"We just received news that the rebels have disguised themselves as civilians and have taken control of the prefectural city and county government. We can't go to the prefectural city now. Luckily, we've come to the village today! Young master, let's go quickly!"

"I can't leave now, Master Fang..."

Ah Fu said anxiously, "Just leave Fang Daru behind, if you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave at all."

If the rebels knew Pei Zhichuan's identity, they would definitely capture him.

"Knock him out and take him away."

"Afu, how dare you!"

Pei Zhichuan had barely finished speaking when he fainted.

The guard who came out looked at Afu with a hoarse voice, "You knocked the young master unconscious. He won't let you off when he wakes up."

Afu remained calm. "I'm doing this for the young master's own good. He can't control these things. Take your men and leave."

The guards didn't say anything more and rode away on fast horses with Pei Zhichuan.

...