He hunted geese all day long, and one of them pecked his eye.

The eldest brother was left on the side of the road by his underlings. When he woke up in pain, he had almost bled to death.

He was later rescued by a human trafficker who happened to be passing by, and was sold to work in a mine. His younger sister was sold to a brothel.

The Zhao family, busy on their journey, would never know what happened next.

After galloping for a while, they stopped.

Even the physically strong members of the Zhao family would feel nauseous after running on this bumpy road for half an hour.

In particular, his buttocks and head suffered severe injuries.

Slow down the vehicle to let Brown Sugar and Big Blue Mule rest.

Zhao Qingyan took out some rock sugar and fed a few pieces to each animal. The two big guys seemed very happy.

Although they didn't encounter any robbers or highwaymen on the road ahead, they did encounter quite a few beggars, causing the Zhao family members to furrow their brows more and more.

"Didn't our Lingnan Prefecture handle the earthquake relief and disaster relief quite well? Especially the farmers' households, each person received a subsidy of 15 catties of grain."

"They eat porridge and wild vegetables every day, which should be enough to last them for a while. Why are they all out begging?"

Zhao Qingshan asked, puzzled.

Zhao Qianci listened carefully.

"These people aren't from our prefecture; they must have come from the neighboring prefecture. We're all affected by the disaster, so why are they all heading towards our prefecture?"

The group chatted idly, unable to guess the real reason.

Whatever the reason, it can only be said that the people are suffering.

The Zhao family's car was quickly surrounded by begging people.

A woman, holding a child, knelt in front of the mule cart and began kowtowing repeatedly.

"Please, sir and madam, give us some food. My little one hasn't eaten anything for three days."

"Please, sir, young master, young lady, kind people, give us some food. If we don't eat, we'll all starve to death."

With layers upon layers of defenses, the Zhao family would have no chance of getting out unless they broke through.

But in this situation, once the door is opened, not only will their own property be lost, but even their horses and mules will be devoured, leaving not a trace.

Zhao Qianci asked, "Everyone, where are you from, and why have you fled here from famine? Lingnan Prefecture is not as prosperous as the surrounding prefectures."

An old man knelt down and cried.

“The wealthy are not ordinary people like us, but officials, landlords and gentry.”

After the earthquake, houses collapsed, fields were damaged, landlords wanted to extend their rents, and the government wanted to increase taxes, saying it was to build roads.

With no other way to survive, we had no choice but to flee. We heard that Lingnan Prefecture was well-governed and that farmers were not mistreated, so we came here to escape.

The journey was arduous. The government not only ignored us, but even sent troops to arrest us and take us back. Those arrested were beaten half to death before being sent to the coal mines.

In the end, they either starve to death or die from exhaustion; Heaven is blind.

The old man wept uncontrollably.

Well, given the situation, we have to take action now, no matter what. It's gotten this bad.

Zhao Qingyan said, "Everyone, stop kneeling, get up."

Follow us forward. My family has hidden a batch of grain ahead, which we will distribute to you later.

Then head towards the prefectural city. Our prefect is a just and upright official; he will surely stand up for everyone.

Lord Duan in the prefectural city was sneezing repeatedly.

"Who's insulting me again?"

Tea was on the ground next to the clerk.

"Why do you think someone is insulting you, sir? Couldn't it be that someone is praising you as a good official?"

Lord Duan was laughing so hard he was almost shaking.

"Am I a good official? Well, I do feel like I am. Actually, I'm just adhering to the principle that a gentleman loves money but acquires it in a proper way."

The little girl from the Zhao family once told Chongrui, "If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes."

That's very insightful. Back when we studied day and night, wasn't it all for the purpose of becoming officials and speaking out for the people?

But after holding office for a long time, they gradually abandoned their original ambitions.

Or perhaps they've kept their ambitions hidden.

I was forced to do things I didn't want to do, to go along with the crowd, and slowly I became the very thing I used to hate. Haha…

The advisor bowed deeply.

"My lord, you are already a rare and honest official, please do not underestimate yourself."

I've heard that the surrounding prefectures and counties haven't handled the disaster situation satisfactorily.

Many refugees have already migrated from other prefectures to Lingnan Prefecture.

Lord Duan was just lamenting the passing of spring and reminiscing about the past. Hearing the clerk's words, he was so startled that he slammed his hand on the table.

"Can't you just let me have some peace and quiet?"

I was in so much pain, and no one comforted me.

Zhao Qingyan had just mentioned that there was food for the refugees when Zhao Qingyang became extremely anxious and frantically tugged at his sister's arm.

"elder sister……"

Zhao Qingyan patted her younger brother's head.

"Don't worry, if I say it's there, it's there. Go back into the carriage. There are a lot of people, and it would be troublesome if someone knocked you off."

You are my precious darling.

These words made the young scholar blush, and he obediently went into the carriage shed and sat down with the wandering master.

I was still worried, glancing out of the car window one minute and then back at Yunyou the next.

I was so nervous!

Yunyou finally felt a pang of pity, worried that the little fellow might spin his head off, and said...

"Don't worry, trust your sister."

Well, since the old sage has said so, the little guy has finally calmed down a bit.

Zhao Qingyan sat on the edge of the carriage, glancing up at the mountain every now and then. She remembered that there was a local earth god temple not far ahead, and she would put the grain there later.

Leaning against the car wall, I closed my eyes and entered the space. I packed the grain into a small burlap sack that I had made in my previous life. Each sack weighed about 20 pounds.

They didn't dare put rice or wheat flour inside; some were filled with sorghum, some with millet, and some with brown rice.

There were probably over 500 bags in total, which should be enough for these people to share.

Seeing that the distance was about right, he flew away and headed towards the Earth God Temple.

When the refugees saw Zhao Qingyan fly away, they had never seen anyone who could fly before. They immediately thought she was a goddess descending to earth and knelt down to kowtow.

Zhao Minggeng simply couldn't stand it anymore.

"Everyone, hurry up and follow us to get your share of the food."

The refugees then got up from the ground and ran towards Zhao Qingyan at their fastest speed ever.

Fortunately, he had light-footed skills; otherwise, the transformation of grain would have been no joke.

If they aren't captured and burned to death, they'll be captured and kept in captivity by the powerful and wealthy.

Fortunately, this land temple is quite large.

After sensing that there was no unfamiliar atmosphere.

They quickly dug a pit in the open space behind the Earth God statue, took out the grain, and threw a lot of straw on top of it.

The scene was just revealed, and the refugees were already running up, panting.

"Come on, let's distribute the grain. One bag for each person. No fighting allowed."

Old man, could you take charge?

Since some of you have brought pots, let's cook porridge together. It's not easy to survive, and it's even harder to escape this hardship together. What a wonderful fate this is, let's cherish it.