Chapter 23 Something's Wrong!

Half an hour later, he met Qiu Shuang at the entrance of the inn. On their way back, they bought some more food before heading to the city gate.

Liu Laohu has returned and is now anxiously squatting at the city gate, eating pancakes with the other yamen runners.

After receiving a signal from Shen Lanxi, Chunxue took a bag of food and delivered it over. When she returned, she brought back the information revealed by Liu Laohu.

"Young master, the Yongcheng County government forbids the release of prisoners into the city!"

Shen Lanxi listened while eating her steamed bun. These kinds of meat buns only cost four coins each in the capital, but in Yongcheng they were already selling for twenty coins, and judging by the trend, the price was going to rise even further!

Qiu Shuang: "When we first arrived, the entrance fee was one tael of silver per person, but now it has increased to two taels!"

Shen Lanxi carefully ate the crumbs of steamed bun that had fallen on her hand. There was no such thing as banning prisoners from entering the city before!

She hadn't finished her meal when Liu Laohu came looking for her.

"Young Master Lan, commoners are not allowed to enter Yongcheng. I can tell you're a scholar, much smarter than us roughnecks. Now that things are like this, I'd like to hear what solutions you have!"

Shen Lanxi smiled faintly: "Since Brother Liu has brought this up, I'll take the liberty of sharing my thoughts!"

Liu Laohu's expression relaxed a little!

"I suggest we take advantage of the fact that there aren't many refugees at the city gate yet, prepare what we need for the journey, and set off immediately!"

As for where to go, that's something for Liu Laohu to worry about!

When Liu Laohu came to find Shen Lanxi, he already had a plan in mind. Yongcheng's refusal to allow exiled prisoners into the city clearly indicated their unwillingness to accept them. With the number of refugees at the city gates increasing, a conflict could easily erupt if this continued!

Once a conflict breaks out, these people dressed in official robes will be the first to become the targets of the displaced people's venting of anger!

Just as Liu Laohu was about to make a decision, several refugees suddenly appeared beside them and knelt down in front of them, begging for food.

"Kind sir, please grant us a drink of water and a bite of food!"

"My elderly relatives and children haven't eaten for two days..."

Although these people were kneeling on the ground begging, their eyes were fixed on the carriage. Their gazes suggested that if the carriage didn't comply, they might immediately rush forward and snatch it!

Liu Laohu immediately drew his sword.

"Get lost if you don't want to die! I'm here to escort prisoners. If you dare to come up here, it's a prison break. I'll kill you all and the government won't even care!"

Liu Laohu's muscular physique exuded a menacing aura, and the people immediately ran away in fear!

"I'll send men into the city to buy supplies right away. Once they've bought everything, we'll set off immediately!"

Shen Lanxi nodded, greeted the Shen family, and led three carriages a little further away to wait for them!

After waiting for about half an hour, Liu Laohu returned, and the exiled prisoners began their journey.

"Young master, they only bought a few bags of grain!" Qiu Shuang said with her sharp eyes.

Shen Lanxi: "With grain prices soaring in the city, it's already quite good that they can get a few bags!"

Autumn Frost nodded.

Not long after he left, Liu Laohu sent someone to deliver a message that a woman and two children in the Shen family had developed a high fever.

Liu Laohu started to give her face and try to win her over.

The women with fevers were Zhang Zifen, the father's concubine, and the children from the rooms of the second and fourth uncles, one three years old and the other four years old, both still very young.

"Father, I didn't bring Mother with me when she had a fever before, and I won't bring the concubine with me this time either. I'll only bring the two children!"

Shen Congwen glanced at the exiled prisoners around them who were eyeing them menacingly, and nodded.

"Go ahead, and if you have any extra medicine, share some with the other exiled prisoners."

Shen Lanxi nodded. After returning, she instructed Qiu Shuang to take Li Mama and the others to distribute antipyretic medicine to each prisoner.

The prisoners were initially indignant, but after taking the medicine given to them by Qiu Shuang and the others, they didn't say anything else!

The other three branches of the Shen family also kept quiet.

Unsure whether the two children's fevers were contagious, Shen Lanxi asked Qiu Shuang to put the two children in the carriage alone. Under the pretext of taking care of the children, she gave them some anti-inflammatory medicine!

Inside the carriage, she poured out the rouge and face powder she had bought from a shop in Yongcheng, filled it with dark foundation she had bought in the modern era, and taught Qiushuang and Chunxue to blacken their faces. She also blackened her face and used an eyebrow pencil to dot her face with freckles.

The further north they went, the more refugees they encountered, and the less greenery they saw on the ground. They also came across several mutilated corpses along the way.

At first, the exiled prisoners cried in fear, but as they walked, their expressions became more and more numb. When they saw the corpses, they treated them like dead cats and dogs on the roadside, without even a trace of sadness.

This transformation took only two days.

On the third day, Liu Laohu ran out of food and water. Fortunately, just as he was about to ask Shen Lanxi for help, they finally arrived at the post station!

"What the hell? You want money from us? We're government officials escorting prisoners!" Liu Laohu slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage at the shopkeeper!

The shopkeeper was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground. He hurriedly begged for mercy, saying, "We have no choice. Grain prices are soaring, and even drinking water costs money. The imperial court hasn't paid us the money it was supposed to pay last month."

When Liu Laohu saw how frightened the shopkeeper was, he became even more arrogant.

"Get lost! Hurry up and serve us well so we can get on our way. If you delay us, I'll report you to our superiors and have you removed from your position as manager!"

The innkeeper quickly tried to appease him, ordering the waiter to prepare the food!

Shen Lanxi glanced at the shopkeeper and the waiter, and immediately called Liu Laohu outside to talk!

Something's not right!

Liu Laohu now trusts Shen Lanxi completely, and when he heard her say something was wrong, he immediately became alert.

Something's not right.

Shen Lanxi frowned and said, "The clothes worn by the shopkeeper and the waiter are obviously ill-fitting, and their skin is too dark!"

The innkeeper and waiter often stayed in the inn, so their skin shouldn't be so dark. They were also thin, looking just like refugees who had traveled all the way from the north under the scorching sun!

Liu Laohu's eyes immediately flashed with a fierce light: "Damn it, he dared to scheme against me, I'll go and kill him!"

Shen Lanxi quickly pulled the person back: "A post station should be equipped with at least six people. Those two alone can't handle six!"

Liu Laohu suddenly realized: "You mean there are others?"

Shen Lanxi: "I'll stay here to keep the shopkeeper and waiter calm. You take the constables and quietly sneak around to the back."

Liu Laohu nodded and called out to the innkeeper, "I'll go out and count the prisoners first, then we'll eat!" As soon as he left the inn, he had half of the constables quietly go around to the back of the inn.

Shen Lanxi lifted her foot and walked towards the shopkeeper.

"Boss, I'd like four of the best rooms. Also, your restaurant's best food and drinks. What dishes do you have? Is your cook clean?"

Liu Laohu circled around to the back of the inn, and just as he stepped over the wall by the shoulders of the constables, he saw what was happening in the courtyard. He quickly retreated, covered the mouth of the constable who was about to speak, and hurried back to call for help.

Damn it, a whole courtyard full of people! They're all armed and staring intently into the inn, ready to charge in at any moment!

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(End of this chapter)