The two chatted from time to time.

Xu Yuehuai hosted a dinner at the most luxurious restaurant. Upon entering, the waiter, seeing that it was Miss Xu, hurriedly greeted her, "What would you like to eat, Miss?"

"Send over everything, whether it's rare or not."

"Our shop also has 15-year-old aged wine, would you like some?" the waiter immediately offered.

Xu Yuehuai was overjoyed and immediately said, "Why do you need fifteen years? Just bring out all your best stuff."

A moment later, a large table of dishes was brought over. Liu Cuiming had never seen such dishes before, and her eyes immediately widened in surprise.

As for Zhou Qionghua, she didn't care about hierarchy and had already picked up her chopsticks to eat.

On the contrary, Zhou Wan, who was always timid, carefully presented a pair of chopsticks to Xu Yuehuai.

She grasped it, chuckled, and said, "Eat up, everyone, don't be shy. We have money now."

Everyone then started eating. After eating, Xu Yuehuai took everyone to a clothing store and bought everyone brand new clothes from head to toe, inside and out. Liu Cuiming approached with a smirk, as if he had something to say.

Xu Yuehuai was in the middle of a great conversation and had no interest in listening.

Just as they were about to go to other places to play, they suddenly saw a carriage and a group of attendants.

This group of people were from the government office; they set off towards the capital.

Xu Yuehuai was stunned, just staring at the grand procession. Pei Xuan helped his mother, who was dressed in simple clothes, and the old lady moved slowly, sitting properly in the back of the carriage after entering.

The old lady exuded an aura of righteousness, which Xu Yuehuai could still feel despite the distance.

As for Pei Xuan's wife, she was clearly a gentle, virtuous, and well-educated woman. She sat next to the old lady and chatted with her from time to time. The people, seeing that Pei Xuan was preparing to go to the capital, happily approached.

Everyone prepared a lot of food and supplies, and someone gave Pei Xuan a pair of boots.

The man chased after the carriage, shouting.

"My lord, Lord Pei, these are leather boots I made. Please accept them."

"Sir, please wait. This is the food I prepared. This wine is homemade by the people of my hometown. Please have a sip. Once you leave Yangguan, you'll find no old friends."

Many people are chasing after Pei Xuan.

It was clear that Pei Xuan had a deep and genuine affection for the people here. After chasing after them for a long distance, Pei Xuan's carriage stopped. He turned around and looked at the group of pitiful people. "Everyone, go back quickly. It's getting cold."

"master……"

The crowd chattered on and on.

Pei Xuan said, “The court has bestowed many gifts upon me. I am from Heping County and know the hardships of the people, so I converted all of these into silver and gave it all to the suffering people in the county. Heping County has a population of four million, and Wuming County has a population of three million. There are many elderly, weak, women and children. It is a pity that this money may not reach everyone.”

"After I leave, you all must regroup and live a good life. When we arrive in the capital, if I still have the ability, I will definitely help you."

"master."

To everyone's surprise, Pei Xuan chose to donate all the gold and silver jewelry that the Emperor had rewarded him with. They were all deeply moved and refused to go home, which resulted in a grand send-off ceremony with eighteen ceremonies.

On the long street, every household that did business had left.

Many women and children followed silently behind.

It's unclear who knelt first, but the others followed suit, making the scene suddenly quite tragic.

Even after the carriage had gone some distance, the people still followed behind.

Xu Yuehuai was amazed, saying, "Today I have seen the most honest and upright official."

“Yes,” Zhou Wan echoed, “that’s tens of thousands of taels of gold.”

These rewards were enough for Pei Xuan to live comfortably for three lifetimes, but he gave them away to the people so easily. He was the same person he was before, and he is still the same person he is now.

Even the old woman and her wife no longer wore any ornaments on their heads; they left looking rather shabby, the only difference being that their clothes had been changed into clean, new ones.

At the fork in the road in the distance, Qi Guze and Tie Xiong stood side by side.

"I believe he will keep all the money for himself."

"Rather than saying I believe him, I believe I believe in my own judgment. He is a good official. When he goes to the capital, I should lend him a hand and help him rise to the top."

In fact, officials who serve the country and its people should be rewarded by policy and should indeed hold high positions.

He was prepared to provide support.

As for Tie Xiong, he seemed rather sad, his tone sounding mournful, revealing a sense of helplessness and loss: "Many people were very nice, but they all changed when they arrived in the capital."

The environment broadened the horizons of these officials from impoverished rural areas, making them realize that they had to cultivate factions and engage in corrupt practices to survive, turning them into dogs.

Both remained silent. Suddenly, Tie Xiong said, "Everyone in the world knows that there is Pei Xuan among men and Xu Yuehuai among women, but no one knows that it is you who truly handled these matters and truly helped the refugees."

"What does this have to do with me?" Qi Guze smiled nonchalantly.

At this moment, Tie Xiong added, "She will also donate the money."

"I bet she will."

Qi Guze himself didn't know why he said that.

In short, he was 100% certain that Xu Yuehuai would do that.

Xu Yuehuai watched Pei Xuan's carriage leave, and the people chased after it one after another. Although the carriage had been transported away, the people were still reluctant to leave and lingered. Only then did she seem to remember the look in Pei Xuan's eyes.

That gaze was disdainful, disgusted, and utterly unpleasant.

“Let’s,” Zhou Wan looked behind her, “go back.”

Xu Yuehuai had originally planned to travel around and have some fun, but now that everyone was gone and every house was empty, Xu Yuehuai was too lazy to go anywhere.

Most importantly, Pei Xuan's heroic act turned into a shapeless shockwave that swept over her, making her restless and absent-minded on the way back, feeling lost and disoriented.

After walking only two or three steps, Xu Yuehuai saw a mother selling her two daughters along the street. The older daughter was seven or eight years old, and the younger daughter was only three or four years old. The two girls followed their emaciated mother.

When the mother saw Xu Yuehuai approaching, she hurriedly fawned over him.

It was a face with crisscrossing wrinkles. If it weren't for the fact that this woman had eyes that were almost identical to those of the two girls, Xu Yuehuai would have almost thought that this woman was a human trafficker.

"Miss, good girl," the woman said with difficulty, her voice hoarse and trembling with tears, "Please wait, please wait. May I ask if your household needs any maids?"

"Are you planning to sell them?" Xu Yuehuai asked the girl.

The older, well-behaved one leaned closer to Xu Yuehuai and said, "Sister, I know a lot of things. I can cook for you, and cleaning is no problem for me either."