Chapter 241: Lady Yunge

A few days later, Shen Qingbai was appointed as the inspector and led 300 soldiers to escort 2,000 rioters to Beihai Prefecture.

Originally he was a little worried about having 300 people escorting 2,000 people. Even though the 300 people he brought were brave and powerful soldiers with weapons, they were still escorting 2,000 people, and they were rioters who had rebelled.

If you are not careful, you might not know who is escorting whom.

But after seeing the so-called two thousand rioters, Shen Qingbai knew why his superiors only gave him three hundred people.

Among the two thousand captives, there were not only young and middle-aged people, but also the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled... Pregnant?

Looking at the pregnant woman with a bulging belly who looked like she was about to give birth at any time, Shen Qingbai felt a little numb all over.

He had heard a little about the Jinnan Rebellion and knew that many people were forced to "rebel" and many were abducted to rebel. He was also aware that the so-called captives might be fancy, but when he saw that these were more like refugees who had migrated with their families than captives, he remained silent.

These people are all ragged and skinny. They have been captured and driven away since the Jinnan Rebellion. No one knows how they survived.

The pregnant woman with a round belly also looked pale. If it weren't for her tall husband next to her, she would not have been able to hold on until now.

Even though she was already pregnant, she still had to wear shackles and, like the others, embark on a journey of thousands of miles of exile under the scorching sun.

The dust was thick and the sun was high. Two thousand prisoners lined up and walked forward step by step. The soldiers on both sides waved whips and scolded them, urging them to speed up. Only Shen Qingbai rode a horse, but his situation was not much better.

It lasted all day and didn't get cool until the sun set in the evening.

The escort team stopped to rest at the edge of the woods next to the official road. The soldiers gathered together, drinking water and talking, complaining that the sun was still so hot even though it was already autumn, and complaining about the prisoners' slow pace.

The person next to him smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, it won't take ten days or half a month to get up."

The sergeant who was in charge of the escort for the first time asked in confusion: "Why is this happening? Shouldn't it be getting slower and slower as we go?"

The old man said meaningfully: "Because, after ten days or half a month, those who can't walk anymore won't have to walk anymore."

The newcomer's eyes fell on the pale and skinny prisoners, and then he realized: in ten days or half a month, those who are weak and sick here will probably be dead.

"Okay, it's time to distribute the rations."

On the other side, several officers stood up, picked up the bulging sacks from the carriage carrying dry food, and then walked towards the prisoners who were sitting on the ground, leaning against each other.

"Here, take it, one for each of you, for tonight's rations..."

One by one, the black and rough steamed buns were thrown at the prisoners. The prisoners who were already dying struggled to get up and picked them up in a hurry.

Two black steamed buns, no bigger than a fist, were fed to them every day, one in the morning and one in the evening, keeping them alive.

A child of about seven or eight years old devoured his own steamed bun with his neck stretched. Next to him, the child's mother cut her own steamed bun into two and handed half to the child.

The child kept shaking his head, but his mother stuffed the steamed bread into his mouth: "Be good, mother will only eat half of it."

The woman held the small piece of steamed bread in her hand and ate it very carefully, fearing that even a single crumb would fall.

If she could, she would rather give it all to her child, but she couldn't.

She couldn't die, she only had her child. If she died, her child probably wouldn't live long either.

At this time, someone nearby tried to snatch someone else's steamed bread, but the officer whipped him on the back and said, "If you cause trouble, forget about eating... Damn your father."

The prisoner cried and begged for mercy: "I am so hungry, so hungry, sir, please give me some more, please give me some more."

The officer yelled, "It's good enough that you have something to eat. You rebels are ungrateful for the emperor's grace and greedy... Get out!"

The officer snatched the half-eaten steamed bread from the man's hand. He tried to get it back, but was kicked to the ground, groaning weakly.

At this moment, someone under a nearby tree screamed: "Help, help, help..."

Shen Qingbai quickly stood up and walked over there. Siyue protected him. After taking a few steps closer, he saw a thin woman lying on the ground, twitching, with a red face.

"This is extremely weak and a little dehydrated."

A voice sounded, Shen Qingbai turned around suddenly, his eyes suddenly showing joy: "Sister."

Chen Ning brought July and February over, took out a porcelain bottle and poured out a pill. July handed the pill to the woman's family. The family looked at Chen Ning, then gritted their teeth and fed the pill into the person's mouth.

July handed over another water bag, and the family quickly took it and fed it to the twitching woman...

After a while, the man finally recovered and slowly opened his eyes.

"Thank you, Miss. Thank you for saving my life."

The family members around the woman kept kowtowing to express their gratitude. Shen Ning waved her hand, then walked aside with Shen Qingbai.

A moment later, a middle-aged man who looked like a manager came out and said loudly, "Everyone, this is my master, Princess Yong'an..."

The rioters below looked at each other in confusion.

It’s actually the princess?

It was the noble and honorable princess who saved one of them just now.

Then, the steward continued to speak loudly: "I am a steward under the master. Now, I am leading a team to Beihai Prefecture and need some manpower..."

Soon, the prisoners understood what the steward meant: the steward under the princess was going to Beihai Prefecture to do business, and they were also going to Beihai Prefecture, so they wanted to hire them to pull a cart.

It's not for free, they get paid, and the money they earn from transporting goods can be used to buy dry food, water, medicinal herbs and other necessities in the caravan...

Hearing these words, the prisoners subconsciously looked at the officers and soldiers escorting them, only to see that the soldiers turned a blind eye and obviously would not ask any questions. Immediately, the prisoners felt relieved.

When the steward finished speaking, he asked if anyone wanted to sign up. Almost instantly, the prisoners who had just stood up all moved forward.

"Me, I'll sign up. I'm strong and I can pull a lot of cargo."

"I, I, I used to be a dock worker. I'm really strong..."

Even the old and weak ones, those who looked to be in their early teens, regardless of gender, strength or weakness, all rushed towards the manager.

Beihai Prefecture is a long and arduous journey through the mountains. With only two black steamed buns of dry food a day, at least half of the people would be dead by the time they arrived at Beihai Prefecture.

But it would be different if you could be employed. You would still have to walk to earn wages to buy food and water, so at least you could live longer.

The manager was almost drowned, and quickly raised his hand and shouted, "Don't crowd, everyone line up, anyone who crowds and makes trouble will be kicked out..."

Soon, two thousand people lined up in ten rows. If you didn't look closely, you would think it was an army formation.

"Li Erniu..." The check-in clerk glanced at the tall man in front of him and said, "Cart No. 3."

"Zhang Dadan, unicycle number 18."

"He Si... pushes the cart."

…………

At first, the prisoners were a little confused and didn't know what they were doing. What did the cart, the wheelbarrow, and the cart mean?

But when the registration was almost finished and it was getting dark, everyone saw a convoy appearing on the official road behind them.

Horse-drawn carriages, ox-drawn carts, flatbed carts, wheelbarrows... Looking around, there are hundreds of various vehicles, and they are all loaded to the brim.

Soon, hundreds of cars stopped in the open space outside the woods beside the official road, which was a spectacular sight.

The people who had just registered as employed were led to the cars by the guys holding the signs in their hands, and then were told that the signs in their hands corresponded to their own cars, and that the car would be in the charge of the person holding the sign all the way to Beihai Prefecture.

The person who holds the license is responsible for pulling the cart and keeping watch over the goods on the cart. Each cart is equipped with eight people, four of whom are divided into groups of two and are responsible for taking turns pulling the cart, and the other four are responsible for taking turns pushing the cart.

Each wheelbarrow is equipped with four people who take turns pushing it.

The carriage is driven by two people who can take turns driving it...

Soon, more than a thousand hired prisoners were assigned to each vehicle in an orderly manner, and the remaining hundreds of people stood aside in panic.

Some of the hired people wanted to return to their families with tears in their eyes, but their relatives kept waving at them, asking them to seize this rare opportunity to survive.

The husband of the expectant mother stood beside a cart, pursing his lips and looking at his wife. His wife was supported by an old man and kept waving at him.

At this time, the manager spoke again: "Now, the rest of you go to the convoy to find your families."

The remaining people were stunned at first, then when they came to their senses, they rushed over there in a hurry. Soon, there were only about a hundred people left.

The rest were those who had no strength to pull the carts and had no strong laborers or relatives or friends to rely on. There were a few older people, and the rest were basically women and children, all of whom were skinny, weak, and looked despairing.

At this time, the manager said: "The remaining people will be divided into five teams, responsible for cooking, washing clothes, and collecting firewood..."

A ray of hope slowly emerged from the desperate expressions of those women and children.

After Shen Ning and Shen Qingbai finished talking, they walked towards their carriage. On the carriage, Shuchi Yan, who was disguised as an attendant, looked at her without blinking.

"My sister is the Queen of Yunge..."

Shen Ning was puzzled: "Who is Lady Yunge?"

"The goddess on the grassland who dispels darkness and benefits all things."

Shen Ning laughed: "I haven't been to your grassland yet..."