Jiang Qinyu slept restlessly. She had a nightmare in which Lu Yanzheng was covered in blood and hacked to death in front of the city gate of the border town.

Just as she was about to run over, she heard a knock on the door.

"Madam, Madam, please wake up!" It was Yunzhu's voice from outside the door.

Jiang Qinyu sat up abruptly, and while putting on her clothes, she called out, "What's going on outside?"

She was covered in sweat, her hair was soaked with sweat, but she really hadn't heard any sound before, and only now did she hear the commotion outside.

"Refugees have come to our village! The village chief is leading people to stop them from entering the village." Yunzhu quickly explained the situation outside.

Jiang Qinyu's mind was still a mess. Hearing this, she opened the door, frowned, and asked, "Why are there still refugees coming at this hour?"

The group of people who came from Qiongzhou earlier were resettled in various villages with water in Yongshan County. The original population of those places had become sparse due to the previous famine, so the refugees were used to fill the gaps.

"This servant doesn't know either. The village chief sent someone to invite Madam to take a look." Yunzhu looked at her with concern.

Yunzhu has been in Dingshui Village for more than two months now, and she knows the place quite well. Compared to the outside world, Dingshui Village is like a paradise.

If new refugees are allowed into the village, will it change their original lives?

Jiang Qinyu lifted her foot and walked out, "I'll go take a look."

When she pushed open the courtyard gate, she saw that the village entrance was completely blocked by people.

Jiang Qinyu didn't rush forward, but stayed behind, listening carefully to what Village Chief Li and the others were saying.

"Village chief, please have pity on us! It's been a really tough journey for us!"

"Yes, we don't ask for anything else, we just want a place to stay tonight. If you don't like it, we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes, yes, we'll leave tomorrow!"

"Dear aunties, grandmas, and old friends, please have mercy and let us stay here for one night..."

Village Chief Li kept his brows furrowed as he looked at these people without saying a word.

“Village chief, I think they really are quite pitiful, how about we…” Li Dachui hesitated, and put down the axe he was holding.

Chen Shao immediately objected, "Uncle Big Hammer, we can't just let anyone into the village. Otherwise, it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away. Who knows if they'll keep their word?"

“I think Ashao is right,” Liu Yazi nodded in agreement. “These days we can’t be too kind.”

He had heard from people in other villages that they had kindly taken in refugees, but those refugees had stolen things from their village. Moreover, the refugees outnumbered the original inhabitants and even monopolized the water source, preventing the original inhabitants from using it.

This kind of thing didn't just happen in one or two villages, but in several villages. In the end, it was Lord Wei who sent his yamen runners to resolve it.

"Don't wrong us! We're not like that, are we, folks?" one of the refugees shouted.

All the refugees echoed him, "Yes! We're not like that! Don't wrong us!"

Liu Erleng, still holding the gong, scoffed and said, "We don't know what kind of people you are, but does this look like you're asking for a favor?"

He sensed something was wrong as soon as he spotted the group, because they didn't look like they had been traveling for a long time. At least they were speaking with a strong voice, which meant they hadn't suffered much on the way.

But that's the strange thing. What are the conditions like outside? Although the temperature dropped a little after entering September, it was only a little. Water supply outside is still a big problem.

These people have already done a great job getting this far, so how could they possibly have the energy to challenge them?

Moreover, this group of people clearly outnumbers the people in their village. What if they turn their backs on them if they are allowed in?

Meng Tianze sniffed hard, his brow furrowed, and tugged at Village Chief Li's sleeve, whispering in his ear, "Village Chief, these people smell of blood, not animal blood, but human blood..."

Village Chief Li's heart tightened. "Really?"

“Really! I’m sure I’m not mistaken.” Meng Tianze nodded vigorously.

He hadn't said a word the whole time; he was just observing this group of people.

Although they had the elderly, children, and women stand in front to talk to the villagers, he could still see clearly at night that the strong laborers behind them didn't look like good guys.

Village Chief Li made a quick decision, but he still turned around and saw Jiang Qinyu behind him. He quickly waved to her, "Niece, come to the front!"

Jiang Qinyu had just observed the refugees who had arrived and was about to step forward when she heard Village Chief Li calling her.

“Uncle Village Chief, we can’t let these people into the village,” Jiang Qinyu stepped forward and said bluntly.

Village Chief Li's expression was grave, and he asked with a hint of anxiety, "You can smell the blood on them too?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu paused, sniffed hard, and then frowned deeply. "We absolutely cannot let them into the village!"

She didn't want these people to enter the village earlier because they looked numerous, and the number of elderly people, children, and women was less than one-tenth.

This is very problematic.

Under normal circumstances, even if a team cannot achieve a 1:1 male-to-female ratio, it should at least be 5:1, with 5 men and 1 woman.

If there is a severe gender imbalance in a refugee group, then, for one thing, the men will definitely have a lot of say in the group, and they might even use the women in the group to exchange for survival resources, which would lead to the gender imbalance in the group.

If such a team were to enter a village, regardless of their numbers, their atmosphere would be very off-putting.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!