If the enemy coming was an organized and skilled one, the guards would naturally attack without mercy, but the one coming was a group of civilians, mostly the elderly and women, so for a moment they were at a loss and did not dare to act rashly.
However, while the guards were hesitating, the crowd became more and more aggressive.
Following the man's loud shout, the crowd's attention instantly focused on the dozen or so carriages behind.
Several sturdy women running in the middle put down baskets, which were filled with oil-soaked rags and wooden sticks that were easy to ignite.
Obviously, they came prepared.
"Stop." A cold shout came from the car.
The crowd paused for only a moment, then began to get agitated again. The women holding the oilcloth were about to light the tinder.
At this moment, a sound of breaking through the air was heard.
A sharp arrow shot out from the first carriage and pierced directly between the two people in the crowd who spoke first and shouted the loudest.
No matter if the arrow deviated even a little bit to the left or right, it would not have penetrated the ground, but the flesh and blood of one of the two people.
"Murder, murder!"
After silence, a scream came from the old woman who was almost stabbed by the arrow.
However, just as she shouted this, several "whoosh" sounds were heard, and several sharp arrows hit the ground beside her at the same time.
The shouting stopped abruptly. The old woman had no doubt that if she dared to shout again, the arrow would not only be shot at the ground below her feet...
The escort team of more than 400 people drew their weapons at the same time.
The cold light flashing on the sword is enough to dazzle people's eyes even in the dark.
"Stop." The cold shout rang out again.
This time, everyone could see clearly that the person who was speaking was holding a longbow and standing on the shaft of the first carriage.
The woman with black hair and plain dress was obviously a woman, but no one dared to underestimate her.
Wei Yunlan looked at the crowd below who were all looking panic-stricken. At the same time, he also noticed the few people at the front of the crowd whose eyes were constantly rolling around, as if they were up to some evil intentions.
He quietly winked at Zou Yun, and immediately guards stepped forward and restrained those people.
They wanted to struggle and shout, but they had no chance to speak. As soon as they opened their mouths, they were blocked tightly by pieces of cloth.
“Hmm, hmm…”
Seeing them like this, the people standing behind became even more frightened, and some of them even had the idea of retreating, wanting to escape quickly before the guards could react.
"Please stay." Wei Yunlan spoke again, but his tone was much softer.
The crowd who wanted to leave shuddered subconsciously, and then they breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed that no sharp arrows were flying towards them this time.
But being stared at by more than 400 guards, he lost the courage he had when someone took the lead. He couldn't help but kneel down with his knees weak, "Please forgive me, my lord, please forgive me..."
"You don't have to do this, just stand up and talk." Wei Yunlan's gaze fell on the few people who knelt down first.
It can be seen that they were truly frightened. Even after they knelt down, their bodies were still shaking uncontrollably.
If no one instigates them, such people will come to stop the grain team and burn the grain seeds. If you tell others about it, I'm afraid no one will believe it.
The task of interrogating the captured leaders was given to the people of Tianshu Pavilion. Wei Yunlan asked the remaining terrified people, "Who told you that the new grain seeds are monsters and should not be planted?"
"No one told us this, this... this is the truth!"
A dark-faced woman stiffened her neck and mustered up her courage: "I saw with my own eyes that after someone ate that monster, their tongue became numb, and they vomited and had diarrhea. Some people were even worse, and fainted not long after eating it!"
"Yes, I saw it, too."
"If the barefoot doctor in the village hadn't induced vomiting in time, the young man would have died by now. This clod of earth, this monster, is really harmful to people!"
Wei Yunlan's heart sank, and he realized that this was probably a sign of poisoning from eating stale potatoes.
However, when they first promoted the grain, they had already explained the storage requirements and other taboos that needed to be paid attention to. The most important of these was that potatoes that had sprouted were not edible.
These people had never seen or grown potatoes before, which shows that potatoes had not yet been introduced to their area.
In this situation, two people happened to eat stale potatoes by mistake and became ill in front of them.
Wei Yunlan didn't believe that there was nothing fishy about this.
The most likely possibility is that someone deliberately set up this situation to hinder the promotion of the new grain varieties and slander the reputation of those who promote the new grain varieties. Even worse, they wanted to use this to throw a basin of dirty water on King You's head!
"Make a fire." Wei Yunlan ordered Tang Chuan and Tang Hai, "Bring two baskets of potatoes and roast them."
Tang Chuan and Tang Hai did as they were told.
Soon several bonfires were lit next to the team, and two large baskets of potatoes were brought over.
Looking at these crops that looked like lumps of earth, the people surrounding the team couldn't help but show panic.
Wei Yunlan picked up one of them. "This crop is called sweet potato. It is a species that has never appeared in Dayong before. However, in the past two years, it has been planted for several seasons in the northern Huangzhou area and the southwestern Tanzhou area. Whether in the arid and cold land in the north or the warm and humid land in the south, the per-acre yield of this crop is much higher than the existing crops in Dayong."
"You should all have heard of Huangzhou. In the past, it was a bitter and cold place where few people were willing to flee. But now, the local refugees rely on planting this crop and have been able to eat two meals a day and no longer suffer from hunger."
"Yes, I can testify to this." As Wei Yunlan finished speaking, another voice rang out. Princess Daning, who was dressed simply but had a golden hairpin on her head and had a graceful demeanor, came out of the carriage. She looked around at the crowd in front of her and said, "I am the daughter of the current Prince Duan, and Princess Daning was personally conferred by the late emperor. For the past two years, I have been living in Huangzhou, promoting this new grain!"
"You said this thing is poisonous when eaten, but you are deceived. As long as the sweet potato is not allowed to sprout and is cooked before eating, there will be no harm at all. If you don't believe me, wait and see. I can eat it myself and show you!"
The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment.
Unexpectedly, there was a princess hiding in the team promoting grain seeds.
Prince Duan...
He seems to be the brother of the late emperor, a person whom even the current emperor has to call uncle?
Let the princess eat the monster in front of them.
If the princess is poisoned, won’t their lives be in danger as well?
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