Chapter 229 King Zhou
Lin Changning didn't understand and looked at Lao Han with a puzzled expression.
Old Han rode his horse alongside Lin Changning, sighing as he spoke, "The old prince, along with the Duke of Qi, has returned to the capital. One of them injured his foot, and the other his leg, so His Majesty sent Prince Zhou."
Lin Changning asked with some confusion, "King Zhou?"
Old Han could tell from Lin Changning's expression that Lin Changning definitely didn't know what kind of person this was. He showed a bit of disdain and snorted coldly, saying, "Prince Zhou is the current emperor's brother. He just came of age this year. He is neither good at literature nor martial arts, but he is proficient in eating, drinking, gambling and whoring. I don't know what the person above was thinking when he brought this person over."
Old Han rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. He patted Lin Changning on the shoulder and said, "These past two days have been chaotic. That Prince Zhou has arrived in Datong, but he can't get used to living in the government office or the military tents. He's also extremely picky about food and drink."
If that were all, it would be fine. The other day, when this King Zhou went down to oversee disaster relief and distributed grain, for some reason, he got into a conflict with the disaster victims. Some of his personal guards beat two men to death in the street, almost inciting public anger. It was only thanks to our commander that troops were dispatched to suppress and pacify the situation.
Lin Changning frowned. The emperor had sent someone of high status, presumably just to suppress the group of people here.
It's estimated that the matter concerning the rebels will be settled soon, at which point the credit can be attributed to this Prince Zhou, which will also greatly diminish the reputation of Taiyuan.
However, what Lin Changning couldn't understand was that if the emperor wanted to send Prince Zhou to lead the war, and Prince Zhou could simply act as a mascot and gain military merit for free, why would he want to cause conflict with the people when he had nothing else to do?
Could it be that they're trying to frame them for being in command?
Lin Changning slowly sorted out his thoughts in his mind, and after thinking for a while, he decided to wait until he got back to see what was going on.
After traveling for about a day, Lin Changning and Lao Han finally arrived back in Datong City in the middle of the night.
Old Han, riding a tall horse, stood at the very front, tilting his head back and shouting loudly towards the city gate.
"Open the city gates! We're back!!!"
The soldiers above peered out and, upon confirming it was indeed their own troops, responded and quickly ordered the gate tower to be opened.
The two walked side by side, leading the people toward the city. Tonight would probably be another sleepless night. They would go back to check in, then take the people to their places of residence and settle them in. By then, it would be almost dawn.
Lin Changning turned to Wan Jin and instructed, "Later, take Mr. Zheng to the military camp for resettlement, and then go with Lu Shan to settle the people in the north city. I'll go back and find you soon."
Wan Jin clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, rode his horse backward, and when he saw Mr. Zheng Wenshu, he immediately dismounted, said a few words to Mr. Zheng, and then led Mr. Zheng and two women and elderly people towards the camp.
Lin Changning and Lu Shan led the people to the North City. Old Han waited at the gate on horseback. The soldiers divided the people into teams, and the teams then helped set up camp on the spot.
It's night now, so if we're going to distribute food, we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest. We'll set up the camp tonight so the people can rest first, and then they can go and collect the relief food early tomorrow morning.
Lin Changning and Lao Han looked at the orderly soldiers and civilians in front of them, and after feeling relieved, they prepared to head to the camp.
Just as the two were about to leave with their horses, they saw flames shooting into the sky from the west city. Lin Changning's heart skipped a beat; could it be that the Tartars were launching a sneak attack tonight?
Old Han's face suddenly turned serious. The two exchanged a glance, then immediately led their troops toward the west city.
The sound of horses' hooves kicked up dust as Lin Changning and Lao Han rushed towards the west city, their knives already drawn.
The defenses in Datong City have always been very strict. They had not heard any shouts of killing. How could such a large fire suddenly break out in the west city?
When the two arrived at the western city, the city was filled with the screams and shouts of the people.
Because most of the houses in the city were dilapidated when the disaster victims were resettled, and not many people survived, the disaster victims were resettled in a unified manner. Now, in the refugee camp in the west of the city, nearly half of the camp is on fire.
Every now and then, disaster victims would run out of their tents crying and screaming.
Dozens of patrolling soldiers quickly began to fight the fire, but it seemed that oil had been poured on the tents, and the fire was spreading much slower than the flames.
Lin Changning frowned, quickly dismounted, and found that the nearest well was only a few hundred meters away.
After dismounting, Lin Changning immediately ordered: "Everyone, get to the fire!!!"
After saying that, Lin Changning took off his outer robe, leaving only his inner garment, and ran quickly toward the well a few hundred meters away. Old Han also dismounted and directed his soldiers to quickly begin fighting the fire.
Lin Changning walked to the well, soaked his clothes, put them on, picked up a bucket full of water, and ran towards the refugee camp.
Upon arriving at the location, he immediately poured water onto the area where the fire was most intense. He had just heard what sounded like a woman screaming inside. The flames subsided slightly before reigniting.
Lin Changning immediately took off his outer robe and threw the water-soaked clothes at the flames.
Although the method was a bit clumsy, it still had some effect.
Once the flames at the camp had subsided a little, Lin Changning, his clothes still wet, covered his mouth and nose and rushed inside.
In a corner of the tent, a woman was huddled, coughing incessantly, tears and snot streaming down her face, her entire body engulfed in flames.
All that could be seen were the bedding and piled-up clothes, which were now engulfed in flames, trapping people inside.
Lin Changning used his outer robe to sweep the burning flames aside, strode over, and picked the person up in his arms. The person was already somewhat delirious, coughing muffledly and speaking incoherently.
Lin Changning picked up the person and ran outside. After quickly sending the person out of the tent, he realized that his hands were burning with pain.
He must have been stung by the fire while putting it out; a large red patch has appeared on the back of his hand.
There are still many people screaming and crying inside. They must have been sound asleep during the night, and the fire was so big that they couldn't escape.
After settling the person outside, Lin Changning soaked his outer robe in water again and rushed inside.
When they reached the innermost part, a furtive man suddenly caught Lin Changning's attention. At this time, most of the disaster victims had already run out, and the remaining small group were people trapped in the sea of fire.
But instead of running away, the man actually rushed back in with the bucket.
Judging from their posture, they didn't seem to be putting out a fire; they were carrying buckets but not pouring water on the fire.
"Who are you? Everyone's putting out the fire, what are you doing?"
Lin Changning glared at the man and reprimanded him sternly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
