"…Where's your master? Do you need our help?"
Before these words came out, the figure who was patted from behind suddenly turned around like a frightened bird, raised the hand holding the dagger, and immediately stabbed at the person behind him.
She moved so quickly that the other person was startled and leaned back to avoid the attack. He grabbed her wrist holding the dagger and asked in confusion, "I didn't ask you a question, why did you stab me?"
She wanted to pull her wrist back but couldn't. The dagger in her hand had already fallen to the ground. She raised her other hand to attack but was also restrained.
Faced with such swiftness and extraordinary strength, she was anxious and afraid: "...Let me go!"
Ah Dian was surprised: "You are a girl!"
The girl disguised as a man turned pale when she heard that and subconsciously looked towards the alley entrance. In an eagerness to escape, she suddenly leaned forward and opened her mouth to bite Adian's hand.
Ah Dian was so frightened that he quickly let her go. When she tried to run away, he immediately grabbed her arms from behind and pressed her against the wall in the alley. He shouted to Chang Suining who was walking with the horse, "Ah Li, come and look, I caught an assassin!"
Chang Suining, wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, came over: "Assassin?"
"I'm not!" The girl struggled to move and said anxiously, "I just got separated from my family... I'm just an ordinary disaster victim!"
Ah Dian said hurriedly: "But she has a knife! A very sharp knife!"
He held the man down with one hand and pointed at the dagger with the other hand: "Look, it's right there!"
Chang Suining walked forward, picked it up, and looked at it carefully.
The girl's voice became more urgent: "...someone took advantage of the chaos to steal things, I just used it to protect myself!"
Chang Suining did not comment and asked her, "Are you from Xingyang?"
This place is only more than 30 miles away from Xingyang City, which is between Luoyang and Bianzhou. Chang Suining has brought people here to provide disaster relief in the past few days.
"Yes... I am!" The girl's tone was filled with a plea: "I didn't mean to hurt anyone just now!"
Chang Suining said to Ah Dian, "Let her go."
Adian didn't hesitate and let go immediately.
The girl was able to turn around and look at Chang Suining, or more precisely, at her only self-defense weapon: "Please return the dagger to me, I..."
Before she finished her words, she heard hurried footsteps and voices coming from the other end of the alley: "Quick, this way!"
"Since someone said they saw him, he must be nearby!"
“This way!”
The girl's face turned pale, and she no longer bothered to ask Chang Suining for the dagger. She immediately ran to the other end of the alley.
However, just as he took two quick steps, he heard a calm voice reminding him, "I just came from the front. There are more soldiers chasing and searching for the fugitive."
The girl paused, and then subconsciously looked at the person who spoke.
In the misty rain, she saw a pair of calm and clear eyes under the bamboo hat. They looked at each other, and the owner of the eyes asked, "Do you need my help?"
The girl opened her mouth, and then nodded hurriedly, "If you can help me, I will definitely repay you later..."
Before she finished her words of promise, she saw the other party quickly take a set of rain gear from the horse's back and said, "Put it on and help me lead the horse."
The girl grabbed the straw raincoat and hat thrown at her and put them on in a hurry. At this time, the line of soldiers had arrived at the entrance of the alley. Chang Suining stepped sideways and blocked the girl behind him.
After the girl was dressed, she tried her best to remain calm and held the reins of the horse.
Chang Suining turned around and said, "Let's go."
Can they really get away like this? Aren't there people chasing them ahead? The girl was unsure, but she nodded in agreement, turned her back to the soldiers who were looking at her, and walked forward with her horse.
"stop!"
The leading soldier shouted.
The girl's body stiffened, and her fingers holding the reins trembled. As expected!
She subconsciously wanted to escape, wanted to run, but she heard that voice ringing in her ears: "Hold the horse."
This voice seemed to have the power to calm people's hearts. The girl's feet seemed to be stabilized and she did not move for a while.
Chang Suining turned around and looked at the group of people coming.
As the group of soldiers came over, they asked, "What are you doing? Where did you get the horses?"
In order to facilitate disaster relief, Chang Suining and Adian both wore light robes and covered themselves with straw raincoats, so their identities could not be seen. However, the horse was a rare good horse, which could be seen at a glance.
Ah Dian immediately replied: "We are here to help with disaster relief!"
"Disaster relief?" Looking at the excellent colt, the leading soldier narrowed his greedy eyes slightly, and then fixed his gaze on Chang Suining: "Ordinary people can't afford such a good horse..."
He looked at Chang Suining's stature and ordered, "Raise your head and take off your hat."
This tone made Ah Dian angry: "Why should I listen to you!"
"We are under the order of General Li Xian in Luoyang City to search for fugitives in nearby counties and cities!" The soldier in armor looked at Chang Suining steadily: "You look suspicious, you are clearly not ordinary people!"
As he said that, he suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at Chang Suining: "Why, do you want me to help you pick it?"
Chang Suining raised his hand to stop Ah Dian, looked at the knife pointed at him, and asked, "If I offer my horse and the money on my body, can you give me a favor?"
When Guiqi heard this, his ears suddenly pricked up, and he turned around and grinned and shouted in dissatisfaction.
The girl quickly pulled it tight.
The soldier who pointed the knife at Chang Suining's eyes moved slightly when he heard this, and suddenly smiled and put down the knife: "We still have to conduct routine inspections, but as long as we can verify that you are not the fugitives we are looking for, we will naturally not make it difficult for you."
Chang Suining also smiled: "Taking advantage of the chaos to plunder money, so this is how you hunt down fugitives."
The soldier's expression, which had just relaxed, suddenly darkened after hearing this: "What did you say?"
I thought he was a sensible person!
In the face of natural disasters and the riots of the nobles, countless people died every day. He just hacked them to death as if they were fugitives from the nobles. Who could do anything to him? Over the past few days, their swords had been stained with the blood of countless nobles. Watching those high-ranking scholars and officials die tragically under their swords, in addition to relieving their anger, they also felt an indescribable sense of superiority and accomplishment.
This feeling made them act more and more without scruples, regardless of rules and order... They must know that they were working for General Li Xian, and General Li Xian was working for the saint!
At this moment, seeing that the young man in front of him showed no fear at all, the soldier felt that he was being greatly provoked, so he raised his knife and chopped at him.
At the same moment, the young man suddenly raised his leg, moving as fast as the wind.
Chang Suining kicked him hard in the upper abdomen, kicking him three or five steps away, and he fell backwards to the ground with a thud.
The soldier gritted his teeth and sat up, angrily saying, "They are indeed the remnants of the rebel nobles! Hurry up and take them down!"
As he said that, he immediately grabbed the long knife at hand and was about to chop at Chang Suining again.
Just when they were about to rush forward together and kill them on the spot, they suddenly saw a group of police officers with strict steps coming quickly from the alley behind the three men and the horse, led by several local officials.
The girl holding the reins narrowed her eyes when she saw this. She felt that her way forward or backward was blocked and she was terrified for a moment.
"…What are you doing?" The leading official was shocked and questioned the soldiers who were holding knives.
The man who was just kicked to the ground by Chang Suining frowned, not afraid of the local officials at all: "We are following the order of General Li Xian to capture the fugitive and track him all the way here!"
"Where is the fugitive?" An official stepped forward quickly and raised his hand towards Chang Suining: "This is General Ning Yuan! You are committing treason, so you know what the punishment should be!"
General Ning... Ning Yuan?!
The soldiers all looked pale and looked at the young man wearing a bamboo hat in disbelief.
How could General Ningyuan come here to personally rescue the disaster! Seeing the officials such as the county magistrate coming forward to salute the young man, the leading soldier had no time to think more. With a rumble in his head, he knelt down and said, "I am blind... I didn't know General Ningyuan was here. I hope you will forgive me for any offense!"
Although this General Ningyuan is only a fifth-rank official now, the sage had already announced to the world last year that whoever takes Xu Zhengye's head will be rewarded with a third-rank official position... Putting aside the official position, this woman is extremely prestigious now, and they really can't afford to offend her.
He felt regretful and unlucky—why didn’t the other party reveal his identity in the first place! Then he thought of the other party’s words of offering horses and money just now, and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat… The other party was deliberately testing them and deliberately catching them doing their job wrong! In a panic, the man saw the tall figure stepping on muddy boots and walking up to him: “Waist badge.”
The man did not dare to disobey, and hurriedly took off his badge and held it high in his hands to the other party.
Chang Suining took it, glanced at the position and name on it, and then threw it back to him, saying, "What have you done these days? Go and apologize to General Li Xian."
The man kowtowed to the figure who turned and left: "Yes... Thank you, General Ning Yuan!"
Knowing that she had taken note of him, he could not refuse to apologize. The man felt unlucky, but he could only see her off respectfully.
"...Is General Ningyuan frightened?" After leaving the alley, the local county magistrate asked. Although he also felt that those people were frightened, it would always be right to show some concern.
The disaster situation in their county was very serious, and the government in Xingyang City was too busy to take care of them. Fortunately, General Ningyuan led his troops to rescue them, and he was sincerely grateful for this.
Chang Suining shook his head and asked him about the progress in various places. The group talked as they walked.
The girl, whose face was hidden by the hat, followed behind, leading the horse. She looked at Chang Suining's back in front of her, with a dazed expression under the hat.
Was it General Ning Yuan? Didn't General Ning Yuan... obey the orders of the Saint? Since he had guessed her identity as a fugitive, why did he save her? Why did he dare to save her?
The group had not walked far when She Cai, who was in charge of building a temporary shelter for the disaster victims in the county, came over with his men and reported the progress to Chang Suining.
"Thanks to you all... I will have someone resettle the victims now."
Several county officials saluted Chang Suining and others again.
The rain was much lighter at this time and most of the victims had been rescued. The only thing left to consider now was food.
The imperial court had not yet allocated relief grain, and half of the grain in the county's granary was destroyed by water, and the remaining half was almost used up. They had no choice but to seek help from the Xingyang government.
The officials who were sent to ask for food had gone to Xingyang early in the morning and had not returned yet, so they could only wait for news.
Floods are different from droughts. Droughts do not destroy stored grain, but when floods occur, people's houses collapse and food is difficult to preserve. If the granaries are not stored properly, there will be heavy losses.
Chang Suining went to help resettle the victims and waited with them for news from Xingyang. If the Xingyang government also had no food or was unwilling to allocate food, then they would have to find other ways to deal with the emergency.
The rain stopped, but the dark clouds never dispersed. The sky quickly darkened and the lights were sparse and shaking, looking particularly exhausted.
The officials finally turned back, but they did not get any food. The Xingyang government claimed that there was no food available either, and asked them to find another way to hold on while waiting for the relief food to be delivered.
As they did not receive any food, some people started crying and complaining, while others who were so hungry that they lost their minds snatched the little dry food left from those around them, and thus started fighting.
After the county magistrate stepped in to control the situation, he took out the last bit of rice and cooked porridge to distribute to the victims.
After the porridge was cooked, the county magistrate personally held a large bowl and brought it to Chang Suining.
Looking at the gray-haired county magistrate, Chang Suining shook his head and said, "No need. We have dry food. Please enjoy this bowl of porridge."
The county magistrate did everything by himself. It was not easy for him to save people in the water at such an age.
Seeing Chang Suining's repeated refusal, the county magistrate asked someone to bring another bowl, poured out half of the porridge in the large bowl, picked up the bowl himself, and asked someone to deliver the rest to an injured scholar who was unable to move.
Most of what is poured out is rice soup, and the rest is thicker.
Shepherd's Purse watched the old magistrate finish drinking the bowl of rice soup and then asking the injured people about their medication. She couldn't help but sigh, "How can we continue like this?"
This is just one county, but there are many people facing the same situation today.
Chang Suining, sitting on a stone, subconsciously looked towards the direction of Xingyang City with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of horse hooves stepping on the accumulated water.
The girl who was originally distracted behind Chang Suining immediately tensed up.
Chang Suining simply retracted her gaze and looked in the direction where the sound of horse hooves came from. She arranged for soldiers to stand sentry, and soon someone came to report: "General, it's General Cui and his men!"
Cui Jing is back? Chang Suining stood up immediately.
Cui Jing has been inspecting the Yellow River dike for more than ten days.
During the past ten days or so, the situation inside and outside Luoyang City has completely changed. Not only are there natural disasters, but there are also man-made ones.
In the light of the torches, the group of people were mostly dressed in black clothes and black armor, and their majestic aura was inviolable.
The robe of the leading young man was half wet, and his eyebrows on his face, which was covered with raindrops, became darker and his outline became clearer and deeper.
He dismounted at this time and strode towards Chang Suining.
Chang Suining noticed that there was someone beside him whom she had never seen before.
Seeing that man, the girl, who didn't dare to leave Chang Suining, looked a little surprised for a moment.
Is anyone there? Did everyone go to celebrate the festival today? (It's been a turmoil these days, please give me a monthly ticket, dears! Love you, good night~
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