Qinling originally thought that such a wealthy county town would not charge its residents an entrance fee.
Moreover, these displaced disaster victims
Who knew that the city entry fee would increase instead of decrease? This is really driving people crazy!
He looked at the sky and said to everyone...
"It's getting late. Everyone should have heard what Xing and Yi said. We need to decide quickly whether or not to go into the city!"
After thinking about it again, he said
“If we don’t go into the city, we’ll rest here for the night. Tomorrow we’ll bypass Shipo County, which will add several hundred li to our mountain journey. You all go and discuss it! Let me know in a quarter of an hour!”
Qin Liang and Liu Zheng figured everyone was definitely going into the city, so they quickly walked over to the temple keeper.
Qin Liang bowed and said
"Sir, you and the abbot will be coming with us later. You don't have any copper coins, but we do, and we'll give them to you then!"
The temple keeper bowed to Qin Liang and Liu Zheng.
"I am deeply grateful for the great kindness of these two gentlemen!"
Aside from the 100 taels of incense money added by Qin Liang and his wife, all they had left was the pure gold incense burner donated by Qin Luo.
Taking out either of these two things would bring them deadly trouble!
Watching the departing clansmen and villagers, and then gazing at the majestic city walls ahead.
And the disaster victims with their backs bent under the city wall
Qinling stood there, stunned.
I truly felt the overwhelming helplessness and sigh in my chest…
In less than fifteen minutes, the clansmen and villagers gathered together again, and everyone agreed to go to the city.
Firstly, there's the fear of running out of water after traveling hundreds of miles of mountain roads.
Secondly, there's the fear of arriving at the resettlement site too late and ending up in a poor location.
Seeing that everyone had made their decision, Qinling had the able-bodied young men of the village lead the way.
The elderly and infirm followed behind, heading towards the city gate.
After everyone had almost all entered the city gate, they heard soldiers shouting.
"Bandits have appeared ten miles away. All soldiers are to enter the city and prepare to close the gates!"
Old Mrs. Ma, who had previously been arguing with Old Zhang about the city entrance fee, stopped arguing.
He gave her ten coins and had Old Zhang the Pockmarked Man take her into town.
To their surprise, the soldiers who were collecting fees stopped them.
"It's ten coins per person to enter the city now. Only one of you two can come in. The one who doesn't pay will wait outside to die!"
Old Mrs. Ma was furious but dared not speak out, watching as a crowd of people shoved behind her, eager to pay.
Reluctantly, he paid another ten coins before finally entering the city with Old Zhang the Pockmarked.
The villagers walking ahead of her were all laughing at her for trying to steal a chicken and losing more than she gained!
She was so angry that she could only vent her anger on Old Zhang Mazi.
"How can you be so stingy? You won't spend a single penny? You talk about living a good life with me, but I think I'd be better off with my simple-minded grandson!"
Old Zhang Mazi hadn't even received his money yet when he heard what Old Ma said, and he got anxious.
"Xiuer, it's not that I'm reluctant! I really don't have any! Look, I've been taking care of you every day, looking after you, and all the food you've eaten has been mine. I've never complained to you. Saying this really hurts my feelings!"
Old Mrs. Ma thought to herself, she really hadn't given Old Zhang Mazi any money.
And since he had provided all the food and drink along the way, his initial anger instantly subsided.
"Oh dear! Don't be sad, Ma Zi. I was just saying that in the heat of the moment. That's not what I really meant. I know how good you've been to me all this way. Don't worry, once my leg heals, I promise I'll take good care of you!"
Seeing that Old Lady Ma was speaking softly, he immediately seized the opportunity.
"Xiuer! We've decided to be together, but you haven't told me how much silver you have on you. It's not safe for you to have all that silver on you. If you run into robbers, you'll have nothing left. How about I help you keep some of it, and we can keep them separately for safety? What do you say?"
Old Mrs. Ma knew perfectly well what he was thinking.
But then I thought about all the expenses he'd incurred along the way, and all the care he'd given me.
He still took out one or two taels of silver and handed it to him.
"Hey, keep this money safe. It's not that I'm reluctant to leave it with you, but we're not married yet, are we? After we get married, both the money and I will be yours!"
Although Old Zhang cursed her for being stingy in his heart, he still outwardly obeyed her every command.
"Okay, Xiuer! From now on, I'll listen to you. Whatever you say goes. You'll be in charge of our home from now on!"
Old Mrs. Ma felt her face flush from what he said.
"Alright, hurry up and pull the cart, they've all gone far away!"
Old Zhang Mazi then pulled the cart and chased after them.
Qin Ling and his group only realized after entering the city that all the merchants and residents had moved away.
The city is now full of disaster victims; there's nowhere for them to stay.
Everyone sat on the ground in the street, some shaking their heads and sighing as they looked at Qinling.
Some people ignore everyone and hide in a corner, silently shedding tears.
Qin Ling and Doctor You, among others, all felt that something was very wrong.
How can there be so many disaster victims in one city? It's overcrowded.
People were still being let in through the city gates.
The horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts were so crowded that they couldn't move at all.
If it weren't for the villagers protecting them with knives, these disaster victims would probably have rushed up and looted them already.
He instructed his clansmen to protect the women and children, and also sent Mu Xiao and Qin Xian to check the north gate leading out of the city.
Just as the two were about to head towards the north gate, an old woman called out to them.
"No need to go. It's twenty coins per person to leave the city, ten coins for livestock, and five coins for chickens and ducks. But that's just what the notice says; they won't let you take these things with you!"
Ji He stepped forward and bowed to the old woman.
"Sister, what do you mean by that? What do you mean we can't take these things? Are the soldiers here going to just rob us?"
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