Several hours later, Magistrate Su met Zhou Xun in the main hall of the county government office.
The newcomer's robes were covered in dust. He carefully scanned the leather-armored attendants around him and took a deep sniff; he seemed to smell a faint stench of blood.
"Zhou, the Vice Commissioner!"
Magistrate Su was slightly taken aback when he received the letter.
"Does the Prefect mean we should temporarily close the city gates to prevent refugees from gathering in the city and causing riots?"
Zhou Xun nodded: "When we arrived, there were refugees everywhere, and they were gradually moving towards the surrounding counties. The prefect had already closed the city gates."
Even when it's disaster relief, and soup kitchens are set up, the cooking pots must be placed outside.
No one knows what will happen next.
Magistrate Su said, puzzled, "It seems Mr. Chen was right."
"Um?"
Magistrate Su explained, "Half a month ago, Mr. Chen, the one praised by the higher-ups, had already told me about this matter. I had already purchased the medicinal herbs and grains. So much time has passed, and I thought I was just worrying unnecessarily."
Zhou Xun nodded, his eyes showing surprise.
Magistrate Su suggested, “Currently, the prefectural city is filled with a large number of refugees, and the roads are too unstable. Why don’t you stay in the city for the time being, Zhou Qian Shi, and assist me with some tasks? Would that be feasible?”
"Um."
"By the way, Mr. Zhou, we are currently in Qingxia Village, less than an hour away by horseback."
The two climbed the city wall and, standing on high ground, indeed saw scattered refugees continuously flowing towards the wall.
Magistrate Su patted the city wall.
"Let's just pray that the imperial court's disaster relief supplies arrive soon."
Zhou Xun remained silent, Zhu Sheng's cold words echoing in his mind from time to time.
...
Three more days passed.
Chen Xian was carrying the cold noodles, fried chicken legs, and peanuts that the Chen family had made, preparing to sell them in the city, when he saw a few scattered refugees gathered around.
He was banging on a broken bowl, his face pale, and he was holding a rough stick in his hand, constantly poking and prodding it on the ground.
Thud!
"Kind-hearted people, please have mercy. We came from the south. Could you give us some food? Just one bite will do."
He was holding the hand of a little girl who was almost paralyzed on the ground. Her lips were pale and she was trembling. She was obviously hungry and didn't even have the strength to speak.
Da Zhu looked at Chen Xian with a tense expression, and unconsciously pulled out an iron rod that was used to prop up the stall.
Erzhu, with a wary look in his eyes, quietly pulled a kitchen knife from the carriage.
Cuihua took out a rolling pin.
Liniang and Shuangshuang each pulled out a broom.
Chen Xian held the riding whip in his hand and lashed it out in the air with a loud crack.
More and more people gathered around.
Chen Xian stopped the carriage.
The remaining refugees swarmed around like flies to a piece of meat.
donkey!
Chen Xian turned the carriage around on the spot, and his men whipped the refugees who were trying to climb onto the carriage shaft.
Then he whipped the horse's rump hard.
uh-huh!
The little yellow horse cried out in pain.
Then, with all its might, it began to rear up and flee frantically.
Chen Xian scooped a lump of cold noodles out of the basin and slammed it hard onto the face of one of the men with the most sinister expression.
It smeared all over his face.
He shouted, "Brothers, that's all we have, give them some!"
Then he drove off.
The man was completely bewildered. What was that thing? It was soft and squishy. He grabbed it, intending to put it in his mouth.
Suddenly, someone slapped me across the face!
"Spit it out, they say everyone has some!"
Then the crowd began to tear and bite fiercely.
Someone picked up a small piece of dough from the ground, ignoring the dust on it, and quickly swallowed it. Even though it was covered with pebbles and clods of dirt, it tasted exceptionally delicious.
The other refugees wanted to catch up, but how could two legs possibly catch up with four?
A fellow traveler who had also kindly given a steamed bun was beaten up and had his bundle stolen.
The Chen family is still shaken.
Chen Xian nodded, then turned to look at the refugees. "Starting today, you'll rest in the village. You can't do your stall business anymore; it's too dangerous."
Dazhu nodded: "Luckily, Dad reacted in time, otherwise our things would have been stolen."
"These refugees are no longer human; they're hyenas. Wild beasts."
Back in the village, Chen Xian found Chen Qingshan and told him about it.
Chen Qingshan calmly said, "Okay, I'll go find my father. If we're going to mobilize the villagers, we'll definitely need to hold a meeting."
Not long after, under the big locust tree.
Chen Gui said sternly, "You're all here now. Starting today, none of you can go to the city or the town! It's best not to leave the village either!"
Some people are talking about it.
Tiger's mother asked doubtfully, "Uncle Gui, there has to be a reason, right?"
Chen Xian stood up and said calmly, "I just came back from there. A group of refugees almost robbed my carriage and nearly dragged me to the ground and beat me up!"
I only had clothes without patches, and these people took notice of me.
They insisted on stripping my clothes off.
"Look, they've even managed to tear my arm open again!"
He casually pulled down his sleeve.
The villagers were too far away to see anything but a red mark.
Seeing Chen Xian becoming more and more serious, and still feeling lingering fear, he nodded and said, "Yes, it's good that you ran fast. Among the refugees who fled from the south, none of them could survive for a month. After such a long journey, none of them were easy to deal with."
Chen Gui lowered his head and smiled.
That's a good point; we should give them a good scare.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to manage.
Chen Gui said solemnly: "From now on, each household shall provide one strong laborer, and ten people shall form a team, working in shifts for six hours a day, with no one missing at night."
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