After two months and eleven days, Xingxing and her group finally arrived at the gate of Xiyan City. The flood had not yet started, but the city gate was crowded with refugees.
These refugees fled here after being hit by a snowstorm at the end of last year, but the city gates of Xiyancheng are not open. Even if they are open, they are not allowed to enter the city. Each person must pay ten taels of silver to enter the city.
Ordinary people might not be able to save ten taels of silver a whole family in a year. It's obvious that they don't want people to be allowed into the city. Of course, wealthy families can still afford to pay.
Xingxing wanted to shout, "Listen up, everyone! There's going to be a flood in Xiyancheng! Everyone, get out of here as soon as possible, or you'll all die if you go into the city! Don't go into the city!"
She mentally anticipated the consequences of shouting like that: she might be surrounded and beaten by the refugees, who would call her a lackey of those officials and soldiers, a shill who took money to do their bidding.
Even if she doesn't get beaten up, the refugees won't believe her unless she produces solid evidence, but the problem is that there's no way to prove it.
"Sigh, the prefect of Xiyan City is incompetent. He won't let the refugees into the city, but he's doing a good thing with bad intentions. Otherwise, the more people there are in the city, the harder it will be to evacuate them," Xingxing and Zhulin muttered to each other.
"Let's talk about it after we get into the city. It's not a good place to talk here." Although Zhu Lin prided himself on his unparalleled martial arts skills, he didn't dare to challenge the attacks of the many refugees. If he were to be separated from Xingxing by a single mistake, it would be disastrous.
"We'll squeeze to the front and then enter the city." They heard that the city gates would open at 9:00 AM, at which time they could enter the city.
Zhu Qiuyu and the others had not expected the situation outside Xiyan City to be like this. They were very uncomfortable being squeezed among the refugees. The smells of sweat and urine filled their noses, and they dared not even breathe too hard.
Just now, taking advantage of their inattention, several men with gleaming eyes squeezed over and tried to snatch their things. A group of people surrounded them, thinking they could succeed. If it weren't for their superior skills and the fact that so many people rushed over together, they would have really succeeded.
The senior brothers were no pushovers; they acted swiftly and decisively, showing no mercy, and sent the troublemakers flying, scaring away the restless refugees.
Xingxing and Zhu Lin were surrounded in the middle without any accidents. Zhang Xiantao and the other two, along with Zhao Mingyue and her two companions, were also nearby. Everyone was on guard and stayed close to each other to prevent being separated by the refugees.
Actually, when they were in Qingyang City, Zhu Chumo and Zhao Mingyue had mentioned that they needed to go to Xiyan City to take care of something, which might take a long time. They suggested that Zhao Mingyue and the other two wait for them to return from Qingyang City.
But Zhao Mingyue refused to stay and insisted on coming along.
Zhang Xiantao was also a restless person, so there was no need to persuade her. She was determined to come without even being asked. She had wanted to go to the swamp before, let alone the fact that she thought she was coming to Xiyancheng for sightseeing.
Just like now, surrounded by refugees, she not only didn't feel afraid, but even felt very excited and thrilled, her eyes wide open as she looked around.
I don't know whether to say she's fearless like a newborn calf or just recklessly bold.
Dazhuang and Daze, however, were somewhat frightened. Having fled from disaster before, they now felt a sense of loss and despair as they mingled with the refugees, as if they had returned to the time when they fled.
"Don't be afraid, I will protect you." Zhang Xiantao said this to Zhao Mingyue. She didn't care about the lives of the others; she only cared about whether Zhao Mingyue would be alright.
At this moment, a commotion broke out in the crowd, and someone shouted, "The city gates are open!"
But the entrance fee to the city has increased again today, from ten taels per person to fifteen taels per person. Otherwise, you can forget about entering the city. The prefect of Xiyan City has done a good job in defense. There are thousands of soldiers guarding the city gates, each carrying a long spear or a waist knife.
There was even a cavalry unit of over a hundred men. With so many officers and soldiers guarding the city gate, those troublemakers who wanted to cause trouble by taking advantage of their numbers quickly backed down.
"Make way, make way, let us through." Suddenly, a shout came from behind. Everyone turned around and saw a group of guards escorting several carriages toward the city gate. Judging from the scene, the people coming were from a wealthy family and were going to pay money to enter the city.
However, it costs fifteen taels per person. Even if the master can get in, it's not certain that all the servants can. The master is definitely unwilling to spend that much money. Fifteen taels can buy at least two people at the slave market, and three if it's cheaper.
Unless they are exceptionally loyal, servants are usually abandoned.
Sure enough, when the carriages approached the city gate, they asked the gatekeeper and learned that it cost fifteen taels per person to enter the city. The host family was only willing to pay for their own family and a few important servants, while the others were left outside the city.
"Master, Madam, please don't abandon your servants! Master, Madam, Miss, and Young Master!" A dozen or so servants stayed outside the city gate, crying and shouting, but the soldiers pointed their knives at them, and they dared not rush in.
When the master entered the city, he threw the servants' bundles back to them, but there were so many refugees outside the city gates that they couldn't be protected. In no time, the bundles were all looted. When the servants tried to take back their bundles, they were beaten by the refugees and almost eaten.
"What are you doing? Don't cause trouble. Anyone who dares to take a step forward, I'll chop them down with one stroke."
Some people tried to squeeze into the city gate amidst the chaos, but the guards immediately attacked with a vicious slash. It was a real slash; the man closest to the gate had his arm slashed off. If he hadn't dodged quickly, his entire arm would have been severed.
Zhang Xiantao was terrified. These soldiers were like bandits. Not only did they not resettle the refugees, but they also threatened to kill people at the drop of a hat.
"Aren't you afraid?" Zhang Xiantao asked Zhao Mingyue in a low voice. Why was this person still smiling?
"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of the refugees or the soldiers?" Zhao Mingyue looked at her blankly. He would fight the refugees if they dared to surround him, and he would fight the soldiers if they dared to cut him. Why should he be afraid?
Zhu Lin's expression grew colder and colder as he watched for so long. Xiyancheng was a small border town, far from the capital, and its terrain was extremely complex. As the saying goes, "the emperor is far away and the sky is high," and these local officials had long become local tyrants, holding power in their hands. Here, their power was even greater than that of the emperor.
In recent years, the Great Jin Dynasty has suffered from one natural disaster after another. The emperor was willing but unable to attend to the south, and the vast country ultimately neglected the northwest region.
Xingxing did not show the city guards the token given to her by the emperor to prove her identity and enter the city. If the soldiers had reacted normally, she might have shown them the token and entered the city as soon as possible, but for now, she had to observe for a while longer.
“I have silver, so I can take the three of you into the city. But I can’t help the others. Fifteen taels per person is really too expensive.” Zhang Xiantao looked pained as she said she wanted to take Zhao Mingyue and the other two into the city.
Zhu Lin and the others ignored her. Zhu Lin glanced at the head of the secret guards, who was disguised as a refugee standing not far away, and gestured with her eyes for him to take the token and enter the city.
The secret guards also had tokens representing their identities, which were symbols of the emperor's confidants. The princess didn't want to reveal her identity, so they couldn't either, otherwise they would expose the princess as well.
"Why did they pay money to enter the city first?" Xingxing was dumbfounded. Were those dozen or so guards stupid? Why didn't they care about the cost?
"It's alright, let's pay the money and go into town first, then we'll get it back later." Zhu Lin said softly, gently squeezing the little girl's palm with the hand that was holding Xingxing's, signaling her to calm down.
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