The next day, Xingxing led a group of soldiers to the city wall of Qingyang Prefecture. Zhu Lin followed beside her. They stood on the city wall and looked through the layers of rain at a place several hundred meters away from the city wall.
The area was already flooded, and the water level was still rising. If the rain didn't stop, it might flood into Qingyang City. Everyone was worried and sighed.
"Don't panic, the flood won't inundate Qingyang Prefecture. The rain will gradually subside, but it won't stop so quickly, and the flood will be difficult to recede. But at least it will give everyone a breather," Xingxing said, emphasizing each word.
Wu Chong and Song Wu had no choice but to believe them at this point. Otherwise, they had no other options. It would be difficult for the two of them to lead the people of Xiyan City to escape on their own. If Qingyang Prefecture were to be added to the list, casualties would be inevitable, and the consequences would be severe.
"Send reliable soldiers to guard the city tower and report the situation here at any time. Let's go back first." After making the arrangements, Xingxing turned around and prepared to go down the city tower.
She had only taken one step when she remembered what the shadowy figure had said about Snowball bringing a lot of snakes to the city gate yesterday and piling them up there. Out of curiosity, she turned around and leaned over the city wall to look down.
Then, sure enough, I saw a small mountain of snakes at one corner of the city gate. Ugh, my scalp tingled, and I didn't dare look any longer. I'd better hurry up and leave.
The rain gradually subsided. Qingyan walked beside Xingxing and held an umbrella for her, while Zhulin held the umbrella for herself and walked on the other side of Xingxing. The group soon boarded the carriage and left the city gate.
As she passed by an inn, she heard people arguing outside, and it seemed like they were even fighting. Xingxing wasn't planning to get involved. She rested her chin on her hands, thinking that in a couple of days she should lead the people of Xiyancheng away from Qingyang City and settle them in another abandoned county.
Just then, Xingxing heard a baby crying. She suddenly thought of the little baby born in the cave and tilted her head to ask Qingyan, "Who's causing trouble outside? Do you know them?"
Qingyan immediately lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, and quickly turned back to say, "Princess, it's that woman who gave birth in the stone cave, and that woman with a scar on half her face. They are arguing and pushing each other with a group of people. However, they are weak women holding children, and there are more than ten people on the other side. They are obviously being bullied."
"We're all fleeing from disaster, it's not easy for us. Instead of helping each other, these people are causing trouble while staying in Qingyang City. It's outrageous. Let's go down and see what's going on." Xingxing complained a few times and was about to get off the carriage.
In truth, she was biased towards those two women. They didn't seem like troublemakers, and they had a baby who was only a few days old. They wouldn't dare to provoke others. It must have been someone deliberately picking on them.
"Make way, make way, everyone." The dark figure had now become a visible guard, leading a group of so-called secret guards who were openly appearing in everyone's sight. They were clearing a path for the princess, dispersing the crowd and cutting a way through.
Xingxing and Zhu Lin walked slowly into the crowd. Before they could even speak, Qingyan stepped forward and shouted, "Who are you all, and why are you causing trouble here?"
The crowd of onlookers were mostly refugees who had fled from Xiyancheng, so they naturally recognized these people. Hearing their displeased questions, the crowd dispersed and went back to their respective settlements.
Bai Yue'e, holding her child, was pale-faced and swayed as she leaned against Bai Yushuang. Opposite them was a sullen, old noblewoman who, even in their desperate situation, was adorned with gold and silver, exuding wealth and power.
The lady was nearly fifty years old, and behind her stood a dozen burly men who looked quite menacing.
Xingxing was young and inexperienced. When she saw the scene before her, she immediately thought of what she had seen in a picture book. Her little face darkened, and she pointed angrily at the noblewoman.
"What a daring madam! In broad daylight, she dares to abduct women and force mothers into prostitution! Right now, Xiyan City is suffering from floods. As a fellow citizen of the Great Jin Dynasty, you should have compassion and rush to the front lines of disaster relief, braving wind and rain, to help the people get through this difficult time."
No one would blame you for failing to do the above, but your audacity in harming the people during a national crisis and attempting to profit from it is intolerable.
The noblewoman became increasingly bewildered as she listened, completely dumbfounded. What was this? She was just a first wife who had come with a group of servants to question the concubine. She had not harmed any disaster victims, nor had she profited from the national crisis. Did this delicate young girl even know what she was saying?
"When have I ever harmed the people? You've misunderstood. This is our family matter..." The noblewoman tried to explain, but was interrupted halfway through her sentence.
Xingxing stepped forward, blocking Bai Yue'e and the other two like a mother hen protecting her chicks. She shouted righteously, "Still dare to argue? I saw it all! You brought a group of thugs and tried to kidnap them. You think they've lost their home and family because they're refugees?"
"Having just given birth, they are weak, helpless, and powerless to resist. They wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the adults and force them into prostitution, and to abduct the children to sell for money. Your plot has been exposed; don't even think about committing any more evil deeds."
"Take them to a brothel to entertain guests? The ladies?" The noblewoman was almost laughing in anger. She ignored Bai Yue'e and pointed at Bai Yushuang, saying, "Look at this woman's face, it's ruined. She could scare someone to death in broad daylight. How can you expect her to entertain guests?"
“You’ve finally admitted you’re a madam,” Xingxing said, her voice rising several octaves as if she’d found something to hold against her. “You want to use this one to entertain customers, and another one to be your slave, while you sell the child for money.”
The noblewoman was so angry she nearly fell over, trembling as she said, "Who? Who are you calling a madam? I am the legitimate wife of a respectable family. This slut is my concubine from the Yan family. She killed my master on the way to escape, and I'm just about to settle accounts with her. What does this have to do with a brothel madam?"
Xingxing's little face froze for a moment, "?" Huh, did she make a mistake?
Zhu Lin pursed his thin lips into a straight line, struggling to suppress his laughter, but he absolutely wouldn't actually laugh. The little girl's face had turned pink; if she knew he was laughing at her, she would definitely explode.
Qingyan raised one hand to cover her face, pretending not to laugh, while Qingluo maintained her usual expressionless face, but upon closer inspection, one could see that there was a hint of laughter in her eyes.
"Is what she said true?" Xingxing turned to ask Bai Yue'e and Bai Yushuang, wanting to hear the answer from them.
Bai Yue'e had just given birth a few days ago and had been fleeing ever since. Although someone carried her around, she hadn't been able to rest properly. She finally managed to get some sleep last night, but this morning, before she even had breakfast, Madam Yan and her servants dragged her out of the inn. She was already exhausted and had no strength to reply.
"Help her to the inn first, no, help her to my carriage to rest. You tell me what happened." Xingxing first instructed Qingyan and Qingluo to help Bai Yue'e into the carriage, and then signaled Bai Yushuang to explain the situation.
Bai Yushuang, the woman whose face was disfigured on one side, felt relieved after seeing Bai Yue'e and the child protected. She slowly said, "Yue'e was indeed Master Yan's concubine, but we didn't kill him. It was she, his first wife, who deliberately threw Yue'e down. Master was killed by a falling stone while trying to save us."
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