Zhao Yu saw Si Jinxing get off the carriage and hurried over to greet him, saying:
"Boss, you're here!"
Upon hearing this, Si Jinxing hurriedly asked:
"What's going on? Why isn't there a single beggar on the street? What about yesterday? Did anyone come to drink porridge yesterday?"
Zhao Yu also glanced towards the street and said:
"As soon as the porridge was cooked yesterday, it was surrounded by a crowd. I asked the waiter to urge them to line up to receive it. However, there were too many people and the rice was not enough. It was gone by noon.
I prepared some extra rice today, thinking there would be a lot of people, but for some reason, no one has come to drink the porridge since this morning."
After hearing this, Si Jinxing said no more, got back on the carriage and headed towards Longxing Street.
She asked Bai Xi to drive the carriage very slowly, and lifted the window curtains along the way to observe the situation on the street.
When the Tangshui Tea Restaurant opened yesterday, she also saw a few "Huaizhou" beggars opposite the shop.
Today's streets are unusually "clean"!
As expected, there were two large pots of vegetable and rice porridge in front of Yaxu Lao, still steaming, but no one came to eat?!
This matter is too weird!
She waved to Mo Qiu who was hiding in the dark and asked him to go to Prince Mo Ying's mansion to ask Qi Moli whether the court had sent people to take in those people?
Pei Qingzhu had just returned to Yaxu Lao from Tangshui Tea Restaurant in a carriage when he heard Manager Fang say that the boss had arrived and went to the conference room on the second floor.
He hurried up to the second floor, knocked on the door and went in. He then carefully walked to the window, looked around, and said:
"Boss, something might happen in the capital!"
Si Jinxing was also feeling upset. She looked up at him and asked, "What's going to happen? Is it about the victims?"
Pei Qingzhu sat back at the table and said:
“Exactly!
When I went to the tea restaurant today, I heard two neighbors say that late last night, it seemed like someone was chasing people away in the city, and some were even arrested by the police.
I wanted to go up and ask a few more questions, but the two men probably saw that I was a stranger, so they kept silent and walked away!
I was confused, so I walked towards the city gate. From a distance, I could see that the gate guards were conducting very strict inspections.
For some reason, Si Jinxing suddenly had a bad premonition. If the situation with so many people was not handled properly, there would be chaos in the capital!
She stood up immediately and saw the door being pushed open, and a man and a woman came in.
The woman was wearing a fiery red dress. If it wasn't the Eighth Princess, who else could it be, Qi Nanling?
Her face was pale as she called out "Axing, Axing", her lips trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing that she couldn't say anything, Si Jinxing looked at the man and said:
"Your Highness Prince An, what happened?"
Qi Nancheng was also a little flustered at this time, but he was a man after all, so he was quite brave. He frowned and said:
"Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of my sister's mother. I accompanied her to the imperial mausoleum and returned to the capital this morning. I saw... "
Si Jinxing's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Qi Nanling, who was crying with her hands covering her face, and asked, "What did you see?"
Qi Nancheng calmed himself down and said:
"Many people died outside the city, some from starvation, some from disease...
Moreover, the city gate has been closed for a long time. I don’t know whose order it was, but they don’t let anyone in!
On my way here, I ran into the Ninth Prince heading towards the city gate. He asked me to come find you and bring some herbs with me."
As he spoke, his eyes turned red. Those were all his people, Long Yin!
After listening to Qi Nancheng's words, and combining them with what Pei Qingzhu had just said, Si Jinxing finally understood that someone was manipulating this behind the scenes!
Without giving her time to think, she took Qingchan and Bai Xi who was waiting outside the door and got into the carriage.
Seeing this, Qi Nanling hurriedly followed out and urged Qi Nancheng, saying, "Seventh Brother, let's go help Ah Xing!"
Qi Nancheng sent his confidant to report the news from the city gate back to the palace, and then took Qi Nanling to chase Si Jinxing.
At this time, it was outside Xuanwu Gate, west of Jianzhou City.
The victims from Huaibei fled to Jianzhou one after another. Only a few hundred people in the first few days entered Jianzhou through different city gates, and most of them were blocked outside the city.
Those who were stranded outside the city could still survive on the dry food they brought with them in the first few days, but after a long time, they had nothing to eat or drink!
By this time, hundreds of people had starved to death, and many more had already caught a cold after the flood, and were exhausted from the long journey, and eventually died!
Last night, hundreds of people who entered the city were driven out by the patrol camp, making those who were suffering outside the city feel like they had no hope of survival, which immediately aroused everyone's grief and indignation!
Xue Yong, a martial arts scholar from Xuejiazhai, Tongshan County, was seven feet tall, burly and strong, standing out from the crowd.
He has always been kind and generous, and has a kind heart. He is quite prestigious among the villagers who have fled along the way.
He just brushed off the dust on his body, jumped up, and landed on the horse tethering stone under the big locust tree.
He raised his thick eyebrows and said loudly:
"Fellow villagers, Huaibei suffered a disaster this year, but those corrupt officials are still unwilling to open the granaries and release the grain!
We all came to Jianzhou after a bumpy journey just to survive. We thought that the place under the emperor's feet was the best place and would definitely give us a chance to survive!
But who could have imagined that we had offended the high-ranking officials in the capital, and that they had told us to fend for ourselves and go back to where we came from!
Xue just wants to ask everyone, do you still want to live?
Xue Yong's impassioned speech instantly ignited the anger in the hearts of the villagers.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "We want to live, we want to eat!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd became excited and shouted one after another.
But at this moment, Xue Yong, who was standing on the horse-tying stone, suddenly raised his arm and signaled everyone to stop.
He stood high up and saw that behind the crowd, there were hundreds of patrol soldiers in black clothes and red hats surrounding them!
The leader had a fat head and big ears, and was as strong as a pig. A black hair on the big black mole at the corner of his mouth kept flipping as his face trembled!
He flicked his sleeves and shouted:
"What a bunch of unruly people! They've clearly been driven out of the city, yet they haven't even returned home. Instead, they're gathering here to plot. They're simply courting death!"
Although Xue Yong knew that this person was not a good person, he still bowed respectfully and said:
"Please, sir, report the disaster suffered by the 100,000 villagers in Huaibei to His Majesty!"
Unexpectedly, the man snorted coldly and said:
"If there is a disaster in Huaibei, the local officials will report it impartially, and the Ministry of Revenue will also send special personnel to provide disaster relief and distribute grain!
People like you disregard the majesty of the imperial laws, without imperial edicts or local permits, and gather bandits to plot evil.
It is better to leave early, otherwise don't blame me for severely punishing you."
How could the people present bear to hear such slander that turned black into white? In an instant, shouts and curses of the dog officials rose one after another in the crowd!
Someone shouted, "Since advancing or retreating means death, let's rebel!"
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