Chapter 83
Night had fallen, and the heavy snow was still falling softly. The people in the city came out upon hearing the news. Many people put on their clothes and rushed to watch. A large crowd gathered at the city gate, and amidst the throng of people, only blurry faces could be seen.
These refugees were blinded by anger and had lost their reason. The Yunhua disciples dared not let them in, but were also afraid of hurting them, so they all sheathed their swords and used their bodies as shields to block them, trying to force the refugees out the door.
However, the other side had a large number of people and was obviously fighting desperately. This group of disciples had been traveling for many days and were quite tired. They had just arrived in Yaoding City and then ran into this matter. Before they could figure out what was going on, they were confused and got involved. The disciples could not use force to pressure them, so they could only grit their teeth and hold on. Before long, they began to feel exhausted.
"Wasn't Senior Sister Lu supposed to be in Yaoding City? Why hasn't she arrived yet with such a big commotion?"
"You lot! Go and drive all the onlookers away!"
"Never mind, we can't hold out any longer. Let's just kick them out!"
The disciples exchanged glances, intending to draw their swords and intimidate the refugees, hoping to make them back off first. Just as they were about to make their move, a clear voice spoke up: "Don't hurt them, let them go first!"
Upon hearing this, the disciples, though they didn't have time to turn around and see who had spoken, retreated in perfect unison. However, as soon as they retreated, the refugees relentlessly surged forward. The disciples were annoyed and were about to rebuke who was giving such incoherent orders when a white figure suddenly swept out from the crowd and blocked their way.
The girl held a slender silver sword, with a snow-white purse hanging from her waist. She was thin and upright, standing in the snowy night, looking just like a green bamboo.
She calmly said, "It's better to guide than to block; let's stand further away."
Upon seeing her, the disciples' expressions softened somewhat, but they still frowned and said, "How can we not stop them quickly? These people are almost insane. What if they hurt the people in the city if we let them in?"
Yin Qiu stepped back and watched as the refugees surged onto the street. He said, "No rush. We can't stop them with just a few people. Let's wait and see."
Since she said so, the disciples, though they didn't understand why, did as she said and stepped aside.
Sure enough, they stopped trying to stop them, and the refugees entered the city as they wished. However, they suddenly became a group of headless flies, not knowing what to do next. After running for a while, they all stopped and crowded together, looking around blankly.
Upon seeing this, the disciples immediately beamed with joy: "Junior Sister is so clever!"
These refugees were just blinded by anger and lost control of their emotions. Ultimately, they are all pitiful people who just want to survive. In fact, they are not bad at heart.
Seeing that they had stopped their earlier fighting and quieted down, Yin Qiu stepped forward and said, "Please calm down, everyone. We are all disciples of Yunhua Palace, sent down the mountain by our sect to help the disaster victims. You have come from afar tonight, and you must have suffered a lot. Please rest assured that Yunhua Palace will not stand idly by. But please do not cause trouble. Everything should be done according to the rules. As long as you are willing to cooperate, we will do our best to settle you down and give you an explanation."
After all this commotion, finally someone with influence stepped forward. The refugees, as if grasping at a straw, eagerly rushed to Yin Qiu to plead their grievances.
Seeing them charging towards them again, baring their teeth and claws, the disciples dared not relax and secretly became vigilant, gripping their sword hilts tightly. Yin Qiu, however, simply smiled and waved his hand, indicating that they did not need to be nervous.
"Young lady! Are you in charge? Then you must uphold justice for us!"
"Yes, young lady! We are originally from Cang County. The snow disaster there was more severe than anywhere else. The government embezzled the disaster relief funds and handed them over to the martial arts sects to manage, but they drove us out. We wandered all the way here and had no other choice but to come to you!"
"If someone were willing to take us in, who would want to cause trouble? We're all just trying to have food to eat. If even you guys don't care about us, then we're all doomed!"
These people were weathered, exhausted, hungry, and emaciated, shivering from the cold. They had seemed quite imposing earlier because of their numbers, but now, their arrogance had vanished. Upon closer inspection, they were mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled, with few young and strong men. The more they talked, the more aggrieved they became, and in the end, they all began to sob and cry, which made the disciples feel very uncomfortable.
“Cang County…” Yin Qiu murmured the place name, then looked up. “There are many martial arts sects in the area to the south. I wonder which sect you are referring to?”
One of the men immediately spat out, "The Ziwei Sect! What other sect could be so despicable!"
Upon hearing his words, the disciples all looked enlightened.
No wonder Yao Dingcheng suddenly had so many refugees; they were driven here by the Ziwei Sect.
The government received the disaster relief funds allocated by the imperial court, but instead of doing anything practical, it distributed a portion of the funds to various sects to manage. Yunhua Palace did everything within its power, but why would Ziwei Sect be willing to do good deeds? Naturally, they wanted to drive the refugees elsewhere.
One of the disciples said, "The Ziwei Sect has been relatively peaceful these past two years, but this sudden incident this year suggests they're about to cause some trouble again. We need to quickly report this to the palace and inform the other prefectures as well, so they can be prepared."
Yin Qiu nodded: "That makes sense, but let's settle them down first. I'll deal with the letter later."
·
The disciples then busied themselves settling the refugees in sheds that had been erected beforehand outside the city.
After a long while, a series of hurried footsteps were heard coming from the city. Yin Qiu peeked out and saw that Lu Huaiwei had arrived with her people. She quickly stepped forward to greet her, "Senior Sister Lu!"
"Xiao Qiu!" Lu Huaiwei exclaimed in surprise and delight, pulling Yin Qiu's hand and asking, "Why did you come to Yao Dingcheng?"
Yin Qiu smiled and said, "We came from Qingluo City. The refugees there have all been settled. Senior Sister Ye said you were here and asked us to come and meet you so we could return to the palace together on another day. I didn't expect to encounter the refugees causing trouble as soon as we arrived. Why did you only come now, Senior Sister?"
Lu Huaiwei sighed and glanced at a female disciple beside her, saying, "If I had heard the news earlier, I would have come sooner."
It turned out that this female disciple was one of the disciples who had argued with Duan Ning earlier. She noticed that the refugees were inclined to cause trouble, so she wanted to make Duan Ning suffer. Therefore, she deliberately delayed reporting to Lu Huaiwei. However, Lu Huaiwei had caught a cold recently and went to bed early, so she did not hear any noise from here. It was only just now that the female disciple heard that Duan Ning had been beaten that she woke Lu Huaiwei up from her bed.
Fortunately, Yin Qiu and others arrived in time, stabilizing the refugees and preventing the situation from escalating out of control.
"I just wanted to teach Duan Ning a lesson!" the female disciple was still furious. "These past few days, she has repeatedly hindered our work, it's simply outrageous! She's just a young lady from a wealthy family, what right does she have to boss us around? I just can't stand her!"
"Nonsense!" Lu Huaiwei scolded, "If there's anything, just come to me for help. Why make decisions on your own? If something happens to that Miss Duan, can you take responsibility?"
The female disciple retorted, "So what if we fight? She can't beat me anyway! I'm happy to hear she got beaten up!"
In reality, Lu Huaiwei didn't like Duan Ning either. After she was transferred to Yaodingcheng, she had dealt with Duan Ning quite a bit, and every time they met, there would inevitably be an argument. However, the Duan family had a good reputation in the martial arts world and was on good terms with many sects, so it was best to avoid provoking them to avoid a lot of trouble. Therefore, although Lu Huaiwei was unhappy, she never held a grudge against Duan Ning.
"What kind of bullshit money-giving immortal is he? He's using all his money to curry favor with the martial arts sects!" the female disciple sneered. "Why is the Duan family so powerful in Yaoding City? Isn't it because they have the support of various sects? I'm not against the rich, nor am I forcing them to give money to the poor. If they don't want to give it, fine, but that shouldn't stop us from saving people! I wonder which righteous man beat up Duan Ning. I really want to go over and kowtow to him!"
"You, you," Lu Huaiwei said, both amused and exasperated, "Stop talking, where is Duan Ning?"
The female disciple replied, "How would I know!"
Yin Qiu couldn't help but chuckle and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the Duan Ning you're talking about should be the girl I rescued. I've already asked Bai Ling to take her to the clinic."
Lu Huaiwei breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. To be honest, she brought it on herself. Let's not worry about her. Let's settle the refugees first."
The group immediately left the city gate and busied themselves in an orderly manner. The disciples transported rice and grain from the post station, set up iron pots to cook porridge, and also brought a lot of clothes and quilts. Although it was a bit rushed, at least the refugees had something to eat and a place to stay. After the medical disciples confirmed that the refugees were free of disease, they planned to arrange for people to enter the city one by one. However, upon asking, they learned that none of these people had household registration.
The government office had clearly stated that only refugees with household registration could settle down in the major cities. Since these people did not have household registration to prove their identity, Yao Dingcheng could not take them in for the time being.
This presents another challenge.
Cangjun is quite far from here. If they were to return to Cangjun to ask the Ziwei Sect for household registration, who knows how many more people would die along the way. Moreover, if the Ziwei Sect were to make things difficult for them, it was still uncertain whether they could even get it. Even though they had a place to stay for now, the shed, though sturdy, couldn't keep out the cold. As long as the refugees couldn't enter the city, they would have to stay in this place, which was not a long-term solution.
·
After working alongside the others for a while, Yin Qiu saw that the situation had stabilized, so he went to the post station and wrote a letter about Yao Dingcheng's situation and sent it to Yunhua Palace.
Lu Huaiwei was probably suffering from a severe cold, as she soon turned pale and became unsteady on her feet. Yin Qiu thought there was nothing else that required her to watch over her, so he called a disciple to escort her back to the post station. However, no sooner had Lu Huaiwei left than a group of uninvited guests suddenly arrived.
The group of people were all dressed in fine clothes, all made of the best silk and satin. In particular, the young woman standing at the front was dressed in a bright and beautiful silk skirt and wore a thick mink cloak. She looked both noble and radiant, and it was clear at a glance that she was a young lady from a wealthy family who lived a life of luxury.
Yin Qiuli stood in the soup kitchen, glanced at the girl from afar, and recognized her as Duan Ning, whom she had rescued from the refugee camp earlier.
"Hey!" As soon as he got close, Duan Ning shouted at his disciples, "Where's your Lu Huaiwei?! Where did she go?"
Seeing the disdainful look on the female disciple's face, as if she was about to speak, Yin Qiu quickly washed her hands, went around from behind the door, and said, "Senior Sister Lu is unwell and has returned to the post station. What brings you here, young lady?"
When Duan Ning met Yin Qiu's eyes, he felt a sudden, inexplicable fear.
She wondered, what's wrong with this girl? She's just pretty, and she seems so polite, so why is she inexplicably afraid of her?
Duan Ning gave a low snort, trying his best to maintain an air of superiority, and said, "Since she's not here, who else can take charge here?"
Yin Qiu said, "Please speak your mind, young lady."
"So you think you can take charge?" Duan Ning said, hands on his hips and chin raised. "Fine, these refugees injured me maliciously before and even hit me. I'm here to take them to the authorities!"
Seeing her posture, the disciples knew she was here to cause trouble, so they all showed contempt and stepped forward in unison.
"What official are you talking about? You're hindering our relief efforts for the disaster victims and obstructing our work for the government. What crime have you been charged with?"
"Exactly! If you hadn't been so unreasonable, would they have been forced to cause trouble?"
"Don't think that just because your Duan family is rich and powerful you can act recklessly. You brought this beating on yourself, so you can't blame anyone else!"
When Duan Ning heard them mocking and insulting him, he couldn't stand it.
"Good heavens, Yunhua Palace! No matter how eloquently you speak, you cannot clear your name of the crime of assault! Assault is a crime! And crimes must be brought to justice!"
Duan Ning waved his hand and said, "Arrest those troublemakers!"
Upon receiving her orders, her men were about to rush out of the city gate to arrest people, but her disciples, not to be outdone, drew their swords and stopped them.
Upon seeing this, Duan Ning stamped his feet in anger: "Are you going to go against the Duan family?"
One disciple scoffed, "What Duan family? How could our Yunhua Palace possibly take you seriously? What a joke!"
"You—!" Duan Ning was furious, pointing at his men and yelling, "What are you all standing there for? Beat them up!"
His men hesitated and dared not make a move.
Duan Ning shouted, "A bunch of idiots! What are you afraid of? Go ahead and beat them! I'll take responsibility for anything that happens!"
Although she made such a promise, her subordinates still did not dare to do as she said.
Are you kidding? They're not stupid! These Yunhua disciples are all highly skilled; how could they possibly handle them? Who would be foolish enough to offer themselves up to be beaten up for nothing!
Seeing that her subordinates refused to move, Duan Ning lost face even more and was furious: "Fine, you've gone too far!" After saying that, she swung the long whip in her hand and lashed her subordinates hard, making them cry out in pain and immediately kneel down and beg for mercy.
Seeing this, Yin Qiu could only shake his head and chuckle, saying, "Miss Duan, it's best to be lenient when you can. These refugees will all be settling down in Yaoding City in the future. Your Duan family has always had a good reputation, so don't ruin it because of this."
Duan Ning said, "But they beat someone up, are we just going to let it go like that?"
Yin Qiu said, "Then why don't you tell me specifically who hit you?"
The scene had been so chaotic that almost everyone had thrown a punch, so Duan Ning had no idea who had hit her. She said angrily, "I didn't see who it was, but they still hit me!"
“It is indeed illegal to assault someone, and they should indeed be sent to the authorities,” Yin Qiu said. “But not all the refugees attacked the young lady. If the young lady can clearly identify the perpetrator, Yunhua will naturally not cover it up. However, if the young lady cannot identify who it is, we cannot take them all away. It is unreasonable, not only in terms of morality, but also in terms of law.”
Duan Ning was dumbfounded: "Are you deaf? I didn't even see who hit me!"
Yin Qiu smiled kindly: "Then we'll talk about it when the young lady remembers."
Duan Ning had never met anyone with a sharp tongue like himself. He thought to himself that this girl was truly a hidden talent. Her words were neither harsh nor offensive, yet they could leave him speechless. She was indeed quite difficult to deal with.
She glared at Yin Qiu with immense frustration, and after a long while, she finally said, "What's your name?"
Yin Qiu bowed and replied, "My surname is Yin, and my given name is Qiu."
"Yin Qiu, is it!" Duan Ning sneered. "I'll remember you!"
After speaking, she gestured for her shameful subordinates to retreat and sneered, "I can let them go for now tonight, but this matter is absolutely not over! Let me tell you, these refugees have no household registration. If any of you dare to disregard the regulations of the government and let them into the city, my Duan family will never forgive you!"
Yin Qiu nodded slightly: "Take care, young lady."
Duan Ning gritted his teeth, let out another cold laugh, pulled a blood-stained handkerchief from his pocket, threw it on the ground, and stormed off in a rage.
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