077
Seeing that the soldiers had taken the woman and child away, the rest of the people dared not utter a sound.
Only after Tan Bi led a troop of soldiers into the city and the defenses at the city gate were re-erected did anyone dare to shout, "Why aren't we allowed into the city? We are also citizens of the Kingdom of Namo. Does the emperor not care about our lives?"
Qin Sang looked around, and a sour, foul odor filled her nostrils, emanating from the disaster victims. She sighed deeply.
When those in power fail to act and treat the people like ants, it's hard not to incite public anger.
Just then, several more refugees pushed through the crowd and rushed towards her: "Girl, girl, please have mercy and take a look at us too, my mother is sick..."
Qin Sang couldn't worry about anything else for the time being and had to treat these patients first.
During the consultation, she found out the whole story.
In fact, Yuzhou had already suffered a severe drought since last year, with grain production only half of what it used to be. After paying their taxes and consuming their stored grain, the people faced a food shortage. The county magistrate opened the granaries to store grain, but it couldn't last even a month, and grain prices in the market continued to rise. They heard that the imperial court was going to provide disaster relief, but no relief grain ever arrived.
When one person finally starved to death, the people panicked.
They stormed the county government office and ransacked the granary, but there was no grain in the granary.
To survive, they ate anything, even scraping off grass roots and tree bark. The winter brought hunger and cold, and many more died. Finally, the relief grain arrived, but what reached the people was moldy millet mixed with a large amount of mud and sand!
People will continue to starve to death.
This spring, there was still no rain. People ate all the tree bark and wild grass, but what they got was still high grain prices. People continued to sell their children and die. With no other choice, they had to move away from home.
They were like a group of exiles, not even migratory birds, being driven away as they went.
They had no other choice but to come to Kyoto, hoping to be seen and receive help.
“Yuzhou is suffering from drought, most of its population has starved to death, and bandits are rampant. The cities of Yu and Jin under its jurisdiction are already empty.”
Qin Sang was surprised: "It's that serious?!"
However, not a single word of this news reached Kyoto.
“My wife and children are all dead, everyone in the village is dead, and I’m the only one left.” A gaunt middle-aged man squatted on the ground, his lips cracked and white, his hands resting on his knees, hanging limply.
His voice was hoarse, filled with an indescribable weariness, yet his tone remained calm and even. Perhaps because of this, Qin Sang felt an indescribable sadness, like a puff of steam hitting her heart, making her chest ache.
Her hand was still resting on the withered wrist of an old woman whose internal organs had deteriorated beyond cure.
Qin Sang suddenly stood up, and the people surrounding her looked at her with puzzled yet hopeful eyes.
“Wait a moment, I’ll go find someone to take you in,” she said.
Qin Sang noticed that everyone's eyes lit up.
She clenched her hands, which were hidden in her sleeves, and secretly exhaled. Who could she look for? Only Xie Zhongxu, the prime minister.
Qin Sang walked towards the city gate, where soldiers stood with long spears, forming layers upon layers of them, completely blocking the gate, as if the people outside were some kind of plague, flood, or ferocious beast.
She sneered and had just reached the city gate, about to speak, when she saw a magnificent carriage coming from the wide official road inside the city.
Luxury carriages and fine horses, with bells jingling lightly like a pleasant melody.
The carriage stopped at the city gate.
Like all the other refugees, Qin Sang stared intently at the carriages and horses, perhaps because they were so magnificent, so magnificent that they inspired hope.
Could the person inside be their savior?
The carriage curtain was lifted slightly, revealing half a face—pale, thin, and bloodless.
He was a sickly person.
Qin Sang lowered her eyelashes; a hopeful heart that had just begun to rise was now falling back to its original state.
But she still looked at the man and saw that although he looked sickly, his eyes were still clear.
His gaze swept over the refugees, barely touching the water like a dragonfly skimming the surface, before finally settling lightly on Qin Sang's face.
He slightly raised the corners of his lips, a half-smile playing on his lips.
Qin Sang thought to herself, "Do I recognize him?"
Oh no, I don't recognize him. He's just another lecherous man who's after my beauty.
That's enough!
Just as they were about to leave, the curtain was lowered, and the soldiers stepped forward and finished negotiating with the coachman. The previously impassable line of soldiers suddenly split up, creating a passage for the carriages.
The luxurious carriage, escorted by two rows of soldiers, slowly drove out of the city.
Qin Sang also stepped aside, wondering which important family had such influence and audacity to forcibly leave the city when refugees were gathering outside.
As the carriage passed Qin Sang, a faint aroma of meat pies wafted into Qin Sang's nose.
She almost blurted out the curse—"You're asking for trouble!"
The refugees were already starving, and at this moment, everyone stared at the carriage like wolves. The guards also tightened their lips and gripped their guns.
****
Inside the carriage, Prince Ning'an, looking sickly, coughed twice, his voice hoarse, and asked a white-clad man wearing a monkey-face mask opposite him, "Who is that young lady outside?"
The masked man replied, "A new maid in the Xie family. She's an orphan left behind by some minister, and she's come back for revenge."
Prince Ning'an nodded: "Oh? She is indeed beautiful."
The masked man paused before saying, "I heard that Prime Minister Xie is already considering betrothing her to Tan Bi."
"..." Prince Ning'an paused, took a deep breath, and coughed several times. "This is a terrible waste. Prime Minister's actions are like offering a warm face to a cold backside. Tan Bi will not agree to it."
Masked man: "That's not necessarily true. If Prime Minister Xie intends to befriend them, they will consider it carefully and won't refuse easily."
Prince Ning'an: "It's a game of strategy, a game of mutual competition... It's just that I feel sorry for that beautiful woman."
The masked man didn't speak for a long time before finally humming in response.
Prince Ning'an laughed: "You know this woman?"
Masked man: "...I guess so, we've met a few times."
***
The aroma of meat patties wafted continuously into the dry air inside the vehicle, and some of the displaced people, unable to bear it any longer, finally surrounded the vehicle despite the long guns in the hands of the soldiers.
Qin Sang watched coldly as the crowd surged forward, quickly forming a dense mass around the magnificent carriage.
"Give me something to eat!"
"Give us some food, we've been starving for days!"
The driver did not use his whip to drive the crowd away; he just looked around anxiously.
A pale hand reached out from inside the car, holding a plate of meat buns. In no time, the plate of meat buns was snatched up, and the crowd began to push, fight, and descend into chaos.
Some people even tried to pull at the carriage curtains and bang on the doors...
Qin Sang narrowed his eyes slightly and watched as several relatively strong refugees climbed onto the carriage. Then, the carriage roof was lifted, and two figures, one in black and one in white, leaped out from inside.
The woman in white, supporting the woman in black, leaped lightly several feet away from the carriage, landing perfectly beside Qin Sang.
Qin Sang: "??"
The refugees practically tore the carriage apart, wishing they could slaughter the horse and devour it on the spot.
Seeing this, the officers and soldiers had no choice but to line up and go forward to drive away the refugees who had suddenly become chaotic.
Qin Sang's chest heaved violently as she glared at the composed white-clad man beside her and the sickly-looking black-clad man.
"You're deliberately trying to cause trouble, aren't you? So many refugees, and you only brought a plate of steamed buns?" Qin Sang couldn't help but ask.
The pale-faced man in black covered his lips with his fist and coughed lightly twice: "I really didn't expect that."
"What did you not expect? You didn't expect so many refugees at the city gate? You two look like wealthy people living in luxury, yet your information is not as good as that of a weak woman like me?"
Over there, soldiers and refugees were fighting, and screams and cries could be heard from time to time. Qin Sang felt like she was on fire and spoke without any politeness.
The man in black shifted his gaze slightly, looking into the distance, as if he felt a little guilty, or perhaps he was smiling.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Qin Sang asked, "May I ask your name?"
The man in black looked at her again, and was taken aback.
The masked man in white finally spoke, his voice muffled behind the mask, deep and gruff: "Don't be so presumptuous, this is Prince Ning'an."
Qin Sang: "..."
Prince Ning'an.
Is this thin, sickly man, about to cough up blood, the Prince of Ning'an?
Is he cruel and abusive? By all accounts, he's the one being abused.
"Oh... This commoner greets Prince Ning'an." Qin Sang gave a perfunctory bow, not even bothering to bend her knees.
Prince Ning'an actually laughed this time, but as soon as he laughed, he started coughing one after another, as if he had tuberculosis.
Qin Sang couldn't help but move half a step to the side.
The man in white looked down at her moving foot, and Qin Sang immediately said, "Your Highness, it's so chaotic outside. Since you're sick, you should stay in the palace. Why are you stirring up trouble?"
"put……"
"What are you doing, acting so arrogantly?" Qin Sang interrupted the man in white. "Look at the situation now! Even those who weren't dead have been trampled to death over a meat bun!"
Prince Ning'an finally showed remorse on his face. Looking at the chaotic crowd, he sighed heavily, "After returning, I will inform Father Emperor of the letter of divorce... cough cough cough..."
Qin Sang: "..." She secretly rolled her eyes.
Qin Sang had heard many versions of the story about this Prince Ning'an.
Some say he's cruel, bloodthirsty, and manic; others say he's effeminate, has a penchant for homosexual relationships, and dislikes women; still others say he's cowardly, timid, and utterly useless...
Qin Sang analyzed this, saying that given the tragic deaths of many of his brothers and the powerful pressure from the Crown Prince, perhaps all of these claims were self-directed and self-acted.
Unexpectedly, what I saw upon this sudden appearance was such a frail and weak figure.
This Prince Ning'an has so many masks. Just how many storybooks has he read?
Seeing that Qin Sang was staring at him, Prince Ning'an turned his head and smiled: "You flatter me, I have been seriously ill recently."
"..." Qin Sang was too lazy to expose him: "Prince Ning'an has come out of the city at this time despite being ill. Is there something important?"
Prince Ning'an waved his hand: "Let's not talk about it. Anyway, we can't get out now. I really didn't expect there to be so many refugees outside the city."
Qin Sang: "Yes, who should take charge of this? We can't just leave them all here to die in a pile. If the corpses block the city, and word gets out, wouldn't the neighboring countries just laugh at us?"
She stared intently at the Prince of Ning'an, hoping to discern his ambition from the subtle nuances of his expression.
But the prince's eyes darted around, and he looked weak and helpless. He sighed and said, "This matter should probably be handled by the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture for the best outcome."
Qin Sang: "But I've been here for a long time and haven't seen any government officials come out. Only the soldiers guarding the city gates are keeping watch and preventing refugees from entering."
Prince Ning'an praised, "Oh, young lady, you have the well-being of all people in your heart; you are truly kind and benevolent."
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