Chapter 134 Taking Things as They Come
Seeing Ru Mo remain silent, the young man tentatively suggested, "General, why don't we gather the disaster victims tomorrow and launch a strong attack on the city gate? If we can break through, we're sure to find the Second Prince and kill him on the spot!"
"No!" Ru Mo rebuked coldly, "You forgot that we are acting under the pretext of a refugee riot. A strong attack on the city gates requires organized forces. It is impossible for unarmed refugees to break through the city gates of Weizhou. Moreover, it would be easy for the court to notice something amiss."
The young man lowered his head after being reprimanded. "Yes, I was confused. What should we do now?"
Ru Mo raised his hand to look at the sky, then turned his gaze to the flickering torches on the city wall of Weizhou, and said in a deep voice, "We can't rush it, let's wait two more days."
“I have already contacted another group of people. The leader is surnamed Shi. He is the leader of a rebel army entrenched near Weizhou. He has recently captured weapons and provisions. They will arrive in two days. At that time, you will lead the refugees to join his men and then work together to find a way to attack the city.”
"Another group?" the young man asked, somewhat surprised.
“Yes.” Ru Mo nodded. “Remember, once we enter the city, we must not kill innocent people indiscriminately. We have only one goal: to kill the Second Prince. Only when he is dead will this plan be considered a true success.”
The young man bowed and accepted the order: "Understood! I will act according to the general's instructions and will not make any mistakes!"
After giving his instructions, Ru Mo spurred his horse and disappeared into the twilight at the end of the official road.
After leaving the capital, Li Yuanzhao and Shen Churong immediately split up and went in two separate groups.
She knew that if she traveled with a large army, it would not only alarm local officials and force them to set up defenses, but it would also make the displaced people wary and make it difficult to see the true state of the people.
Moreover, the burden of supplies would slow down the march, and we might miss the most crucial "opportunity".
So she ordered Shen Churong to lead the main force, escorting the grain and supplies straight to Weizhou to rendezvous, while she herself, with Chen Yanqing, traveled light and went ahead.
The two changed into coarse clothes, disguised themselves as ordinary people, and rode swiftly. In less than three days, they had reached the border of Luozhou.
According to reports from local officials, Los Angeles was the least affected of the three states.
However, as the two rode their horses along the road, they still saw many displaced people fleeing south.
Around noon, the two rested under a withered locust tree by the roadside.
Before long, a family fleeing from disaster staggered closer.
That was a family of six.
An old man with a withered face and unsteady steps, a haggard woman holding a little girl, a teenager supporting an old woman who kept coughing, and at the end of the group was a young man with a tired face and carrying tattered luggage on his shoulders.
The little girl was about three or four years old, pale and thin. When she saw the dry food in Chen Yanqing's hand, she burst into tears.
The woman tried to soothe the child in a low voice, but the child cried even harder, his eyes never leaving the pancake.
At Li Yuanzhao's prompting, Chen Yanqing picked up a bag of wheat cakes and stepped forward.
"Grandpa, take a rest." He handed over the pancake, "Give the child something to eat."
The old man's cloudy eyes brightened, and he tremblingly accepted the wheat cakes, then handed them out to the people behind him one by one.
The old man's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, and he trembled as he took the wheat cake, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, young man, thank you so much!"
He first broke off a large piece and handed it to the little girl, who immediately stopped crying and tightly gripped the biscuit with both hands, stuffing it into her mouth.
The old man then distributed the cakes to his family, and everyone who received a cake devoured it, as they were truly starving.
Taking advantage of the situation, Chen Yanqing asked, "Sir, where are you headed?"
The old man swallowed the bread in his mouth and sighed deeply: "Head south, try to escape and survive..."
"How could this be?" Chen Yanqing feigned surprise. "I heard that the disaster in Luozhou is not severe. Why do you still want to flee with your whole family?"
A young man next to him couldn't help but interject, his tone full of indignation, "How can it not be severe? It's been a drought for almost two years! There was hardly any rain last spring, and the wheat harvest wasn't even enough to pay the rent, but the state government hasn't reduced the taxes at all. They're pressing us for river works fees, military training fees, and more urgently than the King of Hell himself!"
The old man continued, "Yes, some families couldn't pay their taxes, and the constables robbed them of all their grain and oxen! This summer, the fields yielded absolutely nothing, and people in the village are starving to death every day. If you don't leave, you're just waiting to die!"
“No wonder…” Chen Yanqing nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “When the court sent the Second Prince to provide disaster relief, didn’t they open the granaries and distribute grain to you?”
"Release grain?" The young man scoffed, his tone full of mockery and anger. "That's all nonsense to deceive the imperial court! The granaries are already empty."
The old man lowered his voice and said, "I heard that Weizhou is in chaos. The disaster victims can't survive, so they have no choice but to... rebel..."
The two of them talked at once, each taking turns to accuse the local officials of mistreatment and perfunctory disaster relief efforts.
...
After the family thanked him profusely and continued on their way, Chen Yanqing whispered to Li Yuanzhao, "Your Highness, it seems the disaster is far more serious than reported. The local officials deceived their superiors and the Second Prince failed to provide adequate disaster relief, which led to today's chaos."
Li Yuanzhao stood up, mounted his horse, and said, "Let's go."
The further north you go, the more desolate it becomes.
The village, which once had wisps of smoke rising from its chimneys, now has crumbling walls, half-closed gates, and nine out of ten households are deserted.
Those who remained in the village were mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children who could no longer walk. They sat blankly at their doorways, staring in the direction of the southward escape.
When they arrived at a small village on the border of Luozhou and Weizhou, the silence was so profound it was unsettling.
Every household had its doors and windows tightly shut, and it was difficult to see even a single person.
Chen Yanqing reined in his horse, his brow furrowed: "Your Highness, we haven't had water for almost a day. If we can't find a water source here soon, I'm afraid..."
He lowered his head with some guilt halfway through his sentence.
Before setting off, he was confident in his extensive travel experience and carefully prepared enough dry rations, but he did not expect the drought to be so severe.
The streams along the way had long since dried up, and the wells were completely dry; there wasn't even a drop of drinkable water to be found.
Li Yuanzhao didn't utter a single complaint throughout the entire process, but the more he did so, the more he felt that he hadn't taken good care of him.
The two men led their horses around the village and knocked on the doors of several houses, but no one answered.
Just as Chen Yanqing was extremely anxious, a clear voice suddenly came from behind him: "Stop knocking, they've all fled the famine!"
Looking back, I saw a little girl of about eight or nine years old standing not far away.
She wore a dry, yellow braid, her clothes were patched upon patched, and she carried a tattered basket containing a few handfuls of wild vegetables she had dug up and some yellow mud.
Chen Yanqing quickly stepped forward, squatted down, and asked, "Little girl, has everyone in the village left?"
"Yes, it's just our family left." The little girl nodded, her tone showing a maturity beyond her years.
Chen Yanqing asked curiously, "Then why didn't you go with them to escape the famine?"
“My grandmother has difficulty walking and can’t walk, so I want to stay and take care of her.”
As the little girl spoke, her gaze fell on the two men's chapped lips, then she looked at the horse they were leading, as if she understood something.
"You want water, right? Come with me, my well hasn't run dry yet."
"Really?" Chen Yanqing was overjoyed and quickly turned to Li Yuanzhao, shouting, "Your Highness...Master, there's water!"
Li Yuanzhao, expressionless, led the horse and followed behind the little girl.
After crossing several long-dried fields, the two arrived at a simple mud courtyard.
The courtyard wall was made of adobe bricks and had collapsed in many places. There was only a low thatched house in the courtyard, and the paper pasted on the windows was already tattered.
The little girl walked quickly to the well in the corner of the yard and laboriously turned the well wheel.
After struggling for a while, they managed to draw half a bucket of murky water from the well.
She picked up two chipped, rough porcelain bowls from beside the stove, scooped out half a bowl of water from each, and handed them to the two men.
Chen Yanqing frowned as he looked at the water in the bowl, which was mixed with fine sand, and was about to speak.
But Li Yuanzhao had already taken the bowl and, without changing his expression, drank the entire bowl of water in one gulp.
After finishing her drink, she handed the bowl back to the little girl and whispered, "Thank you."
The little girl was stunned for a moment, then blushed.
On the way here, she noticed that this seemingly powerful older woman hadn't said a word, and she assumed she was mute.
She scratched her head, a little embarrassed, and said, "It's okay. If the horse is thirsty, I can give it some water."
Seeing this, Chen Yanqing quickly took the bowl and drank all the water in it.
The water had an earthy taste and tasted terrible.
Having spent so much time with Li Yuanzhao, he had grown accustomed to a life of luxury and found it difficult to adjust to his surroundings.
Unexpectedly, Li Yuanzhao, who seemed to live a life of ease and comfort, was actually more "content with his lot" than anyone else.
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