022
Song Ling stepped forward and patted his arm. "Let's go."
Where to?
She stopped and looked at him. "Then the general said...where should you go now?"
Feeling guilty under her gaze, Yu Baizhou raised his hand and touched his nose. "I just wanted to... wait for you." But only he knew the real reason behind it.
………
South of the city
"Line up! One by one, you'll receive them!"
A group of soldiers stood in several rows, ready for battle; the air was still and quiet.
As the epidemic subsided, one after another, some emaciated people, dressed in patched clothes and carrying chipped bowls, shuffled forward with fear and panic. When they saw the white rice soup being ladled into their bowls, the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes creased up, and a fleeting glimmer of light appeared in their dark eyes.
Although there were a few local thugs and ruffians, they were now tucked in their tails and dared not cause trouble under the intimidation of so many soldiers.
Song Ling and Yu Baizhou stood at the base of the wall not far away, taking in everything.
"General, have you ever heard of this widely circulated saying?"
“In recent years, the southeast has suffered from drought, and people in Yangzhou have resorted to cannibalism.”
Song Ling's tone was ambiguous, "The Jiangnan region is a vast and fertile land... The drought has not yet passed, and then an epidemic strikes. When the imperial court's disaster relief supplies were allocated to various prefectures, some were withheld by officials, and then by the counties and districts, layer by layer, so that by the time they reached the people, there was hardly any grain left."
“If the King of Qi does not rebel, the people of Yangzhou will surely rise up. The people are easily satisfied; all they want is to be well-fed, warmly clothed, and free from illness and pain... to have a job that can support their families and a small home that can shelter them from the wind and rain.”
When Song Ling turned to look at him, her expression was serious. "These... General, you must remember them."
Yu Baizhou had fought his way up from the battlefield over the years and had seen countless partings and deaths, but he had never been more moved than he was at this moment.
She was admonishing him that if he were to start a rebellion, his first priority should be the most vulnerable people.
They are the weakest group, yet they can also be the strongest.
Only now did he understand why Song Ling had repeatedly asked him if he had truly made up his mind.
Yu Baizhou bowed his head and clasped his hands in a fist salute, "I understand, please teach me, young lady."
Song Ling held his arm and pulled him back from bending over. "I hope the general will remember these words and strive to improve."
Before the two could speak again, they were drawn to a commotion not far away.
"My lord, I have a younger brother at home... please give me another bowl!"
The soldier serving the porridge seemed to have become impatient with him, and his tone was quite fierce, "If you serve him an extra bowl, he'll just scoop out an extra bowl too. What about everyone else?!"
“I see you’re young and healthy. How can you not support your family with a job? Why are you competing with these old and weak people behind you for food?”
"They really try to take advantage of every opportunity!"
The soldier grumbled and cursed, but still managed to fill the man's other bowl with a large ladle, then impatiently shooed him away, "No next time! Get out of here! Next—"
"Sigh..."
The man walked out of the line with a forced smile. He had barely taken half a step when he finished drinking all the rice soup in one of the bowls, picked out the grit from his mouth, and even licked the remaining white rice clean.
As he was about to swagger away with another bowl of porridge, he unexpectedly bumped into two people.
When Song Ling saw him, she bowed and said, "Young Master Su, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
"Eh? Oh... Hahaha," the man in front of him seemed to have expected this, and he gave a somewhat awkward bow while holding the porridge, "I was momentarily rude because my clothes were not in order... Miss Song."
He pointed somewhat awkwardly at the bowl in his hand and chuckled, "This porridge... tastes pretty good."
“It’s last year’s rice,” Song Ling asked casually. “Would I have the honor of inviting you to my residence for a chat?”
“Well… my younger brother is still at home. If you and the general don’t mind, you may join me in my humble abode for a chat.” The man suddenly remembered something. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Su Duan.”
He first raised his hand in a gesture of respect and nodded to Song Ling, saying, "I have received great kindness from Miss Song."
Then he turned to Yu Baizhou beside him and bowed, saying, "It has been a long time since I heard of General Yu's name."
Yu Baizhou returned the greeting with clasped hands, "You're too kind, young master."
***
The group walked into a dilapidated but tidy alley in the southeast of the city. They came to a door at the end of the alley, where a woman came out carrying a basket and was locking the door.
"Oh, Mr. Su is back!"
"Hey, Sister Wu," Su Duan greeted with a smile, "Getting ready to head out?"
"I'm going to deliver some food to Anjifang," Sister Wu said. Although she was thin and had a few strands of white hair around her ears, she looked very energetic with a smile. "I'm just waiting for your older brother to come home in a month or so."
"Go ahead, have Xiao Zhu and his brother come to my house tonight," Su Duan beckoned.
"That's great, even these blind kids can recognize a few words from you."
"I'm not saying anything now, I'm leaving first."
Su Duan opened the door with a smile, "I read a lot of books in my younger years, and now that I have nothing to do, I can teach these kids to recognize a few words. It's not a waste of my talents."
As soon as the door opened, Su Duan was hit by a wave of water, but not a drop of the porridge in his hand spilled, presumably because he was already used to this situation.
"Big brother!"
"Hey, here—" Su Duan handed the boy in front of her, who only reached her chest, "Have a drink."
The boy in front of her looked to be only six or seven years old, thin and pale, but his eyes were bright and piercing. He wrinkled his nose and refused to accept it, saying, "Big brother, you're just trying to fool me again."
"You drink first, then I'll drink."
"Did you not eat again?"
"No, no!" Su Duan patted his stomach. "These two guests can testify that I came back fully drunk."
The boy turned to look at Song Ling, his eyes filled with curiosity and doubt. Su Duan also looked at her, though he didn't make any move, the message in his eyes was probably "help me."
Facing the two pairs of eyes, one big and one small, Song Ling nodded helplessly, "That's right, your brother is right."
"Gurgle..."
"Gurgle..."
Two stomach growls sounded in succession, one coming from a curious boy who immediately clutched his stomach.
Another sound... Song Ling turned her head to look at the source of the sound.
Yu Baizhou touched his nose, his ears turning red. "Food is the most important thing for the people. I need to train the troops... and it's mealtime."
"Gurgle..."
As Song Ling turned to the side again, Yu Baizhou took a half step back, saying, "This time it wasn't me!"
“It seems… it was me…” Su Duan pointed to himself somewhat awkwardly, “That porridge wasn’t very filling.”
“Here you go,” the boy said generously, handing him the half-bowl of porridge. “Brother, I’m still young, you can have this.”
"Stop arguing, you two," Song Ling said speechlessly, stopping the two who were pushing each other. She pointed at the boy and said, "You, drink it now."
When Song Ling turned serious and looked coldly at the boy, he shivered and immediately obeyed, drinking the rice soup and spitting out the sand just like Su Duan had done earlier.
"Knock knock knock..." There was a knock on the door behind me.
"Please come in!"
A crack appeared in the doorway, and a head peeked in. Then, a burly man carrying two large baskets entered.
When Mu Yuan entered, he was stunned for a moment when he saw Yu Baizhou there. "Miss, General!"
"This is grain, and a little meat."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Song Ling smiled slightly.
Su Duan was still stunned when Song Ling looked around at the two men and asked, "Can either of you cook?"
"I can! I can!" the boy exclaimed excitedly, raising his hand. "Sister, I can start a fire!"
Song Ling was inexplicably amused.
Yu Baizhou raised his hand slightly, "I can, I'll do it."
At this moment, Su Duan naturally could not stand idly by. How could he let his guests light a fire and cook?
"Ah... General Yu, I'll do it!"
Two quarters of an hour later
"I haven't seen any meat in so long," Su Duan said, eagerly eyeing the only small plate of meat on the table.
Yu Baizhou glanced at Song Ling's expression, then picked up the plate and placed it in front of the boy before he could pick it up. "Children need to grow, they need to eat more meat."
"well……"
Su Duan sighed. Was he really that old? He was only...not even thirty yet...
"Lord Su, are you... quite happy and carefree these days?" Song Ling shook her head slightly. "You have changed quite a bit."
"'Singing, dancing, and laughing freely, without restraint or hindrance'—that's it!" Su Duan laughed heartily. "If you don't change, you've wasted your youth."
"Take it easy, isn't that how life goes?"
Song Ling gently put down her chopsticks. "Then why has Your Excellency come to Guangping County?"
"How long have you been here?"
"And, sir... are you still willing to hold onto that original aspiration?"
Song Ling's few words silenced the air. Su Duan smiled and remained silent.
After a long silence, he said slowly, "Young lady, I consider myself a fine horse, but I haven't met a discerning eye. Some people are perhaps destined to be forgotten in history."
"There are plenty of people like that, I have nothing to regret."
"My mother passed away not long ago. I am just an ordinary person, and now I only wish to take good care of my younger brother."
Upon hearing this, the boy, who was still eating, stopped and licked the rice grains from the corners of his mouth. "Big brother, I'm an adult now, I don't need you to take care of me."
"I can find work to support you!"
"Su Yi!" Su Duan deliberately glared at him, looking down at him angrily. "Sir, speak—"
“Kids shouldn’t interrupt…it’s that line again,” Su Yi pouted. “It’s so annoying.”
"Heh," Song Ling genuinely found this child quite interesting, "How old are you this year?"
"Nine years old!" Su Yi patted his chest. "Didn't I tell you I'm an adult?"
However, Su Duan was clearly not interested in Song Ling's next topic, so Yu Baizhou and Song Ling had no choice but to get up and leave.
Before leaving, Song Ling refused the jade pendant he had hesitantly offered, saying, "Since it was left by an old friend, you should keep it safe."
Upon hearing this, Su Duan lowered his eyes and said, "Miss Song, Su Zhengze is already dead. I will definitely repay the favor I owe you one day."
Song Ling understood his determination and underlying hesitation, and did not want to press him any further. She bowed and said goodbye, "My lord, take care."
Song Ling got up and walked out of the courtyard, while Yu Baizhou was still standing some distance away. He walked up to Su Duan and handed him a bag of loose silver. Seeing that Su Duan wanted to refuse, he explained, "This is what Miss Song wanted."
"treasure."
After saying this, he clasped his hands in a fist salute and left.
Holding the silver in his hand, Su Duan suddenly murmured, "What exactly is one's original intention?"
“Your original intention is definitely something you have to do for a very long time, even if it’s very difficult,” Su Yi looked up at him strangely. “I know that, big brother, you’re so stupid!”
Su Duan's heart skipped a beat, realizing something, and he hurriedly opened the cloth bag.
Inside, besides some loose silver, there was a note with only five words written on it.
"Prefectural Governor's Residence"
"Waiting for you"
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