After a brief conversation, Suman learned that these twenty or so people were not refugees, but wealthy families who had escaped from the city.
The child she saved was none other than their master Luo Xiangyun's youngest son, Luo Jun'er.
"Escape?"
Su Man noticed Luo Xiangyun's choice of words, "Is there famine in the city too?"
Luo Xiangyun smiled helplessly, "Under an overturned nest, how can eggs remain intact? Officials are not officials, and the people are not people. In a famine, there is no place for peace."
According to Luo Xiangyun, the city was attacked by two waves of bandits.
All the food in the wealthy families was looted, and their gold and silver were also looted.
If they had not abandoned their gold and silver and escaped before the city gates were closed, they would have probably been killed by the bandits.
As for those who were reluctant to give up their family property, all of it was robbed by the bandits, and even the women in their families were abducted.
Hearing this, the villagers all sighed.
Unexpectedly, the crisis in the city was no less than theirs.
Su Man saw that Luo Xiangyun was well-spoken and even in such a situation, he still maintained excellent manners.
That's in his bones, which shows that his background is definitely not as simple as that of an ordinary wealthy businessman.
Look at his servants again. Even in such a life-and-death situation last night, they did not run away individually, but still gathered together to protect their master.
This is also the reason why Su Man was able to save their entire family.
Thinking of this, Su Man tentatively asked, "From Brother Luo's accent, he doesn't sound like he's from here. He sounds more like he's from the capital."
Luo Xiangyun paused for a moment, his eyes flickering.
Su Man noticed his concerns and didn't ask any further questions. "We just met, it's normal for Brother Luo to be on guard."
"No."
Luo Xiangyun sighed, "Your Excellency saved our lives and also saved Jun'er for us. I will tell you everything I know, and I only hope that Your Excellency can keep this secret for me."
"Of course."
Su Man looked at the villagers around him and said, "If you are not a righteous person, you will not stay here."
"My benefactor is right."
Luo Xiangyun straightened his sitting posture and bowed to Su Man, "My benefactor, my father is King Ping, and I am King Ping's son."
Suman: Beautiful!
She guessed that Luo Xiangyun had a noble background and thought he was the son of some nobleman, but she didn't expect that he was actually the son of a prince.
But why does the prince's son come to a place like this instead of enjoying himself in the capital?
Hearing Su Man's question, Luo Xiangyun smiled bitterly and said, "Of course, it's for my Jun'er."
He looked at the child in his wife's arms, his slightly cold expression softening. "Jun'er has been weak and sickly since birth. The imperial physician said he wouldn't live past the age of three. My wife and I refused to give up hope, so we heard about a miraculous doctor in Liancheng, so we came here to find him."
"Under the treatment of the miracle doctor, Jun'er has recovered a lot. I also thought about taking the miracle doctor back with me, but the herbs used for the treatment can only grow in special places, so I left them here, but..."
"I just didn't expect the famine to be so severe." Suman continued.
"yes."
Luo Xiangyun nodded.
"Then you didn't reveal your identities to the local officials and ask them to escort you?"
"My benefactor is joking."
Luo Xiangyun looked at the endless river in the distance and said, "The Liancheng prefect can do this because he is determined to seal the famine in the city. If he knew my identity, I'm afraid we would die faster than the refugees."
When he said this, Su Man immediately understood what he meant.
If Luo Xiangyun reported the actions of the Liancheng prefect back to the capital, it would be a disaster that would implicate all nine generations of his family.
In this situation, even if he knew that Luo Xiangyun was the prince's son, he would still label him a thug.
Speaking of this, Luo Xiangyun also felt a little scared.
Fortunately, he thought it was troublesome to deal with the guests at first and did not reveal his identity, otherwise he would have no chance of escaping unscathed.
As he was speaking, Wang Tiedan ran back from somewhere.
"Auntie, I just checked, and only a few pine trees are burning. When will we be able to build a boat?"
"shipbuilding?"
Luo Xiangyun was stunned. "Benefactor, you want to build a ship?"
"yes."
Su Man agreed, "We didn't dare take the government boat, and we couldn't afford the private boat, so we decided to do it ourselves."
Luo Xiangyun was also shocked for a moment after hearing this, until he heard Su Man's plan, he gradually calmed down.
"Private boats may not reach the other side of the river, so it's better not to take them."
Su Man was surprised, "What's the logic behind this?"
Luo Xiangyun told a story about an unsolved case he had heard of.
It was a port with developed water and land transportation, and countless people came and went every day.
Starting from a certain day, many people disappeared after crossing the river, and no one found them alive or dead.
There were rumors that it was a water ghost that was causing trouble, and several rituals were held to commemorate the incident.
The case was not solved until a survivor was rescued by chance. It turned out that there was a boatman who, in order to make more money, actually abandoned the people crossing the river in the middle of the river and extorted their money to make a profit.
This way, he wouldn't have to spend days rowing the boat to the other side, and he could also earn the crossing fee.
"...Or maybe I'm just being too narrow-minded. It's just that in these times of famine, rules and etiquette have been thrown out the window. I simply don't dare to gamble."
Su Man felt a chill down her spine when she thought that those people might be left in the middle of the river and never come back.
She also remembered a news story she had read before, about a black-hearted nanny who secretly poisoned the elderly man in order to avoid having to serve him for a whole month and still get a full month's salary.
It is simply unscrupulous that he was discovered only after committing so many crimes.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
