When Yi Chenli and the others arrived outside the camp, the scene was already in chaos.
The soup kitchen was smashed, with pieces of wood scattered all over the ground. Disaster victims surrounded the camp, holding sticks and protesting.
The protester leading the demonstration was a bald man. Standing on a large rock, he shouted, "You corrupt officials don't treat us disaster victims like human beings at all! Look at this porridge, how many grains of rice are there? Did you embezzle all the disaster relief funds?"
Once suspicion is opened, this feeling of distrust will spread.
Gradually, some disaster victims said, "We came all the way from the southeast, thousands of miles away, eating tree roots, just hoping to have something to eat at the foot of Shengjing. Who knew we would encounter you corrupt officials who would return the grain that was owed to us."
"Give it back to us, give it back to us."
A minister, having received Yi Chenli's decree, stepped forward and said, "Please be patient, everyone. There was indeed a problem with our arrangements just now. The food has been delivered and will be prepared for you immediately."
The porridge was all freshly made. The soldiers reheated the grain that Lord Liu had taken away and distributed the cooked porridge to the elderly and children who hadn't received any that morning.
As soon as the porridge was served, the disaster victims wolfed it down, gulping it down.
Although porridge is distributed every day, it is still not enough given how hungry the disaster victims are.
The porridge was distributed, and the disaster victims' emotions stabilized a bit. Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief...
The bald man who had been leading the group slammed the bowls he had distributed onto the ground, drawing everyone's attention.
"Is this all you're going to give us? You corrupt officials are feasting on fish and meat in the camp, and this is all we get for this? Do you think we're so easily fooled?"
"They even said before that the elderly, women, and children couldn't line up for porridge. Weren't they just trying to starve us to death?"
"Brothers, we can't let them get away with just a bowl of porridge. We have to stand up and protest!"
With the bald man's impassioned words, the anger that had been barely suppressed was reignited.
One by one, the disaster victims stood up and started causing trouble again.
One of the ministers couldn't help but speak up, saying, "We don't have any fancy food. The food we eat in the camp is the same as yours. We're really short of food."
"And you can't just turn your back on me after we've just eaten the porridge, that's just being unreasonable."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the bald man suddenly pulled out a wooden stick and struck the man.
"Brothers, let's fight them! They must be hiding food. Let's go and take back what is rightfully ours."
"Kill the corrupt official! Kill the corrupt official!"
The disaster victims swarmed forward, and the soldiers they had brought with them had no choice but to rush forward to protect the safety of the adults.
There were far more refugees outside the camp than expected, and the soldiers were gradually outnumbered.
Several ministers were bruised and injured, clutching their wounds and crying out in pain.
The situation is getting worse.
Although Yi Chenli did not speak, he silently observed the situation.
The disaster victims, already starving for days and in low spirits, were easily instigated. The bald man who led the instigation seemed unfamiliar; he hadn't been present when the porridge was distributed a few days ago.
Yi Chenli already had a guess in his mind: it was probably someone in the palace who was dissatisfied that the disaster relief work had fallen into his hands and was deliberately trying to sabotage it.
Yi Chenli wheeled himself out of the guards' protection and headed straight for the bald leader.
The bald man looked at Yi Chenli sitting in a wheelchair and thought to himself with smug satisfaction: "I'll beat you to death, you corrupt official who led this."
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