Chapter 30: Follow Us
A few days later, he arrived safely at the Yuzhou prefecture.
The prefect of Yuzhou came to greet him with local officials.
Liu Zhiyuan got off the carriage and glanced at the officials who were fatter and stronger than each other. He quickly came to a conclusion in his mind: they were a group of corrupt officials.
Even with the disaster in Yuzhou right now, those officials still manage to keep themselves so plump and white with flesh on their faces. Who would believe that they are not corrupt officials?
After a tiring journey, the Yuzhou prefect had already arranged a welcoming banquet and accommodation for the emperor to have a good rest, but Liu Zhiyuan wanted to go outside first.
It's not that she has a compassionate heart, but since entering the territory of Yuzhou, she has seen what it means for the people to live in poverty and suffer widespread misery.
The roadside was littered with corpses of people who had starved to death, and many of them were newborn babies. Anyone who saw such a tragic scene would be heartbroken.
If artificial rainfall were truly possible, then if it were successful one day earlier, fewer people would starve to death.
Furthermore, this is also to save my parents and brother.
Xiao Yu stood up and said, "I'll go with you."
Liu Zhiyuan didn't have the nerve to ask the emperor to accompany her, so she declined politely, "No, no, I can go by myself. Your Majesty must have had a hard time on this bumpy journey, you should get some rest."
Xiao Yu snorted coldly. He wanted to rest, but the problem was, could he rest if he let this witch out?
But don’t sit up again before you lie down. It’s scary to think about it.
"I will go and understand the people's sentiments."
Liu Zhiyuan was a little surprised. The phrase "understanding the people's sentiments" itself felt inappropriate when used to describe a tyrant.
After all, the reason why a tyrant is called a tyrant is because he does nothing.
This is also written in the original book. Emperor Ming Zhao Xiao Yu was cruel and inhumane, murdered loyal and good people, was tyrannical and incompetent, which led to the people of the Yong Dynasty living in dire straits and suffering everywhere, with internal and external troubles. The people lived in dire straits every day.
But it seems that after traveling through time for so long, Xiao Yu doesn't seem as bad as described in the novel.
Although he was occasionally a bit domineering and cruel, and even overly arbitrary, on the way to Yuzhou, he was either reading books or reviewing memorials every day. He treated state affairs very seriously and was not as incompetent and unjust as described in the novel.
Moreover, his requirement for reinvestigating the Liu family's corruption case was that she successfully prayed for rain, which shows that he cares about the people of the world.
The way she looked at him was too obvious, and Xiao Yu's eyes twitched violently.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Liu Zhiyuan, what are you looking at?"
How come? Is it shocking for him, the king of a country, to understand the people's sentiments?
Liu Zhiyuan quickly averted her gaze, "Your Majesty is so handsome, I was stunned for a moment. Your Majesty, please don't think too much."
Xiao Yu snorted coldly and left with a flick of his sleeves.
He looks like he is very cool and doesn't want to bother with you.
The tips of his ears slowly turned red.
The Yuzhou prefect and all the officials who came to greet him broke out in cold sweat.
Outside Yuzhou, there are refugees and corpses of people who died of starvation everywhere. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a purgatory on earth. What the emperor saw along the way was already beautified by them.
If the emperor saw the real situation, they would not only lose their official hats, but they would probably even lose their heads.
The Yuzhou prefect hurried forward and saluted respectfully, "Your Majesty, Yuzhou is suffering from a severe disaster right now. Furthermore, the weather outside is dry and hot, and some areas have even experienced plague. Your Majesty is a precious person, and going to those places might harm your health. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."
Liu Zhiyuan raised his eyebrows. If it is so serious, doesn’t it prove that you, as the prefect, have failed in your duty?
The era of supreme imperial power was troublesome. There were so many rules that people would even discourage you from going out for a walk.
Liu Zhiyuan felt extremely contemptuous in her heart, but she also knew that she could not use her own thoughts to measure everything here. It would be better if the Dog Emperor did not go, and she would be happy and at ease.
"Your Majesty, if that's the case, then how about I..."
Xiao Yu interrupted him, "In that case, I should go out and take a look, my beloved concubine, let's go."
The environment outside was so harsh that if Liu Zhiyuan went out alone, he couldn't imagine what kind of spell this witch would cast.
Liu Zhiyuan rolled his eyes in his heart. It was so unlucky that he couldn't get rid of it even after this.
Wang Zheng was worried, so he brought a dozen guards with high martial arts skills to follow him. The prefect of Yuzhou had no choice but to follow him.
The area near the yamen was okay. Although there were refugees there, it was relatively clean and tidy. The further they went to remote areas, the more serious the disaster became, even more serious than what they saw on the way here.
"No, please don't, let my child go, I beg you."
Hearing a quarrel in front, Liu Zhiyuan looked over and saw a big man holding a skinny child in his arms, and a woman holding the child's hand tightly.
The man's face was full of impatience. He kicked the woman again and again, cursing at her.
Many people around watched numbly, but no one stepped forward to help.
Liu Zhiyuan was furious. Is there any law to enforce the law when a child is snatched away in broad daylight?
She rolled up her sleeves and angrily wanted to go forward to help.
Xiao Yu pulled the person back and winked at Wang Zheng.
Wang Zheng took the order and strode forward.
"What are you doing?"
When the man saw that Wang Zheng was tall and strong and was wearing official uniform, he was scared for a moment, but soon he became confident again.
"I traded my own child for this. This bitch is cheating, so you can't blame me."
The woman cried and threw herself at Wang Zheng's feet, hugging his legs.
"Sir, please save my child. He is only three years old."
The man said angrily, "My child is only three years old, and your man took her away."
As soon as he finished speaking, another skinny, ragged woman rushed out, knelt down at Wang Zheng's feet, and cried breathlessly.
"Sir, please save my child. He is only three years old. He is a piece of flesh that fell from my body. If you want to eat him, eat my flesh, not my son."
Liu Zhiyuan heard these words as soon as she approached. A terrible thought came to her mind and her face turned pale.
Wang Zheng quickly understood the situation and was stunned.
The faces of the others turned pale. Liu Dehai covered his mouth and resisted the urge to vomit.
Liu Zhiyuan's face turned pale as paper. She guessed it right: eating the child!
The disaster in Yuzhou had become so serious that people began to eat human flesh.
Xiao Yu's face was terribly gloomy, and his cold gaze fell on the prefect of Yuzhou in an extremely oppressive manner.
The prefect of Yuzhou was sweating profusely, lowering his head and not daring to speak.
The cold light reflected in Xiao Yu's eyes could almost see through him.
“Why not set up a porridge stall?”
The Yuzhou prefect slumped to his knees and said, "Your Majesty, the relief funds from the imperial court have been delayed, and the silver reserves have long been used up. There is nothing we can do."
Liu Dehai and Wang Zheng looked at Liu Zhiyuan at the same time, then tactfully looked away.
The reason why the disaster relief money from the court was delayed was because Liu Zhongyuan had embezzled it.
The national treasury is now empty and we cannot provide so much money for disaster relief.
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