"What kind of divine skill is this!" He had been studying for months, but he still hadn't mastered even the lightness skill.
"What are you doing outside? I called you earlier but you didn't answer." Yingge came out.
When will you call me?
"When you ran out, I asked you to help carry things."
"Okay, let's go now."
Jie Jin was worried that Yingge would ask more questions, after all, she was the Fifth Princess's maid and knew Liang Mi. He didn't even know if Liang Mi was good or bad, and if Xiao Xuan exposed himself, they would be finished.
Yingge chimed in from the side, "He's skinny, but he runs really fast."
Outside the city gate, the lock on the main gate was broken by stones. When Lord Li arrived on horseback, only some wounded constables and soldiers remained.
"Sir, what brings you here?" A constable recognized him and struggled to his feet. These refugees had been starving for so long, how could they still be so strong?
"Help each other up and go to the clinic. I will cover the expenses when I return."
"Thank you, sir."
Seeing them helping each other, Lord Li hurriedly mounted his horse and left the city. He calculated the distance and knew that finding Prince Jing was the fastest way. He had helped Prince Jing once when he first took office, and this was his bet.
Just outside the city gate, Lord Li encountered Li Jia'an's entourage, which had come with Prince Jing. In his fifteen years as an official, this was the first time he had shed tears in front of everyone.
Prince Jing frowned deeply: "Arrogant."
"Prince Jing, I'm entrusting Yincheng to you this time."
"Lord Li, how many households are there in the city, and approximately how many people have gone in?"
“There are 80,000 households in the city, and yesterday we counted about 4,000 refugees.”
"good."
Prince Jing was well aware of the situation at Qingyong Pass. Prince Ning was already on his way there. There were 9,000 households there. Could it be that nearly half of the refugees had come to Yincheng?
Moreover, most of the refugees went to the outskirts of Yuhu Pass, and the list he signed at the time contained three thousand names.
These five thousand people went to great lengths to come to Yincheng, which is some distance from Yuhuguan, and their purpose was very clear.
Prince Jing ordered his soldiers to be divided into ten groups of ten each, and to march through the main streets of Yincheng. Having fought alongside him for many years, they could tell at a glance whether someone was a refugee or not.
Lord Li gave his horse to the most seriously injured city soldier and asked Li Jia'an to take it to the nearest doctor's house.
After the refugees entered, many of them headed in an organized and disciplined manner toward the homes of wealthy families and government offices. Those following behind found this strange, wondering if they should have looked for food first!
Xiao Ya and her brother behind her originally wanted to follow the group of refugees who ran the fastest, but she was afraid of the wealthy family and was on high alert, so she only knocked on the door outside the small gate.
But too few people opened the door, so they tried to kick it down, but before they could even start, it was pushed aside.
Xiao Xuan felt that he had a strange connection with these dozen or so refugees. First, he robbed them of a kitchen knife and a bracelet, and now he had run into them here.
"Why are you wearing black clothes, and the fabric is so nice?" A refugee asked, looking a bit dazed.
Xiao Xuan and Wu Daniu were in charge of the local people in this area. They didn't bother arguing with them; they just beat them and kicked them when necessary.
On the other side, Constable Gu and Liang Mi saw a group of refugees running in several waves toward the Lin and Li residences.
"They are outsiders, how would they know the direction of the wealthy families in Yincheng?"
Officer Gu gripped his knife: "That means they're very familiar with the area and have been scouting it for a long time, which is why they're pretending to be refugees."
"Officer Gu, let's split up. I'll go to the Lin residence, and you two will go to the Li residence," Liang Mi suggested.
"Okay, let's do it that way."
The three men split into two groups. Just as they left, another group of refugees arrived and ran towards the government office.
Wang Sheng followed behind them; there were three to five hundred men below, and he didn't know how skilled they were. Even if they were ordinary people, it would take him a long time to deal with so many.
However, they didn't make it to the government office; they were surrounded and beaten by armed civilians on the way. Wang Sheng, on the rooftop, was completely stunned. Where did these people come from?
In fact, when Lord Li received the document, he secretly discussed with Constable Gu and found two thousand able-bodied men from Yincheng in advance.
These men were strong, brave, and when they received the notice from Constable Gu, they were introducing people they knew, as well as relatives and friends.
There were butchers, cattle herders, and servants from merchant households, among others.
Lord Li originally gathered them only out of concern for potential trouble, but the imperial court had ordered that militias not be recruited privately. Therefore, they were to be on call at all times and only gather together as a last resort.
The beacon tower was lit three times today, which anyone who pays attention will know, so everyone grabbed their tools and headed to the assembly point.
Because there were no government officials around, they dared not go far, so they gathered at the only place along the way to the yamen and beat any refugees who seemed hostile.
The refugees below beat them bloody, and even those skilled in martial arts, who were armed, were attacked by Wang Shengfei before they could even make a move.
There were also some who had been attacked from the shadows, but the snow blinded them, and they fell to the ground where a dozen or so people were punching and kicking them.
After all the people who had come over had been beaten, everyone gathered together again. "Hero, are you from the government? Where are we going now?"
Wang Sheng knew they were just ordinary people and shouldn't go to dangerous places: "Everyone gathered together, we went forward, and we attacked the refugees who liked to cause trouble."
"good!"
The neighbors all poked their heads out; their families were either sick or poor, with elderly parents and young children to support. Although they couldn't go out, they carried sticks and hoes, ready to fight off anyone who dared to come.
The refugees near the city's edge were the first to suffer; some of the more powerful families even fought with them. Initially, the refugees were confident in their numbers, but then a few soldiers arrived, forcing them to return what they had stolen.
Chaos was starting to break out in the city, and young, strong men in every household were standing by the door with whatever weapons they could find.
Some families were small, consisting mostly of elderly people and children. They were startled by the knocking and were about to scream for help when a fight broke out outside.
Wu Daniu hated these people the most. They were neither crippled nor stupid, and they had no choice but to rob.
He served the Prince of Hengjiang in his early years, and his first wife was arranged by Xiao's father. Later, when his mother fell seriously ill, he accepted the Prince of Hengjiang's order to return home.
He had just returned to the countryside of Yincheng and was taking his elderly mother to see a doctor when he saw the news posted on the city wall about the King of Hengjiang's affair.
He originally intended to go to the capital to visit his mother, but his mother was seriously ill, and even his wife, who had come with him, had fallen ill, so he couldn't leave for the time being.
A few months later, he accidentally saw Xiao's father, who had fled, outside the village. He originally wanted to go up and acknowledge him. However, Xiao's father winked at him, so he had no choice but to follow along with Xiao's father's story.
So he secretly maintained contact with Xiao Xuan, even though he hated him to the core. He could only practice martial arts in secret. Later, through the introduction of the villagers, he reunited with his current wife, Yang Shi.
Even honest people will use the excuse of being refugees to start fights.
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