This incident made Zhao Qingzhu realize a problem: sometimes, no matter how strong you are, you may just be a sharp and handy sword.
And the key factor is who holds the power and uses it.
Clearly, Zhu Yunwen was very skilled with swords, even though he did not know any martial arts.
For the rest of the journey, everyone became more cautious.
Meanwhile, in a nearby small village, there was a fairly well-off farming family.
Zhu Yunwen sat in his chair, looking at the returning middle-aged man, and said with a gloomy expression:
"Useless trash! I asked you to kill such a useless person, and you couldn't even do it?"
The middle-aged man said, feeling wronged:
“Your Highness, the trap I carefully set was seen through at a glance by Zhu Yunwen. The key is that there is a woman with great strength by his side. I was defeated by her in less than a single move.”
"Then how did you manage to come back alive?"
Zhu Yunwen's face was gloomy.
The middle-aged man stammered:
"Zhu Yuntong asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that you shouldn't court death, or he won't make your journey easy..."
Zhu Yunwen angrily slammed the teacup in his hand onto the ground, then stood up abruptly, his face as dark as a pool of well water.
"What a Zhu Yunwen! Not only did he guess it was me, but he also dared to provoke me like this? Fine, I will make sure you die without a burial place."
After he finished speaking, he looked at his group of men at the door and began to give orders for the next assassination.
However, Zhu Yunwen quickened his pace along the way.
Firstly, it was to get to the disaster area as soon as possible to solve the problem, since even half a day's delay could cause countless people to starve to death.
Another reason is that speeding up can avoid a lot of trouble.
And that was indeed the case. Zhu Yunwen and his men were traveling day and night, without stopping, while Zhu Yunwen's men were clearly lagging behind, let alone able to overtake them and set up an ambush.
If we can't catch up at all, how can we plan an ambush?
As a result, Zhu Yunwen and his group were left far behind. The journey that would normally take seven or eight days was shortened by one or two days by Zhu Yunwen.
On the fifth day, they had already entered the territory of western Shaanxi.
Upon entering the western Shaanxi region, Zhu Yunwen saw many refugees with their families heading to other places.
This scene surprised Zhu Yunwen, because they had only just entered the territory of western Shaanxi, and were still at least one or two hundred miles away from Hukou County, which was several county towns away.
Little did they expect that these refugees had spread to this extent.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yunwen dismounted with great sorrow and stopped a gaunt old man who was pulling a sallow-faced little girl.
They walked aimlessly with lifeless eyes. After being stopped by Zhu Yunwen, the old man looked at Zhu Yunwen with a puzzled expression.
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand, and a Jinyiwei centurion quickly opened his personal bag, took out dry food and water, and handed them to the old man and the little girl.
The old man's eyes immediately lit up. After taking the food, he licked his lips but immediately gave it to his little granddaughter.
The little granddaughter swallowed a non-existent saliva, and said in a slightly hoarse voice:
"Grandpa, you eat first!"
The old man shook his head and said, "Grandpa isn't hungry yet, Nizi, you should eat first."
Upon hearing this, the little girl divided the dry rations in her hand in two, handed one piece to her grandfather, and immediately began to wolf it down.
However, due to extreme thirst, it was difficult to swallow.
Zhu Yunwen quickly handed her the water and said:
"Little sister, don't rush, eat slowly."
Zhao Qingzhu also looked distressed and quickly took out some pastries from her bag and gave them to the little girl and the old man.
The two of them ate heartily, while mumbling "thank you" indistinctly.
Even the old man and the little girl were about to kneel down, but Zhu Yunwen helped them up and said:
“Old man, I heard that Hukou County was affected by the disaster, but the surrounding counties should not be greatly affected. Why did you have to flee to such a far place?”
Upon hearing this, the old man said helplessly, tears welling in his eyes:
"Nowhere we went was any county town willing to take us in. Although the surrounding counties of Hukou County were not affected by the drought, they wouldn't let us disaster victims enter the town, let alone give us a bite to eat."
We can only keep heading elsewhere, hoping to find a place that will take us in, give us something to eat, and spare our lives.
Hearing the old man's helpless and heartbreaking words, Zhu Yuntong's eyes reddened slightly.
He then said somewhat angrily:
"The imperial court stipulates that if a disaster occurs in the surrounding area, the county government in the vicinity must not refuse refugees and disaster victims. Who is so bold as to dare to refuse you and let you wander here?"
The old man sighed, shook his head, and said:
"The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. More than a month has passed since the disaster started, and we still don't know if the court is aware of it. By the time the court really takes charge, who knows how many disaster victims will have died. How many will survive? And then the matter will be over."
These words made Zhu Yunwen feel extremely uncomfortable.
Yes, what the old man said is indeed a fact.
Some problems arise that cannot be solved in a short period of time.
But these problems will disappear over time.
Because those who had these problems are all dead.
If you die, the problem will naturally be solved.
Zhu Yunwen gave some dry rations to the old man and the little girl, and said to them:
"There's no need to go to other counties. Go back to where you are. The disaster will be alleviated soon."
The old man looked at the dry food in his hand, enough to last them for ten days to half a month.
So he gratefully said to Zhu Yunwen:
"Thank you, thank you, young master. But will this disaster really pass so soon?"
Zhu Yunwen said to the old man:
"Really, I assure you."
The old man nodded and said:
"Great...that's wonderful. Who would willingly leave their home if they weren't forced to?"
Zhu Yunwen said nothing more, but slowly mounted his horse, quickened his pace, and headed towards the nearest county town.
Now that we've arrived here, and there are so many refugees and disaster victims here, we must find a way to open the county town to these victims.
And the county government was instructed to provide them with relief.
Seeing Zhu Yunwen's extremely cold and murderous expression, Zhao Qingzhu cautiously asked:
What are your plans?
Zhu Yunwen narrowed his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent, and said, word by word:
"With swift and decisive action, we ordered the surrounding county governments to open their granaries to quell the disaster."
Zhao Qingzhu said, "But judging from the current situation, it doesn't seem to be that simple."
Zhu Yunwen snorted and said:
"My imperial grandfather has given me the power of life and death, so I will make sure that the blood in the Northwest is shed properly!"
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