Chapter 114: Disaster victims smashed the store.

Lu'e refused to say.

Rong Yin quickly understood: "Is someone spreading rumors again?"

Seeing that he had guessed it, Lu'e no longer concealed it.

Today when they went to deliver supplies to the disaster area, they heard some people spreading rumors that the sorcerer was a master and he had long said that Rong Yin was a disaster.

The previous floods and droughts were omens. Rong Yin contributed money and effort at the time, but it was just to cover up his own crimes.

Now that so many people have died in the snowstorm, Rong Yin is trying to repeat his old trick by sending supplies. Unfortunately, his true face has been seen through by the master, and no matter how many good things he does, it cannot offset his mistakes.

Moreover, the master said that the snow disaster was just the beginning. If he was not allowed to kill the evildoer Rong Yin, Rong Yin would bring more disasters to Dasheng and kill more people.

Although the person who spread the rumor was quickly arrested by soldiers, the rumor still spread in the disaster area.

The previous floods and droughts did not actually have much impact on the people of the capital. In addition, Rong Yin's image was usually very positive, so not many people believed the rumors that were spread about him before.

But now that the snowstorm has occurred and so many people have died, some people's ideas have begun to waver.

"They used the supplies we sent them, but secretly complained about you, master, behind your back. I even wanted to take the supplies back." Lu'e felt very upset for Rong Yin.

Rong Yin comforted him: "They have suffered a disaster, and they are upset and suspicious. It is normal. Don't worry about their words."

Lu'e's eyes were red. "I just think it's unfair. Master, you have done so many good deeds, but that stinky sorcerer trampled on your kindness with just a few words and thought it was a way to atone for your crime. Those who love to spread rumors will have their tongues cut out by Prince Yan long ago."

Rong Yin smiled and said, "You also said that God is watching what people do. If they do bad things, they will definitely be punished."

Lu'e wiped her eyes and looked at Rong Yin: "Master, you are so calm."

"I'm actually pretty angry too." Rong Yin said honestly, "When I heard you say that the sorcerer framed me like that, I wanted to tear his mouth off right now, but it's not a good idea to act on impulse. Let them make trouble. One day, I'll teach them a lesson."

Seeing Rong Yin's angry expression, Lu'e couldn't help laughing, "I knew you didn't like to be angry, Master."

Rong Yin also laughed: "No, I have a bad temper."

Late at night, Zong Zhengxiao, who had been busy all day, finally came back.

After a quick meal, Zong Zheng Xiao nestled in Rong Yin's arms and said half seriously and half pretendingly, "I'm so tired. I need Ah Yin's kiss to feel better."

Rong Yin held his face up, kissed his lips, and asked with a frown, "Are you feeling better?"

Zong Zhengxiao rubbed Rong Yin's face and said happily, "Yeah, much better."

After acting coquettishly, Zong Zhengxiao also started talking about serious matters.

"I have temporarily sent more personnel, and rescue work has basically been completed in the disaster-stricken areas. However, the number of casualties may not be confirmed until tomorrow. The weather has been too cold recently, and I don't know if the seriously injured people can hold on."

Hearing the worry in Zong Zhengxiao's words, Rong Yin said softly: "God is merciful and will make the disaster pass sooner, and the people will gradually return to their normal lives."

Zong Zhengxiao hummed, sat up, and held Rong Yin in his arms. Now it was his turn to comfort Rong Yin.

"You don't have to care about those rumors. Not only are we refuting them, but many people who trust you have also begun to explain to you. There are some ignorant people among the people, but there are still many who are clear-headed."

Rong Yin relaxed her tone: "I understand, it's all the Cui family's fault, and those people were just deceived. I believe that one day, they will see through the ugly faces of those people."

Zong Zhengxiao had a relieved look on his face: "Ayin, I'm glad you're not sad. I was just worried that you would be sad because of this."

Rong Yin snorted: "I won't be sad for those bad people."

Zong Zhengxiao smiled lightly: "That's good."

Perhaps it was true that disasters easily shook people's hearts, because heavy snow continued to fall for a while afterwards, and the rumors actually became more and more intense.

Government officials patrolled the streets every day, reminding residents to clean their roofs. If they found it inconvenient, they would personally help sweep the snow.

For those who have been affected by the disaster or whose houses have become uninhabitable due to the snowstorm, the government has arranged free accommodation for them, provided two meals a day and heating, to ensure that they can spend the winter safely.

Zong Zhengxiao and Rong Yin contributed both money and manpower, but even after all they had done, there were still people who could not stand the deception of the sorcerer and his followers, and turned from trusting Rong Yin to hating and resenting him.

Those believers would disguise themselves as disaster victims and sneak into disaster shelters, spreading false rumors. Most of the time they acted secretly, and there were so many of them that the government could not catch them all.

The disaster victims stayed in shelters provided by the government, ate hot soup and meals, and listened to the nonsense of the believer who had never given them any help.

"We suffered the disaster because of that mermaid. Your Majesty and the mermaid should provide us with food and drink, right? Some of our family members died in the snow disaster."

"They think they can buy us off with such a small favor. It's simply wishful thinking! Human life is priceless. They don't even want to pay a penny. It's wishful thinking!"

"You can go to the street and see that the mermaid's shops are still open. He can easily make tens of taels of silver a day. If he really feels guilty, why doesn't he send all the food in his shop to us? Letting us eat these broken steamed buns and broken vegetable soup every day is just to perfunctorily treat us!"

In fact, the victims had quite a good meal. They had white flour steamed buns and vegetable soup with meat and vegetables, and one sip of it warmed their whole body.

Most of the people affected by the disaster are ordinary people. Even before the disaster, they could not bear to eat white flour and meat every day. The current life is a luxury for them.

But human hearts are never satisfied. Only when they believe in the believers and believe that the natural disaster was brought by Rong Yin, can they enjoy the government supplies with peace of mind and at the same time cast their covetous eyes on the delicious food in Rong Yin's store that they usually cannot afford to buy.

Of course, there are some reasonable people among them who know that what this believer said is all nonsense.

But seeing that most of the people around them had greedy looks on their faces, these few chose to keep quiet. After all, they were outnumbered and they didn't want to be targeted.

The believers were still fanning the flames: "If you ask me, we'll go to the store owned by the mermaid and make trouble. If the mermaid is sensible, he should compensate us. If he doesn't, we'll take the things in the store. Anyway, there are so many of us, and we're all disaster victims. The mermaid won't dare to do anything to us!"

What he said was very exciting, and when they thought of the delicious food in the store, many people were eager to try it.

The believers looked at these people with dusty faces and greedy looks, and a hint of sarcasm flashed in their eyes.

"There is no need to be afraid of the government. We just want to fight for what we deserve. If the government blocks us, it will only prove that they are right and that what the master said is right!"

Someone in the crowd echoed: "That's right, he was the one who brought the disaster. Why should he stay in the palace and enjoy the good life while we have to suffer here?"

"If we don't live well, they won't live happily either!"

"We all listen to you. Master, you are right. Rong Yin is a monster that harms people!"

Seeing the emotions rising, the believers who had achieved their goal could not help but feel happy. After meeting up with other accomplices, they sneaked out with the victims for fear of being stopped by the guards. Finally, they gathered together and headed towards Rong Yin's shop.

There is a stove at the door of several of Rongyin’s stores, with a pot of hot water boiling on it. Anyone who wants to drink can ask the store clerk for a bowl.

At this time, an old man passing by had just finished drinking hot water and handed the bowl back to the clerk. He turned around and took a few steps when he found a group of people walking towards the store with great momentum.

He quickly turned around and shouted into the store: "Little girl, quickly call all the employees in your store out, there are a lot of people coming, and they seem to be looking for trouble with you!"

The clerk was stunned for a second, then quickly notified others.

While they were talking, the group of people had already reached the door. Seeing how big the situation was, the clerk quickly protected the old man behind him.

By the time Rong Yin received the message, the conflict was over.

The victims ignored the store clerks' dissuasion and, failing to get their money, started to smash and steal things from the store.

Because they had not anticipated this, the store employees were not prepared and not only did they fail to stop the person, but several of them were unfortunately injured.

The situation at the hot pot restaurant was better, mainly because there was a lot of heavy work in the restaurant and they hired a lot of employees. Before the soldiers arrived, they managed to hold back the victims.

Otherwise, it is the hot pot restaurant's business hours now, and it is full of customers and hot pots and hot soup. If a fight breaks out, I don't know how many people will be injured.

After the officers and soldiers arrived, they clashed with the disaster victims and injured several of them, but fortunately no one died, otherwise the aristocratic families would have made a big fuss about it.

The ringleaders and the victims who caused harm were all arrested.

The store was in a mess. After compensating the frightened customers, the employees cleaned up the mess and closed the store.

Rongyin gave them annual leave in advance. In addition to settling the injured employees, it also gave each employee a big red envelope, which was both to comfort them and to thank them for their efforts to protect the store.

Knowing that his hard work was destroyed, it was impossible for Rong Yin not to be angry. Although he understood that those disaster victims were just deceived and the real culprit was the Cui family, he still couldn't help but complain a little towards those disaster victims.

Regarding this matter, Rong Yin was angry, while Zong Zhengxiao was furious.

因為災民們鬧事那天，戎音本來是打算出宮去店鋪裏的，但因為狗子二豆身體不舒服，戎音幫着照顧它，便取消了行程。

宗政逍都不敢想象，如果戎音當時在店裏，那群失去理智的災民不知道會對戎音做出什麽可怕的事。

宗政逍是愛護子民沒錯，但他也是有脾氣的。

他下令臨時庇護所不許再收留那些鬧事的災民以及他們的家人，既然他們更信任那個所謂的大師，那就讓大師供他們吃喝住吧。

參與砸店的災民見狀傻眼了，他們沒想到一向溫和的皇帝居然會發那麽大的脾氣，現在他們無家可歸，沒了收容所，就只能流落街頭了。

他們想找慫恿他們的那幾個信徒，卻發現那幾人要麽被抓進牢裏去了，要麽悄無聲息地消失了。

冷靜下來後，災民們發現自己無處可去。

還留在庇護所的災民紛紛感嘆還好自己沒信那些人的話，不然現在也要淪落到這個下場了。

明事理的路人更是以譏諷的眼神看待他們，就像在看一幫傻子。

這時，有人站出來告訴他們：“你們既然跟大師的信徒去鬧事了，那也算是大師的信徒了，我看大師跟崔家走得很近，你們就去崔家找他吧，你們是信徒，崔家不可能不管你們的。”

災民們走投無路，只能根據這人的提示，找到了崔家去。

崔家看見這麽烏泱泱一群人堵在自家門前，少說也有百十來號人，哭着罵着說崔家必須管他們這些信徒，不由得感到頭疼。

崔家有錢，按理說再來幾百個災民都養得起，但崔家又不是什麽慈善人家，怎麽可能舍得白白給外人花錢。

要是換做之前，這些災民早就被趕走了。

但崔家如今還用得到他們，只能咬牙先把他們留下來。

當然對外說的理由，是見災民們無家可歸可憐，才發散心收留他們，而不是因為他們是大師的信徒。

畢竟現在崔家還沒有徹底暴露自己，那些流言以及所謂的大師，都是崔家在背後操縱的，至少大部分普通人還不知道這都是崔家造的孽。

崔家是帶着不滿留下這些災民的，災民們的待遇肯定也好不到哪裏去。

可以遮風避雨的房子？供暖的土炕木炭？每天白面肉菜？

想得倒美！

漏洞的茅草房，只有一盆且嗆死人的木炭，麥麸窩窩頭和一碗涼水，就這些條件，不要就滾去外面冰天雪地裏等死。

災民們除了生活條件不好，還要被迫每天出去向其他百姓宣傳崔家的善舉，造謠戎音是害人妖孽。

他們的言行都有崔家人盯着，如果有災民敢不去，或者去了不按崔家交代的說，第二天就會悄無聲息地消失。

剩下的災民叫苦不疊，早知道他們就不因一時貪念，跟着那些信徒去砸店了。

有管事問崔家主，提供給那些災民的條件那麽差，不怕他們反水嗎？

崔家主冷笑：“也就宗政逍和戎音那兩個蠢貨把這些賤民當回事，這些沒腦子的東西，不能把他們當人，得像訓畜生一樣給一巴掌再賞個甜棗，他們才會乖乖聽話，不敢反抗。”

管事默然，沒有再問。

直到接近年關，這雪都沒有要停的意思，需要救援的百姓越來越多，那個術士也蹦跶得更加歡騰了。

往年這個時候，大家都忙着置辦年貨，京城早就熱鬧起來了，今年卻因為雪災，讓刻意裝扮起來的喜慶都添上了一層灰蒙蒙的色彩。

在崔家的協助下，大師座下的信徒人數一再增長，輿論也開始偏向他們這邊。

崔家覺得已經到時候了，便秘密和寧王府的人會面，決定立即執行他們早就制定好的計劃。

于是第二天清晨，久不上朝的寧王身着朝服，與崔家主共同領頭，帶着所有世家官員一起，跪求宗政逍以社稷為重，盡快除去戎音這個妖孽，還大晟百姓一個太平盛世。

寧王義正言辭：“先有洪災旱災，今又是雪災，無數百姓葬身其中，陛下，這難道還不足以讓您醒悟，明白戎音就是一個只會帶來災禍的妖孽嗎？！”

崔家主也道：“自從鲛人來了以後，陛下就再沒起過娶妻生子的念頭，江山後繼無人的後果有多嚴重，陛下你難道不清楚嗎？”

世家官員齊齊磕頭：“請陛下處死妖孽戎音！”

宗政逍坐在龍椅上，臉色冷如霜雪，“天災自古有之，你們說是戎音導致了災禍，可有證據？”

寧王道：“崔家主重金請來的術士，以及佛寺的幾位主持，都能證明戎音是個不折不扣的禍世妖孽，陛下若是不信，可以宣他們進殿對質！”

宗政逍滿含殺意的眼神掃向跪在前面的兩人，“哦，那術士是你們的人，那之前的流言也是你們傳的咯？”

崔家主覺得這話有哪裏不對，但不等他開口，寧王就接話道：“正是，那術士是有大功德的修士，他說的話不會有錯，更何況還有佛寺高僧佐證，絕對容不得戎音抵賴！”

宗政逍沒有回應他，反而看向崔家主：“崔大人如何敢保證，你請來的那個術士說的都是真話？”

崔家主眼裏閃過陰狠之色，狡辯道：“大師在民間頗有名聲，百姓們都相信他，他自然是有本事的，陛下質疑他說的是假話，那便拿出證據來證明天災不是戎音所害，這樣一來，術士的說法自然不攻自破。”

“呵，好一張伶牙俐齒的嘴。”宗政逍冷笑，“你覺得術士說的是實話，那朕之前也聽見過一個流言，有大師說是崔家影響了大晟的國運，不然為什麽偏巧是你的小兒子死在洪災中，二兒子在旱災過後服毒，三兒子又在雪災來臨前自盡？這是上天在懲罰你們崔家，如果崔家繼續活在世上，才會給大晟招來無盡的災禍。”

聽見宗政逍如此編排崔家和自己的兒子，原本這些日子就被怒火燒光了理智的崔家主，再也控制不住壓抑的憤怒，站起身來沖宗政逍大喊：“無稽之談！我崔家不是災星！我的兒子們也不是因為被上天懲罰才死的！”

宗政逍臉上的笑意更冷，“跟朕說崔家是災星的那位大師也頗有名聲，崔大人也可以找證據來證明他的言論是錯的，朕絕不阻攔。”

遭到反将一軍，崔家主腦子頭痛欲裂，理智被怒意徹底撕碎，他紅着一雙眼睛，用手指向宗政逍，大吼：“聽信讒言！昏君！”

他一吼完，不止宗政逍變了臉，大殿上所有文武百官都倒吸了一口涼氣。

你崔家再大，終究是臣，更何況現在還是皇室壓世家一頭，你一個臣子，居然敢這樣大罵皇帝，跟找死又有什麽區別？

果然，宗政逍忽地站起身來，冷眸怒視崔家主：“崔曾，你好大的膽子！”

一聲冷斥，讓崔家主下線的理智再次回歸，意識到自己方才做了什麽後，崔家主重新噗通跪地，用力磕頭，“臣有罪，請陛下寬恕！”

其他朝臣也跪了下來，大呼：“請陛下息怒！”

宗政逍趁機罵道：“殿前失儀，不成體統，以崔大人現在的精神狀态，很難讓人相信你所說的都是實話，朕覺得你還是先回去休息幾天吧，等你養好了身體，再來跟朕讨論究竟誰才是禍害！”

說完，宗政逍一揮衣袖，怒氣沖沖地走了，大殿裏誰也不敢出聲阻攔。

“退朝！”

太監尖利的聲音傳進了每個人的耳朵裏。

看着宗政逍的背影遠去，崔家主踉跄着差點摔倒，多虧旁邊的人扶了他一把。

寧王看着崔家主，一副怒其不争的神情：“今天是絕好的機會啊，明明只要再堅持一下，馬上就能成功了，結果你……唉！”

宗政逍将崔家主定論為精神失常，那以後他在朝堂上說的話，可信度都會大打折扣，這對他們的計劃是非常不利的。

本來開頭勢在必得，現在卻以笑話結尾。

其他小世家也為崔家主臨時掉鏈子感到不滿，但沒膽子跟寧王一樣說出來，還得跟着勸。

“王爺，崔大人可能就是最近沒休息好，這裏不方便說話，我們還是先出宮吧。”

“哼！”寧王像是氣急了，轉身一個人先行離開了。

崔家主尚未完全回神，被同夥攙扶着往外走去。

功臣集團的人就跟在他們後面冷嘲熱諷。

“說別人是妖孽前，也不前看看自己，都克死多少親人了。”

“我看啊，大晟出現天災，都是因為某人的存在，上克天下百姓下克自己親人，殺別人前，還是先除掉自己比較好。”

“小聲些，萬一把你也給克了怎麽辦？”

“我怕什麽，我又不是他兒子，不過他也沒什麽好擔心的，雖然嫡子只剩一個了，但還有幾個庶子嘛，他都這把年紀了，死之前應該克不完的。”

“哈哈哈哈，你這張嘴啊。”

The Cui family loves to use these weird things to harm others, so the Hero Group will use their own method to retaliate.

"You guys..." The official from the noble family who was supporting Patriarch Cui was indignant.

The people in the Hero Group curled their lips and said, "What's wrong? He is the only one allowed to do it, but no one is allowed to talk about it?"

Before the people from the noble family could fight back, the body of the head of the Cui family, who they were supporting, suddenly stuttered, and then he spat out a mouthful of black blood with a "puff" sound, then he tilted his head back and fainted.

The officials from the aristocratic families were in an uproar again.

The head of the Cui family was sent to the clinic. After the doctor took his pulse, he found that the head of the Cui family was poisoned.

As for the cause of the poisoning, the head of the Cui family has not woken up yet, and the other two mistresses of the Cui family are not in charge of the matter. The housekeeper of the Cui Mansion can only ask people to start investigating from the food aspect.

And everything that happened in the court was spread among the people.

Some people say that even Prince Ning, a member of the royal family, has come out to say that Rong Yin is a monster, so what else is there to explain?

Some people also said that Prince Ning's eldest son and daughter-in-law were executed by the emperor. Perhaps Prince Ning's family resented the emperor, so they teamed up with the Cui family to frame Rong Yin.

The Cui family, which Zong Zhengxiao described as the real disaster, was also questioned by the people because the three children of the Cui family died in such a close proximity that it seemed as if there was something wrong with the Cui family itself.