More than twenty days had passed in the blink of an eye. Everyone was eager to go home. When they arrived at Tai'an Prefecture, it was already late at night when they disembarked. They slept in their clothes at the dock for half the night and got up early to carry their belongings home.
Each person was carrying a load of about 100 pounds, and their steps were a bit heavier. They could only walk for a while and then rest for a while. It took them two more days to get back to Phoenix Mouth from Tai'an Prefecture than it had taken to get there!
When they arrived home, the imperial relief grain had arrived, along with news of Han Zhongyu's appointment as governor of Tai'an Prefecture and an imperial edict granting Tai'an Prefecture a two-year tax exemption.
It must be said that Han Zhongyu was very efficient. In just over ten days, the grain had been delivered to Yonghe County. When Xie Yushu and her group arrived in the town, they saw the village chiefs leading their teams to line up at the market to receive the disaster relief grain.
There were nearly a hundred horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, and donkey carts, each loaded with grain, and accompanied by yamen runners.
The imperial court's efforts were truly impressive; in just over ten days, Han Zhongyu had managed to procure so many carriages, no wonder they arrived home earlier than the rest of the group!
"Hey! Aren't those the people who went to sell mountain products? They're back!"
Someone saw Xie Yushu and her group shouting loudly.
Upon hearing the sound, everyone looked towards Xie Yushu and her group, especially those whose families had gone along, who rushed over to greet them.
"Master, is all this grain? Is grain expensive in Jinyang?"
"Dad, you're back! That's wonderful! We have so much grain now!"
"Son, you must be exhausted from carrying this far. Put it down and let your father carry you for a while. You can rest!"
"Honey, you're finally back! Waaah! The children are starving!"
A group of people gathered around, excitedly and happily chatting amongst themselves, their joy overflowing!
The town has more than twenty villages, but only four or five villages from nearby areas followed Xie Yushu and her group into the mountains. The people from the remaining dozen or so villages, seeing that each of Xie Yushu's group was carrying heavy loads of grain, said with envy...
"If only we had risked our lives to go into the mountains! Maybe my third son wouldn't have starved to death!"
Some people also believe
"Don't regret it later. Haven't you heard that several people have died going into the mountains? People are only meant to live to a certain age. Your third child is already weak and not easy to raise. If she's gone, there are still your eldest and second eldest. If something happens to you in the mountains, how will your whole family of elderly, weak, women, and children survive?"
Another person said
"They're just showing off! So what if they go into the mountains? Before they even get home, the imperial relief grain arrives! They deserve to suffer!"
When they saw that the group of people were all carrying grain, several old men and women immediately shouted...
"Sir, look at that group of people, they all have food! We have nothing yet, shouldn't we stop distributing it to them? We can just give them their share instead!"
"Yes, they have food now and are no longer considered disaster victims, so why should they be given more food?"
Once someone takes the lead, others will follow. Especially when it involves their own interests, almost instantly, the villagers from the dozen or so villages that had not entered the mountains surrounded the constables, and their cries to refuse to give Xie Yushu and her party food grew louder and louder!
Those who bought grain felt it was unfair that they were not allowed to receive relief grain. They argued that the relief grain issued by the court was for disaster victims like themselves, so why shouldn't they receive it? They had gone into the mountains to hunt and exchanged it for grain, risking their lives for it. Why should they be deprived of the benefits they were entitled to when they hadn't even contributed any effort?
So they all started clamoring for protest!
In the blink of an eye, the two groups, who were just filled with joy, were almost at the point of fighting!
Some shouted and yelled at the officials, some cursed at the people who had bought the grain, and some even took advantage of the chaos to grab the grain. Before long, some people were beaten until their heads were bleeding!
Xie Yushu had not expected this situation. Communication was difficult at this time, and they had taken a shortcut and traveled through mountains and valleys to return. She really did not expect to run into the disaster relief officials and have such a big conflict!
Seeing that more and more people were rushing up to seize the grain, Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie exchanged a glance. Xie Yushu stepped forward and kicked several people away in quick succession. She then drew her knife and stood between the two groups, separating them.
It was at this moment that several constables arrived and lashed the ringleader with a few lashes.
"Anyone who causes trouble again, don't blame my knife for being merciless. How the imperial court provides disaster relief is none of your business. If you don't want to receive it, get out of here! If anyone makes a scene again, the whole village will be left without it!"
After the leading constable finished shouting, he brandished his large blade, and immediately no one dared to move!
Xie Yushu recognized the voice and looked up. The officer yelling at her was none other than the big, burly Captain Guo who had thrown Xie Tianqi away!
"Brother Guo! It's you guys! You're really efficient!"
Commander Guo also noticed Xie Yushu and the others, and smiled憨厚ly.
“Sister, you just got back! Lord Han has requisitioned carts and servants from the surrounding towns, and the capital has also sent a group of Imperial Guards. In addition, the Han family has transferred more than 30 guards to Lord Han. Lord Han is not short of people, so we brothers came down to distribute grain!”
By the way, Lord Han is now the governor of Tai'an Prefecture! Did you hear the news?
"I heard it! I saw the announcement when I passed through the county town on the way!"
The troublemaking man, already resentful after being whipped, immediately started yelling when he saw Xie Yushu talking to Commander Guo.
"No wonder we got beaten up. It turns out they had someone protecting them. They didn't even know they were selling mountain products in the city."
It's still meat!
After speaking, the man gave Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie a malicious look.
The middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties, who was standing next to her, also spoke up.
"Oh my goodness! This is terrible! The officials are beating people! The officials are going to kill someone over a little slut!"
We poor folks are starving and skin and bones. We finally got some food to survive, but then that little hussy got a little horny and gave our life-saving food to someone else!
We honest, simple people have no way to survive!
The old hag sang with great intonation, her eyes darting around. Seeing that the people around her were filled with righteous indignation because of her singing, she became more and more smug. She immediately raised her voice by a key, thinking to herself, "Just wait and see, I'll make sure you, you little bitch, are ruined. You little bitch, instead of staying at home and keeping quiet, you're causing trouble and showing off your skills everywhere!"
He has his own food, yet he wants to take some of his mother's!
I'm going to make sure you're dragged to be drowned in a pig cage today!
Thinking of this, the old woman took a deep breath, intending to unleash a soprano, but before she could even open her mouth, Xie Yushu grabbed her by the collar and pulled her out. Qu Xiaodie was also furious, her face turning ashen. The two of them tacitly raised their hands to slap each other, and with the two of them standing on either side, slapping each other couldn't be more convenient.
However, just as the two raised their hands, Xie Baotian, Xie Baoshu, Xie Tianqi, and Liu Xiaodong all rushed out.
Xie Yushu and Xie Tianqi were just children, fighting with an old woman. Even if they were in the right, it wouldn't sound good. This shrew was about the same age as Xie Baotian, but looked a few years younger. Xie Baotian was afraid they would get hurt, so he stepped forward and said...
"Girl, get out of the way! Tianqi, you two get to the back too. Anyone who dares to slander my daughter, I'll beat them to death!"
After Xie Baotian finished speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and started slapping the shrew across the face, the sound of the slaps was incredibly loud!
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