The two walked for a day, and the mule's wound healed. Jiang Yue took out a carriage frame that he found in the inn. It should have belonged to a previous guest. Fortunately, there was no smell of blood.
They had just put the carriage frame in place when several tall horses came running towards them.
He was a yamen runner wearing official uniform and carrying an official sword at his waist.
They seemed quite surprised to see Jiang Yue and the others. Then they quickly adjusted their expressions and asked, "Where did you two escape from?"
"Yuncheng."
His expression seemed even more strange. He looked at the two people in the car and then smiled, "Our Zhaoyang City is up ahead. They are now recruiting refugees. As long as you work for the government, you can get food and housing. If you work long enough, you can even get land and a new citizenship. Many refugees are heading there now. If you go too late, you won't be able to get in."
Jiang Yue knew that many work-for-relief programs had been used in ancient times to provide relief to disaster victims, but she instinctively felt that there was something wrong with these officials. She hadn't figured out exactly where the problem lay.
Then the man said, "I'll take you back and choose a good house for you."
If they were ordinary refugees, they would have already knelt down to express their gratitude.
Jiang Yue shook her head, "Thank you for your kindness, sir. We will not go to Zhaoyang City."
Several yamen runners around glared at him, "How can you not know what's good for you? I'm saving your lives!"
Jiang Nian stood in front of Jiang Yue and looked at the person in the middle. "We don't need it."
The yamen runner was clearly sitting on his horse, looking down at the two men from a high position, but the man's eyes seemed to be looking down at him.
He waved his hands in both directions and said, "Since you two don't want to go, we won't force you."
After saying that, he took a few people to the back.
Jiang Yue saw that they were heading towards Yuncheng, which meant they would pass by the inn.
Jiang Nian said, "They have the same smell as the people in the inn."
"I know what's wrong. When everyone is in danger, the officials are defending the city, yet they're sending so many people out at once, which means they have enough manpower. So are they really recruiting refugees as work-for-relief? But the natural disaster has been going on for a year, so where are they getting the food?"
Jiang Yue's face looked grim, but she didn't want to say it was human flesh again.
She didn't want to get involved in this matter anymore and walked straight towards the east.
She suspected that these people were colluding with officials and gangsters.
Several yamen runners rode at full speed and found something wrong when they passed by the inn.
The leader dismounted, "bang bang bang—"
I knocked on the door three times, but no one came out.
He narrowed his eyes, walked around the backyard, and pushed the door open gently.
"There's so much blood on the ground! Did Lao Hei and the others do this? Didn't they say they were short of people and would send them up once they found them?"
The leader looked around but couldn't find any trace of his men. The lock of the well had been cut off.
No! This is a tough one!
At this time, Lao Wu came back.
The person he escorted passed the customs, received the money, and returned happily. He pulled the cart to the backyard and saw several yamen runners who were obviously familiar to him.
"How come you guys have time to come here?"
The leader stepped forward, his expression serious, "Where are Shitou and Laohei?"
Lao Wu frowned, "I sent someone over this morning. They were guarding the guests in the inn. Why, they're not here now?"
"Are there any guests in the inn?"
"Yes! Shitou said he thought they were rich people, but they had bad tempers, so he thought of getting rid of them today."
"Boss, the blood is going into the cellar!"
A few people opened the cellar door, and a wave of hot air rushed up. Shi Tou and Lao Hei were lying in a pool of dried blood, their eyes open.
Several people started cursing.
The leader grabbed Lao Wu and stared at him, "Who is this guest?"
"A man and a woman, tall and young!"
"With a mule-drawn cart?"
"We broke up the mule cart, but we still have the mules." Lao Wu looked towards the corner of the yard, "No! One of our carriages is missing!"
The leader gritted his teeth and led his brothers back.
Jiang Yue was still complaining to Jiang Nian, "Didn't that guy doubt us when he saw us?"
She was talking about Lao Wu. When the two cars met, Jiang Yue glanced at him. But he was grinning, and no one knew what he was grinning about.
Jiang Nian also laughed, "He's just a brainless idiot who only knows how to work."
When the two of them reached a fork in the road, she felt like cursing again. She was also wondering why those people, who clearly wanted to force them into the city, let them go so readily.
It turned out that they had blocked the intersection of another road, and a long section of the road was full of stones.
Jiang Yue was almost laughing with anger. When she got angry, she refused to believe in evil. He had suppressed her once, and he could suppress her again?
She put the mule and the cart into the space, and then the two of them walked hand in hand through the cracked fields...
The officials galloped back to Zhaoyang City and asked the guards at the gate, "Has a man or a woman entered the city today by mule cart?"
The guard shook his head. "Not a single mule cart entered the city today."
The guard next to him also shook his head.
Several officers were sweating profusely, their bodies red from the scorching sun, and they were filled with anger.
Damn it, what a nightmare! I just ran all the way back and didn't see any cars or refugees stopping. And the other road is blocked, there's no way they can get through!
Jiang Yue: It’s like I saw a ghost.
After they had walked that long distance, they took out the mule cart and continued on their way.
The next city after Zhaoyang City is called Fengtian City.
There were quite a few refugees scattered around the gate of Fengtian City. Perhaps, unlike them, they came from the east.
Some officials ordered their men to move the bodies of the refugees, who had not moved for a long time, away, pile them in one place, and then burn them.
This can at least reduce the probability of epidemics.
Jiang Yue and the other man got out of the car and approached the yamen runner to ask, "Excuse me, may we enter the city now?"
The man must have been wilted by the sun, his lips chapped, and his voice was weak. "Sure. Do you have your household registration? Show it to me."
Jiang Yue handed it over, and the man took a look and said, "Shuntianfu City? You really have come far!"
He looked the two men and the mule behind them up and down, nodded, and said, "10 taels of silver each. Once you have your pulse checked by the doctor, you can enter."
Jiang Yue gave the money and took the pulse, and then they entered the city smoothly.
After entering the city, she found that it was full of death.
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