The pit needed to be dug bigger and farther away, so after the pit was dug, the body had to be carried away. It took half an hour to carry the body from the inn to the dug pit and back, which was quite tiring for the refugees who were burying the body.
They were busy until dawn. After burying the people, the refugees came to collect their food. Song Tantan treated them well, giving them not only the promised three catties of coarse grains, but also an extra cornbread for each person.
The steamed buns were made by an adult from that large family who saved them last night. They were extremely grateful and said they didn't know how to repay their life-saving grace.
Song Tan pointed to the kitchen and said, "No need for further words. If you really want to thank me, do me a favor. There is still some grain in the kitchen. Go and steam some cornbread. Once it's done, distribute it to others. You can eat some if you want, but be mindful of the amount."
As for the bodyguards, Song Tantan returned the fifty taels of silver to them out of consideration for their injuries. After all, the inn's property wasn't hers anyway, so there was no point in accepting their money.
This inn didn't look big, but it had a lot of food stored up. The whole family steamed cornbread for more than an hour, making nearly a hundred cornbread in total.
Song Tantan told the bodyguards to take enough food first, and then pick a few refugees who looked to be in better spirits to eat their fill. After they were full, he would help distribute the food.
Twenty thugs died last night. Apart from the large family, there are 103 scattered refugees. The steamed buns are quite large, each weighing half a pound. Song Tantan instructed them to make them bigger.
“The refugees who help bury the body will each receive two steamed buns and three catties of coarse grain. Those who do not help will only receive two steamed buns and not coarse grain. Do you all understand?”
"Listen carefully and then come and line up. Don't push. Anyone who dares to cause trouble, I'll chop them down with one stroke." Song Tantan, with his harsh and unremarkable old face, spoke in a strained voice that was quite unpleasant.
In fact, upon hearing that three catties of coarse grains would be distributed, any adult who still had breath would do their best to help bury the body. Some women who were too weak would work together to drag the corpse, and even teenagers would grit their teeth and follow behind the adults to help.
Song Tantan didn't care how they completed the task; as long as they put in the effort, they could receive steamed buns and three catties of coarse grains.
Some of the stronger men felt it was unfair and went up to Song Tantan to voice their opinions, "Boss lady, we did a lot of work last night. The women and children didn't bury as much as I did. Isn't it too unfair that everyone gets the same share of the grain?"
Song Tantan glanced at the two men who dared to complain to her with her triangular eyes raised in a sideways gaze. After a moment of thought, she said, "What you said makes sense. There will definitely be leftovers of those cornbreads, quite a few. We can share them with the men who did a lot of work."
Despite being called strong men, they were all skin and bones and none of them could be called strong. However, men are indeed much stronger than women and children, and these men should be paid more.
Hearing that they could get more steamed buns, the twenty-odd men were delighted and were about to thank him when Song Tantan said, "But before you distribute the remaining steamed buns, you have to do one more thing for me. There is a small river about a mile behind the inn. Take buckets and go there to fetch water to wash the blood off the inn's door."
The honest men were happy and quickly agreed to release the grain, but some of the shrewd men looked less pleased, feeling that they had been taken advantage of. They had put in a lot of effort and received the same amount of grain as others, but if they wanted a bigger share, they would have to keep working. No matter how they looked at it, they were at a disadvantage.
Song Tantan noticed that some people were unwilling to do more work, and said indifferently, "Those who are willing to do it can do it, and those who are not willing will not be forced. However, we definitely cannot divide the steamed buns anymore."
Even if they were unwilling, they couldn't act impulsively at this point. They really wouldn't work, and they wouldn't dare to forcibly take the food. The shopkeeper and his wife were not to be trifled with. In order to get a share of the remaining cornbread, all the men went to fetch water and wash the floor.
With so many people, the inn's wooden tubs weren't enough, and many people were using wooden basins. Fortunately, the inn had plenty of wooden basins, since they needed to accommodate guests, and the guests staying at the inn all needed to use basins to wash their feet and so on, so they had plenty of spares.
After the floor was cleaned, each of the men received three steamed buns, and everyone was satisfied.
The refugees, having eaten and drunk their fill, sat outside the inn and refused to leave, preventing Song Tantan and his group from setting off. Song Tantan had stored all the white flour and rice in the inn into his spatial storage, leaving only two hundred catties of black flour.
The bodyguard wanted to set off, but he was hesitant because he was afraid of being watched by so many refugees.
"You're driving a carriage, the refugees shouldn't be able to catch up. The inn will give them black face later, then you can leave. No one will dare to mess with you," Song Tantan suggested.
"Thank you very much, madam." The head镖师 clasped his hands and bowed respectfully to her.
Song Tantan stepped aside to avoid his greeting, saying, "It was nothing, don't worry about it. Farewell."
Let's hurry up and leave. If we leave, they'll have to leave too; they've been stuck here for three days already.
That large family was assigned to distribute black flour to the other refugees. Two jin of flour, there were 103 refugees, so each person could get a little over 1.9 jin.
The escort team set off when the provisions were being distributed. After they had gone some distance, one of the escorts scratched his head and said suspiciously, "Head镖师 (镖师 is a person who is very skilled in the art of escorting goods), don't you think the innkeeper and his wife are acting strangely? They returned all the money we paid for the inn, and we ate two days' worth of provisions for free without paying a single penny."
The strangest thing is that they used all their food to help refugees. It looks like a shady business, but how come it seems like a kind-hearted one?
The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) couldn't figure it out either. "I guess this is what they mean by 'you can't judge a book by its cover.' There are all kinds of people in the world. Why think so much? I should be glad that I got through these two nights safely. I haven't had a good night's sleep since I entered the inn. The innkeeper and his wife gave me a hard time."
"That's true. It feels like we've stumbled into a wolf's den. The shopkeeper looks like a heartless scoundrel. He just lit some incense and all the brothers were knocked out. He took the money but didn't even cook or boil water for us. This is hardly the behavior of a shopkeeper," the bodyguard complained.
"They might not really be running an inn. Who knows who they are? Never mind, let's get going." The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) didn't want to say more; he just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Back at the inn, the black masks had all been distributed, but the refugees still gathered outside and refused to leave, as if this was some kind of auspicious place and they were reluctant to leave.
Bai Zhiyan also came to say goodbye to Ye Moxun and the other two, "We are leaving too. We originally wanted to go with you, but there is an important matter that I need to take care of right now, so we can't go to Xifeng with you."
"You were originally going to Xifeng?" Song Tantan asked tentatively.
Bai Zhiyan smiled frankly, "To be honest, we are not only going to Fengcheng, but we are also going there specifically for you. There are some things I can't say outright, but you will find out in the future. Perhaps not long after, I will go to Fengcheng to find you again. I hope you won't stop me at the city gate then."
There's a lot of information in those words. Bai Zhiyan actually knows that Ye Moxun is in charge of Xifeng. Does this mean that she was sent by Liu Chengyu?
What was Liu Chengyu's purpose in doing this? Was he monitoring Ye Moxun, or was he trying to seduce him with his beauty?
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