Chapter 297 The Gong Rings at Night
really.
Soon, news finally arrived from the North.
The Gu family army clashed head-on with the Qin family army once again, driving the Qin family army back three hundred miles and advancing towards the capital.
Lu Qingqing recalled the wishes that everyone shared on New Year's Eve.
She said: I hope the world will be peaceful and stable, and that we will never experience chaos again.
In times of chaos, countless people die. All the common people ask for is enough to eat and a roof over their heads to shelter them from the wind and rain.
She truly hoped that Ji Ruyan could return to the capital as soon as possible and stabilize the country, which was beset by crises.
However, things didn't go as planned.
As the weather gradually warmed up, the wasteland clearing teams began.
The number of disaster victims pouring into Ming'an County is increasing day by day.
This scene shattered the illusion of stability and peace in Dachang.
The war in the south continued to escalate, causing people to be displaced and flee in all directions.
For the sake of maintaining order, checkpoints were set up at the city gates, and Magistrate Xu prohibited the disaster victims from entering again.
They set up soup kitchens outside the city, serving soup at fixed times and in fixed quantities every day.
This led to the dispersal of the disaster victims, who then went to various villages to beg.
I heard that a wealthy man's family had all their grain stolen at night.
The villages are making urgent arrangements to strengthen their defenses. In Liuyun Village, the number of people on duty each day has increased from six or seven to more than twenty.
Xiahe Village.
Mu Daye's family.
An uninvited guest arrived.
He was Mu Daye's sworn brother in the escort agency, and they were sworn brothers.
I came here on Mu Daye's behalf to visit his home.
He had come before, but back then, Liu'er was still mentally unstable, so he had never seen her face.
He actually saw it this time, and he really didn't expect that his madness could be cured, and that he would grow up to be so good-looking.
What was most surprising was that she looked somewhat similar to the girls that the soldiers had captured when they were running espionage.
This is not a good thing!
However, since he had promised his brother, he couldn't just abandon him.
“Sister-in-law, there are disaster victims everywhere now, and the village is not safe. Why don’t you and your aunt come and stay at my house for a while? It’s safer in the city.”
Mother Mu looked at Liu'er.
Liu'er politely refused the visitor.
"No need, thank you Brother Zhang. My mother-in-law and I are going to Liuyun Village to stay with a friend."
“Alright, there are a lot of refugees outside, I’ll take you there.”
A knock sounded on the door, followed by a calm yet reassuring voice from outside:
"Miss Liu, the young lady sent me to fetch you to Liuyun Village."
It was Mo Lang, Liu'er knew him.
Qingqing actually asked him to pick them up!
She immediately thanked the man, saying, "My friend came to pick us up, Brother Zhang, thank you so much."
The man didn't insist any further and left after seeing Mo Lang.
A few days later, perhaps having heard that Liuyun Village was the richest village in the area, many disaster victims gathered outside Liuyun Village.
Some people stopped them, so they dared not enter the village and could only beg and plead outside the village.
Many of them came from the south, begging along the way, and the elderly, women, and children have all fallen ill.
The child's cries were weak; he was on the verge of death, a truly pitiful sight.
Liu Lizheng and his men cooked some wild vegetable porridge to provide relief, and Lu Qingqing also treated the sick women and children.
Gradually, the disaster victims' situation improved, and they collected firewood every day to sell to the people of Liuyun Village, hoping to exchange it for an extra bowl of porridge.
Later, several more groups of people arrived. There were too many people, and the porridge couldn't supply enough for everyone, so some people asked that more pots be cooked.
It was impossible to cook several more pots. Lu Qingqing sensed that these people were somewhat wicked, so she directly told them to exchange firewood for porridge, and that the more they worked, the more they would earn, and that she would no longer provide it for free.
Some people started to complain, mainly because firewood was hard to find on the mountain now, and the government didn't allow trees to be cut down.
Sometimes, after a whole day of collecting, you can't even get two bowls of porridge, and you're so tired you have no energy left.
Some people huddled together and whispered among themselves.
His eyes became less innocent.
One night, the gong at the entrance of the village suddenly rang out urgently.
Finally, the disaster victims were roused and rushed into the village with sticks, sickles, kitchen knives and rakes in their hands.
Suddenly, torches lit up the sky, and the able-bodied men of Liuyun Village, as if they had been prepared, appeared with weapons and stopped the people.
"Leave Liuyun Village, or you will face the consequences!" Liu Lizheng shouted.
One of the disaster victims stepped forward; he was the activist who had been running around inciting people these past few days, and he was also the leader of the wave that arrived later.
"Brother, don't get agitated, we're just here to borrow some grain."
"Stop talking nonsense. Who do we know you? If you need to borrow grain, go to the government. The government warehouses have plenty!"
Under the torchlight, the man's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, flickering between light and shadow.
Like a starving wolf about to devour its prey.
"Don't be ungrateful. If you can produce some grain today, we won't attack. Otherwise, none of us will have a good time!"
Liu Lizheng spat: "As expected, poverty breeds cunning. Do you know that you're heading down the path of bandits?!"
"So what? It's better than starving to death! Everyone in Liuyun Village has enough to eat. What's wrong with sharing some of our food? Can't we all just survive?"
The villagers of Liuyun Village glared at them angrily.
Just a few days ago, these people kowtowed to them, calling them their second parents. Today, they're pointing kitchen knives at them. What a waste of the food we've been eating these past few days!
They should just starve to death!
Lu Qingqing stepped forward, looked at a man in the crowd, and asked, "Are you here to steal our food too?"
This man, whose wife and child were nearly dead, kowtowed to heaven until his head was covered in blood, begging for help and promising to do anything for them...
Lu Qingqing saved him by using two of her extremely rare pills.
He was so grateful back then that he cried his eyes out.
Lu Qingqing never expected him to repay her kindness with enmity.
His gratitude at that moment was genuine.
The guilt on his face at that moment was genuine.
"I... Dr. Lu, could you please give us some food? If you do, we can leave. I want to take my wife and children home..."
"We have no food left, and the porridge we are giving you is what we have saved from our own mouths."
"But we can clearly smell meat..." The man was guilty, but he didn't turn around.
Lu Qingqing thought to herself: As expected, human nature is complex, and many people cannot uphold their moral bottom line in this situation.
One thought can make you a human, another can make you an animal.
Since she chose to be a beast, don't blame her for being a two-faced Buddha.
One side is a bodhisattva, the other a demon.
"Stop arguing with them, go in and grab the grain!" the leader shouted, raising his two-pronged rake.
"To tell you the truth, before we came here, we had already taught two ungrateful rich men a lesson!"
"If you bring some grain, we won't enter the village. If you don't, there will always be casualties in a fight. We have nothing to lose, so we're not afraid of anyone!"
It turns out that they were the ones who stole the grain.
They not only stole grain, but I heard they also harmed someone's daughter!
Lu Qingqing tilted her head: "Mo Lang, kill him first!"
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