Zhao Er asked once again, "Is there anyone who is dissatisfied with eating radish and vegetable porridge, and still demands that our Gefeng provide meat for free?"
There was a moment of silence at the scene. Not long after, an old man who had received his porridge and was squatting down to eat it with utmost cherishment stood up.
His voice trembled as he said, "The City Lord of Gefeng providing us with free porridge is already a great kindness and virtue, how could we still demand to eat meat?"
"You actually disdain something as good as porridge? I've lived to an old age and have never eaten anything this good. There are vegetables, oil, salt, and rice."
As he spoke, the old man couldn't help but wipe away a tear, choking up, "With the drought this year, our village didn't harvest a single grain."
"The tree bark and grass roots are all gone, I've even eaten dirt. Only Gefeng City is willing to give us people such good porridge to eat. Are you still not satisfied?"
His words drew the agreement of the crowd. Many people's eyes reddened as they kowtowed towards Gefeng City, murmuring with pious voices.
"The merciful and relieving Gefeng, the City Lord is my savior, a great benefactor..."
"Exactly, getting free food and drink every day, and yet still wanting to eat meat, how can they be so shameless?"
Zhao Er's eyes held a hint of a smile. Fortunately, most of the people the Lord had saved were good, making the vast amount of grain given out every day worthwhile.
It made his heart ache to see it. A few thousand people, even though they were only fed to a half-full state, still consumed a considerable amount of grain daily.
He pressed his hand against the saber at his waist and said to the tall man, "Since you are dissatisfied with the free porridge we provide, then you can leave."
Wang Wu's face darkened. He originally thought that with a little instigation, everyone would be dissatisfied. After all, who would want to eat coarse grains and cabbage when there was meat to be had?
He didn't expect these cheap wretches to actually be willing to eat coarse grains, leaving him in a dilemma now.
He forced out a smile. "I was just making a joke, I didn't mean anything else. After all, you eat meat every day while we only have coarse grain porridge, anyone would feel a bit uncomfortable about that."
Zhao Renxian coldly snorted, "First of all, we don't eat meat every day. Second, even if we did eat meat every day, it would only show that life in our Gefeng City is good, and that the Lord cares for and is considerate of us subordinates."
"Third, no matter what we eat, it is earned through our hard work and our contributions to Gefeng. What about you? What have you done for Gefeng?"
The muscles on Wang Wu's face twitched as he laughed it off. "Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding. I was wrong. Your place here is indeed quite good, ha, ha."
After speaking, he held his bowl and tried to leave.
Zhao Er suddenly drew his saber and pointed it at him, saying, "I said, you are to leave. We won't hold you accountable for the free food and drink we gave you before."
Wang Wu's expression changed. "Don't go too far. I just said something unpleasant, and you want to drive us to our deaths?"
The response he got was the sound of soldiers drawing their swords from their sheaths, and the repeating crossbows on the walls of Gefeng City aiming at them in unison.
Gefeng City had long noticed the commotion here and had mobilized dozens of people to stand on the city wall closest to the temporary shelters.
The matter here was quickly reported to Jiang Jin, who was currently designing the flag for the Jinyang Army.
Jiang Jin's eyes grew cold. After pondering for a moment, she had someone call Xia Chanyi over.
"My Lord, what is it?" Xia Chanyi hurried in.
Jiang Jin said to her, "There is a group of troublemaking refugees outside the city. I suspect they were instigated by someone. Take some people over to check the situation. If necessary, kill them all!"
Xia Chanyi cupped her hands in a salute. "Understood."
A group of about a hundred people walked along the official road, led by none other than Wang Wu. He hadn't expected Gefeng to actually drive people away just like that.
Not only did they drive him out, but they also drove out his entire group.
A round-faced man following behind him cursed angrily, "Bah, did they think their Gefeng is some great place? It's just eating cabbage and coarse grains, do they really think I like eating that?"
Another man agreed, "Exactly, damn it, eating cabbage and coarse grains for three days, my mouth has almost lost its sense of taste."
The round-faced man coldly snorted, "It's a pity the plan didn't succeed. Our reward is gone, what a shame."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's figure out a way to get some meat to eat, I'm craving it."
Wang Wu looked back towards the direction of Gefeng, his face gloomy.
The round-faced man followed his gaze and looked back towards Gefeng. This place was already far from Gefeng, so naturally, they couldn't see Gefeng City.
"What do we do now? How about going to Lin County? I heard you can eat meat in big mouthfuls there."
Wang Wu shook his head. "Although you can eat meat in big mouthfuls, they frequently fight wars with Quzhao. You could die if you're not careful. It's better for us to be carefree outside on our own."
The round-faced man stopped mentioning it. Thinking of his companion's words just now, he licked his lips. "How about we find some people... I'm really craving meat."
Wang Wu looked around. "There are fewer and fewer refugees now, most have gone to Gefeng. If worse comes to worst, we'll just..."
The round-faced man's eyes shifted, understanding his meaning. "You mean, catch the refugees from Gefeng?"
Wang Wu's eyes were icy. "During the day, their bows and arrows are formidable, but at night, I don't believe they can see?"
The people following him all laughed. "Right, right. If everyone was in the city, we'd have no way, but those people outside, hehe."
"Not bad. It's pitch black at night, we can catch as many of those people living on the outskirts as we want. Hmph, won't let us eat meat? Then we'll eat the meat of their commoners."
The crowd laughed wantonly, as if they could already see the scene of the Gefeng Jinyang Army stomping their feet in anger because of them.
"What are you talking about? You seem so happy." A cold, clear voice sounded, interrupting the crowd's daydreams.
Wang Wu jumped in fright. "Who is it!"
Xia Chanyi stood on the hillside beside the official road. For the sake of speed, she had taken a shortcut through the tunnels.
She didn't waste words. "I heard you were dissatisfied with Gefeng's food and deliberately caused trouble?"
Wang Wu's pupils shrank suddenly. "You, you're from Gefeng's Jinyang Army?"
Xia Chanyi nodded. "That's right."
Wang Wu's face was filled with shock and uncertainty. "What do you mean by this now? You told me to leave, and we have already left."
"Yeah, your Gefeng wouldn't wipe us out just because we said a few unpleasant words, right?" The round-faced man was also nervous, not knowing if their conversation just now had been overheard.
Xia Chanyi smiled. "It's just that I still have some things to ask you, and I hope you can answer honestly."
Looking at the Jinyang Army soldiers holding crossbows standing beside Xia Chanyi, Wang Wu gritted his teeth. "Ask."
Xia Chanyi said, "Who instigated you to come to my Gefeng to cause trouble?"
Seeing that Wang Wu was about to retort, Xia Chanyi interrupted, "Don't say you weren't causing trouble. Ordinary commoners would be deeply grateful just to have a bite to eat, yet you completely disdained it. If no one instigated you, I wouldn't believe it."
Wang Wu pursed his lips. "You're overthinking it. We didn't cause trouble, we just offered some feedback on the food. What, are you not letting people tell the truth now?"
Xia Chanyi nodded and said with a smile, "Very well. However, I am not satisfied with your answer. In that case, let's kill half of you first."
As soon as her voice fell, the Dragon Shadow Guards beside her swiftly raised their Dragon Feather Crossbows, the icy arrows aiming right at them.
