Village Chief Si was stunned. “Princess Jinyang is going to save us?”
They had heard of Princess Jinyang, but they knew little about the circumstances surrounding her.
They were native-born residents of Bilan County. Their families had lived for generations in remote villages, leaving them largely cut off from news of the outside world.
If the torrential rains had not destroyed their homes, farmland, and crops, they would never have fled. During the two days they had spent escaping to Bilan County, they had learned more about Princess Jinyang from other refugees.
They had heard that Princess Jinyang was peerless in both wisdom and courage, and that she had reclaimed vast stretches of Han territory from the barbarian tribes.
They had heard that the princess treated the people under her rule extremely well. Women could find respectable work there, and could even become officials or teachers.
They had also heard that Fengzhou possessed high-yield grain varieties, and that the people of Fengzhou never had to worry about food or clothing.
Unfortunately, they were all the way in Sizhou. The First Prince had sealed the roads from Tao Commandery and Shankang County to Jiji Commandery, so even if they wanted to go to Fengzhou, they had no way to get there. All they could do was wait for death in Tao Commandery.
Xie Nanxiao nodded. “Fengzhou was reclaimed from the Quzhao people by my liege, Princess Jinyang. The people of Fengzhou now live in peace and prosperity.”
“We are preparing to distribute rice porridge in Bilan County. You can join our procession.”
The people of Ye Village were overjoyed. They were about to kneel and offer their thanks again, but Xie Nanxiao stopped them. “There’s no need for that.”
Wen Zixin frowned and muttered unhappily, “Hah. So this is how she begins winning over the people? These are the people of Sizhou.”
Zhou Leng shot him a sidelong glance. “Your people of Sizhou certainly have a lot of nerve. At the rate a tear would travel from the corner of your eye to your cheek, it probably wouldn’t get there in a year.”
Qiu Dao pressed his lips together to suppress a laugh. He had discovered that Lord Zhou was truly quick-witted, with an impressive command of literature.
Wen Zixin ground his teeth in anger. “Am I wrong? She comes here and immediately starts seeking fame and praise.”
Zhou Leng laughed. “My liege brought a vast amount of supplies all the way to Sizhou to provide disaster relief. Is she not allowed to announce her name?”
“Oh, I understand now. You mean we should announce the First Prince’s name instead? So taking credit for others’ achievements and occupying another’s position are customary practices in Sizhou?”
“You—you…” Wen Zixin was so furious that his chest hurt. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and his vision went black.
In Bilan County, the magistrate stood atop the city wall and watched another group of refugees being shot down beneath the gates, his eyes cold.
Those people had actually tried to force their way into the city. They were simply courting death!
He looked toward the refugees lying or sitting in the distance, his expression darkening.
“What does Princess Jinyang mean by this? She actually came all the way from Fengzhou to provide disaster relief in Sizhou?” The county commandant was equally grim.
Just moments earlier, a soldier had reported that Princess Jinyang’s naval troops were bringing a large quantity of supplies and would arrive soon.
He found it utterly baffling. Even His Majesty had abandoned these refugees—why would a princess with no connection to them come to their aid? Did she even know how many refugees there were in the two commanderies?
The magistrate sneered coldly. “She’s probably trying to win the people’s loyalty. As if the people’s hearts were so easy to win.”
Disaster relief was no simple matter. Did she think that feeding the refugees for a few days would be enough?
There was also the rebuilding that would follow, the need to pacify the population, and the matter of providing food for eight or nine months.
More importantly, there was the plague that followed disasters. Many people outside the city were already showing signs of illness.
The county commandant scoffed. “Probably just a woman’s softheartedness.”
The magistrate frowned slightly. “Are we really going to let them provide relief?”
The county commandant glanced at him. “Of course. Didn’t General Qi’s soldiers say that His Majesty has already agreed? Let them do as they please. As long as they don’t catch the plague and have their entire army wiped out.”
A smile tugged at the magistrate’s lips. “Exactly. We only need to keep the city gates closed. Whatever happens, we must not let the disease spread into the city.”
Then, remembering something, the county commandant said anxiously, “Lord Wen, General Qi, and Imperial Physician Qiu Dao are among those who have come. If we refuse to let them in, I’m afraid our superiors will hold us accountable.”
The magistrate smiled. “They’re our own people, so naturally they’re different. They’ve only just arrived and certainly won’t have contracted the disease yet. We can simply welcome them into the city.”
As they spoke, a commotion rose from below the walls. Following the sound, the two men saw several men kicking and punching a woman.
Song Erniang curled herself tightly around the handful of sprouting grain she had finally managed to find, shielding it along with her unconscious son.
Her home had been washed away. Of the twelve members of her family, only she and her five-year-old son had survived. The two of them had clung to life by scavenging grain that had sprouted after being soaked in floodwater, all the way to Bilan County.
But Bilan County would not allow anyone into the city. Whenever anyone approached the gates, the soldiers fired on them, let alone offering disaster relief.
She had nowhere else to go. All she could do was wait outside the county seat day after day, hoping that one day the officials in the city might take pity on them and open the gates or distribute food.
At first, there had been plenty of sprouting grain. After all, so many crops had been destroyed, and the grain had begun to sprout after being soaked in water.
But as time passed, most of the sprouts grew into seedlings and could no longer be eaten.
They had been starving for a long time. Today, after finally finding a handful of grain that had only just begun to sprout, she was targeted by these men.
She could not hand it over. That grain was the lifeline of both her and her son. With it, they could survive for another two days.
“Stop! You’ll beat her to death if you keep going.”
A thin man finally could not stand by any longer.
He and the woman were from the same village. However, only a few dozen people from his village had survived, and they were no match for this group.
The men came from a large village with several hundred residents. Their people could not afford to provoke them.
Seeing that Song Erniang was about to be beaten to death, he ultimately could not bear to remain silent.
The attackers stopped and turned toward the thin man.
“What? You want to interfere?”
As he spoke, everyone from the men’s village looked over. Some sneered, some remained indifferent, and some showed sympathy, but no one said a word.
The thin man gritted his teeth. “She’s from our village. Your village may have more people, but don’t think we’re pushovers.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the villagers behind him stepped forward to stand at his back.
They were already few in number. If they did not stand together now, they would only be bullied at will.
There had already been incidents of people stealing food, but no one had yet dared to openly murder or eat another person. That could change in the future.
Small groups like theirs were the easiest targets, so they had to remain united.
The pockmarked man among the attackers sneered. “A few dozen of you think you can fight us?”
It wasn’t that he looked down on them without reason. Their village had few people to begin with, and hardly any able-bodied men. If their own village sent out a few more men, they could easily beat this little group into submission.
The thin man was about to respond when his eyes suddenly widened. His mouth hung open, but for a moment no sound came out.
The pockmarked man sneered. “What’s with that expression? Scared?”
The thin man did not answer. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have seen incorrectly.
By then, many people had noticed the procession approaching in the distance. A red-and-black flag billowed in the wind, especially conspicuous against the horizon.
The people atop the city wall had also widened their eyes.
The county commandant’s voice was filled with astonishment. “They actually brought this many supplies?”
The procession stretched like a long dragon, with wagon after wagon loaded with supplies. It was impossible to ignore.
