C27

Gu Jinzhu pulled open the curtain of the carriage and looked outside. Before those people could grab her car, a soldier jumped out from nowhere and swung a whip at those refugees and shouted, "You don't want to live anymore? Get the hell back in! "

When the whip hit the body, it immediately ripped open the flesh. The people cried out in grief, and a few people couldn't take it any longer. They begged, "Soldier, do well. Your child will soon be unable to hold on …"

The soldier chased the people back while cursing. Gu Jinzhu had been following them. When she saw those people being driven back to the corner of the wall, a woman with disheveled hair and dirty face suddenly burst into despairing cries while holding a skinny child in her arms.

Gu Jinzhu's heart felt as if it was being torn apart, and her eyes turned red. Gu Jinzhu gripped the windowsill tightly and couldn't hold it in any longer. She turned to Gu Yingqing with a pleading look in her eyes, "Third Uncle …"

Gu Yiqing frowned deeply. Ever since he had entered the city, his face had become even gloomier, looking as if he wanted to keep people away from him.

Without even turning his head, he said expressionlessly, "We can't stop here. Once we're surrounded by refugees, I'm afraid we won't be able to escape!"

Gu Jinzhu was stunned, but she only needed to make a slight turn to understand what was going on. Although they had some food to eat, there were too many refugees. If she went down to give out food, it would probably cause chaos, and those few soldiers obviously wouldn't be able to stop it.

She pursed her lips and lowered her head. She felt pity for those people, but she knew that she must not cause any trouble for Gu Qingqing at this time.

It was just that he felt uncomfortable in his heart.

Along the way to the center of the city, Gu Yiqing found a remote place and stopped the car. Her life blood clothes were on guard, but she went somewhere else.

The rain continued to fall endlessly, creating a barren wasteland in front of their eyes. Gu Jinzhu and the others didn't dare to come down and wander around. Fortunately, the blood-clothed guards were outside, allowing them to feel slightly more at ease.

The roof of the car was hit by the rain. Although they didn't eat much in the morning, the three of them had no appetite as they thought about the terrible situation in the city.

Gu Yiqing had left for four hours. He returned at noon, soaked to the skin, but he didn't care at all. His gaze was sharp like the snow, and there seemed to be a layer of killing intent on his face.

Xue Yi was a little worried. "Mistress …"

Gu Yiqing gritted her teeth, "That old fool Li Su didn't come here at all. He didn't even send any help from the imperial government!"

"How could that be?" Xue Yi was surprised. Although Li Su was not a high official in the Imperial Court, he was the personal trusted aide of the Emperor. He had been appointed as General Manager of the Imperial Court and was specifically responsible for the disaster and rescue of the citizens of Binzhou.

No wonder this place was so bleak. If the messenger hadn't come, then where would the disaster have gone? As long as he thought about it carefully, he would be so shocked that he would break out in a cold sweat. If someone was deliberately trying to deceive him, stealing the silver would be a crime of exterminating his entire family!

He could not think of anyone who would be so bold.

When Xue Yi thought back to the events that had transpired, although there were many refugees and they were starving to death, they had all gathered in one place with soldiers guarding them. It did not seem like the rumored riots.

He thought of something and said to Gu Yiqing, "Master, I heard from a few refugees that the City Lord's Mansion will make porridge at noon every day. It is the City Lord's Mansion that will open up their grain stores together!"

"Open up?" Gu Yiqing harrumphed coldly. A trace of hostility flashed in his eyes. Xue Yi knew that he had something else on his mind, so he didn't dare to ask anymore.

Gu Jinzhu was curled up in the carriage, listening to the sounds in a daze. She could vaguely hear the sound of porridge coming from outside at noon, and her heart relaxed. Although this place was miserable, at least there was some official's help, so these refugees were temporarily homeless. But if there was a bowl of porridge every day, they wouldn't starve to death.

The rain had stopped by then, and when she lifted the curtain and looked out, she saw a mud shed not far ahead. There was a long line of people, young and old, who seemed to be picking up porridge.

"I'll get you a bowl, miss."

They didn't have much water and rations with them anymore. No one was willing to drink it along the way. Gu Jinzhu hesitated for a moment before she looked towards Gu Yiqing.

When she saw that he didn't object, she jumped out of the car, took out a everyday blue and white porcelain bowl, and ran towards him.

After a while, she turned around, holding the bowl in her hand. Her face looked angry as she handed the bowl over and said, "Miss, what do you think this is? How was this porridge? Not even water! No wonder so many people starve to death. "

Gu Jinzhu was also very surprised as she looked at the bowl of clear soup which was so bright that it could reflect people's shadows. Since ancient times, Lin An had been rich, and every family had plenty of food. Occasionally, he would do good deeds for their families and make porridge for the beggars.

She had wanted to send food to the government, but this was a famous place. The food in the government's storehouse couldn't be too little, so she didn't expect it to be distributed in such a way that not even a grain of rice could be seen.

No wonder some children starved to death. She finally understood why Gu Yiqing's face was so pale.

She sighed lightly. It was one thing to be an official, but at such a critical juncture, he was still trying to fool people. Perhaps the so-called porridge was just an act to appease the victims.

When Xue Yi saw the porridge in Gu Jinzhu's hands, he naturally knew how his master was angered! He knew more about the internal affairs than Gu Jinzhu did, so he naturally thought that the government had a good plan here. In collusion with the imperial officials, he would embezzle some silver taels and then use the name of porridge to pacify the victims.

No wonder the higher-ups sent their grandpa to investigate this matter...

Gu Jinzhu looked at the porridge in the bowl as she heard the sound of sobbing. She really couldn't drink it.

Raising her head to look at the refugees, she thought for a moment before walking towards an old man by the side of the road.

The old man was in his late twenties, with a head of messy white hair and ragged clothes. His face was extremely yellow and skinny to the extreme. He was curled up in a puddle of mud with a dazed look in his eyes, as if he was waiting for death.

Gu Jinzhu walked up to him and handed him the bowl in her hand. She whispered, "Elder …"

Only after she shouted a few times did the old man raise his head. His yellow and muddy eyes stared at the bowl in her hands as it suddenly lit up.

With a slight tremble, he stretched out his hand. Gu Jinzhu handed him the bowl. Before she could finish smiling, a white light suddenly flashed in front of her eyes.

Before she could react, a warm, fishy liquid sprayed out from her mouth.

She instantly opened her eyes wide. The scene in front of her was like the most terrifying nightmare. The old man's body was instantly split into two halves, and a large amount of bright red liquid gushed out, splashing onto her face.

A strong stench of blood entered her nose. She couldn't even make a sound, as if something was tightly strangling her throat. Her legs went soft and she felt her soul leave her body in an instant.

A white light flashed in front of her eyes, but a man clad in black appeared out of nowhere and chopped at her head with a saber. She was extremely frightened. Her mind was blank and she could not react in time.

In that instant, a sharp sound of wind passed her ears, as if she was slowing down. She watched helplessly as a powerful arrow pierced the throat of the man in black. The arrow was so powerful that it pushed him backwards and nailed him into the wall.

The man in black died instantly, and the arrow that was nailed to his throat was still quivering slightly.