It was well past sunrise. On a quiet lane behind the medicine distribution center in Xingshan County, four carriages were parked in secret.
A thin man lightly jumped off one of the carriages. His face was as black as charcoal, and he was wearing a dirty old robe that was obviously too big, with the hem dragging on the ground.
Inside the carriage, Cuihuan lifted the curtain and watched the departing back of Wei Dongling, who was dressed as a man and limping away. There was a look of worry on her face.
Ruan Niang looked at the retreating figure of Wei Dongling, patted Cuihuan's hand, and whispered soothingly, "Don't worry. We'll go to support her after we've finished moving."
Cuihuan nodded vigorously.
At the medicine distribution center in the county, a large crowd of refugees swarmed forward with bowls in their hands, surrounding the place tightly.
Several military officers on guard waved their hands impatiently and shouted, "What are you pushing for? Line up properly!"
Wei Dongling had no choice but to squeeze to the back of the line with the crowd.
The tall young man in front blocked her view, so she had to crane her neck to one side to see what was going on at the medicine distribution area.
From afar, she saw several military officers carrying out two barrels filled with medicinal soup and a basket of shriveled steamed buns. The officers then started to distribute the medicine and food with ladles.
Wei Dongling glanced at the huge crowd pushing forward behind her and sighed silently. It was obvious that the medicine and food were not enough to go around.
Sure enough, before it was the turn of the people in front of Wei Dongling, the medicine and food were all distributed. The officers on guard drove the crowd away and said, "There's none left for today! Come earlier tomorrow!"
Immediately, there were complaints, cries, and shouts in the crowd.
"Why did it run out so quickly?"
"I haven't received any food for three days! What am I going to do!"
"My parents have been sick for several days. Without medicine, how can they survive!"
Facing the miserable cries of the crowd, the officers waved their hands in disgust and shouted, "There will be fever - reducing soup for sale later on the other side. Since the medicinal ingredients are precious, we'll only charge you the cost price, one tael of silver per bowl. Just wait!"
The crowd was even more in an uproar. Those who had a little silver in their hands had already fled the famine, right? Who would still stay in Xingshan County?
Wei Dongling squeezed into the crowd and roared, "The life - saving medicinal herbs allocated by the imperial court for disaster relief are being sold to the suffering refugees by you! You're making money off the dead! Is there any law in your eyes?"
The crowd, who were already whispering among themselves, were even more stirred up when they heard her words and started shouting loudly.
Seeing the public outrage, the faces of the military officers turned ugly. The leader jumped onto a table and roared at the crowd, "There are so many disaster - stricken people. The medicine and food allocated by the imperial court are just a drop in the bucket! These medicinal ingredients were even purchased by our county magistrate out of his own pocket! If you keep causing trouble, there won't even be the paid soup! And there won't be any supply tomorrow either!"
Hearing this, the crowd immediately fell silent, their faces clouded with sorrow.
Wei Dongling shouted at the crowd, "He's lying! Our emperor loves his people like his own children! The silver allocated for disaster relief is enough for everyone to survive! It's obvious that they're embezzling it for themselves!"
These words enraged the disaster - stricken people even more, and they stood up restlessly to protest.
The military officer on the table glared at the crowd fiercely, raised his silver spear, and roared, "How dare you be so presumptuous! Are you trying to rebel?"
Wei Dongling was secretly anxious. She didn't know if Uncle Li and the others had started their operation. She could only try to stall for time and roared, "We want to survive for our families! Hand over the food and medicine!"
Her words inspired the refugees, and they rushed forward, shouting in agreement, "Hand over the food and medicine!"
The military officer on the table finally recognized who was leading the commotion. He picked up his silver spear, pushed through the crowd, and strode towards Wei Dongling.
The excited crowd didn't care at all. They rushed forward in a disorderly manner and blocked the officer's way. When the people inside heard the commotion outside, they quickly sent out a large number of guards, each holding a silver spear, glaring angrily at the crowd.
Seeing so many armed officers, the unarmed and vulnerable refugees, including the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, were a little scared, and their voices gradually died down.
Seeing this, Wei Dongling shouted, "We outnumber them! Don't be afraid! Hand over the food and medicine!"
The refugees realized this was true and became even more rowdy.
A refugee behind her pushed forward, accidentally hitting Wei Dongling's injured right shoulder. She trembled in pain, and a cold sweat broke out on her back.
Then, the military officer who had been on the table pushed through the crowd and grabbed Wei Dongling's collar. He roared, "So it's you, you trouble - making commoner, who's causing all this commotion, right?"
The crowd was so crowded that Wei Dongling had no time to dodge and was grabbed firmly. She was a bit angry and kicked the officer in the throat.
The officer was caught off guard and was kicked right in the throat. Wei Dongling took the opportunity to run away, and the officer chased after her relentlessly.
The crowd was so dense that Wei Dongling weaved in and out of the refugees. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and dragged on the ground for a long distance.
"Let go of me!" Wei Dongling shouted. She saw that the person who had grabbed her robe was a black - clad man. He dragged her away from the crowd and threw her hard on the ground in a less crowded place. Wei Dongling landed on her face and was completely dazed.
Wei Dongling covered her injured nose and looked up. She found that this middle - aged black - clad man looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.
The black - clad man stared coldly at Wei Dongling lying on the ground and without saying a word, swung his fist at her.
Wei Dongling's face turned pale, and she was about to dodge. But the black - clad man's wrist was tightly grabbed by a fair and slender hand.
Wei Dongling looked up and saw that it was the tall young man who had been queuing in front of her.
The young man glared at the black - clad man and spat, "You really have the nerve to beat up a refugee!"
The black - clad man who seemed familiar to Wei Dongling sized up the ragged young man from head to toe and sneered, "Mind your own business. You're overestimating yourself." Then, he swung his other fist at the young man's face, and the two got into a fight.
Wei Dongling quickly got up and looked back. She saw that a large number of refugees and military officers had clashed, and they were also fighting. A group of people were crying miserably.
It was obvious that the young man in front of her was no match for the black - clad man. After less than ten moves, he was knocked to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time.
The black - clad man sneered and stepped forward slowly. Wei Dongling took out the iron hairpin from her bun and hid it between her fingers, standing in front of the young man.
The young man on the ground grabbed a handful of dust and threw it forward. Then he grabbed Wei Dongling's wrist and ran away at full speed with her.
Before Wei Dongling knew it, she had been dragged a long way by the young man while limping. Looking back, she saw the black - clad man wiping the dust off his face and chasing after them.
The young man glanced at the limping Wei Dongling and murmured to himself, "So you're a cripple..."
"I..." Actually, she wasn't.
Wei Dongling didn't explain either. She just sighed silently, wondering if the chaos she had incited was enough to allow Uncle Li and the others to smoothly take away the food and medicinal herbs.
Seeing her distracted, the young man bent down, picked her up on his back, and ran away at a rapid pace.