Chapter 549: Relief for the Refugees
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The girl’s head was littered with the current trend of flower petals, decorated with two scarlet silk flowers and a butterfly jade hairpin. The other half of her hair was loose, and her silk-like hair hung to the back of her waist. Two strands of tassels nestled in her hair, giving her a very obedient look.
She was wearing an extremely simple bun-colored dress. She should have been dressed a little maturely, but because her face was too delicate and obedient, and she was filled with childishness, the style was twisted into a silly look.
As for the faintly discernible golden embroidery threads on the long dress and the vivid and moving posture of the butterfly jade hairpin, they could not compare to the girl’s stunning face.
They clearly had the same set of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, but hers looked especially nice. On closer inspection, it was as if each of her facial features were equally good-looking. When they were put together, she looked like a fairy!
“It’s Little Fairy Big Sister. Mother said that fairies live in the Heavenly Palace. Their eyes are as beautiful as stars!” Another child shouted.
Only then did everyone understand. No wonder they felt that she was especially beautiful. It was because of her eyes. They were so beautiful that they did not know what to say.
That was not right. Although the stars were bright, there were no golden patterns. This little noble’s eyes seemed to have golden patterns!
The poor commoners did not know about mutants. They only knew that gold and silver were good things. If even gold and silver lived in their eyes, they would definitely be indescribably noble.
This girl was naturally Little Ah Yu, who was about to turn 11 years old this year.
No, it should be All Yu.
She thought that she was only eight years old and would turn nine this year. As a child whose height had exceeded other children over the age of ten, she was proud and very happy.
“All Yu, this place is too dirty. Don’t come down first.” In front, Wang Wulang jumped out of the carriage and blocked Little Ah Yu, not letting her come down.
When the refugees heard this, they felt very uncomfortable.
They had fled all the way here and been exposed to the elements for many days. They did not care. At this moment, the ground was dirty and messy, and they smelled even worse.
It was normal for the nobles to despise them.
However, Ah Yu did not care about this. She only raised her skirt a little higher and jumped off the carriage.
“Fifth Brother, why are you so particular? Aren’t we going to help Young Master Ning set up a porridge shed? I think this place is very good. There’s a river over there, and we can build a porridge shed.”
Wang Wulang still wanted to say something when Wang Sanlang, who had already grown taller, grabbed his shoulder. “Our horses haven’t rested properly for three days. 1 think Ah Yu is tired too. Don’t restrain her.”
“I’m just afraid that she’ll be tired. She doesn’t even like to go to the kitchen, so how can she make porridge?” When Wang Wulang saw Qin Huai coming down from behind, he grabbed him and asked, “Qin Huai, don’t you think so?”
Qin Huai nodded. “Yes, so Ah Yu and I will go pick some wild vegetables. I’ll have to trouble Third Brother, Fifth Brother, and Seventh Brother to cooperate with Young Master Ning to set up the porridge shed.”
Wang Wulang:”…” I want to pick wild vegetables too.
“There’s no need for nobles like you to cook porridge. We’ll do it.”
Two servants brought by Young Master Ning walked out of the crowd and said with a smile. They turned to the refugees who were already excited and said, “Our Young Master is the Young Master of the newly appointed county governor of Wangbei County. On the orders of our Master, he specially came here to distribute porridge and medicine. Who knows how to boil fire, porridge, and medicine? Please take two steps forward and help.”
Immediately, a few women with children hurriedly walked forward. “Me, 1 knowhow to do it!”
“Me too!”
The maidservant chose a few with a smile and rejected a few that were obviously not to her liking.
The guards did not stay idle either. They found some men and asked them to help build the porridge and medicine sheds.
Tang Yuan stood in front of a few lively-looking children and took out half a piece of coarse grain pancake from her pocket. Under the children’s eager gazes, she said, “Who wants to go with me to look for wild vegetables? Those who can find more or better vegetables will get half a piece of pancake.”
The children all raised their hands high.
After all the tasks were distributed, Ah Yu and Qin Huai went to look for a mountain nearby.
Tang Yuan led a group of children and two armed guards to another mountain.
It was early spring now. After a rain, new wild vegetables would quickly grow. It had rained yesterday, so they could find a lot today.
These refugees had been traveling for a few months. From the autumn drought when there was no harvest, they began to step into the wilderness. Later on, they endured the bitter cold of winter and walked until they reached the outskirts of Linkong City in spring.
They originally thought that they would only have food after entering the city. Unexpectedly, the county governor actually sent his son out just to help with the disaster relief.
Some people who had spoken ill of the county governor felt deeply ashamed.
Someone was also puzzled. “We’re walking through the east gate of Linkong City. The prefecture capital of Wangbei County should be in the north. Why did this Young Master come from the east gate? Isn’t he from the prefecture capital?”
“Who knows? What if they brought food from the east and came over to help?”
“That’s not right. We’ve walked over from the east and have never seen a city with abundant food. Only Linkong City is slightly richer and is willing to help us.”
Someone waved his hand. “It’s already good enough that you have something to eat. Why are you so worried? In my opinion, it doesn’t matter what the county governor’s Young Master is doing. Didn’t you see just now? That lady and her Big Brothers look even more magnanimous than the county governor’s Young Master! Perhaps they’re the important figures. The county governor’s Young Master probably went to pick them up and saw us refugees. That’s why he helped us. Who knows?”
Everyone only smiled at this explanation. In any case, what did the life of the nobles have to do with them?
As long as they could eat and drink their fill, it would be a huge blessing.
However, what they did not know was that one of them had guessed very close to the mark.
The current county governor of Wangbei County was the previous Prefect Wei. Because he had contributed to the governance of Wangbei County, he, who had not moved his position for more than 20 years, had actually been promoted to the position of county governor.
This was because Yongding County under Wangbei County was said to have grown high-yielding crops. Moreover, there were more than one or two crops. There were more than ten of them. There had been no starving people in the entire Yongding County for several years.
Three years ago, Yongding County sent the mature crop seeds to Wangbei County. The county governor did not believe it. Only Magistrate Wei withstood more than ten impeachment memos and maintained his stance, asking his subordinates to plant them.
After three years, other than some uncooperative county cities, the cooperative county cities had all obtained a huge harvest and their granaries were full.
Even if some of them encountered insect disasters, droughts, and floods, they did not need the support of other counties or the Imperial Court at all. As long as they mobilized the granaries of other county cities, it would be easy to resolve.
Last year, when the news reached the ears of the Emperor, the original county governor was demoted, punished, and his entire family was exiled. Magistrate Wei was directly promoted to the county governor of Wangbei County.
As for Young Master Ning, he was the second son of County Magistrate Wei, who had disappeared for many years.
The place of disappearance was the yellow sand area that Ah Yu and the others had gone to visit three years ago.
That place was indeed as terrifying as the rumors said, but it also gave them a huge harvest.
Ah Yu almost used up the chance to revive there..