"Sigh... Judging from his appearance, he must have drowned."
Yao Rui sighed softly, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Shen Laosan's strange expression.
"Brother Shen, do you think that what Yao said is wrong?"
Shen Laosan nodded slightly, his tone less playful and more serious.
"Brother Yao, take a closer look at the corpse. It's clearly a group of rats."
"Yeah, what happened to the mouse?"
The confusion on Yao Rui's face deepened, and he looked at Shen Laosan, wanting to know the answer.
"It seems that Brother Yao was born into a family of officials and has never seen any natural disasters."
Shen Laosan sighed softly, a trace of sadness appeared on his cheeks.
"Brother Yao doesn't know something. Rats and vultures are not the same."
"Vultures eat scavengers, but rats like delicious food."
As soon as these words came out, Yao Rui's eyes suddenly widened.
"You mean, this person died recently?"
Shen Laosan nodded heavily and continued:
"Yes, this person did not die from floods, but... from a man-made disaster!"
Yao Rui trembled, then quickly stabilized.
"I wonder if Brother Yao has ever heard of Wu Zuo?"
"A friend of mine once described the appearance of people who starve to death."
"Muscles atrophied, organs shriveled, hair yellow, skin and bones."
Shen Laosan's words made Yao Rui couldn't help but silently nod in agreement.
He is an eunuch of the West Factory, so he naturally has some knowledge of autopsies.
After careful observation, it is not difficult to find that the state of the corpse is indeed as described by Shen Laosan.
He did starve to death.
There was a flash of pain in Yao Rui's eyes, but at this moment, he suddenly discovered that the corpse's ribs had been broken a lot.
Wait, why do people who starve to death have broken ribs? Could it be that they suffered a violent collision?
Yao Rui frowned in thought, looking at the corpse more seriously.
Soon, he discovered another strange thing.
That was the buttocks of this corpse, missing a large piece of flesh. The cross section is neat and smooth, and you can tell at a glance that this is the result of a sharp weapon.
Yao Rui seemed to have thought of some possibility, and his face instantly turned extremely pale.
At this moment, he finally understood how important the task Yang Dong had given him was.
To a certain extent, the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of victims in Luozhou are closely related to his choice.
"Brother Yao, Brother Yao!"
Shen Laosan's call awakened Yao Rui from his thoughts.
He pointed to the street not far away and whispered:
"Brother Yao, we have entered the closed city now."
“Mark my words, speak less and read more.”
"By the way, the city leader will host a banquet for Commander Lin tonight. Then you will attend the banquet with me."
"We've already entered the city."
Yao Rui patted his cheek and regained his composure.
But soon, he was shocked again by the tragic conditions on both sides of the road.
If the scene outside the city is Abi Hell, then the situation inside the city is purgatory on earth!
Some people desperately stuffed clods of earth into their mouths, and even though their bellies were round, they were still unbearably hungry.
Someone was holding a tree that had lost its bark and was gnawing on the hard wood.
What's more, they pick up their own children and secretly exchange them with the neighbor's family...
The tragic scene in front of him was like a dagger, piercing deeply into Yao Rui's heart.
He originally thought that his family's experience was miserable enough.
But compared with the current situation in Luozhou, it is far inferior.
These people are so miserable!
Yao Rui took a deep breath and suppressed the sadness in his heart. He turned around and looked at Shen Laosan and said:
"Brother Shen, will Commander Lin make arrangements for disaster relief at tonight's banquet?"
"maybe."
Shen Laosan glanced at the victims on the roadside and lowered the curtains of the carriage.
Soon, they arrived at the inn arranged by the city sealer.
Shen Laosan said goodbye to Yao Rui, turned around and returned to his room.
In the room, the housekeeper looked at Shen Laosan, hesitated for a moment and said:
"Master, are you so emotional today? Do you think of those past events?"
"Aroused by the scene?"
Shen Laosan was stunned for a moment, then figured out that it was his words to Yao Rui that made the housekeeper worried. So he opened his mouth and explained:
"Butler, you are thinking too much."
"The moment I decided to become a grain merchant, I no longer needed these useless emotions."
"How many victims have starved to death, what does it have to do with me, Shen Laosan? It's him, Lin Luo, who is providing relief, not Shen Ji Liang Shop."
"I only have one purpose in coming to this shabby place, and that is to make money. As for those words, I just want to use Yao Rui's hand to cause some trouble for Lin Luo. So, do you understand?"
Hearing these words, there was no trace of worry on the butler's face.
He nodded immediately and said:
"In this case, I can rest assured."
…
Before I knew it, the moon was three shots higher.
Yao Rui put away his pen and ink and rubbed his sore wrist.
As soon as he arrived at the inn, he immediately fetched pen and ink and prepared to report to Yang Dong what he saw and heard along the way.
Unconsciously, it was night.
Counting the hours, it's almost time to go to the dinner party.
Yao Rui immediately stood up and walked out of the inn.
Shen Laosan seemed to be waiting for him. When he saw him coming out, he immediately approached him.
"Brother Yao, please stay with me for a while and don't speak casually."
"Today is extremely important for Commander Lin, so don't let the small lose the big!"
Yao Rui nodded slightly and followed Shen Laosan.
They boarded a carriage and disappeared into the thick night soon.
About half an hour later, the carriage stopped steadily.
Yao Rui stepped out of the carriage and was shocked by the sight in front of him.
Compared with the hellish miserable situation in the outer city, Yao Rui seemed to be in a fairyland at this moment.
There are carved beams and painted buildings, and a building and boat painting workshop.
In the large garden, a stream flows through the intestines.
There are many kinds of flowers in the garden.
The trees are lush and full of life.
Yao Rui even found some fruit trees in the garden.
The ripe fruits were scattered all over the ground, but no one picked them up.
At this moment, he suddenly felt so unreal! Is such a vibrant place like Luozhou really suffering from floods?
At this time, two government officials came up quickly.
They glanced at the carriage and immediately put on a flattering smile on their faces.
"Are you two from the capital?"
"Come on, please come in quickly. Our chief officer, Mr. Zhao, has prepared wine and food for everyone, so that you can welcome the wind and wash away the dust."
Shen Laosan chuckled, cupped his hands towards the two government officials, and handed over two broken pieces of silver.
"In this case, you two will be able to help."
After saying that, he dragged Yao Rui and followed behind the yamen servant.
Go through the garden and turn into the cloister.
After entering the inner courtyard, we paddled across a small river.
In this way, we arrived at the venue for today's banquet.
Today's banquet venue is located in a small building on the island in the middle of the river.
The small building only has two floors, and there are exactly four sandalwood tables.
At this moment, the sandalwood table was filled with all kinds of dishes.
Vegetables, carp, chicken, duck and fish, fine wine.
None of these are missing!
If Yao Rui hadn't seen Lin Luo go up to the second floor, he would have thought he had left Luozhou.
"Brother Yao, please take a seat quickly."
"I've been so busy these days and I've treated the Five Zang Temple badly. No matter what, I have to have a big meal to make up for it today."
Shen Laosan said, grabbed a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth.
