Xu Zhihuai originally thought he would see chaos all over the place, but unexpectedly the city was empty and the streets were deserted. The shops along the street were all closed, with only a few stalls scattered here and there. Large pots were set up on the stoves, cooking something. The people queuing up to receive the porridge were all old, young, women and children with sad faces. The watery rice soup has not many rice grains at all.
The children cried because they didn't have enough to eat, and the old people sighed heavily because they didn't have enough to eat.
Chu Feng said straightforwardly: "The food in the city is running out, and this porridge stall is the only way for everyone to survive. When the food is gone, we will continue to be hungry."
Zhu Xuxing was both sad and puzzled: "How could such a big city have no food?"
Chu Feng sneered: "One year of floods and one year of drought, what crops can be grown on the ground?"
Zhu Xuxing's face darkened: "Where is the imperial court's relief food? Even if the relief food is not enough, we can still trade with each other and buy it."
Chu Feng smiled even more and said with contempt: "You can only look at the food sent by those officials but not eat it! Those profiteers are driving up the price of food. For ten taels of silver, who can afford it?"
Maybe I can’t listen anymore.
Zhu Xuxing paused at his feet, his eyes darkened.
Xu Zhihuai looked at his face and said cautiously: "I heard in the capital that the grains and rice sent by the imperial court are of the highest quality."
Chu Feng's face was livid, and he said meaningfully: "Of course everything in the capital is good. But here, the fragrant things will turn into smelly things, and the good things will turn into rotten things. Not only the things, but also the people are rotten." .”
Xu Zhihuai hurriedly spoke again: "My uncle is a good official."
"That's right, so he's dead."
With this sarcastic answer, Chu Feng took them to the main entrance of Longchang Escort Bureau. Xu Zhihuai looked at Zhu Xuxing and then at Wei Li, both of whom had different expressions.
One is heavy and the other is gloomy.
Huainan is far more troublesome than imagined.
In the words of the Chu family and his son, at this moment, they can only save themselves.
All the young and strong men in the city followed the Huaizhou garrison to the border to repair ditches and walls. Not only that, the medical center was also full. The injured, sick, and those who had stopped taking medicine could hear painful groans everywhere.
Although Zhu Xuxing was not a real doctor, because he grew up in the palace, the imperial doctors came to him every day to ask for pulse diagnosis, so he naturally knew some medicinal materials and prescriptions.
The scorching heat caused many people in the city to suffer from fever. Coupled with the shortage of food and malnutrition, the elderly and children were the first to suffer.
Scutellaria baicalensis, honeysuckle, forsythia, andrographis paniculata, Daqingye, wild chrysanthemum...
Zhu Xuxing wrote down the prescription eloquently, but in the end there was no medicine.
Seeing the prescription he prescribed, Chu Feng became more confident in his identity: "I will send someone to think of a way to collect these medicinal materials within three days."
As soon as these words came out, Wei Li sneered contemptuously: "You know you are sitting on nothing, but you still want to go against the imperial court. Aren't you asking for your own death?"
Chu Feng glared angrily, slapped the table and stood up: "How impudent! If Huainan wasn't guarded by us, it would have been destroyed by those dog officials long ago."
"Which dog officer?"
Wei Li didn't have the patience of Xu Zhihuai, nor the self-cultivation of Zhu Xiuxing, so he asked coldly: "You don't have to accept the food given to you by the court, but who asked you to steal the military food of the Huainan camp? You want to seize power yourself, what nonsense? What is the conscience of heaven and earth, the righteousness of the world! If you are going against the imperial court now, you will drag everyone down with you!"
"We are not the ones grabbing the food!"
Chu Feng's eyes turned red with anger when he heard this, and the young man was so angry that he couldn't bear it anymore: "The general and Lord Xu distributed it to the people in the city to save their lives."
The truth is sometimes simpler than imagined.
There was a disaster in Huainan and the army was in short supply.
All the disaster relief grain sent by the imperial court was stolen by Xie Junhao. They turned the new grain into old grain and sold the new grain, leaving the people of Huainan to eat only the moldy grain.
Xu Zhigao often went to Huaizhou to investigate the matter, but in the end nothing happened. The Xie family was too powerful to be shaken by himself. He wrote many letters to his classmates and old friends who were officials in the capital, but everyone shunned him. Some even betrayed his letters in order to curry favor with the Xie family.
After weighing the two sides, Xu Zhigao asked the general to plead for the people. However, the border war was tense and he was powerless. In desperation, he could only use the "delay tactic".
Unexpectedly, Xie Junhao has been watching Xu Zhigao's every move and deliberately sabotaged it, turning the food distribution into a food grab. Good things turned into bad things, and everything was unclear. As the magistrate of Huaizhou, Xie Junhao could easily obtain witnesses and physical evidence. After that, rumors spread all over the place, whether true or false.
Chu Feng regretted telling the truth and stared at the three of them: "No one can escape once we enter the city. We must live and die together."
Zhu Xuxing was deep in thought, but he heard Wei Li say coldly: "There is no proof, you can say whatever you want."
Chu Feng was furious and took action, wanting to take Wei Li's life. Unexpectedly, Wei Li moved faster than him. With a twist of his wrist, he spun the sword in his sleeve and pointed it directly at Chu Feng's throat.
Chu Feng didn't expect that he would be at a disadvantage instantly. Apart from being shocked, he was even more surprised by Wei Li's swift and fierce skills.
In the blink of an eye, his hands rose and fell like lightning.
Zhu Xuxing ordered: "Don't hurt anyone."
"Your Highness, they are too presumptuous."
When Chu Feng heard Wei Li calling his highness, he frowned and seemed to have thought of something.
Zhu Xuxing revealed his identity. Chu Feng was shocked and surprised. There was no fear on his stubborn face, and his tone was still full of ridicule: "What's so great about the Crown Prince..."
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, his throat was cut open by Wei Li, and blood spurted out and splashed all over the floor.
Xu Zhihuai exclaimed and felt that his face was also splashed with blood.
Zhu Xuxing shouted sharply: "Wei Li!"
Wei Li's face was expressionless. He looked coldly at Chu Feng, who was clutching his neck and collapsed on the ground, and said in a low voice: "Kill him alone and you can save the whole city. It's not a loss."
Ruthless words can hurt more than a sharp sword.
Zhu Xuxing restrained his anger: "I didn't let you kill him!"
"Your Highness, it's not that I want to kill someone. For what he said just now about his disobedience and rebellion, it would be easy for him to punish all nine clans."
"He can be a witness against the Xie family!"
Zhu Xuxing wanted to bring him back to the capital and clear Xu Zhigao's name.
"I still said what I just said. Now there is no proof. Xu Zhigao is dead and the general is not here. Your Highness must not believe his one-sided words. If I don't kill him today, he will definitely be disrespectful to Your Highness. I can't take risks."
"Then there's no need to kill him now!"
"If we don't kill him now, how can he establish his prestige! Huainan belongs to the imperial court, to the emperor, and in the future to his highness, and will never belong to his father and son of the Chu family. The king's law is monstrous! When Chu Feng claimed to be the young city lord, his fate was It’s over.”
"Human life should not be such a trifle..."
Wei Li's words were sonorous: "Imperial power is inviolable! Those who cannot kneel before His Highness and bow their heads and obey me are my enemies! All of you will be killed."
His ruthlessness is his loyalty.
Xu Zhihuai's eyes drifted towards Wei Li's strong back, and for the first time he was surprised by his reasoning.
At this time, Chu Feng had already expired. His eyes were wide open, his pupils were dilated, his face was ashen, and only the blood was flowing from his throat.
Xu Zhihuai looked away and suddenly realized that no one rushed in...
This escort agency is heavily guarded, and there are many subordinates of the Chu family from inside to outside.
Thinking of this, Xu Zhihuai couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at Wei Li, watching him slowly pull out a white brocade handkerchief and gently wipe the bright red of the sword's edge.
It dawned on her. Huainan City has long been in the pocket of his Qingyi Marquis. He didn't come to take risks with the prince, he came to clear the city and claim credit.
