Chapter 317 - Benevolence? A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

The further Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua walked, the more frightening the scene in front of them became. Shen Ninghua’s face turned ghastly pale, and she almost vomited.

The ground was full of people, and later the horses had to stop because there was no place for them to move.

A horrible smell of decay filled the air. Occasionally, someone spotted Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua coming over and wanted to get up to ask for help, but they did not even have the strength to move. They only twitched twice before lying on the ground without any sound.

This place was only a few miles away from Zhou City, but the dirtiness and rot in this place were in stark contrast to the city’s cleanliness and prosperity. It was hard to believe that a rich city was located not far away from here. Starving people and corpses scattered everywhere, and they didn’t even have the strength to get up and ask for help.

Baili Junyi handed the horse to the guard behind him and held Shen Ninghua’s hand tightly. “Ninghua, my men discovered this place by accident. They reported that there were thousands of people here. Some perished, and some had left. Now, there are about a few hundred people who are still alive, but they are also dying.”

“Who are these people? Where are they from? Why are they gathering here?”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes trembled violently. She felt an intense sense of sadness rise from the bottom of her heart, making her feel suffocated.

“There are disaster victims from the northwest, as well as the people from the surrounding cities.”

“The surrounding cities? The ones that the Great Yue Kingdom gave Bu Tinghe as a dowry?”

“Yes.” Baili Junyi nodded, his body exhuming a distressing aura.

“Didn’t Father Emperor allocate funds for developing these cities? Why are there so many people seeking refuge here?”

“Hmph, who knows where that money ended up!” Baili Junyi fumed, suppressing his wrath. “Ninghua, you’re right. The Great Yue Kingdom sent those cities over with bad intentions! This explains why these people left their homes and escaped here.”

Shen Ninghua frowned. “The most important thing to do right now is to save these people. We can’t let them starve to death here.”

“I have already informed Huajun Pharmacy to deliver food and medicinal herbs here, but it will take time. It won’t be so fast.”

Shen Ninghua went forward and carefully examined the symptoms of several people. Then, she denoted with a serious expression.

“No, they can’t wait that long. It’s already autumn, and the northwest is rather cold. That’s why the plague hasn’t spread. If we were in the capital, the surrounding cities would have been lost long ago. Although the situation is better now, no one can be sure that there is no problem all along. So, if we delay for one more day, many people may die.”

“I know.” Determination appeared in Baili Junyi’s eyes. “We have already offended many people in the capital. We were not afraid back then, so there’s nothing to be afraid of now. Guards!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Take my badge and His Majesty’s imperial sword to gather all of our men here to carry these people to Zhou City. You have the permission to kill if anyone tries to stop you!” He didn’t mind being ruthless if someone dared to obstruct him.

“Yes!”

After saying that, Baili Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua?”

Shen Ninghua nodded and asserted, “I’m writing a prescription now. Buy all the herbs on the prescription in bulk. Boil water and feed the medication to these people. In addition, prepare clean wooden buckets, hot water, and clothes. Clean these people up and then send them to Zhou City. We don’t want to infect the city’s people in case they have a plague on them.”

“Go do it,” Baili Junyi ordered when he saw that Shen Ninghua had finished her statement.

“Yes!”

Soon, a large group of guards stationed at Zhou City’s side rushed out.

When Zhou Da received the news, Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua’s guards had already left the city. He didn’t have time to think about it and immediately got on his horse and rushed towards the Zhou Family. “Patriarch, you have to think of something!”

There was a note next to Zhou Ziqing, which clearly said, “Prefectural Prince Yi and the Princess left the city and headed for the northwest forest. They found something strange there.”

“You are the magistrate of Zhou City. Calm the hell down! How many times do I have to remind you?”

Zhou Da hurriedly jumped off the horse. At this moment, his legs went jelly, and he dropped to his knees with a thud. “Patriarch, you are the only one who can save me now. Prefectural Prince Yi and the Princess have already discovered those victims and sent people to rescue them. What should we do now?”

If he was exposed, he would definitely die. He didn’t want to die yet!

“Didn’t I tell you to get rid of those people long ago? Why are you so incompetent?” Zhou Ziqing’s face twisted in an outrageous grimace. He had just established a good reputation in front of Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua, but his disguise was removed in just a few days. How could he not be angry?

Zhou Da’s face turned pale. “I did, but there were too many victims, so I managed to get rid of only half of them. I thought of secretly dealing with them for the next few days, but I didn’t expect them to find out about the victims so quickly…”

“What a useless good-for-nothing. Forget it, it’s too late anyway. All we have to do is fix the problem. Zhou City belongs to the Zhou Family. No one can poke his nose into our business!”

“Yes, yes! So, now…”

Zhou Ziqing massaged his forehead, and his tightly knitted brows relaxed. “Doesn’t Baili Junyi want a good reputation? We want it too. Find some scapegoats, tie them up, and accuse them of keeping us in the dark about the victims. Then, bring all the officials and soldiers to help them. I’ll arrange my family’s side. I’ll load food and medicinal herbs into the carriage and send them to our dear Prefectural Prince Yi!”

“But there are thousands of people there. So many food and medicinal herbs…”

Zhou Ziqing hissed in a deep voice, “As long as Baili Junyi doesn’t get any evidence against the Zhou Family, it’s all worth it. As long as we can firmly control Zhou City, we can get the money back even if we spend a mountain of gold and silver. So, don’t make any more mistakes this time. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Patriarch. Don’t worry. I will definitely do it well this time.”

After getting the idea, Zhou Da led all the soldiers and left the city, heading toward Baili Junyi.

On the other hand, Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua had just ordered their men to take away a group of refugees when Zhou Da arrived. Looking at the miserable appearance of the surrounding people, he could not help but shed tears. “Oh… they are all innocent people…”

Baili Junyi narrowed his eyes slightly. “Lord Zhou, you’re here so quickly.”

Wiping the tears on his face, Zhou Da urged his soldiers to bring forward a few officials, whose hands were tied and mouths were muffled, and he rebuked indignantly.

“Your Highness, Princess, we’re deceived by these officials. They hid the news of the victims flooding to Zhou City. I interrogated them after I heard that your guards had headed here a few days ago. Only then did I know about these innocent people here. These officials are so nasty!”

Baili Junyi coldly glanced at the people who were tied up. “Seeing how angry you are, I think you didn’t know about these refugees.”

“I have no idea. If I had known, I would have given the order to help them. Why would I wait until now? If I had found out earlier, there wouldn’t have been so many casualties. I really regret it!” As Zhou Da spoke, he suddenly pounded his chest a few times and urged the soldiers.

“These officials did not report the situation and caused so many disaster victims unable to be rescued in time, resulting in a sorrowful outcome. Now, kill them in front of the victims as a warning to other irresponsible officials!”

“Yes.”

The soldiers raised their swords and were about to attack when they were stopped by the guards and driven to the side. Zhou Da was a little flustered. “Prefectural Prince Yi, don’t you think they deserve the punishment?”

Hearing this, Baili Junyi shot his cold glare at Zhou Da with ambiguous emotions on his face, “Lord Zhou, you seemed to have forgotten that you are only a magistrate of the prefecture, so you don’t have the right to kill people at will. Moreover, these people have official positions.”

Zhou Da’s expression changed, and he hurriedly explained, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I was too pissed and felt that I should kill these people as punishment, but I forgot that I’ve overstepped my authority. Please forgive me.”

“Of course, I will forgive you since you are working so diligently for the people and the country,” Baili Junyi quipped with an ambiguous meaning. “Lock these officials up for the time being. We will interrogate them after dealing with the victims.”

“Yes.”

The dead silence in the eyes of many victims gradually disappeared as if they finally saw the hope of living. In the past few days, they had already shed all the tears and could not cry at all now. After bowing to Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua while trembling, they were sent to Zhou City by the guards.

There were too many deceased victims in the forest. There was no way to bury them one by one. Due to the urgency, Baili Junyi could only order his soldiers to dig a big pit and burn the corpses before burying them.

Many victims held their already stiff relatives and were reluctant to let go, grieving that they could not hold on a while longer before help came.

Looking at the scene in front of them, Baili Junyi clenched his fists tightly, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.

Shen Ninghua choked, blaming herself for taking their time while traveling here. Had they arrived sooner, they would probably have discovered these victims sooner and saved more people.

Baili Junyi pulled her into his arms and gently kissed her hair. “Ninghua, take care of yourself and then try your best to save them.”

“Don’t worry, I understand.”

By the time the victims were all sent away, the two of them quickly rode back to Zhou City. They saw that temporary sheds had already been built on the empty space on both sides of the road in the city. The big pots were filled with porridge boiled with medicinal herbs. A faint smell of medicine filled the air.

There were already many people who had taken a bath, changed into clean clothes, and waited to eat porridge. The victims who received the porridge wolfed the porridge down their throats as if the porridge was not hot at all.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came. Shen Ninghua looked at the street entrance, and Zhou Ziqing personally rushed over with the food cart. “Greetings, Princess.”

“Greetings, Patriarch Zhou. If I’m not mistaken, you prepared these food supplies and herbs, right?”

“Yes, I’m horrified when I heard the news! If I had known that there were disaster victims outside the city, I should have acted earlier.”

“It’s not too late now. I have to thank you for your help. We don’t know where to find so much food in such a hurry.”

Zhou Ziqing turned around and ordered the servants, “Unload the food, go to the porridge shed to help, and take care of the seriously ill victims.”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

“If there is anything I can help with, please tell me. I will do my best.”

Shen Ninghua gave Zhou Ziqing a deep look and then nodded, “Okay. I’ll ask away if I need anything.”