C48

At the end of the darkness was a temple of earth. It was very small and usually did not burn, but at night it was a gathering place for beggars. There were quite a few beggars lying in disarray here, all of them looking very tired. They slept on the straw and curled up in a ball.

Because of the disaster in the north of the river, there were some beggars who had fled here from the north, and it was common for them to not be able to eat to their heart's content. Zhao Jing slowly crouched down and looked at the beggar curled up into a ball. The tip of his nose was filled with a sour stench from their bodies.

"Who are you?" Someone was on guard.

Zhao Jing was dressed in white, and his face was filled with a reserved expression. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like he was in trouble, but rather looked like a young master from another clan. However, what they were more afraid of was whether or not Zhao Jing was a member of the Imperial Court.

Earlier, a messenger had passed by the Qilin's Mansion. In order to prevent the messenger from seeing the refugees entering the city, the government officials of the city began to expel the beggars, sending quite a few beggars out of the city.

The beggars who left the city couldn't even get food. They could only gnaw on the tree bark and eat the grass roots. Either he would sell her out, or he would starve to death! So the beggars who remained in the city were hiding from the army all day long, and they had to hide from them all night!

Currently, this temple was their final resting place.

"Can I stay here for the night?" Zhao Jing asked.

The beggars looked at her warily. None of them wanted her to stay, so they all shouted at her to scram.

Zhao Jing got up and left. Not long after, he had quite a few white buns in his hands. "Are you hungry?"

Hungry?

Naturally, he was hungry.

The belt in his pants had been tightened a few times, and he had been starving to the point of sticking it on his chest and back. How could he not be hungry?

"I'm on my way. I plan to go to Jiangbei." Zhao Jing placed the steamed bun in his hand on the ground. "I have no ill intentions. I just want to stay here for the night!" If everyone can tolerate me staying behind, these white mantou are yours. "

"Are you serious?" The beggar swallowed.

Zhao Jing sat down on the haystack and let out a long breath. "My ancestors lived in Jiangbei and moved to Beijing with my parents. Upon learning of the drought in Jiangbei, he was ordered by his parents to visit his uncle in Jiangbei. Who knew that if the robbers and servants split up on the way, the remaining silver could only be exchanged for some steamed buns. Instead of taking the silver to work with, I might as well feed you all, it's also a merit! "Everyone …"

"Young master, it's not that we don't want you to stay, we only thought that … "You are a member of the imperial government!" The leader of the beggars sighed, "Young master might not know this, but the imperial government had expelled the beggars. Two days ago, a large number of beggars were chased out of the city by the army. Those of us who have nothing on our person, we are all here from Jiangbei. If we don't have a place to hide, I'm afraid we won't be able to live on! Young Master, we cannot thank you enough for your great kindness! "

Zhao Jing smiled. "Eat it!"

"Thank you, young master!"

The beggars swarmed forward, their black hands picking up the steamed buns and stuffing them into their mouths.

"I can see that your words are extraordinary. You do not seem to be a mediocre person. How did you end up like this?" Zhao Jing looked at the beggar in the lead.

The beggar sighed. He seemed somewhat embarrassed as he awkwardly sat down next to Zhao Jing. "I won't hide it from my lord. I was originally a scholar, and I originally thought that I would be able to make it to the Imperial Court's Autumn Trial. But now, it's impossible!"

"Why?" Zhao Jing was startled. "The Autumn Competition has not begun. You still have a chance!"

"Encountered a great change, and was left alone!" The beggar cupped his fists as he said, "I am Wenwen Yufeng, brother is Wen Yuye from Yongzhou Prefecture, but it is a pity that I cannot go to Yongzhou because I have nothing good to offer, even a letter would be difficult to ascend to the heavens!"

As he spoke, Wen Yufeng helplessly shook his head.

Zhao Jing furrowed his brows. Autumn test?!

"Little brother, can you tell me something about Jiangbei?" Zhao Jing pursed his lips. "I'm about to cross the river. If I can't figure out the situation, I won't be able to make the cut myself!"

"Alright!" Wen Yufeng said, "I will tell you everything I know, so you must listen carefully. Jiangbei is in a mess right now, you have to be careful when crossing the river. If you meet any officials or troops, it would be best for you to avoid them.

These words sounded strange. Zhao Jing didn't understand and asked, "The army protects the citizens completely. I crossed the river in an upright manner, so why should I avoid them? Besides, I'm not a refugee, I just came to visit you uncle! "

"Young master, you don't know." Wen Yufeng sighed, "The present Jiangbei is no longer the Jiangbei that it was before. After experiencing a great disaster, there was a public outrage. After that, it was only because of a group of people who were there to provide relief and food for the common people that the situation eased up by quite a bit. "However …"

Wen Yufeng paused. "Before we left Jiangbei, Jiangbei began to impose a martial law on us. They said that they found the corpses of the soldiers and the ship that was penetrated, and are hunting for the culprit!"

Zhao Jing narrowed his eyes. She was naturally aware of these matters!

After a pause, Zhao Jing asked, "Can we talk about the disaster?" For example, how bad was the drought in the North of the river? If refugees are being expelled everywhere, how will they survive? "

"Live?" Wen Yufeng let out a long sigh. "So difficult!"

Sitting upright, Wen Yufeng recounted the northern part of the Jiang Dynasty, "The three counties in Daizhou are Yiyang, Yinling and Jiugao. The Prefect of the Prefecture Residence was called Lin Gonggong, but this person was not wise at all. The one who had been advising him all this time was the Grand Master behind him, and he seemed to be called Gongsun Zhen! Speaking of this Gongsun Zhen, he had quite the background! I heard that there is someone working in the capital as an official! "

Zhao Jing was stunned. "My parents and I have moved to the capital and have seen many great figures. Tell me, what kind of great figure is this Gongsun family?"

Wen Yufeng scratched his head. "I don't know about that. I heard it's an official from the capital. How would the commoners know?" The Daizhou Prefecture is located in a remote place, so where would one get so much knowledge? It is only natural for them to say that they are an official of the capital! "

Zhao Jing rolled his eyes. If he knew that she was the emperor, wouldn't he be so frightened that he would directly faint?

Was there any high ranking official in the capital with the surname Gongsun?

Zhao Jing had secretly gotten a copy of the list of court officials from Zhao Yuannan and memorized it. There was not a single official with the surname Gongsun that was above Grade Three. On the other hand, there was one with the surname Gongsun that was only known to those above Grade Four among the salt envoys. I just don't know if these two grandchildren are relatives or not!

Or maybe that Gongsun was just babbling nonsense and was just looking at him to fool around! It had to be known that no matter how good the oil and water was, the salt rider could not be considered a big shot. How could he be considered a big shot?! Ridiculous! Nonsense!

"And then?" Zhao Jing asked again, "What did they do?"

Wen Yufeng shook his head. "At that time, I had already secretly crossed the river and left Jiangbei. I heard that something big happened later on. They said that they found the location of the official rations and that it might involve some important figure in the capital!"

A big shot?

Zhao Jing inwardly laughed. That was because she had lifted up a stone in an attempt to break an unidentified foot in the east and then poured the dirty water on the Qi family! On the surface, however, Zhao Jing still pretended to be surprised. "Really?"

"The waters here are too deep. Young master, you'd better be careful when you go to Jiangbei. Remember not to meddle in other people's business. After you've finished your inspection, leave quickly!" Wen Yufeng kindly reminded, "I don't want to cause trouble when the time comes!"

Zhao Jing nodded repeatedly. "I know!"

"In the chaos of Jiangbei, parents and officials do not worry about the safety of the people. They only want to cover up the situation, how can the people live a good life?" "You can't even ask for rice now, and you've almost taught the roots of the bark grass outside to gnaw on. If this goes on …" Wen Yufeng shook his head and left in utter disappointment.

When Zhao Jing saw him curled up in a corner, his heart couldn't help but be moved. How many scholars in this world would be buried here because of this natural disaster? If that was the case, he might not be able to pick out a few suitable candidates for himself during this year's Autumn Trial …

Those who entered the imperial court were all those dresses. Her hopes of exchanging blood would truly become extremely slim! Jiangbei was uncertain, and the imperial court was in a troubled state. His hopes from earlier were about to be dashed! Lu Yi activated his entire body, and at the end, he lifted a rock to smash his own foot!

Leaning against the haystack, Zhao Jing tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. The first reason was that this haystack was too dangerous. She had been raised in the palace for two years, so she really wasn't used to this sort of place. Secondly, she had already developed a suspicious and cautious mindset. Without Dongfang Wenming to protect her, how would she dare to fall asleep?!

The East is not clear!

With a slight frown on his forehead, for some reason, he thought of what he had done?

Zhao Jing turned over and sat up. He waited until the sky had turned white before leaving the temple.

Wen Yufeng chased after him. "Young master!"

Zhao Jing was stunned. "Little brother, you still have something to do?"

Wen Yufeng handed a steamed bun to him, "Didn't you say you have no money? Eat it! "

Zhao Jing took the steamed bun from his hand. "Thank you, little big brother!"

"This is not the right time to go to Jiangbei, I hope that young master will have a pleasant journey. Be careful!" Wen Yufeng cupped his hands.

Zhao Jing tore off a piece of cloth and handed it over. "If Young Master can make it to the capital for the test, you can take this to the Full Moon Residence. At that time, someone will notify me!" "We will meet again in the capital!"

"Thank you, young master!" Wen Yufeng respectfully received it with both hands. "I will definitely do my best to hurry to the capital."

Zhao Jing nodded and quickly left. After walking for a long time, she had passed the Qilin Mansion and Ying Prefecture. When she was lucky, she could take an ox-cart or a carriage to avoid the pain of walking, but she was still able to reach the North River.

Standing on the riverbank, Zhao Jing surveyed the vast expanse of the river.

Back then, she pawned the steamed buns at the Earth Temple for a jade pendant at her waist. Unfortunately, the pawnshop owner didn't know what was good for himself and the price was too high, so she couldn't get much silver. After buying the steamed buns, he only had a bit of it left for self-defense. Now that he had endured to this point, he was almost at his wit's end.

He had asked a lot of boatmen this morning, but none of them dared to go to Jiangbei. In the end, it was Zhao Jing who gave her his crown in exchange, so the middle-aged man was willing to send her to Jiangbei Province. The river was vast, and the boats were travelling alone on the surface of the river. The direction could not be seen clearly amidst the thick fog.

"Young master, why do you insist on going to Jiangbei?" The boatman sighed, "Jiangbei, it's a living hell now..."

Zhao Jing straightened her body and stood at the bow of the ship. She was riding the wind and breaking the waves.

If he didn't advance, he would retreat. If he retreated, he would have no way to survive!

Just as they were about to reach the shore, a hubbub broke out and a large number of officials and soldiers swarmed in!

Zhao Jing was astonished. What was going on? Was Dongfang Wenming capturing her?!