"Don't push, don't push, line up..." A circle of soldiers surrounded the carriage, separated the crowd, and then distributed the food in the carriage.
There were so many refugees surrounding the carriage at once that all around it there were hands reaching out on tiptoe, like a jungle, so densely packed that you couldn't count them all.
"Sir, give me some..."
"Give me some..."
"We, the whole family, have not eaten for a day, please..."
These refugees who escaped from the capital stretched out their hands and looked at this side with eager eyes, each of them trying their best to squeeze forward.
Some of those who were given food stuffed it directly into their mouths, while others held on to the food tightly and quickly retreated to find their families and friends. The scene was noisy. If the soldiers had not surrounded the vehicle, someone would have rushed over to grab it.
The four-wheeled carriage was loaded with emergency supplies prepared by Yan Liqiang for the journey, including dried meat, fried rice and flour, milk cakes, and some water in wooden barrels. These things were simply priceless treasures for the refugees now gathered on both sides of the official road.
Under such circumstances, the woman holding the baby in the cradle just now couldn't squeeze in at all. The baby was crying loudly. She could only stand anxiously on the side of the road and watch, her eyes full of powerlessness and helplessness. Yan Liqiang personally found a kettle, filled it with water, a piece of dried meat, a small bag of fried rice and milk cakes, came to the woman, and gave the things in his hand to the woman...
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir..." The woman held the child in one hand and took the things from Yan Liqiang with the other hand tremblingly. Tears suddenly came out and fell down her face.
She quickly squatted down after taking these things, wiped her tears, gave the child a sip of water, then picked up a piece of milk cake, chewed it up herself, and then carefully passed it to the baby in the swaddle, just like a bird feeding. The crying child stopped crying immediately after eating the food, and began to eat the milk cake in big mouthfuls...
Yan Liqiang watched quietly beside him, and waited until the baby had eaten for a while and stopped crying before he spoke calmly, "Where are you from? Why are you here alone with your child?"
Hearing Yan Liqiang's question, the woman burst into tears again, but she still answered with tears, "My lord, my name is Wu Qinghe, and I was originally from the village of Xiguan in Huizhou City. The day before yesterday, Huizhou City suffered a great change. Many people in the surrounding villages became heartless and bit, ate and killed people everywhere. The city was in chaos, so my husband took me and the old and young in the family to escape together, but we didn't expect that on the road... on the road we encountered thousands of people, like wild beasts, and my husband and the people in the family were all killed. I had to take the children and run away with the neighbors who fled with us. Later... later when we came here... we were separated from the neighbors... so I am the only one here..."
Even though Yan Liqiang hadn't seen the scene the woman described, he could still imagine it. He sighed in his heart, "Do you still have parents and brothers at home now?"
"No more, no more..." The woman shook her head absentmindedly, wiping away her tears, and whispered, "I heard that everyone in the village where my mother's family lived died. Now only I and this child are left to depend on each other..."
Yan Liqiang looked at the refugees scrambling for food around the carriage, then looked at the woman and the baby in her arms, then turned his head and said, "Meng Hui..."
"Sir, you called me!" Meng Hui ran over quickly.
"I remember there are two cars with room for the women behind us. Send her over there and let her go with us!"
Meng Hui looked at the woman and the baby in her arms, then looked at Yan Liqiang and nodded heavily.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir…” When the woman named Wu Qinghe heard what Yan Liqiang said, tears started streaming down her face again. She quickly knelt down with the child in her arms and kowtowed deeply to Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang helped the woman and the child up and said, "Get up, get up, get in the car at the back and come with us. We'll have someone to take care of you on the road..." After that, Yan Liqiang asked Meng Hui to take the woman to the car at the back where the palace maids were sitting.
Yan Liqiang considered himself not a soft-hearted person, but at this moment, he knew that a weak woman fleeing with a baby in swaddling clothes, without any relatives or friends and no one to rely on, would have a very low chance of survival for this woman and her child. Fortunately, the weather was sunny these two days. If the weather was bad, as long as it rained at night, the woman would get sick, and the mother and child would be finished. At this moment, human life was as cheap as grass!
There are too many refugees in front of him. Even if Yan Liqiang is very capable, he can do nothing at this time. He can only do his best and seek peace of mind!
Meng Hui had just left with the woman when the eunuch next to Concubine Rong appeared in front of Yan Liqiang. At this time, the old eunuch, dressed in a steward's uniform, looked furious and started to accuse Yan Liqiang in a low voice, "Master Yan, what are you doing? We are in this situation now, we don't even have enough food for ourselves, and you are still sharing our food with these refugees. Don't you know who is sitting in the car? Why do you care about the lives of these people? Are you confused? The queen is still waiting in the car? What if these refugees start looting and making a mess..."
Yan Liqiang had been enduring this damn eunuch for a long time, but at this moment, Yan Liqiang still suppressed his anger and tried to speak in a calm tone, "Your Excellency is worrying too much. The food we brought in the car is enough for us to use for several days. There is no need to rush. Since I can bring the queen and Prince Min out of the Imperial Capital, I can naturally send them to a safe place..."
"You..." The eunuch was about to say something when he saw Yan Liqiang looking at him with a cold gaze. Thinking of Yan Liqiang's methods along the way, for some reason, the eunuch felt a chill in his heart and was choked by what he wanted to say. He shook his sleeves, sneered, turned around and left, saying before leaving, "Then I'll see how you explain if something happens to you!"
Although there was a lot of food on the four-wheeled carriage, at this time, it was all distributed in just a few minutes.
After the food on the carriage was distributed, the soldiers closed the door of the carriage and asked the refugees who were surrounding the carriage with their hands outstretched to leave. "The food has been distributed. Hurry up and leave. Hurry up and leave. Don't crowd around..."
Some refugees left, but some did not. Many of them still surrounded the carriage, not letting it go. They still stretched out their hands, looked up, and called out, "Sir, sir, please give us some more..."
"Sir, please give me some more..."
"You have so many carriages, there must be a lot of food on them, give us some more..."
Yan Liqiang heard this from the front, frowned, and just gave an order, saying one word, "Go!"
All the soldiers got on their horses, and the whole team slowly moved forward. When the refugees on the road ahead saw the convoy moving, many of them made way. But at the same time, some people did not move, and blocked the road because there were so many people around them. They just moved their feet slowly, and their eyes were staring at the carriages in the convoy. The atmosphere slowly changed...
Suddenly, one of the refugees shouted, "We can't let them go. There must be food in this car. Why do they have food but we don't? Everyone, follow me and grab it..."
"Yes, we still have these carriages and horses. We can just rob them and leave..." another voice encouraged.
The crowd surrounding the motorcade suddenly became agitated, but before the crowd could get closer...
Amid the sound of the bowstring vibrating, two screams were heard almost simultaneously from the crowd surrounding the carriage. In the crowd, there were two men with rat-like faces and green skin who were pierced through the chest by flying arrows and nailed to the ground. Those two men were the ones who had just been loudly encouraging the refugees to rob the convoy.
Seeing that people had died and that killing had already begun, the refugees who had just wanted to gather around suddenly screamed and ran away in fear, each of them pale with panic.
When they were receiving food just now, these people did not feel that this caravan was terrifying, but at this time, when they saw the blood and the killing of people, they realized that the people riding on horses in this caravan were all soldiers, not ordinary people.
Yan Liqiang, who was riding on Caiyun Zhuiyue, slowly put away the bow in his hand, his eyes sparkling, and glanced at the refugees around him. Without saying a word, he gently squeezed the stirrups, and Caiyun Zhuiyue started to trot, and the convoy behind followed suit. On this road, no one dared to stop them...
As the convoy moved forward, there were more and more refugees on the roadside, but the convoy did not stop until it arrived outside the county seat of Wuting County. Only then did Yan Liqiang raise his hand and stop the convoy.
At this time, the entire county wall was already crowded with countless refugees, and makeshift shacks were everywhere, densely packed. Just a quick glance showed that the number of refugees gathered under the county was at least over 100,000.
Yan Liqiang frowned and looked at the county seat of Wuting County in the distance, feeling a little hesitant.
"Sir, the queen is looking for you..." Liu Xitong rode up on horseback and said in a low voice.
Yan Liqiang turned his horse and came to the side of Concubine Rong's carriage in the middle of the team. The curtain on the carriage was pulled open again, revealing Concubine Rong's eyes, looking at Yan Liqiang who was walking over, "Master Yan, is there something wrong up ahead?"
"Your Majesty, there is nothing happening ahead..." Yan Liqiang said, shaking his head.
"Sir Yan, isn't the county seat of Wuting County ahead? Since there is nothing to do, why did you stop again? Her Majesty and Prince Min have been traveling for two days and are waiting to have a good rest in the county seat?" That damn eunuch was also beside Concubine Rong's carriage. When he saw Yan Liqiang coming, he rushed in front of Yan Liqiang and spoke in a shrill voice. Ever since leaving Jingxi Ji, this damn eunuch has been running around and becoming active again.
"My queen, I think we should not enter the county seat of Wuting County. We should find a place outside the city to rest for a while..."
"Ah, why, why don't you go into the city? The county seat of Wuting County is clearly just ahead..." Before Concubine Rong could speak, the dead eunuch was still chattering, looking at Yan Liqiang with suspicion, with a smug look on his face, "After entering the city, we can still go to the government to inquire about the situation and see if there is any news about His Majesty. Moreover, as long as the queen reveals her identity, we can also ask the county government to notify the governor of Hualan County and ask them to send soldiers to escort us away. Then everything will be fine. What exactly is Lord Yan thinking about not wanting the queen and Prince Min to enter the city..."
Yan Liqiang narrowed his eyes and glanced at the eunuch, then calmly looked into the pair of eyes in the carriage. "The situation in Wuting County is unclear right now, and there are too many refugees gathered outside the county. Once you enter the city, it will be difficult to get out if something happens. If your majesty feels that it is safe here and that you don't need to listen to my arrangements anymore, and you insist on entering the county, then we will go our separate ways here. Your majesty can enter the city on your own, and then Hualan County will send soldiers to escort you!"
After hearing what Yan Liqiang said, the whole team suddenly became quiet...
(End of this chapter)