ABBLEIP Chapter82

The next morning, General Li led his troops to join the Suzhou garrison. Shen Qingzhuo pretended to go with them but turned back to the city halfway.

 

He took a quick glance inside the carriage yesterday and was unable to see the whole picture. Today he finally understood what purgatory on earth was.

 

The city was littered with starving people, and the sound of feeble wailing could be heard everywhere. The skinny victims were begging on the streets, leaning on dry firewood, some would collapse to the ground while walking and would never get up again.

 

When people are extremely hungry, they will eat anything. However, the disaster lasted too long. All edible things, including wild vegetables, weeds, tree roots, tree bark, and Guanyin soil, had been eaten. People who were so hungry that they were unconscious lay on the ground, grabbing the flying dust and stuffing it into their mouths.

 

If the famine continues, people will resort to cannibalism, eat their own children, and separate bones to cook. Or perhaps even children in the city have already been killed for food.

 

“Food… please give me something to eat…” At this time, a pale and thin young man crawled over and grabbed the hem of Shen Qingzhuo’s clothes.

 

Xiang Chen immediately drew his sword alertly and shouted, “Let go!”

 

“No problem, put away your sword first.” Shen Qingzhuo took a step back and apologized, “Sorry, we have no food.”

 

There were disaster victims everywhere. He changed into a coarse linen shirt before going out and did not bring any dry food with him, for fear that he would be attacked and devoured by the irrational disaster victims after walking a few steps.

 

But that young man didn’t believe it. He clung to his thighs as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw, repeating, “I’m so hungry… Please, please…”

 

Shen Qingzhuo closed his eyes and called in a low voice, “Xiang Chen.”

 

Xiang Chen grabbed the youth’s neck without saying a word and dragged the skinny youth away.

 

The two continued walking forward, and when they reached another street, Shen Qingzhuo discovered that the victims of the disaster were swarming towards one place.

 

He frowned and whispered, “Let’s go and take a look.”

 

Following the crowd, they walked to the door of a wealthy family’s house. It turned out that the owner was setting up a tent to distribute porridge.

 

Someone kept shouting, “Line up! Everyone line up! Don’t rush or squeeze! Everyone will get, everyone will get!”

 

However, the hungry victims were not willing to listen and swarmed into the porridge stall, wishing they could jump directly into the bucket. In the scramble, weak children were trampled to the ground, screaming and making chaos.

 

The host was also frightened by the scene and could not help but retreat. Shen Qingzhuo’s face darkened. “Xiang Chen!”

 

Xiang Chen used the force to jump onto the porridge shed. After landing, he used the scabbard as a weapon to knock out all the victims in the innermost circle.

 

With a “whoosh” sound, the sharp sword came out of its sheath. Xiang Chen picked up a disaster victim with one hand and shouted coldly, “Who dares to move?”

 

The irrational victims became frightened and stopped their mad looting for a while.

 

Shen Qingzhuo pushed his way through the crowd and walked in. “Line up, everyone will get a bowl of porridge. If you don’t line up, no one will get any today.”

 

Through intimidation and reasoning, the porridge stall finally returned to normal order.

 

When the porridge was distributed, Shen Qingzhuo had already been invited in by the host family.

 

The middle-aged man bowed and said, “My surname is Qin. May I ask if this Young Master is just passing by?”

 

Shen Qingzhuo bowed in return: “My surname is Shen. I was passing by here and saw Great Benefactor Qin giving out porridge, so I stopped.”

 

Qin Mingjie waved his hands and sighed, “I don’t deserve to be called a great benefactor. Qin can only do his best, it’s not even a drop in the bucket.”

 

“Famine is not something that happens overnight. Individuals are naturally powerless.” Shen Qingzhuo consoled him, “But I am a little curious, why didn’t the government open the warehouses to help the victims?”

 

Qin Mingjie frowned and looked at him, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

 

Shen Qingzhuo asked, “Is it because the disaster relief food is not enough?”

 

“Ai…” Qin Mingjie sighed again, “Young Master Shen is not a local, there are many things that cannot be explained at once.”

 

Shen Qingzhuo nodded slightly and stopped asking questions. He just said, “I want to buy some rice before I leave. I wonder if Qin gong[mfn]Gong is an honorable (gentleman).[/mfn] can help me?”

 

“To be honest, there is also not much food left at home.” Qin Mingjie said apologetically, “Qin can give you some food, but if Young Master Shen wants more, he can only buy it somewhere else.”

 

Shen Qingzhuo was waiting for these words. He stood up and said, “In that case, I’ll trouble Qin gong to show the way.”

 

Under the guidance of Qin’s servant, they successfully found Tian Yuanwai’s home.

 

It was a time of famine, and food prices soared. The price of rice in Suzhou had risen from 120 wen per dou to 180 wen per dou. Most people sold their homes and went to the producing areas to buy rice, but after they had eaten all the rice, they still had to wait to die.

 

In the face of the disaster, local wealthy businessmen and gentry actually made a fortune.

 

After asking about the price of grain, Shen Qingzhuo bought one stone without saying a word. Then he returned to his official residence and asked Xue Shihang to secretly investigate the relationship between Tian Yuanwai and the prefectural government.

 

At the same time, he picked up his brush and rolled up his sleeves, writing a memorial, requesting the emperor to send more rice and food to relieve the disaster as soon as possible and to send more physicians and herbs.

 

After a great disaster, there will be a great epidemic.

 

The memorial was sent back to Shengjing in an urgent manner over a distance of 800 miles. Lord Shen secretly investigated where the rice and grain in Suzhou had gone while trying his best to save everyone.

 

The result was as he expected. Xue Shihang found out that Tian Yuanwai’s daughter was the third concubine of the regional governor.

 

After finding a breakthrough, Shen Qingzhuo secretly captured this local magistrate and used the terrifying interrogation skills of Beizhen Fushi. He quickly found out that when the government opened the warehouse to release grain, all that was released were empty grain husks. The grain in the government warehouse had long been sold to local wealthy businessmen, who then sold it to the people at a high price.

 

In the dim light, Lord Shen’s beautiful face was half hidden and half visible. He looked at the kneeling magistrate coldly. It was not until the magistrate’s psychological defenses collapsed again that he asked faintly, “Anything else?”

 

The magistrate was trembling with fear. “My Lord is wise, the lowly person has reported everything he knows!”

 

“That’s not right.” Shen Qingzhuo rubbed the rim of the teacup with his fingertips. “There are also food donations. Last year alone, two million shi of grain were stored in the warehouse. The official warehouse in Suzhou can’t hold it all, unless…”

 

The magistrate was silent for a moment.

 

Shen Qingzhuo’s voice became colder and colder: “Xiang Chen.”

 

Xiang Chen replied, “Yes, Master.”

 

“I’ll say, I’ll say, I’ll say!” The magistrate was so frightened that he fell to the ground and screamed, “What was collected when donated was not grain but silver. There was no grain at all!”

 

Shen Qingzhuo’s brow twitches involuntarily.

 

“It was all Lord Qi, Qi Hongjun, the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s idea. I was just following orders!” The magistrate knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, “My Lord, I have old parents and young children to take care of, and I also have a baby who is crying for food. I beg My Lord to have mercy ah…”

 

Shen Qingzhuo slowly stood up, walked in front of him, and kicked him hard in the chest.

 

“You have elderly parents and children to take care of? Then what about the common people whose whole families have starved to death?” Lord Shen’s voice was chilling. “Aren’t their lives are lives?”

 

***

 

After several more days of running around, Lord Shen finally found out the ins and outs of the reselling of government grain in Suzhou and obtained the key evidence.

 

The most chilling thing is that among the nearly one hundred officials of all ranks in Suzhou, not one of them exposed the dirty tricks involved. Officials at all levels colluded with each other and committed crimes together, pushing the people into hell alive.

 

“Cough, cough, cough…” Shen Qingzhuo sat at the desk, coughing with one hand against his lower lip, while the other hand continued to write.

 

“Lord Shen, have you not slept for several nights?” Xue Shihang leaned aside, his eyes filled with worry. “It will take at least half a month for His Majesty’s order to be transmitted back to Suzhou. Don’t exhaust yourself.”

 

“Yesterday, I took some time to go to the west of the city. Some people there have already fallen ill.” Shen Qingzhuo stopped writing and rubbed his frowning brows with his fingertips. “I ordered people to isolate the infected people in a small area, but it is obvious that the epidemic will soon spread completely. We have to take preventive measures in advance.”

 

Xue Shihang smacked his lips in annoyance. “The people in the government office are not willing to cooperate with us at all. We still have to wait for the court to send people.”

 

The situation on General Li’s side was tense, and he could not dispatch any troops to be deployed by them.

 

“According to the time, the food support should be arriving soon.” Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyes and looked at the lush leaves outside the window. “Let’s go find Governor Luo first.”

 

Xue Shihang stood up straight and asked, “What are you looking for that fat pig for?”

 

Shen Qingzhuo smiled coldly: “Let Governor Luo be bolder. The price of rice in Suzhou has not risen high enough.”

 

***

 

That night, Shen Qingzhuo sat in the bathtub, leaning against the edge with his eyes closed, resting.

 

The weather is getting hotter, but he still has the habit of taking a warm bath before going to bed to relieve the fatigue of daily running around.

 

His brain was still thinking, but fatigue took advantage of the opportunity to creep in. Gradually, his mind became more and more blurred, and his body, as smooth as jade, slid down bit by bit.

 

Just when his pointed jaw was about to enter the water, a big hand supported his jaw.

 

In a daze, Shen Qingzhuo heard a familiar heavy breathing sound. He rubbed his jaw against his palm unconsciously and thought he was dreaming.

 

“Master…” A low, hoarse voice sounded, carrying with it a puff of hot, dusty air, as if it was squeezed out from deep in the throat.

 

The body sinking in the water trembled slightly, and the long, wet eyelashes struggled and trembled, but ultimately did not open.

 

In his confused state, Shen Qingzhuo felt that he was possessed by a demon, but he had not been able to sleep for several days and nights, and his little disciple could not enter his dreams either. Now he was reluctant to wake up from his dream.

 

But the big hand that was supporting the jaw withdrew, and after a rustling movement, the sound of water splashed, and a hot body squeezed into the bathtub.

 

The wooden tub was not big. With the addition of another person, the water surged up wave after wave, and the water even splashed over the edge of the tub and fell onto the ground.

 

“Master…” The voice of longing came close to the ear, and then the white and rosy earlobe was taken into the mouth. He almost sighed while kissing, “I miss you so much… I’m going crazy soon…”

 

“Umm…” Shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg, Shen Qingzhuo was squeezed tightly against the barrel wall, his fingers floating in the water, grasping the edge of the barrel, he couldn’t help but respond, “Xiao Qi…”

 

“Do you miss me? Master, do you miss me?” His big hand, which was scratched by the rein, reached into the water and grabbed the ankle with the gold chain. He kept asking, “I miss Master so much. Does Master miss me…”

 

The fingers that were holding the wooden barrel gradually slipped away with strength and were instead embraced by the broad, hot shoulders. Shen Qingzhuo thought to himself that it was just a dream anyway, so what if he admitted it?

 

So he buried his flushed cheeks in the young man’s neck, his wet lips pressed against the throbbing blue veins, and exhaled slowly: “Miss…”

 

The arms that were hugging him suddenly tightened, and the big hands clamped his waist like iron clamps. The already hoarse voice seemed to be mixed with sand and gravel and called him again and again, “Master, Master…”

 

Shen Qingzhuo fell into the heat again. The warm water flowed into his skin through his opened pores, reshaping his bones, flesh, and blood vessels…

 

……

 

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Shen wiped his wet master clean and carried him to the bed.

 

As if he wanted to carve the face in front of him into his bones, he stared at it with gloomy eyes for a long time before he leaned over and restrainedly kissed the slightly open lips.

 

“I’ve made Master feel comfortable tonight, so…” He touched his sweaty forehead affectionately and laughed dully, “When Master wakes up tomorrow, you are not allowed to be angry with me again.”

 

The author has something to say:

The Master: I miss my little disciple…

The Wolf Cub: Master misses me, so I run thousands of miles at night!