Nine out of ten gamblers lose; I've run into a jerk!

Chapter 14: A Wall Separates Humanity and Hell

Watching the staff at Yilan Courtyard bustling about, loading boxes of all sizes onto the vehicle, I was speechless.

"Where am I supposed to sit if you all sit like this?"

"You're too kind, young lady. How could I let you ride in a cart full of junk?"

"..." He's being superficial.

Is Mount Huaqing very far away?

"It's not far, only thirty miles outside the city. If you're quick, a round trip can be done in a day."

"..." Seeing the small stove, charcoal, kettle, casserole, chamber pot, quilt, clothes, snacks, tea, incense burner that they were carrying, Shen Qing thought they were going to camp outside for several days!

One master of Yilan Courtyard needed two carriages to travel. Shen Qing calculated that the whole family would need at most six carriages, but when she arrived at the gate, she still underestimated the number.

Ten cars in total! The servants that Shen Che and his wife brought were enough for two cars, plus the gifts they prepared for Master Huiyan, which filled the car to the brim.

That was fine, but when Shen Qing saw a hundred private soldiers in full armor, he lost his composure. Was it really necessary to make such a fuss just to go out thirty miles to offer incense?

Although it is common for aristocratic families to keep private armies in this world, is it really a good idea to release them so openly? Moreover, it's making a mountain out of a molehill; anyone who doesn't know better would think they've gone to some dragon's den or tiger's lair.

Shen Qing was helped into the car in a daze, and a group of about a hundred people set off in a grand procession.

Looking at the changing street scene through the window screen, Shen Qing suddenly realized that she had been in this world for six days.

I spent the first three days at Yilan Courtyard getting to know this world, visited the palace, and attended classes for two days. Today, I'm about to leave this city, and it all feels a bit unreal.

Leaving the city was in the opposite direction from going to the palace, and this time they saw a different scene. The further they went, the more desolate it became, after all, they were getting further and further away from the city center, which Shen Qing could understand.

After walking for about 15 minutes, the group stopped, and Shen Qing quietly peeked out and saw the tall city wall in front of them.

Is this the edge of the city? Xuandu must be too small.

After the gate guards checked the tokens and let them pass, they realized that they had not arrived in the countryside. They were still in the streets and houses. It turned out that they had only left the inner city.

Separated by a wall, the two scenes were completely different. Although the people in the inner city were not wealthy, they at least lived in brick and tile houses, or at the very least, houses with mud brick walls. The people in the outer city mostly lived in thatched huts, and there were even temporary sheds.

Is this the slums of ancient times? Shen Qing sighed softly, closed the window. The gap between the rich and poor in any era is like an insurmountable chasm; some live a life of extravagance, while others are lost in the dust of the world.

The roads in the outer city were not as smooth as those in the inner city; they were full of potholes, and cart wheels often got stuck in them, splashing mud.

The carriage traveled for another half hour before finally arriving at the outer city. The outer city was garrisoned by several times more soldiers, and patrols were much stricter.

Once outside the city, Shen Qing opened the window, wanting to see the desolate outskirts of ancient times.

It was indeed the suburbs, but it wasn't deserted; on the contrary, there were too many people. Several soup kitchens were set up outside the city gates, where soldiers were responsible for distributing soup and maintaining order. The ragged and disheveled disaster victims took the spoonful of thin soup ladled out by the soldiers and immediately drank it all down without daring to delay.

After they finished drinking, soldiers on horseback, waving whips, drove them away. The soldiers stationed outside the city gate were there to prevent them from entering the city.

He had only heard of the severe drought in Yunzhou, but it had already spread to the capital. He saw that the soldiers were not blindly driving people away, but rather gathering them in a planned manner and then having the officials and soldiers supervise them on their way. This was a purposeful way to divert disaster victims.

"If they can't enter Xuandu, where are they going?"

"I don't know either. Generally speaking, they would be sent to the prefectures that were less affected by the disaster."

In the direction the carriage was traveling, there was a group of refugees. They were emaciated, with empty eyes, and they walked numbly in one direction. Some of them suddenly collapsed and never got up again.

A woman leading a child saw Shen Qing's carriage, her eyes blazing with hope as she approached the window and pleaded, "Please, sir, give me some food. I can go without food, but my child has been starving for three days and can't take it anymore."

The child, about four or five years old, was so thin he was practically skin and bones, with bulging eyes and sunken cheeks. He stammered, repeating, "Please, benefactor, have mercy."

Fangyu couldn't bear it, so she handed the woman a steamed bun. The woman didn't even have time to thank her before she immediately bit off half of the bun and quickly stuffed the rest into the child's mouth.

Fangyu wanted to say not to rush, there are still more here, but before she could speak, a group of refugees surrounded her.

"Please have mercy, sir, I haven't eaten for four days."

"Give me some food."

……

"It's all gone, it's really all gone!" Fangyu threw all the steamed buns in her hand out, but they still wouldn't let her go, clinging to the window, scaring Fangyu so much that she screamed and shrank back inside.

"Shuashuashua——"

The guards of the Shen residence brandished their weapons, which forced the disaster victims to retreat.

Fangyu patted her chest, still shaken, with several scratches on her hands. She said indignantly, "I meant well, how could they be so greedy!"

Shen Qing sighed, "It's just about survival. But remember, the prerequisite for doing good deeds in the future is having the ability to protect yourself, otherwise you'll only get yourself into trouble."

Fangyu lowered her head in shame: "I have caused trouble for you, young lady."

Shen Qing patted her head to comfort her, saying, "You're still just a thirteen-year-old child."

He finally understood why Sanya couldn't go out of the city to dig for wild vegetables. That wasn't digging for wild vegetables; it was delivering meat to people. Besides, all the edible grass roots outside had been picked clean. He also finally understood why a hundred guards were needed to go thirty miles outside the city.

Shen Qing felt heavy-hearted. He knew the world was in bad shape, but he didn't know it had gotten this bad. Natural disasters and wars were constant. He wondered if it was because Xuan Kingdom was geographically unfavorable, or if other countries were in the same situation.

Hopefully, it won't be a large-scale climate anomaly like the Little Ice Age, otherwise people would have nowhere to survive.

By the way, what was that porridge that was served at the city gate just now? It probably wasn't made with rice, since he doesn't have any rice to eat.

“It’s wheat bran, lady,” the driver in black replied.

"Wheat bran?"

"It's what the girls left over from sifting wheat flour. I sent a bag to some friends in the outer city yesterday, and they were very happy."

"Ah-"

The arrow Shen Qing shot a few days ago bounced back and pierced his heart. He would slap himself every time he woke up in the middle of the night. He deserved to die!

Apart from the minor incident of Fangyu delivering steamed buns, the rest of the journey was uneventful, and there was no bandit interception as Shen Qing had imagined.

Mount Qinghua is steep and the mountain roads are rugged. It is manageable to walk, but it is difficult for horse-drawn carriages to go up, so the group paused to rest.

The maids and servants worked efficiently and skillfully, setting up curtains to block the wind and sun, and putting a small stove on a pot to boil water.

Shen Qing: "..."

While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone.

Having witnessed the scene just now, Shen Qing had lost all interest in going on a spring outing.

Shen Shi heard about the commotion caused by Fang Yu delivering steamed buns and asked them what they thought.

Qin Zhen frowned: "These unruly people are too ungrateful. Third Sister is still young, so don't do such thankless things in the future."

Shen Che comforted her, saying, "Third sister is kind-hearted, but the disaster relief is the responsibility of the imperial court. You are not in a position to interfere in its affairs, so don't be too hard on yourself."

Shen Qing gazed into the distance and sighed, "When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer."

Upon hearing this, Shen Shi looked at Shen Qing with approval in his eyes, "Qingxi does indeed have a heart that cares about the country and its people."