Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 156 Yue Ling Enters the City
Aunt Xue lost her mind immediately and said hurriedly, "No, I have to write a letter to your uncle in Beijing to let him know and ask them to work on rescuing Pan'er."

Xue Baochai sighed and said, "Mother, this time is different from the time in Jinling. The prefect of Jinling had a history with the Jia family, so he would naturally give us some face. But the prefect of Cangzhou would never care about this."

"Now he's asking for 300 dan of grain, and we can't do anything about it. Besides, my brother has been in jail for several days since the letter was sent back and forth."

Aunt Xue cried again, "Then tell me, what do you think we should do?"

Xue Baochai replied, "We should prepare for both situations. First, we will send someone to collect food. We will also go to the city to settle down and discuss it with the prefect. We should not let my brother suffer in prison first."

"With my brother's ability, he certainly doesn't know any big thieves. Once we have a clear understanding of the situation in Cangzhou Prefecture, it will be easier to discuss with the prefectural government."

Aunt Xue nodded and said, "What Bao-ya-tou said is right. Let's do this for now. Go into the city and find an inn to stay in."

After wiping away two more tears, Aunt Xue cursed again, "This evil creature with a black heart couldn't control himself just for one night and insisted on going into the city to have fun. He won't be satisfied until we all die one day!"

Xue Baochai comforted him again, "Don't worry too much, mother. Since the government wants food, brother will be fine for the time being. Besides, brother should suffer a little outside, otherwise he will get into trouble when he enters the capital."

"That makes sense, that makes sense."

Aunt Xue stopped crying and took Xue Baochai's hand and said, "Come on, follow me to get some food. Let's lock up that evil boy for a few days so that he can learn his lesson!"

Xue Baochai let out a long sigh.

……

Traveling south from the capital, Yue Ling brought Lin Daiyu to Cangzhou Prefecture.

Jia Yun was ordered to take Zijuan and Xueyan to prepare a place to live, while Yue Ling took Lin Daiyu to the city for a walk first.

Outside is different from home, Lin Daiyu also changed into a plain dress, not a high-quality fabric like brocade, but a dress that ordinary people can afford. But when worn by Lin Daiyu, it still can't hide her temperament.

Her face was covered with a veil, revealing only a pair of affectionate eyes, which were hazy but made her look even more beautiful.

Yue Ling felt helpless when he saw Lin Daiyu like this.

It is really hard to give up one's natural beauty. Even with such simple dressing, one can still find that Lin Daiyu is a little beauty.

"Brother Yue, why are you looking at me?"

Lin Daiyu looked up at Yue Ling, very confused, "Is my outfit weird?"

Yue Ling shook his head, looked at the scene inside the city gate, and said, "It's not strange, but it's still a bit conspicuous in this city."

Lin Daiyu also looked over with Yue Ling. Most of the people were wearing coarse linen clothes and walking barefoot on the road. Their cheeks were as sharp as knives due to hunger and their eyes were dim.

Looking at her own appearance again, Lin Daiyu nodded unconsciously.

"I don't know what's going on in this city. There are people everywhere who are too hungry to move."

Yue Ling frowned and said, "The people are starving and poorly clothed, and the officials are incompetent and incompetent. I am here to deal with these corrupt officials in accordance with the emperor's order. First of all, we need to find evidence against them and draw up charges against them."

Teams of soldiers entered the city and walked past Yue Ling and Lin Daiyu, as if martial law was still in place.

The crisis of the northern barbarians had long been resolved, and I don't know what the city is under martial law for. Yue Ling took Lin Daiyu's hand and said, "Let's go to the notice board at the city gate to see what happened recently."

Being embraced by Yue Ling's big hands, Lin Daiyu felt much more at ease. She quickened her pace to catch up with Yue Ling and walked with him.

After handing in the pass and reporting a fabricated identity, Yue Ling took Lin Daiyu through the city gate and came to the signboard.

The first item on the list was a warrant for his arrest.

"There is a big thief in the city. He has burned granaries and raped good families. He is guilty of a serious crime. He is dressed in white and has a jade-inlaid sword. His appearance is as follows. Anyone who can provide clues will be rewarded with ten kilograms of grain."

Looking at the portrait again, Yue Ling couldn't help but say, "This person looks familiar, as if I've seen him somewhere before."

Lin Daiyu asked in confusion, "How could Brother Yue know the thief?"

Yue Ling actually felt that he had seen this person before, but he just couldn't remember where he was at the moment.

"Forget it, let's go to the city first."

After walking a few steps inside with Lin Daiyu, I realized that the city gate was just the tip of the iceberg of the tragic situation in Cangzhou City.

The streets were desolate, and the official road paved with bluestone was covered with flying dust and only a few yellowed leaves scattered around.

Most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed, and even the door panels were covered with a layer of dust. The banners displayed by the shops had faded their original colors and looked shabby at first glance.

Those who still had the strength to move could not find food, so they had to pull leaves from the trees to eat. Even the dry bark could cause a quarrel between the two.

The government was not inactive. They simply drove the refugees lying on the streets into dark corners and didn't care whether they were alive or dead.

Lin Daiyu, who was kind-hearted, naturally couldn't bear to see this, and her eyes gradually turned red.

Just as Yue Ling said to her before she left the house, If you don't go out, you won't know the sufferings of the people in the world.

Even when she was in school, she saw records about the disaster, which contained only a few words. It was hard to imagine that there were still people living like the walking dead.

Lin Daiyu tugged at Yue Ling's arm and choked up, "Brother Yue, you have to save them."

Yue Ling patted Lin Daiyu's hand and comforted her: "Well, that's what I'm here to do." "Let's go, I'll take you to the inn first, and then I'll go take a look myself."

Lin Daiyu nodded gently and followed Yue Ling around the corner and into the alley. Then, pairs of little eyes blinked and stared at Yue Ling and Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu also looked over and saw that the alley was full of little girls, most of whom were even younger than her.

Everyone was so hungry that their cheeks were sunken and their bodies were thin, like skin and bones. They couldn't help but stop.

"Brother Yue, we will have plenty of food when we get to the inn. Why don't we share the dry food in our bags with them? Judging from their looks, they may not survive for a few days if they don't eat something."

Yue Ling also stopped with Lin Daiyu, listened to her words, looked into the distance, sighed, nodded and said: "Okay, I'll listen to Sister Lin."

Lin Daiyu's eyes flickered as she looked at Yue Ling with joy. As long as it was not something that endangered her, Yue Ling would always satisfy her.

Yue Ling took off the bag on his back, took out several large pieces of dry food, broke them into small pieces, and distributed them to these unfortunate little girls together with Lin Daiyu.

The little girls hid behind out of fear at first, but then, seeing that the two men were going to give them food, they rushed over together.

"Thank you sister."

"Thank you, fairy sister."

"..."

The little girls said flattering words and took all the food from Yue Ling's hands, and almost everyone took a few bites.

Yue Ling took Lin Daiyu's hand again and said, "Okay, let's go back first."

Lin Daiyu nodded slightly, waved towards the alley, and walked away with Yue Ling.

Not long after Yue Ling left, a group of strong men with knives on their waists came over and searched among the many girls.

"Tweety? Are you in there? Tweety?"

A woman walked out from among the burly men and called out into the alley.

"Mom, I'm here!"

A little girl with tears streaming down her face rushed out of the alley and threw herself into the woman's arms.

"Mom, I will listen to you and never run around again."

The woman also hugged the little girl tightly, tears streaming down her face. "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. I thought I would never see you again in my life."

The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried for a while before a strong man interrupted them from behind, "Cui'er, is that dry food in your hand? Where did you get it?"

The little girl named Cui Er wiped her eyes with her sleeve and replied, "Second Uncle, I can see you again thanks to meeting noble people. First, there was a hero who rescued us from the cage, and then we ran into that big shot. He looked like an extraordinary person, just like what Second Uncle said before, big officials, big officials."

"He took all the dry food and shared it with us. Everyone had a portion, and then he left without saying anything else."

Cui Er handed the unfinished cake in her hand to the strong man and asked, "Second Uncle, are you hungry? Do you want to eat some?"

The sturdy man took it first, looked at it carefully, took a bite and chewed it, and found that it was indeed ordinary dry food, so he felt relieved.

"In this world, those who can share dry food with others must be extremely kind-hearted people. There are no such people in the city anymore. Most of them are from outside."

The strong man discussed with the people behind him, "Nowadays, even if people from outside pass by Cangzhou City, they are unwilling to stay in Cangzhou City. They just stay at the dock for one night, replenish water and leave. This noble man actually went to the city, he must be an extraordinary person."

The others also said: "Since he is a kind person, we have to go and meet him. Maybe things will really turn around."

The sturdy man nodded, "Cui'er, where did that nobleman go?"

The little girl pointed at the road and said, "In front, turn right into the alley."

"Okay, let's go take a look."

The strong man said to the woman, "Take her and settle her down first. We will definitely go back at night."

"Okay, be more careful."

……

Yue Ling and Lin Daiyu stayed in the inn. Zijuan and Xueyan were waiting in the room bored.

Xueyan leaned over the round table and sighed, "This city is too poor. It's not fun at all."

Zijuan said helplessly: "What's the fun? The master is here to provide disaster relief, not to have fun."

Xueyan raised half of her face, squinted at Zijuan, and said, "Since the day when the young lady told you about this name, it seems that calling you Sister Zijuan is getting more and more comfortable."

Zijuan's cheeks turned slightly red. She didn't say anything. She turned her head to the side and continued to make the silk thread in her hand.

At the right time, Yue Ling pushed open the door and sent Lin Daiyu in, and Jia Yun followed.

"Master, we have found out something..."

　Twenty-three! I feel like my body is being drained
　　
　
(End of this chapter)