A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

"Sure! I'd recognize them even if they were reduced to ashes!"

A look of hatred appeared on Yunniang's face.

Whenever she thinks about how her husband's death-in-war compensation was stolen, leaving Niu Niu to continue living a life of wandering and homelessness, she feels as if her heart is being torn apart.

Every night, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, the scene of her former fellow villager robbing her of her belongings replaying in her mind.

During this time, she harbored resentment but was powerless to do anything about it, living in agony every day. Under such torment, she eventually fell ill and could not recover.

"Are they also in this refugee camp?"

Yunniang nodded. "Yes, there are many of them. After dividing my forty-odd taels among them, each person will only have a little over one tael, which is not enough for them to live on in Zhenbei City!"

"Furthermore, they heard that the northward relocation would involve work relief, so they all came along this time."

"I heard they're all planning to wait until spring to go back and buy a few acres of fertile land to start a new life."

Zhao Daxuan sneered, "Ha, they're dreaming! Don't worry, as long as they're still in this camp, they can't escape!"

Then Zhao Daxuan summoned Zhao Fubao and asked him to write down the locations of Yunniang's fellow villagers, gather everyone together, and let Yunniang identify them.

Looking at the sallow-faced mother and daughter in the thatched hut, Zhao Daxuan couldn't help but frown, feeling uneasy.

He turned and crawled out of the thatched hut, took a deep breath, and a stench filled his nostrils, making him frown even more.

Zhao Daxuan then wandered around the camp. Previously, he had focused on the city defenses and completely ignored the situation in the refugee camp.

After looking around, Zhao Daxuan realized that there were many problems in the refugee camp.

Just looking at the layout, the open and well-ventilated areas near the stream and the Black Mountain Pass were all occupied by strong and healthy refugees.

In the corner, there was Yunniang's place, a large, crowded area inhabited entirely by the elderly, women, and children.

These places are not only far from the Black Mountain Pass and water sources, but also extremely poorly ventilated, and some filth is piled up here and no one cares.

"Old Qin, there are quite a few problems with this refugee camp. We'll have to trouble you to take good care of it and get it sorted out."

In fact, Qin Lide has always helped voluntarily without taking a penny. Moreover, he is so old, yet he has been running around for him all this time, so Zhao Daxuan couldn't really criticize him.

Zhao Daxuan tried to force money or offer official positions to Qin Lide several times, but Qin Lide refused each time. Zhao Daxuan had no choice but to give up.

Qin Lide, who was standing to the side, also looked grim. After following Zhao Daxuan around, he also figured out the problem.

"Understood, Lord Zhao. The layout of this camp is extremely unreasonable. Today I will divide it into several areas, one of which will be specifically for the elderly, women and children, and I will arrange for people to patrol and guard it every day."

"I will strictly forbid anyone from harassing the vulnerable and helpless. Anyone who dares to steal a single grain of rice or lay a finger on someone will be dealt with according to military law! This refugee camp is not a lawless place!"

Qin Lide shared his thoughts, and Zhao Daxuan nodded in agreement.

By this time, they had walked around once and returned to Yunniang's thatched hut.

At this time, more than a hundred restless men had gathered in this area, surrounded by a group of soldiers.

Zhao Fubao stepped forward to report, "Sir, all the men of Yunjia Village have gathered here."

"In addition, the orphans have already gathered in front of the camp. Because there are a lot of them, more than a thousand, we did not ask them to wait here."

Zhao Daxuan nodded. "We'll talk about the orphan later."

He then swept his cold gaze over the hundred-odd men, his icy stare making the men of Yunjia Village uneasy, especially those who had committed crimes, whose legs went weak.

"Check on Yun's condition; if possible, let her come out and identify her!"

Zhao Fubao nodded, turned around and went into the thatched shed. He came out again after a while and called two women around him to help Yunniang out.

Yunniang was still recovering from a serious illness and was actually quite weak.

But upon hearing that all the men of Yunjia Village had gathered and were waiting for her to identify them, she felt a surge of power within her.

If Shen Qingci hadn't stopped her, she would have run away on her own.

Two women helped Yunniang out of the thatched hut. The sunlight shone on her face, making her squint.

Among the hundred or so men standing in front of the thatched hut, dozens of them changed their expressions and trembled involuntarily when they saw Yunniang emerge from the hut.

Then, these people's eyes darted around a few times, and they slowly backed away, trying to hide behind the crowd.

Yunniang quickly widened her eyes again, her gaze sweeping intently over the men of Yunjia Village ahead, her eyes flashing with hatred.

The first thing she saw were the figures slowly retreating; they were the people who had robbed her of her belongings that day.

"It's them! Don't let them get away!"

Yunniang roared, pointing at those who were hiding behind the crowd, and struggled to grab them.

The woman supporting Yunniang quickly pulled her back, "Yunniang, don't get agitated, your health is important..."

Zhao Fubao, his face grim, waved his hand and ordered, "Bring them out!"

The soldiers surrounding them had already noticed the men behaving strangely. At Zhao Fubao's command, they rushed forward and pulled them out of the crowd.

Zhao Daxuan walked to Yunniang's side and said, "Sister-in-law, take your time and identify all the people who participated in the looting."

Yunniang pursed her lips and nodded. The two women helped her walk towards the men of Yunjia Village.

As Yunniang pointed them out one by one, soldiers gradually pulled men from the Yun family village out of the crowd and took them aside.

Soon, Yunniang finished identifying the victims. In front of Yunniang's thatched hut, there were twenty-eight men kneeling, all of whom were the people who had gone with her to rob the mother and daughter of their belongings that day.

One of the older middle-aged men struggled to stand up, but was held down tightly by the soldiers behind him.

The middle-aged man raised his head, staring at Yunniang with a fierce look. "You bitch, what nonsense did you spout to the adults?"

Before Yunniang could answer, the middle-aged man looked at Zhao Daxuan again, his eyes revealing a hint of fear and flattery.

"My lord, don't listen to this vile woman's nonsense. Her husband is dead, and she's mentally unstable now, spouting nonsense all day long."

Zhao Daxuan ignored the man and simply ordered coldly, "Search him!"

These people robbed the silver and planned to save it to buy land next spring. Given the current chaos in the camp, they certainly wouldn't dare hide it in their shacks and would have to keep it close to their bodies.

Upon hearing that Zhao Daxuan was going to search them, everyone's eyes widened in terror as they struggled desperately at the soldiers' hands reaching for their clothes.

Soon the soldiers found at least one tael of silver on each person, which was cut from Yunniang's forty-five taels.

The loose silver was wrapped in a cloth and piled up in front of Yunniang. Zhao Daxuan lifted it and found that it was more than forty-five taels, at least fifty taels or more.

It seems that some of these loose silver coins belonged to these men themselves.

"Sir, I don't know what this wretch said to you, but this money is all hard-earned. Please, give it back to us."

The middle-aged man remained defiant, while the others joined in, wailing and pleading for mercy.

"Sir, please believe us... this money is all our own!"

Zhao Daxuan sneered, squatted down and fiddled with the broken silver pieces for a while, then picked up a few pieces and pieced them together to form a five-tael silver ingot.

He held the pieced-together silver ingot, looking at the twenty-odd people in front of him with a cold smile.

"You've earned enough money to piece together a complete silver ingot? Should I piece together a few more?"

"I think you didn't earn it through hard work, you stole it through hard work, didn't you?"

The pleas for mercy abruptly ceased. Everyone stared at the silver ingots that Zhao Daxuan had pieced together, exchanging bewildered glances, unsure how to respond.

Even the middle-aged man who spoke first turned pale and was speechless.

"You have no regard for the law! How dare you rob the pensions of the martyrs of Wangbeiying!"

"From this day forward, you will all be sent to a hard labor camp for life, with no possibility of commutation!"