A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Wang Dali's face was ashen, and he clenched his fists tightly.

"Jinzhu, this..." Wang Guilan leaned out of the carriage, her face full of worry.

Wang Jinzhu took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Don't panic!" she said in a deep voice. "What's the use of panicking? Will it get the soldiers to let us in?"

Wang Jinzhu kept observing the situation at the city gate, looking at the tightly closed city gate and the fierce-looking soldiers driving people away.

She did notice something different. Although most of the refugees were stopped, occasionally, some well-dressed people driving carriages would be allowed into the city through a small side door after whispering a few words to a soldier and secretly slipping him something.

Seeing this, Wang Jinzhu understood what was going on.

That's how the world has always been. Rules are made for the poor. With enough money, even the highest city wall can be breached.

"Dad, brother, Tianfang, you keep an eye on the car and the people. I'm going to check the situation up ahead," Wang Jinzhu said to Wang Dali and the others.

"Jinzhu, it's too dangerous for you to go alone!" Wang Tianfang immediately objected, looking worried.

"Yes, girl, those soldiers don't look like good people. You're a woman, don't go near them." Wang Dali also frowned.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Wang Jinzhu patted Wang Tianfang's hand, signaling him to relax. "I'll just watch from the sidelines and not get into any trouble with them. We can't just stay here and waste time without figuring out what's going on."

Wang Jinzhu tightened her coat, trying to make herself look less like a refugee, then lowered her head and slowly squeezed towards the city gate along the edge of the crowd.

After squeezing her way to the vicinity of the city gate, she first observed from a corner for a while, taking a good look at all the soldiers and officers responsible for collecting money and letting people pass through.

One of the soldiers, who looked to be in his thirties and had a faint scar on his face, seemed to be their leader. It appeared that they were giving him a share of the money they received. Unlike the others, he wasn't loud or boisterous; he simply leaned against the wall, his eyes like a hawk's, searching for targets in the crowd.

Those who were put in were all people who had come to him.

Wang Jinzhu made up her mind. It was him.

She observed for a while longer, and then, taking advantage of a lull, she saw the scarred soldier leaning against the wall drinking water.

Wang Jinzhu took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and then, as if casually, slowly walked towards him.

The scarred-faced soldier immediately noticed her. His gaze swept over Wang Jinzhu from head to toe.

Although Wang Jinzhu was wearing coarse cloth clothes, they were clean and without a single patch. Moreover, unlike the other refugees who were pale and thin, she had a good complexion and a calm look in her eyes, without the slightest panic or pleading.

Most importantly, she came all this way alone, without a large, weeping, sick, or disabled family following behind her.

The scarred soldier narrowed his eyes. He knew that the "fat sheep" had arrived, so he leaned against the wall and waited for Wang Jinzhu to come over on her own.

Wang Jinzhu walked up to him, stopped, and instead of bowing and scraping like the others, calmly asked, "Sir, may I ask if people are still allowed to enter the prefectural city now?"

The scarred soldier put down his water pouch, glanced at her lazily, and said irritably, "Can't you see? The prefectural city is under martial law. We're not accepting refugees. Get out of here!"

These are just polite words, said to those around them.

Wang Jinzhu wasn't annoyed. She took half a step forward, lowered her voice, and said in a volume only the two of them could hear, "Sir, we're not refugees. We're from Yongning County, doing some small business, but unfortunately, we ran into trouble on the way. We have our families with us, so there are quite a few of us. Could you please do us a favor?"

As she spoke, she silently slipped a small piece of silver, weighing about two ounces, from her sleeve and slipped it discreetly into the hand of the scarred soldier.

The scarred soldier's fingers moved swiftly, and the silver coin vanished from his palm. He weighed it in his hand, and his expression softened considerably.

If you have money, then it's easier to talk to people.

"A bit too many people? How many are there? How many are elderly, weak, women, or children? Are they carrying any burdens?" He glanced at Wang Jinzhu and asked slowly.

Wang Jinzhu knew perfectly well that this was an appraisal.

She had already planned this out, and without any concealment, calmly replied, "We consist of six large families, totaling twenty-nine people. There are nine able-bodied men, and the rest are women, children, and the elderly. The elderly are not very old; the oldest is eleven years old, and the youngest is five. We have two oxcarts and one horse-drawn cart, all loaded with belongings and food. There are no sick people."

She made her family's situation very clear. There were many people, but also many able-bodied men; they weren't just a burden. They had vehicles and food, indicating that they were well-off and not destitute refugees.

After hearing this, the scarred-faced soldier quickly did some mental calculations.

Twenty-nine people and three vehicles. That's quite a deal.

He touched the scar on his chin, narrowed his eyes to look at Wang Jinzhu, slowly extended his hand and then turned it over.

"This number, for one person," he said.

Wang Jinzhu's heart sank. A slap is worth five, a flip is ten. Ten taels of silver per person?

This is outrageous!

Twenty-nine people, that's two hundred and ninety taels! That's no small sum.

Wang Jinzhu's expression changed, and she looked troubled as she tentatively asked, "Sir, ten taels? That's too much..."

Scarface, seeing her expression, knew she thought it was too expensive. He sneered, "What? Too expensive? Let me tell you, what time is it now? Prince An is rebelling in the north, and countless refugees are flooding into the prefectural city. The price of grain in the city changes daily, and the prefect has given a strict order: not a single refugee is allowed in! I'm risking my head to open this gate for you, and I'm charging you ten taels of silver? Is that too much?"

He paused, then adopted a more considerate tone: "I'm only telling you this because you're a straightforward girl. If you go ask around, it's hard to say whether anyone will even bother with you. Besides, with such a large group, how conspicuous are you? Staying outside the city for a day or two is fine, but after that, will you be able to keep up with the little food you have in your cart? Those starving people outside won't care about such things."

Wang Jinzhu knew he was telling the truth. In the eyes of the refugees, their group was like a piece of juicy meat. They could scare away a group of people today, but what about tomorrow? The day after? People were filled with fear, and no one could guarantee that something might happen.

Compared to one's life and fortune, money is certainly important, but it is not something that cannot be given up.

Wang Jinzhu took a deep breath and began to bargain with him.

"Sir, I understand your reasoning. But we are just a poor family, and we've almost run out of money on our journey. We really can't afford ten taels of silver per person. Could you perhaps lower the price a bit? We're not ignorant of the rules; you'll certainly benefit from what's done."

"Less? How much less do you want?" The scarred-faced soldier glanced at her sideways.

There was hope! Wang Jinzhu gritted her teeth and held up eight fingers: "Eight taels. Sir, eight taels per person, that's the most we can afford. Twenty-nine people, that's over two hundred taels of silver. It's just a matter of you lifting a finger, and you'll have the money. Once we're in the city, we promise to behave ourselves and cause you no trouble whatsoever."