Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

Now that things had come to this point, Ji Yunyao was in a difficult position. If she didn't distribute some food to these disaster victims, wouldn't that mean she was also a heartless and cold-blooded animal?

She had just scolded Ji Yunshu and Zhou Yanran like that, so she absolutely couldn't contradict herself.

"Hmph, fine, it's just food! I have plenty! Giving them some won't hurt me. It's just money, I have plenty of cash on me!"

After saying that, she turned around and went back to her carriage, took some dry food from the carriage, and distributed it to the disaster victims one by one.

Fortunately, she bought a lot in Lin'an City yesterday, so sending it out now doesn't hurt her. At worst, she can just buy more carriages and fill them up when she gets to the next town. She has plenty of money!

I can still afford to buy some food.

The officers and soldiers sat to the side, and seeing this situation, it was too late to try to dissuade them. Many disaster victims had already started lining up to wait for Ji Yunyao to distribute food to them.

The officers and soldiers shook their heads helplessly. They had been traveling around for a long time and had seen many disaster victims and similar situations. Often, it wasn't that others were unwilling to distribute food to these disaster victims, but rather that once something started, it might be difficult to stop.

In the current situation, Ji Yunyao has already started distributing food to the disaster victims. They can't stop her now, and it's very likely that they will anger the disaster victims.

Ji Yunshu stood leisurely to the side, occasionally adding fuel to the fire with gloating.

"Oh my, our Miss Ji Yunyao from the Minister's Mansion is truly kind-hearted. There are still people around who haven't eaten. Hurry up and line up to get food. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Ji Yunyao, that idiot, wants to be a bodhisattva? Then she'll grant her wish, and not only grant her wish, but also add fuel to the fire. She'll see how much this idiot can distribute to so many disaster victims.

As the food distribution took longer, more and more disaster victims came to this side. Before long, the carriage of the Minister's Mansion was surrounded by a dense crowd of people, and disaster victims continued to come to receive food.

A moment later, the Ji family was surrounded in the very center of all the disaster victims. Many of the victims who had received food were still queuing up, wanting to receive more.

Ji Yunyao continued distributing dry rations, and the more she distributed, the more panicked she became. She was surrounded by disaster victims, and she wanted to stop, but things had progressed to this point, and she could no longer back down easily.

If she paused even slightly, the disaster victims would urge her to hurry up, even faster.

Ji Yunyao's hands were trembling with panic. How could this be? There weren't many disaster victims just now, but how come there are so many more in the blink of an eye, and they are still coming this way in an endless stream.

Minister Ji, Consort Zhu, and Ji Yunfeng also sensed something was wrong. Consort Zhu was injured, and Ji Yunfeng's eye was still bandaged, leaving him weak. Helpless, Minister Ji carefully squeezed next to Ji Yunyao and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Yao'er, we have to stop! We have to stop! If this continues, things will get out of control. We've already used up more than half of the dry rations in our carriage. If you keep distributing them, we won't have any left for ourselves!"

I just left Lin'an City, and I don't know when I'll reach the next town. Even if I have silver, I can't buy anything to eat in the wilderness!

Don't end up distributing all the dry rations to these disgusting and lowly disaster victims while you yourself go hungry; that would be a huge loss!

What's the point of talking about having a bodhisattva's heart? When faced with hunger, it's all just empty talk.

Ji Yunyao was panicked and her hands were trembling. Her voice also began to shake. "Father, what should we do? It's not that I don't want to stop, but look at me now, how can I stop? If I slow down even a little, these disaster victims will pounce on us like lions, wolves, and tigers! Humph, look, they've scratched my hands raw! What should I do! Father, you, you have to tell them to stop!"

Ji Yunyao was so scared that her teeth were chattering. These disaster victims were too vicious. She even suspected that if she stopped distributing the dry food, they would probably skin her alive.

Minister Ji gritted his teeth and cursed Ji Yunyao in his heart. What a meddlesome thing to do, arguing with Ji Yunshu for no reason!

Now look what's happened. Not only did he not gain any good reputation, he also put himself in a difficult position. He's not stupid. Now he finally understands what Ji Yunshu meant by what she said earlier. She was deliberately trying to provoke Ji Yunyao.

Unfortunately, Ji Yunyao, that fool, fell for it.

Disaster victims kept crowding around her. Finally, Minister Ji could no longer tolerate it. Raising his voice, he unleashed his former authority in the Minister's mansion, "Stop! Stop! The distribution of dry rations ends here! We don't have much left ourselves, and we'll keep the rest for ourselves. All of you, leave! Disperse! Disperse!"

"Hey, don't push me! Don't grab it! We've already said we don't have much left, we'll keep the rest for ourselves, so get out of the way!"

He adopted his usual official demeanor and shouted a few times, but it had no effect whatsoever. On the contrary, the disaster victims were clearly agitated and kept pushing and shoving at them. Many of them even tried to rush onto their carriages to grab the food inside.

Everyone in the Minister's residence was dumbfounded, especially Ji Yunyao. The disaster victims had been relatively calm before, but after Minister Ji shouted those two times, they clearly lost control of their emotions.

Those who hadn't received any dry rations were terrified they wouldn't get any, so they desperately pushed their way in, trying to rush onto the carriages to buy food. Poor Aunt Zhu and Ji Yunfeng, who were already injured and had difficulty moving, were pushed around by the disaster victims.

They didn't even have a chance to hide; countless victims' feet trampled over their bodies and heads.

"Hey, stop pushing! Stop pushing! Get out of the way! You filthy people, you ungrateful filthy people! I kindly distributed dry rations to you, and you're so heartless, trying to steal our leftovers! Get out of the way, you lowly people!"

Xie Yunyao struggled to squeeze out of the crowd and saw that her family's carriage was surrounded by the disaster victims. She cursed desperately, but the disaster victims seemed not to hear her and pushed even more violently than before.

Minister Ji desperately pushed his way out of the crowd. Even Aunt Zhu crawled out from under some refugee's feet. She had suffered some minor injuries from Ji Yunshu the day before, but after a night's rest, she was much better. But Ji Yunfeng wasn't so lucky. Ji Yunshu had blinded him in one eye, and he was already in excruciating pain. Now, being pushed around by the villagers, he couldn't see clearly with one eye and was being trampled underfoot by the refugees, unable to move.

Ji Yunyao, Aunt Zhu, and Minister Ji had been searching for Ji Yunfeng on the outside, but they never saw him climb out. Their hearts sank.