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Chapter 182: Setting the Stage

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Even if there was only a small chance that something would happen.

Due to Song Jingchen’s objection, Shen Yijia finally gave up on killing the nasty official.

All men wanted to look good in front of others. If Song Jingchen couldn’t make it, she would secretly make a move.

Shen Yijia didn’t know what Song Jingchen was going to do. She only noticed that Rooster and the others had secretly left Xiagou Village that night.

Their days passed calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Many elderly people in Xiagou Village had also frozen to death, but they had it much better than those homeless people outside.

They were even a little glad that their village was poor and remote. The snow stopped them from going out, but it also stopped the refugees from entering.

Many villages with better conditions had refugees burning, killing, and looting the villages.

Moreover, after the incident where the Saber Tyrant kidnapped the entire village, everyone seemed to be more united.

If anyone’s house collapsed, Song Tiegen would bring people to help repair it. If it really couldn’t accommodate people, they could also stay in other houses.

In order to prevent more people from dying, Song Tiegen even collected all the food in the village. He distributed food to everyone every day. Even if the villagers couldn’t eat their fill, at least they wouldn’t starve to death.

This greatly reduced the chances of dying in the harsh winter. It had to be said that Song Tiegen was a pretty good village chief.

Of course, the An and Song families did not participate in these matters. The An family had long fallen out with the village because of Father An.

As for the Song family, the villagers did not dare to look for them again. The dozens of bandits living in this village were all very polite to their family.

After knowing that something had happened to the other villages in the county, the dozens of people who had come to the village to rob the village began to protect it.

They set up a fence at the village entrance and sent people to guard it in case any refugees broke in.

However, this barricade could only stop ordinary people. It was nothing to Rooster and the others.

Lord Hong brought a few carts of food south.

Normally, there would be granaries in every county and county. When there was a disaster, they could directly open the granaries to distribute food.

If there was really not enough food, they could only wait for the imperial court to send food from elsewhere.

However, there were also many corrupt officials who secretly sold the food to fill their own pockets. Now that they did not have any extra grain, they could only let the commoners starve.

Lord Hong’s duty was to deliver food and investigate corrupt officials.

This errand was considered one of the best jobs.

Along the way, there were many corrupt officials. Everyone knew the unspoken rules in the bureaucracy.

Officials protected each other. As long as they gave more bribes and complained to the Imperial Court that they were poor, they would be fine.

However, if someone refused their bribe, that person would not be able to return to the capital alive. Almost every official tacitly agreed to this.

The imperial envoy in charge of disaster relief typically earned a lot of money.

If Song Jingchen wasn’t in Anyang County, Lord Hong would also think that it was a cushy job. However, knowing how powerful Song Jingchen was, he didn’t dare to be careless.

If he died before reaching the capital, no matter how much bribes he received, he wouldn’t be able to spend any of it.

Lord Hong felt it was lucky that Song Jingchen’s legs were crippled. Otherwise, he would really be worried that Song Jingchen would slit his throat one day.

Anyang County was the last stop he was going to, and it was also the place that had suffered the most damage.

He also had an important mission to carry out in Anyang County.

If not for that, he would really be unwilling to step into that area.

The closer he got to Anyang County, the more panicked he became.

The team stopped at the relay station outside Anyang County. They could enter the county tomorrow.

Lord Hong summoned his guards to guard the door before lying down.

After traveling for so many days, he was cold and tired. Soon, he felt sleepy.

Suddenly, an arrow shot in from the window and pierced the bedpost less than a finger’s width away from Lord Hong’s head.

Lord Hong’s pupils dilated. He was so frightened that he immediately rolled off the bed. He did not forget to shout, “Someone, there’s an assassin!”

The guards outside the door immediately broke in and lit the oil lamps. However, they only saw Lord Hong trembling under the table. Everyone looked at each other.

A sharp-eyed guard saw the arrow on the bedpost and took a few steps forward to pull it out. “Sir, there’s a letter here.”

Lord Hong paused. He stuck his head out from under the table and looked around to make sure that there were no attackers before crawling out. He straightened his collar and took the letter. He coughed dryly and said, “All of you can leave first.”

After saying that, he added, “Be vigilant.”

“Yes!”

After they left, Lord Hong opened the letter and frowned when he saw the contents.

On the other side, Cao Dezhi was also anxious. Not only had Shen Yijia escaped, the entire dungeon of captives had also disappeared.

He had just received a letter from his master saying that he had to ensure that nothing went wrong.

He had even promised that nothing would go wrong, but he slipped up at this critical moment. How would he be able to gather so many people now?

It was not that he did not suspect that Shen Yijia was behind this, but now that his men had been sent to transport food, he did not have the time to capture that b*tch.

Manager Feng, who could be of use, was also dead. How could he not be anxious?

At this moment, the gatekeeper rushed in. “My lord, my lord. A beggar sent a letter just now. He said that he had to show it to you. The contents of the letter are related to… your life.”

If it were any other time, Cao Dezhi would definitely have gotten someone to punish such a noisy gatekeeper.

However, he was already in a mess. When he heard this, he thought of those people. He took a few steps forward and snatched the letter from the gatekeeper’s hand.

He quickly opened the letter and read the contents. He got goosebumps after reading it. After thinking for a moment, he asked the gatekeeper, “Where’s the beggar?”

“He ran off after delivering the letter,” the gatekeeper said.

Cao Dezhi sighed and asked the gatekeeper to leave.

At night, the two black shadows avoided the night guards of Xiagou Village and arrived at the end of the village. They crawled into the Song family’s house from Furball’s usual passageway in the back wall.

The two of them looked at each other and revealed helpless expressions.?“Could you give us a more dignified route to enter this household?”?they thought.

“Maybe if you didn’t build such absurdly high walls, we would be able to climb in that way.”?They had many complaints in their hearts.

The first time Furball brought them to this hole, they could not believe their eyes. What happened to following an impressive master?

No matter how much resentment they felt, they did not dare to say it. They could only find a time to beat up Rooster again to vent their anger.

There was a tacit understanding between them not to ask why.

Everyone had long gone to bed. Only one light in the study in the backyard was still lit.

Song Jingchen sat at his desk with his eyes closed.

The two of them knocked on the door and walked in. After standing still, they cupped their hands and bowed to Song Jingchen. “Master.”

Only then did Song Jingchen open his eyes and look at the two of them. “How did it go?”