Rebirth of Poisoned Empress, by 颜若优雅

Chapter 123

The line of carriages left from the west city gate. However, the official route to Xiangguo Temple was crowded with both sides flooded with refugees seeking to enter the Imperial City or could not. The unprecedented downpour that hadn't been seen for over decades had left the court seeming vibrant and busy with settling matters but lacking in any real results and relief alleviation. In actuality, it wasn't difficult to resolve the issues the floods had resulted in. However, under layer after layer of exploitation, not even a third of the relief funds fell through and had been used towards actual disaster relief.

"Please be benevolent! Please give us some food!"

"I beg of you to please give some more. We haven't had anything to eat for two three days now."

"My lord, please be benevolent."

"Scram..."

The route that would normally take on half an hour's worth of time, they had spent more than two hours on. The carriage meandered through the crowd with great difficulty before arriving at the foot of Fengming Mountain. But they had no choice but to stop there. It seemed like the crows of refugees was even more saturated at the foot of the mountain. The sounds and cries of the refugees pierced through the carriage windows, mixed in with the occasional vicious voices of authorities attempting to drive them away.

"Fifth young master, the carriage is unable to proceed any further," Lei Zhen's voice called out. Shen Liang raised his arm and lifted the curtains of the carriage. Because Xiangguo Temple was guarded by the monks, the temple was not flooded by refugees, but the public foot of the mountain was filled with the homeless. From the foot of the mountain to the entrance of the temple, there was still a few hundred meters left to go. However, if they left the carriages and walked the rest of the way on foot, they would undoubtedly by trapped in the middle of the crowd of refugees. If they weren't careful, they'd end up like fish in troubled waters. 

"No rush. Let's see what they'll do." Shen Liang let the curtain fall back down and lied back to close his eyes and rest.

"How are there so many refugees?" in the carriage, Zhao Lan and Lu Yang's expressions were especially ugly. It wasn't that they were afraid of walking a few steps but the problem was they were women and there was no say whether any of the refugees had contacted any disease or illness. What if they suddenly rushed towards them? If they were caught amongst the crowd of refugees, their innocence would be lost and hard to defend.

"Have someone go down and chase them away," the old Madame ordered with a grim expression. The accompanying maids and guards complied and began to chase the refugees away but...

"Aiyo... the servants of the officials are bullying civilians..."

"Save me..."

"They're beating us to death... is there anyone..."

When a person couldn't even fill their stomach, who cared whether the other party was a noble or official? They had nothing more to lose. The servants and guards from the affluent families were rough and the methods they used to chase the refugees away were also brusque. The refugees who were in the front rows were immediately pushed back and fell on the ground. Momentarily, a crowd of them then surged forward toward the line of carriages.

"Ah... What is going on? Have them stop..."

"What are you doing?"

"Ahhh..."

The twenty or so maids and guards were no match against the crowd of refugees who had lost their rationale. The carriages rocked back and forth from the angry mob's attacks and panicked and frantic cries then pierced the sky. It was utter chaos.