This is Pingshui Town, which is still a little far from the real place of Jiangnan, but it seems that there are enough refugees here.

"This is the middle of the flood, and the situation is already so serious, and the land south of the Yangtze River is located in the downstream ......"

Meng Qi sighed, the scene in front of him alone was enough to surprise him. Not far away, the bustling crowd of refugees gathered, but most of them were yellow-faced and thin, the kind that a breeze could blow.

Several people in the crowd had already lost their bones, and even many children had passed out on the backs of their own families.

……

"Auntie, where are you going?" Zhou Huan hurriedly came over, and she spoke to a pale-faced old lady in the crowd.

Hearing this, the old lady stopped her steps and turned to Zhou Huan slowly, "Girl, let's run for your life quickly, there is no food here to survive." ”

"Running for your life?" Zhou Huan confirmed again to the old lady.

Isn't the secret protection received by the imperial court that the flood has been completely resolved, and now it is only necessary to calm the situation of the victims?

"The relief food from the imperial court will arrive soon, so you don't have to leave in such a hurry." Liu Wan'er spoke, and on the way, she also listened to Zhou Huan talk about what should be said (qíng).

But the slow-moving crowd didn't react in the slightest, and it seemed that they didn't understand the emperor and the disaster relief money at all.

Meng Qi stopped Liu Wan'er before Liu Wan'er could speak again, "Don't worry anymore, these people won't listen." ”

The relief funds from the imperial court have not arrived for a long time, and I am afraid that none of those people should want to believe in this imperial court anymore. Zhou Huan sighed and stared at the (shēn) figure in front of him.

It seems that the things they can do (qíng) are not here.

"Perhaps, they still need our help?" Zhou Huan suddenly spoke.

Chu Xingchen immediately reacted, "You don't want to pay out of your own pocket, do you?" ”

"Why not?" Liu Wan'er was the first to answer, but her eyes were more indifferent.

The previous incident (qíng) didn't seem to have left any bad influence between the two of them, and Meng Qi on the side also shook his head, "Princess, this method is not advisable. ”

Zhou Huan was stubborn, "Scrape together the silver on our (shēn), and at least help calculate it once." ”

Although they could not completely solve the problem of food and clothing for the victims, they could prolong the chance for everyone to live.

"Okay, I'll have someone do it right away." When Meng Qi heard Zhou Huan say this, he immediately understood Zhou Huan's thoughts, so he didn't stop him anymore.

Who knows, after the group of them was fundraising, they ran into big trouble.

Rice shop.

The shopkeeper explained to the visitor in a menacing manner: "The rice here is all at this price, if you don't buy it, there will be a bunch of people queuing up to buy it." ”

"That's it, that's it, if you don't buy it, get out of the way."

"Waste of time."

……

A sentence stirred up a thousand waves, and the people in line didn't seem to have a good heart (qíng), and after listening to the people in front of them a little bit of collision, their temper came all of a sudden.

Zhou Huan stood silently not far away, observing everything in front of him. This is not the first rice shop they have come to, every rice shop here is so expensive.

"The rice here is more than ten times that of our Junshankou, are these people crazy to make money?" Liu Wan'er looked at these people in front of her indignantly.

Zhou Huan shook his head.

"There must be something strange about this." She said.

The government will intervene more in the rice grain in various places, which means that no matter how expensive the price of the rice shop is, it cannot become a sky-high price, unless someone is behind it.

Thinking of this, Zhou Huan's brows frowned even deeper.

Back at the inn, they were haunted by what had happened during the day. After all, with the money they had managed to scrape together, they only bought a small amount of rice......

"I just received a secret report, and the price of rice along the way is the same, and even the price is even more expensive in downstream areas."

In the dim room with candles, Meng Qi put the value sheet in front of him into the candlestick and watched the paper burn.

Chu Xingchen's eyes were also a little more moved, and now he can be regarded as truly seeing what it means for ordinary people to live.

Miserable......

However, all this is relatively easier for Zhou Huan to accept. In the past, when she followed her adoptive father into the rivers and lakes, she saw a lot of this kind of thing.

"Perhaps, we can find it out from here." Zhou Huan frowned and pondered, "Since the matter of Pingshui Town (qíng) is not a special case, it means that there must be a master behind it. ”

"Now that the eldest prince has not returned for a long time, maybe we can do something in advance (qíng)." Chu Xingchen's serious appearance is a little strange.

A few people sat in front of the candlestick and discussed it for a while, and finally decided to let Liu Wan'er and Chu Xingchen go to the street to see more about the situation of the refugees, there should be many people who know the situation.

As for Zhou Huan and Meng Qi, it's time for the county magistrates of Pingshui Town to visit.

Zhang Song, the county magistrate of Pingshui Town, is also a strange person, I heard that this Zhang Song was a speech official of the imperial court two years ago, but later he was relegated here because he did something wrong (qíng).

At this time, Zhou Huan looked at Zhang Song in front of him, and the person in front of him had a childish face, and he was already an older man.

Just when Zhou Huan was puzzled, Zhang Song waved his hand at Zhou Huan and said, "Girl, don't be scared, my hair is fake." ”

"Huh?" Zhou Huan looked at the messy white hair suspiciously.

As far as she knows, the Zhang Song in front of her is not a simple character, it is rumored that he (xìng) (qíng) is perverse, only looks at the heart (qíng), and often closes his house after becoming a parent official.

Zhang Song looked up at the woman covered with white gauze in front of him, although he could only see a pair of eyes, but the ink-colored pupils were enough to breathe.

"I don't know what the matter is for the adults to find the lower officials?" Zhang Song opened his mouth to look at the person in front of him.

Fang Cai Meng Qi had already shown the waist card of the Chu Palace, "There is nothing special (qíng), I just want to ask my lord about the resettlement of the victims of this Pingshui." ”

"Placement issues?" Zhang Song sneered, "Aren't the people in your court the most aware of these problems?" ”

Meng Qi shook his head, "I'm just a little guard serving tea and water in the Chu Palace, and I'm here because of Lord Chu." ”

"Lord Chu? But Chu Xingchen? Zhang Song's eyes had some side looks.

Seeing this, a smile slowly appeared on the corner of Meng Qi's lips, this Zhang Song's father used to be a retainer of the Chu family, which means that Zhang Song may have enough trust in Chu Xingchen.

"Naturally, it's Chu Xingchen, Lord Chu." Zhou Huan on the side smiled, "Lord Chu has come to travel to Jiangnan this time, and he has never encountered such a thing (qíng), and his heart (qíng) is not good, so he sent the two of us over to ask." ”

Zhang Song is not a brainless person, "What about this waist card?" ”

The waist card belongs to the Chu Palace, and this is what the two of them said in person just now.

Meng Qi saw that this Zhang Song was so cautious, and his heart was not irritable, and when he just wanted to scold, Zhou Huan on the side pulled Meng Qi's sleeve.

"Lord Zhang, this old man who protects the country is quite strict with Lord Chu, and you also know that Lord Chu and King Chu (diàn) have a good relationship, so the waist card of this Chu Wangfu should naturally be easier to use."

Zhou Huan answered all the questions generously, but Meng Qi on the side was a little more puzzled. He only knew that this Chu Xingchen was good, but he didn't carefully check everything after Chu Xingchen (shēn).

It turned out that Chu Xingchen was the grandson of the old man who protected the country.

Later, he learned that when the Chu family had an accident, they were beheaded all over the house, and Chu Xingchen's mother begged her father, who is now the Protector, and in the end, it was the Lord Protector who saved Chu Xingchen's life.

But it's just one life, Chu Xingchen still can't enter the court for the rest of his life.

Later, he was bored, so he went to become a imperial doctor, and even if he was a skilled doctor, he could only remain a small imperial doctor in the end, and his rank had never changed.

"You don't know anything." Zhang Song sighed, and there was a bit of sadness in his voice, "This Pingshui Town can't be saved." ”

"Why?" Zhou Huan saw Zhang Song's helplessness.

Zhang Song invited Meng Qi and Zhou Huan to sit down, and then he stood where he spoke: "Presumably, when the two of you came, you had heard that I was suspended at home, and the reason should naturally be known." ”

"Embezzlement of 500 taels of disaster relief funds." Meng Qi opened his mouth coldly.

Zhou Huan felt that there might be guilt (qíng) in this matter, "What grievances do you have?" ”

She found out that the person in charge of Zhang Song's case was Feng Jiang, who was the most favored son of King Nan and a rising star in the court in the past two years.

Who knows, Zhang Song shook his head and knelt in front of Zhou Huan and Meng Qi.

"Lord Fengjiang is not wronged in this matter, the five hundred taels are indeed taken below." Zhang Song sighed and buried his head deeper.

"Disaster relief money, five hundred taels?" Zhou Huan still stared at Zhang Song in front of him with a little disbelief, "Other than that, Lord Zhang has nothing to say?" ”

Zhang Song kowtowed, "I'm a guilty person, so it's enough." ”

"In that case, let's go." Zhou Huan sighed and was about to turn (shēn) to sort things out, but Meng Qi next to (shēn) hesitated.

"Senior sister?"

In his opinion, there is always another way to get the evidence that cannot be obtained quickly, for example, he only needs to talk to Zhang Song about it.

But who knows, Zhou Huan ignored Meng Qi's request and left on his own.

Before leaving, Zhou Huan stood at the door and said to Zhang Song behind (shēn): "Lord Zhang, have a good rest, and I will come to visit you again after two (rì)." ”

Zhang Song was stunned, and then nodded, "Then wait for good news." ”

Looking at the backs of Zhou Huan and Meng Qi in the distance, Zhang Song muttered in his heart, could it be that this woman saw the concerns in her heart?