On a fishy night, a round of crystal clear discs hung high in the sky, pouring out a miserable white light, shining on the faces full of dead silence.

Chen Jun Taishou Mansion, the barren scorched pond exposed dry and cracked silt, crisscrossed with withered lotus stems, interspersed with bloodstained skulls.

A filthy white cat screamed sharply, deftly jumped up the dry branches, and licked its fur impatiently, trying to catch the fleas that were sucking its essence with its claws.

The wide courtyard has gradually become depressed after a long period of unattended care, and dozens of men in tattered clothes have abnormal ball-like bellies, just like women who are pregnant in August and September.

One by one, their cheeks were sunken, their lips were purple, and their eyes that burst into fierce light stared at Yan Zhao and his party without blinking, and then turned their gaze to Shen Zhiyu.

"You betrayed us." Said a man at the head.

Shen Zhiyu's face turned pale in an instant, even worse than the moonlight, she was a little incredulous, trembling all over: "Brother Xiao... Didn't I tell you? Eat less Guanyin soil, sooner or later you will eat the dead..."

The man propped up his bulky waist, snorted coldly, and looked at her with gloomy eyes: "Who told you that we eat soil?" And what do we have to do with you? The court doesn't want us to live, so you still bring these lackeys! Don't let them go yet! "

The suddenly dilated pupils showed unspeakable horror, Shen Zhiyu unconsciously licked his dry lips, and his voice was sluggish: "That-what are you eating?" "

She couldn't think that these refugees had been suffering for months, and now they really couldn't bear it. But His Highness brought rice and grain, and someone came to save them...

"What else do you think you can eat here?"

No matter what's in the stomach, it can always keep them alive and have the strength to talk to her here.

"How can you?" Shen Zhiyu's eyes were red.

"Get them out! Otherwise—" The man looked coldly at Yan Zhao and the sergeant behind him, viciously threatening Shen Zhiyu.

These people's eyes were silent one by one, but they were a little excited when they saw the living, but because those soldiers were well-equipped, they didn't dare to have other delusions with swords and halberds in their hands.

The officials from the imperial court were like vampires on this land and sucked the ointment blood, making Chen Jun look like a ghost and slipping away, and the court not only ignored it, but also sent people to kill them who survived.

Now that they are cornered and have to eat carrion alive, what else? Do they have to die?

The corners of the skirt that Shen Zhiyu was holding were wet with sweat from her hands, and there was also sweat on her back and forehead, and she looked at Yan Zhao pleadingly: "Please also ask Your Highness to leave with your people first." "

Yan Zhao looked at these refugees with complicated eyes, they even ate carrion corpses, Shen Zhiyu asked him to leave, didn't he send himself to them as a piece of fresh meat?

He did not answer.

Shen Zhiyu was a little anxious, and begged: "Your Highness, don't worry, I came to this Chen County to beg for a living when I was ten years old, thanks to the kindness of the people here, I can live until now, you can rest assured that they will not hurt me." "

After speaking, she looked at the group of refugees again: "Isn't it?" Brother Xiao? Uncle Li? "

After a long silence, Xiao Cong opened his mouth: "Sister Ayu, I won't hurt you, let them leave." "

After receiving the response, Shen Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief and asked Yan Zhao to leave again.

"Miss Shen, do you really want to believe these people, they all have fierce faces, and even the dead bodies can be mouthed, this-"

Xu Song's words were interrupted by Yan Zhao.

He looked at His Highness, reluctantly shut his mouth, and motioned to Shen Zhiyu not to believe the nonsense of those refugees.

Yan Zhao knew that these people had fallen into this situation, not because they wanted, but because they were forced by the situation, after all, who didn't want to live? Xu Song's words are likely to anger the refugees, which is not what he wants to see.

But if Shen Zhiyu is left to these people, it will definitely not work.

"Your Highness, I can convince them to believe in you, and ask Your Highness to leave first." Shen Zhiyu said this, but he was extremely scared in his heart.

She lived with these people for months, fetching water from the mud of dry wells, searching for food in the city, and even evading the slaughter of the men in black.

But their hesitation made Shen Zhiyu afraid.

She had to do this, she had seen the struggle of these people to survive, she knew how desperate they were, how much they wanted to live, and now that the light was in sight, they should not die like this.

These people are ignorant and dull but simple and kind, not to mention that she is gracious, if she really wants to drink her flesh and blood, she will give up this body and bones, and only repay the kindness of these years.

Yan Zhao saw that her eyes flickered brightly, and then her eyes were full of clear relief, and he knew that Shen Zhiyu was determined to die, and he was speechless for a while.

"You are short of food, I Yan Shubai is willing to open a warehouse, you have less water, I Yan Shubai is willing to find a well, and please believe in it. The food and water are displayed outside the city, which can solve your worries, and please don't hurt this girl. "

After saying that, he bowed solemnly, ordered someone to serve dry food and water, and then glanced at Shen Zhiyu, and met a pair of eyes full of gratitude.

Seeing the soldiers leaving, the refugees, who were nervous, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and saw that the bread and water were flowing in their mouths, but no one dared to come forward to take them.

They did not dare to take risks, and the precedent was tragic, telling them not to believe the kindness of the imperial court, saying that it was food that quenched thirst and filled the stomach, and who knew if it was poison that would kill people.

Shen Zhiyu stepped forward tentatively, and Xiao Cong waved his hand: "Ah Yu, don't be afraid, I was pretending like that just now, in order to let those people leave." "

She looked at Xiao Cong's bulging belly and said softly, "Then you really ate those-"

"You think we're telling a lie?" Uncle Li in the back took over the words and looked at Shen Zhiyu coldly, Xiao Cong's complexion also changed, and his eyes were no longer speechless.

Shen Zhiyu knew that it was true, and although he was afraid, he still smiled: "His Highness saved us, there is food and water, and he also said to take us out of here and go to live somewhere else, he-"

"Do you still want to speak for the dogs of the court? You are the only one who is so naïve that he thinks he is here to save us, so do you know that some of us are infected with the epidemic, and some of us stay with the infected people all day long, and you and your master have gone through the medical books, have you found any cure? From ancient times to the present, epidemics are incurable, and only when those of us die, will the epidemic completely disappear, so what reason does the court have to save us? Have you forgotten all those men in black a few days ago? "

Uncle Li's cloudy eyes looked at her motionlessly, and he caressed a young man with dark spots on his body who couldn't live for a few days, and the others watched coldly, even Xiao Cong didn't say a word.

Shen Zhiyu moved his lips, but he was speechless, and he didn't know how to convince this group of stubborn people.

Their world is black and white, if she recognizes that one person is black, then he will be black all his life, and she will not dare to say more if he is poked in the backbone for a lifetime.

In the eyes of these people, she is a half-grown woman, very naïve, very easy to be deceived by other people's rhetoric, if she is classified as a traitor, it will be over.

She clenched her fists, and then released them weakly, and when she caught a glimpse of the dry food and water, she went to get food and drink.

Seeing that she was not at ease, those refugees looked at her hesitantly, but no one dared to step forward.

One is that they have eaten carrion, and their stomachs are swollen and painful, as if there are worms stirring inside, mixed with Guanyin soil like a weighing stone in the stomach.

Second, I still can't believe that Yan Zhao and his party, Shen Zhiyu is either co-opted by them, and naturally knows that those grains and water are not edible, or those are edible.

They don't dare to take risks, it's too difficult to live, and they die if they're not careful.

It is fortunate that you can survive for a few months without contracting the epidemic, and if you die because of greed for this mouthful of food, it is not that the previous hardships have been in vain.

None of these people wanted to leave Chen County, they still wanted to stay up for a few more years, and wait for this land to regain its vitality, just like Shen Zhiyu thought before.

Therefore, he was extremely cautious, desperate and scavenging, and did not dare to come forward to be greedy for those meals, although he was thin into a skeleton and had a huge belly.

Shen Zhiyu knew that these people would not let down their guard so easily, so he walked up to Xiao Cong with a piece of cake: "Brother Xiao, you taste it." "

Seeing that he refused, Shen Zhiyu took a bite and swallowed, and handed it to him again: "Brother Xiao, I won't harm you." "

Xiao Cong looked at Shen Zhiyu, still didn't move, how could he tell her that he took the surviving refugees to eat carrion, and that day he was so hungry that he fell on top of a corpse.

He wanted to live so much that he bit off a piece of the dead body's flesh.

Later, when he was too hungry to die, he quietly went to look for the carrion, so that he could still send the little ration he had left to the grass hall for the master and Shen Zhiyu to eat.

Later, he was found eating scavenging, and these people were hungry, and some things were taken by someone, and then it was logical.