Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 260 Time
Mrs. He opened her mouth and said "the seventh day after my husband's death", which touched Wei Xi's sensitive nerves. The more she thought about it, the more strange it seemed:
On the ninth day of the seventh month, Wei and Qin met again in Fuzhou and began to investigate the case of missing military rations.

In the late night of the tenth day of July, the two men captured Wu Fangfei. In the early morning, Lian Gou Xie came to report the news. The three of them rode at full speed for a whole day and a whole night, and arrived outside Bingzhou City in the early morning of July 12.

Qin Feng was not walking fast when she was rushing to Fuzhou. It took her more than three days to walk the same route. She set out from Bingzhou around the evening of July 5th.

At that time, there was only a continuous influx of refugees into Bingzhou City, and there was no sign of riot.

If today is the seventh day since Madam He's husband passed away, this man should have been killed on the sixth day of the seventh month.

What happened in Bingzhou City that caused the refugees to riot in less than a day? What made the garrison vulnerable and surrender Bingzhou City?

Wei Xi's mind was working furiously, and his mouth wasn't idle either. He continued to ask, "Why are these refugees still staying in the city? Aren't they afraid that the court will send troops to suppress them?"

"...How can I, a woman, know about these things?"

Wei Xiyu was quite good at prying people open, so she simply took out a piece of cake and stuffed it directly into the other person's arms.

"I heard someone say," Madam He deliberately left the source of the information vague, "that there were four or five groups of refugees rioting."

"One of them was unable to defeat the garrison and was dispersed; another group plundered some surplus food in Bingzhou City and fled for their lives. The rest coveted the wealth of the provincial capital and stayed here to abuse their power!"

Wei Xi thought: There are smart people everywhere. They know how to take advantage of the time difference and escape before the court reacts. I just don’t know how much food they took away.

"Then let me ask you what does 'food is lost' mean?"

Mrs. He really knew a thing or two about this matter. She had originally intended to keep it to herself, but she was a bit clever and bold—to make a better life, she didn't hesitate to go to Wushan with the small leader of the riot group.

Mrs. He didn't care whether her late husband's body was cold or not. She only cared about supporting herself and her children.

Since someone is asking about this today, they must be able to resolve Bingzhou's predicament. I've been spending these days fighting the rioters for food, and there's no guarantee I won't be held accountable. Rather than being executed as a criminal, it's better to prepare for the future by sharing this person's information.

"This... Sir," Madam He blinked and changed the address. She hugged her child and continued, "Bingzhou City is not short of food, but there are too many refugees. To ease the pressure, the Lord has reduced the daily relief grain distribution, hoping to last a little longer."

"Plus, a lot of grain was requisitioned this year, and my husband is in charge of inventory and coordination, so he's very busy. In previous years, we could still count on new grain, but now we can't..."

"The refugees became increasingly restless, and my husband was worried. Until one day, his superiors summoned him to the granary and told him to prepare to receive a batch of grain that was being sent to provide relief to the victims."

"Perhaps because the disaster was urgent, my husband handed over the grain to the escort team the next day."

Madam He's tone was tinged with sadness. "Who knew that all this food would be lost? My husband has always been very cautious and followed the rules when accepting this batch of food."

"What's more, in order to deal with the refugees with bad intentions, the government has added a team of guards to the granary. As a result, the granary was emptied in the time it takes to eat a meal!"

"The government sealed off the warehouse. I wonder who the damned one leaked the news, saying that the imperial court had sent relief grain, but it had already been resold by the prefecture government."

"Finally, the refugees surrounded the government office and the granary to demand an explanation." "There was nothing in the granary...in the end..." Madam He covered her face and sobbed, trying to arouse the sympathy of the people in front of her.

Wei Xi has always had a poor sense of empathy, not to mention that this person's storytelling skills are really average. Wei Xi spent all his energy on separating the true from the false and extracting clues.

First, the food in Bingzhou’s granary disappeared, which had many similarities with the military rations that disappeared on the Fuzhou official road.

A large amount of food, guarded by special people, and disappeared completely in a short period of time... All these similarities made Wei Xi think that the two things were done by the same person.

Secondly, it was the strange timing. Things in Bingzhou developed too quickly, and all kinds of rumors were spreading everywhere, always adding fuel to the fire of the situation in Bingzhou City at the right time.

Lian Gou-yu had already said that the government office had not received any notification from the court regarding the distribution of relief grain. So when did this news reach those who were homeless and unable to eat three meals a day? What was the origin of the so-called relief grain?
Finally, there is the Bingzhou governor and garrison who have disappeared. According to Madam He's story, it seems that these people had fought against the rioting refugees. If that is the case, where are these people now?

A violent storm was brewing in Wei Xi's mind, and Mrs. He was also preparing for her future.

"The rioting refugees burned, killed and looted in the city, but they couldn't find enough food. I also wanted to feed my children, so I..." Madam He sobbed and seemed a little annoyed.

Wei Xi wiped his hands, took out two pancakes and handed them to the child lying in Madam He's arms. The latter blinked and took the two pancakes.

In fact, Wei Xi didn't care about Madam He's life or death at all. Moreover, she could see at a glance that this person could perform the whole set of singing, acting, reciting and fighting, and his acting skills were even better than hers.

"Huiyang!" Madam He, determined to please Wei Xi, shouted at her son, "The child is ignorant, please don't blame him!"

"Madam, why don't you show me the way," Wei Xi added, "Tell me the location of the granary."

"As for the other matters," Wei Xi smiled mysteriously, transformed into a master of pancakes and began to paint a rosy picture for the other party. "My lady, you naturally used some tricks to get information. Who can blame you?"

Madam He still felt that this was not enough, and tried to get Wei Xi to give a clear affirmation, in short, to ensure that she and her child would not be executed after the State of Ju regained control of Bingzhou.

Wei Xi was vague, not worried about not finding the granary at all—after all, such a conspicuous building could be found by just a few people. She said she had no say, and was obsessed with the location of the granary.

Seeing that Wei Xi was really difficult to deal with, Madam He didn't dare to pester her any further. She told her the location and thanked her profusely, spouting a string of nice words.

"This woman is quite clever," thought Wei Xi, who was rushing to reunite. "No wonder only her husband died."

Putting Madam He's matter aside, Wei Xi hurried back to the agreed location.

Unexpectedly, he was not the last one to return. After waiting for half an incense stick, the remaining two people came back one after another.

Wei Xi took the lead and told Madam He all the information he had obtained from her, and pointed out several core issues.

After she finished speaking, Lian Gouqie said, "I have some gains here too!"

(End of this chapter)