Shengjing Noble

Su Lanyin immediately covered Xiaoyu's mouth in panic, looking flustered.

The head constable thought he saw through everything and snorted coldly, "Who are you? You look suspicious in your sneaky way. Come on, arrest them all!"

"No!" Ah Mo immediately stood in front and hugged the child tightly in his arms, "Sir, we are indeed a family of three. I made my wife change into men's clothes because I was afraid that bad people on the road might do something bad!"

The head constable said disdainfully: "You are so poor but you have such a beautiful wife, are you a human trafficker from somewhere?"

"No! We are a real couple, how could we be human traffickers? We even have a child!" A'mo explained hurriedly.

"No, I have to investigate this matter thoroughly. You can leave, but your wife will stay here for questioning. Someone, take her away!"

"Yes!"

A'mo tried to stop them while holding the child but was pushed into the city by several officials.

"Aren't you looking for your relatives? Why don't you go quickly? Don't worry, if your wife is found to be fine after interrogation, she will be released naturally!" The captain said proudly, with a malicious smile in his eyes.

On the side, Su Lanyin pretended to resist and was taken away.

The captain seemed a little impatient. He didn't care about the old father lying on the ground and followed Su Lanyin away.

Ah Mo sneered in his heart, wishing he could punch that pervert to death, but he still endured it.

He put the fish down when no one was paying attention and carried the old man on his shoulders.

"Xiaoyu, follow me closely."

"Got it, Uncle Mo!"

……

Su Lanyin was thrown into a dark cell, and then the two officers turned and left.

This cell was not very big, but there were already five people inside, all huddled together in the corner.

The clothes of two or three of them were torn, and their exposed arms and faces were covered with purple scars.

Obviously, something bad had happened to them.

Su Lanyin noticed a thin figure trembling in the corner. She walked over and squatted down to comfort her, but as soon as her hand touched her arm, the girl screamed.

"Ah, no……"

"Shh! Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person!"

Su Lanyin quickly explained in a low voice, then smiled at her as much as possible to make herself look harmless.

The girl had indeed calmed down a lot, but the tears in her eyes were still flowing.

Su Lanyin knew that she was frightened, so she leaned over and whispered, "Your father has been sent to the hospital. Don't worry, he will be fine."

A trace of surprise flashed across the girl's eyes, but she quickly returned to despair: "Impossible, don't lie to me, there is no clinic in this city, and those who could escape have already escaped... Now, it's just a dead city."

"Why do you say that?" Su Lanyin asked.

The girl shook her head, her face ashen. "There has been a severe drought for three years in the area of ​​Qiu County within a hundred miles. The people have no food to harvest, not to mention the herbs used in the clinic. Anyone who has the ability to survive has already fled. Now there are only a few old, weak, women and children left, but most of them have starved to death."

"That shouldn't be the case. Although I'm from another place, I heard that the court has reissued some disaster relief grain money to the people of Qiu County. Didn't it also give it to you?"

“Hehe…give it to us?” The girl cried and laughed, with blood on the corner of her mouth. Her tone was desolate. “We are just a group of ants that are trampled on by others. The court will not care about our life or death.”

Su Lanyin's heart tightened. Could it be that the relief money that they had sent before they set out had been embezzled?

Thinking of this, she immediately asked, "I heard that the magistrate of Qiu County has died, and the new magistrate has not yet taken office. Who is in charge of Qiu County now?"

A deep hatred flashed through the girl's dead eyes: "Wang Tao!"

"Who is Wang Tao?"

"She is a lackey of the previous county magistrate! Since the county magistrate died, Qiu County has become his territory. He has been committing crimes and oppressing the people all day long. You just said that the court spent money on disaster relief grain. If it is true, I am afraid it is all in Wang Tao's hands."

Su Lanyin understood, but there was still one thing she didn't understand.

So she asked again: "Girl, when I entered the city, I saw many people blocking the city gate and trying to leave, but the officials forcibly stopped them. Why is that?"

"Enter the city? Have you just arrived in Qiu County?" A question flashed in the girl's eyes.

"Yes, I'm here to find my sister." Su Lanyin nodded at her innocently.

The girl frowned, looking angry: "Are you stupid? We all want to leave this hell on earth, how can you jump into this fire pit by yourself?"

"My sister is missing, and I have to find her. By the way, you haven't told me why he doesn't let the people leave the city?"

"I heard that the new county magistrate is on the way. If the common people abandon the city, Wang Tao will not be able to report to the county magistrate when he arrives. That's why he blocked the city gates and didn't allow the people to leave."

Several girls nearby also echoed.

"Yes, in the past we could go begging on the official road or find food on the mountain outside the city. Now that the city is closed, the people will starve to death sooner or later!"

"These officials don't care about the lives of the people at all. They say they are opening the granaries to release grain, but the rice porridge is so little and watery that it's not enough to fill people up."

"But fortunately, we still have something to drink and won't die of thirst. Alas, Qiu County has suffered a severe drought, and all the wells in the city have dried up. On weekdays, we have to go to the river dozens of miles away to fetch water."

……

Hearing this, Su Lanyin was extremely indignant.

"Were you all captured by Wang Tao? Did he hurt you?"

Hearing this, the girls all lowered their heads and sobbed quietly. Two of them cried the loudest. Looking at their torn clothes, it was likely that they had fallen into the devil's clutches.

The girl who had just been captured showed fear in her eyes.

"That devil won't let us go. All the girls here were captured by him. Several of them have died before. I heard that they were tortured beyond recognition..."

The more she spoke, the more frightened she became. She broke down and burst into tears. The four girls beside her also hugged each other and cried in fear when they saw this. The whole cell was filled with a depressing atmosphere.

Su Lanyin sighed, and then comforted them: "Don't cry, don't worry, I'm here, you will be fine."

If she had not gone on this incognito visit, it would have been difficult for her to investigate these things openly.

This damn Wang Tao must be punished as he deserves!

Calculating the time, it would take at least ten days for her second brother to arrive here. Before that, she had to find out how deep the water in Qiu County was. It would be best if she could find any clues about the death of the previous county magistrate.

Just as he was thinking about it, the cells were opened.

Everyone became nervous and shrank back against the wall in fear. The five girls huddled together as if only in this way could they feel a little safe.