Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Su Qin didn't know that Zhao Liangchen was worried about her. At this moment, except for her body smelling a little, she was not starving or cold.

Xu Chunshan built a shack on a hillside outside the city. The hilltop was already occupied by disaster victims. People living around Xu Chunshan's shack were from the same village. Everyone was united and there was no fighting over anything.

Wang Er originally wanted to pull Su Qin to sleep in his shack, because he was the only one left in his family and his shack was bigger, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Su Qin was pulled away by Xu Chunshan's wife.

"Come on, sleep in our shack. We can squeeze together. Yun Guoer misses you.

Xu Chunshan has a son and a daughter. His whole family survived the flood, which makes them considered very lucky among the victims.

His son was called Xu Feng, about 20 years old, a scholar, and he also passed the imperial examination. He looked rather frail,

The daughter's name is Xu Yunguo, and she is only thirteen years old. For safety, Xu Yunguo dressed as a man along the way, so after Su Qin met them, Xu Chunshan and his wife had already discovered that she was a woman.

In fact, many women among the disaster victims dressed as men, but some were obviously women, while others were not.

Although Su Qin dressed like a man, she did not deliberately hide her gender. The Xu family saw it but she didn't care. Only the silly Wang Er always thought Su Qin was a man.

The shack was a frame made of branches and covered with rags. It was very simple and could not actually provide shelter from wind and rain. It was only slightly better than sleeping in the open air.

The shack was not big and could only accommodate four members of the Xu family. If Su Qin went there again, everyone could only sit and could not lie down. Because no one had taken a shower for a long time, the smell in the shack was not very pleasant. Su Qin did not go into the shack, but just sat at the door so that she could breathe some fresh air.

Yunguo was very happy to see Su Qin coming, and shouted excitedly: "Sister Su... Brother Su, I missed you so much."

Because the health of the rest of the Xu family except Xu Chunshan was not very good, Xu Chunshan did not let them go when the victims gathered just now.

Su Qin greeted Yun Guoer with a smile: "Little Yun Guoer, I miss you too."

She sat at the door and nodded to Xu Feng who was sitting at the innermost part, and Xu Feng also smiled politely.

Su Qin observed Xu Feng's complexion, which was sallow. He had been born with poor health, and now he had been hungry for more than two months, making his health even worse. He was a good student, and if he hadn't been unable to withstand the provincial examination, he might have become a juren by now.

She thought for a moment, took out the two oil-paper bags from her bosom, opened them, and handed them forward: "I bought these in the city. Please have some."

Looking at the dried meat and candied fruit in the oil-paper bag, the Xu family members widened their eyes. Mrs. Xu saw clearly what was in it and quickly closed the oil-paper bag and stuffed it into Su Qin's arms.

"Why are you always taking out everything, kid? If others see it, they'll snatch it away from you. Do you know how valuable this thing is now?"

Su Qin smiled and pushed Madam Xu's hand away: "No matter how precious something is, it is only valuable after it is eaten. It is meaningless to just look at it without eating it.

Eat it, I brought it out for you to eat.”

Madam Xu shook her head like a rattle: "No, no, you are the only one left in your family. You don't know how difficult your life will be in the future. You should save the money for yourself and don't spend it carelessly. Now there are people giving out porridge, we have enough to eat and we won't starve to death. We can't take your food. You should save it for later."

Although Yun Guoer drooled uncontrollably at the sight of the food, she shook her head and said, "We don't want any, Brother Su, you can eat it yourself."

Xu Chunshan, who was guarding the outermost part of the shack, frowned and scolded, "Put it away quickly. If someone finds out, I won't be able to protect you."

Su Qin: "If you're afraid of being discovered, stop dawdling and eat quickly."

As she said this, she picked up a candied fruit and stuffed it into Yun Guoer's mouth.

Yunguo was stunned and a sweet and sour taste spread in her mouth. She opened her mouth in embarrassment, not knowing whether to eat or not.

Su Qin was amused by her silly look and manually closed her mouth: "It's all in your mouth, don't spit it out, eat it quickly."

Yun Guoer looked at her mother with a bitter face. Madam Xu sighed helplessly: "Eat it. Don't let Su Da down."

Only then did Yun Guoer dare to slowly savor the delicious food in her mouth, revealing a satisfied expression.

Su Qin picked up another piece of dried meat and handed it to Xu Feng. Xu Feng shook his head: "I won't eat it, you keep it for yourself."

Su Qin advised: "Brother Feng, look at your pale complexion. If you don't eat something good, your body will be ruined if you continue like this. Eat it first. Just think of it as a loan to me. This is also an investment for me. When you pass the imperial examination and become an official, I will have someone to rely on."

Xu Feng smiled bitterly. With his current health, he didn't know how long he could live. He probably had no chance of passing the imperial examination.

Madam Xu looked at her son's face and felt distressed. How could she not know as a mother that her son's body could not bear it anymore? But there was nothing she could do. The family could still make ends meet before, but they did not cure him. Now that he was short of clothes, there was no way to get treatment.

She looked at the dried meat in Su Qin's hand and gritted her teeth. She took out a small cloth bag from her arms. The cloth bag was very small and old. She took out a pair of gold pendants from the cloth bag and handed them to Su Qin: "This is my dowry when I got married. I'm giving it to you now, just as if it were to buy these food in your hand."

Su Qin hurriedly declined: "Auntie, no need..."

Xu Chunshan interrupted her with a sullen face: "If you don't want to take it, put your food away. We won't eat it."

Su Qin sighed helplessly and could only take the earrings: "Then I'll take them first, and keep them for you. You can redeem them when you have the chance in the future."

Seeing that she had accepted the Xu family, Su Qin was relieved. She gave them two pieces of dried meat and two pieces of candied fruit each. "These are probably enough for us to eat for three days. We can find a way to eat the rest later. We have already come to the foot of the emperor. We can't keep starving like this."

The Xu family ate the food in their hands silently without refuting, but they had no hope for the court in their hearts.

After Su Qin finished eating, he took out the same dried meat and candied fruit and went to find Wang Er. When Wang Er saw the food, he did not refuse it. Instead, he happily took it and said, "Thank you very much, brother. When the imperial court's reward comes, I will buy you more delicious food."

Su Qin smiled and replied, "Okay."

After everyone had eaten their fill and it was already dark, Madam Xu and Yun Guoer squeezed Su Qin in the middle, covered her with their quilts, and the three of them fell asleep snuggling up to each other.

They slept soundly, but the Zhao Mansion was a bit messy.

Zhao Gupan was originally skeptical about what Zhao Liangchen said. She ran to her aunt to inquire, but found out nothing. Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, the eunuch came to announce the decree. Zhao Jian and Zhao Liangchen were dismissed and placed under house arrest. Everyone in the mansion started to panic.

However, although the others were worried, they did not think it was a big problem. They believed that Zhao Jian would be reinstated after a while. As for Zhao Liangchen, no one cared.

But Zhao Gupan was anxious. She knew that Zhao Liangchen never lied. She felt that the Zhao family was doomed and she would be implicated.

In the past, she would definitely go to Zhao Liangchen to discuss it, but today she asked someone and learned that Zhao Liangchen got angry and punished his personal servant. Her heart instantly sank.

Zhao Liangchen has always been good-tempered in the mansion and has never lost his temper. Now that he suddenly loses his temper, it must be that the matter is very serious and he has no way to deal with it.

Since she couldn't rely on Zhao Liangchen, she needed to find another way out.