Accidentally dressed as an empress

In front of the porridge stall, the victims gathered like a tide. They were all ragged and shivering in the cold wind, as if they would be torn apart by the wind at any time.

These poor people had looks of hunger on their faces, and their skinny bodies looked even weaker under their thin clothes.

"This porridge is our life-saving food. It's what we've been looking forward to." A white-haired old woman said tremblingly, her eyes full of anticipation for the relief porridge.

"Yes, if it weren't for the new governor, we wouldn't have survived this winter." A middle-aged man next to him echoed, his eyes full of gratitude.

When they received bowls of steaming hot relief porridge, their cloudy eyes instantly lit up.

"This porridge smells so good, there's rice in it." A girl held the bowl of porridge, blew away the heat carefully, and then took a small sip.

"Drink slowly, don't burn yourself." The little girl's mother looked at her lovingly, tears in her eyes. "We are able to survive, all thanks to the governor."

An old man, his wrinkled face filled with gratitude, said, "The governor is truly a god sent to save us. We were so hungry before that we almost had no strength left, but now with this porridge, we feel like we can live again."

However, a middle-aged man had just drunk a few mouthfuls of relief porridge when his eyes suddenly widened, his eyeballs seemed to burst out of his eye sockets, and white foam flowed out of his mouth uncontrollably.

His body began to twitch violently, and his limbs seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, twisting into strange postures.

His face flushed crimson with pain, veins bulging on his forehead, as if countless small snakes were wriggling beneath his skin. His fingers dug into the ground tightly, dirt filling the cracks between his nails, some even bent over. Blood oozed from his fingertips, mixing with the dirt to form a paste.

An old man next to him was not spared either. He collapsed to the ground as if his soul had been sucked out. His body bounced from time to time, and a "gurgling" sound came from his mouth. White foam kept overflowing from the corners of his mouth and flowed down his wrinkled neck.

This scene unfolded among the crowd like a nightmare. But amidst the chaos, there were still some calm people.

A doctor who knew medicine rushed out from the crowd and quickly came to the poisoned person.

She first pressed hard on the middle-aged man's philtrum, trying to wake her consciousness, and then used a cloth to wipe the white foam from the old man's mouth to prevent it from blocking his trachea.

Some other people who had some knowledge of medicine also followed suit, and some helped to fix the twitching limbs of the poisoned people to prevent them from getting injured during the struggle.

Soon, doctors sent by the government arrived. They brought medicine boxes and silver needles and skillfully inserted needles into the acupuncture points of the poisoned person, trying to induce vomiting by stimulating the points.

Zhong Yi's face was solemn. He first checked the condition of the poisoned person, and a trace of pain flashed in his eyes.

Afterwards, Zhong Yi immediately ordered the area around the porridge shed to be blocked, strictly prohibiting anyone from touching the remaining relief porridge.

Zhong Yi said, "Today's relief porridge distribution is suspended! On behalf of the prefectural governor's office, I will thoroughly investigate the source of the porridge and give everyone an explanation."

Zhong Yi quickly led his men to the main kitchen and summoned all the cooks and assistants. After a sharp glance, he asked, "Who is responsible for making this porridge today? From the time the ingredients were purchased to the time they were cooked, was there anything unusual?"

A man who looked like a cook replied timidly, "My Lord, everything is cooked according to the normal method, and the ingredients are purchased by a dedicated person. There is nothing unusual."

Zhong Yi frowned, "Did anyone get close to the pot while it was cooking?" The cook shook his head, "No, sir. We stayed by the pot the whole time."

Zhong Yi snorted coldly: "Humph, if no one is playing tricks, how could such a thing happen! Think about it carefully!"

His brows were furrowed. Was it that the food was contaminated, or was it someone who deliberately poisoned it?

Most of these helpers and cooks were recruited from Yunyin City. Zhong Yi never thought that something like this would happen.

This group of people also have families. Aren’t they afraid that their families will eat the poisonous relief porridge?

He had never been wary of the people in Yunyin City. It seemed that in Yunyin City, it was impossible to distinguish between civilians and bandits.

Once the bandits changed their clothes, they looked no different from ordinary people.

He must tell Ah Xiu to be on guard early.

At the porridge shed, the soldiers in charge of distributing porridge were also panicked. They tried to stabilize the situation, but the scene was already in extreme chaos.

The news that someone was poisoned on the spot after drinking the relief porridge spread quickly and caused an uproar among the victims.

The ragged, skinny disaster victims suddenly had flames of anger in their originally numb eyes. The flames were like a raging wildfire, jumping wildly in their eyes, igniting the fear, despair and resentment in their hearts.

"This porridge can kill people! My husband collapsed after drinking just a few mouthfuls, and now he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead!" A burly lady shouted, holding a rough wooden stick in her hand, which made a "creaking" sound when she squeezed it.

"Yeah, my brother too! We were counting on this porridge to survive, but this is going to kill us?" A skinny man next to him shouted with a red face, tears of anger flashing in his eyes.

The surrounding disaster victims seemed to be ignited by this shout and were immediately outraged.

"Those officials have bad intentions!" An old woman with gray hair and wrinkled face pointed in the direction of the porridge stall with her dry fingers. "They don't care about our lives at all. It's obvious that they want to kill poor people like us!"

The old woman's crying was like a sharp knife, cutting through everyone's remaining trust in the government.

"That's right! These officials never take our lives seriously!"

A young man, with red eyes, waved his fist in anger, "We can't just let this go!"

"We want an explanation. We can't let our family die in vain!" said an old man, his body trembling, but he continued to knock on the ground with his crutch.

"This porridge is poison, they want to poison us!" A woman cried with fear and anger on her face while holding her child.

"That's right, we can't let it harm people again! Smash this harmful porridge stall!" a voice shouted in the crowd.

The crowd began to surge towards the porridge stall like surging waves, with only anger in their eyes, a rage mixed with the fear of death and the resentment of being deceived.

Some young and strong victims were the first to bend down and pick up the stones on the ground. The stones were of different sizes and had sharp edges.

They held the stones tightly, raised their arms high, and threw them at the porridge shed. The stones fell like raindrops, hitting the wooden boards of the porridge shed with loud "bang bang bang" sounds.

The stones hit the wooden board, instantly making a dent in it, sending wood chips flying everywhere, with tiny chips flying out like needles; some stones hit the edge of the big pot for cooking porridge, making sharp impact sounds; and some stones directly broke through the simple roof, making big holes in it.

The angry victims had lost their minds. They destroyed everything around them and attacked the soup kitchens crazily.

Someone picked up a broken wooden board nearby and smashed it hard against the support of the porridge shed, trying to push the entire porridge shed down.

Several young men lifted a big stone together and smashed it towards a corner of the porridge shed. With a loud "bang", the corner of the porridge shed began to shake.

Some people even brandished sticks and hit the relief workers, who then became the targets of their anger. The situation was chaotic and almost out of control.

Yunxiu and Su Qing quickly rushed to the porridge shed with a team of soldiers armed with shields and sticks.

"Stop it, everyone!" Yun Xiu shouted loudly, his voice majestic and loud, trying to drown out the noisy clamor.

But the angry victims were already furious at this point and refused to listen. They continued to vent their anger towards the porridge stall.

The soldiers had no choice but to advance forward in an orderly manner, using their shields to block the flying stones.

"Everyone calm down! If we really smash the porridge, there will be no more!" Yunxiu continued to shout, trying to calm the victims. However, all he got in response was angry roars and even more violent attacks.

Some soldiers began to arrest the most violent victims in an attempt to intimidate the crowd.

But this move seemed to add fuel to the fire, and the victims shouted: "Down with the dog officials!"

The resistance became more intense. People in the crowd continued to struggle, and the scene became increasingly chaotic. The soldiers maintained order but did not dare to use any real force.