They were in charge of being beautiful, and she was in charge of taking the hits.

"Oh, sir, we really have nothing left. That Prefect Hu used to exploit us so much. You have no idea how much my family of dozens of people had to tighten their belts to make ends meet."

"I know you are having a hard time, so I've specially prepared a banquet to treat you all."

Everyone looked at the so-called hospitality with disdain. In their eyes, this was hardly food for human consumption, but on the surface, they still had to pretend to be doing what was right for the country and its people.

"We would rather go hungry than let these meals go to the refugees."

Wu Ziyan didn't say anything, just let them sit. They just kept drinking tea, and someone would refill their cups when they finished, until the tea leaves had no flavor left. Finally, one of them couldn't help but say, "Sir, I need to use the restroom."

Others also stood up and echoed, saying they wanted to relieve themselves. Wu Ziyan gave a wink to the people next to him, and someone immediately led them to the outhouse. Of course, after they finished relieving themselves, they came back to sit down.

Those people remained calm and silent. As dusk fell, one of them stood up and asked, "Sir, what is the meaning of this? Why have you kept us here until now?"

“I said I would host a banquet, but none of you touched the food. So I had the kitchen heat it up and bring it to you. After you ate, you all went home.”

At this moment, everyone's stomachs started rumbling, and suddenly a fragrant aroma wafted over. It was just ordinary steamed fish, which passed right in front of everyone, but some people were already swallowing their saliva. The fish passed in front of each of them, but was not put down. Instead, it was carried into the large table inside the room.

Another braised pork knuckle was served, and the aroma was even more enticing. Everyone was swallowing their saliva. Several more hearty dishes were served in succession, and the aroma kept wafting into the noses of everyone present.

One of them finally stood up: "Sir, what does this mean?"

"Oh, I understand that you are all from poor families and cannot afford to eat well, so I had these prepared to entertain you."

"Then why don't you let us sit down?"

"Don't rush, I see that you all seem to have finished your tea. Someone, bring them some more tea."

Immediately, someone poured them tea again. Their faces turned ashen. Even as night fell, though there was no rain, the wind was bone-chillingly cold. Wu Ziyan lit a small brazier and reheated the dishes one after another before bringing them out.

Wu Ziyan wrote something on the table, then picked it up and looked at them, saying, "Gentlemen, I know you are all starving. I only ask that each of you receive one shi of grain, and you can enjoy this feast to your heart's content."

Some people were still hesitant, but they were so hungry that one person rushed over and signed without even looking at what was written. He then wolfed down his food, eating with great relish. Seeing this, the others couldn't sit still any longer and rushed forward to sign as well.

Some people took note of the situation, checked it, and found that it was indeed only one shi (one hundred jin) of grain. They gritted their teeth and wrote it down, and began to eat and drink. The wine was sweet and fragrant, the meat was tender and juicy, and the vegetables were crisp and sweet. Everyone was intoxicated by it.

Wu Ziyan glanced at Chu Qiu and Huang Ziliang, who were hiding in the shadows. Huang Ziliang understood and added a stroke to the character "一" (one), which meant that each person would receive ten shi (a unit of dry measure) or one thousand jin (a unit of weight). The total weight of the goods present was ten tons. Under the cover of night, they went directly to the mansion to collect the goods.

At first, they resisted, shouting, "Who are you? Our master isn't home, what right do you have to take our food!"

Those people simply slapped the receipt on their faces and took away the grain in their carts.

Later, when they arrived at each person's residence, although they were absolutely forbidden to take the grain, they had no choice but to comply upon seeing the personal signature of their own head of household, and thus a large amount of grain was collected in a grand procession.

The people at the banquet had all eaten and drunk their fill and were about to take their leave. Wu Ziyan, with a smile in his eyes, escorted them to the door and thanked them one by one. At first, they did not understand what he meant.

When the wealthy men returned home and found their money gone, they collapsed to the ground in despair, cursing Wu Ziyan for being inhuman and taking away so much grain and silver. They planned to unite and go to his door the next day to demand an explanation.

The next day, the weather was fine, and the sun brought a touch of life to the earth. Wu Ziyan got up early to arrange for the grain to be stored in the granary and to cook porridge and steam buns to comfort the refugees.

Just then, a large group of people arrived from afar. Wu Ziyan had anticipated that they would come to cause trouble, and had already instructed Huang Ziliang to write notices and post them in various places.

The notice praised the wealthy people for their generous donations of grain to help the refugees. Some refugees rushed forward, and someone stood there to read it to them. They were all grateful: "Thank you so much, kind people, for donating grain so that we common folk can have something to eat."

The crowd was bustling with noise, everyone was saying the same thing, surrounding those who were ready to cause trouble. Wu Ziyan walked over at this moment, and everyone made way for her. Wu Ziyan faced them head-on and said, "Thank you all."

The people thanked them again, and seeing the situation, those people didn't dare to ask any further questions. They could only swallow their anger, force a smile through their twitching faces, and wave to each other.

After the wealthy people left, Huang Ziliang walked over, and Wu Ziyan said, "Ziliang, you are really good at scheming."

"I don't know if Lord Wu is praising me or flattering me."

"I must commend you. You seem quite familiar with the disaster relief process. Would you like to stay or continue south with us?"

"Of course I'm willing to go with you so that I can help more people."

Chu Qiu watched from a distance, pursed his lips, wanting to say something but not saying it. After spending the day, Wu Ziyan held a small meeting in his room that evening.

Wu Ziyan said, "First of all, let's standardize our way of addressing each other. When we're out, you can all call me Miss, is that alright?"

No one spoke; the silence was quite profound, even a little awkward. Han Yuxiu sighed, "Alright, alright, let's sleep. We have to travel tomorrow."

Everyone nodded. Wu Ziyan kept a few people behind, his face serious, as they were about to get down to business. After that, Wang Hu stayed behind, Chu Qiu took over some capable bandits to form a temporary guard, Han Yuxiu collected some medicinal herbs for emergencies, and Changsun Boyou still needed to disguise several people to make it easier for them to travel. Huang Ziliang joined them.

They set off just as dawn was breaking, since their actual destination was still far away. If Wu Ziyan lingered here for several days, the relief teams behind them would probably have already arrived.

They mounted their horses and soon, when suddenly, the sound of hooves came from behind. Wu Ziyan stopped, wondering if someone else was coming for revenge. Everyone became more alert, but to their surprise, there was only one person approaching – Wang Hu. She shouted, "You! You haven't given us the antidote yet!"

Han Yuxiu chuckled; she still remembered this. Wu Ziyan shouted, "Let's go back! That's not poison!"

Wang Hu stopped her horse, stunned. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that the poison had indeed expired and the woman was still alive. She was both angry and annoyed, but there was nothing she could do.

Wu Ziyan and his men did not stop, but whipped their horses and drove off.