Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

After the meal, Zhao Lian and her group prepared to go to the prefectural capital to report for duty. They deliberately chose to walk instead of taking a carriage, so as to familiarize themselves with the place.

The streets were bustling with people, and at a glance, most of them were ragged and emaciated disaster victims.

Some people were dressed in fine clothes, and the polarization was particularly severe. When they saw these disaster victims, most of them looked disgusted, covered their mouths and noses, and kept their distance.

Many disaster victims walked in the same direction. Without asking, it was clear that these people were heading to the prefectural capital. Zhao Lian and the others did not ask for directions and chose to follow the main group.

"Guards! Someone's stealing my steamed buns! Seize him!"

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the street, accompanied by shouts, and people were chasing each other.

Many people looked over and saw a sallow-faced, emaciated middle-aged man who had run a short distance before being pinned to the ground. The man kept stuffing the steamed bun in his hand into his mouth.

Two burly men punched and kicked the man, cursing as they did so: "I'll let you eat, I'll let you eat! You dare to steal a two-cent steamed bun!"

Only then did everyone realize that the man had been caught stealing steamed buns, and they felt both sorry for him and angry.

The sad thing is that we are all pitiful people, so we naturally know what it feels like to go hungry.

What's infuriating is that since we've endured hunger and hardship all the way to Hengnan Prefecture, we shouldn't wait until we can report to the authorities.

"Clatter clatter clatter~" A series of rapid hoofbeats rang out, and everyone turned around to see that it was another group of mounted officials.

Upon seeing these officials, everyone panicked and rushed forward, causing chaos at the scene.

Along the way, what everyone feared most was seeing government officials, who either checked household registrations or drove them away. They wondered what would happen this time.

Even the two men who had been hitting him earlier stopped.

"Move aside, move aside and squat down—we're checking household registrations, we're checking household registrations!"

This group of officials consisted of more than 20 people, led by a tall and upright man with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, wheat-colored skin, and long, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes.

This man had a handsome face and sharp eyes like an eagle, exuding an imposing aura. This man was none other than General Song Wenjie.

Song Wenjie gave everyone a cold glance, and immediately everyone held their breath.

A man was following Song Wenjie. This man was also quite tall and handsome, but he was still slightly inferior to the general. This was the lieutenant general Liu Yu.

Liu Yu directed his men to maintain order and check household registrations. Everyone quickly squatted down to the side, including Zhao Lian.

Through the crowd, Zhao Lian peeked out and was stunned when she saw the general's face.

Wow! With his sharp features and strong lines, plus that physique, he's definitely a handsome man.

It's unbelievable that there were such handsome men in ancient times. If they entered the entertainment industry in modern times, they would definitely smitten all the girls.

Zhao Di noticed Zhao Lian staring intently at the leading officer and quickly whispered, "Sister, lower your head! Don't look around. Be careful not to get caught by these officers; they're not human!"

Although the voice was soft, every word reached Song Wenjie's ears.

Song Wenjie frowned, and at the same time felt the gaze of someone. He turned his head by instinct and met a pair of eyes.

These eyes had a clever look to them. The owner of the eyes was a girl with wheat-colored skin. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but her appearance was quite delicate.

The girl rolled her eyes at her, her lips moving slightly as if to say, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman before? Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

"Haha~"

interesting!

Song Wenjie's lips curled up. He hadn't expected that this seemingly unremarkable girl would not only be so feisty but also call herself a beauty.

At this moment, another girl quickly pulled the first girl down to lower her head.

This is Liu Yu reporting: "General, that man stole some steamed buns and was beaten so badly by the shopkeeper that he's barely alive. What should we do?"

Song Wen rubbed his forehead, his face grim: "He only stole a steamed bun, and you beat him half to death? That's too cruel! Tell the shopkeeper to take this person to see a doctor immediately. If someone dies, they'll pay with their lives!"

"it is good!"

The voice was quite loud, and Zhao Lian heard it too. Unexpectedly, this person, who looked fierce, handled things in a way that surprised Zhao Lian.

Meanwhile, the other officials were checking the household registrations of other people to confirm that they were local refugees, and then instructing them on where to report.

At this moment, a soldier came up to Song Wenjie and pointed to Zhao Lian and her group: "General, those dozen or so people are from Changting County in Lianzhou."

"Oh~"

Upon hearing the words "Changting County," Song Wenjie was startled. This was something that the Third Prince Zhu Yuanzhang had entrusted to him.

In recent days, we have questioned many disaster victims, some of whom were from Changting County, but they have basically been ruled out.

Song Wenjie looked in the direction the official was pointing, and it turned out to be Zhao Lian.

Song Wenjie's lips curled up. What a coincidence! It turns out this girl is from Changting County.

Zhao Lian, who was standing to the side, saw the official point in her direction, and then the man looked over.

A sense of foreboding rose in Zhao Lian's heart. She whispered to Zhao Di, "Second Sister, why are they looking at us and whispering to each other?"

Zhao Di looked nervous: "No way, little sister, don't scare me!"

Sun Shangxiang chimed in from the side, "It's alright, let's not scare ourselves."

"You—come out here!"

An official pointed at Zhao Lian.

"I?"

Zhao Lian opened her eyes wide, pointed at herself, and asked again uncertainly.

The officer was getting impatient: "It's you. Come out here now. The general has something to ask you."

"General?"

Zhao Lian looked the man standing in front of her up and down, and couldn't believe that he was a general.

In his memory, those generals all had full beards and looked fierce.

But the man in front of him, although he looked a bit fierce—no, no, I wouldn't say fierce, but rather arrogant and aloof—was undeniably even somewhat handsome.

Anyway, no matter how you look at it, this guy just doesn't look like a general.

"Have you seen enough?"

Song Wenjie pursed his lips, his mouth twitching slightly. This girl really had no shame, staring at him from left to right. He never thought that girls from Changting County were so bold before!

Zhao Lian lifted her eyelids and snorted coldly, "Tch, how would you know I was looking at you if you weren't looking at me?"

Ha! What a sharp tongue! How interesting!

Song Wenjie couldn't help but look at Zhao Lian with new respect. In the past, many girls had been coy and pretentious when they saw him.

Such a generous and straightforward girl is truly rare.

Song Wenjie said with a hint of self-deprecation, "What? Judging from what the young lady was saying just now, I don't seem like a general?"

Zhao Lian blurted out, "It really doesn't look like it!"

Liu Yu walked over, unable to suppress a smile. This girl really spoke her mind. Didn't she see that the general's face was as black as the bottom of a pot?