Sweet as candy

Speeding up the horse and traveling day and night, everyone finally arrived at Pingyi within the originally planned time.

The city of Pingyi was shrouded in gloomy clouds, the sky was dim and oppressive, and occasionally a few locusts flew by with their wings fluttering.There were quite a few refugees sitting paralyzed on both sides of the road. Pedestrians walked past with their heads down and their faces heavy.

As soon as the car stopped, an old man in ragged clothes rushed out from the side and grabbed the side of the car tightly.Xue Shiji was startled by him, and stepped back, Yan Nanhui was about to get out of the car, seeing this, he couldn't help being startled, and shouted: "What are you doing!"

Mu Yunyi's face remained unchanged, he cast his gaze on the man's dark hands, and said to Xiao Lang beside him, "It should be a refugee."

"Masters, have pity on me." The old man knelt on his knees and knocked his head on the ground without hesitation: "My family has no food for several days. It doesn't matter if I die, pity my family." The little grandson is going to starve too, please beg the master to give me some food!"

When he knelt down on the ground, Xiao Lang stretched out his hands to help him up, "Old man, don't worry, speak slowly."

The old man saw that they were dressed luxuriously, so he wanted to go up to try his luck. Seeing that they didn't drive him away, he couldn't help but secretly rejoiced: "Master, please give me some food, a bowl of porridge is fine." Ah, there is a baby in my family waiting for help."

Xiao Lang's eyes darkened, and he turned to Xue Shiji and said, "Shiji, bring some food that is convenient for children to eat."

Xue Shiji nodded, and took a bag of soft cakes from the car. When the old man saw the food, his eyes flashed with gratitude, he took the cakes carefully with both hands, and thanked them repeatedly: "Thank you, master, thank you, master!" .Good people are rewarded, good people must be rewarded!”

The people sitting paralyzed at the side saw that he had successfully obtained food, and immediately rushed forward: "Okay, master, we haven't eaten for a few days!"

Those hands eagerly stretched forward, Mu Yunyi was about to reach out to stop, Xiao Lang lightly covered the back of his hand, motioning him not to move.

"That's all." He distributed the remaining rice noodles in the car to the crowd, which immediately caused a rush. Xue Shiji was shocked: "It seems that the horror of this locust plague is far beyond our imagination."

"If the problem is not serious, it won't alarm the leader." Xiao Lang sighed and said, "We don't know the details for the time being, so we can only go to the leader first to see what he will order."

He took everyone to find Song Fengqing, but learned that the old man had gone to the magistrate's place early this morning.The chivalrous men who stayed in the courtyard to help saw Xiao Lang, and they were very enthusiastic: "The lord has ordered that if Hero Xiao comes, he will leave the courtyard to the south for you to live in. I just didn't expect you to move so fast, and you haven't had time yet." Clean it up, why don't you rest here for a while, and I'll send someone to clean it right away."

"Then I will trouble you, the bed and table can be tidied away, there is no need to waste a lot of effort." Xiao Lang said: "I will go to the leader first."

Since he was going to see the magistrate, he couldn't show up.Yan Nanhui hesitated for a moment, then said weakly: "Hero Xiao, I feel sick to my stomach, so I won't act with you first."

Xiao Lang nodded, turned around and said to Mu Yunyi: "A journey of wind and dust, Amu, you should also go and rest for a while."

Mu Yunyi was obsessed with practicing martial arts when she became popular in the front line, and rarely showed her face.He had never fought Song Fengqing face-to-face, so he was not worried that he would recognize him, but to avoid trouble, he agreed.

Xiao Lang took Xue Shiji aside, and whispered: "Shi Ji, you are here watching Young Master Yan."

Xue Shiji said: "Why, Brother Xiao, do you doubt him?"

Xiao Lang said: "His identity has not been confirmed yet, half of it is suspicion, and half of it is fear that some enemies will come to him."

Xue Shiji nodded, and said again: "Then Amu can keep an eye on him, and I will go with you to meet the leader."

Xiao Lang smiled helplessly: "It's been so many days, don't you understand what kind of temperament A Mu is? They didn't even say a few polite words all the way, let him stare at Mr. Yan, are there two people? Relatively silent?"

Xue Shiji thought about it for a while, and it seemed that it was really the case, so he said, "Okay, then you go, but if there is any abnormality in him, can I beat him?"

Xiao Lang said: "You have a big opinion on him."

"No." Xue Shiji shrank his neck: "I just think he has such a temper. If we quarrel, either I will beat him or he will beat me. I don't want to lose the opportunity."

Xiao Lang smiled, noncommittal.

After taking off his luggage, Xiao Lang went to the stable to look at the horse he was riding, and thought for a while, but he still didn't ride it—since the locust plague has ravaged to such an extent, the horse grass will also suffer, it's better to save some.

Fortunately, the magistrate's office was not too far away from where they stayed. After Xiao Lang expressed his intention to the people at the door, he was immediately sent into the reception room respectfully.

After a while, an old man showing a slightly rich appearance came out of the room, passed by Xiao Lang, and smiled at him.

Behind him, a hale and hearty figure stepped out, saw Xiao Lang, and said with a loud smile, "You're here."

"Since Daxia Xiao has also come here, I can rest assured." The magistrate smiled and said, "I don't want to interrupt the conversation between the two of you. If President Song has anything to say, feel free to come to the mansion and say it."

Song Fengqing said: "My lord, please remember what the old man just said, and report this matter to the imperial court as soon as possible."

"That's natural, natural." Two huge drops of sweat flowed from the prefect's forehead, he pulled his sleeves to wipe them off, and said with a weak smile: "I also ask the leader to help, at least we can't let the situation continue like this gone."

Xiao Lang watched indifferently as the two of them came and went as if they were playing charades until they left the county office and turned into a secluded alley, then said softly: "Master."

People in the world only know that President Song is very fond of Hero Xiao, but no one knows that the two have had a relationship of master and apprentice long ago.

But to avoid suspicion, he would only call Song Fengqing that way when there was no one around.

"Xiao Lang, I've been waiting for you for a long time." Song Fengqing's smile deepened, and he stretched out his hand to pat him on the shoulder: "I was so overwhelmed by you just now."

Xiao Lang said innocently: "What?"

"Just now you have been looking at his stomach intentionally or unintentionally, why, aren't you making fun of him?"

"So that's what happened." Xiao Lang chuckled: "I'm just a little surprised that none of the officials I've seen these days are thin."

"There's a lot of oil and water in the officialdom." Song Fengqing sighed, "What happened in Xuzhou..."

Xiao Lang said: "It's all done."

"That's good." Song Fengqing said: "Recently there have been turmoil in the world, and I really can't get away. Fortunately, with your help, Xiaoxue also came together?"

"Yes." Xiao Lang said: "I asked him to wait in the courtyard first, Master, besides Shi Ji, I also brought two people with me this trip."

"Oh?"

"One was rescued in Xing'an Village before. It's called Amu. I've already told you in the letter. The other is called Yan Nanhui. When we met him, he happened to be hunted down by his enemies."

Xiao Lang roughly told the story that happened during this period. After Song Fengqing finished listening, he stroked his beard thoughtfully: "There are not many rich businessmen with the surname Yan who can be named, which is in line with what he said about me. I have no impression. Xiao Lang, from your point of view, how true is what he said?"

"Each half." Xiao Lang pondered, "Maybe it was a last resort to save his life, but considering Pingyi's urgency, I didn't investigate further. I only asked Shi Ji to watch him first, and then do it later. decide."

"As you said, he really wants to contribute to the locust plague in Pingyi, which is a good thing." Song Fengqing said: "The situation here is more critical than I expected. The fields were destroyed, the people were hungry, and they were already inhuman."

When Xiao Lang saw the old man who stopped the car when he came, he had already guessed [-]% of it. Hearing what he said, his heart was even heavier: "I just heard what Master and the magistrate said, and the court is actually serious about this matter. Know nothing?"

"Exactly." Speaking of this, Song Fengqing couldn't help shaking his head again and again: "This locust plague came suddenly. At the beginning, people in the government didn't take it seriously. They thought they could suppress it with their own strength, but they didn't expect it to develop to such an extent. It's so serious. The food that the people depend on for survival has been ruined, and the price of food in the surrounding area has skyrocketed. If we don't report it in time, I'm afraid it will spread to other places."

Xiao Lang was also regretful: "If someone had been sent to report earlier, perhaps the imperial court's reinforcements would have arrived by now."

"He promised that I would report it immediately, but we still have to rely on us to help the disaster relief during this period." Song Fengqing said: "But the number of locusts is too large, and it is absolutely impossible to do it with our strength alone. I have already and After discussing with the prefect, we will open a warehouse for disaster relief tomorrow, and we will arrive for a while, and the Martial Arts League will also transfer food."

The two returned to their residence, and before they had time to enter the door, they heard a noise coming from the courtyard through the wall.

It was Yan Nan who shouted in the courtyard, his posture was weird, his feet kept jumping up and down, as if he was dodging something left and right.Xue Shiji took a net and slapped him cautiously.

Xiao Lang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Shiji, what are you doing?"

Seeing them coming back, Xue Shiji said with a mournful face, "Brother Xiao, leader, you can count yourself back. Just now two locusts jumped on Mr. Yan, and I was catching insects for him."

Xiao Lang stepped forward to help knock down the locusts, and comforted him: "Mr. Yan, don't be afraid, these locusts only eat food and grass, they won't hurt people."

Yan Nan's face turned pale, and he didn't know if he heard it, he couldn't help shaking, Song Fengqing also said: "Maybe this young man just doesn't like insects to be close to him, take him to the room to take a bath."

Xue Shiji went in with him and put the net back where it was.Xindao is really a young master, if he is afraid of bugs, why bother to come here with them, he is asking for trouble.

But when he turned around, he saw that Yan Nanhui's lips were turning white, and he felt sympathetic again. He didn't know what to say to comfort him, so he scratched his head, leaving him alone.

Turning around and returning to the courtyard, Song Fengqing looked at himself with a smile on his face. Xue Shiji thought of his own arbitrariness and ran to find Xiao Lang, so he stood up straight in embarrassment: "Leader..."

Song Fengqing didn't scold him, he waved his hands and said, "Forget it, you like to follow your elder brother Xiao, so just follow. But remember, the overall situation is the most important thing, and you can't be so willful in the future."

Hearing this, Xue Shiji grinned his mouth to the base of his ears, and said with a smile, "Got it!"

Song Fengqing nodded, and said to Xiao Lang: "The one just now was Yan Nanhui, so what about the Amu you were talking about?"