One sentence was like opening floodgates.
Curses poured forth like a flood, rising in clamor.
All the refugees pointed at Governor Yang and cursed him.
“Corrupt official! He must have taken money from that Gao fellow!”
“Magistrate Gao did so many evil deeds, Prince Pang saw injustice and acted, yet you drive him away—do you deserve to be governor?”
“Dog official, officials protecting officials, not giving us common people a way to live!”
“Dog official, dog official!”
“Beat him to death! Beat him to death!”
The refugees’ anger had originally been soothed by Pang Xiao’s righteous actions, but Governor Yang’s behavior pushed all the people’s fury to the next peak.
Everyone grabbed mud and stones from the ground and threw them at Governor Yang.
Governor Yang’s attendants and guards hurriedly protected him in their midst, each spreading their arms like mother hens, fearing the governor might be injured. However, quite a bit of mud and stones still hit Governor Yang’s face and head.
When had Governor Yang ever suffered such humiliation?
He hurriedly shouted: “It’s not that this prefecture won’t deal with Magistrate Gao, but Prince Zhongshun has overstepped his authority, he…”
“Go eat shit! You dog official, stop spouting nonsense here!”
Before Governor Yang could finish speaking, a lump of horse dung came flying at his face.
“Ptui, ptui ptui ptui!” Governor Yang wiped his face and coughed violently. His wretched appearance was unprecedented.
Yet the people still wouldn’t let up. They couldn’t find anyone to seek justice for them, and the great benefactor Qian had been beaten severely and lay unconscious after being carried aside.
They had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no warm clothes, and didn’t know where their next meal would come from. Finally someone had stood up for them, only to be rejected by Governor Yang. He claimed it was about overstepping authority—wasn’t this just protecting his subordinate?
Their future held no hope. Being bullied to this extent, rather than silently starving or freezing to death, it was better to vent their anger now!
The refugees could bear no more. Furiously, they charged forward. Some rushed into the yamen, some toward Governor Yang and Magistrate Gao, others toward the Gao residence.
Not only that, but desperate refugees harbored resentment toward wealthy families. Some developed vengeful thoughts and charged toward other unrelated households.
Seeing this, Governor Yang frantically waved his arms: “Stop! Stop! Whatever punishment you want, this prefecture agrees to it all. Don’t be rash, don’t be rash!”
But in the chaos, who could hear Governor Yang’s shouts?
Everyone was driven by the desire to vent their anger, roaring and releasing their frustration, rushing about in all directions.
Cold sweat broke out on Governor Yang’s forehead.
At this rate, wouldn’t all the households near the yamen suffer disaster? This would be an unprecedented incident in centuries! Would he, this obscure governor, be recorded in history books because of such an event?
Even if His Majesty learned of this, he’d have no good end!
Governor Yang looked left and right, having no idea what to do. Suddenly turning around, he happened to see Yuchi Yan and Gu Shixiong huddled together retreating into the corner. Governor Yang immediately flew into a rage.
Damn that dog thief Yuchi Yan! This prefecture protected your man, yet now you shrink back like a turtle and ignore everything—what are you worth!
But with the crowd in chaos, even if he said or cursed anything, no one would hear.
This situation couldn’t be allowed to develop further!
Governor Yang, anxious as an ant on a hot pan, could only squeeze toward the direction the Pingnan Army had left. His attendants and guards were all busy helping him fend off refugees rushing up to beat him.
“Your Highness, Your Highness wait! Your Highness wait!”
Governor Yang could no longer care about appearances, struggling frantically toward Pang Xiao’s direction while shouting like a madman.
His hair was disheveled, clothes filthy, face smeared with horse dung, yet at this moment he couldn’t care about any of it.
Pang Xiao actually had no intention of leaving—otherwise wouldn’t their cavalry have disappeared in the blink of an eye? How could Governor Yang have caught up?
Hearing Governor Yang’s voice, Pang Xiao turned around. The elite Tiger Guards immediately stepped forward to escort Governor Yang over, lest he be beaten to death by refugees before speaking with the Prince.
“Your Highness!” Governor Yang panted heavily, saying anxiously: “Your Highness, seeing the city in such chaos, how can you stand by and do nothing?”
Pang Xiao dismounted and stood steady while holding Qin Yining, then turned to look at Governor Yang with amusement: “Didn’t Governor Yang just say this prince was overstepping? You told this prince to leave, so this prince had to leave. You wouldn’t let this prince interfere, so this prince had to not interfere. How has it now become this prince standing by and doing nothing? Isn’t Governor Yang a bit too difficult to please?”
Governor Yang knew Pang Xiao was blaming him, but he couldn’t care about face now. If this continued, both his life and his entire family’s lives would be forfeit.
Governor Yang quickly bowed deeply, pleading: “Please have Your Highness order the troops to act and quell this disturbance. Otherwise, if it develops further, the consequences will be unthinkable!”
Pang Xiao said: “You’re asking this prince to handle it—this isn’t this prince overstepping his authority, is it?”
“No, no.” Governor Yang was so angry his stomach hurt.
Pang Xiao then turned to Qin Yining: “Princess, do you think this prince should handle it?”
Qin Yining was having a hard time suppressing her laughter.
Pang Xiao wasn’t someone who acted rashly or treated human life lightly. He had actually already arranged for people to guard the gates of nearby households. This was just to frighten Governor Yang into begging him.
Qin Yining pretended to ponder: “Actually, Your Highness being falsely accused of overstepping makes my heart heavy… but Your Highness should still cooperate sincerely with Governor Yang to ensure the former capital’s stability.”
“Very well then.” Pang Xiao smiled: “Then this prince will listen to the Princess.”
The elite Tiger Guards had long grown accustomed to the affection between Pang Xiao and Qin Yining. But these elite Pingnan Army soldiers didn’t know this.
They only thought Pang Xiao was a tough, outstanding man. Who would have expected this tough man to have such a tender side? Moreover, the Prince didn’t mind showing his love for his wife in front of others, even willing to let her express her views on such matters—such respect wasn’t something every man could give his wife.
The men had already been completely convinced by Pang Xiao these past days, and now seeing him dote on his wife so much, this iron man’s tenderness seemed even more precious in everyone’s eyes.
Everyone chuckled quietly.
Pang Xiao turned and called out loudly: “Brothers, quickly go stop the refugees—don’t just stand here laughing.”
“Yes!”
The Pingnan Army, elite Tiger Guards, and the plainclothes personnel Pang Xiao had arranged in the shadows long ago immediately coordinated their actions.
In less than an incense stick’s time, the riotous scene was calmed. No longer was there the shocking roar of thousands, only occasional curses could be heard.
Pang Xiao stood in the center of the clearing and called out loudly: “Fellow townspeople, everyone be quiet and listen to this prince.”
Huzi and Mu Jinghu, crouching in the crowd, exchanged glances.
Huzi immediately shouted: “Stop making noise, listen to what the Prince has to say!”
Mu Jinghu also nudged the person beside him with his elbow: “Listen to what the Prince says—the Prince is a good person.”
With people mixed among the refugees passing the word, the refugees’ emotions quickly settled, and everyone became quiet.
Pang Xiao declared in a clear voice: “Fellow townspeople, just now Governor Yang told this prince he was willing to agree to everyone’s reasonable requests, as long as everyone stops causing trouble. This prince thought Governor Yang was saying this for everyone’s good, so I helped mediate between him and everyone.
“Look, if we continue making trouble, no one will have a good outcome in the end. And those who in their anger wanted to rob others—do you think that behavior is right? If caught by the court, wouldn’t you be beheaded?
“You’ve suffered wrongs and cursed people in anger—this is human nature, and anyone who knew would sympathize with you. But once you truly become violent criminals causing riots, the court’s only recourse is to send troops to suppress and quell the civil unrest!
“Those people in history who gathered to cause trouble—do you know what became of them all?”
Pang Xiao’s voice was resonant, his words simple and easy to understand. When everyone had calmed down, he gently explained the consequences clearly. Though he expressed no blame, his warning was quite effective.
The common people’s heads cleared from their anger after only a short while. Everyone was accustomed to being law-abiding—how many had the courage to face legal punishment? Who would sincerely want to do evil? Who wouldn’t fear death?
So Pang Xiao’s words made everyone consciously close their mouths and become panicked.
Pang Xiao paced quietly, giving all the refugees enough time to consider the consequences if they continued their misdeeds. Only when everyone understood what fear meant did he continue:
“So now Governor Yang agreeing to these conditions is truly taking care of everyone. Governor Yang is a scholar—his thinking is somewhat rigid, but his heart isn’t bad. If everyone has difficulties, bring them up, and this prince will help bear witness here.
“We’ve all experienced war and famine, and barely managed to survive. There’s no need to do things that harm others. Don’t you agree? Aren’t we doing this so our wives, children, and elderly can live well?”
“Yes, we just want to survive.” Someone in the crowd covered their face and sobbed.
This crying truly made everyone’s hearts ache and shed tears.
Everyone began crying.
Hungry, facing cold winds, causing such a great disturbance, going through several twists and turns and nearly losing their lives, only to finally get a chance to negotiate conditions with officials. Everyone felt a mixture of post-disaster fear and panic, along with infinite terror and dread about the future.
“We just want to survive, to have food to eat.”
“We want Magistrate Gao to receive proper punishment!”
“And we want Magistrate Gao to release the great benefactor he arrested!”
“Also, we want a warm place to live.
“If conditions aren’t good, we adults can bear the cold, but please give my child and my eighty-year-old mother a warm place to spend winter!”
…
Everyone spoke their conditions at once.
But not one of their proposed conditions was excessive.
Their conditions made Qin Yining’s heart ache to hear.
These were simple, honest people.
They had no ambition, nor did they want wealth or glory.
They just wanted to survive, wanted their families to survive, wanted to honor their elders, wanted their children to live a little better.
Simply put, what they wanted was just the basic dignity of being human.
Yet in this chaotic world, even such simple wishes couldn’t be fulfilled.
Qin Yining lowered her eyes sadly, tears of heartache already glimmering in them.
Standing in the corner, still shaken, Yuchi Yan also felt indescribable heartache, pain, and deep guilt.
These were once his subjects. His subjects only wanted to live with human dignity, yet he as emperor couldn’t provide that.
Having lost his country, his family, caused his wives’ deaths, he was still surviving to try to reclaim Great Yan’s power. He hadn’t closely contacted these people, so he’d never considered their thoughts and feelings.
In the cold wind, Yuchi Yan looked at the refugees in tattered clothes, listening to their humble pleas and cries. For the first time, he questioned his heart with utmost heaviness.
Was what he was doing really right?
Pang Xiao’s heart was also extremely heavy.
He looked down at Governor Yang beside him, whose face was tense, and asked gravely: “Governor Yang, did you hear?”
Governor Yang pressed his lips together for a long time before nodding heavily.