Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1219: Chapter 1129: The Lady Chancellor 67

Luo Linlang’s compassion wasn’t fake, she was not someone who hadn’t endured hardship. When she was young, Luo Linlang’s family was also very poor, unable to have enough to eat all year round.

Later, because the family was struck by disaster, the County Magistrate also refused to report it for political achievements. Without reporting the disaster, taxes had to be paid according to the rules of a bountiful year, leaving the common people with no way out.

During disaster years, selling sons and daughters was a common occurrence. Luo Linlang’s family, driven by starvation, was forced to sell the most beautiful Luo Linlang to get money.

Luo Linlang never liked to recall her parents. She didn’t hate them for selling her for money since, in those days, not selling her meant everyone would starve to death together. Although it was better to sell her to give the family a chance to survive.

But she hated her parents for selling her to that shady place just to get a bit more money!

Fang Yong didn’t know what was going on in Luo Linlang’s heart. He saw Luo Linlang worrying that those disaster victims might starve to death, and while he admired Luo Linlang’s kindness, he explained.

”It wouldn’t go that far. Only their area was struck by disaster, and nowhere else. On their way to the Capital City, the towns they passed through would always have some wealthy households willing to give a little food.

Plus, they can also dig some wild vegetables and pick some wild fruits along the way. Those with skills can even fish or catch some wild game. If all else fails, they can eat grass roots and chew bark.

Although it’s a bit hard, they wouldn’t really starve to death. Outside the disaster-stricken area, it’s hard to live well, but easier to stay alive.

When these disaster victims reach the Capital City, there will be no lack of opportunities. After all, they’re under the Emperor’s eye, and it’s impossible to just watch people starve to death. The current court is not the negligent previous dynasty, ignoring the common people’s lives.”

Luo Linlang let out a sigh of relief and genuinely gave a comforting smile: ”As long as they can survive, that’s good. As long as they’re alive, there is hope. That County Magistrate is truly detestable.” Luo Linlang’s last words were filled with disgust.

Fang Yong also disdained that County Magistrate: ”One can call that County Magistrate foolish. If so many disaster victims really reach the Capital City, it will surely alarm the higher-ups, possibly even alarming the Emperor.

After so many years of disaster, neglecting to report it for political achievements, not taking preventive measures, and still collecting taxes while ignoring the common people’s lives will certainly be punished if the Emperor finds out. Then, his life will be forfeit.”

Fang Yong held back another thought so as not to affect his image in Luo Linlang’s eyes: if he were that County Magistrate, having already committed such evil acts, he might as well go all the way.

He would lock all the common people in the county, never allowing them to leave for the Capital City. If too many people died due to the disaster, he would report to the court that a plague had struck the place, killing many.

Generally, if a place had a plague and as long as it was reported that the epidemic had passed, the court wouldn’t send people to inspect it. Mainly because no official would want to visit a place with infectious diseases.

......

Early in the morning, Yin Shuangshuang and others quietly left Fang Yong’s manor. Taking advantage of the early hours, they left the city without riding horses or using carriages, lightly equipped, reaching an abandoned temple outside the county.

The small temple had previously been occupied by a group of male disaster victims, completely prohibiting others from approaching. As soon as Yin Shuangshuang and others arrived, they were welcomed in by Yan Ba and others disguised as disaster victims.

Inside the broken temple, clothes for the disaster victims were already prepared, and Yin Shuangshuang and her group immediately began to change clothes.

They wrapped the silver note carefully and carried it closely. To ensure safety, everyone had deliberately starved themselves for a few days beforehand to appear more haggard. Yin Shuangshuang helped with makeup to make everyone look more akin to disaster victims.

When Yin Shuangshuang was considering a way out, she remembered that among the information she collected in the Capital City, there was a place that had faced drought for consecutive years, with this year again having little or no harvest.

Yin Shuangshuang stayed in the Capital City for some time, calculating the timing, and realized it was just during the autumn harvest. If that drought-stricken area had no harvest again this year, the common people would soon reach their limits.

Yin Shuangshuang thought of a plan to send the three most articulate people, Yan Qi, Yan Ba, and Yan Jiu, along with a few others who were also eloquent, to the drought-stricken place to encourage the desperate disaster victims to come to the Capital City seeking survival.

This plan would kill two birds with one stone. For one, if the common people stuck to the old idea of not leaving their homes, there would be no way out. Eventually, when starvation forced them to leave, trying to seek a living elsewhere while already extremely hungry could result in death because their bodies would already be weakened by hunger.

If they set off now, while each household still had a bit of reserve, everyone’s chances of reaching and returning from the Capital City alive would be much greater.

Moreover, Yin Shuangshuang and her group could blend in with these disaster victims, returning to the Capital City together. With a large group of disaster victims moving, no one would suspect someone like Wang Zhongxuan, who had been a Prime Minister for so long, would disguise himself as a disaster victim to bravely return to the Capital City.

This whole matter had two difficult points: one was encouraging the disaster victims to head to the Capital City, and the other was the County Magistrate. If the County Magistrate was really as cruel as Fang Yong thought, not allowing disaster victims to leave would be the biggest trouble.

Yin Shuangshuang considered several countermeasures and thought through every possibility, instructing Yan Qi and others to adapt as situations arose.

Unexpectedly, that County Magistrate was both cruel and foolish, driving people to despair without preventing them from leaving. Those commoners ran away, and the County Magistrate didn’t even try to manage it, allowing Yan Qi and others to successfully coax disaster victims out.

Everyone disguised themselves as disaster victims. It would be too conspicuous if more than twenty men from Yan’s team traveled together, so Yin Shuangshuang instructed them to move separately.

Yin Shuangshuang and Wang Zhongxuan disguised themselves as grandfather and granddaughter, Yan Yi as Yin Shuangshuang’s father, and Luo Linlang as Yin Shuangshuang’s sister, forming a group of four.

Wei Yingnan, Wang Ruiqi, and Wang Ruibo pretended to be siblings, accompanied by Yan Er and Yan San disguised as their second and third uncles, moving separately from Yin Shuangshuang.

Yan Qi, Yan Ba, and Yan Jiu continued gathering information independently, while the remaining members of the Yan Team dispersed into smaller groups.

Everyone maintained a fair distance from Yin Shuangshuang’s group, not too far nor too close. Yin Shuangshuang instructed them repeatedly, not to glance over toward her group or have eye contact with one another, ensuring that no one would suspect they belonged to the same party.

The distance from the Capital City was not too far. By walking, they could reach the Capital City in less than a month, which was also why it was so easy for Yan Qi and others to persuade those commoners to head to the Capital City.

Traveling on foot was tiring; others managed well, but Yin Shuangshuang’s body couldn’t handle such toil. Even Wang Zhongxuan and Luo Linlang could persist on foot, whereas Yin Shuangshuang, despite being carried by Yan Yi without touching the ground, still fell ill.