Rebirth of the Merchant Woman's Revenge

If the emperor had sent officials to provide disaster relief, they would still have some concerns even if they had to embezzle some money. But since it was a prince who came, it was hard to say what would happen.

He couldn't say anything too harsh, otherwise, not only would his Wusha be in danger, but even his entire family might not escape the disaster.

Thinking of this, Niu Penghai trembled and climbed up from the ground, and told his adjutant, "Let's go to the city gate and take a look. I have said everything I need to say, and the rest depends on God's will."

The adjutant nodded and helped him into the carriage.

The city was already showing signs of depression. There were almost no people on the streets, no vendors to be seen, and the same was true on the commercial streets.

Niu Penghai shook his head repeatedly along the way. If such a thing happened under his rule, all his years of hard work in the officialdom might be wasted if he was not careful.

But these are secondary. He was born in poverty and understands the hardships of these people at the bottom of society best, so he also wants to do something for these refugees from the bottom of his heart.

He would not hesitate even if it meant offending His Royal Highness Prince An, but after all, he was a low-ranking official and his words carried little weight, so this was to be expected.

He arrived at the north gate and looked up. Many refugees had gathered outside the gate. They were squatting on the ground in groups of three or five. Some were hiding in the shadow of the city wall, while others were exposed to the sun.

"I hope they can hold on after this afternoon and this night." The adjutant said worriedly.

Niu Penghai looked at the refugees, his eyes becoming more and more determined, "No more waiting, let's open the warehouse."

"Sir, you can't do that," the adjutant exclaimed immediately after hearing Niu Penghai's words, "You are disobeying the emperor's order by doing this."

If you open the warehouse and release grain without permission, you will lose your head.

"I can't worry about that. Look at them. Do you really think they can hold on until tomorrow night? Maybe they have to hold on until the day after tomorrow, maybe..." Niu Penghai asked the adjutant.

"Yes, but..."

"There is no but. If the emperor blames me at that time, I will bear the responsibility." Niu Penghai waved his hand and asked his adjutant to pass on the order.

At this time, Cao Xingwen's voice came from behind, "Master Niu is so bold, he actually wants to disobey His Highness's order?"

It turned out that Cao Xingwen saw the conversation between Niu Penghai and Prince An today, and guessed that Lord Niu must have many complaints and might do something, so he followed him on his own.

I didn't expect that I would actually hear such a conversation.

When the adjutant saw that it was the counselor of His Royal Highness Prince An, he immediately knelt down and said, "Master Cao, please spare my life. Master Cao, please spare my life."

Niu Penghai was so frightened that he was speechless at this moment. It seemed that he had completely offended His Royal Highness Prince An, and the key point was that the thing had not been done yet.

Just when he was at a loss for words and didn't know how to respond, suddenly a city gate guard came over and whispered to him, "Sir, there are several carriages outside the city gate, asking to enter the city."

"Carriage? Is it the carriage of His Royal Highness Prince An?" Niu Penghai's eyes immediately lit up, but he denied his guess after saying this.

His Royal Highness Prince An's carriage had a disaster relief logo on it, so the guards would definitely be able to see it at a glance.

"No, it's not." The guard answered and pointed in the direction outside for Niu Penghai to look.

His eyesight was not very good, but he looked in the direction of his finger and saw two rows of carriages lined up outside the city gate, winding all the way to a distant intersection.

There were neatly placed sacks on each carriage, and it was impossible to tell what was inside them, but on the flags hanging on the carriages, there were three big words "Wang Yu Lou".

He saw the flag immediately. "Wangyulou, a incense shop? What are they transporting?"

"I asked, but they didn't tell me. They said they would only tell me when they met you in person." The guard said in a low voice.

Cao Xingwen also saw the two long rows of carriages, but he didn't think much about it and just thought it was the convoy carrying spices from Wangyu Tower.

Seeing that Niu Penghai was too busy to deal with him, he flicked his sleeves and prepared to leave, but his adjutant grabbed his arm and left with him.

Niu Penghai followed the guards to meet the leader of the convoy, and only then did he realize that the convoy was actually escorted by bodyguards from the Nanhai Escort Agency.

A middle-aged man politely saluted Niu Penghai and said, "Master Niu, we are from Wangyu Tower. Our boss has gathered the strength of Wangyu Tower in ten states to collect these grains. We sent them here specially to help you in your urgent need."

When Niu Penghai heard this, his tense nerves suddenly collapsed. His lips trembled and he asked in disbelief, "What are you talking about? Are you telling the truth?"

He really couldn't imagine that so many horse-drawn carriages were loaded with food. In such a disaster year, these food could save many lives.

The middle-aged man smiled and cupped his fists at him. "Next, the masters of the Nanhai Escort Agency will help you deal with the following matters. They will also help you maintain order when distributing porridge. I will take my leave now."

"No, no, don't go. I will treat you well. I want to thank your boss and thank you on behalf of these refugees." Lord Niu excitedly tried to keep the man.

"Master Niu, you are too polite. I am the shopkeeper of Wangyu Tower in Jinzhou City. My surname is Niu, and you and I are from the same family. We will inevitably have dealings in the future." Shopkeeper Niu said to Niu Penghai with a smile, bowed, and then left with the two of them.

The remaining drivers entered the city in an orderly manner under the arrangement of the escorts from the Nanhai Escort Agency.

The refugees outside the city did not cause much commotion as they had no idea what was being carried on the carriages. They just watched listlessly as the carriages rumbled past them.

Some people had numb looks in their eyes, as if they had lost hope. After all, they had come from far away and were so hungry that they had eaten up all the surrounding bark and newly grown weeds.

If we don’t provide free porridge, we really won’t be able to hold on any longer.

At this moment, the guards arranged by Niu Penghai had opened the city gate, and many people came out. Some of them were holding shovels, and some were holding big pots. They were actually going to build a porridge shed under a big tree not far from the city gate.

The refugees, who had already lost all hope, were now crying and kowtowing towards the city gate. Although their voices were very small, they still reached the ears of Lord Niu.