Placid Chang'an

Yangzhou is five or six hundred miles away from Suzhou, and the earthquake can be felt here, which is enough to illustrate the seriousness of the disaster.

Yangzhou was rich in supplies. Lin Zongqing, as the governor of Yangzhou, did not even wait for the court's approval to come back. He cooperated with Yangzhou Sima to summon the available soldiers and horses in Yangzhou city and the raised grain and grass materials to escort Suzhou.

Lingyuan Temple discussed it for a day, and felt that monks should take compassion and save all living beings, so they sent several elders in the temple and several people to Suzhou to appease the living and save the dead.

Su Cen is also in the same group.

One is that he feels that he may be able to help with his experience in Xuzhou, and the other is that he still has some relationship with Suzhou, and he wants to go to the "Baiyun Township" place again.

A group of people moved forward with luggage, and everyone carried half a month's worth of dry food. If they don't ask for relief for many victims, at least they don't want to increase the burden on Suzhou.This journey can be regarded as experience and practice. Only when we have seen the real suffering of the people can we fully understand the true meaning of Buddhism.

A group of people stayed overnight in Fuli County, which is tens of miles away from Suzhou City. Along the way, the closer they got to Suzhou City, the ruined buildings and houses were destroyed. Everything was covered with a layer of gloomy gray. It looks like "this is the first state in Huainan".

At this time, three days have passed since the earthquake, the land cracked, the huts collapsed, and some villages were even completely razed to the ground. All the survivors crowded into a temporary shack. The emotional period has passed, and now All of them were gray-headed and dull-eyed. Apart from panting, they looked more like walking corpses.

Not far away, the real corpses that hadn't been dealt with in time were piled up together, with arms and legs missing, unrecognizable, and they had already begun to emit a stench.

The faces of the two young novice monks who had never seen the world were pale with fright, and they closed their eyes and recited "Amitabha".

Su Cen was quite calm, with Xuzhou's experience before him, so he was well prepared.Before the catastrophe, life was like ants, and it was not something that manpower could contend with. It was God's mercy that people survived, and there was nothing extravagant to ask for.

The group settled down in a clearing in front of the village, lit a bonfire, and shared food and water.The fog was heavy at night, and they slept in the open air. When they were illuminated by the fire, everyone's body was covered with a layer of shiny dew.

In the middle of the night, the bonfire was also extinguished, and Su Cen woke up several times in the middle of the night, shaking off the dew from his body, but still felt that the chill could permeate through his clothes.

Not long after she lay down, she vaguely heard rustling around her, and just opened her eyes, and met a pair of dark eyes.

Su Cen's first instinct was that it was a small animal, but then he realized it was not. It was obviously a human hand that was groping around beside him just now.

The two looked at each other for a few moments, and the other's eyes hesitated for a moment. Later, they probably felt that they were awake anyway, so they just didn't do anything, grabbed Su Cen's bag and ran away.

Su Cen immediately got up and chased after him. Just halfway through, he realized that this person was not the only one here—their open space was surrounded by those unkempt villagers during the day. , the hesitant look in his eyes completely changed.

It was the look of a hungry wolf seeing food.

Su Cen only had time to wake up the two little novice monks beside him, and a group of people rushed forward, like a flood, like a beast, rushing up and looting them all with their bags and packages in an instant.

A group of monks woke up from their dreams and were dumbfounded when they saw the scene in front of them. They were stunned for a long time before they realized what happened.

The group of people didn't even have time to run away. After grabbing the package, they took two steps and opened it on the spot. They found the food inside and stuffed it into their mouths hungrily.

Su Cen protected the two little novice monks behind him, but he could still feel the two little bodies trembling.

They lived in Buddhist temples from the moment they were born, under the care of their master and the protection of their senior brothers. They met all the benefactors who were sincere to the Buddha, and all they learned were the sublime Buddhist teachings.

"Didn't they eat?" A little novice asked tremblingly while holding Su Cen's half sleeve.

Su Cen frowned, "It seems so."

"But they ate all our things, and we have nothing to eat."

Su Cen pursed her lips, comforted him a bit, and looked back at the other monks, all of them were also frowning, and the elders were twirling their rosary beads quickly, obviously considering this issue.

They were robbed of food before they even touched the gate of Suzhou City, and now they are trapped here, unable to leave or return.

Su Cen sent the two young novice monks to the side of the great monk, and went up to find a villager who hadn't run far. He saw that the man was thin and looked like a half-grown child, and he was hunched over his shoulders and buried his head in eating.

Su Cen patted the man on the shoulder lightly, and the man suddenly raised his head, and saw Su Cen cough violently, choking on the dry cake scum all over Su Cen.

Now Su Cen can't say anything more, so he could only say: "Eat first, we'll talk after eating."

A gleam of vigilance flashed in the man's eyes. Seeing that Su Cen really had no intention of taking the things back, he lowered his head and wolfed down the things again.

Seeing that the man swallowed the hard dry food before he could chew it, Su Cen handed over the water bag he carried with him. The man hesitated for a moment, took it and gulped it down twice before swallowing it.

When people finally finished eating, there were not many whole bags of dry food left.

Su Cen asked, "Have you not eaten for a few days?"

The man hesitated for a moment, and replied "three" in a low voice.

That is to say, these people have not eaten since the earthquake. Su Cen couldn't help frowning, "Didn't the imperial court allocate disaster relief funds for such a big incident in Suzhou?"

The man shook his head lightly, not knowing whether he hadn't arrived or not.

Seeing that Su Cen had nothing to do, the monks gathered together, only to hear Su Cen continue to ask: "Even if the imperial court's payment has not come down, the supplies from Yangzhou should have arrived, right?"

The things were prepared by Lin Zongqing himself, and there will never be any mistakes. Su Cen said: "All the supplies should have been delivered to Suzhou City. It is only a hundred miles away from Suzhou City. Why don't you go there?"

The man poked a hole in his clothes with his finger, lowered his head and whispered, "I can't get in."

"Can't you get in? Why can't you get in?" Su Cen frowned, "Can't you get in Suzhou City?"

Without waiting for an answer, the man looked up and saw that there was no one around him, and he was surrounded by a group of bald-headed monks, he stood up in a panic, pushed Su Cen, and ran away .

Su Cen took two steps back before stabilizing her body, looking at the direction where the person disappeared, thoughtfully.

The elder in the temple stepped forward and asked, "Benefactor Su, what did that man say?"

Su Cen shook her head lightly, but she couldn't understand the reason in just a few words, so she could only say: "Let's do this for today, the sky will be bright in a few hours, let's go to the city to have a look tomorrow morning."

In the second half of the night, no one dared to sleep anymore, and the rustling sound of turning over could be heard from time to time, and the two young monks hugged each other, apparently frightened.

Su Cen looked at a lone star in the sky and saw the dawn.

Early the next morning, breakfast was skipped, the monks got up to do morning classes with dark eyes, Su Cen got up and tidied up briefly, and everyone set off for Suzhou City.

Fuli County is indeed not far from Suzhou City. The group arrived at the city gate before noon. They saw layers of officers and soldiers guarding the city gate.

The monks didn't lie, they could only tell the truth. Su Cen said that he was from Yangzhou, and he came here for business this time, so he didn't suffer much, and let the officers and soldiers look him up and down before letting him go.

As soon as he entered the city gate, he heard a dispute behind him. Su Cen followed the sound and saw an old couple in ragged clothes being stopped outside the city gate.

"What's wrong?" Su Cen asked.

"Go away, don't meddle in your own business." An officer yelled at Su Cen, followed by two officers and soldiers, dragging an old couple away abruptly.

Su Cen pursed her lips lightly, but she had no choice but to turn her head and continue forward.

The inside of Suzhou City is not as dilapidated as the outside. There are also collapsed houses, but it is much better than outside the city. Moreover, everyone is neatly dressed and energetic, and they are busy rebuilding their own houses.The porridge shed not far away is in order, with more rice and less water, and even a temporary shack was built for people to sit and drink.

At first glance, it looks like a thriving and lively scene.

It's fake and scary.

Looking at the streets, everyone has an optimistic face. Most of them are young and middle-aged, but there are no old, weak, women and children.Moreover, in a place that has just experienced a catastrophe, there is no sense of melancholy at all, only a seemingly prosperous and orderly vanity remains.

Just as he was thinking, a person suddenly jumped out from an alley on one side, collided with Su Cen head-on, and both of them fell to the ground.

Su Cen's eyes went dark from being hit, and before he could stand up, he chased out a few people from the alley, stepped forward and pressed the fleeing person to the ground.

Su Cen was lifted up by the monks, looked at him for a moment, the chaser was an official, and the chased one was dressed in a gray cloth, with a disheveled face, his arms and legs lost his strength and fell to the ground, he had given up struggling.

Several officials didn't even say hello, and they escorted him away. Su Cen asked behind him, "What's wrong with this man?"

An official sent back to look at him, and said impatiently: "The government takes thieves."

"I'm not a thief, I..." The detained man hurriedly said, before he could finish speaking, he was punched in the abdomen, grinned under the severe pain, and couldn't say anything.

"But he obviously has no strength to restrain the chicken, his face is pale, and his steps are weak. He probably hasn't eaten for a few days. If I'm not wrong, he should be a disaster victim who fled here?" Su Cen took a step forward, "You guys Where are you taking him?"

The officer turned around and smiled coldly, "To tell you the truth, there are important people in Beijing who are coming to inspect. Our adults have already ordered that all the victims of the disaster must be driven out. Within a radius of ten miles outside the city of Suzhou, not a single victim of the disaster can see it, so as not to disturb you." Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy."

Beijing?Big shot?Su Cen didn't have time to think about it, and the words were out of his mouth: "The imperial court sent people to inspect the disaster situation, not to see your hypocrisy, you drove all the victims away, what did you let him see?"

"The disaster victims, we have them," the officials sneered, "there are disaster victims everywhere, but our lord is well-managed, and everyone has worked together and recovered from the severe trauma."

"Amitabha, saving someone's life is better than building a seven-level pagoda." The monks clasped their hands together at the officials, remembering the group of hungry wolves-like victims last night, "If you drive them out like this, they will starve to death." .”

"Not only are they leaving, but you are also leaving," several officers and soldiers stared hard, drew their long knives out of their sheaths, and approached step by step, "Since you all know, there is no place for you here."

Su Cen had a bad heart, no wonder these officials were willing to tell them about the incident, they had already planned to drive them out together with the disaster victims.Su Cen gritted his teeth. At this time, he realized the importance of being an official. At the beginning, he dared to confront people in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites since he was a sixth-rank official, but now he couldn't even handle a few official posts. up.It doesn't matter that he is gone, but what about the disaster victims outside?They could barely walk back to Yangzhou. The victims had been hungry for several days, so how could they have the strength to travel long distances?

There are few villains in Lingyuan Temple, and there are more civil monks than martial monks. Su Cen can only stand behind a group of monks and say, "I want to see your lords. Lin Zongqing, the governor of Yangzhou, is my teacher. This time in Suzhou He also sent supplies in case of difficulties, you can tell your adults that he will naturally know."

Several officers and soldiers looked at each other, and suddenly smiled, "Since that's the case, then we won't be able to keep you. If you sue our brothers in front of the adults, we won't be able to please you."

With the sharp knife out of the sheath in his hand, he stepped forward a few steps, "You'd better go out by yourself obediently, don't toast or eat fine wine."

Su Cen had no choice but to straighten his back and stand awe-inspiring. He didn't believe that these officials dared to kill people on the street.

The two sides were at a stalemate, and the officials were furious and were about to show some color to this group of people, holding a long knife in their hands. There are many disaster victims here, and if one or two die, will anyone care?

There was a clear sound of "ding", and the long knife fell to the ground. The officer holding the knife covered his hands and looked up, "Who? Who plotted against me?!"

Everyone followed the sound and looked back together, only to see someone approaching a horse amidst the billowing smoke and dust, and when he came close to pulling the reins, the red steed horse neighed, and a pair of deep eyes slowly lowered, gently fixed on a person .

Suzhou Inspector followed behind and came late. As soon as he caught up, he immediately rolled off his horse and knelt down on the spot: "My minister Suzhou Inspector Yang Wanhong is late to pick up the driver. Please forgive me, my lord."