Chapter 433: Chapter 433

Lv Hu, following closely behind Zhao Erlang, had been paying attention to the soldiers around Zhao Hanzhang. Seeing the signal flags change, he immediately said, "Little General, the Governor wants us to charge out toward the southwest..."

Zhao Erlang pulled the reins and led his men to charge towards another direction, and soon they broke out of the encirclement. Where he had charged through, the refugees were unable to connect head to tail, the attack quickly weakened, and some, upon seeing cavalry arrive, abandoned their loot and turned to run towards the mountains.

But would Zhao Erlang let them escape? He immediately led his men to round them up, driving them back onto the road.

A quarter of an hour later, the fighting in the field stopped, and all the refugees were forced into six circles. Some had already thrown away their wooden clubs and squatted on the ground, while most stood with their backs to each other, warily watching the cavalry.

Fu Tinghan and his group arrived, seeing another larger troop coming, the refugees became even more desperate. Those still holding stones unwillingly dropped them, squatting on the ground, surrendering to whatever would happen. Follow current novels on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝓷𝓮𝓽

Fu Tinghan was surprised by her swift actions, rode up beside her, and after surveying the scene, asked, "Are they bandits or refugees?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "Both count."

The young man standing on the carriage had bright eyes, jumped down from the carriage and hurriedly walked towards Zhao Hanzhang...

Zhao Hanzhang showed a gentle yet courteous smile, dismounted, and stood firm.

Fu Tinghan followed, dismounting too, looked at the approaching young man with slight surprise; wasn’t this Zhu Chuan?

Zhu Chuan strode quickly forward, sheathed his sword, tidied his sleeves and robe, raised a hand in a deep bow, "Thank you, Governor Zhao, for saving my life."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and nodded slightly, "Mr. Zhu, there’s no need for formality. I did not manage my jurisdiction well, causing you to be alarmed."

Zhao Hanzhang turned to Fan Ying and said, "Count all the bandits and incorporate them, take them away for settlement."

Fan Ying bowed in acknowledgment and immediately went to make arrangements.

Zhu Chuan watched Fan Ying walk towards the refugees, then turned back to ask Zhao Hanzhang, "Governor Zhao, how are you going to deal with these bandits?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "After clarifying their origin, they will be sent to till the fields to redeem their faults."

Zhu Chuan had lost quite a few people and felt no resentment upon hearing Zhao Hanzhang’s decision. In these chaotic times, one moment you may wish to eradicate someone’s family, the next you could be friends and share a meal together.

His gaze fell on the soldiers behind Zhao Hanzhang, appropriately expressing his curiosity, "Why is Governor Zhao here? I thought I would only visit you after reaching Xiping."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, "I’m heading to Nanyang, it’s not far ahead to Nanyang Country. Mr. Zhu, did you come from Nanyang?"

Zhu Chuan nodded, responding "Yes," and smiled, "Today’s timing is truly perfect, no matter what, I must invite Governor Zhao for a drink."

Zhao Hanzhang readily agreed, immediately ordering the soldiers to set up camp on the spot.

Zhu Chuan went to check his casualties and losses, and only then did Zhao Hanzhang move forward to look at the refugees. Fu Tinghan asked the accompanying military doctors to help with rescue and bandage.

The refugees stared at Zhao Hanzhang with large eyes, both expectant and wary of her.

Clearly, they had all heard of the new Inspector.

Zhao Hanzhang stood in front of them, visibly displeased yet looking at them like one would at naughty children in their own family, "The notices for disaster relief and gathering refugees were sent out long ago. I even ordered the County Magistrates to let the government officials knock drums throughout the countryside, afraid you wouldn’t recognize the words."

"We’re not far from Xie County in Nanyang Country. Why didn’t you enter the city for relief, but lingered outside to rob?"

The refugees, seeing Zhao Hanzhang although angry, was not tyrannical, they gathered courage. Some felt bitter and immediately knelt down, prostrating deeply, "Please pardon us, Governor. We don’t want to be bandits; we want to be good citizens too, but the counties in Nanyang Country don’t allow refugees fleeing from the north to enter the city, and we were driven out from Lu Yang."

They lay prostrate on the ground, heads deeply bowed, leaving Zhao Hanzhang to hear their voices without seeing their expressions.

But she saw the hands, fingers spread, pressed beside their heads, her gaze swept over, each hand was red with chilblains, some cracked open, seemingly revealing the bones inside.

Her gaze slid down from the hands, seeing the skin exposed through the torn clothes, cold wind blowing, lifting their tangled hair and the tattered cloth strips on their bodies...

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know if it was from the cold, or the bitterness they spoke of, but their voices trembled, choking up, "Though we’re in the wilderness, we have heard of your benevolent governance, of your orders to settle us until relief and land are distributed, but we’ve been driven off repeatedly, really don’t dare stay long in Nanyang Country."

"We heard you’re in Xiping, and since Ru Nan County is your home, this area administered by your uncle should not defy your orders, so we braved the heavy snow to come here." He said, "There were only a hundred or so of us originally, but on the way we met many other disaster victims fleeing from Northern Land and traveled together."

Zhao Hanzhang then withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and asked, "How many of you are there?"

"Originally there were around four to five thousand, but the cold killed quite a few people. Some refused to move further, digging the earth or building grass huts to survive the winter. Now there are only over two thousand left following us."

Zhao Hanzhang swept her gaze over them, seeing there were less than a thousand, asked, "Where are the others?"

"They’re in the forest, all elderly, weak, women, and children." The one prostrate finally gathered the courage to slightly raise his head, leaving cleaned paths on his dirty face where tears had streamed, he dared only a quick glance at Zhao Hanzhang, then pressed down again, saying, "We were so cold, so hungry. Seeing this caravan seemed to have lots of grain and cloth, we couldn’t resist..."

He didn’t finish, but Zhao Hanzhang understood and directly ordered, "Take us to see them."

Hearing Zhao Hanzhang’s calm voice, not seeming about to erupt, he quietly sighed in relief, got up and led Zhao Hanzhang into the forest to find them.

Of course, Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t go herself, she took a troop of men with her.

Entering not far into the forest was a mountain hollow, sheltered from the wind and warmer than outside. Zhao Hanzhang reached the slope and looked down, seeing below a dense crowd squatting, most were elderly and women.

Zhao Hanzhang was slightly stunned.

Fu Tinghan was also momentarily dazed.

Zhao Hanzhang scanned over them, turned back to the young man and said, "Bring them out."

After speaking, she turned and left.

Fu Tinghan tilted his head, watching her walk away, pretending not to see her slightly reddened eyes, stood at the exit waiting for them to come out. He counted individuals as they passed, estimating their age, storing the information in his mind.

A little girl hurried to catch up with the others, tripped on a tree stump, and fell right in front of Fu Tinghan.

Fu Tinghan quickly reached out to help her up, seeing her bare feet and wearing several mismatched clothes, none whole, all tattered.

He glanced at her swollen feet, thought a bit, removed his cloak, wrapped her entirely in it, covering her feet thoroughly, then carried her, looked back at the remaining fifteen people, mentally noted them, and left.