Chapter 165 Meet the Junior Priestess Again
Li Ye nodded. Since the middle of the Tang Empire, the problem of refugees hadn’t been really solved, but of different severity. If the problem of land annexation couldn’t be solved, refugees wouldn’t disappear. In the five states of Pinglu, you could know how difficult the life of ordinary people was just by looking at how things were handled by the Wu family in Qi Prefecture and the Huafuzhu Mountain, so it wasn’t surprising to meet refugees along the way.
Thinking of this, Li Ye glanced at Cui Keli. “This Confucian scholar indeed has the heart for the comman people. He knew that if he brought the refugees back to the Cui family in Qing Prefecture, it would be a big burden on the Cui family, but he did it anyway. Moreover, he knew the trip was dangerous, but he still let his guards escort the refugees back. He has a big heart.”
They didn’t go very far when the carriage gang in front suddenly slowed down, having been blocked by someone. There was quite a din. Li Ye asked Yang Feng and Yang Feng answered in distress, “Alas, a group of homeless refugees are crying in front because someone has starved to death. Big Master felt sorry for them, so he made the men of the carriage gang give half their dry food to them.”
Li Ye and Cui Keli looked at each other and dismounted from their horse and carriage. Following Yang Feng, they went to see what was happening.
By the roadside in front of the carriage gang, there was a group of refugees in rags who looked pale and thin, men and women, young and old. Some of them were dying, sitting motionless on the ground. The men of the carriage gang were distributing food to them, and immediately, there was a rush for it. The Big Master was struggling to keep order.
There were also a few women and children gathered around the tree, and wails were heard in their midst.
When Li Ye and the others walked forward, they saw a dirty child holding a dead woman, crying his heart out under the tree. The child was seven or eight years old, and his hair was shaggy and yellow. He had been crying so hard that his eyes had no tears anymore. The woman in his arms was reduced to skin and bones with cheekbones jutting out and sunken eyes. She looked kind of scary. Her bare arms were as dry as dead branches with clear meridians and no flesh.
There was a rotten pear next to the boy.
A white-haired old woman said in a choked voice, “It’s not easy for them. The day before yesterday, his mother secretly ran to the field to pick up a partly rotten pear for him. She came back covered in bruises and her knees were bleeding. I didn’t know how many times she had fallen down on the road and how far she had been chased. She could hardly stand and her face was bloodless...”
Wiping her tears, the old woman said, “This child is filial. He was loathe to eat the partly rotten pear and gave it to his mother, but his mother refused and even scolded him. He kept the pear in his pocket. Arriving here today, his mother finally couldn’t hold up any longer and collapsed. The child took out the pear and to feed his mother so she could live. But who would have thought that the pear had rotted completely and couldn’t be eaten at all.”
The old woman cried so feebly that she sat down on the ground. She couldn’t help but grieve. “How pathetic! Neither of them ate the pear in the end, so his mother was beaten for nothing... How pathetic!”
Li Ye and the others watched the scene sadly. Su Emei turned her head to wipe her tears.
Suddenly, a chubby guy knelt down beside the woman and put his hand on her pulse as others looked on in surprise. That was Wei Xiaozhuang. He focusd on feeling her pulse for quite a while. Suddenly, he gnashed his teeth and sent a subtle Spiritual Qi into the woman’s meridians. After a short time, the woman’s face turned red and she coughed.
“Ah, she’s breathing!”
“Alive? She can’t be alive, can she?”
“Taoist, is there hope for her?”
Everyone was pleasantly surprised and started talking. The boy was stunned for a while, and suddenly, he knelt down in front of Wei Xiaozhuang. He kept kowtowing, and soon, his forehead was broken and bleeding. “Please save my mother’s life. Please save my mother’s life...”
Su Emei quickly helped the boy up and turned to ask Wei Xiaozhuang with concern, “Can you save her?”
Wei Xiaozhuang’s face turned pale. He gnashed his teeth and said, “I’m not sure, but I will try!”
The refugees were very delighted and kept asking Wei Xiaozhuang to help the woman. But when they looked at Wei Xiaozhuang, they were afraid to come forward with much awe. His conspicuous Taoist robe had the nobility which couldn’t bear offence.
Cui Keli said urgently, “Get her on the carriage quick. Who can cook porridge? Where is the carriage?”
Wei Xiaozhuang picked up the woman. As soon as he left the crowd, he saw that the carriage, which had been at the end of the convoy, had stopped by the roadside and that the teapot, which was originally used for boiling tea, was also taken by Li Ye. There was millet inside. He said to Yang Feng and the others, “Give me some water.”
The refugees who were wolfing down bread in their hands saw the people of the carriage gang getting suddenly busy.
Wei Xiaozhuang carried the woman into the carriage, and Li Ye handled the millet and cooked porridge on the spot using Spiritual Qi as fire. When he finished, the woman hadn’t woken up yet. But when Su Emei fed her the porridge, she could swallow instinctively, so it looked like there was hope.
Upon hearing the good news, the refugees called Li Ye, Wei Xiaozhuang and the others immortals and worshipped them. But Li Ye’s face was extremely gloomy.
Eventually, Cui Keli took the refugees with him. He had no guards to escort them to Qing Prefecture and he couldn’t bear to leave them dying by the roadside, so he could only take them with him.
With the food of the carriage gang and the money that Cui Keli and the others had, they were not going to starve. Cui Keli’s way of thinking was very simple. He took them to Penglai, and then he took them back to Qing Prefecture and found a way to house them.
On the way, Cui Keli said to Li Ye in heavily, “Qing Prefecture is a bit better because the commissioner takes charge of the state, while the other states have more refugees. Especially in recent years, the world is chaotic and the Central Plains is at war, therefore, many refugees escape and many of them pour into Pinglu. And various forces in Pinglu are trying to expand their strength and hoard food in readiness for the coming turbulence, so more people lose their land and are robbed of their grain by the rebels, resulting in even more refugees.”
He sighed. “If things go on like this, Pinglu will become a mess even if the rebels of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao don’t come. And once they arrive, the refugees will quickly turn to the rebels because of food.”
Li Ye said coldly, “There are people managing the properties of the Cui family and tenants farming the fields of the Cui family, so how will the Cui family handle all the refugees you bring home? You can’t feed them while they do nothing.”
Cui Keli said seriously, “The only way is to reclaim the wasteland.” But the reclamation of wasteland won’t solve the underlying problem. More importantly, when the commissioner arrives, he has to start by looking at the big picture and call on all hands so that there is a possibility of eradicating the refugee problem.”
Li Ye became silent.
Hence more and more refugees followed Cui Keli’s carriage. The refugees encountered on the road consciously joined in the line, therefore, there were more than 100 people within a day.
In this way, this Confucian scholar, with a long line of refugees, went on an unpredictable road.
...
That night, there was a thunderstorm.
The carriage gang rested at the courier station, and the refugees huddled under the eaves of the corridor.
After giving food to the refugees, Li Ye stood up with a tray in his hand. Coincidentally, he looked up and saw a flash of lightning not far away. At that moment, Li Ye saw a petite and graceful figure standing on the top of a locust tree outside the courier station. In the thunder and rain, she was standing on the leaves.
The dripping rain bounced backward ten centimeters around her, outlining her elegant figure incisively and vividly. When she saw Li Ye in the lightning and rain, her clear eyes became calm and deep. Her hairband and purple hair were fluttering with the wind and rain, like a ghost with spirituality.
This was the third night after the Wang family received the invitation.
The Black Office had already sent out more than twenty invitations.
Li Ye knew she would come.
The Junior Priestess.
Li Ye handed the tray to Su Emei. “You all stay here.”
As she watched in shock, Li Ye flew up and jumped straight on to the treetop!
In the air, Li Ye was holding his Luke Sword. A bright cyan light chopped down in the dark night sky!
The Junior Priestess made a seal in front of her chest quickly with her hands. Spiritual Qi jumped up and down on her fingertips like flames, which was pleasing. Several chains of green leaves shot out of the locust tree at her feet twisting together like snakes and met the falling Sword Qi.
As soon as he finished the first sword, he chopped down the second and the third sword in succession!
Three cyan lights like three waves came one after another.
The Sword Qi shattered the chains of leaves, and waves of Spiritual Qi abruptly spread out in circles. The broken leaves were fluttering over the locust tree and were beaten down by the rain in the flash of lightning!
After three consecutive waves of Spiritual Qi, Li Ye had already jumped to the sky above the locust tree. Among the flying broken leaves, the Luke Sword whizzed through the rain straight to the Junior Priestess!
In a flash, his sword arrived in front of the Junior Priestess’ face, and Li Ye could even see the pupils of her clear eyes. However, he didn’t see her panic. From the corner of his eyes, Li Ye noticed that her flexible fingers were still changing rapidly and making a seal.
A chain of leaves as thick as an arm suddenly flew out from the Junior Priestess and entangled itself with the Luke Sword quickly. At that very moment, the sword was hit off course. The Junior Priestess tilted her head slightly so that the Luke Sword flitted past her.
They brushed past each other. The flying purple hair hit Li Ye’s face, making him feel numb and itchy. Through her hair, Li Ye saw her perfect earlobe with an amethyst earring. In the light of the Sword Qi, there was a flash of glazed light.
When Li Ye turned around, the Junior Priestess had flown backward from the treetop. Her clothes were fluttering forward and her long hair covered half her face. She held up a weak arm and drew a pattern of Yin and Yang with her fingertip in an almost imperceptible movement.
Immediately, a wave of green leaves came up on the locust tree. Countless leaves flew up, turning into sharp swords, and shot towards Li Ye together!
Li Ye wielded his Luke Sword, causing waves of scale-like sword lights, to protect himself tightly.
Breaking through the sword net of leaves, he stepped on the treetop and jumped towards the Junior Priestess once again.
The Junior Priestess turned around and flew away from the treetop. She opened her arms with her sleeves dancing, like an elusive lark.
Holding his Luke Sword, Li Ye kept his eyes on the Junior Priestess and chased her quickly stepping on the leaves. He went straight through the rain, away from the courier station gradually.
historical
The Senior Priestess had not yet appeared, but Li Ye didn’t fear. As long as they didn’t fight at the courier station, he could avoid hurting the innocent. As for the ambush, it seemed that Li Ye was alone, but he wasn’t.