Li Hui asked many times, but everyone looked at each other and seemed to dare not say anything.
Finally, a white-haired old man broke the silence and said: "What are you afraid of? This county magistrate saved us, what can't you say? He must be a good person. The county magistrate was a bandit outside the city who attacked us from the south gate.
They came in. Marshal Wang and his men started fighting with them."
After everyone heard what the old man said, they immediately started adding more.
Not long after, Li Hui also learned the whole story from the chaotic words. It was indeed the local Feng Heizi gang who launched a sneak attack and broke in from the south city gate. Fortunately, they were discovered in time, and Wang Guangzu led his men to fight with them.
fought.
Li Hui had just suspected that there was a fight between the local Feng Heizi gang and the refugee armed forces, and now it seems that it was indeed the case.
The people outside just now spoke with local accents, carried weapons, regarded human life as nothing, and killed people without blinking an eye. Li Hui suspected that they were lake bandits at the time, and now it has been confirmed. This also explains why Wang Guangzu and others tonight
They didn't show up for an appointment, and they didn't come to the county government office to cause trouble for themselves. It turned out that they were attacked by lake bandits from outside, which was a bigger trouble.
"I see. Those who are chasing you are the gangsters in this county, right? How come you were targeted by them? Have Wang Guangzu and the others been defeated?" Li Hui asked.
This issue is very important. If Wang Guangzu's troops have been defeated, then Juchao County is already under the control of bandits, then everyone will be in an extremely dangerous situation. The difference between these two groups of troops is
, the refugee armed forces have room for maneuver and maneuver, but Feng Heizi, who was born in a gang and killed officials, has no room for it.
If this is the case, you should consider leaving immediately because if you don't leave quickly, you will definitely die.
The old man rushed over and said: "We don't know who wins and who loses. We live in the house over there on the street. These damn gangsters found us. We had no choice but to run away, and they caught up with us. They said they were going to arrest us.
We went to their village. A month ago, when we first fled here, many women had been captured and tortured to death. My daughter-in-law was... the one who was captured, and her body was found on the reeds on the south bank of the city.
I discovered it."
The old man said, shaking his head and sighing.
The old man's words resonated with the women around him, and they all said in unison: "Those who are killing people are not humans, but beasts. They specialize in robbing women to go to the cottage in the lake. We have no choice but to hide in the lake every day.
In the city.”
"Many of the women who came south with us were murdered by them, and some of them are still missing."
"If Marshal Wang and the others hadn't come here later, it wouldn't have been so bad. After Marshal Wang and the others came, those damn gangs only calmed down for a while. I didn't expect them to come again tonight."
"God doesn't care about the beasts being struck by lightning these days, so why don't they be struck by lightning one by one?"
"..."
Listening to everyone's chatter, Li Hui basically figured out what happened here recently. After Huan Wen's defeat, the refugees went south. The group of refugees who came to Juchao County had no idea what was going on here before, and they had been captured by Feng Wen.
The Heizi gang has caused great harm. Some women were kidnapped and turned into playthings. Some died and some disappeared.
Later, Wang Zuguang and others came, occupied Juchao County, and became the protectors of the refugees. It may not have solved the problem of the refugees suffering from cold and hunger, but it made the lake bandits fearful.
Tonight's attack should be a sneak attack carried out by the Feng Heizi gang. One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. It is not surprising that this kind of fight will happen sooner or later.
Li Hui comforted everyone and went out of the lobby to learn about the latest battle situation. At this moment, Li Hui certainly hoped that Wang Zuguang and others could repel the bandits. If necessary, he would bring people to help, because it was a matter of life and death. If the situation was over,
You need to make an early decision and take advantage of the chaos to escape from the county.
The fighting in the city continued, but the scale and momentum seemed to be much smaller. Jiang Sheng had not helped before, fearing that Li Xian Cheng would be dissatisfied with him. Seeing that Li Hui was so concerned about the situation, he volunteered to go to investigate the situation.
Li Hui really needed to know the specific situation, so he asked him to be careful and just investigate the surrounding area. Jiang Sheng cautiously touched it out and rushed back half an hour later.
Li Hui hurriedly asked about the situation, and Jiang Sheng said: "It seems that the lake bandits have retreated. I touched the east city and saw Wang Guangzu and others collecting the corpses and cleaning up the battlefield. I also heard someone report that the bandits escaped from the south city."
Li Hui breathed a long sigh of relief when he heard this. Indeed, in this short half hour, the fighting in the city gradually calmed down. One party must have withdrawn or lost. Now it seems that the lake bandits have not taken advantage and have retreated.
Li Hui ordered to continue to be vigilant, and then returned to the main hall to tell the refugees the good news. The refugee women and children were also very happy. But they did not want to leave here, so they begged Li Hui to let them stay here until dawn.
Of course, Li Hui would not drive them away. Seeing that they were all suffering from hunger and cold, and looking weak, they must also be hungry, he ordered people to bring out the flour, biscuits and food and distribute some to them.
When this group of people saw the pancakes and steamed buns, their eyes suddenly shone. They had not eaten decent food for a long time, and they were barely surviving on the porridge that Wang Guangzu and others distributed twice a day. Everyone was already hungry.
Dizzy and skinny.
When they saw the pancakes and steamed buns, they all went crazy. They stuffed them into their mouths as soon as they got them. They tasted the food they had not seen for a long time, shed tears and kowtowed while eating. Some of them were elderly and had bad teeth.
, he couldn't chew it and swallowed it. He choked and stretched his neck and rolled his eyes. The people next to him hurriedly beat his back and poured water to help him swallow the food.
Li Hui looked at this situation and felt sad in his heart. At this moment, he really felt what it meant to rather be a peace dog than a person in a troubled world.
Jiang Sheng was quite critical of Li Hui's approach. He did bring a lot of food and dry food during this trip, but Li County Prime Minister gave all of it to this group of refugees, and there was not much left. So what should we do? The refugees here
There are so many. Even if we save these dozens, we can’t save the rest. We won’t care about eating this meal for the rest of our lives.
Li Hui heard him muttering and scolded him coldly: "Anyone who has compassion will not turn a blind eye. If your parents, wife and children are in this situation, what should you do?"
Jiang Sheng quickly admitted his mistake and said that he was just worried about not having enough food to eat in the future. Li Hui did not go into it. How high can be expected of people like Jiang Sheng in terms of their moral standards? Moreover, these days, if they are not selfish, they will not be selfish.
How to live.
After making these arrangements, Li Hui planned to take a rest. There were still an hour or two before dawn. Wang Guangzu and the others would not come at this moment, but they would probably come after dawn. Li Hui had also thought about it, even if they did not come
, I also want to find Wang Guangzu.
Tonight's attack by the lake bandits makes Li Hui more confident that he can reach an agreement with Wang Guangzu and his gang. Because for now, the bandits are the biggest threat. Through tonight, Wang Guangzu must also realize this. This is the best
The entry point is even more realistic than the plan I had prepared for him before, that I would report to the court so that Wang Zuguang and others could be recognized by the court.
Just as Li Hui was about to leave the lobby, he suddenly heard loud crying coming from the side of the lobby.
"Mother! Mother! Wake up, wake up. Uncle and aunt, please save my mother, oooh, oh, oh, mother!" It was the cry of a delicate child.
Li Hui hurriedly walked over to check and saw in the shadow under the wall, a thin figure holding the head of a woman with a bloody face and crying.
Li Hui hurriedly asked: "What's going on?"
The thin figure raised his head, but he was a child with a face covered in dirt and messy yellow hair. He looked about ten years old. He didn't know whether he was a boy or a girl.
The child's face was full of tears and he cried: "Sir, please, please save my mother, please save my mother. She is vomiting blood... wuwuwu."
Li Hui hurriedly asked Dachun to bring a candlestick to light it up, and squatted down to check the situation. The woman's face was pale, the corners of her mouth were full of blood, and her face was also bloody. Her eyes were closed tightly, and she lay motionless in the child's arms.
"What's wrong with her?" Li Hui asked.
"Just now... my mother was kicked in the heart by those people in order to protect me. My mother is already weak... She just complained that her heart hurt, and then... she vomited blood." The child said anxiously.
Li Hui reached out and checked the woman's breathing, but there was no sound.
"What happened to my mother?" the child asked.
Li Hui looked at the child and didn't know how to answer. After a long while, he whispered: "Your mother has gone to heaven."
"Going to heaven? What do you mean? Master, what happened to my mother?" the child asked with wide eyes.
"Azhu, your mother is gone. Oh, what a sin." An old woman next to her sighed.
The refugees surrounding him also sighed, and some lifted up the corners of their broken clothes to wipe the corners of their eyes.
The child named A-Zhu stared for a long time, with crystal tears streaming down her face. She lowered her head and hugged the dead woman tightly, suppressing her voice and sobbing.
Li Hui felt sad in his heart, but he could do nothing about it. He had seen a lot of tragic things during this period, and there was really nothing he could do. Pity was actually of little value, and comfort was not of much use at this time.
Ah Zhu cried for a while and then stopped. He gently wiped the mother's face in his arms, and suddenly looked up at Li Hui and said, "Can I ask you for a favor? I want to wipe my mother clean and bury her. My mother... before she was alive.
She is so cute and clean. She will not like to die in such an undignified way."
Li Hui nodded and said: "Of course, there is a room in the back hall, you can carry it over and clean it. Do you need help from others? Ask others to help you clean it for your mother."
Ah Zhu shook his head and said: "No, I won't bother others. I will scrub my mother's body with my own hands. Young master, just ask someone to help me carry my mother over."
Li Hui nodded and waved to Dazhuang to come forward to help. Guo Dazhuang picked up the woman's body and walked towards the back hall. A'Zhu followed quickly, but stopped and turned around, tearfully looking towards Li Hui.
Hui knelt down and kowtowed, then hurriedly followed.