Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 517: Standoff Between Two Parties

Chapter 517: Chapter 517: Standoff Between Two Parties

March 16.

The sun seemed to have finally gathered some warmth. The chilling winds and snowstorms of the past five months had faded away; layers of ice in the river melted off chunk by chunk, and the rolling waves brought forth new food.

The population of Yan City has dwindled to less than one hundred thousand.

Hunger was not the real criminal; the storms and chilling winds were.

Datian Village was the first to catch fish for consumption.

There are five types of fish most commonly found in the river, but in the end, only two types were deemed edible.

The other three types all had blackened gills for unknown reasons, and their flesh was tinged with sourness.

Chi Sheng managed to convey this information back to the city, providing the citizens who were barely getting by on rice porridge with some additional food supply.

During this time, some people, unable to bear the hunger, fled with their whole families to the south, while others who were starving sneaked up and caught those rodents to satiate their hunger.

Shen Wenchen did not hinder the ones leaving for the south, but was uncertain about the hardships they would have to endure on their way.

The situation in Yan City was already the best possible.

There were no instances of rat plague or cannibalism.

Many places started having rat plague outbreaks due to shortages of food and lack of medical assistance since the new year.

People in the villages and towns were dying in droves. Countless rats gnawed on these bodies and the plague spread with the cold wind. Powerless officials ordered the massacre in the villages, turning the once crying villages into deathly silence.

The fire raged for a long time, igniting the decaying trees and forests, only to end up as a pile of ash. Houses and buildings collapsed, burying the corpses underneath.

The method to drive off rats proposed by Yan City ended up with the local elites hoarding it, their homes piled with food and wine and not a single rat to be found, while outside their walls was a hell on earth littered with starved corpses.

The commoners wanted to escape, they wanted to flee south, to a place where they could fill their stomachs.

No one in the city stopped them because they, too, were unsure of how long they could endure this.

The whereabouts of the person who had initially hidden on the roof of the city lord’s residence were unknown, but the scrap fabric left behind was a glaring answer in front of everyone.

The fabric was special, it was not the common cotton or silk.

No one else knew, but when Wang Jingzhi saw it, he swayed, his eyes looked somewhat stupefied.

"Jingzhi, what’s the matter with you?"

The young Miss Zeng noticed something was wrong with him and softly asked in a hushed voice.

"No, nothing."

Wang Jingzhi’s face was as pale as a sheet; cold sweat drenched his back. The appalling scenes from his past hammered at his mind, nearly causing him to lose his footing.

"Are you truly alright?"

Miss Zeng was worried, her hand gently patting the back of his hand, trying to calm his emotions.

After everyone had dispersed, Wang Jingzhi hesitated for a long time but finally gritted his teeth and entered Shen Wenchen’s study.

In the study, Shen Wenchen was reading a letter that Adai had brought him. Hearing the sound of the study door opening, he instinctively looked up and put away the letter.

Seeing that the person entering was Wang Jingzhi, Shen Wenchen finally relaxed, looking puzzled as he asked.

"Jingzhi, what’s the matter? Do you need something from me?"

"Big Brother Shen, I indeed came to you for a matter."

After taking deep breaths several times, Wang Jingzhi finally closed the door, walked into the study and sat down opposite Shen Wenchen.

"What’s the matter?"

Noticing Jingzhi’s serious expression, Shen Wenchen also put away the smile on his face.

"Do you still have that piece of cloth?"

Shen Wenchen nodded, somewhat puzzled, but still passed over the piece of torn fabric.

Wang Jingzhi didn’t speak, but only took the fabric, rubbing it gently with his fingers, feeling the material and texture.

"This fabric is unique to Xin City, and the dark patterns on it are different from usual styles. This fabric is only found in the city lord’s residence in Xin city."

He closed his eyes; in his mind was the image of that disgusting man with his sickening smile.

This fabric once clothed him entirely. A few times, he wanted to take his own life with it, but every time he was saved only to be further tortured and humiliated.

This was the memory he least wanted to recall.

Shen Wenchen fell silent, his eyes full of shock.

He could guess what Wang Jingzhi had gone through initially, but to hear him break the delicate silence was more astonishing.

Now everywhere people wished to establish their own dominion, and among the three neighboring cities, two had already closed their gates and set up their own households, with Xin City being the most audacious.

Not only did they expel most of the citizens from the city, but they also dispatched people to burn, kill, and plunder in the towns and villages outside of the city.

The majority of the supplies were only available for a small amount of nobility to enjoy. Compared with Yan City, their lives were much more comfortable.

If that man were truly a spy sent by Xin City, they were probably running out of resources and preparing to conquer other places.

"Thank you, Jingzhi."

Shen Wenchen said in a serious tone.

"It’s what I should do."

Wang Jingzhi said with a bitter smile as he shook his head and stood up to leave.

Watching his retreating figure, Shen Wenchen’s lips tightened, with a raging anger in his eyes.

Xin City, he would never let it go.

Aze and Liu Jie are organising the citizens to fish in the river while self-formed teams are sorting out the edible fish.

There are simply too many people in the city, it is unlikely to sustain everyone by fishing alone.

But it is far better than having nothing but watery porridge.

The atmosphere in Datian village was very tense.

The villagers were clearly divided into two factions.

One side was the original residents of the village, and the other was the people who had migrated from Qing Fengzhan.

During the hardest times of the famine, the two sides supported each other through the difficulty. But now that the storm had passed, they started to confront each other.

Zhuzi’s death didn’t cause much disturbance.

Xiaoqi’s death, however, enraged all the people from Qing Fengzhan.

"Brother Chi, let’s talk it out properly..."

The speaker was the former village head of Datian village, who was somewhat fearful before their armed hands.

"Talk it out? How?"

Chi Sheng’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Although he didn’t particularly like Xiaoqi at first, Xiaoqi was still one of them.

When they moved to Datian village, who put in the most effort in eradicating rats, hunting, and protecting the village?

And what happened in the end? That madwoman actually dared to harm Xiaoqi!

"It’s just a child..."

A man from Datian village couldn’t help but speak.

"Xiaoqi is a child, but he is also our child! All the meat you’ve eaten is due to his hard work! When he was hunting and getting rid of rats, you all cowered. Was he not a child at that time?"

Someone sharp-tongued from Qing Fengzhan immediately retorted.

"What about our Zhuzi from the village..."

Someone from Datian village started to murmur.

"What about your Zhuzi from the village? Does it have anything to do with our Xiaoqi? We all saw the crazy lady from your village pushing Xiaoqi into the river!"

"Someone said they saw Xiaoqi push Zhuzi in the river! Zhuzi was the only child of a family. How is that old woman supposed to live after Xiaoqi killed her child!"

"Bring out your evidence! Who said that? Let them come forward!"

The people of Datian village suddenly fell silent.

Some people quietly cast their gaze on Erniu, who was covered in wounds.

"Let that person come out!"

"Yes, let that person come out!"

Seeing the people from Qing Fengzhan pressing harder and harder, someone in Datian village gritted their teeth and pushed Erniu out.

Seeing him pushed to the forefront of the crowd, Yuanbao and Yueyue were stunned, likewise for the rest of people from Qing Fengzhan.