Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 64 - 064 Inquiry

Chapter 64: Chapter 064 Inquiry

Fog shrouded the air heavily, with several families’ men carrying their boys amidst the tidal wave of disaster victims, running toward the city gate.

Everyone was in a hurry, racing swiftly, for being one step behind meant losing a spot in line. With so many disaster victims, who knew if there would still be food and clothing to claim when it was their turn?

Qin San Lang saw that the surroundings were filled with victims frantically sprinting towards the city gate, and he said to the adults of several families, "I can run fast, I’ll dash to the city gate first to secure a place."

Luo Wu and Gu Jin’an said, "We’ll go too."

They were already well acquainted with Qin San Lang; whatever they did, they did it together. Elder Qin was also happy to see this, as Er Lang was too aloof and unsociable, and could only maintain a good relationship with the young boys from various families with San Lang’s help.

Qin San Lang nodded, "Let’s go."

The three of them dashed towards the city gate like a gust of wind.

Gu Dexing, Gu Qingtian, Gu Qingliang, and Tian Erqiang did not run. They were quite frightened by many incidents on the road to escape famine and mostly stayed close to their parents, reluctant to act alone.

"Be careful, yield more in case of trouble, don’t get into conflicts with other disaster victims!" Gu Dashan called out uneasily from behind them, but before his voice faded, the figures of the three were nowhere to be seen.

Father Luo said, "What you said is in vain; your Good Brother An is still okay, but my wretched boy, though he doesn’t talk much, has a fiery temper. If someone else causes trouble, he definitely won’t be able to hold back."

Elder Qin said, "San Lang is there; you guys don’t need to worry."

With San Lang’s skills being even better than Er Lang’s, it would be very easy to protect Father Luo and Gu Jin’an if there indeed was trouble.

Knowing Qin San Lang’s abilities, Gu Dashan felt relieved. He and Father Luo, along with Third Grandpa, quickened their pace and headed towards the city gate.

After running for almost an hour, they finally arrived at the city gate of He’an Prefecture.

At this point, the city gate was already filled with disaster victims, encircling the gate in layers and layers, with noisy chatter filling the ears.

A Government Official holding a copper gong knocked five times on the gong, then shouted, "No pushing, line up, claim food and clothing based on household registration! Whoever refuses to line up or causes trouble will be executed without mercy!"

After speaking, the official knocked another five times on the copper gong, repeating the words just announced.

However, the victims, who were crazed with hunger, paid no heed to his words, only desperately squeezing toward the gate to get food sooner.

Fortunately, the government had already dispatched a large number of guard soldiers to patrol the city gate entrance. As soon as they noticed any shoving or jostling, the small Section Leader immediately led his soldiers to drag those victims out of the line and give them a thrashing.

After beating over a hundred victims, the order at the city gate had finally improved significantly.

There were a total of ten lines queuing at the city gate, and Qin San Lang and his group were in the middle of the sixth line. Seeing Third Grandpa and the others arrive, Gu Jin’an immediately said, "You guys get in line; I’ll bring Third Grandpa and the others over."

Gu Jin’an was clever, quietly bringing them to their spot in queue instead of calling out loudly to Third Grandpa and the others. If the patrolling guard soldiers spotted them, they would drag the adults of several families out for a beating.

Gu Jin’an brought along the elders of several families, then said to the disaster victims queuing ahead and behind: "Uncles, these are the elders from our families. We were queuing up for them earlier."

When they had just started queuing, they had already told the disaster victims about this matter. Although the victims were a bit displeased by the large number of elders brought by the families, no complaints were voiced out loud. After all, like Gu Jin’an and his group, they were also representing their villages, queuing in advance. When their villagers arrived, they would have to squeeze in too; nobody was at a loss.

The families managed to get into the queue, but the line moved at a snail’s pace, inching forward only a few steps every quarter of an hour. They had arrived early in the morning, and it wasn’t until the afternoon, at the hour of the goat, that it was their turn to receive supplies.

At the very front of the line were two tables. In front of one table stood two Government Officials responsible for distributing supplies to the victims, both with swords hanging at their waists to prevent the victims from snatching things.

In front of another table sat two clerks holding pens.

The clerk glanced at Gu Dashan who was at the front and said, "Take out your household registration paper; those who don’t have it can leave now."

Gu Dashan hurriedly pulled out his household registration paper from the inner pocket of his robe, opened it, and carefully spread it out on the table in front of the clerk.

The clerk glanced at the household registration paper and frowned: "Your household registration doesn’t look right. Why is there only one piece of paper? Where is the thick cover? Could it be that you stole it from someone en route?" The tone of his last question already carried some malice.

Gu Dashan panicked when questioned, but recalling what Gu Jinli had told him the night before, he quickly calmed down and smiled: "Sir, my birth mother died early, and my father married a stepmother. The household registration papers for the two branches of the family are separate. On the road fleeing from disaster, my stepmother wanted to sell my wife and children. The village sided with Scholar Qi, granting our branch independence and giving us our branch’s household registration paper, so there is only one piece of paper and no thick cover."

As he spoke, he also pulled out the severance document and the invitation from Scholar Qi, placing each item on the table for the clerk to review.

He then pointed to the people of the Gu Family Village behind him and said, "Sir, these are fellow villagers from the Gu Family Village, and they can vouch for my family."

Third Grandpa, Father Luo, Uncle Tian, and Gu Damu all spoke up in support of Gu Dashan.

Gu Dafu also added, "Sir, my father is the village chief of Gu Family Village. Our family can all vouch for Dashan. His household registration paper is genuine, not stolen."

After reviewing the household registration paper, severance document, and invitation from Qi Mansion, the clerk had lost the intention of picking faults to collect Silver Coin. This invitation bore the official seal of the Qi Mansion, proving that this family had encountered nobles on their road of escape, and it would not be wise to extort their Silver Coin.

The clerk passed the household registration paper to his colleague: "Write according to the registration."

He then asked Gu Dashan: "Are you willing to go to Jiangnan? Jiangnan is a good place, rich in food supply, and better than He’an Prefecture. If you are willing to go, you can sign up but will need to pay a deposit of ten taels of Silver. Later on, we will arrange for a ship to take you all there together."

Gu Dashan was somewhat puzzled and asked: "Sir, weren’t we told that we couldn’t continue to move south?"

The clerk replied: "It is prohibited for disaster victims to head south on their own, but we’re from the government, providing a unified transfer. This is allowed by the authorities."

The authorities above had strong opinions about resettling these disaster victims and wanted to take the opportunity to send some to Jiangnan. This would not only reduce the burden on the Jianghuai area but also be a chance to earn some Silver Coin.

Upon hearing this, Gu Jin’an smiled and inquired of the clerk: "Sir, how much Silver Coin do we have to pay after boarding the ship? If the amount is small, we can go back and discuss it with our families."

Seeing their interest in going to Jiangnan, the clerk continued: "First pay a deposit of ten taels of Silver Coin. After boarding the ship, each person will pay another two taels of Silver."

A deposit of ten taels plus two taels per person is quite a sum; their families could not afford this.

Gu Dashan looked back at Third Grandpa and the others, saw them shaking their heads, and then told the clerk: "Sir, we have fled to this point with hardly any Silver Coin left. We will not go south."