They just wanted to survive!
If the Xu family hadn't withheld food, none of this would be their fault!
Why, in times like these, did they have to go hungry every day, gnawing on tree bark while their children starved to death?
Yet someone like Xu Wangcai had so much food stored away—it wasn't fair!
"What do you think you're doing!"
"Ah! Let go of me!"
Two fists were no match for four legs. The servants barely held their ground for a moment before being tackled to the ground, their cleavers snatched away as more refugees swarmed the carriage.
Seeing this, Xu Wangcai was furious. "Useless! You're all a bunch of good-for-nothings! Guard the carriage, now!"
A crowd surged forward, madly grabbing at the food.
In just a few short moments.
The grain sacks were dragged out of the carriage, spilling everywhere, and the wooden barrels of water crashed to the ground.
The refugees, parched for so long, threw themselves onto the ground, heedless of the filth, desperately lapping up every drop.
Xu Wangcai finally panicked—this was their food and water for the journey. If it was all destroyed, they'd be left with nothing but thin air.
"I'll give you food! I'll give it to you, alright? Stop grabbing!"
No one listened to him. The refugees snatched up the grain, stuffed it into their clothes, and buried their faces in the water barrels, gulping greedily.
"Get out of the way! You've drunk enough—my turn!"
"This is my grain! I saw it first!"
Jiang Jiang hid behind a tree on the slope, watching the scene unfold, and shook her head.
She had warned him before. If Xu Wangcai had listened and prepared in advance, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state now.
These were dozens of refugees—they'd strip the carriage clean of food, and as for the water, it was definitely undrinkable now.
She didn't go out. Protecting herself came first. Besides, Xu Wangcai was a lecherous pig—he deserved worse than this!
If she hadn't transmigrated here, her original body would have already been killed by him!
The few men who had been stirring up trouble among the refugees stepped forward, their malice barely concealed.
Xu Wangcai finally sensed something was wrong. He backed away repeatedly, and seeing not a single servant still standing, he grabbed one of his concubines and shoved her in front of him. "What do you want?!"
"I'm telling you, my elder brother is in the prefectural city! If you so much as lay a finger on me, he'll never let you get away with it!"
The men exchanged glances and grinned. "Xu Wangcai, there's no village ahead and no inn behind. Even if something did happen to you, who would know it was us?"
"If you want to live, fine—hand over all the silver on you, and also…"
Their gazes fell on the pretty young concubines. "…leave your women behind. Let us brothers have some fun, and we'll let you go."
Xu Wangcai swallowed hard, about to say something else, when one of them already drew a knife. "Xu Wangcai, don't think you're still the young master of the Xu family!"
"This isn't the city. Hurry up—don't waste our time, or I'll chop off one of your arms first!"
"No!" Xu Wangcai could see they really meant business, and quickly pulled out his banknotes.
The leader snatched the notes, licked his fingers, and counted. "Damn, the Xu family really is loaded. That's three thousand taels!"
"Hold on, we'll split it later." One of the men looked at Lianhua, his eyes full of lust. "Xu Wangcai, don't forget there's still the other matter."
Xu Wangcai had already handed over the money, so what were a few women compared to that?
He casually pointed at a few concubines he didn't usually favor much. "These ones are yours to take!"
The concubines' faces turned ashen, trembling all over in fear. "Young Master, please don't!"
They were nothing but concubines after all—even if they survived in these men's hands, Xu Wangcai would never take them back.
The concubines dropped to their knees in panic. "Young Master, I beg you, don't send me away!"
The men licked their teeth, losing patience, and grabbed the women by their collars, dragging them close. "Letting us have you is your honor!"
With that, one of them looked at Xu Wangcai and flashed a grin. "Young Master Xu, seeing how cooperative you've been, I'll make sure you go to the King of Hell without any pain!"
Xu Wangcai's face changed drastically. He had thought that handing over the silver and the women would buy his life, but the man had suddenly changed his tune.
"I've already done everything you asked! Didn't you say you'd let me go?"
"Hah, everyone knows the Xu family repays every grudge. You've seen all our faces now—if we let you walk away, you'd surely have the authorities hunting us down."
As he spoke, the men raised their blades and closed in step by step.
Xu Wangcai's heart pounded like a drum. Seeing them draw nearer, he shoved the concubine in front of him aside and stumbled backward.
But he barely made it two steps before a sharp pain shot through his back, and his body pitched forward uncontrollably.
The blade pierced through his back, and blood instantly soaked his crescent-moon robe crimson.
He opened his mouth weakly, trying to say something, but the light in his eyes was fading fast.
His last thought was of Jiang Jiang—of what she had said just moments ago.
If only he had listened…
Xu Wangcai lay motionless, completely still. All signs of life were gone.
"Ah!"
The concubines screamed in terror at the sight.
The man swung his blade, the wind whistling through the air. "Shut up! Scream again and I'll kill you right now!"
Lianhua and the others fell silent at once, huddling together, their faces pale and bodies trembling.
They didn't dare run, and they couldn't even if they tried—their legs had gone weak.
"Get up, you're coming with us!" The man grabbed Lianhua by the collar. "Tonight, all the brothers in the stronghold get a taste!"
So they weren't refugees at all—they were bandits hiding among them!
After spotting Xu Wangcai, they'd made him their target, stirred up the refugees to follow behind, and then struck to rob the silver.
Lianhua struggled desperately, begging nonstop. "Let me go! Please, let me go!"
"Slap!"
"Damn it, hold still!"
The man backhanded her across the face, and Lianhua's cheek stung with a burning pain. Despair flooded her heart.
Why had it come to this?
She was supposed to be heading to the prefectural city with the young master to enjoy a good life…
Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a flash of pink.
Wait—that was Jiang Jiang!
Why should she and the others be captured, the young master dead, while Jiang Jiang got to live just fine!
"There—there's someone else over there! She's the young master's concubine too, and she'll definitely report you to the authorities!"