A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

As soon as Zhao Daxuan finished speaking, the heads of the twenty-odd men exploded, and they all stood there dumbfounded.

The middle-aged man fell to the ground and only came to his senses after a few breaths. He scrambled to his knees at Yunniang's feet.

"My dear niece, I was just joking with you. I was planning to pay you back in the next couple of days anyway. Please, please forgive me!"

The middle-aged man originally wanted to beg for mercy by clinging to her legs, which frightened Yunniang so much that she retreated repeatedly. When Zhao Daxuan saw this, his eyes turned cold and he kicked the middle-aged man away.

"Don't come any closer and disgust people!"

Zhao Daxuan stared coldly at the middle-aged man, who felt a sharp pain in his chest and his face turned red, but he dared not approach any further.

The middle-aged man lay prone a few meters away, putting on a pitiful look and continuing to beg for mercy.

"My dear niece, I still have elderly parents and young children to take care of. Your aunt watched you grow up since you were little. Can you bear to let her live a life of widowhood from now on?"

It would be better if the topic of his family wasn't brought up; the more it was mentioned, the angrier Yunniang became.

Yunniang angrily rebuked, "Shut up! I don't have uncles and aunts like you!"

"My shameless aunt, seeing that I refused to lend her money, started cursing like a shrew, even accusing me of having an affair with another man, using extremely foul language!"

"Later, I softened and lent you five taels, repeatedly telling you not to tell anyone. But what did you do? You turned around and told the whole world that I had borrowed money!"

"They even said I definitely had more than fifty taels on me, and gathered a large group of people who came to my door every day demanding the rest of my money."

Faced with Yunniang's accusations, the middle-aged man opened his mouth but didn't know how to refute them.

The other refugees who had returned from work heard the commotion and gathered around in circles. After listening to Yunniang's tearful account, everyone looked at the middle-aged man with disdain.

Everyone pointed and whispered about the middle-aged man, "Shameless! An ungrateful wretch!"

The middle-aged man's face turned ashen, filled with shame and anger. He said, "My dear niece, you and your mother don't need that much money. What's wrong with lending me some?"

"I have elderly parents and young children to support, and my family was robbed by the Tartars, leaving me penniless and struggling to make ends meet. Is it too much for you two to lend me some money?"

Yunniang was amused by the middle-aged man's shamelessness and retorted angrily, "You borrowed forty taels at once, is that considered a little bit?"

"You've driven me to the brink of despair. My child's father hasn't even been buried yet, and I was about to take my daughter into the city, but I never expected you to catch up with me halfway and steal all my money!"

"Are you even human? How dare you call me 'niece'? Pah!!"

With her eyes red and her voice hoarse, Yunniang shouted the last sentence.

"Scumbag!" Someone in the crowd, unable to contain their anger, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the middle-aged man.

*Smack!*

"Ouch—! My head!!"

The middle-aged man clutched his head and wailed, feeling a wave of dizziness. A warm liquid flowed from his fingertips, and when he looked down, his hand was covered in blood.

He was hit on the head with a rock, and blood was flowing freely.

Seeing this, the other onlookers also picked up small stones and threw them at the middle-aged man, who was so frightened that he covered his head and curled up on the ground.

The other twenty-odd men originally wanted to beg for mercy like the middle-aged man, but seeing the middle-aged man's fate, they were all too frightened to utter a sound.

Soon, more than twenty people were dragged away with despair on their faces. After they were taken away, Zhao Daxuan picked up the cloth bundle containing the broken silver from the ground and handed it to Yunniang, who was standing next to him.

"Sister-in-law, Old Master Qin will arrange for someone to take you to a new place to stay later. The environment here is too poor and not conducive to your recovery."

"Also, keep this money safe. If anyone dares to try to take it from you again, you can go directly to Elder Qin or to me."

Yunniang's eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice choked with emotion as she said, "Thank you, sir. My man didn't marry the wrong person!"

Zhao Daxuan shook his head. He felt guilty for only discovering this problem so late, and he couldn't accept the other party's praise.

"You get some rest. I'll come see Niu Niu when I have time."

After saying that, Zhao Daxuan led his men out of the camp.

Watching Zhao Daxuan's departing figure, Niu Niu looked reluctant to leave and shouted, "Uncle Honey, you must come see Niu Niu when you have time!"

Zhao Daxuan smiled, turned around, and nodded.

At that moment, a group of orphans were waiting for him to settle them outside the camp.

This great battle resulted in a large number of refugees around Zhenbei City, including many children who became orphans.

They followed the main group of refugees to the foot of the Black Mountain Pass, because as long as they followed Zhao Daxuan's group, they would have a meal to eat every day when porridge was distributed, and at least they could survive.

If we were to ask which group of refugees are most grateful to Zhao Daxuan, it would be these more than a thousand orphans in front of him.

At this moment, more than a thousand orphans stood together in twos and threes, the older ones leading the younger ones, and the younger ones following closely behind the older ones.

They were gathered here by the soldiers of the Wangbei Camp and waited for them. Although their eyes were confused, they were not panicked.

They believed that Zhao Daxuan would not do anything to harm them, and even harbored a faint hope in their hearts.

As Zhao Daxuan arrived in front of the group of orphans under the setting sun, everyone stared wide-eyed at him, their dark eyes widening as they looked at him walking at the front.

Those standing behind and unable to see were even tiptoeing to peer into the distance.

Zhao Fubao stood to the side and shouted loudly, "Children, the man before you is Commandant Zhao Daxuan, who drove out the Tartar army and occupied the Black Mountain Pass!"

"The rice porridge you receive every day is a gift from Lord Zhao; you should hurry and pay your respects to him!"

Upon hearing this, the orphans' eyes lit up.

They already knew who had given them hope of survival, but few of them knew Zhao Daxuan.

"Greetings, benefactor!"

The quick-witted orphan was the first to bow down, not addressing Zhao Daxuan as "sir," but as his benefactor, which immediately brought the two closer.

The other orphans belatedly followed suit and bowed to Zhao Daxuan.

Zhao Daxuan frowned. These orphans were indeed as Shen Qingci and the others had said: their clothes were tattered and their faces were sallow, clearly indicating that they were living a hard life.

He sighed softly, "Children, now that you have become orphans in this chaotic world, from now on, my wives and I will take care of you!"

"But I also have requirements for you. I don't support idlers here. All the boys have to follow the craftsmen's camp to learn a trade so that they can earn a living when they grow up."

"Those who are still young should study hard and learn to read and write, and they will surely make a name for themselves in the future! If they don't study hard, they will have to go to a craftsman's camp to learn a trade when they grow up."

"Are you all willing?"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone except the young children who were still too young to understand showed expressions of ecstasy.

To them, Zhao Daxuan's request was not a request at all, but rather a great favor.

Not only will they have Zhao Daxuan's protection in the future, but they will also be able to read and write, and if all else fails, they can learn a trade.

"Our benefactor, we are willing!"

"We're willing!!"

The orphans nodded repeatedly and shouted in unison.

Zhao Daxuan smiled and nodded, "Very good. Now line up to register, and then someone will take you to your new address. Live well from now on, and if you have any difficulties, just tell me."

The orphans bowed and thanked him again before getting up and registering in order at the place where Qin Lide had arranged for them to register. Then they were led to their new accommodations.

Qin Lide arranged for ten literate logistics personnel to conduct the simplest information registration, and a team of soldiers to maintain order.

Shen Qingci and the other girls busied themselves at the registration desk, partly to speed up the registration process since the sun was already setting, and partly to find out about the children's situation.

Despite this, the registration process was still completed before it got dark.

Shen Qingci frowned and handed the roster to Zhao Daxuan. Zhao Daxuan took the roster and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Is there a problem with these orphans?"

Shen Qingci shook her head. "These orphans are fine, but it seems we didn't see the other orphans we met during the day."

He then turned to look at Li Shishi and the other girls, "Shishi, did you see that?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Shishi and the other two also changed their expressions and shook their heads firmly.

"I didn't see it!"