The First Military God of the Border

The matter of the stables has been explained.

When Lin Hui moved to the front yard, Ling Ziyi and Shui Feiyuan were already busy in the kitchen.

Breakfast was ready quickly.

Lin Hui and the other two ate together.

During the meal, Ling Ziyi said, "Husband, I want to go see my elder brother and brothers today."

Shui Feiyuan interjected, "Husband, you should accompany Sister Ziyi, in case there are any dangers along the way."

Ling Ziyi said, "It's alright. Right now, the mountains are actually the safest place."

Lin Hui nodded. Ling Ziyi was right. Eagle Ridge had been burned down by a fire, and no one would have thought that someone was still hiding in the mountains.

"Alright, Ziyi, let's go together after dinner. I'll go to the county town to take a look. You can talk to your brother about the White Tiger Mountain matter in the mountains and ask them to come to the town later."

After breakfast, Lin Hui and Ling Ziyi each rode a horse out of the village.

After parting ways on the official road, Ling Ziyi rode her horse into the woods, while Lin Hui headed towards the county town.

Lin Hui was very fast; since he got a horse, his speed to get into the city had been greatly reduced.

But the further Lin Hui went, the more he felt something was wrong, because the closer he got to the county town, the more people he encountered who were wielding knives.

These people were neither caravans nor villagers coming to the city to sell mountain goods, but refugees.

These people were dressed in rags, their bodies emaciated; some were carrying children, others were carrying a few pitiful belongings.

They walked aimlessly, only knowing to move forward. Some of the elderly people were swaying and looked as if a gust of wind could blow them over.

Upon arriving outside the county town, Lin Hui saw even more people.

They didn't enter the city, but gathered in an open space outside the city. Large crowds gathered outside, some lying down, some sitting, with vacant eyes and disheveled hair.

It looks like it stretches as far as the eye can see, and it must have at least seven or eight hundred people.

The city gates were not closed, and a few people were still coming and going.

A ragged man wanted to enter the city, but was stopped by the guards at the city gate.

Lin Hui rode forward and was surprised to see Wang Ping, who was leading a group of men to block the way.

Seeing that some brave people rushed up to the guards, even though they were stopped from going in, gave courage to others, one, two, three...

More and more people gathered around the guards. Wang Ping sighed helplessly, "Hold your spears horizontally. No matter what, we can't let them in."

These people are what are known as refugees. Whenever war breaks out or a natural disaster occurs, refugees will inevitably be everywhere. This has been the case in every dynasty.

The refugees were very anxious, and when they saw the city guards holding up their long spears, they became even more agitated.

"Let us in..."

"Sir, please, let us in."

"Let us in, please save my child, sir..."

Wang Ping stood there, helpless and heartbroken, but what could he do? If he let the refugees into the city, the entire Linjiang County would become a living hell.

"There aren't enough places in the city to accommodate you all, everyone... please go and look for other places."

Wang Ping shouted at the top of his lungs to dissuade the crowd.

"Sir, where can we go?"

"The Northern Wilderness has already invaded; where else can we go?"

"Sir, please let me go into the city to find food for the children. It's a small matter if I starve to death, but these children are the ones who suffer."

"So pitiful."

Looking at these pitiful people, Lin Hui felt pity. He dismounted and led his horse to Wang Ping's side.

Lin Hui looked around and asked, "Military Advisor Wang, what exactly happened? Why are there so many refugees?"

Wang Ping looked at Lin Hui, gave a wry smile, signaled his men to block the gap, then pulled Lin Hui to the back before explaining the details to him.

"The situation is not optimistic. The Northern Wilderness has amassed an army of 50,000 and launched a five-pronged attack, which has already captured three passes and two strongholds."

"According to intelligence, another 300,000 troops from the Northern Wilderness are on their way. This time, it seems that the Great Yu and the Northern Wilderness are about to go to war."

Wang Ping sighed as he spoke.

"Now that a large number of refugees are pouring in, we dare not let them into the city at all."

"The city has been unsettled these past few days, with panic spreading everywhere. Even the county magistrate is afraid to sleep at night, fearing that a large influx of refugees might suddenly flood into the city."

Looking at the refugees scattered everywhere, Lin Hui felt a pang of pity: "We can't just let them stay outside the city like this forever."

Wang Ping gave a wry smile: "What else can we do? There's not much food left in the city to begin with, and we have no way to control them once they enter."

"The magistrate has decided to keep them outside the city for now. Starting tomorrow, they will be provided with a bowl of thin porridge every day to prevent them from starving to death. This is the best that Linjiang County can do."

"It's only these people who can still be given a bowl of thin porridge every day. If there are more refugees in a few days, I'm afraid there won't be any porridge left."

Lin Hui shook his head. He could understand the magistrate's helplessness. Linjiang County was such a small place, how much grain could it possibly have stored?

Lin Hui patted Wang Ping on the shoulder, then turned and went into the city.

Upon entering the city, although it wasn't as bustling as it used to be, it was still much better than the area outside the city.

The shops along the street were still open, but the smiles on the faces of the people coming and going were gone, replaced by solemnity.

When you arrive at Shiweitian, the business looks pretty good from a distance, with quite a few customers coming and going.

Lin Hui was about to go in and take a look when he saw Xiao Wan hurriedly directing the servants to harness the carriage.

She was so focused on the carriage that she didn't even notice Lin Hui standing next to her. When she turned around, she bumped right into him.

"Who is it? Can't you see where I am?

Lin Hui chuckled: "Where are you in such a hurry to go?"

Upon hearing about this business opportunity, Xiao Wan was stunned, then overjoyed.

"Brother Lin, you've finally arrived! You've come! That's wonderful! I was just on my way to Sigou Village to find you."

Lin Hui asked in surprise, "What happened that made you so anxious? Where's your sister?"

"Brother Lin, please hurry up and find Madam."

"What do you mean?"

"Brother Lin, Madam has been missing since yesterday afternoon."

After saying this, Xiaowan burst into tears.

Lin Hui also became anxious and hurriedly said, "Don't cry, tell me slowly."

"Brother Lin, yesterday afternoon, Madam said she wanted to go out for a walk. I was in the shop watching over things, and after I finished, I went to sleep. This morning, I went to wake Madam up, but no one was there. When I pushed the door open, I found that Madam was not there."

"At the time, we thought that Madam had gone to the wine shop in the backyard, but we searched the entire Shiweitian Restaurant and still couldn't find her."

Lin Hui pondered for a few seconds, comforted Xiao Wan, and continued to ask, "Think about it, has Madam ever stayed out all night before?"

"No, Madam rarely goes out, let alone doesn't come back at night."

Xiao Wan continued, "Yesterday at noon, a few people came to the shop, and my wife found it suspicious."

"Later, after the lady went out, she disappeared."

Lin Hui thought it over and over, and concluded that Song Qingyan's disappearance was either targeted at him or because of the restaurant's business.

Obviously, there's no reason to target him, since Hu Ning is the only person in Linjiang County who has a grudge against him.

In the real estate business, Hu Ning was the one with whom he had a grudge.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui could already picture Hu Ning's disgusting face in his mind.