It doesn't matter what the lord is.

At first, only the people in the front row stood up, but this was like a domino effect, a chain reaction. When the people in the front row stood up, the people behind them would naturally stand up, and those who didn't stand up would be reminded by people around them. Soon, the people who were kneeling on the ground in a mighty manner all got up, but their eyes were full of hatred, not towards Bai Huang, but towards me and Alayya.

Bai Huang was still in shock, and quickly ran to my side, holding my sleeve with one hand, and called out in a low voice:

"Lid..."

I stretched out my hand to block her way, and I shouted to the crowd in front of me:

"My master is not here to do charity, but to buy people. If you buy people, it's your blessing. If you can't buy people, it's your bad luck! Those who are chosen will have to sign a contract to sell themselves as my master's slaves. Those who don't want to can leave now! Those who stay may not choose you. Who doesn't have a miserable life here, who doesn't have a dead end? Why don't you fight or quarrel on the spot to see who has a worse life? If you can't do it, don't throw the problem to my master. Shut up. Whoever my master chooses will be the one. If you can't choose, just blame your king for not caring about you!!"

The crowd was silent.

Bai Huang clenched her fists. I lowered my arm that was blocking her view and said:

"Xiao Huang, pick someone."

Bai Huang walked forward slowly.

As expected, no one in the crowd spoke anymore, and they all looked at Bai Huang with pleading eyes. Some people even took the initiative to show Bai Huang their frostbite, hoping that she would choose them. Bai Huang was full of reluctance, walking in the wind and snow, looking at this and that, unable to make a decision.

At this moment, someone in the crowd shouted:

"Damn it, if we are not chosen, we will die anyway. Finally a kind-hearted person has come, let's beg him! Getting beheaded is almost the same as freezing to death here! Sir, if you don't choose me today, I will kneel and die here. If you want to chop me, just chop me!"

The man rushed forward like crazy and knelt down in front of Bai Huang. The others hesitated, but most of them wanted to kneel down again. Bai Huang took a few steps back, and He Ji hurriedly blocked her way. I also called out to Alayya in a cold voice.

Alayya stepped forward with the sword in hand, and was about to strike when suddenly a gentle voice came:

"Youhan, stand up. All of you stand up. Didn't I teach you that kind people in this world are precious? Don't let those kind people feel embarrassed because of their kindness."

The man kneeling on the ground raised his head and looked in the direction where the sound came from with tears in his eyes.

There, a young man in a simple white robe was walking slowly towards the snow.

18. Be able to control the situation

He doesn't look handsome, even a little bit worse than me. He doesn't look very impressive, about 24 or 25 years old, dressed in white, wrapped in a sweat towel, and doesn't look like a big shot who looks down on the world. His skin is slightly yellowish, and there are calluses on the palms of his hands. You can tell at a glance that he was once an honest farmer. His smile is as warm and simple as the sun, and his eyes are dark and bright, and at this moment he is looking at me who is looking at him.

Overall, it's mediocre.

But I always feel familiar. There is a saying in the secret passage that assassins recognize assassins best, because everyone has some similar temperaments, and it is easy to tell who is the same kind intuitively. So for me, this young man in white clothes in front of me may also have some similarities with me.

The young man kneeling on the ground seemed to be very convinced by him. As soon as he spoke, the man named Youhan immediately stood up.

The young man walked up to us, held out his hand to me, and said to the victims standing there:

"Everyone has heard what the young man said just now. I think it makes sense. This young girl wants to help you, but because of her limited ability, she can't help everyone. She can only save some people. As for us, no matter how much we beg her, she can't conjure up more money to help us, and in the end it can only make her troubled. Her original intention was to save people. If everyone takes advantage of her kindness and forces her into a dilemma, what is the difference between us and those evil people? We have persisted for so many days, and now someone is helping us. Those who are helped will naturally be relieved, and those who can't be helped can have an extra meal. We can all survive until the relief food from the capital arrives. Don't you think this is the truth?"

Youhan looked at the people around him and knelt on the ground. This time he did not persuade Bai Huang to take him away, but apologized to Bai Huang:

"It's Youhan, I'm sorry, sir!"

I noticed that with the arrival of the man in white, the people around seemed to calm down.

Everyone looked ashamed.

The man in white said loudly:

"But there is one thing I don't agree with. The young man just now was quite disrespectful to His Majesty the King, but in fact, His Majesty has never forgotten us! This year, he specially approved 80,000 gold coins to help us, but some treacherous officials in the court deceived His Majesty and embezzled the money privately, which led to you being reduced to this situation. Please believe that the Kingdom of Eternal Heaven will never forget its people, and corrupt officials will one day show their true colors. You must live well and live until the day when the money is divided!"

Then the man in white laughed and added:

"After all, the money is divided according to the number of people. If one more person lives in a family, they can get more money."

Smiles were generally seen on people's faces.

The man in white waved his hand and said:

"Okay! Those who are willing to be servants can stay. Miss, please pick a few people you like."

Bai Huang nodded, walked forward, and started to pick out those who were more severely frostbitten. Some pale-faced children, women, and the elderly were also on her list. Heji followed closely behind her, while Alaiya stepped back first and stood solemnly behind me.

The people who were finally selected were basically the ones who needed food and warmth the most, and no one could say anything. After the 120 people were selected, Bai Huang returned to my side. The others in the crowd showed more or less disappointed expressions. The man in white comforted them a few words, and then asked the selected people to go back and pack their bags, gather in one place and wait, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

The man in white clasped his hands towards Bai Huang, bowed deeply, and said:

"Thank you very much, young lady."

After that, he smiled at me and said:

"Of course, I also thank this young man. But please don't mind, young man. The mountains are covered with snow and there are no food or clothes. Many people die of starvation and freezing every day. It's inevitable that they will act a little too radically after finally seeing a life-saving straw."

I smiled and said:

"I don't mind, as long as they don't hate me. I wonder if you are...?"

The man in white smiled slightly and said:

"My name is Wumi. In the past, I was also a member of the lower class who was exploited like them. Fortunately, His Majesty has summoned me to the capital to serve as a minor official. This time, Tianyue Mountain wants to build a palace, but it has destroyed the homes of 300,000 people. It snowed heavily and people's lives are in decline. I feel the same way. It just so happens that there is nothing for me to do in the capital right now, so I slipped out to see if I can do something to help them."

He turned his gaze away from the disaster victims in the distance and asked us:

"From your accents, you two don't seem to live in the capital, do you? Why are you here?"

Bai Huang said:

"I am Bai Huang, the daughter of Lord Yunhai. This is Lid, the Lord of Yuxi City. Thanks to the heavy snow, these dragon-riding servants got the wrong direction and had to land here, which is why they encountered this incident."

Wumi said to herself:

"Sea of ​​Clouds...White Phoenix..."

He seemed to have confirmed something in his mind, nodded, and asked:

"But the phoenix in [Cloud Sea Phoenix]? It is said that Miss Bai Huang is good at fighting for justice. Seeing is believing. I have also heard about Brother Li De. Those who are invited to the capital are not ordinary people. Are you two going to the capital now? If you are in a hurry, I can find a few inns near the capital and help you arrange for the 120 people to stay. When you come back, you can go to the inn owner and make up the money."

Bai Huang directly threw the purse in his hand to Wu Mi and said:

"Don't bother. I, Bai Huang, don't need this little money. Just use it. When you're done, just come back to me for it."

Wu Mi took it with a wry smile, put it in his arms, and said:

"Thank you very much for your trust, Miss Bai Huang."

Bai Huang turned around and asked me:

"So what should we do now? Go to the capital? Or just hang around here?"

I had no interest in either, so I asked back:

"What are you going to do?"

Bai Huang narrowed his eyes and said seriously:

"On New Year's Day, near the capital, 300,000 refugees were homeless, and in the heavy snow, the living and the dead were mixed together. This is no small matter. No matter what the others are doing, I, Bai Huang, want to see what is going on here and how muddy and deep the water in the capital is. In my opinion, we should take a walk around here. Anyway, going to the capital so early is just to exchange pleasantries with those people, which is just as boring as hell."

Maybe because he had just done something good, Bai Huang was in a good mood and forgot about the scene of being begged by someone holding his legs. He flicked his sleeves and walked forward with Heji. Wumi and I looked at each other and followed. Alayya followed closely beside me, and behind her were those soldiers with ugly faces.

The wind and snow gradually stopped, but it was still very strong, chilling people's hearts.

19. Maybe this is the Matthew effect

"I arrived a few days earlier than you guys and have been here for a while."

Wumi explained to us while trying to pull up the victims who had fallen to the ground:

"Don't sleep! You'll freeze if you sleep! Move your bodies, stand up and walk around! Move around more in a place sheltered from the wind! You have to sleep, wait until the sun comes out and have a good sleep!"

Some of the victims were frozen stiff, their bodies were cold, and they were breathing out more than breathing in. Wu Mi rolled up her sleeves, stretched out her hands and rubbed their acupuncture points vigorously until their stiff limbs gradually regained consciousness and they were able to get up from the ground.

I have observed that Wumi probably has not practiced martial arts. Although he grew up in the fields and has good physical fitness, it is only slightly better than the average person. It didn't take long for his forehead to be covered with sweat, but he still repeated the same thing, clapping his hands while walking in the wind and snow, urging everyone to get up from the freezing cold ground, and to save as many people as possible who could not get up by themselves.

Bai Huang turned his head and said to He Ji:

"You go help."

Heji frowned slightly, but still agreed. However, for Bai Huang's safety, he refused to go too far and always rescued people near Bai Huang. Alaiya looked normal. I was silent for a while, but still said:

"Alaiya, you should go and help too."

Alayya nodded.

Wumi bowed to us and said:

"Thank you both very much."

Bai Huang shook his head and saw a woman lying on the ground. He wanted to imitate Wu Mi and help her up. The woman didn't respond at all, so Bai Huang started to rub her acupuncture points, but no matter how hard he pressed, the woman didn't respond. Bai Huang was wondering when he heard Wu Mi say:

"Ms. Bai Huang, that woman will never wake up again."

Bai Huang's body trembled, his hands loosened, and the woman fell back to the ground.

I stood beside Wumi and said:

"The living and the dead must be separated. If they continue to die at this rate, a plague will break out sooner or later."

Wu Mi nodded and said with emotion:

"Yes. Brother Lid is right. Fortunately, it is winter now. If it were midsummer, the bodies would start to stink overnight. If no one takes care of it, the plague would spread quickly. By then, people would not die one by one, but in large numbers. It is better in winter, but we can't just ignore it. Let me see if I can dispatch a guard team to clean up the bodies."

I took the opportunity to ask:

"Transferring the guard? What position do you hold in the capital, Wumi?"

Wumi laughed, not looking at me, but looking at the disaster victims in the distance, and whispered:

"I have no power or influence, I am just a minor official. Even disaster relief has to be discussed with them."

Bai Huang patted Wu Mi's shoulder and said:

"Don't be afraid, you are a good person and you will be promoted sooner or later."

I smiled in my heart.

He is indeed a good person, but it is hard to say whether he can be promoted.

Wu Mi didn't mind and exchanged a few simple pleasantries with Bai Huang. Bai Huang was also straightforward and said simply and clearly that he would definitely protect him when he went to the capital, and if he couldn't, he could go to Yunhai with me. Wu Mi declined politely, saying that he still had things to do in the capital and had to accompany these 300,000 disaster victims through the winter.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from a distance:

“Porridge is being distributed!!”

Wumi immediately stopped talking and greeted everyone:

"Don't rush! Line up! Don't rush, everyone has one. If it gets cold, I'll have them reheat it! Everyone has the same amount, don't rush, just line up!"

The victims also believed in him, and the stampede that might have occurred did not happen.

I guess that Wu Mi has been helping the victims all this time, and with his status as an official, these victims have already believed in him. His words are now second only to the king's orders, which has stabilized the originally chaotic victims. Just like now, although the queue is not neat and there are occasional requests to jump the queue, it is much better than the scene of everyone rushing in. Wu Mi shouted until his voice was hoarse, coughed for a while, borrowed a bowl from an old man who had finished his porridge, and also lined up at the back of the line.

I don't know how many porridge stalls there are, but this one has about 500 to 600 people queuing up. The porridge distribution is not slow. Everyone brings a broken bowl, and the porridge distributor holds a large soup spoon. Each person gets a large spoonful of porridge. Some bowls can be filled, while others can only hold half a bowl. But in principle, "take away the surplus but not give to the deficit": if some bowls are too small to hold a spoonful of porridge, they will fill the bowl and pour the remaining porridge in the spoon back, which is also counted as one person's portion; some bowls are too big and can hold two spoonfuls of porridge, but the porridge distributor will not give more.

After Wu Mi received the porridge, she found a place to drink it by herself.

Bai Huang looked over curiously and immediately said angrily:

"How can this be called porridge? Calling it pot-washing water is an exaggeration. The pot-washing water at my aunt's house is thicker than this! Hey, you, add some rice to the porridge! I want to see how you can cook it like this!"

As he spoke, Bai Huang grabbed the soup giver by the collar and looked at him coldly.

The people in the queue behind were suddenly panicked.

The person distributing porridge didn't know Bai Huang's identity, but seeing that her clothes were worth thousands of gold, he naturally didn't dare to offend her easily, so he softened his words and said:

"Why do you have to make things difficult for me? We have already cooked all the rice and flour that was distributed. If you want more, you have to get it from my own home. The whole family is laughing, but they can't even eat enough, so where can they get more rice to give out..."

Bai Huang loosened his hand. The porridge giver touched his throat and coughed. Bai Huang frowned, not knowing what to say. Finally, Wu Mi came to the rescue:

“Continue to distribute porridge.”

I looked around and saw that everyone was holding a bowl of hot porridge, but there was basically no rice in the so-called porridge, and most of it was bran. The so-called bran is the outer skin of the millet, which is very cheap. Yuxi City often uses it to feed the demons, but it is basically not eaten by people. Because it is not nutritious and tastes bad. In the "porridge" in the hands of the disaster victims, even this kind of bran can't fill them up. The porridge is as thin as water, and you can tell by looking at it that it won't fill you up.

But everyone still held it carefully, as it was life-saving food for them.

What's more, when he saw me looking at him, he turned around and protected the porridge in his hands, fearing that I would snatch it away.

Wumi finished her drink and said with a wry smile:

"You won't know the suffering of the people unless you experience it yourself. Your Majesty is merciful and has provided them with enough money to live on this year, but those people in the court manipulated it, and when it was distributed to the victims, they couldn't even get a bowl of hot porridge. Each person only had this little food, not to mention it was hard to swallow, and after drinking it, they didn't even feel full."

He returned the bowl to the old man, wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, licked the remaining rice soup on his thumb with his tongue, and sighed:

"The way of heaven is to reduce the surplus but not to reduce the deficiency. But the poor become poorer and the rich become richer. This is the way of man."

Bai Huang and I didn't say anything.