Chapter 116: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 116: Overnight Transformation
"Suddenly, like a spring breeze overnight, thousands of trees and pear blossoms bloom."
When everyone woke up, they saw a vast expanse of white around them. The ground and the treetops were all covered in white snow.
"Sneeze!"
"So cold!"
"I'm freezing to death!"
Everyone huddled together under the trees, waking up in the middle of the night from the cold. They quickly added more firewood, or else they would have frozen to death long ago.
They couldn't imagine that winter would come overnight without any warning.
"Help! Someone help!"
Suddenly, a woman cried out in distress.
Everyone turned to look and saw a woman holding an elderly man in her arms. The man lay motionless on the ground, obviously frozen stiff.
Upon hearing the commotion, Xu Tian hurried over and shouted to the crowd, "Clear the way, let's move him closer to the fire!"
Feeling the icy coldness of the old man's body and the lack of pulse, Xu Tian's face turned grim.
"Let me take a look!"
With his medical kit on his back, Doctor Yang hurried over. Chen Yuan had instructed him to assist in case anyone froze to death when it snowed. The medical kit was bought by Chen Yuan in the county, with one set for Doctor Yang and one for his daughter Yang Xiaohua.
Knowing that Doctor Yang was close to Chen Yuan, Xu Tian quickly made way for him, and Doctor Yang knelt beside the old man.
After checking, he sighed, "It's too late, he already..."
The old man's body was already weak, and coupled with poor nutrition and the exhaustion from walking long distances every day, he couldn't withstand the sudden heavy snowfall last night.
Upon hearing this, the woman holding the old man's body burst into tears. "Dad, don't leave me alone... Dad... why..."
Xu Tian stood up silently and looked around. He could hear cries of anguish all around, indicating that more than one person had frozen to death.
"Make the fire bigger and gather everyone around," Xu Tian quickly ordered the other bailiffs.
"In addition, boil some hot water and cook some food quickly to fill everyone's stomachs."
After everyone gathered together, Xu Tian also took stock of the casualties. Only two people froze to death, one elderly man and one baby.
Luckily, the snow didn't fall last night; it must have fallen in the morning. By then, everyone was almost awake and had gathered together to keep warm and light fires.
Otherwise, the casualties would have been much worse.
As Xu Tian sighed, feeling both fortunate and troubled, he couldn't help but wonder how many of these people would be able to endure until they reached the Southern Barbarians, which was still a long journey away.
Shaking his head, he pushed aside these thoughts and saw Chen Yuan and others cooking food. He walked over to join them.
He saw Chen Yuan and the others cooking ginger soup and letting the children, elderly, and women drink it first.
"Why should they get to drink first!"
Some people grumbled, "Why should they drink while we can't!"
"Just because we brought these things!" Chen Xue said coldly, "How we handle our belongings is our business!"
"You..."
The man who questioned Chen Xue didn't know how to respond to her directness for a moment.
At this moment, Chen Yuan also came out and looked at the crowd. "You all have elders, wives, and children. This ginger soup is limited. Do you want your wives and children to drink it, or do you want to drink it yourselves? Think carefully."
With Chen Yuan's words, the crowd naturally chose to give the soup to their wives, children, and elders, as they were weaker.
Of course, there were also selfish people who chose to drink it themselves instead of giving it to their wives and children. Such people were immediately blacklisted by Chen Yuan.
This sudden snowfall caught everyone off guard. Chen Yuan had previously dealt with sudden snow disasters while serving in the Ministry of Households, so he was well aware of the consequences. Without his intervention, these people would not have lasted until the next day.
Although he was no longer the Minister of Households now, he still had the ability to help. How could he stand by and watch these people die in front of him?
Even though some of these people deserved their fate, many were innocent.
And he didn't have to pay too high a price. With just a small sacrifice, he could save a group of people. With Chen Yuan's character, how could he not do it?
So, he sought the opinion of his wife and daughter. After getting their consent, he made ginger soup with the ginger that Chen Xue had bought as seeds and seasoning.
After all, ginger soup was known for its warming properties.
However, the ginger was limited, so the ginger soup they made was also limited. Chen Yuan was not a saint; he couldn't ensure that everyone got an equal share.
Unless they diluted the soup with more water, but then it would lose its effectiveness and taste like plain water.
Therefore, he chose to give the soup to the elderly, children, and women, who were more susceptible to the cold. If there was any leftover, they could give it to others.
The bailiffs maintained order, allowing the women, children, and elderly to come forward to receive the soup. They were required to drink it on the spot before leaving.
The man who had spoken up earlier sneered, "It's just a bowl of ginger soup. What's so great about it? We've all had it before."
Others didn't bother with him and looked enviously at those who were receiving the soup. Some of them didn't have wives or children, so they were considering whether to try to get a bowl.
"Thank you, Master Chen!"
A family of three suddenly came forward and knelt in front of Chen Yuan.
"Please get up!"
Chen Yuan was a little puzzled and quickly helped them up. Only then did he recognize them as Wu Zhang, who had explained how to build a bamboo house to them yesterday.
"If it weren't for Master Chen, our family would probably..." Wu Zhang was extremely grateful to the Chen family. Yesterday, the Chen family gave them a few cotton jackets, so that their family wouldn't be frostbitten when the temperature suddenly dropped.
It could be said that the Chen family saved their lives.
"If Chen Yuan doesn't mind, we are willing to serve you."
After discussing with his wife, Wu Zhang decided to join Chen Yuan. After all, following them would prevent them from being bullied.
"This..."
Although Chen Yuan had considered recruiting Wu Zhang before, he hadn't figured out how to approach him yet. Unexpectedly, they...
Seeing that Chen Yuan didn't speak, Wu Zhang seemed worried about being misunderstood and quickly explained, "Master Chen, we are not here for food. We just want a shelter. We will find a way to get food. If Master Chen gives us orders, we will definitely not refuse."
Chen Yuan was not worried about food, but he hadn't assessed Wu Zhang's character, so he hesitated.
"Dad, please agree!" Chen Xue suddenly spoke up, whispering in Chen Daren's ear, "Didn't we agree earlier to recruit these prisoners as our own?"
That's right, they had discussed earlier about recruiting all the bailiffs first. As a result, Captain Sun and others had an accident, but the outcome was still the same as they had hoped.
Most of the bailiffs listened to them, and now that they could control the prisoners, their journey of exile could truly be turned into a journey of travel.
In the future, they could do whatever they wanted, and these prisoners would be theirs, and they wouldn't leak any secrets.
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