Not getting the answer he wanted, Dafu pursed his lips and said, "Huh, Uncle Zhao doesn't even understand his own father. The emperor is so pitiful!"
The unexpected answer seemed like a strong injection, piercing Zhao Hengrui's body hard, causing great pain.
Yes, as a minister and as a son, he didn't know his father very well. He didn't know whether it was his sadness or the emperor's pity.
Zhao Hengrui gathered his thoughts and was about to say something when he felt the car suddenly shake for a moment.
Then there was a noise outside, "What are you doing? What are you doing? You dare to rob vehicles!"
Zhao Hengrui's eyes darkened in an instant. Next to him, Xiao Fu was a little frightened and quietly leaned towards Zhao Hengrui.
"It's okay, ah, Dafu, Xiaofu, nothing will happen. I'll go down and take a look. You guys just stay in the carriage and don't make any sound."
The carriage driver was already shocked by this scene, and his eyes were filled with fear, "You guys, don't mess around. The people in this carriage are not something you can afford to offend. Be careful of you being beheaded!"
"I don't care whether you will be beheaded in the future or not. Now that the plague has taken hold, there is no telling whether you can survive until then! Stop following me here, get out of the car quickly, and hand over all the food and valuables you have.
Come out and we will spare your life!"
"What's wrong? Why is Qing Tian Bai Ri making such a big fuss?"
In the inner room, Zhao Hengrui opened the curtain, turned over and jumped down.
The people outside looked like a group of ordinary people, all with their noses and mouths covered, and they didn't smell like bandits, so they didn't look like bandits.
"Boss, boss, you see he is dressed like a dog, the material on his body is brocade, and there is a jade pendant hanging around his waist, he must be a rich man, we can't let them go today!"
Several people gathered together to plot for a while, then stood on both sides with shovels and axes.
They had hijacked many carriages today, but they contained either women and children, or some poor people who were difficult to cure. In the end, they were unable to take action. Now they finally caught a rich man, and they would never let him go again.
"Robbing, robbing, you, you didn't see it, hurry up, take out all the things on your body, otherwise, don't, don't blame us for being rude!"
Zhao Hengrui took one look at their appearance and guessed that they were villagers who had been driven into desperation by the epidemic. He suddenly felt a little emotional in his heart.
He raised his hand to take out a roll of banknotes from his sleeve.
"Hey, look, he, he is about to use the knife. Brothers, go ahead and catch him first!"
For a moment, the scene was chaotic. Zhao Hengrui stared dumbfounded at the people in front of him who wanted to go forward and kill him, his hands were shaking a little.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't be like this. If you have something to say, say it properly so that you don't go under the knife. Ah, everyone!"
Before Zhao Hengrui could finish speaking, a group of people had already rushed forward, firing their bows left and right, and hitting him.
The situation was pressing, and Zhao Hengrui was no longer vague. He turned over and avoided the attack of the shovel next to him.
Although his martial arts is not Song Zeyi's opponent, he has also practiced well with the martial arts master, so it is easy to defeat these few.
"Can you please listen to what I have to say? I, I can give you the money! Stop fighting!"
With one word, everyone present stopped their hands in an instant and stared at Zhao Hengrui.
Zhao Hengrui stood up, and after he had calmed down a bit, he slowly spoke.
"I, I have a banknote with me. I see that you are not just robbers. You were forced by the situation and lost the ability to make a living, so you embarked on this path."
After saying this, everyone on the other side looked at each other, and no one made any move.
"To be honest, brothers, I came out this time because I was forced to do nothing by the epidemic. I went to visit relatives in a distant place. The money is not much, but it is enough to provide food and clothing for the brothers for a while. You can take it first.
Go ahead."
Zhao Hengrui took out the banknotes from his sleeve and stuffed them into the hands of the leader.
The man had a look of disbelief on his face. He took out the banknotes in his hand and counted them several times. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and distributed them to everyone, throwing down the shovels in his hand.
"Hey, sir, we didn't mean to go down the mountain to become bandits. It's just that because of the recent plague, we have no way to survive, and the price of food has increased greatly. We really have no choice."
Zhao Hengrui was stunned for a moment, his eyes filled with sadness, "Your life is already so difficult, don't you have local officials to help you distribute food?"
Even if the emperor has no way to deal with the epidemic, he should still open the granary to help the local people. How come nothing is implemented?
"Hey, what do you expect the emperor to do? He enjoys life on the throne and he doesn't care about our life and death. The officials knew about the epidemic here, so they all fled away. There is no one to treat my family, young and old, and everyone who is sick is getting sick.
, we are starving to death, but the officials want to increase taxes, which simply does not leave us a way to survive!"
"Yeah, it's better to count on them than on yourself. They are so superior that they all deserve to die!"
"Yes, apart from the current crown prince and Scholar Song, what other good things does the royal family have?"
…
Every sound and every word pierced Zhao Hengrui's heart, causing him to feel pain like needles. It was very unpleasant. The guilt and heartache overlapped, and he was so sleepy that he could hardly lift his head.
"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhao, are you okay?"
Inside, Dafu and Xiaofu ran out, gathered around Zhao Hengrui, and looked at the people around them warily.
When people nearby saw the two children, they felt that the coins in their hands were a little hot to the touch.
"We, we didn't know you had two children. How about I give you some money back? We only need part of it to survive for the time being!"
The people are so displaced and still care about the livelihood of others. In contrast, those in power are simply heinous, spending the people's taxes without caring about their lives.
"No need, old men, I still have some money here. You can take these first. I still have some money there, which is enough."
In this way, the common people took the things in their hands with peace of mind and sighed heavily.
"Master, you are such a good person. There is so much chaos everywhere now. It is really difficult for you and two children to survive in this troubled world! You must pay attention to safety and protect yourself and your children!"
Zhao Hengrui was stunned for a moment, but before he could speak, the uncle next to him had already snatched his words away.
"Yes, you must pay attention. Recently, I heard from my relatives who are high-ranking officials in the capital that there has been a lot of unrest there recently!"