In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 53 Liangzhou

Chen Dao stared silently at the woman in front of him. She was clearly a refugee, her clothes were tattered and revealed some of her not-so-fair skin.

The woman was holding a child who looked to be about five or six years old. The child's eyes were closed and his face was pale with a bluish tinge, a sign that he was both hungry and cold.

Chen Dao lifted his foot to walk towards the woman, and Chen Da reached out to stop him, but Chen Dao waved his hand, indicating that it didn't matter.

As Chen Dao got closer, he could see more clearly. The woman kneeling in front of the donkey cart was extremely thin, and her tattered clothes were very loose. The girl she was holding in her arms was a little girl who was barely breathing.

"Sir, please give me some food! My child is dying!"

"Please!"

"Sir, please save my child! I'll do anything for just a bite to eat!"

"..."

The woman seemed oblivious to Chen Dao's approach, continuing to kowtow, her forehead pounding so hard it created a small crater in the ground.

Looking at the scene before him, Chen Dao couldn't help but have a complicated expression.

He is not a heartless person; on the contrary, he is someone who is easily consumed by the suffering of others.

In his past life, when Chen Dao was scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), he would feel extremely pained every time he saw videos showing the suffering of people. He always wanted to help those who were suffering, but he was always powerless to do so.

Chen Dao had even donated a considerable amount of money to those charities, but after learning about their despicable practices, he stopped donating and never donated a single penny again.

In his past life, Chen Dao was unable to help others, so he often turned a blind eye to their suffering. But now...

Even when the woman knelt before him, Chen Dao still couldn't ignore her suffering.

Chen Dao moved closer and said softly to the woman, "Get up!"

The woman seemed surprised to receive a response. She paused in her kowtowing and looked up at Chen Dao: "Young master, what did you say?"

"Get up, let me see the child!" Chen Dao said again.

The woman's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly got up from the ground, bringing the child she had been holding in her arms to keep warm to Chen Dao.

Chen Dao carefully examined the girl's face and asked, "Is she hungry?"

"Yes, young master, we haven't eaten for five days."

I haven't eaten for five days...

Chen Dao couldn't help but sigh. Human life is sometimes very fragile, but at other times it can be incredibly tenacious. It's really not easy to survive for five days without food!

Chen Dao waved to Chen Cheng: "Cheng-ge, bring over the rations and water bag!"

Chen Dao brought some steamed buns and a water bag with him when he went to the city, in case he went hungry on the way, but he never expected that they would come in handy.

"Here comes Brother Dao!"

Chen Cheng unloaded the package containing steamed buns from his back and handed it to Chen Dao along with the water bag.

"Feed some to your child first!"

Chen Dao took out a steamed bun and handed it to the woman.

The woman took it with delight, tore off a piece of the steamed bun, and stuffed it into the little girl's mouth.

The unconscious girl's mouth moved unconsciously, and after chewing, she swallowed the steamed bun.

"Great!"

Upon seeing the girl swallow the steamed bun, the woman quickened her feeding pace, tearing the bun into pieces and feeding it into the girl's mouth. At the same time, to prevent the girl from choking, the woman also poured some water into the girl's mouth.

Soon, the girl finished the whole steamed bun, and her pale complexion immediately improved.

Seeing this, the woman finally felt relieved and repeatedly thanked Chen Dao, saying, "Thank you, benefactor. I'll kowtow to you."

This woman was honest; she immediately kowtowed three times to Chen Dao.

Chen Dao was not used to having others kneel, so he quickly grabbed the woman's wrist and helped her up: "No need to kowtow."

"Yes, my benefactor!"

The woman was very obedient and quickly stood up, standing timidly in front of Chen Dao: "My benefactor, I keep my word. From now on, I am yours. You can make me do anything for you!"

What does it mean to be "my person"?

Chen Dao was somewhat amused and exasperated; the ambiguity of those words was far too great, so he decided to let it go: "What's your name?"

"My name is Ding Xiaohua, and my daughter's name is Qiujie."

"Where's your husband?"

“My husband starved to death long ago. On the way we fled the famine, he left the last of his food for me and our daughter, and starved to death in the wilderness.” The woman’s face showed sadness when she talked about her husband who starved to death.

Chen Dao's heart sank: "Where did you escape from?"

"Liangzhou in the north."

"Liangzhou?"

Chen Dao was stunned. This was Qingzhou territory. How could the refugees from Liangzhou have fled to Qingzhou?

The Xia Kingdom comprised nine provinces. If we consider the map of the Xia Kingdom as a square grid, the three upper provinces, from left to right, are Liang Province, You Province, and Ming Province.

The three central prefectures are Qingzhou, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou.

The three lower prefectures are Yuezhou, Qiongzhou, and Haizhou.

Although Qingzhou borders Liangzhou, it is still somewhat unimaginable to have fled across an entire prefecture to reach Qingzhou.

"How did you end up coming all the way from Liangzhou to Qingzhou?" Chen Dao asked, puzzled.

"My benefactor, you may not know this, but it's become unbearable to live in Liangzhou these days!"

Ding Xiaohua said with a face full of sorrow, "Every year, men are conscripted from Liangzhou to be sent to the battlefield. No family with a male member can escape the government's conscription. In addition, the weather is cold and the fields cannot grow food. With fewer men in the family, I don't know how many people have starved to death in the entire Liangzhou area!"

At this point, Ding Xiaohua couldn't help but show a hint of lingering fear: "Those of us who escaped are considered lucky. Many people who stayed in Liangzhou could only starve to death at home."

Is the situation in Liangzhou really that bad?

Chen Dao was shocked. He had heard Li Zheng, a scholar in the village, say that the three northern prefectures were harsh and cold places, far less prosperous than Qingzhou, but they couldn't be this miserable, could they?

Not only was the weather cold and crops couldn't be grown, but they also had to face conscription by the government, and all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies...

Chen Dao now understood why there were so many refugees recently. Most of these refugees were probably not from Qingzhou, but rather had fled from Liangzhou.

Taiping County is located at the border of Qingzhou and Liangzhou. For some migrants living on the border of Liangzhou, coming to Qingzhou is much simpler than going to the county seat, prefecture seat, or state capital of Liangzhou.

"This world is too chaotic!"

Chen Dao sighed inwardly. From Ding Xiaohua's description, it was easy to tell that the people in Liangzhou were now completely unable to survive.

When the people can no longer survive, it becomes only natural for them to rise up in rebellion.