Chapter 22: The Growing Stream of Refugees

Seeing that familiar gate, Zhang Yue leaped down and rushed forward, pounding on it in quick strides. But with the strong wind and heavy rain, his shouts were quickly drowned out by the storm. Frustrated, he almost instinctively wanted to kick the door, but after assessing the strength of his feet against that massive gate, he gave up on this unrealistic impulse. Just then, a strong hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
“Young Master San, step aside—let me handle it!”
As Zhang Yue was still in shock, a terrifying voice suddenly rang in his ears. Before he could even cover his ears, he saw the sturdy gate burst open before him, no longer a barrier. Without time to marvel at Peng Shisan’s incredible strength, he rushed into the courtyard like the wind and crashed into the room in the middle.
“Mr. Du, Mr. Du!”
As soon as he entered the room, the wind from outside rushed in with force, blowing out the small oil lamp in the room like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Almost immediately upon standing still, he heard an angry voice.
“Zhang Yue, what are you doing?”
“Sir, the river outside has burst its banks! Please come with me right away!”
After shouting this, seeing Du Zhen looking at him strangely, Zhang Yue felt both confused and frustrated. Still, out of respect for his teacher, he hurriedly added, “Mr. Du, please come with me quickly! If we wait any longer, it might be too late!”
“Do you know how many times the area around Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan has suffered from floods? Do you know where to flee even if we try to leave now? Do you know that if the Yellow River really bursts its banks, even trying to escape by boat could mean being swept into whirlpools? Do you know that because of poverty in Henan, many people like to rob the rich during floods? Do you know that if the Yellow River bursts its banks, Kaifeng, Huaiqing, as well as Guide, Xuanwu, and Suiyang will all be devastated—where can you flee by carriage?”
These rhetorical questions left Zhang Yue stunned, but after a brief pause, he firmly replied, “Sir, I don’t understand all those complexities. I only know that many households along the way are preparing to flee. Everyone says the flood will soon inundate Kaifeng City, so I absolutely cannot leave you behind!”

Faced with Zhang Yue’s reply, Du Zhen was instantly stunned. He stared thoughtfully at Zhang Yue’s face for a while before bursting into silent laughter. He walked straight to the head of the bed and fumbled around on the shelf above it for a while before turning around.

At that moment, Zhang Yue suddenly saw that Du Zhen was holding a long sword in his hand—he had heard that wearing swords and knives was the prerogative of scholars these days, and ordinary people who dared to hide weapons were considered to be breaking taboos. Yet it seemed quite strange to see Mr. Du, who had no strength to even kill a chicken, holding such a sword. But seeing Du Zhen ready to leave with the sword, he couldn’t help but feel curious.

“Mr. Du, are you really going to take just this sword?”

“Didn’t you say that a breach in the Yellow River could threaten Kaifeng? Do you expect me to flee carrying all these books?”

“What if there are rare or unique books…?”

“Maybe some people cherish books as much as their lives, but I’m not one of them.”

Du Zhen left without looking back, holding the sword, and stepped into the rain. Suddenly, he turned around and smiled at Zhang Yue, “I’ve stored all the books in the highest boxes, covered them with oilcloth. Besides, I remember every book perfectly. Even if they’re lost, it doesn’t matter. Stop standing there foolishly and hurry up! By the way, your Zhang family’s mansion is located in the southwest of the city—once the flood hits, it’ll be in great danger. We can’t leave the city now; let’s go to Daxiangguo Temple!”

Seeing Du Zhen leave the courtyard so nonchalantly, Zhang Yue suddenly felt like a complete fool. It was obvious that Mr. Du had already prepared for an escape, yet he still spoke in such a righteous tone—now he found his own words cheesy.

Peng Shisan had been waiting outside impatiently when he finally saw Du Zhen walking out calmly. Noticing his typical scholar’s attire but also a sword in his hand, which seemed quite out of place, he began to mutter to himself.

“He can’t even kill a chicken—what’s the point of putting on such an act…”

As Du Zhen approached, he quickly apologized, “Mr. Du, the carriage is full of the women from the Zhang family. You…”

Before he could finish, Du Zhen turned around and called out to Zhang Yue, who was coming out of the courtyard, in an unyielding tone, “Your health is already weak. How can you get wet in the rain? Hurry up and get in the carriage. Take this—just in case you need it for self-defense!”

Not to mention Peng Shisan, even Zhang Yue looked extremely strange when he took the sword that traced a graceful parabolic path—he even felt the urge to draw it from its sheath to check if its edge was sharp, but he ultimately held back. He couldn’t persuade Du Zhen about entering the carriage either.

Firstly, it was an era when men and women should not mix; while he, as a eunuch, could be around women, Du Zhen insisted otherwise. The second reason was even more important—Du Zhen had traveled throughout Henan and knew the geography intimately, while he was completely clueless. So in the end, Peng Shisan stepped in and helped him, who was drenched in rain, onto the carriage.

Compared to the strong wind and rain outside, the carriage was stuffy and humid. Due to the rain, everyone’s clothes clung tightly to their bodies. Even Lady Luo, who had already given birth to a daughter, showed off her well-maintained figure, with the tender curves of her chest clearly visible beneath her clothes. Zhang Yue had no choice but to quickly look away. The situation for Zhang Qing and Zhang Yi sitting across from him wasn’t much better. Helpless, he simply closed his eyes.

However, perhaps because his warm body had been drenched by the cold rain, an inexplicable heat began to spread through him. This heat surged through his limbs, making him feel uncomfortable, until he couldn’t help but groan. At that moment, he felt a hand gently placed on his forehead, followed by a warm, soft touch.

“Third brother, why is your forehead so hot? Are you okay?”

Opening his eyes, he saw Zhang Qing looking at him with concern. Zhang Yue quickly tried to shake his head, but his head felt heavy and unresponsive. Realizing it was probably due to the rain earlier, he felt both angry and regretful—hadn’t he been working hard to strengthen his body? How could he still be so weak?

“Miss, I’ve brought several kinds of pills with me. I wonder if they might be useful?”

Hearing another calm voice nearby, he struggled to turn his head and saw Hu Bo magically pull out a handkerchief from her bosom, containing various small bottles of pills. Immediately, several women, including Lady Luo, cheered and gathered around to discuss in hushed tones.

Finally, Qiu Hen, who had been prepared in advance, took out a water pot and carefully fed Zhang Yue a pill, then coaxed him to sleep as if soothing a child. Although he usually didn’t like to be treated like a child, among such gentle women and girls, Zhang Yue wisely closed his eyes and soon fell into a drowsy sleep.

Inside the carriage, no one noticed what was going on outside until the noise around them grew louder, the jolting of the carriage lessened, and moving forward became increasingly difficult. Only then did Qiu Hen cautiously pull back the curtain slightly to peek outside. It would have been better not to look, but as soon as she did, she gasped in shock and immediately sat down.

Zhang Qing, being more composed, quickly asked, “What’s going on?”

“Outside… there are so many people blocking the road. The road is completely blocked… No carriages are allowed to pass!”

Everyone gasped in alarm, and Zhang Yue, who had just woken up, also heard these words. He struggled to sit up straight, moved his limbs a bit, and felt no other symptoms aside from numbness from sitting in one position for too long, which gave him some relief. Seeing Zhang Qing reach out to check his forehead, he quickly waved his hand to show she didn’t need to worry.

At that moment, more noisy shouts came from outside.

“It’s outrageous! Move aside! This is the carriage of the Prince of Xin’an!”

“What Prince of Xin’an? The whole Zhou family left by boat long ago to escape. Stop trying to deceive us!”

“It’s these nobles who refuse to pay for river repairs that caused the flood! Since they rely on their power, and everyone’s going to die anyway, let’s kill these bastards!”

After a series of back-and-forth shouts, screams could be heard from outside, as if chaos had erupted in an instant. Faced with this situation, everyone in the carriage felt a chill in their hearts.

Even normally, the servants of the Prince of Xin’an’s household or ordinary people wouldn’t dare provoke them, but from the sounds, it seemed their carriage had been overturned—if refugees could overturn one carriage, who knew if they might overturn theirs as well?