Chapter 23: The Most Common Thing in This World Is Taking Advantage of Chaos

Zhang Yue glanced at the group of women in the carriage and noticed that none of them were dressed in extravagant outfits covered in jewels, but their clothes were still made of high-quality materials. Even after being drenched by the rain, they remained strikingly visible. However, having left in such a hurry, they hadn’t brought any spare clothes, so he instructed the women to take off all their valuable jewelry and stuff it into a small bundle.

When the noise outside subsided slightly, he quietly lifted the carriage curtain a crack to peek outside. Not far away, another carriage had been turned upside down; its two horses had been untied from the yokes, and the arrogant coachman lay on the ground, covered in blood, unknown to be alive or dead. Several burly men in simple clothes were beating up others dressed in fancy attire, and the onlookers, forgetting the threat of the flood, cheered loudly.

Among those being beaten, he even spotted a familiar face—Qian Jia, the one who had been tyrannical at the clan school! After all, he was a real relative of the Prince of Xin’an!

Yet as the chaos began to spread to other carriages, Zhang Yue grew increasingly anxious. Just then, he heard Du Zhen talking to someone. With the strong wind and rain outside, he could only make out a few words. Peering through the curtain, he saw only a middle-aged couple and a young man, too hasty to identify them.

It wasn’t until the young man hurriedly took a large oilcloth bundle from his parents and handed it to Du Zhen that Zhang Yue recognized him—it seemed they had run into acquaintances. Just now it was Qian Jia; now it was Gu Bin. But before he could greet him and ask what was going on, Du Zhen shoved the oilcloth bundle into his hands.

“There are some ordinary clothes inside. Hurry and have the women change into them. Those guys are checking carriage by carriage and will be here soon! We can’t turn back now; we just have to hope to fool them!”

Hearing the cries, curses, and screams in the distance, Zhang Yue didn’t hesitate. He quickly untied the bundle. Thanks to the oilcloth covering it, the clothes were still relatively dry, though plain in design. He handed them one by one to the women in the carriage, instructing them to quickly change out of their soaked clothes, while he turned away.

Qiu Hen had always obeyed Zhang Yue without question, so she immediately started unbuttoning her clothes, followed by Hu Bo and Zhang Qing. Aunt Luo took a while to react before frantically removing her clothes, urging Zhang Yi to hurry as well. Soon, the entire carriage was filled with the sound of people changing clothes; the skin, usually hidden under thick clothing, was now exposed without restraint in this urgent situation.

At that moment, although Zhang Yue had turned his gaze toward the carriage wall and even closed his eyes tightly, he could still sense that the heat in the carriage seemed to have risen slightly, and he could even detect a faint fragrance in the air. The space in the carriage was already extremely small, with six people crammed in, constantly bumping into each other. So, when elbows and other parts kept hitting him from all sides, his discomfort was unbearable.

“Alright, alright, third brother, turn your head around and see if this works!”

Hearing Zhang Qing’s voice, Zhang Yue reluctantly turned his head. Seeing her dressed in loose, grayish clothes with her hair in disarray, though her beauty was only partially concealed, he frowned. Looking at the others as well, their simple clothes couldn’t hide their natural beauty, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

If someone poked their head in to check, it would almost certainly expose them!

In desperation, he quickly racked his brains. After a long while, an idea struck him. He quickly signaled everyone to gather together, explaining his plan with their heads close together, then went to the front of the carriage to brief Peng Shisan and Du Zhen.

“Bad idea… If it weren’t for the crowd making it difficult to break through, how could I end up like this!”

Peng Shisan grumbled irritably. Seeing a dozen burly men approaching, he grew nervous, instinctively gripping his whip with his right hand and touching his back with his left. It wasn’t until one of the men came over and shouted a question that he sneered.

“There’s my leprous nephew inside. I heard the high monks at Daxiangguo Temple have an effective medicine, so I hired a carriage to take him there for treatment. If you don’t mind the bad luck, go ahead and take a look!”

As he spoke, he carelessly lifted the carriage curtain. Halfway up, a terrifyingly twisted eagle-clawed hand suddenly emerged from inside, followed by a face covered in white spots. At that moment, the dozen or so men who had been about to approach all stepped back several steps. The leader spat on the ground and then waved them to pass, leading his group to inspect other carriages.

Even Peng Shisan, who had proven himself on the battlefield, couldn’t help but sigh in relief after overcoming this challenge. He then snapped angrily, “No wonder this place is so poor—when disaster strikes, they just take advantage of the situation!”

Du Zhen’s white scholar’s robes were already ruined by mud splatters from the ground, and his hair was wet and dripping. Wiping the rain from his face, he said coldly, “During the wars at the end of the Yuan dynasty, Henan was almost completely devastated. After our founding emperor ascended the throne, he ordered countless people to be relocated there. These were all poor people from various places who arrived without seeds or farming tools. Even if Henan wasn’t poor before, it became poor now. What else can they do but take advantage of the situation?”

Zhang Yue, inside the carriage, could only smile bitterly at this conversation. He quickly wiped the mess off his face and gave Amber a thumbs up in approval—though he hadn’t noticed what the two girls had prepared, Amber had brought pills before, and now she had lead powder, as if she carried a treasure chest with her.

He lifted the carriage curtain slightly and asked in a low voice, “Sir, where’s my cousin from the Gu family?”

“Don’t worry. The three of them have nothing but that bundle—they’ll pass through easily. I told them to meet us at Daxiangguo Temple. We’ll wait there.”

Only after hearing Du Zhen’s reply did Zhang Yue feel a little reassured.

After what had just happened, no one in the carriage wanted to talk—except for Amber. Though they came from different backgrounds, everyone gathered there was a poor soul who had lost their family.

Zhang Qing, usually so gentle, suddenly burst into tears thinking of her missing mother and brother. Seeing this, Aunt Luo and Zhang Yi also hugged each other and wept. Qiu Hen thought of her parents working in the outer courtyard, while Amber thought of her origins and her family, who had long lost contact—both of them had red eyes and tears welling up. Zhang Yue was also filled with worry; he couldn’t bear such a sorrowful scene and almost wanted to switch places with Mr. Du, who was out in the rain. He was also worried about his loving parents!

The northeastern corner of Kaifeng had the lowest terrain, followed by the southwestern corner, which was more open. Moreover, several floods had only submerged the northeastern part of Kaifeng, so it had the most large houses. Among those who set out from the southwest of the city to seek refuge in higher areas this time, there were countless ordinary people, as well as a considerable number of the wealthy.

Yet in such chaotic times, without loyal servants and guards, one could hardly withstand bandits taking advantage of the situation. Along the way, Zhang Yue saw several instances of robbery, though none on the scale of the earlier ones. After those ruffians were driven away by Peng Shisan’s elusive whip, the rest of the journey proceeded smoothly.

After walking back and forth for what felt like an eternity, the two strong horses could finally gallop freely. When Zhang Yue finally spotted the Daxiangguo Temple in the distance, he found it not as crowded as he had imagined—indeed, it seemed rather deserted.

“The Daxiangguo Temple is not on high ground. During the Hongwu era, people came here to escape floods, but suddenly the waters rose, drowning dozens of those who sought refuge here.”

Hearing Du Zhen say this, Zhang Yue felt a chill run down his spine. If the temple wasn’t on high ground, why bring them all here to take shelter? As he was in turmoil, he suddenly noticed the numerous halls inside the temple complex and his eyes lit up.

“Sir, you mean that because the ground here is low and people have died here in floods before, people won’t flock here. But the halls here are high—by climbing up, one can avoid the floodwaters, is that right?”

“You’re teachable!”

Peng Shisan frowned in envy upon hearing the response from the teacher and student. As the rain grew heavier, with raindrops the size of beans creating pits in the yellow soil, he hurriedly drove the carriage to the temple gate, where he saw a young monk peeking out. He leaped out of the carriage and rushed over.

“Hurry and inform your abbot—people from the Zhang family of Xiangfu will be staying at your Daxiangguo Temple for a while!”