Chapter 27: Everyone Has a Human Heart

Zhang Yue, who was at the Daxiangguo Temple, was also missing his parents and relatives. At that moment, he idly scribbled on a piece of paper under the oil lamp, yet his mind was far away. He wondered where his father, Zhang Zhuo, had gone at such a critical time, whether his mother’s asthma had improved, and couldn’t help but think of some relatives who had abandoned him—although he wasn’t initially resentful, being constantly cynical wasn’t very meaningful either. After all, he still had all his limbs intact.

“Third brother, third brother!”

Hearing this familiar voice beside him, Zhang Yue snapped out of his thoughts. He saw Zhang Qing holding Zhang Yi’s hand and standing there smiling, with Qiu Hen and Hu Bo looking helpless beside them. He knew well that the two older girls couldn’t stop these two young ladies, and things quickly got complicated.

It was unclear whether the elders were absent or simply didn’t care about rules since they were away, but Zhang Qing and Zhang Yi were especially troublesome now—almost to the point of disguising themselves as men to investigate the refugees. Though he was glad they weren’t anymore gloomy and sad, dealing with their endless problems wasn’t easy.

So, he forced a smile and asked, “What do you two want?”

“Can’t we come to see you if there’s nothing?” Zhang Qing rolled her eyes impatiently. Seeing the paper covered in drawings and writings, she curiously leaned in to take a look before frowning. “What’s all this nonsense written on?”

Zhang Yue glanced down and realized he had unconsciously written a bunch of simplified characters. He felt embarrassed. He snatched the paper and tried to crumple it up, but stopped when he looked closer—what he had written were details reported by the refugees, such as which areas had been flooded, where bandits were rampant, where soldiers had been sent to suppress them, and whether any new people had arrived at the Daxiangguo Temple and what the temple’s food supplies were like.

“Third brother!”

At Zhang Qing’s shout, he quickly crumpled the paper and held it in his palm, then focused on dealing with her angry questions. After calming this sister who could be either gentle or mischievous, he showed concern for Zhang Yi, earning two sweet smiles in return.

However, not long after the two women left, his temporarily improved mood was ruined by a burly man who rushed in from outside. “Third young master, a fight broke out at the porridge shop outside! Those guys drove away a family of three who came there to seek shelter with their child. The man in that family went berserk, fighting against more than a dozen of them. In no time, he was covered in blood. It took me a long time to calm things down on both sides!” Peng Shisan blurted all this out in one breath, then slammed his fist hard on the corner of the desk, saying angrily, “That little girl fainted from hunger, yet none of those adults would share even a little bit from their bowls. It’s really infuriating!”
As early as when he decided to distribute food by order, Zhang Yue had anticipated such a situation, and now he fell silent. It was true that the Daxiangguo Temple had ample grain stores, but the amount consumed daily by hundreds of monks was enormous. Add to that the consumption by the wealthy refugees living there and those from outside the temple walls, and it was already a miracle if there was enough grain to last more than a dozen days.
After a long silence, Zhang Yue finally asked hesitantly, “How did you settle things?”
“Of course, I beat up a few people and then filled a bowl of porridge for that little girl…”
“You… what are you doing…”
Zhang Yue, who had always regarded Peng Shisan as a mentor and friend and had no qualms about teasing him, suddenly became angry. “Even if you wanted to help her, couldn’t you think of another way? Couldn’t you just bring her in quietly? Do you think those heartless guys outside are eating for free at the Daxiangguo Temple? Wrong. Sure, they get free porridge, but they also…” He couldn’t go on—not because it was inappropriate for his age to speak in such a stern manner, nor because he was too angry to speak coherently, nor because women were present. He simply felt it was pointless to get angry at Peng Shisan. He might as well go out right away to see if things had gotten out of control.
So, without even thinking, he rushed out like the wind.
“What on earth is going on?”
Being scolded for no reason, and with the person being scolded leaving halfway through, Peng Shisan was extremely frustrated. He could fight his way through battles repeatedly, fight bravely despite being covered in wounds, but facing an obstacle like a flood that he couldn’t fight against made him feel utterly helpless. Now, he had done good only to get scolded—what a pointless thing! “This noble young master is really hard to please. Fine, I’ll just go back to Nanjing!”

Peng Shisan stormed out of the door, cursing under his breath, only to see Du Zhen standing outside. His expression immediately sank. He was a rough man who had always looked down on those pretentious scholars, yet he found himself getting along extremely well with the seemingly cold-hearted Du Zhen. Over time, they had become close friends, calling each other by their names. Now, realizing that his awkward behavior might have been seen, his face turned red with embarrassment. If he hadn’t known Du Zhen was a learned man, he might have started cursing.

“Old Du, I just thought that little girl was pitiful. Why did the third young master get so angry? You’ve raised such a good disciple—so called ‘mature for his age,’ but in my opinion, he’s acting a bit crazy!”

Du Zhen replied calmly, “People are made of flesh. Under normal circumstances, protecting just one family, let alone many others, wouldn’t be a big deal. But now it’s different. In times of disaster, people’s hearts become unstable. Those outside can only maintain order through strict fairness. If you intervene so forcefully without anyone else stepping in, who knows if someone might even overthrow the Daxiangguo Temple? Do you believe that?”

Peng Shisan shook his head vigorously. “Those peasants? I don’t believe it. That would be rebellion!”

“Don’t forget—just a few days ago, someone overturned a carriage claiming to belong to the Xin’an Prince’s mansion!” Seeing Peng Shisan stunned, a faint smirk appeared on Du Zhen’s cold face. “These rebels wouldn’t dare to rebel, but those mobs dared to take advantage of the chaos because they thought ‘the crowd is above the law.’ Plus, with the government’s actions and relief delayed, no one knew what the future would hold, so they took risks. If you don’t believe me, shall we go outside and see for ourselves?”

Peng Shisan, unaware that Du Zhen had once been a scholar in the imperial court, was confused by his words and instinctively nodded. But when he followed Du Zhen to the bell tower beside the mountain gate and saw the chaotic scene outside, he gasped in shock. Earlier, when he had beaten those bullies, they had avoided him at all costs. How could they be so aggressive now? Just then, he heard Du Zhen say calmly, “People are made of flesh, but in times of great upheaval, the most terrifying thing in the world is still human nature.”