CHAPTER 329: CHAPTER 329: RIOTERS (PART 2)

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In the following days, they encountered three more waves of starving people intermittently.

The smallest group had only dozens, while the largest had two hundred.

The group had to hurry on their way and could not afford more entanglement, so they distributed a few pounds of provisions to the starving people they encountered, just as they had done before, to uphold the Commandery Princess’s good name.

Jiang Shaohua’s mood grew heavier, and she quietly said to Chen Jinyu, "All the starving people we’ve met along the way come from the northern counties, showing how severe the disaster is in the North."

"The court sent an imperial envoy to provide relief, but I’m afraid it won’t have the desired effect."

Chen Jinyu comforted the Commandery Princess, "That’s the court’s concern. There’s the Emperor, Prime Minister Wang, Minister Zheng, and in the harem, there’s the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager; it’s not something the Commandery Princess should worry about. In a few days, we’ll be in Nanyang County; the Commandery Princess should rest assured."

Even someone as close as Chen Jinyu couldn’t speak some words, such as her experiences in the previous life, or the chaos in the North causing turmoil.

Jiang Shaohua sighed lightly, "With the nest overturned, no egg remains intact. If the North is completely disrupted, can Nanyang County remain peaceful?"

Chen Jinyu scratched his head, a bit distressed, "What should we do? So many starving people, how can the Commandery Princess manage it alone? We’ve already given out so much grain along the way..."

Suddenly, shouting erupted outside.

Jiang Shaohua’s face changed slightly. She swiftly lifted the curtain to look outside, only to see a dense mass of people appearing from nowhere, making it impossible to see clearly how many there were. More than all the starving people they had encountered in the previous days combined.

They were holding shovels, poles, and some even had kitchen knives, and they came rushing over while shouting.

Chen Jinyu’s pupils trembled violently: "Commandery Princess! They’re rioters!"

Driven mad by hunger, the starving people saw the stretching convoy like meat and rushed over, risking their lives.

At that moment, they were nothing but common bandits.

Mercy could not be afforded.

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes turned cold, and she shouted angrily, "Anyone daring to rush over will be killed!"

The trusted aides loudly obeyed, suddenly drawing their weapons.

Clang, clang, clang, long knives unsheathed, sharp arrows strung.

"Stop!" Song Yuan shouted fiercely, "Do not approach!"

The rioters at the front, seeing the gleaming swords and knives, felt chilled in their hearts and instinctively slowed their steps. Yet, the people behind them continuously rushed forward, the ones at the front couldn’t stop their steps, pushed to rush ahead.

Song Yuan’s eyes flashed with killing intent, and with a swoosh, an arrow was released.

A rioter was shot in the chest, cried miserably, and fell. More people rushed forward, trampling the unfortunate wounded rioter into minced meat.

A second starving person fell, then a third and a fourth... a wave of arrows killed more than twenty. However, there were simply too many rioters, and those in the back continued to shout and rush ahead; the dead and wounded in front did not stop those behind from stepping forward.

Song Yuan saw the situation was not good, leapt off his horse, and rushed forward, wielding his knife. Qin Huma, Meng Sanbao, and the other personal soldiers also dismounted, expressionlessly killing people.

These rioters had no weapons, relying only on raw courage and bloodthirstiness to charge forward. When they encountered wealthy merchants or family members of ordinary officials before, their sheer numbers were enough to scare the other side into surrendering and begging for mercy. Today’s encounter, however, was with Nanyang’s elite soldiers, akin to eggs smashing against a rock. No matter how many eggs there were, they could not shake the stone.

The convoy was guarded in the middle. The rioters were firmly kept thirty meters away, but their cries could not be isolated, repeatedly piercing the ears.

Chen Jinyu, never having experienced such a battle before, had his face turning pale.

Ma Yaosong remained calm, quickly drawing his knife, holding it across his chest: "Commandery Princess and Chen Sheren should not be afraid, as long as I’m here, no one will get through."

As soon as he finished his words, there was a soft sound beside him.

Swoosh!

An arrow flew off the string. One could barely see with the naked eye before it pierced through a starving person, then deeply embedded in another’s chest.

Two rioters nearly died simultaneously, leaning against each other, unable to fall, and stood upright, dead.

The rioters, who had been shouting, were startled, finally casting a momentary silence amid the frenzied charge.

Ma Yaosong, shocked, turned to look at the Commandery Princess.

Jiang Shaohua narrowed her eyes slightly, calmly drawing another arrow from the quiver and quickly stringing it on the bow.

"Anyone who approaches will be killed!"

Song Yuan called out fiercely.

There appeared to be a leader among the rioters, inciting from within, "Don’t be afraid. We outnumber them. Charge, kill them, and the provisions and silver in the convoy are ours. Plus, there are four beautiful girls over there also for us."

The rioters’ eyes turned red again, and they continued to charge forward.

Song Yuan was inflamed with anger, and without mercy, his long knife swept out, like snow, cutting down with two strokes: blood sprayed in front of one rioter, while another’s head was sent flying.

Jiang Shaohua tightly focused her gaze on the shouting rioter leader, silently adjusting her bow and arrow, then unhesitatingly shot it.

Arrow to the throat.

The rioter leader’s throat was pierced by the sharp arrow, suddenly collapsing to the ground.

With the leader dead, the rioters visibly grew restless. The personal soldiers’ ruthless attacks, their fearless killing, further terrified the rioters.

More frightening was the girl standing on horseback in the distance, continuously drawing her bow and shooting arrows, each arrow hitting someone and carrying off another, with Divine Power.

Someone shouted in terror, "That’s the female King Yan, run!"

One person turned and ran, quickly followed by a second and a third. Within moments, more than half fled.

"Don’t pursue!" Jiang Shaohua coldly ordered, "Kill all these rioters."

...

An hour later, this sudden riot finally subsided. Apart from those who fled, all remaining rioters were killed, leaving only two alive.

Qin Hu and Meng Sanbao grabbed one each and dragged them aside for questioning.

Song Yuan strode over to Jiang Shaohua, "Is the Commandery Princess alright?"

Jiang Shaohua’s voice was quite calm, "I’m fine. Is uncle injured?"

Song Yuan, covered in blood, but it was all others, replied, "Commandery Princess needn’t worry, I wasn’t injured."

Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly, "Order to clear the corpses of all rioters and send them to the county government. I’ll write a memorial to send to the court."

Song Yuan saluted obediently, withdrew, and began counting the corpses and the injured among their side.

There were seventy-three rioter corpses, five of the personal soldiers were injured, and a few were too exhausted to move, sitting or lying down to rest. The accompanying Doctor Sun, usually idle and carefree, was today too busy to touch the ground.

Outside, the stench of blood wafted into the nose, making one feel nauseated.

Jiang Shaohua sat in the carriage, her face grave, as she began to write the memorial. Besides the memorial, she wrote two letters, one to the Grand Empress Dowager Zheng and another to the Emperor.

The memorial and two letters were sent to the Capital City that night.