His words seemed to have opened the floodgates.
Curses poured out like a flood, creating a clamor.
All the refugees pointed at Magistrate Yang and cursed.
"Corrupt official! He must have received money from Mr. Gao! "
"Historian Gao has done so many bad things. Little Wang Ye saw injustice and you chased him away. Do you deserve to be a magistrate?"
"Dog official, officials protect each other. You don't give us a way out!"
"Dog official, dog official!"
"Beat him to death! Beat him to death! "
The anger of the refugees had been appeased by Pang Xiao's righteous actions. Who knew that Magistrate Yang's actions would push the anger of all the people to the next peak.
Everyone grabbed mud and stones from the ground and threw them at Magistrate Yang.
Magistrate Yang's attendants and guards hurriedly protected him. They opened their arms like old hens, afraid that the magistrate would be hurt. However, there were still a lot of mud and stones thrown at Magistrate Yang's face and head.
When had Magistrate Yang ever suffered such grievances?
He hurriedly shouted, "It's not that I don't want to punish Historian Gao. It's Prince Zhongshun who overstepped his authority. He …"
"Go eat shit! You dog official, don't talk nonsense here! "
Before Magistrate Yang could finish speaking, he was hit in the face by a pile of horse dung.
"Bah, bah bah bah!" Magistrate Yang wiped his face and coughed violently. He had never been in such a sorry state before.
However, the people did not give up. They could not find anyone to redress their grievances. Philanthropist Qian was beaten to the ground and was carried to the side. He was still unconscious.
They had no food, no water, and no warm clothes. They did not know where their next meal would be. It was so easy for someone to stand up for them, but they were rejected by Magistrate Yang. He said that he overstepped his authority. Wasn't he covering up for his subordinates?
Their future was bleak. They had been bullied to this extent. Rather than silently starve or freeze to death, it was better to vent their anger now!
The refugees could not take it anymore and rushed forward angrily. Some rushed into the yamen, some rushed in front of Magistrate Yang and Historian Gao, and some rushed in the direction of Gao's residence.
Not only that, the desperate refugees hated the rich and powerful families. Some of them even had thoughts of revenge and rushed to other unrelated families.
Magistrate Yang saw this and hurriedly waved his arms. "All of you, stop! I will agree to punish whoever you want. Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive! "
However, in the chaos, who could hear Magistrate Yang's shouts?
Everyone wanted to vent their anger, so they roared and rushed in all directions.
Magistrate Magistrate Yang broke out in cold sweat.
If this went on, wouldn't the people near the yamen's residence? That would be an unprecedented event in the past hundred years! He was just an obscure magistrate. Was he going to be recorded in the history books because of this kind of thing?
Even if His Majesty found out, he wouldn't have a good time!
Magistrate Yang looked left and right, not knowing what else to do. . He suddenly turned around and happened to see Yuchi Yan and Gu Shixiong huddled together in a corner. Magistrate Yang was immediately furious.
Yuchi Yan, you bastard! I'm protecting your people, but now you're shrinking your neck and not caring. Who do you think you are?
However, the crowd was chaotic. No one could hear him even if he cursed.
He could not let this matter continue to develop!
Magistrate Yang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He could only squeeze in the direction of the army. His entourage and guards were busy helping him fend off the refugees who wanted to beat him up.
"Wang Ye, Wang Ye, please wait! Wang Ye, please wait! "
Magistrate Yang no longer cared about his image. He shouted in the direction of Pang Xiao like a madman.
His hair was messy, his clothes were dirty, and horse dung had been thrown at his face. However, he did not care about these things.
Pang Xiao did not want to leave at all. Otherwise, their troop would disappear in the blink of an eye. Magistrate Yang would not be able to chase after them.
Hearing Magistrate Yang's voice, Pang Xiao turned around. The Jinghu Wei immediately went forward to bring Magistrate Yang over, in case he was beaten to death by the refugees before he could speak to Wang Ye.
"Wang Ye!" Magistrate Yang panted and said anxiously, "Wang Ye, look at the chaos in the city. How can you just stand by and do nothing?"
Pang Xiao jumped off his horse. After standing still with Qin Yining in his arms, he turned to look at Magistrate Yang and laughed, "Didn't Magistrate Yang say that This King is overstepping his boundaries? You told This King to leave, so This King had to leave. You didn't let This King interfere, so This King had to stay out of it. How come This King is standing by and doing nothing? Isn't Magistrate Yang too hard to please? "
Magistrate Yang knew that Pang Xiao was blaming him. He did not care about his face at this moment. If the chaos continued, his life and the lives of his family would be lost.
Magistrate Yang hurriedly bowed and begged, "Please, Wang Ye, let the troops go and quell this chaos. Otherwise, if it continues, the consequences will be unimaginable! "
Pang Xiao said, "This is what you told This King to do. This King is not acting beyond his authority, right?"
"No, no." Magistrate Yang was so angry that his stomach hurt.
Pang Xiao turned to Qin Yining and said, "Princess, do you think This King should do something?"
Qin Yining was actually having a hard time holding back his laughter at this moment.
Pang Xiao was not a person who fooled around, nor was he a person who disregarded human life. In fact, he had already arranged for people to guard the doors of the surrounding houses. He did this just to scare Magistrate Yang and make him beg him.
Qin Yining pretended to ponder and said, "Actually, Wang Ye was framed and accused of overstepping his authority. I also feel bad … But Wang Ye still wants to cooperate with Magistrate Yang sincerely to ensure the stability of the old capital."
"Alright." Pang Xiao smiled and said, "Then I'll listen to Princess."
The Jinghu Wei were already used to the love between Pang Xiao and Qin Yining. But the elites in the army did not know.
They only thought that Pang Xiao was a tough man. Who would have thought that this tough man also had a soft side? Moreover, Wang Ye did not mind showing his love for his wife in front of outsiders. He was even willing to let her express her views on this matter. This kind of respect was not something that any man could give to his wife.
These days, the men were already convinced by Pang Xiao. Now that they saw Pang Xiao doting on his wife so much, it seemed even more precious in their eyes.
Everyone chuckled.
Pang Xiao turned around and said loudly, "Brothers, quickly go and stop the refugees. Don't stand here and laugh."
"Yes!"
The army, Jinghu Wei, and Pang Xiao had arranged for people in plain clothes to hide in the dark. They immediately took action.
In less than half an hour, the riot scene calmed down. It was no longer the shock of thousands of people roaring. Only the occasional scolding could be heard.
Pang Xiao stood in the middle of the open space and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, everyone be quiet. Listen to This King."
Huzi and Mu Jinghu, who were squatting in the crowd, looked at each other.
Huzi immediately said loudly, "Everyone, be quiet. Listen to what Wang Ye has to say!"
Mu Jinghu also used his arm to nudge the person beside him, "Listen to what Wang Ye has to say. Wang Ye is a good person."
Some people mixed in with the refugees passed the message to each other. The emotions of the refugees quickly calmed down and everyone became quiet.
Pang Xiao said loudly, "Fellow villagers, just now Magistrate Yang told This King that he is willing to agree to any of your requests as long as everyone stops making trouble. This King thought that Magistrate Yang said this for everyone's sake. So he helped him to make peace with everyone.
"Look, if this continues, everyone's ending will not be good in the end. Also, those who want to rob others in anger, don't you think that's right? If they are caught by the imperial court, won't they be beheaded?
"You have been wronged and scolded others in anger. This is human nature. Anyone who knows will sympathize with everyone. But if everyone really becomes murderers who caused riots, then the only thing the imperial court can do is to send troops to quell the riots!
"In history, do you know what happened to the people who gathered to cause trouble?"
Pang Xiao's voice was loud and clear. His words were clear and easy to understand. When everyone calmed down, he gently explained the consequences. Although he did not say that he was blaming them, he was already very good at scaring them.
The commoners were only blinded by anger for a while. Everyone was used to knowing their place. How many of them had the courage to accept the punishment of the law? Who would sincerely want to do evil? Who would not be afraid of death?
Thus, Pang Xiao's words caused everyone to consciously shut their mouths. Furthermore, they all started to panic.
Pang Xiao paced quietly, giving all the refugees enough time to think about the consequences if they continued to do evil. When everyone knew what fear was, he continued.
"So now that Magistrate Yang has agreed to your conditions, he is really taking care of everyone. Magistrate Yang is a scholar. He is a little pedantic, but his heart is not bad. If you have any difficulties, just tell me. I will be here as a witness.
"We have experienced war and famine. It was not easy to survive. There is no need for us to harm others. Don't you think so? Aren't we doing this for our wives and children to live a good life? "
"Yes, we just want to live." In the crowd, someone covered his face and sobbed.
Her crying really made everyone feel sad and shed tears along with her.
Everyone started crying.
They were hungry, braved the cold wind, made such a big scene, went through so many twists and turns, and almost lost their lives. Finally, they got a chance to negotiate with an official. Everyone had a lingering fear and panic in their hearts after surviving a disaster, as well as infinite panic and fear for the future.
"We just want to live and have a meal."
"We want Librarian Gao to get the punishment he deserves!"
"We also want Librarian Gao to release the great philanthropist he has captured!"
"Also, we want to have a warm place to live.
"If the conditions are not good, it doesn't matter if we adults are a little cold. At least give my children and my eighty-year-old mother a warm place to spend the winter!"
…
Everyone was talking at once about their conditions.
However, none of the conditions they proposed were excessive.
Their conditions made Qin Yining's heart ache when she heard them.
These were the simple people.
They had no ambition, and they did not want glory and wealth.
They just wanted to live and let their families live. They wanted to be filial to the old and let their children live a better life.
To put it bluntly, what they wanted was the most basic dignity as a human being.
But in this chaotic world, even such a simple wish could not be realized.
Qin Yining lowered his lonely eyes, and there were tears of sadness in his eyes.
The Yuchi Yan, who was standing in the corner and still in shock, also felt an indescribable sadness, pain, and deep guilt.
These were all his former subjects. His subjects just wanted to live a decent life, but as an emperor, he could not do that.
His country was destroyed, he lost his home, and he caused the death of his wife and concubine. Now, he was still at death's door, and he wanted to regain power in Dayan. He did not have close contact with these people, so he had never considered their thoughts and feelings.
In the cold wind, the Yuchi Yan looked at the refugees in ragged clothes, listened to their humble begging and crying, and for the first time, questioned his own heart with a heavy heart.
Did he really do the right thing?
Pang Xiao's heart was also heavy.
He lowered his eyes and looked at Magistrate Yang, who had a tense expression on his face, and asked in a deep voice, "Magistrate Yang, did you hear that?"
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