After walking out of Qian's Mansion, Qingming was still waiting outside the door. Her eyes lingered on the small basket carried by Gu Huai for a moment, then she waited for him to speak.

"I have to go to the city gate," Gu Huai walked to her side, "I still have to wait for someone."

In fact, there was no need to wait. Before Gu Huai went out, Mr. Qian asked his servants to call his apprentice who was on duty at the government medical office. So Gu Huai only stood under the eaves for a moment when he saw a carriage parked.

In front of the house, a young man with a square face walked down.

The scholar and maid standing by the road were very conspicuous. The young man came over and said cheerfully: "Mr. Gu?"

"Yes, you are Mr. Qian's disciple, Brother Li?"

"But I can't be a high disciple. Ever since I entered the Criminal Division, my master has become less and less fond of me in the past two years." The young man waved his hand, "I know everything. I want to go to the city wall to give alms, right? These days

The security at the Sun City Gate is quite strict, and it’s really impossible to get up there without one.”

He pointed to the carriage he was sitting in: "If Mr. Gu doesn't mind it, can we talk after we get in the carriage?"

The young man in front of him, Li Di, Gu Huai had heard from Mr. Qian several times. It seemed that he was quite talented in studying medicine and could be regarded as a close disciple who could inherit Mr. Qian's mantle. Later, when he went out to travel, he somehow managed to sneak into Ti.

The Criminal Division has become Jiangning's forensic doctor, which makes Mr. Qian stamp his feet and scold him every time he mentions it.

On the contrary, the master is an imperial doctor from the Imperial Medical Office, the kind who performs pulse tests for high-ranking officials, but the apprentice goes into the government and tortures people to death every day. The gap is too big.

He took Qingming into the carriage. It was very spacious inside and three people could sit there without feeling crowded. Only then did Gu Huai realize that there was something strange in Li Di's words just now:

"Alms?"

Li Di looked at the bamboo basket Gu Huai put in his hand and became confused: "Since the city gate was closed a few days ago, many wealthy families in the city like to go up the city wall and throw some food and clothing to the refugees outside the city to accumulate merit.

, the incense in Qingliang Temple in the south of the city has faded... Isn’t that what you plan to do?”

Only then did Gu Huai belatedly realize that Li Di didn't know what he was planning to do, but thinking about it carefully, not everyone has the tolerance of the rich man who is old, so he did not explain:

"I want to go see the refugees, but I don't intend to give any alms from a high position."

Li Di sighed: "That's the point. Throw something away and watch the refugees below fight for it like wild dogs, and even see blood. It's like teasing domestic animals. What's the point?"

"It is not ruled out that some people really want to do something, and no matter what their intentions are, their motives will not affect the results of doing good things, but there must be some people who like this feeling of looking down with a hypocritical face," Gu Huai

Hit the nail on the head, "But if the city gate is opened, they will want all the refugees to die."

Li Di was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "Young Master... knows people's hearts, no wonder he can talk to Master like that."

"I heard that there are still people giving porridge?"

"A few days ago, some refugees hooked up with people in the city and tried to climb up the city wall with ropes. They were caught by the patrolling soldiers. In the past two days, the authorities ordered a clearing of the city, and naturally all the porridge shops were closed."

What did Gu Huai think of: "The city gates are closed, the porridge shops are closed, the plague is not getting better, there are so many people outside the city... what are they going to eat?"

Li Di was silent for a moment: "Young master, you will understand soon after you see him."

The conversation fell silent. Gu Huai opened the curtain and looked out the window. The further he walked towards the city gate, the fewer people there were on the street. Most of the people coming and going were patrolling soldiers, and there was even more chill in the air.

smell.

After several interrogations, it was Li Di who came forward. It was only then that Gu Huai realized what the so-called "city gate was closed" meant. Within the several hundred meters of distance within the city wall, if there were refugees, they would be there.

They are not afraid to raise the butcher's knife.

The carriage stopped with a slight bump. Gu Huai followed Li Di out of the carriage door, looked up at the towering city wall for a moment, and then climbed up the steps.

Jiangning is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the city walls are naturally not as high as those in the north. The city walls are not as high as the ancient city walls that were seen by later generations, but it still takes some time to walk up. The higher you go, the stronger the wind becomes, making the blue shirt on his body rustle.

"We're here, follow closely, and remember not to provoke those Qiu Ba. The bows and crossbows in their hands are all strung."

Li Di's voice rang in his ears, but Gu Huai didn't respond at all. He was just a little distracted by the shock of the scene in front of him.

Plains, of course, are plains - but plains are black.

Late spring has passed, and everything should be rejuvenated. But as far as the eye can see, there are dense crowds of people. The black color is their hair or faces, and the occasional strange colors are all kinds of low-level people.

Short tents and damaged clothing.

The roar of people rushed towards us, mixed with cries, curses, and the sound of fighting. Most of the refugees were sitting on the ground, with their faces full of food. Looking further into the distance, the towering piles of corpses were shocking.

I guess I was too lazy to bury it, but I guess I didn't want to burn it, so the vast plain in front of the city gate was divided into two areas: dead and half-dead.

Gu Huai was silent for a long time. A hint of complexity flashed in the eyes of Qingming beside him. He turned his head slightly. Only Li Di was still sighing: "I have handled many cases in the past few years and looked at many corpses. I thought I had lost sight of life and death."

I've seen a lot, but I still can't bear to see such a tragic scene... Whatever you want to do, please do it as soon as possible."

Gu Huai nodded lightly and walked to the city wall to look for suitable candidates. Probably because there were people on the city wall giving alms a few days ago, there were many refugees huddled under the crossbows. A woman was looking at him blankly.

He was in a daze here, Gu Huai thought for a while and shook his head.

No, you can't keep it even if you give it.

"Please be kind and let me in, my mother is dying!"

A burst of shouting attracted Gu Huai's attention. In front of the huge city gate, a tall man was kneeling straight and shouting something at the city gate. Next to him lay an old woman. The refugees around him looked like they had seen a ghost.

Avoided some.

"I carried my mother on my back and walked hundreds of miles before I arrived in Jiangning. You closed the city gate! I also served as a soldier and fought for the officials! I have more than 20 scars on my body, and I can't replace them.

A dose of medicine!"

Probably because he was annoyed by the man's shouting, a soldier on the city wall raised his hand and shot an arrow. However, his aim was far off. Not only did he not warn the man, but he shot into the crowd of refugees, causing a flurry of panic.

, the kneeling man was stunned for a long time, jumped up, picked up the stone and threw it on the city wall: "Fuck your mother! If my mother dies, I will go find you with a knife!"

This absurd yet sad scene made Gu Huai's eyes light up. He walked closer, picked up a stone on the ground and threw it back.

Seeing the man looking this way, Gu Huai raised his palms to his mouth and shouted, "Can you read or not?"

The wind was a bit strong, and the man was stunned for a long time before he understood what Gu Huai was shouting, and then a burst of anger surged into his heart. He felt that the scholar on the wall was laughing at him, but Gu Huai's actions immediately dissipated his anger: "Understood!

You know something! If you don’t understand, I can still find someone to look at it!”

Gu Huai lifted the bamboo basket, pointed at it, took out the home-made antibiotics wrapped tightly in thick cloth, a note, and some food from the bamboo basket, and threw them down.

It was blown a little off by the wind, but the man caught up with his mother on his back. Several refugees wanted to come and grab it, but were intimidated by the man's extremely tall figure and backed away.

The movements up and down the city wall did not arouse any suspicion in Li Di, but he thought it was ridiculous that the scholar in green shirt had spoken so righteously just now, but now he looked at the excitement below.

"Are you okay?" His voice also lost a lot of enthusiasm.

"Okay," Gu Huai nodded lightly, "But I may need to come again... It would be troublesome for Brother Li."

"It's not troublesome. After all, it was Master who told me about it himself." Li Di turned around, "I also hope that Mr. Gu can put in a good word for me in front of Master... Being an errand in the Criminal Division is not a disgraceful job.

It’s time for this old man to look away.”

Gu Huai looked under the city wall. The man who picked up the cloth bag probably saw what was inside. The tough man actually knelt down and kowtowed several times in this direction. But after a while... he probably would

He looked blankly at the note inside.

Thinking like this, Gu Huai wanted to smile, but the hell on earth under the city wall really made him unable to laugh:
Chapter completed!