He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 201 The Dilemma

The gates of Jing'an Prefecture had long been closed, and beneath the city walls, tens of thousands of soldiers, dressed in various styles, were preparing to attack the city.

"Lord Xu, these people are clearly well-prepared. Simply defending won't allow us to escape safely." Jing'an Sima Qin Yi looked at the troops below with a solemn expression.

Xu Weizhi wiped the sweat from his brow. "I am not such a pedantic person. I almost caused a greater disaster by worrying about the lives of the refugees. Now we are facing the rebels. We must fight with all our might to defeat them with fewer troops. Do you think Lord Qin has a chance of winning?"

Hearing the sound of battering rams crashing against the city gate from below, Qin Yi quickly said, "Let's wear them down for now. When the time is right, I will personally lead the troops out to fight."

Waves of arrows rained down on the enemy troops from the city walls, while the enemy soldiers below charged towards the city gate with unwavering courage.

Qin Yi hurried to the city wall and issued a series of orders. After a difficult struggle, the situation was finally stabilized.

At the same time, Meng Fuqing and Yan He were riding their horses toward the city gate.

Yan He was utterly bewildered. "Knowing there are tigers in the mountains, you still venture into them, Meng Fuqing. Are you possessed? I'll have to give you a bowl of talisman water when we get back to put my mind at ease!"

"I'm going to give you a task in a bit. It might be dangerous, but it's okay if you can't complete it and have to run away..."

He interrupted her halfway through his sentence, "Don't look down on me. Just say it, and I guarantee I'll get it done perfectly."

The battle at the city gates had begun, and the once bustling streets of the prefectural city were deserted.

Meng Fuqing quickly explained what she needed to do. Yan He couldn't hide his surprise. After thinking about it carefully, an eager look appeared on his face.

The two parted ways on the street. Meng Fuqing walked unimpeded to the city gate, but was stopped by the guards as soon as he got close.

"If there's nothing urgent, leave immediately!"

Meng Fuqing dismounted and said succinctly, "I am Meng Fuqing from Hanhua Village. I have come to see Prefect Xu to discuss the war outside the city!"

Seeing that the two remained unmoved, Meng Fuqing coldly rebuked them: "If you waste time and the enemy army attacks the city, can you bear the consequences?"

The two guards exchanged a glance. One of them hurriedly went up the city wall to report the news, while the other continued to block Meng Fuqing's way.

Before long, the messenger came running down and said respectfully, "Miss Meng, the Prefect requests your presence."

Upon reaching the city tower, Meng Fuqing met the legendary Lord Xu.

The man before me was over fifty years old, dressed in an official robe, yet his brows still revealed a resolute and upright character. He was somewhat frail, but his back was ramrod straight, a sight that immediately evoked the image of a straight and tall bamboo.

"So you're the girl Qing that Doctor Zheng often mentions, Meng Fuqing?"

"This humble subject, Meng Fuqing, pays his respects to Lord Xu." Meng Fuqing bent his knees as if to kneel, but was stopped by a pair of hands.

Having seen others kneel down at the drop of a hat, she felt no qualms about kneeling, after all, she was just a peasant girl now.

"No need for formalities. The situation is critical, so let's get straight to the point," Xu Weizhi said in a deep voice. "The soldiers said you came for the war?"

“Yes.” Meng Fuqing nodded. “I met a man on my way to escape the famine. He recently came to Jing’an Prefecture with a large number of men to seek refuge. If we can pass on the news that the prefecture is besieged to that man, we may be able to get out of this predicament.”

Xu Weizhi's brow furrowed. "What's that person's name? And why are you so sure he'll help?"

"This humble subject does not know if Your Excellency has heard of his great name, but Your Excellency may have heard of his other identity. This man is Qin Su, the eldest son of Lord Sima."

On the other side, Yan He sneaked out of the city and used his lightness skill to rush towards the place where the refugees had gathered before.

The sudden outbreak of war caused the refugees to flee to the surrounding areas. She finally managed to find a large group of refugees who were secretly hiding behind the hillside.

Hidden in a tree, Yan He listened to the anxious conversations of the refugees below.

"Why is there fighting again... We thought that once the Hu people withdrew, Jing'an Prefecture would resettle the refugees, but who knew that even Lord Xu wouldn't care about us anymore..."

"Those gentry and noble families can buy a slave with a bushel of grain. Are we only able to survive by selling ourselves?"

"What can we do? We can't survive without Jing'an Prefecture. There are thieves everywhere outside. We've endured so much, isn't it all for the sake of living?"

……

Suddenly a voice rang out, "Tell me, why are those people fighting?"

One person replied, "What could it be for? The nobles in the capital have plenty of grain, like big, shiny pieces of fat meat. Who wouldn't want to take a bite? Right now, thieves are rampant. If I weren't afraid of death, I would want to steal and rob too."

Huddled in the corner, Chang An said, "Isn't waiting all the same as dying? So many people have died from the epidemic. We're all going to die anyway, so we might as well take a gamble like those people outside the city."

Everyone was quite frightened by his words. "Chang'an, isn't this just like those people outside the city..."

“So some of them live longer than us,” Chang An’s thin cheeks were sunken as he stood up and looked at everyone, his expression slightly deranged. “Before I die, I also need to have a good meal!”

A moment of silence fell over the crowd, then a voice of support rang out, "I'm with you!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

……

Yan He was shocked by what he saw; the chaos of war truly did lead to cannibalism.

Then she saw everyone asking the man named Chang An if he was going to rush into the city with the rebels.

Chang An shook his head. "If we go there now, we'll only become victims of their blades. Let's go to the nearest county, Linan County. There are definitely fewer soldiers there than in the prefectural city. It'll be easier to deal with them."

"That's a good idea!"

"Let's find the scattered refugees and go together. To survive, we've rebelled!"

……

The initially listless and fearful refugees gradually became excited under Chang An's encouragement.

Yan He had a bad feeling in his heart, and quickly said, "Instead of going all out, why don't you all join my master? I can guarantee you a full meal!"

Her words were perhaps a bit stingy, but they were the result of careful consideration.

If Meng Fuqing doesn't have enough food to feed these people, one full meal should be enough.

Suddenly someone spoke from above, startling the refugees who had just been plotting a rebellion. They almost thought that an immortal was disapproving of their plot and was about to punish them.

Only at the end did they realize that what had descended wasn't divine punishment at all, but rather a giant pancake that had crashed down from the sky!

Such simple and unadorned words left these people bewildered and stunned for a long time. Someone couldn't help but ask, "Who is your master? And who are you?"

Chang An cautiously surveyed his surroundings and raised his voice to ask, "Why are you acting so suspiciously? Why don't you dare show yourself?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a woman gracefully landed on the tree, and then leaped onto a large rock.

Ordinary people rarely see someone who can perform light-body skills. Seeing the woman flying around as lightly as a feather, they were momentarily stunned, thinking they had seen a fairy.

Yan He looked down at the refugees and said, "My master said that once the rebels leave Jing'an Prefecture, she will give you a full meal."

"How do you know that the rebels will inevitably be defeated?" Chang An asked her.

Yan He was unaware.