The Challenge of a Farmhouse Son-in-Law-Chapter 1000 - 995: Encountering Yuancheng

The lengthy discourse of the Protectorate Duke was simply that Jin Zijin had returned from abroad, and furthermore, his previous identity was indeed a member of the Dao Family. His disaster relief efforts might well lead the common people to attribute this merit to the Dao Family, which had nothing to do with the Imperial Court in the end.

After all, Jin Zijin’s influence within the Dao Family far exceeded that of the Imperial Court.

But King Jin was different. He was the mutual child of the Emperor and Empress, of unmatched noble status. It would be a grand display of the Emperor’s grace for King Jin to make an appearance, truly representing the Imperial Family and the Imperial Court. freewebnσvel.cѳm

The Emperor, seeming enlightened, listened to the Protectorate Duke finish his lengthy speech, then nodded, saying, "The Protectorate Duke has deep foresight and speaks very sensibly. Let Xiaoran go together with Huanzhi for disaster relief, and if they encounter Zijin..." The Emperor sighed and said, "If they meet him, have him return at once!"

The Protectorate Duke’s concerns were not unknown to the Emperor; however, it was not yet the time to compete with them for merits.

Moreover, the severity of this disaster meant the merits were not so easily contended for.

Nonetheless, they were indeed mistaken. Jin Zijin had no intentions of competing for merit; he was merely accompanying his newlywed wife to fetch her maternal relatives.

...

Along the way, they encountered many disaster victims, and if Jin Zijin’s companions had not been highly skilled in martial arts, it was likely their caravan would have already been looted several times over.

Gu Youyou inquired about the whereabouts of the Gu Family all along the way. After three days, having come across countless disaster victims, they still had no news of them.

On the fourth day, however, they encountered the fleeing Yuancheng.

Yuancheng was originally a graceful young scholar, exuding a strong bookish aura, but the escape had made him look more like a beggar.

"Sister Youyou, Sister Youyou..." He seemed extremely excited upon seeing Gu Youyou.

Gu Youyou got down from the carriage and hurriedly comforted him.

"Don’t speak for now; have some water and eat something."

There were many disaster victims with him, and Gu Youyou dared not take out food openly. She had him get on the carriage first.

His companions envied Yuancheng and were jealous—why could this little beggar get on the carriage while they could not?

"We want to get on the carriage too, we want to eat as well, honorable gentlemen, please be kind and give us a way to live."

Jin Zijin stepped in front of the carriage and told them, "Continue northwards. The Imperial Court’s disaster relief Ministers are already on their way, and they will arrange your accommodations. We are only here to search for relatives affected in Yangguan City, our abilities are limited, and we cannot save everyone."

Though their carriage was large, it did not appear luxurious, and Jin Zijin and his companions were all dressed plainly in common cloths, so the disaster victims quickly let them go.

They were all poor, desperate to find family members affected by the disaster, and they had not yet reached the point of starving to the extent of cannibalism—how could they give these people trouble?

Besides, these groups of people had little strength left and naturally could not forcefully rob them.

Inside the carriage, Yuancheng drank some water and ate some food, and after washing his dirty face, he slowly recounted his experiences over those days.

"It rained heavily for half a month straight, and the intensity showed no signs of decreasing but only got stronger. Finally, flash floods broke out, and everyone scrambled to flee for their lives."

"And how come you’re alone, where are the others?" Gu Youyou asked, worried.

Yuancheng wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "On that day, Big Brother Qin went out to visit patients, he went to our Gu Family in Lotus Village because he heard that Sister Youyou’s second uncle was seriously ill, looking very severe. Lotus Village faced the worst of the disaster, and the others from Jisheng Hall fled first, I kept waiting for Big Brother Qin to come back, but he never did. Later, I followed the last group of refugees from Qingshui Town and headed north. Sister Youyou, I don’t know what has happened to Big Brother Qin, whether he, whether he might not be able to make it out..."