NABC Chapter 161 Charity Porridge
Chapter 161 Charity Porridge
With a few days of rest in between, Lin Fan and Ho Ming decided to go back to An Xiang Village for a visit.
Ho Ming was worried about the village with all the rebels and turmoil going on.
The journey wasn't too long, and they arrived within two days of travel.
There were wooden barricades at the entrance and villagers guarding it.
"Look, it's Lin Fan and Ho Ming!" When the villager guarding the entrance saw who it was, he shouted with joy.
It immediately felt safe to have them around.
Ho Fu quickly came out with his smoke pipe and greeted them.
"Lin Fan, I am glad to see you again. Times are getting bad, do come in for some tea," Ho Fu said, and when he noticed Ho Ming, he gave him a nod.
Ho Ming's face lit up when he saw that.
His father, for the first time, didn't nag at him when he saw him.
"Good to see you too, village head," Lin Fan replied.
They went to Ho Fu's house, which had some damage to its door and walls.
Something must have happened in the village, Lin Fan thought when he saw it.
"Out of nowhere, there were lots of rebels appearing.
"We managed to beat them off, but what came next were beggars and vagrants.
"All of them were poor folks displaced from their homes.
"We couldn't afford to feed them, and things got nasty."
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Ho Fu briefed Lin Fan on what had happened.
"Where are they now? I haven't seen them around," Lin Fan asked as he noticed that he didn't see any beggars or vagrants near or in the village.
"Someone called Zhu Yu set up a charity porridge stall in Feng Shou town. All of them went there."
"Zhu Yu? Where is he now?" Lin Fan asked, as this name rang a bell.
He was the one who instigated the rebellion.
But suddenly he was now a man of charity?
"I don't know for sure, but last I heard he led the beggars and vagrants to the north, promising them housing and jobs for them to have a new start," Ho Fu puffed as he told Lin Fan what he knew.
An additional building was built to house the servants, and a study room was added to the main building.
Lin Fan was impressed with Ho Fu's arrangement.
"Thanks, Uncle Liu. How is Liu Han? Do feel free to let him use the study room. I'm not around most of the time anyway," Lin Fan said as he poured another cup of tea for Uncle Liu.
Uncle Liu sighed and said, "Liu Han is thinking about being a cultivator every day. He's not interested in studying for the imperial exams."
Lin Fan drank his tea and kept quiet.
Some fathers just preferred their sons to be safe, doing something that was out of harm's way.
And some, like Ho Fu, worked solely for the family, even if it meant letting his own son go through big risks.
...
After ensuring everything was safe in An Xiang Village, they returned to Qing Feng Sect the following day.
This time, Lin Fan could see the so-called charity porridge stalls set up along the way.
With many displaced peasants crowding around.
When he got back to Qing Feng Sect, he immediately went and briefed Qing Yang Zi on his findings.
"Thanks for the information. I can only try to inform the Emperor. But sometimes, the heavens would just pretend to be blind," Qing Yang Zi rubbed his temple and said.
Qing Yang Zi knew the Emperor wasn't trustworthy.
He might ignore the information, thinking that it might be Qing Yang Zi's plot trying to trick him to get deeply involved.
But Qing Yang Zi had to try.
He wrote a letter and asked the disciples to send it to the Left Prime Minister.
The only sane person left in the imperial court.
...
Left Prime Minister Residence.
"Tan Xiao Yao! How dare he defy the heavens!"
The Left Prime Minister, Zhang Ju Chan, cursed and burned Qing Yang Zi's letter.
He had to do something fast.
The Emperor was now being played like a stooge.
He quickly wrote a memorial to the throne.
It was time for him to battle in the morning court the next day.