Pei Du was also startled to see thousands of Wuling commoners suddenly appearing outside the Zhenbei Army camp. Fortunately, Zhu Jingzhe was quite articulate and explained the whole situation to him.
His gaze fell upon the thousands of commoners.
“Everyone, please wait here for a moment.”
With that, he turned and walked quickly into the camp tent, finding Shen Jue, who was currently taking inventory of their military supplies.
“General Shen,” Pei Du called out.
Shen Jue straightened up and looked back at Pei Du. Seeing his solemn expression, he set down the ledger in his hand.
“Zirang, what is the rush?” he asked.
Pei Du took a step forward and said concisely, “The commoners of Wuling City have all come to the rocky beach. I suspect this must have something to do with the Divine Lady. However, I do not know what Her Grace intends—whether She wants us to provide relief to these commoners, or if She has other plans.”
Trying to fathom the thoughts of a superior was never easy, let alone trying to fathom the intentions of a deity.
Shen Jue also realized how thorny the situation was. “Our remaining military supplies are probably not enough to feed an entire city's worth of people.”
His brow furrowed slightly.
If he were to explain the situation to his soldiers, he was confident that every single member of the Zhenbei Army would be willing to spare a portion of their rations. However, he could not do that. The soldiers of the Zhenbei Army were all brave sons and daughters who protected their home and country; they deserved to be treated well.
Pei Du sighed. “Just now, I looked at the condition of those commoners. Every single one of them is starved to skin and bones. Even if we help them farm, they probably won't survive until the harvest. Right now, the only thing we can do is have our military physicians treat their injuries and illnesses first.”
Estimating that there were at least several thousand Wuling commoners and worrying that chaos might break out, Shen Jue said, “I will go with you.”
The two of them walked out of the tent together.
“It's the young master who was speaking just now...”
Outside, the Wuling commoners, who were craning their necks in anticipation, saw Pei Du, and the hope in their eyes almost overflowed.
“Quiet down, everyone, and hear me out,” Pei Du said.
“The Divine Lady has always loved and protected all living beings, and we are Her believers. Since you have all come to the Zhenbei Army's territory, we will not sit by and do nothing.”
A rustle of commotion rippled through the crowd.
“There really is a Divine Lady...”
“Then is the porridge-giving also real...”
Shen Jue's gaze slowly swept across the crowd, pausing on those faces that were so emaciated they were almost unrecognizable. He then turned to the messenger behind him and said, “Go call Physician Liu. Tell her to bring all the military physicians here.”
“Yes, sir!” The messenger turned and ran.
Shen Jue looked back at Pei Du.
“Zirang, arrange some men to separate the commoners into the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the young. Have the physicians see those who can barely hold on first.”
He paused before adding, “I'll go see if we can spare some more grain. We can water it down a bit so everyone can have a bowl to fill their stomachs and get through tonight.”
Neither Pei Du nor Shen Jue had even thought of begging the Divine Lady, simply because they did not want to cause Her any trouble.
The Divine Lady had already suffered heavenly punishment multiple times for the sake of mortals. Anyone with even a shred of conscience would not blindly keep begging Her.
As mortals, they naturally did not understand the heavenly laws and rules. They did not know what actions of the Divine Lady would count as violating those laws.
Therefore, they did not dare to gamble. If they led the people to beg the Divine Lady for porridge, they feared it might bring harm to Her.
Physician Liu arrived faster than expected.
She wore a crumpled outer robe with her sash tied in a messy knot, and she was running completely out of breath.
Behind her followed four or five young military physicians, all of them teenagers around seventeen or eighteen years old.
Every single one of them looked extremely anxious.
“We're here, we're here!”
Physician Liu rushed up to Pei Du, panted heavily, and propped her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “Where are the injured?”
Pei Du raised his hand and pointed toward the Wuling commoners.
“See those who are severely ill, those with festering limbs, those coughing up blood, those with fevers, and the young children first.”
Physician Liu looked in the direction Pei Du pointed and was slightly stunned. She had originally thought some soldiers of the Zhenbei Army had been injured. She never expected to see a crowd of ragged commoners. At first glance, all she saw was emaciation—everyone was incredibly thin.
Her eyes grew red uncontrollably. Without another word, she led the physicians and plunged into the crowd.
A young child of three or four was cradled in its mother's arms, its cheeks flushed red with fever, its eyes half-open and half-closed.
When Physician Liu squatted down to check the child's pulse, the mother instinctively shrank back with the child, her eyes filled with wariness and fear.
“Physician... we... we have no money for treatment...” Her voice was almost inaudible, and her eyes were red as she hugged the child even tighter. “Our village suffered a flood last year, and we fled to Wuling City. We have nothing left on us...”
Physician Liu's hand paused for a brief moment as she reached for the pulse.
Then, she looked up at the woman.
“We don't charge money,” she said, her voice raspy. “The Zhenbei Army does not take money from the commoners. Let me see the child.”
Hearing this, the woman stared blankly at her, her lips trembling as if she could not believe her ears.
The child in her arms let out another soft whimper, its dry, peeling lips parting as it called for its mother in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Physician Liu said no more. She gently took the child from the woman's arms, placed it on her knees, supported the back of its head with one hand, peeled open its eyelids with the other to take a look, and then pressed her ear to its chest to listen to the heartbeat.
Her brow furrowed deeper and deeper. She commanded, “Go get the fever-reducing powder, dissolve it in warm water, quick!”
The accompanying young physician hurriedly complied.
Nearby, an old man sitting with his legs curled up heard Physician Liu say they didn't charge money. He suddenly looked up, grabbed a passing young physician with a face full of hope, and stared at him expectantly.
“Young physician, do you really not charge money?”
“We don't,” the young, fresh-faced physician replied. He squatted in front of the old man, carefully lifting his lower leg to examine the festering wound. He gasped in shock.
The wound had already suppurated, its edges turning black, and the bone inside was faintly visible. Just looking at it made one feel the pain.
“How many days has it been since you got this wound? How did you let it drag on like this?”
The old man smiled bitterly.
“It's been half a month. I had no money to see a doctor, so I thought it would heal on its own, but it only festered more and more.”
The young physician's eyes instantly turned red.
He quickly lowered his head, roughly wiping his wet eyes with his sleeve. He then opened his medicine chest, pulled out a medicine bottle, and said in a muffled voice, “It will hurt a bit. Please bear with it.”
As he treated the wound, he said, “Uncle, this injury is too severe. I might not be able to fully cure it.”
“It's fine, young physician. Just do what you can,” the old man said, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. “For a dirt-legger like me, my life is cheap anyway. The fact that you're willing to treat me is already a great blessing. If it can't be cured, that is just my fate.”
“Uncle, that's where you're wrong. Lives are not divided by nobility or cheapness. In the eyes of the Divine Lady, all living beings are equal!”
Yun Shu stood to the side, invisible while cradling the little fox. Hearing these powerful, resounding words, her eyes filled with gratification.
“Host, Chen Chao and the others are coming over soon!”
The little fox called out to remind her.
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