Tea stall offering tea?
She huddled within Shen Muzhou's cloak, looking up, only able to see the prominent part of his throat and his handsomely sculpted jawline. His peach blossom eyes slowly lowered, meeting her gaze.
Shen Muzhou paused, then after steadying her, immediately let go. He cleared his throat and asked, "Did they bump into you?"
Lin Yanxi shook her little head. Watching the departing figures, she frowned slightly and said, "The people in the pit said it was a tea stall offering tea. They drank a cup of tea, then knew nothing else. When they woke up, they were in the pit."
Shen Yu stepped forward and said, "Then let's go take a look. I must tear down such a harmful tea stall!"
She had the same idea. Her almond eyes looked at Shen Muzhou, waiting for his decision.
Actually, Shen Muzhou felt it would be better to wait for Xiao Liu to find the soldiers to seal the tea stall. However, he couldn't resist those doe-like almond eyes. In the end, he nodded.
With his consent, they all walked towards the tea stall.
A crowd had already gathered outside the tea stall. A large number of refugees were desperately trying to push their way in. A few soldiers were blocking everyone with their spears.
"Let me in."
"Don't push, please let me in, officer. I have two children who are about to die of thirst!"
The crowd jostled, all clamoring to get into the tea stall.
Shen Muzhou shielded Lin Yanxi with his hand, frowning as he blocked the refugees, afraid they would bump into her. Her small body leaned softly against his chest.
Shen Yu, on the other hand, was not faring as well. He was squeezed among some refugees and cried out helplessly, "Ah, who stepped on my boots!"
In the end, the three of them retreated to the back of the line. Fortunately, there was a two-step platform there, from which they could see what was happening inside the tea stall.
Shen Yu tidied his disheveled hair and said, "This tea stall is rather peculiar. It's called a tea stall, yet it offers tea in a house."
Lin Yanxi didn't understand what he meant. She blinked and looked at Shen Muzhou. He explained, "Normally, tea stalls or porridge stalls set up for disaster relief are temporary and very simple. They usually just have a roof and are open on all sides. But this tea stall uses such a large building as a place to offer tea, which is clearly intentional."
She looked thoughtfully towards the tea stall again.
A person in official attire came out, raised his hands, and waved them twice, signaling everyone to be quiet.
"Don't push, everyone, listen to me."
"My lord, out of compassion for the people, and in the face of this drought that has brought ruin to the land, has specially set up this tea stall for everyone. You can come in to rest, have tea, and continue your journey. However, there are too many refugees now, and we can only receive a hundred refugees each day. Those who don't make it today can come back tomorrow."
Lin Yanxi stood on the steps and repeated, "A hundred people? There were only a little over a hundred refugees in the pit who were abducted to work."
Shen Muzhou said, "He must have an incoming and outgoing flow when setting up the tea stall. A hundred people come in, and if twenty or so are drugged, it wouldn't be easily discovered."
She clenched her fists after hearing this. These people were truly wicked.
Seeing her righteous little demeanor, he gave a faint smile, a smile he might not even have noticed himself.
The man stood inside the tea stall, spoke, stroked his beard, and smiled meaningfully.
When the disaster victims heard this, they quickly scrambled to form a long queue.
A woman ran to the front of the crowd and shouted to the people inside the tea stall, "Li An! You heartless dogs!"
Li An was the one who had just spoken and told everyone to line up. His expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he looked at her with disdain, "Who is this shrew?"
The woman was blocked by the soldiers and cried out, "You've harmed too many people, you wouldn't remember them all."
"Villagers, listen to me, this tea stall has a problem! Don't be fooled again! After drinking, you won't know where you're going!"
Li An snorted indifferently, "Nonsense. Our lord is the county magistrate, and he is carrying out the imperial edict to set up a tea stall to help the disaster victims."
As he spoke, he clasped his hands together and held them up to his ears in a salute.
The woman wiped her tears and asked, "Then let me ask you, where is my husband? Why did he drink your tea and disappear without reason? He never came out of the tea stall!"
Li An stared at her face for a moment, then stroked his small beard and chuckled, "Your husband didn't go back, so report him to the authorities. What are you looking for us for? Besides, times are harsh now. Perhaps he abandoned you and fled for his own life, hahaha."
He grinned mockingly, his eyes occasionally glancing at the crowd.
The refugees also began to murmur after hearing this.
"Speaking of which, that person from our village hasn't been seen for several days."
"Exactly. If your husband is lost, go report it to the authorities. The official kindly offered tea. If you don't want it, don't get in the way."
"I heard that this continuous disaster has angered the gods, and they are punishing the people of Nanmin. Many people have mysteriously disappeared, perhaps taken by heaven."
As they spoke, their words became more and more outlandish.
The woman continued to pester them, "Heaven's curse! Everyone knows you're all in on this together! Who should I report to?"
"You abducted my husband! Give him back to me, give me back my husband!"
Towards the end, her voice trembled, her eyes red and filled with desperate pain. In her urgency, she disregarded her own safety and squeezed past the soldiers' spears, reaching out to grab Li An's sleeve.
Li An frowned, covered his nose with a handkerchief, and took a few steps back. The soldiers quickly restrained the woman.
He looked at her with disgust, "I think you're crazy. Your husband is just a refugee, why would we capture him? Stop making trouble! Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless."
The woman was pressed to the ground by two soldiers, and she shouted hoarsely, "Let me go! Give me back my husband, give me back my husband!"
Li An shook his head and was about to walk back into the house. He waved his hand, and the soldiers roughly pulled the woman up from the ground and dragged her aside.
She struggled with all her might, kicking her legs backward, her ten fingers scraping blood on the ground, her eyes filled with a mad helplessness, "Heaven's curse, may you all die a horrible death! Cheating the common people."
"Wait."
Lin Yanxi couldn't bear to watch this scene any longer. She ran from the stone steps towards the tea stall. Shen Muzhou and Shen Yu followed closely behind her. She was small, standing at the outermost edge of the crowd.
Shen Muzhou embraced her waist, lightly lifted his toes, leaped over several people, and landed beside Li An. The soldiers swung their spears, the tips pointing directly at the two of them. He instinctively shielded Lin Yanxi behind him.
With a flick of his long sword, he easily severed the tip of the spear.
Li An frowned and asked, "Who are you people? Don't tell me you've also lost relatives or friends and have come here to search for them?"
Lin Yanxi smiled, bright and moving, and said in a sweet, mocking voice, "How did you know? Are you feeling guilty?"
Shen Yu followed behind and helped up the woman who had been dragged on the ground, asking, "Are you alright?"
The woman, disregarding her injuries, ran back to the crowd and shouted, "It's true, believe me. My husband disappeared after drinking the tea from this establishment."
Li An retorted, "What evidence do you have? Based on your word alone, you're not trying to scare everyone away and monopolize the water, are you? Besides you, do you have any other relatives or friends who can prove your husband disappeared after entering our tea stall?"
As soon as he said this, the woman was speechless. Seeing this, a murmur went through the crowd.
Lin Yanxi walked to the woman's side and said, "This is simply sophistry. Refugees leave their homes due to the disaster. They have no one to rely on on their journey, so where would they find so many relatives and friends?"
Li An smiled and said, "So, there is no evidence?"
He looked at the refugees waiting in line to enter the tea house with an air of confidence, "This woman has no evidence but keeps slandering us. We are beyond refute."
"Offering tea is a good deed. Leaving or staying is never forced. If you believe the woman's words, you can leave now. If you still want this cup of water, take a lotus leaf, line up, and come inside to collect it."
Lin Yanxi said anxiously to the crowd, "This tea stall really has a problem. Believe me, and the people who have disappeared here are not just her husband. You must have heard some rumors. Absolutely do not go in."
The originally noisy queue became quiet. People looked at each other, analyzing her words.
As everyone hesitated, someone at the back of the line pushed to the front and said, "If they don't go, let me go. If I don't drink water soon, I'll die of thirst."
Li An smiled and said, "Please come in."
The crowd erupted in chaos again, with refugees scrambling to get to the front, "Let me in! Let me in!"
"I'm not afraid of death, I believe in the lord, let me go."
Li An smiled at Lin Yanxi provocatively, "See? They're all doing this voluntarily. I haven't forced anyone."
Lin Yanxi ignored him and tried desperately to persuade everyone, "Don't go in. I'll find a way to get you water. This place really has a problem."
"Move aside!" The refugees impatiently pushed her aside, afraid that she would delay them and they wouldn't be able to get into the top hundred.
Shen Muzhou steadied her and shook his head at her with a frown, "Let's think of another way."
The tea stall was soon filled with people. The soldiers blocked the crowd again with their spears, not allowing anyone else in. Li An glanced at Lin Yanxi from the doorway, a mocking smile on his lips.
A woman was locked outside, gazing inside with unwillingness for a long time. She looked at Lin Yanxi and sighed helplessly, "Miss, we really can't hold on any longer. This little bit of water is not a matter of drinking or not drinking for these refugees; it's a matter of life and death."
Lin Yanxi asked puzzledly, "Haven't the wells in the county town dried up yet?"
The woman gave a bitter, forced smile. As she pulled her lips apart, dried, cracked skin on her lips tore into bloody lines.
"On our journey, we've been through arid lands, surviving on dirty river water. When we finally arrived here, soldiers guarded the wells at the entrance to the county town. Thirty wen for a ladle, and one tael of silver for a bucket."
Lin Yanxi silently looked at the remaining refugees. Their clothes were tattered, their lips were pale and cracked, their voices hoarse and dry, and they stared longingly at the tea stall, swallowing with difficulty.
For them, drinking this water meant surviving and reaching the next town. Not drinking it meant dying on the road.
They had never had a choice.
Shen Yu said indignantly, "This is outrageous! The world is suffering from a great drought, and Father... the Emperor has already reduced the taxes on drawing well water. These people dare to take advantage of the situation and make exorbitant profits!"
"Let's go, I'll help you get water to drink. I'll see who dares to stop me!"