However, Snake Fang hadn't anticipated that something even more unbelievable was yet to come—the speaker's next message left him unable to move his feet.
"In five days, which is the second week of the first month of spring, the City Hall will distribute relief rations in the square! Everyone can receive two servings of hot wheat porridge here, one at noon and one in the evening. Citizens, thank His Royal Highness the Prince for his kindness!"
As soon as this was said, the crowd stirred.
"Heavens, Gaul didn't lie. There really is such a clause in the proclamation!"
"Yeah, I just wanted to confirm it."
"Did I hear correctly? Wheat porridge every day?"
"You're here too? Don't you have plenty of wheat and jerky at home?"
"But those are two free servings. Guardian hasn't forbidden me from coming to get them. Didn't you hear what he said? Everyone!"
"Lord!" someone suddenly shouted, "Is the wheat porridge really free? How long will it be distributed?"
This was also the question that most people were concerned about. Everyone stopped discussing and looked at the noble attendant in unison.
The latter waited until the crowd's anticipation reached its peak before calmly announcing, "That's right! The wheat porridge is indeed distributed for free, and it will continue until the end of the Devilish Month! Go and tell more neighbors and friends about this news. The promises made by His Royal Highness the Prince will definitely be fulfilled!"
Hundreds of people instantly boiled over, but Snake Fang still couldn't believe his ears.
Free food, what does this mean? They can temporarily escape the threat of Khanash, and no longer have to worry about starving to death in the cold snow—no, not just them, all the rats can easily get food. In that case, the King and Belly will not be able to control the tails below!
Khanash will definitely not sit idly by and watch this happen. What will he do? Send people to disperse the crowd, disrupt the porridge distribution... or bribe City Hall officials to pour the wheat porridge into the Scarlet Water River?
However, Snake Fang also noticed that the speaker mentioned "His Royal Highness the Prince" repeatedly. That is to say, this request to distribute relief rations was made by the legendary Fourth Prince, rather than the Duke or the Five Great Families as in the past. Will he let these Rat Kings run rampant, or is he really different from other noble lords?
He didn't want to trust any nobles. The scene of Bai Zhi being deceived was still vivid in his mind.
But a voice in his heart kept asking himself, what if it's true, what if... it's true?
Fortunately, this doubt didn't last long, because the Elk attendant on the stage had already begun to announce the next message—he originally thought that these decrees were just new tricks that the lords came up with to torment the citizens, and had nothing to do with vagrants like him who had no fixed place to live. As a result, the first two messages surprised him, and the third message was aimed directly at the rat community.
"Citizens, listen up, your good days are coming!" The speaker first stabilized the noisy crowd with a sentence, and then said word by word, "In five days, which is from the day of porridge distribution, His Royal Highness the Prince will launch a severe crackdown on crime in Longsong Stronghold, including the elimination of black street organizations, the crackdown on theft and robbery, and all illegal activities that threaten the lives and property safety of citizens! At that time, everyone should not stay in the black streets, nor go to taverns, casinos and other mixed places, so as to avoid unnecessary harm!"
"The order of the stronghold needs to be maintained by all citizens. Now the City Hall is recruiting manpower, including security personnel and police officers. Next, I will explain the recruitment requirements in detail for you!"
Snake Fang no longer had the mind to listen. He drilled out of the crowd and ran quickly to the bonfire, "Quick, let's go back!"
"Heard everything?" Kui rubbed his hands, reluctantly, "Warm up your body before you leave."
"No, let's go now!" he said anxiously.
"What happened?" Qiao heard something was wrong.
"I'll explain to you on the way," Snake Fang stomped his feet, "We have to go back quickly, otherwise we'll be dead if Khanash hears the news from someone else first!"
……
The gathering place of the rats in the West District is located in the depths of End Alley, in a two-story house.
Khanash is a fierce-looking, one-eyed strong man, and his temper and methods are as brutal as his appearance. Snake Fang has personally seen him nail a subordinate who messed up things to the wall and then whip him to death. In addition, he controls the food supply of several rat groups in the district, and no one dares to be disrespectful to him.
Snake Fang was the same. He knelt carefully in front of the other party and repeated the news he had inquired about.
"The Lord wants to attack us?" Khanash frowned, "What's blowing this wind?"
"...Not the Lord," Snake Fang cautiously reminded, "The person kept saying His Royal Highness the Prince."
"You know nothing!" He spat, "No matter how big the noble is, it's useless when he arrives in someone else's territory. This is Longsong Stronghold, not Border Town or King's City. Without the consent of Honeysuckle and the Elk family, he can't do anything. What about the nominal Guardian of the Western Region? Just look at who is sitting in the castle. That so-called King nominally leads Graycastle, who cares about his orders?"
"You're right," a woman next to Khanash said嬌声嬌气, "Besides, even if the sky changes above, it has nothing to do with us. Nobles are nobles, and rats are rats. Although both live in the same city, they are not really the same kind of people."
"Rats are rats? I love to hear that," Khanash pinched the woman's ass, "But the second message is a bit strange. According to the previous situation, if the nobles want to release food to earn a good reputation, they will notify us in advance. And even if they release it, it will be limited. How come this time it sounds like they want to feed everyone in the city?"
No one could answer this question, but Snake Fang knew that at this time, everyone was thinking about the two bowls of free wheat porridge.
"Could it be... that the lords above want to scrape some benefits from Lord Bloodhand?" The woman chuckled.
"Who knows," Khanash shrugged, "I'll go and ask the boss later. Only he knows about this kind of thing related to nobles."
The so-called Bloodhand is the King of the West District. It is said that he has close contacts with some minor nobles. In a sense, he can no longer be regarded as a pure rat, but an "underground noble" without a title—in fact, every King has similar connections.
Thinking of this, Snake Fang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He knew that Khanash's little qingren was right. Nobles have existed for hundreds of years, and so have rats. No matter how the top changes, the underground world always has its own set of rules... His Royal Highness the Prince is also a noble, what can he change?
"By the way, I know what you're all thinking," Khanash sneered, "Want to taste the wheat porridge distributed by the City Hall? On that day, everyone must stay in this house. No one is allowed to go, understand? If anyone dares to steal food behind my back, I guarantee that he will never be able to eat anything for the rest of his life!"(。)