Mu Shuangshuang looked at the sky and felt that waiting outside any longer wasn’t a solution.

She simply suggested, "Fengzi, let’s find an inn nearby first. I don’t think Beichen will be back anytime soon!"

Lu Yuanfeng nodded.

The two of them picked an inn by the roadside nearby.

As soon as they stepped into the inn, the waiter came up to greet them.

"Dear guests, are you here to eat or to stay?"

Mu Shuangshuang glanced at the waiter. Compared with those refugees outside, they didn’t seem to have been affected.

"Stay," Lu Yuanfeng said.

"Then I’ll arrange it for you. What kind of room would you like? We have three types in total, prices ranging from low to high," the waiter said.

"Two rooms, one top room, and one—" Lu Yuanfeng hadn’t finished when Mu Shuangshuang cut him off.

"Two regular rooms are fine," Mu Shuangshuang said.

When Xing Beichen came back later, he could share a room with Lu Yuanfeng, and she would take one for herself.

When traveling, having a place to sleep was enough; there was no need to insist on particularly good rooms.

"Then please come with me. I’ll take you upstairs to look at the rooms first!"

Following behind the waiter, Mu Shuangshuang glanced around.

In the inn, not many rooms had their lamps lit, and along the way, they hardly ran into anyone.

Mu Shuangshuang couldn’t help asking, "Waiter, didn’t something big just happen in Yulin County? Why aren’t there many people staying at the inn?"

"You may not know, guest, that happened five or six days ago. The ones with money have all gone to the neighboring counties.

Right now, the ones still living in the city are those without money, plus some who want to take advantage of this time to make a bit of money."

The area by the city gate counted as one of the less damaged places; after all, the houses weren’t as dense as they were inside the city.

Given the current situation, any household with a bit of savings knew that, if they didn’t want to starve to death, they had to go somewhere else.

After all, it was harvest season now. No matter how expensive grain got, it couldn’t get that outrageous.

"What about those people outside then? Are they spending the night out there too?" Mu Shuangshuang asked.

The weather wasn’t cold, but there were lots of mosquitoes, rats, and insects outside; it was easy to spread disease.

"Ah, you haven’t gone into the city to see, guest. That’s what you really can’t live in. Those people staying by the city gate are actually the lucky ones!

You saw the pharmacies by the gate, right? The prices are sky high. The pharmacies inside the city charge even more for their medicines!"

As soon as this came up, the waiter shook his head repeatedly.

"Ah, how did a perfectly fine place just crack open like that? It’s truly a sin!"

After the rooms were arranged, Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng paid the deposit, and also told the waiter that a man would come looking for them later.

She described his looks and clothing to the waiter, afraid they might miss Xing Beichen when he came.

It was already late, so it wasn’t realistic to go into the city to check on things.

Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng could only rest for a bit and go see the situation in the city first thing tomorrow.

...

Right now, Xing Beichen had entered the Governor Mansion of Yulin County. Once his documents were presented, he encountered no resistance and was let in.

The Prefectural Governor, Sima Chong, was a newly appointed official in his early thirties. He had yet to make any political achievements before a major disaster landed in his lap.

At the moment, he was so worried he’d lost his appetite, racking his brain for solutions.

When he heard Xing Beichen had arrived, Sima Chong felt as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

Xing Beichen himself didn’t hold much rank, but back then, Xing Ningtian’s status had been extremely illustrious.

Back then, Xing Ningtian had issued a conscription order here and took quite a few young men from Yulin County.

Who would have thought that a few years later, these men would become the renowned Xing Family Army, earning great military merits for the Da Ning Dynasty on the battlefield.

It was only later that Xing Ningtian fell in battle, and the Xing Family Army disbanded, taking off their armor and returning to their fields in Yulin County.

However, at that time, Yulin County was not yet called Yulin County; it was called Yulin County (xian).

In the Da Ning Dynasty, above a county (xian) was a prefecture (jun), and above a prefecture was a prefectural capital (fu). Above that, was the Capital.

Following the Government Official from the Governor Mansion all the way, Xing Beichen entered a secluded courtyard before seeing the Prefectural Governor.

Sima Feng came up to greet him politely and bowed deeply to Xing Beichen. "Mr. Xing, your distinguished presence honors us. I failed to welcome you from afar, please forgive me!"

Xing Beichen shook his head and asked, "How are things now?"

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Sima Chong’s face. "Mr. Xing, you just came from outside, you must have seen it already!

I am currently waiting for assistance from the court. Once the relief arrives, we’ll immediately start helping these people rebuild their houses."

Xing Beichen’s face darkened at once.

"Wait for assistance from the court? Wait how? Those people outside, their clothes barely cover their bodies and their bellies are empty. How do you expect them to wait?"

Sima Chong was so frightened he dropped to his knees.

"My lord, I... I failed to think it through. I..."

"Hmph, this is more than failing to think it through—you’re practically asking to lose your head! Have you tallied the casualties in the city? How many houses have collapsed? How many women and children?

Five full days have gone by—what exactly have you been doing all this time? Speak honestly at once!"

"M-my lord, collapsed houses, th-three hundred; casualties, f-fifteen. As for women and children, I haven’t tallied them yet. I’ll have people count them tomorrow!"

This time, the earthquake in Yulin County wasn’t considered very large.

Otherwise, a small place like Yulin wouldn’t have been able to withstand it at all.

It was only because there was so little knowledge about earthquakes in this era that some people spread tales about it being especially terrifying.

Since Sima Chong could at least answer a few questions, the murderous aura around Xing Beichen lessened quite a bit.

"Tomorrow, gather some people and clean up whatever needs to be cleaned up. Also, contact the local merchants so we can get through this difficult time first."

Sima Chong shook his head and said, "My lord, you don’t know: the local merchants all fled as soon as it happened...

The merchants here now are mostly from outside. They all want to seize this moment to make a fortune. Plus the court’s relief hasn’t arrived yet, so many things are hard to handle!"

"Enough, let’s set this aside for now. I have two friends who came with me. I’ll go find them first tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss countermeasures."

After speaking, Xing Beichen left the Governor Mansion, ignoring Sima Chong’s attempts to keep him.

Fortunately, the streets had already been cleared, so it wasn’t so bad that there was nowhere to place one’s feet.

Xing Beichen now had quite a few questions he wanted to ask Mu Shuangshuang.

Because he kept feeling that Shuangshuang probably understood this matter.

Soon, Xing Beichen reached the place where he had parted ways with Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng earlier.

Seeing no one there, Xing Beichen guessed the two of them had likely found an inn.

After looking around, he picked the nearest inn.

When he asked the waiter a few questions, the waiter nodded excitedly.

"Dear guest, your two friends told me already. You can go upstairs to find them!"

Following behind the waiter, Xing Beichen went upstairs.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng.

Dishes of prepared food were laid out on the table, untouched, as if they had been waiting for him!