They scattered to lots of different locations. Some went to the city, some to the village, and some to the foot of the mountain, since the population of Kaifeng consisted of various kinds of people. Some were rich, some were poor. There were officials, traders, scholars, farmers, craftsmen, breeders, tailors, healers, and more. Some lived in the city center, some lived in remote areas which were difficult to reach. They observed everything about the people, how they met their needs, what they worried about in their lives, and what were their true hopes. If necessary, they would make conversation with the people. And they did not do it just in a certain time. They did it all day; in the morning, noon, even in the evening.
They also made settlements near the people. But all had been set that the people would not be suspicious of them. Even though they were high-ranked, they were surprisingly very professional. They were able to behave like ordinary people. Basically, they were used to living in hardship in the past it made this kind of duty was nothing for them.
"You don't go to work, Sirs?" Rui asked several middle-aged men at a remote location. He observed that for the past two days they had been just sitting leisurely. They would change their leisure position, sometimes they sat at the road side, sometimes by the river, but what they did was all the same; just sitting lazily. They were sometimes joking but mostly they only kept silent, daydreaming.
A man replied languidly. "Just when I began to plant, the flood wiped the seeds out!"
Another man uttered, "We are in the era of turmoil, it's useless to plant because nothing will grow up now!"
"If you don't plant anything, then what will you eat?"
A man answered, his eyes were half-closed, "Just eat the bark that grows all by itself."
Rui furrowed. "What the hell, barks?! It's unhealthy, you know?"
"After all, what grows naturally is only the trees! Or are you willing to starve to death just to wait for healthy food?"
His sarcasm answer made Rui unable to respond.
On the other hand, Xue Mei and Lin were in charge of researching an odd village. The village was only filled with women and children. Confused by the oddity, Xue Mei asked a beautiful but haggard-looking woman, "Sis, why aren't any men in here?"
The woman answered softly. "All men have been transported to Shuntian to build the New Palace."
"All men? Nobody left?" Lin asked in surprise.
The woman only answered with shaking her head.
"So farming... carpenting... you do all males jobs by yourself?" Xue Mei asked again.
"Yeah, what else can we do."
A middle-aged woman passed through. Interested in their conversation, the woman cursed. "The current emperor is very cruel. He must know that we are suffered from the flood disaster, but still eager to build a luxurious palace! Also by enslaving the people!"
Her curse provoked more women to join in.
"How is their condition there? Do they work nonstop, without relax?"
"What kind of fate do they have? My husband is weak, I worry about him, may something wrong happen with him?"
"I heard that many people have died of exhaustion."
The women quivered in fear. "My Heaven! When will this misery end?"
"As long as we are ruled by the cruel tyrants, we'll be still living in this misery."
This talk that ultimately blamed the government was not what Lin and Xue Mei expected. They gave no response. But they noted well on what they had got today.
Meanwhile, Zhu Su, Liu Ku, and Qu You went to a village near the flood-affected area. When they arrived, they got shocked with the situation before their eyes.
So many people were crying.
Lots of children cried because of hunger. And their parents could not comfort them since their energy was drained, also because of hunger.
"A Long! So you have returned from the mountain. What do you bring?"
An old granny shouted hoarsely to a thin man who was carrying a small basket full of leaves. The thin man turned his head. "Oh, these. These are the wild plants I just picked for dinner."
"It looks delicious, give one to me!"
"But it's enough only for my family."
"Don't be stingy! Please help this old old granny!"
A grandsire besides her also shouted, "And please help this old man, A Long! Share your plants!"
"But... there are many children in my family, and they can't endure hunger..."
"So do we, we can't endure hunger, we are elderly!..."
A Long hesitated. Slowly, he walked to those elders, took out two small branches from the basket, and gave those to the elders, who immediately snatched those ferociously.
Zhu Su was still able to look the leaves when A Long took them from the basket. His heart skipped a beat. "W... wait a minute! Don't eat that!"
The old man was just about to eat the leaves A Long gave him. Annoyed, he turned to Zhu Su. "What's the matter, Sir?"
"Those are poisonous plants. If you eat it, you'll get sick!" Zhu Su shouted in panic.
All of them had their eyes widened. Including A Long. "B... but... it looks so delicious, how come it is poisonous?..."
"Besides, if we don't eat this, then what kind of food should we eat? Nothing left to be eaten!" Thus, ignoring Zhu Su's warning, the old man put the small branch into his mouth.
"Exactly! If we don't eat this, we'll die!" The old granny also ate the plants.
Zhu Su could only show a miserable face and chose to turn his head around so as not to see the occurrence that he knew what would be. He decided to pull his gaze to A Long. "Where did you get the plant?"
"In the mountain not far from here."
"Do you know what kind of plants did you just pick?"
A Long shook his head. "No. I just picked it because it looks good, its color is appealing - reddish-purple - so I picked it out..."
Their conversation was cut off as they heard some people were moaning in pain. It turned out that those elders were now clutching their stomachs, moaning, "It hurts... it hurts..."