Chapter 808: Chapter 218 Zhao Ya: Chen 94, your strategy is too amazing
The raging fire completely surrounded the east warehouse, forcing everyone back with its intense flames. The Fishing Guild’s underlings were desperately crying for help, and when the locals realized that the flames were consuming food supplies, they spontaneously came to assist as well.
Yet the arsonist scoundrels had used a large quantity of kerosene.
The kerosene caught fire and shot up instantly, making it impossible to extinguish.
Watching the flames roar, the people around were at a loss, only able to look on and sigh helplessly.
The fire was finally put out after burning for two hours, but the once-mighty east warehouse had been reduced to ashes, burnt completely clean.
Looking at the east warehouse turned to ash, Chen Jie’s performance reached its peak as he threw himself onto the warehouse ruins, crying out, “My grain!”
It was truly genuine and heartfelt, an Oscar performance owed to Chen Jie.
In the Jianghu, one survives solely on acting skills. To deceive others, you must first deceive yourself.
Chen Jie’s act truly fooled many people, including Zhao Ya.
The Commandery Princess looked utterly livid—indeed, she believed it.
Although she knew Chen Jie didn’t have 200,000 stones of grain, only a mere 70,000 stones, this massive fire had destroyed these life-saving 70,000 stones of grain, crippling Mianshui County. With that grain, thousands, or even tens of thousands, could be saved; without it, who knows how many might starve?
At this moment, Zhao Ya panicked, looking at Chen Jie, who wore a face of sorrow and devastation.
Zhao Ya glanced at Yelu and his group. Although each of them pretended to be deeply saddened, for some reason, Zhao Ya saw schadenfreude on their faces!
Gazing at the ruins before her, Zhao Ya felt utterly powerless, incapable of cleaning up this mess.
Originally, she had some grain in her hands, but now everything was completely gone.
At this moment, Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and asked, “What do we do now?”
The surrounding people were equally panicked. Chen Jie, hearing Zhao Ya’s words, seemed to just come to his senses, looking around blankly before standing up and saying, “Everyone!”
Chen Jie found a high spot to stand on and addressed the people below, “Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve all seen it; natural disasters are unavoidable. The grain our Fishing Guild stored here has been completely burned up. Therefore, my Antai Grain Store won’t be able to sell grain to everyone on a large scale for these next two days. However, I assure you that the Fishing Guild will figure out a solution to the grain issue. Please don’t worry or panic.”
Hearing his words, the crowd murmured in response.
“Oh no, Guild Leader Chen, what do we do if you don’t sell grain!”
“Yes, Guild Leader Chen, we beg you; our whole family still relies on the grain to eat!”
The people below shouted, and Chen Jie sighed, saying, “Everyone, even a clever woman cannot cook without rice. The granary is destroyed, and I am helpless. But rest assured, villagers; we will certainly find a way. We certainly will. That’s it then.”
Once he finished speaking, Chen Jie turned and left the scene ‘with his tail between his legs’.
Hearing this, the people were startled and shouted, “Guild Leader Chen, Guild Leader Chen…”
A crowd rushed forward, and at that moment, Xiao Hu immediately led the Fishing Guild Disciples to block them, creating quite a chaotic scene.
Chen Jie left the scene under the protection of the Fishing Guild Disciples, his retreating figure appearing somewhat embarrassed.
Watching Chen Jie flee in defeat, Yelu and his group laughed heartily to themselves, thinking, Wasn’t Chen Jiusi pretending to save the suffering and distressed? Look what happened now.
Yelu’s group watched the spectacle, and Zhao Ya directly chased after them.
Seeing there was no more excitement to watch, Yelu said, “Disperse, disperse, let’s leave too, there’s nothing more to see.”
With that, Zhou Peng and the others followed Yelu in leaving.
Not far away, Han He, who had been watching everything, turned to Peng Yingyu, who was wearing a bamboo hat, and said, “Venerable, do you still believe Chen Jiusi can save the people of Mianshui?”
Peng Yingyu replied, “Can’t he?”
Han He said, “I’ve seen such scenes before, and cases must be happening all over the country now. When things evolve to this extent, the starving people of Mianshui will start eating bark and roots, and eventually Guanyin clay. When those are gone, they will flee the famine, becoming refugees.”
“As each county’s crisis spreads to the next, soon the entire Hubei region will experience civil unrest. This is the perfect time for our uprising.”
“Moreover, Mianshui County isn’t the only place affected this year; several prefectures in Huguang Road are also experiencing varying degrees of famine. The Holy Sect is reportedly sending an elder to Hubei Road to oversee this uprising.”
Han He detailed the Zoroastrian Sect’s recent operational plans—yes, it was an uprising.
This time, the Mianshui calamity isn’t just a simple issue for Mianshui County, but it’s affecting large parts of Hubei Road. Alternatively, you could say it’s because Hubei Road received too much Rain Water this year, causing this Mianshui calamity.
It’s a chain reaction. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Mianshui is stricken, and other parts of Hubei Road are also suffering successively. Although Mianshui County is the worst affected.
However, officials in other counties aren’t taking action, and coupled with the Northern war drawing away large quantities of grain, the local disaster response is severely weakened.
Although many places are not visibly suffering yet, intelligence from the Zoroastrian Sect indicates that Hubei Road will soon experience disasters consecutively. If the court mishandles the situation, it could very well lead to a chain reaction.
Turning these initially minor natural disasters into civil unrest.