The noodles had a firm bite as soon as they entered her mouth. Though light in flavor, they tasted quite good. Murong Yun’s eyes lit up, and she followed A'Xuan’s example by adding pickled vegetables, which added a touch of savory saltiness.
After finishing the modest bowl of noodle soup and taking the final bite of egg, she finally felt a bit of satisfaction.
Looking across, Murong Yun saw Wang Ru gently stroke Hua Le’s head and tenderly wipe the soup from her mouth. Her eyes paused, and she found herself quietly envying that warmth between mother and daughter.
What a pity—this rare moment of warmth was ruined by people who didn’t know better.
Outside the door, a young soldier in armor rushed in, panting, to deliver a report.
“Madam, something’s wrong—the people in the city are causing a disturbance at the gates, demanding more porridge distribution…”
In recent days, the porridge distributed had grown thinner and scarcer. After going hungry for so long—so hungry they’d stripped bark and dug up roots—the people finally snapped and began to riot, heedless of consequences.
They demanded that the General’s Manor distribute food sufficient to fill their stomachs.
“Where is Deputy General Su?”
Wang Ru’s expression tightened. She rose and asked someone first—that was the deputy general who had followed the commander for many years, and was also a seventh-rank spiritual cultivator. The reason she dared let Wu’er go out to search for her daughter was precisely because of this deputy’s presence.
“Deputy General Su went out early to inspect the city walls, comfort the soldiers, and arrange defenses… he hasn’t returned yet.”
“Go check the city gates. If… if Deputy General Su is available… never mind. Don’t go.”
Wang Ru started to speak but stopped halfway, then shook her head. Deputy General Su hadn’t slept for several days because of the enemy outside the city.
It was just a civilian riot for now. If she could suppress it herself, then there was no need to trouble him.
“Um… then, Madam, what about the townspeople?”
The soldier nodded, then asked again how the townspeople should be dealt with.
Just then, amid a burst of shouting and angry cries, some civilians broke in. Several armored soldiers were knocked to the ground. There were simply too many people, and it wasn’t appropriate to draw swords against them—so they weren’t stopped.
Seeing this, Wang Ru quickly pulled Hua Le behind her and ordered two nursemaids to protect her. The armored soldiers in the courtyard also hurried forward with spears to block the intruders.
Among them, some frail civilians, using the last of their strength, charged straight toward the spears, ignoring the sharp tips. They were starving anyway—what did a wound or even death matter?
Seeing this, the soldier quickly pulled back his spear. The civilians, spotting an opening, rushed forward to break through.
“Outrageous! Have you all gone mad?!”
Wang Ru had been the general’s wife for many years, and carried a certain authority. Even when faced with the surging crowd, she did not back down.
Yet in the eyes of the hunger-crazed people, none of this mattered.
“Madam! We respect you as General Huayan’s wife, and we don’t mean you harm. Just hand over the food, and we promise you won’t be hurt.”
Among them, a man who seemed to be the leader—his complexion slightly better than the others—shoved aside a soldier who tried to block him. As he moved, a flash of earthy yellow spiritual energy appeared. He was a cultivator.
No wonder he’s the one leading the charge.
Murong Yun watched the thin veil of earth energy flicker in the man’s palm. A novice, clearly. Nothing close to a true cultivator.
And in the next moment, Wang Ru rejected the man’s demand.
The general’s residence did still have a fair amount of grain, but it was the military rations for all the soldiers in Liaozhou. The rations were already insufficient, and she wasn’t supposed to distribute them to the townspeople. She only gave out a portion because she couldn’t bear to see them starve.
Aside from the troops taken out by the general and Wu’er, there were still over forty thousand soldiers hastily recalled to the city. It was already difficult to hold the defense, and no one knew how long they could last. Naturally, the grain couldn’t be handed over.
“No. This is the army’s food—meant for the men holding the walls. If I hand it over, how are they supposed to survive?”
But when faced with life and death, how could anyone care about anything else?
“What does that have to do with us? If you don’t hand it over today, we’ll take it by force!”
“Exactly. They keep giving us nothing but water every day—how are we supposed to fill our stomachs?”
“Liaozhou is going to fall sooner or later anyway—might as well die with a full belly!”
".........."
Perhaps it was Wang Ru’s unwavering refusal that caused the crowd to erupt into a riot.
Nearly all the people of Liaozhou had gathered here. Murong Yun looked at the orderly crowd stretching all the way to the back alley entrance and suspected that someone had deliberately arranged this.
Otherwise, why didn’t they riot earlier or later—why now, of all times?
Though the general’s residence had many guards, most were stationed at the city gates, constantly on alert for an attack. So even if all available soldiers rushed over immediately, aside from the hundred guarding the granary who couldn’t be moved, there were only a little over two hundred.
To be able to trap several thousand civilians here—it really wasn’t easy.
Of course, it was also because the leader was still here, making one last attempt to threaten Wang Ru.
“Madam Hua, are you really not going to reconsider? If things turn violent later, don’t blame us. We’ve got no choice—we can’t just starve to death.”
“That’s right, Madam Hua. If we don’t get a full meal today, we’ll open the city gates and surrender to Pingyun.”
“I don’t believe it—they’d really mistreat us, their meritorious subjects? Why don’t we stop defending and find another way out?"
Among them, someone actually tried to incite the crowd—suggesting they defect to the enemy.
Murong Yun’s gaze turned cold. She calmed herself and picked out the man in the cloth cap from the chaotic voices.
At this moment, the ringleader was still pressing hard, and under this lead sheep’s guidance, even those who had doubts went along with the crowd.
Who cares—it’s better than starving. That’s what most people thought. And the closer they were to the front, the more frenzied they became.
Only a few hesitant ones were still struggling at the back, but most were already tempted.
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, the squad leader guarding the general’s residence hesitated, torn over whether to ask Wang Ru if bloodshed was permitted.
Someone moved even faster—like a gust of wind. His waist suddenly felt light, and with a sharp ring, his sword was drawn by another.
Then, the leading cultivator’s expression froze. He only felt the world spin, and his head hit the ground. The opponent was so fast that his body paused before collapsing.
The scene froze in an instant. The sound of falling snow was clearly audible. That swift and decisive strike silenced every rioter present.
It turned out Murong Yun, seeing the situation about to spiral out of control, drew his sword and struck. But due to lack of experience—and a bit of anger—she used too much force and ended up cutting the man’s head clean off.
Hot blood splashed out with a whoosh, staining Murong Yun’s sword blade, her cheek, and skirt hem.
Where no one could see, Murong Yun’s sword-holding fingers trembled beneath her sleeve. She narrowed her eyes, swung the sword, and a few drops of blood fell from the tip onto the pristine snow.
This was the moment to assert authority—she absolutely could not show weakness.
“You—you just did that without warning? We’re soldiers of Nanchu, we…”
From the rear, someone snapped out of it and broke the silence. He stepped forward, clearly unconvinced—but just as he began to speak, another sword strike came…
Another head rolled onto the ground. Murong Yun’s expression was cold, as if she didn’t regard the crowd at all. With her striking beauty and killing intent written all over her face, no one dared step forward again.
🐇♡🐇♡🐇♡🐇
Post-Scene Chaos (What if They are actors?)
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