Chapter 2: Mediocre

The refugees present all widened their eyes, their faces filled with disbelief.

Having wandered thousands of miles while sleeping in the open and eating on the road, every single one of these hungry people was clad in rags; not even a decent piece of coarse cloth could be found among them.

Yet this person was actually wearing an inner garment of fine cotton. When Jiu Jin lifted his hair to reveal his face, his skin appeared remarkably smooth and delicate.

His attempt to pose as a pauper was half-hearted, using only disheveled hair to cover most of his face.

Now that his messy hair had been brushed aside, his face looked quite well-nourished and radiant, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the sallow, emaciated refugees.

"Are you from Qizhou?" the refugees demanded in angry unison.

"What are you doing mixing in with our ranks?"

"Liars!" the crowd of refugees clamored. "Miss, just a moment ago, he—he, and those others, were instigating us to come in and loot things along with Big Head!"

"That's right! The lady is right! We were being used, which is why we committed such a foolish act!"

"The lady is kind-hearted; please let us go. We are willing to identify these people! It was they who maliciously coerced and enticed everyone to enter the village to pillage!"

A flash of panic crossed Big Head's eyes. Struggling to break free from Jiu Jin's grip, he could only scream at the top of his lungs, "I didn't! Don't frame me!"

"You didn't what? You didn't deliberately instigate us? You didn't use the crowd of refugees as an opportunity to cause trouble? You didn't fan the flames and incite the crowd?" Yu Linlang let out a cold sneer. "You are clearly not a refugee from Qizhou, yet you had ulterior motives for mixing into our ranks."

"The Weizhou Prefecture has received imperial orders to take in refugees. Originally, they were following the official roads toward Weizhou Prefecture to settle down. Why did they take a massive detour to come to our small village in Xia County?"

"The Qizhou refugees are thousands of miles away; how could they know about our remote little village? Unless... they were led by someone with ulterior motives."

The refugees suddenly realized the truth, crying out in anger and hatred.

"That's right! It was them!"

"We were lured here by these people!"

Some exhausted women and elderly people held their children and buried their heads, weeping bitterly.

They were already in such a miserable state; why were there people so wicked as to use them to cause trouble? What exactly was their intention?

"Big Head said it! He said it would take another ten days to reach Weizhou Prefecture! We lack water and food; if there are no supplies along the way, we will surely starve to death on the road!"

"Yes, yes! I can testify too! Big Head and his friends kept saying it. They said there was a small village called Xiaofu nearby where everyone could rest halfway. They said the village was prosperous and might have extra grain to help us."

"Scheming villains! Everyone is in such misery, and you still tried to deceive us!"

"Beat them! Beat them to death!!"

Panic filled Big Head's eyes. He hurriedly reached out to cover his head, only to be knocked to the ground and trampled by several people venting their rage.

Jiu Jin silently retreated behind her young mistress, watching with arms crossed and a cold sneer.

Meanwhile, Nanny Hu and Nanny Fang arrived leading a group of guards, running straight into the village chief and his party who were rushing over.

At a glance, there were over a hundred people, a chaotic scene of a mob beating several individuals.

The village chief, Chen Funong, was heart-stricken, fearing a death would lead to a legal nightmare and that the situation would spiral out of control.

Thus, he raised his voice and rebuked them, "Move aside, move aside! Stop fighting! This village has already reported to the village head. If you dare enter the village to commit violence again, the county magistrate will send people to arrest you in a moment! Consider the consequences!"

Most of the refugees stopped upon hearing this, but a few young men held onto Big Head and his companions by their collars, landing punch after punch on their faces.

Nanny Fang, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized the people being beaten. Her old face twitched, and she stepped forward shouting to stop them, "What are you all doing?"

She turned to reprimand the guards from the Governor's mansion, "What are you standing there for? Come and separate these people!"

"Jiu Jin, don't let anyone escape in the chaos," Yu Linlang whispered.

The young girl leaped forward swiftly, pinning the scrambling Big Head with her foot. Her fire poker landed heavily on his back, drawing a piercing "Augh!" from him.

Nanny Fang was greatly alarmed and shouted, "You—who are you? How can you be so barbaric and rude?"

"Seeing how nervous you are, could it be that you are acquainted with these bandits?" Yu Linlang stepped forward, glancing at the man on the ground before turning her gaze toward Nanny Fang and Nanny Hu.

Nanny Fang hurriedly tried to distance herself, "What? What bandits? Don't talk nonsense. Who are you?"

"Nanny Fang, do not be insolent. If I am not mistaken, this is the Miss Yu we are here to receive for this journey."

Nanny Hu forced a smile, sizing up the Yu Linlang before her.

How should one put it?

The young girl was slender and tall, with quite striking bone structure, but just as described in the letter, her face was remarkably ordinary.

The First Madam had been a famous beauty in the capital back then, possessing an incomparable elegance, yet this young lady... fell a bit short.

Since she was not a noble lady raised in a secluded boudoir from childhood, Nanny Hu suppressed the contempt in her eyes and said with a smile, "Greetings, Miss Yu. This old servant's family name is Hu. We have come on the orders of the Old Lady of the Governor's mansion to escort you back to the manor."

"Nanny Hu is one of the most capable nannies serving by the Governor's wife's side," Hong Wei added with an arrogant tilt of her head, barely sparing a glance for Yu Linlang and her maid.

Yu Linlang ignored them entirely, merely giving Jiu Jin a look.

Jiu Jin brought the fire poker down with a crisp "crack."

The man sprawled on the ground bounced reflexively like a dead fish, howling in pain.

Nanny Fang's expression changed drastically. She stepped forward to snatch the fire poker from Jiu Jin's hand, cursing, "How can you harm people like this? Do you intend to treat human lives as if they were grass?"

Yu Linlang grabbed the old woman's arm, a trace of coldness surfacing in her eyes. "Don't stop, keep hitting them. These bandits who instigate refugees to cause chaos deserve to be beaten to death on the spot."

Nanny Fang cried out in shock, "How dare you!"

"Do you think I dare or not?" Yu Linlang forcefully wrenched the old woman's arm backward.

The moment the old woman's eyes met those clear, pitch-black pupils, her heart jolted.

The dull pain radiating from her arm caused the old nanny to break into a cold sweat, struggling just to manage her own pain.

"Stop hitting, stop hitting, ah, ouch! Little Grandmistress, mercy!"

"Mother, Mother, save me! Mother!" After only three strikes from Jiu Jin, Big Head was rolling on the ground, wetting himself and screaming for his mother.

Nanny Hu felt a sense of impending doom, cursing inwardly that these fools were going to ruin everything!

Sure enough, she saw Big Head and the others rolling toward Nanny Fang.

"Save me, Mother, save me, save me!"

"Nanny, help me, Nanny!"

Nanny Hu's heart hammered in her chest as she stole a glance at Yu Linlang's face.

She saw that the girl's expression remained unchanged. With only a cold sneer, Yu Linlang released Nanny Fang's arm and gave her a heavy shove backward.

The old woman collided head-on with Big Head; the two of them embraced, weeping and wailing about "mother" and "son."

"They really are mother and son," Yu Linlang mocked.