Xiao Wang had the day off from court. After going out to gather information, he returned looking somewhat troubled.
“The disaster victims have already begun gathering outside the city. Many have brought their entire families with them, and some are injured. The imperial court has ordered the local authorities to build shelters outside the city to protect them from the cold and distribute porridge. I imagine there will only be more refugees arriving over the next few days.”
“With such heavy snowfall, many of their houses must have collapsed. Those who were injured must be suffering even more. Are there physicians treating people outside the city?”
“Yes. The Imperial Medical Academy has sent physicians to provide free consultations and medicine. All of this was arranged in advance.”
As Xiao Wang spoke, his eyes remained fixed on his younger sister.
“The Ninth Imperial Uncle deserves great credit for preparing everything in advance and taking precautions before the disaster struck. Some court officials initially thought his preparations were unnecessary, but he insisted that it was better to prevent disaster than react after it happened. Only then did His Majesty issue orders for everything to be carried out according to the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s arrangements.”
“And now his predictions have actually come true. The officials at court practically obey his every command. His Majesty appears pleased on the surface, but I think he’s beginning to feel somewhat jealous.”
Xiao Wang could hardly be blamed for speaking so bluntly.
Combined with the situation at the northern border, Emperor An felt both ashamed and uneasy.
He was ashamed because he, too, had initially believed Gu Jiuci’s preparations were unnecessary.
And now that the disaster had truly happened, he was afraid.
Would the court officials begin to think that he was a useless emperor?
The Ninth Imperial Uncle was simply too capable!
Fortunately, Gu Jiuci had made sure to consult Emperor An on every matter. He had also subtly guided the emperor and allowed him to regain some dignity by personally issuing decrees for large-scale disaster relief.
Emperor An had even instructed the Empress to lead the women of the imperial harem in donating silver for disaster relief.
Otherwise, he might truly have felt that the Ninth Imperial Uncle had gained complete control over the court!
Xiao Yu, however, had little interest in whether Emperor An was jealous.
She simply wanted to go outside the city and do her part.
When she heard that the Empress had taken the lead, she felt relieved.
“Since the Empress has already taken the lead, we have nothing to worry about. Sister-in-law, once we finish eating this hotpot, let’s go outside the city and help. Before I left the residence, I already gave instructions to the steward. He should have everything prepared by now.”
“Aunt! Mother! I want to go too!”
Madam Liu was just about to speak when Xiao Wang shook his head at her and scooped Chang’an into his arms.
“Very well! Father will go with you. Our little Chang’an is growing up. You can come with Father and see for yourself how difficult life can be for ordinary people.”
“Mm! Father can help the grown-ups, and Chang’an can help the children.”
“Oh? Then how does Chang’an plan to help them?”
Chang’an lowered his head and thought carefully.
“Chang’an will bring them food to eat and clothes to wear!”
Xiao Wang’s heart filled with pride, and he couldn’t resist planting a loud kiss on his son’s cheek.
“Chang’an is such a good boy!”
After their meal, they arrived at the city gates.
Sure enough, many noble and aristocratic families had already set up rows of porridge stalls outside the gates.
Officials from the Capital Prefecture were directing operations nearby. Along the base of the city walls stood a long row of temporary shelters built to protect the refugees from the cold.
Some families had already begun distributing porridge, while those who had arrived later were still busily constructing their stalls.
The disaster victims stood in orderly lines.
Some waited for porridge, others for clothing and bedding, while the injured lined up to receive medical treatment and medicine.
With soldiers maintaining order, the area had not descended into chaos.
In the distance, however, more refugees continued trudging through the wind and snow toward the city gates, supporting the elderly and carrying young children.
“Mother! Mother, wake up! Please wake up! We’ve reached the city gates! There are physicians here, and they have medicine! You won’t die! Mother!”
A heart-wrenching cry suddenly shattered the orderly atmosphere.
A man dressed in thin clothing threw himself onto the ground.
Before him lay an elderly woman with graying hair. Her leg was mangled and covered in blood.
Beside them, a woman holding a young child was also sobbing uncontrollably.
The surrounding refugees and onlookers felt their noses sting at the sight.
From those who had traveled with the family, they learned that the family’s house had collapsed.
The elderly woman had been crushed while trying to save her daughter-in-law and grandson, breaking her leg in the process.
The family had traveled through the entire night.
They had finally reached the city gates, only for the old woman to collapse just before reaching safety.
“Make way! Quickly, make way! Let me take a look!”
Li Qing pushed through the crowd and crouched beside the old woman to examine her.
“Stop crying! She can still be saved! Hurry and carry her over there!”
Hearing this, the man had no time to even express his gratitude. He immediately picked up his mother and followed Li Qing toward the medical tent.
Many patients were already being treated there.
Imperial Physician Zhang from the Imperial Medical Academy was overseeing the entire operation.
Only the physicians required for duty had remained inside the palace. The rest had come outside the city to provide free medical treatment alongside physicians from private clinics.
Over at the porridge stalls, Xiao Yu saw Steward Du from Prince Rui’s Residence personally supervising their operation.
The porridge had been prepared exactly according to her instructions.
It was so thick that a chopstick inserted into it would remain standing upright.
Almost every refugee who came to receive porridge was overwhelmed with gratitude. Many even shed tears.
Before long, the actions of Prince Rui’s Residence had caused the refugees to collectively bow and express their gratitude.
Naturally, it also attracted resentment from some of the other families.
Everyone was here to distribute porridge.
The others served ordinary porridge with both rice and broth, yet Prince Rui’s Residence had gone out of its way to make theirs exceptionally thick.
How could the other families not feel resentful when Prince Rui’s Residence had stolen all the attention?
However, news of the matter soon reached Emperor An.
The emperor sent his chief eunuch, Eunuch Wang, to publicly commend Prince Rui’s Residence.
Immediately afterward, the Empress’s maiden family followed Prince Rui’s example and began serving equally thick porridge.
At that point, everyone understood the emperor’s subtle warning.
Gritting their teeth, the other families had no choice but to follow suit.
Soon, every stall was serving thick rice porridge rather than thin, watery gruel.
“Huh? Why does it smell like meat?”
Someone sniffed the air as the enticing aroma drifted toward him.
“You brat! You’re lucky enough to have porridge to eat, and now you’re dreaming about meat?”
Someone beside him teased him.
But soon, more people caught the same scent.
Even then, they could hardly believe it was really meat.
Until someone came running over, shouting excitedly.
“Prince Chen’s Residence is putting meat in their porridge! Everyone, hurry over and line up! I saw it myself! They chopped up a huge amount of meat and put it straight into the porridge!”
“Prince Chen’s Residence is serving meat porridge!”
The moment the refugees heard the news, they rushed over to line up.
Now the people working at the other porridge stalls were even more resentful.
They were putting meat in the porridge?!
Making porridge thick enough to hold a chopstick upright already required an enormous amount of rice.
Now they were expected to buy meat too?
How had a simple act of distributing porridge somehow turned into a competition?!
Well then!
Once Prince Chen’s Residence started serving meat, all the resentment previously directed toward Prince Rui’s Residence immediately shifted elsewhere.
Soon, every family began adding meat to their porridge.
Those unwilling to spend as much simply threw in a few bones.
However, after several days, some families could no longer keep up.
Liu Sheng, the Governor of the Capital Prefecture, realized that things could not continue like this. He therefore drafted a proposal and submitted it to Emperor An.
To his surprise, Emperor An gave him no response.
After waiting an entire day, Liu Sheng grew anxious.
So after court ended, he gathered his courage and privately intercepted the Ninth Imperial Uncle.
“Lord Liu, what is it?”
“Ninth Prince, I submitted a memorial to His Majesty the day before yesterday, but His Majesty still hasn’t responded. I’ve grown anxious waiting, so I wanted to seek Your Highness’s advice.”
“This is about the distribution of porridge, isn’t it?”
Liu Sheng nodded with a worried expression.
Truthfully, he was extremely nervous.
He was afraid the Ninth Imperial Uncle would simply ignore him.
“This matter was never really your responsibility, Lord Liu. You simply couldn’t bear to watch things continue this way, correct?”
Liu Sheng’s eyes immediately lit up.
The Ninth Imperial Uncle actually understood him!
He was deeply grateful.
“His Majesty is probably troubled as well. This snow disaster has shown him the suffering of the common people. But the noble and aristocratic families of the capital aren’t suffering. Instead, they’ve turned disaster relief into a competition.”
“And why are they competing?”
“To make sure His Majesty notices them!”
“He wants to stop them, but he can’t openly do so. That is why he finds himself in such a difficult position.”
“As for the families distributing porridge, after doing this for so many days, they’re probably close to reaching their limits. No matter how much grain they have stored at home, they can’t continue spending it like this forever!”
“They may be wealthy and have no shortage of money, but how long can anyone remain enthusiastic about doing something that requires so much effort while bringing them nothing in return? A few days is enough for the novelty to wear off.”
“But things would be different if there were something to gain from it.”
“Think about it carefully, Lord Liu. If you could find a way to make that happen, wouldn’t both His Majesty and those noble families remember your contribution?”
Something to gain?
Liu Sheng frowned and thought for a long time.
He simply could not understand how anyone could profit from disaster relief.
However, the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s remark that those families were not short of money seemed to spark something in his mind.
Seeing that the Ninth Imperial Uncle had no intention of explaining further, Liu Sheng could only ponder it himself.
He repeatedly thanked the Ninth Imperial Uncle before leaving.
He would first visit the Minister of Revenue and learn more about the exact situation before deciding what to do next.
Gu Jiuci smiled faintly.
Liu Sheng was a clever man. He was tactful, adaptable, and knew exactly how far to go when handling matters.
It was just that sometimes…
His mind needed a little push.
With those few hints, Gu Jiuci was confident that Liu Sheng would eventually figure it out.