Chapter 218: Relief Efforts

Chapter 218: Relief Efforts

"It smells so good..."

Staying awake until midnight, Cuishen dozed off briefly, only to be awakened by the aroma from outside.

Xiruo also stepped out to take a look, returning to tell Cuishen, "They are setting up tents outside to cook rice porridge."

The rich aroma of rice filled the air.

Cuishen approached Lin Yunwan, asking, "Your Highness, did you instruct Mr. Xu to have someone cook it?"

Lin Yunwan couldn't sleep either.

She pulled her blanket down, covering only from her chest downwards, and said, "The disaster victims outside have waited so long, smelling the rice will surely distract them from storming the city gates."

Cuishen, who had also experienced hunger, said, "Then distributing the porridge can stabilize them for the time being."

Lin Yunwan nodded in agreement.

Xiruo and Cuishen mentioned, "It's too late to build shelters now, but the Princess has arranged for people to gather at the houses outside the city and set up tents for shelter from the rain."

Hearing this, Cuishen's heart finally eased, and she said happily, "With a place to take shelter from the rain, they won't cause trouble. The Prince should be returning soon..."

Lin Yunwan quietly held her warm tea.

If everything goes smoothly, once Qi Lingheng returns to take charge, Jiangqian will have weathered this crisis.

Soon after, there was a change in the sounds from outside.

Xi Ruo's eyes brightened, "It’s past midnight, and the rain seems to have lessened a lot."

Lin Yunwan stood up, saying, "Let's go out and see."

Cui Qin also wanted to go out and quickly fetched a raincoat and an oil-paper umbrella for Lin Yunwan.

The mistress and servant went up to the city wall together.

The roads were slippery in the rain, followed by several sturdy maids to assist Lin Yunwan.

"Look, Your Highness!"

"Cartloads of rice porridge are being distributed, and the refugees have dispersed, leaving only the students from Qing'ou Academy."

Below, torches lit up the area brightly, bustling with people.

Lin Yunwan observed the area covered with raincoats, noticing that the scholars were still reluctant to leave the books they were protecting.

Xu Tianyou rode over with a group of men and spoke sternly to the scholars, "Go eat porridge! We will move these to the city, but you can’t go in."

The people from Qing'ou Academy all breathed a sigh of relief.

But then a scholar burst out, saying, "Why should we believe you! You've kept us outside for so long! I don’t trust that you can take care of our books!"

Xu Tianyou drew his spear.

However, he didn’t point it at the reckless scholar but held it tightly, containing his anger, and shouted, "Are you the only ones getting drenched? My brothers and I have been in the rain for days too!"

"If it weren't for orders from... higher-ups, I wouldn’t have to come here and get soaked trying to deceive you!"

The scholars from Qing'ou Academy began to relent.

A drenched scholar stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, sir, whose orders are these?"

"Xia Jin, don’t talk so much with him! Who knows if he's deceiving us!"

Xia Jin turned to his classmates and said, "If he really wanted to deceive us, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble."

"Look over there, the porridge tents are set up. We are scholars of the sages; now that our sacred books are safe, we should act like sage men, not waste time here."

His words resonated, swaying the others.

"Right. If we still have the energy, why not help distribute the porridge?"

"There seems to be enough porridge, but we are short of hands. There are still elderly, children, and women with empty stomachs!"

Xu Tianyou, looking at Xia Jin, loosened his grip on the spear a bit.

"These scholars aren’t all fools after all."

Xia Jin spoke loudly, "Let's entrust the books to them! We should do what we can."

"If there's really any damage to the books, we can address it later."

Someone who recognized Xu Tianyou said, "I know him! He's the legitimate son of the Jiangqian Commandery Prince's Commander, Xu Tianyou. If our books are ruined, we'll hold him accountable later!"

"In that case... let's go, let's go!"

The scholars gradually dispersed, and the few who were still resentful couldn't make much of a difference.

Xia Jin lingered, bowing to Xu Tianyou, "Thank you."

Xu Tianyou replied, "It is I who should thank you. May I ask which noble family of Jiangqian you belong to?"

Xia Jin responded, "My surname is Xia, from the Yu region. My entire family resides in the capital now, and I came to Jiangqian alone for my studies."

Xu Tianyou bowed with his fist and said, "Mr. Xia, we'll take care of the books. You should also get something to eat."

Xia Jin nodded, but couldn't resist asking, "May I know, sir, who instructed you to escort the books into the city?"

A horse sneezed loudly; it was too cold.

Xu Tianyou hadn't intended to reveal this, but glancing at the city wall, he saw his wife accompanying the Princess, observing the situation below.

He calmly said, "The order came from Princess Huan."

Xu Tianyou instructed his brothers, "Let's get moving! Be careful not to drop the books in water. These books are damp; let’s lay some dry straw before placing them after entering the city."

Xia Jin was still shocked.

"The consort of King Huan?"

Not an official, nor a prominent scion of a great family, but the consort of King Huan!

He followed Xu Tianyou's gaze towards the city tower, where the firelight illuminated a woman, her elegance and grace apparent even from a distance.

"The consort..."

"She must be a consort who loves reading and books."

Xia Jin suddenly remembered the deceased legitimate daughter of the Lin family.

He also thought of the legitimate daughter of the esteemed Jiang clan's Lin family. Since their chance encounter at the Ci'en Temple, he never had the chance to see her again, and later heard she was married to King Huan.

And King Huan, once a student of Chancellor Lin.

"Could it be..."

Xia Jin's throat tightened, it couldn't be such a coincidence!

He looked up at the woman and found himself smiling.

"If it really is her, and she's not dead... wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Xia Jin joined his classmates, hungry, helping to distribute porridge.

Their stomachs growled, they swallowed their saliva secretly, but still, they wore smiles on their faces.

"The porridge stalls of the Lin family, King Huan's household, the Lu family, and also the Zhang, Xu, and Chen families..."

The disaster victims and scholars remembered clearly the families who provided the porridge.

The city officials were also keeping records.

These would be their political achievements, as well as the glory of the families providing the porridge.

Lin Yunwan was included too.

She frowned, "No mention of the Su family?"

How could that be? She had already informed the Su family, and considering the righteous and kind nature of Elder Su, he would never ignore such a matter.

Xi Ruo said, "I'll go and inquire about this."

She asked Xu Tianyou, who, after moving books, was guarding the city gate, overseeing the entry and exit of the porridge carts and people.

He flipped through the register and said, "The Su family's porridge cart went out with the Lin residence, just two people."

Xi Ruo relayed this to Lin Yunwan verbatim.

Lin Yunwan shook her head, "It must be the Lin residence taking the initiative to cover this, attributing it to both families, but in reality, only mentioning the Lin family when distributing porridge. With only two people from the Su family, what can they really do? They must feel frustrated watching this."

Xi Ruo pointed out sharply, "Yet, the funds for this came from the debt they owe to the Su family."

Lin Yunwan instructed, "First, add the Su family's banner next to King Huan's tent, then go find someone to invite Elder Su and his son over."

Xi Ruo sighed, "Elder Su always ends up at a loss in the hands of the Lin family."

Lin Yunwan couldn't just stand by indifferently, but she also couldn't always intervene. Elder Su himself needed to learn to be wary.