Prince Qi remained expressionless, but inwardly he was overjoyed.

These were the people he had invited to "welcome" the Crown Prince.

The Prince of Jin, not knowing what was going on, asked, "Is this to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince?"

The men who had been chattering by the river fell silent the moment they saw the imperial officials approaching.

"What are you doing here?" Wei Anlu roared. "Are you causing trouble?"

One of them boldly answered, "We are local people from around here, here to welcome the prince."

How did you know the Crown Prince was returning to court?

"That's what everyone's saying—you're here to pick someone up, right? Then we can't have come to the wrong place."

Wei Anlu warned, "Avoid this area. Do not linger on the road."

Those people were quite obedient; they didn't block the road, but automatically went to both sides of the arched bridge and stood on the riverbank.

They were all huddled up in the cold wind, their faces completely covered by tattered hats and scarves, so their expressions couldn't be seen.

Soon after, a large entourage arrived from afar; the Crown Prince was returning to court.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites, along with Prince Qi, Prince Jin, Wei Anlu, and others, went up to kneel and receive them.

"Welcome back to court, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

The common people also became restless.

Someone shouted, "Respectfully welcoming His Highness the Crown Prince back to court!"

"One, two, three~"

Suddenly, thousands of people on both banks of the Shahe River pulled down their pants and began to defecate in the river.

Some were standing, some were squatting.

Some pulled the big ones, and some pulled the small ones.

Everyone had already found their spots and lined up in a row.

On both sides of the Shahe Bridge and along both banks of the Shahe River, like birds huddled together for warmth in winter, these men were urinating into the Shahe River one after another.

The place was full of men, and they didn't mind each other. They would finish and run, and those who didn't finish would just show their buttocks and quickly pull up their pants and run away because it was too cold!

They were clearly well-prepared; those carrying excrement buckets simply threw the buckets onto the sandy river.

During this period in Kyoto, the temperature has dropped to below minus ten degrees Celsius, and the river has long been frozen over, with all the excrement and urine accumulating on the ice.

It was still steaming, radiating its last bit of stubbornness.

A warm welcome to the Crown Prince's return to the capital!

The scene could be summed up in one word: bizarre!