Lord Fang had always looked down on eunuchs, considering them all to be sycophants and flatterers. He considered himself superior and came from a prestigious family, and he treated even the emperor's trusted eunuchs the same way.

Eunuch Feng tightened his grip, his breathing quickened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure, slapped his own mouth, and offered his apology.

"It was my overstepping my bounds that displeased you, sir. I hope you will forgive me."

He took the initiative to admit his mistake and apologize, but Master Fang did not accept it and even snorted coldly.

"Slavish and spineless, how can Your Highness keep such people serving you?"

Grandpa Feng was completely stiff.

At this moment, the Crown Prince suddenly reached out and patted Eunuch Feng on the shoulder.

“Feng Jia is loyal and devoted. He has served me since I was a child. How can our bond be compared to that of outsiders?”

A simple sentence deeply moved Eunuch Feng.

His Highness treats me like one of his own! Hmph! You're just a lowly censor, no matter how capable you are, you're still an outsider!

Eunuch Feng immediately straightened his back.

Lord Fang looked displeased, but not wanting to offend the Crown Prince over such a trivial matter, he changed the subject and started talking about the rainstorm disaster.

"Looking around the area, we see that many farmlands have been washed away, and some people have even been swept away and are unlikely to be found. This rainstorm has had a wide-ranging impact! The money and other valuables we brought are probably just a drop in the ocean and won't be of much use."

Lord Fang sighed.

The crown prince also frowned.

You don't know until you go out; the lives of ordinary people outside are far more difficult than those near the capital.

During a rest stop yesterday, the prince disguised himself as an ordinary young master and asked many questions of the local farmers and vendors.

What the old farmers and peddlers said was very different from what the crown prince saw in the official gazette and memorials.

He couldn't help but ponder: confined to the capital, all his knowledge and experiences came from others, how could he clearly know the true situation in the local areas?

The memorials to the throne were often embellished and concealed; even with inspections by the Censorate, it was difficult to guarantee that they wouldn't be bribed and won over...

He fell into thought and did not respond to Lord Fang's rambling.

A moment later, Eunuch Feng suddenly leaned closer and whispered.

"Your Highness, a letter has arrived from the capital."

The Crown Prince suddenly came to his senses, looked up and found that Lord Fang had already left. He then took the letter handed to him by Eunuch Feng and began to read it quickly, his brows furrowing and relaxing intermittently.

Eunuch Feng dared not look at him closely, and could only ask the question.

"Your Highness, is everything alright in the palace?"

The Crown Prince sighed, "There's nothing wrong in the palace."

But something happened outside.

The letter was delivered by a secret guard, briefly reporting what had happened in the past two days.

"Before leaving, he asked the Prince of Wu to look after the estate, but he just handed it over to the Princess of Wu, and Qingqing almost found out."

The reason why the Duchess of Zhenguo would send gifts under the guise of Princess Wu was naturally because of the Crown Prince's instructions before he left.

His trip out of the capital was fraught with danger, making it difficult for him to oversee things back home. The Eastern Palace was relatively safe, as the Crown Princess was there. However, Song Xibai on the estate was a source of great concern for the Crown Prince.

While keeping his true reason for leaving the capital a secret, he also entrusted several families to secretly look after him. The Zhou and Guo families were obvious choices, but even the Zhao family, for the sake of Song Xibai's unborn child, was keeping a close eye on things and would lend a hand if anything happened. Add to that the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion and the Zhongyong Earl's Mansion, which were connected to the Wu Prince's Mansion, and the Song Grand Secretary's Mansion, with whom he had just established a connection…

Only then did the crown prince feel at ease enough to leave.

"Let's keep it a secret as long as we can!"

The Crown Prince handed the letter back to Eunuch Feng, telling him to keep it safe, and then took a sip of water.

The carriage had been pulled out of the mud pit, but if they set off now, they wouldn't be able to reach the next post station. So, the accompanying guard captain, Captain Pang, came over to ask if they should rest on the spot and wait until after lunch before setting off again.

The crown prince agreed.

So they found a place on higher ground and started a fire to cook.

When traveling, it's impossible to stay at an inn every time. Captain Pang had anticipated this, so he prepared dry rations, mostly flatbread and dried meat for easy preservation.

Seeing many people struggling to eat their flatbreads, the Crown Prince suddenly had an idea and summoned Eunuch Feng to ask him a question.

"Did we bring any sweet potato flour?"

Eunuch Feng was a eunuch serving the Crown Prince and also the chief steward of the Eastern Palace. He was in charge of keeping track of everything.

"Yes, after Master Xi went to the estate, there was a lot of sweet potato flour left in the small kitchen. Master Xi said that this stuff doesn't spoil easily and can be stored for a long time, so I took it with me."

It must be said that Eunuch Feng was quite shrewd. Although he didn't understand what benefits this thing would bring to people's livelihoods, he remembered his master's words clearly and knew how to make good use of them.

And now it can be used.

The crown prince's face lit up with joy, and he ordered, "Take some, cook it, and distribute it to the guards!"

Eunuch Feng went to take care of it with great enthusiasm.

Cooking glass noodles is simple, and the seasonings are readily available. Although it can't be as elaborate as what my father-in-law makes, with added vegetables, meat, seafood, and so on, the aroma fills the pot after adding the seasonings, attracting frequent glances from those around.

Eunuch Feng first scooped out a bowl, added smoked meat and other ingredients, and prepared to send it to the Crown Prince. Then he called his men to distribute the food to the guards.

Although the weather was hot, the hard flatbread was hard to swallow, but with soup to drink, how could these guards refuse? They immediately rushed over.

The guards were quite surprised to see the translucent "noodles," but they didn't ask any questions. They soaked their flatbreads in the soup until they softened, and then slurped them down.

After finishing the drink, everyone praised it to each other, saying it was delicious.

The crown prince stood on a high place, seemingly lost in thought.

"Even if it's not for profit, we must promote this product."

Initially, he was thinking about how to use sweet potatoes to increase his leverage, but after seeing the suffering of the people and the state of the guards along the way, the Crown Prince's thoughts changed.

Eunuch Feng had a fairly good grasp of the Crown Prince's thoughts, so he went along with what the Crown Prince said.

"It's a pity we didn't bring enough; it's not enough for everyone to have a few meals."

The crown prince's expression had returned to normal, and he said with a smile.

"It's alright. When we reach the next post station, we'll buy more flour and a few large pots. If we encounter this situation again, it won't be a problem. If we run out of sweet potato flour, we can make dumpling soup."

Having followed Song Xibai for several months, the Crown Prince has eaten quite a lot of commoner's delicacies.

"It is Your Highness who is truly capable, to think of using those coarse sweet potatoes to grind into a paste and make vermicelli. Perhaps she is a celestial being descended to earth to help Your Highness!"

The Crown Prince couldn't help but laugh when he thought of the flower goddess story he had specially made up for Song Xibai.

The master and servant were chatting and laughing when suddenly, the crown prince's eyes widened.

"What's going on with those guards over there?"