It has snowed heavily for several days, but the main roads are fine as government officials and neighbors have come out to clean up the area.

But when they reached the outskirts of the city, it was difficult to move forward because they had to take one deep step and one shallow step. More than a dozen palace servants sent out from the Shangshi Department also had to walk in this area.

Originally, we were planning to take a carriage, but the carriage couldn't move here, so unless we rode a horse, we could only walk.

The ten people sent out were led by Aunt Yonglan, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, and the nine palace maids behind them all knew how to cook. Although there were not many people, there were only a hundred or so disaster victims here, so it was more than enough.

The purpose of sending people this time was also to show the grace of the court, and since porridge was being distributed, the poor people around would surely come.

In this case, there will be more room for opening positions.

It's not that the court is so powerful, it's just the heavy snow and cold weather, which can be fatal.

It would be good if the snow could stop today. If not, I am afraid there will be a major disaster. In previous years, during the snowstorm, a whole room of people died. They were frozen to death, and they still had smiles on their faces when they died. Anyone who saw it would be terrified.

In the past, the sage did not take it seriously and almost aroused public resentment, but now people have become accustomed to doing things that way.

It’s better to be prepared.

Except for the Minister of Revenue who looked unhappy, everything else was fine.

The Ministry of Rites only has so many people in the Shangshisi, after all, they have different responsibilities and things to do.

Since all the people coming out of the Shangshisi were women, the road ahead was slightly clearer, but it was very muddy.

Su Wan looked at the leather boots on her feet. She didn't expect that she hadn't used them much since the last winter festival, but they came in handy now.

Su Wan was not supposed to come out to make porridge. After all, she was young. Li Rongrong, who was four years older than her, did not come.

But the chief of the Imperial Kitchen asked her if she was willing to make the trip.

Since the superior has said so, how could she refuse?

Fortunately, I am in good health now and can sustain walking these distances.

But when we arrived in the northern suburbs of Kyoto, we realized how bad the situation was. Many houses had collapsed, and most of the victims were housed in dilapidated Taoist temples.

This Taoist temple has not had any visitors for a long time, so it is naturally dilapidated. Fortunately, I heard that the place is large enough and the shabby kitchen can be temporarily vacated for Su Wan and others to make porridge.

I heard that more and more disaster victims will be resettled in various places, and the government has a Salesian Church that specifically resettles people. I wonder what the situation is like there.

Before Su Wan and the others even entered the door, they felt that the actual situation was not quite the same as what they heard.

This dilapidated Taoist temple had no place to cook, and even the corridors were crowded with victims of the snowstorm.

Aunt Yonglan couldn't help but say, "It's not like there were only a hundred people affected. There must be more than a hundred people."

Anyway, at a glance, there are at least five or six hundred people.

No wonder they brought so much food. I guess the Ministry of Revenue, which was responsible for dispatching the food, had already thought of this and prepared enough food in advance.

Yes, concealing the number of disaster victims has been a practice since ancient times, and it is not surprising that Tianxiang Kingdom did so.

But looking at the wailing people, some of them didn't even have their wounds bandaged from being hit by the collapsed houses due to the snow. It was really pitiful.

Su Wan and her friends had come all the way here, and it was already noon. Since the house collapsed last night, they probably haven't had a single hot meal until now.

"Now, we need to make room for cooking immediately."

Naturally, porridge is the most suitable food for disaster relief. According to the old imperial rules, if the rice porridge does not fall over when chopsticks are inserted into it, it is considered qualified disaster relief porridge. This is not difficult for the palace servants in the Imperial Food Bureau.

Get a few big pots and boil them over high heat. As long as you stir it constantly, the bottom of the pot won't get burnt.

There's nothing much to it except some hard work.

As he was speaking, a group of soldiers came up from behind him. When he looked up, he found that they were people he knew.

The leader, Commander Qi, was also surprised and said, "It's you two, what a coincidence."

These words were spoken by Su Wan and Aunt Yonglan. They both used to work in the West Kitchen, and Commander Qi's Lingtai Gate was closest to the West Kitchen, so they were naturally familiar with each other.

Su Wan said, "Yes, what a coincidence. Are you the one leading the disaster relief team in the northern suburbs?"

"Yes, the Ministry of Revenue also asked me to allocate some soldiers for you. Now the wind is strong and the snow is heavy, so many things are difficult to do."

As he spoke, Commander Qi pointed out a group of people.

What a coincidence! The team leader Su Wan also recognized him. He was Chai Huan, the Lingtaimen guard who helped Yu Shu out last time. His deputy was the very loyal Zhou Zhao.

In fact, it can't be said to be a coincidence. Su Wan has always had a good relationship with Lingtai Sect, and she knows more than just these guards.

Commander Qi didn't say much. He dropped off a group of people and headed north again, probably to check out the situation in the remote areas.

Chai Huan was the captain, his deputy was Zhou Zhao, and there were thirteen soldiers remaining, making a total of fifteen people.

But they are just cooking, do they need so many people?

When other palace servants from the Imperial Food Department asked this question, Su Wan looked at her. Chai Huan looked at Su Wan again, and seeing that she was not going to answer, he said, "We are afraid that there may be refugees who may hurt people, so we need to protect them."

They are all palace maids who came out of the palace. If they encounter riots caused by refugees, I am afraid something big will happen.

But Su Wan saw that these guards were strong and healthy. With their bodies, they could easily defeat ten of the hungry and skinny refugees with weapons in their hands.

Why did they have to leave fifteen people behind? They even left two horses behind.

This could not have been done by the Third Prince, one of the three princes who came to provide disaster relief. He always has a purpose for what he does, and it is just to protect them.

Unless he knew that the victims who needed disaster relief were more than just the five or six hundred people in this dilapidated Taoist temple.

There are even more people.

Su Wan's heart sank. The news she heard before coming here was completely different from the news now.

Although she thought so, Su Wan did not show any expression on her face, and followed everyone to find a place to cook.

The most important thing now is to light the fire, set the pot, and start cooking the porridge.

You don't need a kitchen, just find an open space that can shelter from the wind and snow.

But even such vacant land is hard to find.

The dilapidated Taoist temple is so crowded that no one can step foot inside, and no one is willing to come out and make room.

If they still squeezed into the Taoist temple, it would still be warm and they would have a chance to survive. But if they used the space to cook porridge, they might freeze to death before they could even eat the porridge.

Aunt Yonglan frowned: "It's not their fault. It's freezing cold and their clothes are thin. How can they have the energy to think so much?"

Su Wan looked around and found that the houses near the Podao Temple were also crowded with people. She looked west of the Podao Temple and saw a bright and beautiful temple not far away.

The temple had tall roofs and thick walls, but no refugees dared to take shelter in the corners.

If you think about it for a moment you will know what is going on.

In contrast, Su Wan rarely got angry. The monks in her time and space were willing to open the temple doors to pregnant women who were about to give birth, and even allowed killing animals in the temple to make chicken soup.

But now the monks here are unwilling to let people rely on even their corners.

Su Wan pointed to the temple wall and said, "Why not use that thick wall as a support and temporarily set up a tent next to it? The place over there is wide and flat, so it's convenient for distributing porridge."

After Su Wan finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Even Auntie Yonglan shook her head slightly: "That's a temple."

Yes, that’s a temple, so no one dares to go there, or even get close to it.

"It's a temple, that's why we should go there. Most people like to say that a Bodhisattva has a kind heart, doesn't that mean he has a good heart? The Buddha, who is supposed to save people from suffering, is unwilling to help with such a small favor. Isn't that too strange?" Su Wan was young, and her words seemed unintentional. After all, one doesn't need to take words from a child seriously.

Even so, it still made everyone break out in a cold sweat.

Su Wan looked at Captain Chai Huan, only to see him shaking his head slightly, obviously not going to work.

But there is always a way. We can just set up a tent not far from the ruined Taoist temple. The thick felt cloth can still block the wind.

The guards took the lead and the tent was quickly set up and the fire was lit.

The rice that was brought in was under close guard and was put into the pot as soon as the water in the big pot boiled.

This job was not difficult, and the people sent by the Imperial Kitchen were all able to cook. Within two quarters of an hour, the aroma of the rice porridge had wafted into the air.

This made many weak victims in the ruined Taoist temple open their eyes subconsciously.

You can have porridge now!

The kind where chopsticks can stand upright in rice porridge without falling over.

The porridge continued to be cooked inside the tent, and it was distributed a few steps outside. The victims lined up in five rows, with soldiers maintaining order, and indeed everyone could have a bowl of porridge.

Aunt Yonglan was originally worried that the porridge would get cold outside, but looking at the speed at which the porridge was distributed, it should still be warm by the time it reached everyone's hands.

In any case, the victims who had been hungry for a day finally got their first meal and were all grateful to the court.

Su Wan was cooking porridge in the back. When she went out to take a look, she saw a little girl of four or five years old. She was only wearing a single layer of clothes and shivering with cold. Even the "bowl" in her hand was just a broken piece of porcelain.

Upon seeing this, Aunt Yonglan changed the bowl for her. She thanked her profusely, and her clothes looked even thinner.

Su Wan touched the thick fleece she was wearing, sighed subconsciously, walked into the tent, took it out, and wrapped it directly on the little girl.

Her parents beside her were even more grateful, and kept praising the court and the people who provided the porridge.

But this is not enough, it's just a piece of wool, just a bowl of porridge.

For them, it's just a drop in the bucket.

The snow never stopped, and the porridge distribution never stopped. While Su Wan and her team were distributing porridge, soldiers on the other side continued to set up tents so that the victims at least had a place to shelter from the wind and snow.

By the afternoon, there were more and more disaster victims, and people from the north came out one after another to ask for porridge.

Commander Qi sent more people over, and that’s how order was restored here.

Amidst the busyness, Su Wan looked at the majestic temple with its doors tightly closed, and then at the disaster victims who were huddled together due to the cold.

Sooner or later, dilapidated temples like yours will be demolished.

At the same time, the expedited documents from the northern suburbs to the imperial palace had been presented to the Saint's Hall.

Also accompanying the clerk was the Third Prince, who was supposed to be providing disaster relief.

The court urgently summoned officials from all departments to listen to the order. When the document was passed to everyone present, they were all extremely shocked.

How can it be said that only a hundred people were affected? It was clearly more than three thousand people.

And these more than 3,000 people happened to come from the same farm, and their houses happened to be built temporarily, so they could not withstand two days of wind and snow.

There is no such coincidence in the world.

If there are too many coincidences, there must be a problem.

The Third Prince said, "The original farmland and houses of these 3,000 people were occupied and razed to the ground when winter came. The houses they have now are just temporary structures. If they had the houses they had before, they would definitely not have collapsed after two days of wind and snow."

"In the winter festival hall, I caught the thieves who were trying to disrupt the festival. They were also these heroes from farm families."

"Their houses were invaded, so they intended to retaliate against the sacrifices presided over by the great wizards."

"This matter has its cause and effect, it is not their fault."

"So, this is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster!"