Yuan Bohua was the first to speak out, "Cousin, please tell me. If it's something we can do, Yue'er and I will definitely not refuse!"

As for Zhou Qiongyue, she held the teacup and looked at the second prince with a smile. She felt that her second cousin must have no good intentions when he came to see her.

The Second Prince looked at Zhou Qiongyue and Yuan Bohua with a smile on his face. The brighter the smile, the more speechless the words that came out of his mouth. "I'm the only one who's short of food. Cousin and cousin-in-law, can you support me?"

"What?" Yuan Bohua almost lost his grip on the teacup. He looked at the Second Prince with a puzzled look, as if to say, 'You haven't been so shameless before? The moment you open your mouth, you're showing support.'

Zhou Qiongyue, on the other hand, was quite calm. She was somewhat used to her second cousin's shamelessness.

The Second Prince was indeed a little embarrassed, but not too much. "I'm just short of food. You used to be my good friend, so I certainly couldn't ask you for anything for free. But your status is different now! We are all family."

Yuan Bohua pretended to be shocked by the Second Prince's shameless remarks and knocked his head on Zhou Qiongyue's shoulder, "Yue'er, I don't think I've ever met my cousin before."

Zhou Qiongyue patted Yuan Bohua's head comfortingly and said something even more devastating, "You'll get used to it."

"That's enough, you two! I'm still here!" The Second Prince thought silently in his heart. Next time, if there is no serious business, he will definitely not ride in the same carriage with these two people. Who are they trying to torture to death?

"How much does Your Highness want? It's too much. Yue'er and I really don't have any. Your Highness didn't tell me in advance, and I didn't prepare anything in advance. When the Emperor finally issued the decree, Yuan'an no longer had any food to buy."

Yuan Bohua wasn't lying. He didn't have much food on hand, and at the time, he only thought it would be enough for the palace. He didn't bother preparing too much.

When the Second Prince heard his friend say this, he turned his gaze to his cousin. Given his cousin's cunning nature and the fact that she knew the news so early, he didn't believe she wasn't prepared.

"How much does my second cousin want? Is your prince's mansion going to run out of food?" Zhou Qiongyue was very puzzled. The second prince had started preparing early, so why was there not enough food now?

"My prince's palace still has food, and we have enough for porridge. But many of my subordinates don't have much food left, and some are barely making ends meet. I need at least 50,000 kilograms of food!"

The Second Prince actually wanted to rip open the heads of his men. They hadn't even prepared the most important food in advance. Now he was being asked to come out and embarrass this person.

After hearing what the Second Prince said, Yuan Bohua took a deep breath. Fifty thousand kilograms... their palace really couldn't afford that much. He actually wanted to ask his friend how many men he had to support.

Zhou Qiongyue did have some, but she didn't want to feed the officials. They had many ways to get food! They weren't the ones who had reached their end.

Zhou Qiongyue took a big sip from the teacup before looking seriously into her second cousin's eyes. "Second cousin, I'll be honest with you. I have the food you mentioned..."

"Really?" The second prince was so happy that he almost stood up in the carriage. Only Yuan Bohua was quick enough to press the second prince onto the seat, thus preventing the second prince's head from coming into close contact with the top of the carriage.

Yuan Bohua was also quite surprised that Yue'er could store so much food. If it was cooked into porridge, it could save many people.

"Second cousin, don't be happy yet. Although I have it, I don't want to give it to your men." It was only because of the support of his aunt Queen Zhou Qiongyue that he dared to speak to the second prince like this.

"Why? Although I said I support you, I will still pay the money. Don't worry about this, cousin." The second prince really didn't want to let go of his cousin, this rich woman.

"Those people under you are all officials, right? They all have salaries, right? They all have connections, right? They can still survive if the porridge is a little thinner."

After Zhou Qiongyue finished speaking, without waiting for the Second Prince to respond, she personally lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, "Cousin, take a look outside."

Zhou Qiongyue pointed at the beggars and the row of people selling their children on the street, and the streets that had never been wider.

"Cousin, do you think these people have the money to buy food? Do they have the connections to get food? How are they supposed to survive? Especially since the Emperor's decree says there's still a year and a half left! Maybe a lot of people will die this time."

Although Zhou Qiongyue's tone was flat, Yuan Bohua and the Second Prince both felt that Zhou Qiongyue was glowing at this moment.

It was the first time for Zhou Qiongyue and the second prince to see such a scene.

Although he sometimes rode a horse when traveling, he always hurried through the days and did not pay attention to the plight of these little people.

When his cousin pointed this out to him, he was shocked to realize how difficult life was for the people.

The second prince bowed solemnly to Zhou Qiongyue in the carriage. Although Zhou Qiongyue was in the carriage, she slipped to the side very smoothly.

"Second cousin, what are you doing? Don't hurt me." Zhou Qiongyue was panicked at this time and questioned the second prince in a very loud voice.

Yuan Bohua pulled Zhou Qiongyue over and held her close to him. "Don't be afraid. I just want to thank you on behalf of those people."

Zhou Qiongyue fanned herself with her hands and reminded the Second Prince, "That's not necessary. Second cousin, please don't bow to me. I'm afraid I'll die young and shorten my life."

In fact, Zhou Qiongyue was thinking, "I'm afraid that when you become emperor in the future, you will regret what happened today."

The Second Prince had originally wanted to thank his cousin for teaching him this lesson, but his cousin's frightened expression had successfully frightened him. He sat down and tried to cover up his gaffe with a venomous remark, "Look at what you've accomplished."

"I now think that my subordinates can get by with just a little thinner porridge at home." At this moment, the Second Prince felt that what his cousin said made a lot of sense. Officials had a much easier time getting food than ordinary people. He didn't need to worry about it.

Zhou Qiongyue was very happy to see that her second cousin had come to her senses. Her food supply was saved. "Cousin, please don't think I'm reluctant to give up my cousin."

The Second Prince was even more reluctant to leave. He felt that his cousin was quite thoughtful. He wanted to know, "I'm curious, cousin, how are you going to get the food to those in need? Are you going to spread porridge outside the city gate?"

Zhou Qiongyue shook her head and said, "A stall of the Prince Fu'an's Palace outside the city gate will be enough. I plan to recruit those refugees to work in my farm and the Prince Fu'an's farm. The men will work on road construction, farming, and so on.

Women could go weed the farm, and so could children. As long as they were diligent, they would be fine. Their daily wages would be converted into food.

But this is just a rough idea of mine, I still need to think about the specific details.

I only want to save those who haven’t given up on themselves.”