The plague caused by the previous floods has not yet been resolved, and now a severe drought has arrived. Not to mention the areas where the accidents occurred, even the most prosperous capital of the Great Xia Dynasty has been affected.

This effect did not occur among the aristocratic families, but only among the common people.

Seeing that Qi Qi and the other two had already disguised themselves and knew that there were also secret guards protecting them, Chen Dianji thought for a moment and decided to take the risk of leading the three to the western city gate of the capital. Since the western district was the capital's slum, this was the most authentic place to experience the hardships of ordinary people.

Under the blazing sun, at just nine o'clock in the morning, the heat in the air was already intense and uncomfortable. After only a short while, even sitting in the shade, everyone was covered in a layer of sweat.

The Ninth Prince frowned as he looked at the pedestrians on the road.

He had never seen anyone dressed so shabbily. The coarse linen coat he wore seemed to him to be extremely poor. He never expected that the pedestrian on the street would be dressed in such short clothes, covered in rags, with straw sandals that exposed to the toes, and with dark and cracked skin, as if he hadn't bathed in a long time...

Qi Qi said, "Their eyes are really different from those of the people in the palace."

Not only that, their eyes were numb and lifeless, they walked like zombies, their appearance was emaciated and very thin. Some of them even fainted while walking and were dragged to a corner by the patrolling soldiers. They were slapped several times and did not wake up. They were then dragged to some unknown place.

This scene was witnessed by several people. Chen Dianji felt a chill run down his spine and kept looking at the three children, only to see that they looked normal, with only a slight discomfort.

The Fifth Prince said thoughtfully, "On such a hot day, why are these people still out in the sun instead of staying home to escape the heat?"

Chen Dianji used to live in a slum, so he was already very familiar with these scenes.

"Because they need to find work. After the natural disaster, the crops planted by farmers were affected, resulting in almost another year of no harvest. The imperial court also increased taxes... If they don't go out and find work, they might starve to death before they even die of heat or thirst..."

Born in a chaotic world, human life is as worthless as grass or drifting duckweed; the rich feast on meat and wine while the poor freeze to death on the streets.

There were no frozen corpses in the capital. Whenever someone died, the soldiers would simply throw the body into a mass grave, where the body would rot and stink, affecting the cleanliness of the streets.

There were almost no beggars in the city, because ordinary people were struggling to make ends meet, let alone give food to beggars. They dared not wander around the bustling East District for fear of attracting the attention of important people and disappearing without a trace.

The imperial court is oblivious to these problems. In fact, the court itself hasn't even filled its own financial hole. It has money to host lavish banquets but no money to provide disaster relief to the victims. Even the salaries of minor officials like them are in arrears...

Chen Dianji had a friend who was working in another place. The news he received was that excessive taxes and natural disasters had killed many people, and the people were living in misery. In places where people could no longer survive, they began to eat each other. In order to avoid starvation and becoming refugees, many people took up positions on the mountains and became outlaws.

Even if his friend had the ambition to achieve something great in politics, he lacked money and manpower, and his life was constantly threatened. His words revealed his extreme disappointment with the court, and he might even defect to a new master. He also praised Chen Dianji's talent as being superior to those incompetent officials in the court. How could he be willing to remain in a corner, merely copying books in a small library? Should he perhaps choose another place to go with him...?

After reading the letter, Chen Dianji was so frightened that he immediately burned it, knowing that his friend had already submitted his confession.

He had no intention of offering advice, because local officials were also in charge of big things. Small places had no people or soldiers to suppress bandits. When capable officials went there, they found that the places were just small settlements of people who were almost starving to death. There was no food, and not even a few hoes or knives.

But in the distant capital, powerful families and the royal family were still indulging in pleasure and ignoring worldly affairs. The world seemed to have become the same as the previous dynasty, and an uprising was almost inevitable.

Chen Dianji dared not say this directly. He knew that the princes had received different educations from childhood and might not necessarily value human life. He hesitated for a while before speaking.

Qi Qi grabbed his sleeve and said, "Teacher, we're all on the same side, please speak frankly."

Although the Ninth Prince's expression was not good, he said, "Speak, I want to see what ordinary people in this world are like."

The Fifth Prince looked outside, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Chen Dianji felt a glimmer of hope rise in his heart. Looking into Qi Qi's earnest eyes, he finally couldn't help but put aside those rebellious thoughts before daring to speak some truth.

Despite years of hard study, the reason he didn't allow himself to become entangled in the officialdom was because he always remembered the vow he made when he was studying to speak up for the people.

Even if only one of the two princes understood the hardships of the common people and did more for them, it would not have been in vain for him to risk saying those words.

...

The three of them only stayed for two days before returning home. The food was not to their liking, and they couldn't sleep or eat well. The Ninth Prince still had residual toxins in his body and needed to be well cared for.

Sitting in the carriage returning to the palace, the Ninth Prince glanced at Qi Qi and said, "I thought you were making a fuss about leaving the palace because you listened to those pageboys and wanted to go for a trip in the East District."

Who knew that she would take him to the slums to see beggars? They even stumbled upon a little beggar leading an even younger beggar through a garbage dump, people starving to death on the street, commoners selling their daughters into brothels, bullies forcibly abducting women in the street, nobles riding horses and injuring people in the street, and groups of refugees rushing into the city from outside only to be driven out again...

Each and every incident was presented without any trace of acting; they were genuine events that actually occurred right under the walls of the capital, leaving the two princes utterly astonished.

Qi Qi smiled apologetically. He had been careful, but he still accidentally let the two princes see a dead body. They both thought it would frighten him, and their first reaction was to cover Qi Qi's eyes.

Actually, I'm not afraid of dead people, I'm afraid you two will be scared.

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