Upon hearing Zhu Yunzhu's words, Zhao Qingzhu nervously rubbed the whip in her hands, fidgeting and unsure how to respond.

After several conversations, Zhu Yunwen developed a new fondness for this lovely woman.

Perhaps it's because she's beautiful, or perhaps it's because of her straightforward personality.

Perhaps it was the cuteness she displayed in her haste and panic.

Regardless, Zhu Yunwen did have some affection for her.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Qingzhu said:

"Although you're different from the rumors, I still want to thoroughly examine you. By the way, where are you headed?"

Zhu Yunwen said:

"Go to Hukou County in western Shaanxi to solve the drought!"

"Can I come along? I went out today looking for a place to go sightseeing, but I'm worried about where to go."

Zhu Yunwen hesitated:

"But I'm not going there for fun this time. Hukou County is experiencing a drought, and people are being displaced."

The problem of not being able to get food is quite serious; if we go there, we probably won't see any good scenery.

Corpses strewn across the fields, refugees everywhere—that's something you might see. Such a scene wouldn't be pleasant to behold.

Zhu Yunwen's sudden seriousness also made the girl serious.

The girl replied without hesitation:

"Such a tragic place is something that someone like me, born into an official's family and raised in luxury, should also visit."

Besides, since you're my fiancé, shouldn't I share the burden with you?

Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly and said:

"I'm still under your evaluation. If I fail the evaluation, I'm afraid I won't be able to be your fiancé."

Zhao Qingzhu was still unable to resist Zhu Yunwen's teasing.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunwen did not refuse again, so he set off again, taking his newly met fiancée with him.

After leaving the capital, along the way, we saw many small towns and villages and met many ordinary people at the grassroots level.

Relatively speaking, the living conditions of these people around the capital were not too bad.

Everywhere one could see a harmonious scene. This made Zhu Yunwen feel very comfortable.

After all, now that he is a member of the royal family, his perspective has naturally broadened considerably.

Seeing that the people are living such a good life naturally makes me happy.

Reaching Hukou County was still very far, spanning almost half of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

It spans more than two thousand miles.

Even if one could travel 200 li a day, it would still take nearly ten days to arrive.

Fortunately, everyone was riding horses, so if they sped up a bit, they could probably reach their destination in seven or eight days.

After traveling for about a day, they had already left the capital. At this point, the scenery they saw along the way was quite different from that around the capital.

The people's lives were already quite difficult.

Most of them wore coarse linen clothes.

They work from sunrise to sunset every day, barely managing to feed their family of several people.

Such days can only be described as mere existence.

As they continued northwest, they found that many of the people they encountered were no longer living in good condition.

Zhu Yunwen's mood became increasingly depressed.

One day, while passing through a village, he saw that after a day's hard work for a landlord, the villagers could only receive one or two steamed buns or flatbreads.

Zhu Yunwen felt very uncomfortable at the time.

A day's work can only earn you one or two steamed buns and flatbreads.

It might not even be enough for the workers to eat themselves, yet they still have to take it back and share it with their families.

This shows that during the Ming Dynasty, many people had significant problems with food and drink.

This made Zhu Yunwen sigh and say:

“The prosperous scene is always only visible to those in power, while what they cannot see is unimaginable misery.”

These words made Zhao Qingzhu, who was standing to the side, sigh helplessly and say:

"This is the first time in my life I've traveled this far. What I've seen and heard along the way is something I never dared to imagine before."

"In my Zhao family mansion, even the servants eat the leftovers of delicacies from our masters every day, yet the lives of ordinary people are so difficult."

Zhu Yutong never expected that Zhao Qingzhu would have such thoughts.

It seems that this girl is a kind-hearted person, which makes Zhu Yunwen like her even more.

"Perhaps there are many scenes that we have never seen, scenes that are even more tragic than the one we are witnessing now."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingzhu fell silent instantly.

At that moment, she realized that this trip to the Northwest probably wouldn't make her much happier.

Because we hadn't even reached the disaster area yet, and had only traveled a short distance, we had already witnessed the miserable lives of ordinary people.

If we actually went to the disaster area, what a hell on earth it would be!

Just as they were lamenting the hardships of ordinary people's lives, they saw a somewhat plump middle-aged man in tattered clothes slowly approaching from a distance. He smiled, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhu Yunwen and the others, and said:

"The guest seems to have come from afar. The people of our village are extremely hospitable. Why don't you come into our village and have a drink of water?"

"Alright, let's rest for a bit and eat some dry food before we go."

Zhao Qingzhu smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you!"

Then he said to Zhu Yunwen:

"Why don't we go and rest for a bit, and let the horse graze before we continue?"

However, Zhu Yunwen sneered, shook his head, and said to the middle-aged man:

"You're probably not from that village, are you?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment, then laughed:

Why do you say that, guest?

Zhu Yunwen said:

"First of all, your accent doesn't sound like it's from this place; it sounds more like it's from the capital."

Secondly, we passed through countless villages along the way. In these impoverished villages, the people couldn't even get a decent meal, and they were all emaciated and pale from hunger.

But you're dressed in patched, coarse linen clothes, yet you're so obese and muscular. Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? I'm not stupid; I'm not so easily fooled.

As soon as he said that...

The ten Imperial Guards behind him drew their long swords and immediately became cautious.