Chapter 121 No one organized me to come on my own

Jia She and Jia Lian were met with a cold shoulder at the palace gate and returned home dejectedly.

Yesterday's efforts were fruitless, and today's was no different. Jia She was seething with anger.

"I told you you shouldn't do such a thing! You can't even take care of your own family, why are you acting like a great philanthropist and a troublemaker!" Jia She pretended to be a saint outside, but when he got home he started yelling at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian swallowed his anger and dared not say another word.

Although he was just running errands for the master, since the matter was not resolved, the master wanted to vent his anger on someone, so who else could it be but him, since he was the master's son!

Jia She vented his anger and felt a little better. Just then, Jia Zhen from the East Mansion invited him over, saying that it was freezing cold and that his family had acquired a deer, which could be sliced ​​up and cooked in a hot pot. Jia She went with the messenger.

Jia Lian returned home with a gloomy face.

Wang Xifeng had just finished taking stock of the surplus grain and other items in the house when she entered the room and saw Jia Lian lying on the bed, looking dejected and staring at the bed curtains. He didn't even disturb her coming in.

Wang Xifeng ignored him and went to remove her makeup.

"Feng'er, why is it so difficult to do a good deed properly?" Jia Lian sighed.

“Doing good deeds is not difficult at all. If it doesn’t work, we’ll do it ourselves!” Wang Xifeng turned around. “You’re afraid of retribution for doing evil, but what are you afraid of when you do good deeds?”

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian turned over and got up.

"What's the difference between doing good deeds without the Emperor's knowledge and doing them for nothing?"

Wang Xifeng glared at him.

"If you're doing this for personal gain and not out of your own free will, then don't do it."

“Feng’er, this was instructed by Master Yuan to have our family request an imperial decree to start this process.” Jia Lian was truly puzzled.

"Sister Yuan wanted our family to take the lead, but she didn't say we had to go to the palace! You and Master made such a big fuss, making it seem like only your family is kind, and everyone else is blind, can't they see how much snow is falling?"

"Then why did the old lady make the second master submit a memorial?" Jia Lian retorted, unconvinced.

"Isn't that already a way of showing our family's favor? That's proof enough." Wang Xifeng turned to look at Jia Lian.

"You should really pack your things and head to the West City tomorrow. I've heard the West City is in complete chaos right now, how could the Emperor possibly ignore it? If you go there now and focus on disaster relief, you won't have to worry about not getting a good reception."

"The food is real food, and cotton clothes and quilts are also prepared. If those affected by the disaster are well-fed and warmly clothed, then we will have achieved something."

Jia Lian thought to himself that this was all he could do now, and then he saw Wang Xifeng smiling.

"My dear second grandmother, when did you become a savior of suffering? It's truly astonishing..."

"What are you saying? Since my daughter was born, when have I ever been cruel? Of course, I should accumulate more good deeds and leave some blessings for my daughter!" Wang Xifeng said, remembering what Yuan Hongqu had told her about Granny Liu.

"After you go to Xicheng tomorrow, see if you can visit Granny Liu. Last time she came, I was busy and didn't get to properly entertain her. These farmers are having a very tough time with this heavy snow. Take some food with you and go check on her."

“My dear Second Madam, you didn’t see it because you didn’t go out, but the snow outside is three feet deep. Only our inner city is slightly better. I don’t know how we’ll get into the western city tomorrow. If we want to go to the outskirts, forget about it, unless I transform into an eagle and fly there.” Jia Lian looked troubled.

Wang Xifeng pondered for a moment, "We still need to ask Sister Yuan for advice."

"Hmph, what good ideas could she possibly have? Could she conjure up a pair of wings for us?" Jia Lian didn't think highly of Yuan Hongqu this time either.

Such snow is truly a once-in-a-century occurrence. How old was Yuan Hongqu? How could she possibly have such a clever way of walking on the snow as if it were flat ground?

Yuan Hongqu cannot conjure wings, but she does have a way to make people walk on the snow without sinking.

She drew up designs for simple snow sleds and skis that allowed people to move quickly, and had samples made overnight.

Although there were no trained sled dogs to pull the sleds, mules and oxen could be used as a makeshift solution.

In addition to these two items, she also had a batch of large snow shovels made.

If the Rongguo Mansion can exert its influence, the memorials submitted to higher authorities will be effective.

Sending food and winter supplies to Xicheng is the first step. The next step is to mobilize every household in the capital to form a snow removal team. Those with money can contribute money, and those with strength can contribute strength. Then the snow disaster in Xicheng will be resolved soon.

However, in this era, most people only care about their own affairs, and the snow in the western part of the city is really hard to clear.

The day passed, and no word came from the Rongguo Mansion, nor did the snow outside stop.

There was a little girl in the family who would even save her own food to send to disaster victims, and Yuan Hongqu couldn't hold her back.

Once the samples of these items were made, the servants immediately took them to the carpentry shop to have them mass-produced.

The Lin family was not short of money, so they had the shop work overnight to finish the job as quickly as possible.

The snow hasn't stopped yet. The western part of the city is a slum, and the houses collapsed before anyone could react. The situation in other areas is a little better than in the western part, but it's still not much better.

Apart from the inner city where walking is still relatively easy, other areas have only managed to clear a narrow passageway, barely wide enough for pedestrians; the rest of the area remains uncleared.

Firstly, the snow is still falling, and secondly, there's nowhere to pile up the cleared snow.

The snow being cleared now is being pushed into the moat. It's estimated that once the snow melts, the moat's water level will rise considerably.

After daybreak, the snow became much thicker, but fortunately it stopped in the morning, and the sun even came out for once.

The Lin family servants, who had stayed at the carpenter's shop all night, returned to the Lin family home one after another with the finished products once the curfew was lifted.

The rested members of the Lin family's snow removal team loaded bags of grain, coal, ginger, and bundled cotton clothes and quilts onto the snow sleds.

On the roads within the inner city, sleds can be transported by horse-drawn carriages. When they reach the more difficult sections of the outer city, servants from the Lin family are waiting there; this is a small team going to the outer city to buy mules.

In this kind of weather, even mules are hard to buy. I finally found a place, but I only managed to buy a few.

However, things are much better now. Their worst-case scenario was to pull their sleds to the west of the city themselves. With these mules, they wouldn't have to be treated like cattle anymore.

When the Lin family arrived in Xicheng with their belongings, it caused quite a stir.

Besides the thirty-odd young and strong members of the Lin family's snow removal team, there were also disaster victims who came out of the West City last night, many of whom were young and strong, and they also went to the West City together.

The government has yet to offer any explanation, so they have to go and save their fellow villagers themselves.