The emperor, still half-asleep, was reviewing memorials in his study. "It's all the same trivial stuff every day. I get tired of reading it even though I don't get tired of it."

Xiao Dezi, who was standing nearby, immediately rubbed the emperor's shoulder: "It is thanks to Your Majesty's boundless grace that the people can live in peace and prosperity. It is a good thing to report such trivial matters."

"Hmph! All you have is your mouth. With the drought continuing, how can the people live in peace and prosperity? There are refugees wandering everywhere."

After saying this, the emperor looked at the memorial in his hand, which contained only trivial matters, and felt a headache coming on.

"What's the use of having these officials? How many of them truly care about the people?"

It's such an ironic phenomenon that honest, upright, and incorruptible officials simply don't survive.

After saying this, the man sitting on the dragon throne slammed the memorial in his hand heavily onto the table.

He had just heard from his guards that the refugees gathered outside the city walls had inexplicably received rice last night.

And I heard that each household takes 5 to 10 jin (2.5 to 5 catties) of it, but with so many people, the total amount adds up to a huge number.

Even for ordinary people during non-famine years, an acre of fertile land yields only about 200 catties of grain, and that's with the skin on.

None of the officials below were able to properly arrange for these refugees; in fact, almost none of the memorials submitted mentioned these displaced people.

At this moment, the eunuch outside came to report, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience."

"Xuan"

Soon after, Long Yuan strode in, greeted the emperor, and sat down to the side.

"Yuan'er, you've come at the right time. I heard that last night, a mysterious person outside the city delivered a lot of food to each of the refugee households. What do you think about this?"

Longyuan heard about this in the morning, and according to all the refugees, they did not hear any noise at night.

Even those who hadn't slept at night didn't see anyone suspicious. Most importantly, the amount of grain was so large that it was obvious to anyone, yet none of them saw it.

That's what's strange.

It's as if the food that appeared in every household suddenly appeared.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, no matter who this person is, he has ultimately saved the lives of these common people."

With this food, they can at least get through this period, and then they can think of other ways, whether it's finding other work or... it will at least alleviate their current situation!

Seeing the middle-aged man sitting on the dragon bed stroke his beard and nod, he said, "That's right. This person neither wants to show his true face nor does he ask for anything in return for giving these refugees so much food."

This alone shows that this person is magnanimous; there's no need to investigate further.

The guard standing to the side nodded and left.

"You didn't come here today to talk about this, did you? If there's anything you need to say, please speak frankly."

Long Yuan got up from the stool and knelt directly in front of the emperor.

"As the crown prince of the dynasty, Father should prioritize protecting the country and not waste time in the palace."

The emperor was startled by his son's sudden move, as his son had mentioned wanting to go to the front lines more than once.

It's always just a casual remark, unlike today when they're being so serious.

But those barbarians had already begun harvesting the land where the two countries were at war.

They had captured city after city, and the men they sent there had suffered repeated defeats. The latest news from the front lines was that a temporary ceasefire had been reached.

He was anxious too!

The barbarians are currently in a truce mainly to watch the Great Dynasty descend into chaos, so that they can seize the entire dynasty when the time is right.

But now the court has exhausted all the capable people, so as the crown prince, he naturally cannot go to the front line.

Going there would not only fail to boost the morale of these soldiers, but would actually have the opposite effect.

Only when there is no one else available in a country will a prince, crown prince, or even the emperor personally lead an expedition.

The emperor had thought a lot in his mind, but only for a moment before he saw the little figure kneeling below and continued, "I beg Your Majesty to grant me permission to go and provide support..."

Before Long Yuan could finish speaking, the emperor immediately interrupted, "You are the crown prince of a country and are still young. Does my great dynasty have no one else to rely on? Do we need a child like you to put on armor and lead the troops?"

"Father, it is precisely because I am the Crown Prince that I should protect the common people even more."

Your Majesty, I understand your good intentions and what you are worried about. But which ruler hasn't risen through bloodshed and turmoil?

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Dezi was so startled that he dropped his teacup with a thud.

He immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

The man on the dragon throne waved his hand and said, "Xiao Dezi, you go down first and wait outside the door."

"Yes," Xiao Dezi said, walking away incredibly fast, afraid that he might overhear something he shouldn't and be beheaded.

The emperor was still debating whether the crown prince would ascend the throne or not. Wasn't this a direct statement that he wanted to take the throne? He couldn't even think about it.

I don't know whether to say that the crown prince is young and ignorant, or too arrogant.

The emperor looked at the determined little boy kneeling on the ground and nodded with a smile.

"As expected of my son, you have the courage. You will sit in my position sooner or later, so it's good for you to get more experience."

Ultimately, the emperor agreed to let the crown prince go to the front lines to provide support.

He only requested that they set off again in seven days, since he had such a good relationship with that farm girl group, and it would be time to harvest the fresh crops after the rain-seeking ceremony.

With him, a shrewd person, mediating, the people in the Su family didn't feel so nervous.

After Longyuan left, the emperor stopped reviewing memorials and went directly to the empress's palace.

The Empress herself needs to work on this matter many times, otherwise, once her troublesome son is gone...

I'm afraid I won't even be able to enter the Empress's palace.

After returning to the palace, Long Yuan began to take stock of the palace's grain reserves and the silver earned from his own businesses.

Before leaving, all of these had to be exchanged for provisions to take with them. Provisions were extremely scarce there, and they basically had to squeeze some provisions out of the people from the mouths of the nearby states.

...

The Su family factory was now completely on track. Su Muyao no longer needed to visit the factory from time to time.

He himself was able to enjoy some peace and quiet, but his father suffered a little.

Just after dinner, everyone was about to go about their own business when Grandma Su patted the table and said, "Don't rush, I have something to say."

The whole family quickly returned to their seats.

"Everyone had been living their own lives before, but the public funds hadn't been divided yet, so while everyone's here, let's divide this family property completely."

Upon hearing this, the brothers became anxious and stood up, about to speak, when Old Man Su interrupted them.

"Sit down, all of you, and listen to your mother continue talking about how old she is."

Having no other choice, the group sat down again.

"I said before that a big tree branches out a lot and the family splits up. Now your sons in each branch are all getting old. It's already quite good if the family can support a few children to go to school."

Looking around our village, who else can afford to send all their children to school and ensure they have enough to eat, like our family? It's all thanks to the precious child of the third son's family."