Lu Yan knelt all night. As soon as the sun came out in the morning, his entire back was scorched. His body swayed in the yard and he almost fainted. Only then did he get the prince's permission to get up.
After receiving a slap, Aunt Jia returned to her room in a rage and did not sleep all night. She kept staring at the yard. When she saw Lu Yan get up, she ran downstairs like a flash, put clothes on him, and welcomed him into the house with warm regards. She then shouted outside for someone to bring some water, saying, "Wash yourself and rest a bit first."
Lu Yan knelt all night but couldn't rest: "Set the table, I still have work to do after dinner."
"Yes." Jiayue wrung out the handkerchief and wiped Lu Yan's face first.
Aunt Jia was thinking about asking Lu Yan to take a shower. He had been sweating all night, and the sweat on his back must have soaked into the wound, which must have been very painful.
The first thing now is to clean the wound and then apply medicine.
Who knew that when she called out, no one answered. Concubine Jia hurried out to look for someone, but she didn't see the official from the post station. She grabbed a passing servant and asked, "Where are the people in this inn?"
The servant looked at Aunt Jia and said with a smile, "You and I are both human beings."
Aunt Jia frowned and said, "I'm asking about the guy guarding the post station. Where is he?"
The servant said, "Since His Royal Highness is staying here, he will naturally need someone else to serve him. Let them all go home. Madam, if you have anything to do, you will have to do it yourself."
Along the way, Aunt Jia basically did everything herself, so she was used to it. She asked, "Where is the kitchen?"
"Over there." The servant pointed a way, thought for a moment, and turned around to find someone to report the news.
Aunt Jia entered the kitchen and saw a pot of water boiling. She took a bucket and scooped some water out. When she got up and turned around, she saw Tao Yao standing at the door.
She said unhappily, "Get out of the way!"
Tao Yao glanced at the bucket and asked, "Why are you drawing so much water?"
Seeing that she was just a maid, Aunt Jia didn't take her seriously. "Of course it's for the Marquis to bathe. Why are you, a servant, asking so many questions? Get out of the way!"
Tao Yao refused to give in: "There's a water shortage in the entire Shenyang area right now, and you're actually trying to get water to bathe?"
"Why can't he bathe yet?" Concubine Jia said confidently, "The Marquis has been kneeling in the yard all night, and he's exhausted from the long journey, and he can't even wash? The Crown Prince has punished him, and now he's letting the Marquis get up, but he never said he couldn't let him bathe."
Tao Yao said coldly: "Auntie, don't you understand what I'm saying? There's a shortage of water everywhere now. Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only uses it to wipe his face. Is your Marquis more noble than the Crown Prince?"
Aunt Jia bumped into her with a bucket of water in her hand, "Where's the water shortage? Aren't there two big vats of water over there? Go get more when you run out!"
Tao Yao leaned slightly to the side, grabbed her shoulders, and lifted the bucket with one hand. After putting it down, she slapped her in the face and said, "Don't you know how important water is to the people of Shenyang City? If you don't know, I'll take you to see it!"
"How dare you hit me!" Aunt Jia covered her face and glared at Tao Yao. A maid actually dared to hit her!
Taoyao is not willing to waste her saliva, saliva is precious!
Tao Yao pulled Aunt Jia straight to the nearest well. She had followed the young lady all the way here to provide disaster relief, and had witnessed the hardships faced by the victims and the power of the drought.
She used to think that floods and earthquakes were the most terrifying, but she didn't expect that droughts were equally terrifying. Floods and earthquakes destroyed people's hope in an instant.
Droughts are pushing people into despair little by little.
The young lady and the prince worked tirelessly, unable to sleep at night, to ensure that the disaster victims could have drinking water as soon as possible and that the people could plant crops as soon as possible, so that they would not suffer hunger and starvation in the autumn. They wished that they could make rain immediately.
This concubine Jia is so good, she actually still wants to take a bath!
Tao Yao dragged her to the nearest well to the post station, stopped someone, and held Concubine Jia's head to look into the bucket. "Look! The common people are drinking this muddy, turbid water! If you want clean water, you can only go to Qingquan Mountain, more than ten miles away! You still want to bathe in the water? You think you're so noble? The Crown Prince traveled all the way to Shenyang, and the first thing he did was to resolve the disaster. He didn't even want to bathe. How could your Lordship want to bathe?!"
Tao Yao's words moved the people. Yesterday, they heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had come to provide disaster relief. They didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would share the joys and sorrows with them!
The common people immediately spitted at the beautifully dressed woman: "Where did this official's family come from? Bringing their wives with them for disaster relief is fine, but they're even thinking about bathing? Don't you even know where we are?"
"The bully who monopolizes the water supply will be beheaded at Caishikou later! We should really let her see it!"
Aunt Jia was stunned when she saw the half bucket of muddy water. Then she listened to the people's condemnation and shrank back, not daring to say a word. She was afraid that she would be beaten to death on the spot.
Tao Yao would not give Pingyang Hou any face at all. She lectured Concubine Jia in public. She was even beating her up in the title of Crown Prince and was not afraid of Lu Yan's accountability at all.
Finally, Tao Yao said, "If you know what's good for you, stay in the inn and don't go out. Serve Marquis Pingyang well. If we find out you're causing trouble again, even the Marquis Pingyang won't be able to protect you!"
Aunt Jia was dissatisfied and glared at Tao Yao.
Tao Yao grabbed her collar and sneered, "You don't accept it, do you? Our young master followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to help with disaster relief. What are you doing here?"
Aunt Jia now realized that Qin Wan was a woman disguised as a man and was an official accompanying the disaster relief efforts.
It was against the rules for His Royal Highness to bring a woman with him on a disaster relief mission. How could he dare to bring her without His Majesty's permission?
Even if she reported this matter to the Fourth Prince, he probably wouldn't speak on her side and would just tell her to mind her own business.
Aunt Jia gritted her teeth and had to endure it, saying humbly, "I understand. Please don't be angry."
Tao Yao snorted softly, pulled her up, and brought her to Lu Yan, saying, "Please, my Lord, keep an eye on your concubine. There's no one here to serve you, and there's no extra water for you to bathe in."
After Tao Yao finished speaking, she turned and left without giving Lu Yan a chance to speak.
Lu Yan looked at Aunt Jia with a sullen face: "What's going on?"
How could Concubine Jia not complain? She immediately exaggerated the story, covering her face and crying, "No matter what, I am yours. She, an outsider, hit me in the face. Isn't that a slap in your face? What's more, she couldn't bear to let me use water, so I gave her silver. And she hit me, and even spread rumors and slandered the Marquis in public! This is too much!"
Lu Yan looked at the slap mark on Aunt Jia's face with a sullen face. He didn't know if it was because he had knelt all night last night that the moisture in his head evaporated, but at this moment he was surprisingly calm.
Seeing that he was silent, Aunt Jia became even more excited: "She still has the nerve to say that the Marquis brought a concubine out. Miss Qin is an unmarried girl..."
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