◇ Chapter 68 (68) Tsundere Baby, Saves People and Establishes Authority
"You haven't answered me yet." Lianzhi pushed him, "Where have you been?"
Bai Kang hesitated. He didn't answer immediately, and Lianzhi knew what was going on—he must be going to deal with the rumors. Sure enough, after Bai Kang finished explaining, he added, "King Mu was afraid of the bad influence, so he asked me to take some people to deal with it."
When Emperor Jianguang ascended the throne, rumors of his illegitimate rise to power were already circulating among the people. Despite attempts to suppress them, the rumors persisted. Coupled with the frequent natural disasters, many people began to cherish Chen Fenglian's memory. When Bo Kang led his men to investigate, he heard someone claim that nothing had happened the year Chen Fenglian ascended the throne.
There was no mention of words like stupidity or incompetence.
Lianzhi sneered inwardly after hearing his words. Over the past three years, Chen Fengke had fabricated countless unbearable rumors about him. Now, the tide had turned, and it was time for someone else to be discussed.
Seeing Bai Kang's anxious face, as if she was afraid that he would be angry, Lianzhi rolled her eyes and wiped the corners of her eyes with her veil pitifully, and deliberately asked: "You are so loyal. If one day Chen Fengke asked you to kill me, I am afraid you would do it without mercy..."
"Baby, how could you think of me like that!" Bo Kang didn't realize he was pretending to cry, and was so anxious, "You are my favorite. How could I possibly do that to you?"
"So, do you listen to me or your Majesty?" Lianzhi grabbed Bai Kang's hand and shook it. Bai Kang's heart softened, but he hadn't completely lost his mind. He lowered his voice and said, "I'll listen to you! What I say to others doesn't count. Only what I hear from you is true. You are my Majesty!"
Lianzhi curled her lips. Bai Kang knew he was doing it on purpose, so he held his face and rubbed it: "You lied to me again, little liar."
In order to save food, Lianzhi ate very little for two days. When Bai Kang held him, he could hear his stomach growling, and his soft belly was sunken.
Including the planned time, their journey would take nearly half a month, so they had to conserve their rations. In the worst-case scenario, they would have to collect food from the people along the way. But even if they left Qizhou and reached a city free from famine, Bo Kang was unwilling to do so—the people were already struggling to make ends meet.
Furthermore, if people knew it was their convoy escorting the prince to the capital that was collecting grain, Helian Zhulan's reputation would likely be tarnished. Many already hated him because of his status as a Beihai Territory resident. Bai Kang rubbed Lianzhi's belly. The person in his arms groaned sleepily, clearly feeling uncomfortably sleepy, yet Bai Kang was pinching her ears and playing with them. He muttered impatiently, "Stop making noise..."
He opened his eyes slightly, but was stunned. Bai Kang stared at him quietly with a very strange look.
So strange.
Does Bai Kang usually...look at him like this?
Lianzhi was puzzled, but she felt that Bai Kang would never harm her, so she couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, Lianzhi was awakened from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes, and Bai Kang hurriedly told him not to go out, so as not to let the victims see him and cause another quarrel.
He hummed twice and continued to sleep.
"My Lord, we are running out of food."
Along the official road, Bai Kang and Prince Mu sat under a makeshift shed. The commander of the personal guards placed several empty cloth bags on the table with a solemn expression. They held only a few hard steamed buns. "The grain used to clear the road these past few days has doubled our estimated cost. Excluding the surplus food we've reserved for the two princes and princesses... I'm afraid we can only hold out for a day."
One day, if they speed up the process, they can leave here, but they still need some distance to enter Qizhou City. King Mu looked at Bai Kang and raised his chin: "Bai Kang, what did the people you sent say?"
"We only bought a little. Now even the shops are out of food, and people keep their doors shut when they see us." Bai Kang smiled bitterly. He was afraid that they would really have to forcibly collect food in the surrounding area.
The Qizhou prefect did not dare to disagree, but what would it mean to let the nearby people's granaries be empty and watch the marriage team escorted by these officials eat their fill and enter the capital in glory?
Bai Kang couldn't do it.
"Your Highness." An idea flashed through Bo Kang's mind. He looked at King Mu and pleaded, "If you could immediately send someone back to Rongcheng to requisition food..."
King Mu pondered for a moment and shook his head: "With the current rations, we can't even get back to Rongcheng."
This approach also didn't work. King Mu thought about it again and made a final decision: "Buy grain from nearby at ten times the price. Make sure the troops in the North Sea have enough rations. The money will come from my private treasury. Most importantly, how are the rumors in the area being handled?"
"We've already taken care of it," the commander of the personal guards said. King Mu waved his hand irritably, leaving only him and Bo Kang in the tent. Bo Kang hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said, "The people's rumors aren't groundless."
"What did Prince Zhulan say to you? Bo Kang, don't take sides." King Mu finished, then recalled the unbearable rumors he'd heard over the past two days, becoming even more irritated. He disapproved of Emperor Jianguang's regicide. Although they were both members of the imperial clan, he believed it was best for them to adhere to the code of loyalty and be dutiful subjects.
Your Majesty, doing unjust things is not a long-term solution.
The ground outside was slippery. Lianzhi, wearing her boots, slipped out of the inn. Dirty water mixed with mud and ash clung to the eaves. Lianzhi was glad she had put on Bokang's outer robe before going out, otherwise her clothes would have been dirty.
His clothes are very expensive and beautiful. Bo Kang usually dresses casually and ordinary, so he probably doesn't care about these things.
The sky was gloomy, and there was no telling if it would rain again. He slipped stealthily under the eaves of a building and reached a makeshift gathering place for disaster victims near the official road. He pulled out a small cloth bag filled with dry food. Seeing him bring out the food, the eyes of the disaster victims, who had been leaning weakly against the trees, lit up.
When everyone was thinking that the boy in front of them looked delicate and weak, it would be better to go and grab the food, Lianzhi broke the steamed buns and taro apart and distributed them to others: "Eat, eat all."
A few victims who had been about to grab the food quickly grabbed it and wolfed it down. Others were reluctant to take it, repeatedly asking him to keep it for himself.
Hearing this, Lianzhi finally showed a sincere smile on her face: "You guys eat, it's okay."
After saying this, he stuffed half a steamed bun into the hands of a nearby woman. As soon as she grasped it, the half bun was snatched away. A thin, pale-faced man, though not small in stature, grabbed it and stuffed it into his own mouth, confident that he looked weak and could not fight the disaster victim.
Before he could take the second bite, he was knocked unconscious by Lianzhi's punch and kicked several meters away.
Unexpectedly, despite his small stature, he possessed such impressive skills. Suddenly, no one dared to think anything bad, and they all waited patiently for him to distribute the food. For the past two days, Lianzhi had been observing the refugees wandering around the posthouse. There were more of them than he had imagined. After distributing the rations, he was about to speak when a small hand grabbed a corner of his hand.
"Brother." The person holding him was a child, whose age was indistinguishable. He asked eagerly, "Brother, can you save my mother?"
Lianzhi looked down.
The woman lying on the ground had several wounds on her arms and cheeks. Her skinny body was an abnormal red, as if the wounds were festering and infected. Lianzhi was quite resourceful. She fished out several medicinal herbs from the North Sea Territory from her sleeve, thinking they might be useful.
But he forgot that he didn't know medicine.
"Hmm... How do I use this?"
Seeing that he didn't move, the light in the child's eyes dimmed. Helian Zhulan was thinking of a solution in her mind when she patted his shoulder from behind.
Lianzhi was startled and looked back. It was actually Princess Mu in disguise. She wondered how he found her and whether she had followed him all the way.
While on guard, Princess Mu smiled.
"Are those North Sea herbs in your hand?" Princess Mu smiled shyly. "I can save her. Prince Zhulan, can you help me grind the herbs?"
Lianzhi did as she was told. Princess Mu mixed the ground medicinal powders one by one and applied them to the woman's wound. After a while, the woman's complexion gradually returned to normal. Seeing Helian Zhulan's surprised face, Princess Mu smiled and said, "I know a little bit of medical skills."
"When did you come?" Lianzhi asked.
"The inn is too stuffy, so I came out to take a look," he replied.
Lianzhi didn't think it was true, so she didn't expose it. As long as Princess Mu didn't tell anyone, it would be fine. After all, he remembered how to mix those medicines, so he could sneak out later.
"Now that the caravan is short of food, why is Prince still helping the people of Daning?" Princess Mu asked quietly, curious. Lianzhi replied casually, "I'm here to see what's wrong. What? You think I shouldn't waste food on the victims?"
Princess Mu shook her head. "Compassion is the root of benevolence. Your Highness's ability to treat other nations as if they were his own demonstrates his righteousness."
"I don't understand." Lianzhi felt that after being with Bai Kang for so long, he had learned to talk nonsense. But he was still happy to hear someone praising him. While thinking about how to get Princess Mu away, Princess Mu said, "Prince Zhulan, I have a favor to ask of you. There are some injured victims nearby. Your medicine is very effective. Could you please come with me to help?"
Between the plan of saving others and his own life, Lianzhi temporarily chose the former. He followed Princess Mu and looked at her profile.
"Brother Princess." He Lianzhi suddenly leaned closer, her tone soft and intimate, "You are amazing, you actually know medicine."
Princess Mu showed a look of surprise. The next sentence, Lianzhi asked, "Do you want to be the queen?"
Princess Mu was startled and said with a wry smile, "Prince, you don't know. Being a princess is already restrictive enough. Please don't mention this again."
Lianzhi looked at his expression carefully and said nothing more.
They walked a long way, but there was no sign of the disaster victims. Lianzhi had thought the road was long enough, but instead, he saw more and more militiamen nearby. He thought to himself, "Oh no!" and the next moment, he saw Bai Kang.
He turned around and tried to run, but he was still a step behind Bo Kang. Bo Kang picked him up and walked over to the side: "Baby, didn't you say you can't run around?"
Sure enough, they had deliberately lured him here! Seeing that he was stiff-necked and silent, Bo Kang sighed, "You don't even have enough food for yourself, and you're still giving it to others. What if they attack you again? You're alone!"
"I know my limits."
Bai Kang was truly anxious, his voice rising considerably. Lianzhi, fearing he'd worry and thinking no one was around, admitted, "I have something important to tell you."
"What's the matter? Being kind-hearted?" Bai Kang raised his eyebrows.
"No! I told them to spread rumors! Anyway, just ignore it. Rumors are endless," Lianzhi said. But looking at his expression, Bokang felt that spreading rumors was just an excuse. He just wanted to help the victims. What a hypocrite.
Lianzhi was indeed trying to take advantage of the situation and spread rumors. Even if he didn't have to win people's hearts, the victims would still be talking about it. He was just adding fuel to the fire.
Moreover, those disaster victims are also his people, and it is his duty to help his people.
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