Several disaster victims were gossiping below, their eyes never leaving the city gate.
After a stick of incense, the officers and soldiers carried bags of food to the city gate, and the victims were suddenly excited.
"The emperor has ordered the opening of granaries to distribute food to relieve the suffering of the people."
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live the emperor!"
The victims immediately knelt down, holding the bowls in their hands excitedly.
The leading officer opened the bag and shouted.
"Line up one by one!"
The victims, who had long been suffering from hunger and cold, looked anxiously at the few bags of food.
"That's not enough to share."
Someone murmured something, and the victims reacted and rushed forward.
The officers and soldiers were surrounded in an instant, and the bags in their hands were snatched away by the victims.
The strong and healthy disaster victim scooped a large spoonful of food into his own basin, but still was not satisfied and wanted to snatch the whole bag.
The remaining elderly, weak, women and children could only follow behind to share the leftovers, crying.
"That's enough! Stop it!"
The voices of officials and civilians were quickly drowned out by the noise, and the victims simply ignored him.
As soon as Xiao Ru'an arrived, he saw such a chaotic scene and shouted at the top of his voice in panic.
"Don't rush, everyone can get one."
But the disaster victims, who were already desperate for food, didn't care about what he said and continued to pack all the food into their bags.
An old woman staggered over and tried to share some leftovers with the people, but was pushed to the ground.
Xiao Ru'an quickly supported the old woman and asked about the situation.
"It's alright, old man."
The old woman shook her head and watched in despair as the food that had just been scattered was snatched away.
“That’s enough!”
Xiao Ru'an looked annoyed and pulled the old woman forward to get some food.
The victims who were guarding the bags saw that Xiao Ru'an was thin and did not take him seriously at all.
They pushed and shoved the people around them with all their might, trying to get a bigger piece of the pie.
The officers and soldiers looked over and saw Xiao Ru'an squeezed in the middle.
"Stop, everyone stop! See the Crown Prince!"
He fell to his knees in fear and angrily scolded everyone.
Seeing the officials and civilians draw their swords, the originally bustling crowd became quiet.
The person in front of me is actually the eldest prince?
At this time, Xiao Ru'an squeezed out from the victims in a panic, and his clothes were torn by someone.
"It was my incompetence that failed to protect the Crown Prince!"
"These unruly people dared to offend the Crown Prince. I will arrest them and put them in jail now!"
After saying that, the officers drew their swords and walked towards where Xiao Ru'an had just stood.
The victims' faces turned pale and they quickly knelt down to apologize, tightly holding the food in their hands.
"That's all."
Xiao Ru'an straightened his clothes and sighed.
"They have been hungry and cold for many days. It's really pitiful. We must ensure that everyone gets some food."
The victims, who had thought they would be punished, lowered their heads in disbelief, then reacted.
"The untouchable thanks the great prince!"
With Xiao Ruyu keeping the situation under control, the victims felt a little more at ease and the line formed a very long one.
Looking at such a large number of victims, Xiao Ru'an felt very uncomfortable.
He was worrying about how to distribute the food as quickly as possible.
A timid voice brought him back to his senses.
"Thank you, big brother."
Xiao Ru'an looked down.
A little boy who looked no more than three years old, with ragged clothes, pale face and thin body, was looking at him while holding a handful of grain.
"Why don't you use a bowl to serve it?"
He couldn't bear to ask.
The little boy bit his lips tightly and answered honestly.
"I…don't have a bowl."
"Then where are your parents? Why don't they help you get it back?"
Xiao Ru'an looked behind him, but didn't find any adult following him.
The little boy cried out "wow".
"Mother starved to death...Father was beaten to death in order to earn a living for me..."
Xiao Ru'an looked at him in disbelief, his eyes turning red.
He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeves and continued to give instructions.
"Find a family to house this little kid."
After receiving the order, the officers and soldiers took the boy away.
Xiao Ruyu was watching this scene not far away and couldn't help but feel touched.
[Eleven, that kid looks about my age, so pitiful.]
Eleven also nodded.
“The world is full of suffering and things are unpredictable.”
[Big Brother has a kind heart. No matter when, the people will support such a person who cares for the people. ]
Xiao Ruyu couldn't help but sigh.
[Eleven, let's go. Let's not cause trouble for our eldest brother here.]
…
After returning to the base, Xiao Ruyu went to find Doctor Yang, but found him packing his luggage.
[Master, are you going back to Beijing? ]
She threw herself into Doctor Yang's arms and winked playfully.
Doctor Yang scratched his head lightly, a worried look on his face.
"No, the capital ordered Master to go to the lower reaches of Jiangnan to treat the plague."
Xiao Ruyu looked at him with some reluctance.
"It's only been a few days since the rainstorm here was resolved, and Master is going somewhere else again?"
Doctor Yang was also quite helpless and told her about the situation over there.
"During this period, there was a sudden plague in the lower reaches of Jiangnan due to floods. The people who got sick suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. Many people died in just these few days."
He rubbed Xiao Ruyu's head reluctantly and made a promise.
"Wait for Master to go over there and find out the cause. Once the plague is resolved, we will return to Beijing immediately."
[Master, can you let me follow you this time? ]
Xiao Ruyu rubbed his face coquettishly and tried to travel somewhere else.
As expected, Doctor Yang rejected her request outright and gave her reasons that prevented her from resisting.
"The Queen has issued an order for the other officials returning to the capital to take the little princess back with them."
Xiao Ruyu's little face drooped, but now that her mother had given the order, she had no choice but to obey.
After bidding farewell to Imperial Physician Yang, the two groups of people went their separate ways.
Eleven opened the curtain of the carriage and carried Xiao Ruyu into the carriage.
The scenery along the way is more beautiful than when we came here, and the air is filled with the scent of birdsong and flowers.
Xiao Ruyu leaned back in the carriage gloomily, with no interest in appreciating the beautiful scenery.
"Since leaving Jiangnan, the princess has been worried, but can't bear to leave Doctor Yang?"
Seeing her like this, Eleven guessed and spoke.
Xiao Ruyu shook her head gently and clenched her fingers.
[I was just thinking about those strange formations and what bigger conspiracy Dan Wandong had.]
She thought carefully about the connection, but couldn't figure it out.
Do you feel that we have overlooked something?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xiao Ruyu's mind, she seemed to have overlooked someone.
Meeting Eleven's precise gaze, the two spoke in unison.
"Prime Minister Lu!"