“My sister has always lived a life of luxury and knows nothing of hardship, but she is kind-hearted and can see who is truly suffering and who is pretending to be suffering.”
“If my sister, the rightful Crown Princess, cannot ascend this small altar today and has to share it with others, then the truly poor people are not worthy of using it. My Yue Kingdom will have to pay for its reconstruction and make it bigger.”
Yue Jiang originally intended to rely on the Yue Kingdom's envoy to put pressure on the Jing Kingdom, but when she saw that it was Yue Lang who came, she realized that he had been deceiving her for a long time and would only laugh at her. He was already being kind by not exposing her shortcomings and would definitely not help her.
I was wrong.
She pretended to be modest: "Brother, please don't be rude."
Yue Lang laughed nonchalantly, raised an eyebrow and glared at Yue Jiang, then said nothing more.
The orphans didn't know Yue Lang's identity at first, but after hearing him call Yue Jiang "sister" repeatedly, and seeing that his clothing was the kind of extravagant and ostentatious style that Jing Kingdom didn't like, and that Yue Jiang even called him "brother," they guessed that he was an envoy from Yue Kingdom who had come recently.
Seeing that the situation was unfavorable to them, Li Dagen was about to say something when Jing Yan gave him a cold look, which startled him.
Then she saw Jing Yan take Yue Jiang's hand and lead her step by step forward, through the path surrounded by orphans.
Even if the orphans dare to stop it for a while, it's only by pleading their grievances and shedding tears in advance, using retreat as a strategy to gain an opportunity.
They didn't believe that Jing Yanli, who had treated them well all these years, would deliberately embarrass them on such a occasion. Little did they know that they had overestimated their own status.
Jing Yan pulled Yue Jiang forward slowly, his clear and gentle voice gradually spreading through the crowd.
"As the Crown Prince of Jing, I naturally have a responsibility to ensure your safety and a sense of compassion. Jing does not belong to me alone, nor to any of you."
"Only when millions of people are devoted to the Jing Kingdom and identify with their own identity as subjects can the Jing Kingdom be called a country."
"May I ask, in all these years, where has the treatment of orphans in Jingguo been lacking? We are forced to pay taxes, yet we have no access to medical care. When every household's grain jars are overflowing, have we not received the porridge offered as alms?"
He pointed to the offerings on the altar, and the group of orphans lined up at the front of the altar, and suddenly questioned them in a cold voice.
"What we are giving you today is not from the imperial court, nor from the farmers. Did it fall from the sky, or do you think it did?"
Jing Yan paused for a moment, then stared at all the orphans within his sight.
There was no gratitude in their eyes, no emphasis on today's festival, and no concern for the people who had sacrificed their lives in their families.
They only care about interests, and are nothing more than puppets manipulated by others.
Jing Yan said meaningfully, "Or do you think someone conjured it up for you on their own?"
The orphans, having been subtly implied in this way, including some who had direct contact with the Cheng family, such as Li Dagen, couldn't help but glance a few times at the Empress Dowager Cheng's carriage.
The windows of the imperial carriage, which were previously open, are now tightly shut.
It gives the impression that the people inside view the outside world in the same way they do from the tightly closed window.
They shut the door and ignored it.
Jingyan had led Yuejiang to the high platform. Because the sacrificial festival had to be solemn and serious, Yuejiang and Jingyan were both dressed in auspicious dark-colored robes with dark patterns.
The two stood hand in hand, a gentle spring breeze caressing them, causing their clothes to flutter and intertwine, creating a unique and awe-inspiring sense of sacredness.
"Those who wish to participate can offer a stick of incense as a token of their appreciation, while those who do not wish to participate may leave on the spot."
Jing Yan's voice was cold but not menacing, like a gentle breeze that brushed against one's face, leaving a trace but not a strong one.
The farmers came specifically for Yue Jiang and Jing Yan. Their future Crown Princess was showing them such consideration so early on, and the Crown Prince also acknowledged their efforts.
This is even more exciting than watching over the wheat in the fields year after year, knowing that this year will be an unprecedented bumper harvest.
Everyone went to the table where incense was served, and each person took three sticks of incense and held them reverently in their hands.
The orphans were scattered, submerged, and torn apart by the large number of people. Gradually, without the orphans noticing, they fell behind and became marginal figures in the current scene.
Jing Yan and Yue Jiang were already worshipping on the altar, and the two were carrying out the most important step of the day.
Li Dagen panicked. Was the Cheng family truly beyond help and could no longer protect them?
Inside the carriage, Empress Dowager Cheng and Cheng Suyun secretly glanced at the scene on the stage again. Jing Yanyue and Jiang were flawless, everything was in perfect order, and the people below were devoutly offering incense.
The orphans they had cultivated for years were no match for the vast crowd. Cheng Suyun stared wide-eyed, searching and searching, but she couldn't find a single orphan who dared to rush onto the stage and pull Yue Jiang down.
She herself didn't even show her face, and nobody remembers her anymore.
"Empress Dowager, Princess!"
"Smack!"
When Li Dagen saw that the Empress Dowager Cheng's carriage window was open, he still hoped to get some help from her. However, just as he rushed over, the carriage window was slammed shut with a loud bang.
Cheng Suyun felt wronged and wanted to cry: "Grandmother, how could this happen? Even the orphans are no longer of any use."
"Go down and take some incense to pray with the orphans below," Empress Dowager Cheng commanded expressionlessly, controlling her trembling hands and feet.
Cheng Suyun's aggrieved expression froze, her eyes filled with resentment and disbelief as she stared at him and asked.
“Grandmother, you want me to go down? If I go down, wouldn’t that be admitting defeat? I don’t want to lose to Yue Jiang. I want to be His Highness’s concubine.”
"Shut up," Empress Dowager Cheng glared at her sternly, trying to calm her down, her face showing displeasure.
She hadn't anticipated this obvious fact: the people of Jing Kingdom had far more popular support than the orphans.
Taken together, they are enough to compare the orphans whom Empress Dowager Cheng painstakingly won over to grains of sand.
"Go down. This is not the time to act rashly. The future of the orphan is probably not very promising. Our Cheng family still needs to stay in the palace."
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