Fearing that revealing Jiang Anlin's slave status would bring shame upon his family, Jiang Minchang dared not let Wang Shi continue making such a fuss.
Seeing that he looked several years older all of a sudden, the clan chief's heart softened.
"I know you two are upset, but Zong-ge is your grandson, and Bai-ya and the others are your grandchildren too. Don't let this hurt Bai-ya and the others."
The clan chief calmed down and gently advised him.
"I understand, brother. Let's go back and see Zong-ge'er first."
Jiang Minchang nodded and quickly left with Wang.
After they left, the clan chief sighed and went to check on Jiang Bai and the others.
Jiang Bai raised his sleeve to wipe away the tears on his face, and pretended to be sensible, saying, "Grandpa, I know, Grandma and the others are just too sad, I won't blame them."
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
"Good boy, good boy."
Knowing that they had been wronged, the clan chief could only offer a few words of praise, but he couldn't do anything to Jiang Minchang and his wife.
After all, their grandson was injured. In a fit of anger, what's wrong with hitting their granddaughter a couple of times? Besides, they didn't even manage to hit her. What's there to say about that?
Almost everyone in the village had left, so Jiang Bai and her siblings didn't linger.
Since the last rain, the climate around Pingshan has become much more normal, and the temperature is not as high as it was a few days ago.
As you walk along the road, a cool breeze occasionally blows by.
"Why didn't the refugees kill him? They only injured his hand and throat."
Jiang Lu spoke with regret, she truly hated this cousin to the core.
"Sister, where is Mother now? Is there any way we can find her?"
Jiang Lu's mood sombered, and Jiang Songwen's bright eyes dimmed considerably as he looked at Jiang Bai with expectation.
Jiang Bai felt bitter. She wanted to find someone, but all the information she found said that Song Shi had been taken to the capital.
She couldn't even leave the territory of Nan'an County, let alone the capital. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but recall Ji Yanwen, who had said he was going to the county town to gather information.
It's almost the end of the 11 PM period, why hasn't he come back yet?
Does it really take this long to gather information? A hint of doubt crept into her mind.
In the county town, at the Zuichunlou brothel, in a private room.
Yu Shangzheng was discussing with Ji Yanwen the matter of the Third Prince Mingyu being ordered to provide disaster relief in Luzhou.
"When His Highness set off, in addition to the food and medicine needed for disaster relief, he also brought three hundred live pigs, sheep and cattle, as well as a lay Buddhist from Zhentian Pavilion who accompanied him."
Upon hearing the words "Your Highness," Ji Yanwen was momentarily dazed; he hadn't heard those two words in many years.
Thinking about what had happened in the past few years, he closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, there was no longer any emotion in them.
"Luzhou is suffering from drought. Your Highness has brought these animals and invited lay Buddhists. Is it for a sacrificial offering?"
Sacrificial offering, also known as blood sacrifice to heaven, involves taking three different kinds of animals to form a sacrificial offering. An altar is set up at the place where rain is needed, with a respected layperson as the chief officiant. After reciting the sacrificial incantation, the three animals are killed, and a large amount of blood is used to form a sacrificial image. This image is used to connect heaven and earth and is a common method of praying for rain in the Qian Yuan Kingdom.
This method is often used during droughts.
However, this method has been used in many places in recent years, but it has not been effective.
“This wasn’t His Highness’s idea.” Seeing Ji Yanwen’s brows furrowed, Yu Shang quickly spoke up.
"Then he..." He stopped mid-sentence.
"Is that whose intention?"
That one, naturally, is the most esteemed one in the Qian Yuan Kingdom.
Yu Shang nodded and said, "The Crown Prince and the Second Prince volunteered to go to Luzhou for disaster relief. You know what kind of people those two are. His Highness was already worried about the people of Luzhou and had been secretly raising funds. Seeing the two of them jumping around, he also volunteered to go to Xuchuan for disaster relief."
"Who would have thought that on the eve of his departure, someone would slander him to the Emperor, insisting that His Highness take the laymen of Zhentian Pavilion and three hundred head of livestock to Luzhou for a sacrificial ceremony."
"From the capital all the way to Xuchuan, so many living creatures must have made Your Highness suffer quite a bit."
Yu Shang's words revealed some dissatisfaction, and when he spoke of the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, there was little respect in his eyes.
"Your Highness shouldn't have come."
Thinking of Wang Shaoyang, who had arrived here early, Ji Yanwen sighed softly.
In the capital, he was relatively safe. But in Xuchuan, not to mention the bandits in the deep mountains outside Xuchuan Prefecture, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were the two who valued their lives the most. Disaster relief was something that could easily lead to a popular uprising if not handled carefully, and in serious cases, losing one's life was not impossible.
It's possible that this is a trap, a trap to lure the Third Prince away from the capital.
"We both know his temperament. When he learned that Luzhou was suffering from drought and the people were starving, how could he sit still?"
Yu Shang was also helpless. His little cousin was just too naive and kind-hearted. He was protected too much and couldn't bear to see anyone suffer.
But with that kind of identity, how could anyone not be envious?
"Send more people to protect him."
Ji Yanwen didn't know what to say. He was in dire straits himself and couldn't possibly care about the Third Prince.
"It's already been dispatched. Sigh, if only we could find that batch of items. According to our information, the whereabouts of the Black-Clad Guards might be hidden in those items."
"Then you should go and search diligently."
Ji Yanwen rolled his eyes at him, put on his mask, and got up to leave.
Meanwhile, in Xuchuan Prefecture.
A group of people on horseback, followed by a long grain transport team and hundreds of livestock being driven in the middle, slowly approached Xuchuan Prefecture City.
"Your Highness, Xu Chuan Prefecture is just ahead."
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