Chapter 541 Disaster Relief (Update 2)

The next morning, the little prince immediately set off and rushed to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.

Along the way, Lu Zexu witnessed with his own eyes the surging river, the flooding of villages and fertile fields, and the destruction of houses.

Ragged and skinny victims could be seen everywhere on the roadside, and some were even eating their own children. It was simply purgatory on earth.

This was the first time that Lu Zexu had seen such a scene.

For the first time, he realized that the impact of the news and numbers recorded in black and white and in just a few strokes was completely different from the scene he saw with his own eyes.

When the cold description of the text turned into the scene before his eyes, the 14-year-old little prince pursed his lips tightly, and even his hands holding the reins could not help but tremble.

Lu Zexu abandoned the caravan and galloped all the way to the prefect's residence.

He never thought that this land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, such a prosperous place, would one day be filled with disaster victims.

He came here two months ago, and it was still peaceful, with singing and dancing, and the streets were full of small businesses, more prosperous than Kyoto.

Just a flood made this huge town so desolate, and the streets were full of disaster victims begging along the streets.

Even in front of the prefect's door, there were people kneeling begging.

As soon as the little prince got off the horse, the disaster victims rushed over. The guards drew their swords and blocked the prince, but they still couldn't stop the swarm of disaster victims.

"Young Master, please be kind and give us something to eat!"

"Young Master, my son is starving, please give him something to eat, please give him something to eat."

...

"Back off! Everyone, back off!"

The guards frowned, always on guard against the refugees around them, fearing that someone would rush out with evil intentions.

The little prince, who was surrounded in the middle, looked at the frail old man and child, "Give them the remaining biscuits."

This time, Lu Zexu brought a large amount of compressed biscuits, which was the most convenient for rushing on the road.

The victims had never seen this before, but now that they saw the real thing, their eyes were already green. As long as it was edible, they would eat it with their eyes closed, not to mention biscuits they had never seen before, even if it was poison.

The empty stomach and the feeling of being inconsolable were really too uncomfortable.

Lu Zexu entered the prefect's residence with anger. He only left one guard by his side, and the other three went to distribute compressed biscuits to the victims.

Maybe he had seen too many tragedies in the world along the way, but he couldn't change it in the first place. He was like a trapped beast, anxious, depressed, angry, and even guilty. Everything was weighing on his heart.

Now, he finally met the local official. He wanted to see how incompetent Qin An was to make the people under his rule so miserable! However

, when he saw Qin An, who was almost as thin as a stick, and the white linen that had not been put away in the mansion.

Lu Zexu then realized that someone had died in the mansion.

After asking, he found out that it was the mother of the prefect Qin An who had died of starvation!

At this moment, looking at the exhausted and physically and mentally exhausted prefect Qin An, the little prince couldn't even utter a word of blame.

If he was not helpless, how could his own mother have starved to death?

Not only that, the little prince actually heard the cry of a child.

The sound was not loud, but the little prince now had deep internal strength, and the cry still fell into his ears.

He turned directly and followed the cry to the yard next door.

I saw a little boy of three or four years old holding his stomach, blinking and crying, and holding the sleeve of the older boy who was a head taller than him with his other hand, "Brother, I'm hungry."

The older boy directly hugged his younger brother into his arms, "Rui Rui, be obedient, wait a little longer, I'll cook eggs for you in the evening."

"Eggs?" The little guy swallowed hard, then shook his head violently and grabbed the older boy's arm tightly.

"Rui Rui doesn't eat eggs, brother, don't go out, father said there are people outside who eat children, you can't go out casually."

The little prince clenched his fists. Is he from a Jiangnan noble family?

Very good!

He took out four pieces of milk candy from his arms and walked to the two children.

The older boy immediately protected his younger brother behind him, "Who are you? Why are you in my house?"

The little prince squatted down, held the little boy's soft fist, and put four pieces of candy in his palm, "This is candy, sweeter than maltose, eat this first if you are hungry."

The child's palm is very small, and there are dimples on the back of his hand. He can't hold four pieces of candy in one hand.

Hearing the big brother in front of him say that this is sweeter than maltose, the little guy swallowed his saliva and stared at the candy in his hand. However, he still did not open the candy wrapper and take a bite. Instead, he raised his head and looked at the little prince, "Father said, if you are diligent without any reason, it is not..."

The child was too young to remember it clearly, but his vigilance was not low at all.

The little prince smiled, and this smile was like the warm sunshine in spring, which made people unable to look away.

At this moment, the anger that Lu Zexu had been holding back in his heart had mostly dissipated. There were still too many little ones like the one in front of him who needed him to save. He really didn't have time to complain about himself. Instead of

getting angry, it's better to do something!

The slightly older boy took the four candies and gave them back to the little prince. "No merit, no reward." The

little boy was very reluctant to part with them. He simply buried his head in his brother's arms and didn't look at the four candies.

"I am here to see the prince. I am incompetent and cannot save the people from suffering." Qin An's kneeling was really solid.

When the two children heard that this was the prince, although he was not very old, they also knew what the prince meant. The elder

brother was about to take his younger brother to perform the ceremony, but the little prince stuffed four pieces of candy directly into the little boy's hands, and took out another piece, unwrapped the candy wrapper, and stuffed the candy into the little boy's mouth.

The little boy's eyes lit up, "So sweet, thank you, big brother." He

was still young, and when he saw food, he forgot that the person in front of him was the prince.

The older boy who was watching his younger brother all the time was nervous, because this was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!

He was worried that his younger brother would anger His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he knelt down quickly, "Your Highness, please forgive me, my younger brother is young and did not mean to offend Your Highness."

The little prince looked at the big boy who was as light as a feather. His height was only up to his chest, but he was very responsible and cared for his younger brother.

He patted his shoulder and said, "Get up. I don't blame him."

The little prince turned and left, and Qin An followed immediately.

In the study, Lu Zexu sat in the upper seat.

"The court allocated 1.5 million taels of silver before, why is the disaster still so serious?"

"I believe that you are all pillars of the court. The emperor must have trust in you. Otherwise, the emperor would never let you take over the position of prefect in Jiangnan, an important place! What happened?"