Chapter 3407 Dilemma and Difficulty
Nan Yan was sitting in the side hall, feeling a sudden palpitation in her heart. She couldn't help but stand up and walked to the door to look outside. Ruo Shui saw her like this and immediately said, "Your Majesty, are you worried about Her Highness the Princess? Then I'll go over and take a look."
"she--"
Nan Yan was about to say something when she heard footsteps outside.
Immediately afterwards, Xinping rushed to the door in a hurry.
"Mother!"
Nan Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her return. She quickly squatted down to see if anything was wrong with her daughter. She noticed Xin Ping's eyes and nose were red, and her face was clearly tear-stained. She was even sobbing as she looked at her. She immediately frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Xinping said with tears in her eyes, "Mother, someone is hungry!"
"What?"
Nan Yan was stunned for a moment.
Then, another group of people trotted to the door of the side hall. Looking up, they saw the young eunuch Delu and the great monk Shikong who had just led people out to look for Princess Xinping. The young monk Mingxin also came with a fat and greasy monk. When they saw Xinping and the imperial concubine, they were all a little panicked and knelt down to kowtow.
"My Lady."
Nan Yan frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
Shi Kong and the others were still a little hesitant, but De Lu didn't dare to neglect them. He quickly knelt on the ground and told Nan Yan everything he had just seen. Nan Yan's face gradually darkened as she listened. She turned to look at Shi Kong and said, "Are there starving people here?"
Monk Shikong could only kneel on the ground and said honestly: "To answer the Imperial Concubine, yes."
Nan Yan asked again, "You hid them in the temple?"
Monk Shikong said, "Yes."
Nan Yan asked, "Where did these starving people come from? Why are they hiding in the temple?"
Seeing this situation, Shikong did not dare to hide anything and had to tell the whole story. This year, the Huaihe River flooded and several counties suffered from the disaster. The people there could not survive and had to flee everywhere. Some people came to Jinling City.
In previous years, the government would naturally allocate grain to provide relief to the victims, but strangely, this year, the government did not take out a single grain of grain. Not only did it not provide relief to the victims, but after the news that the emperor was going to tour Nanjing came out, the government even sent people to expel the victims from the city.
Some of the victims were driven out, and no one knew whether they were dead or alive. Some knew that they would starve to death if they left the city, so they simply hid in various places in the city. As long as they had something to eat, they could survive.
The monks of Da Ci'en Temple were compassionate and took in some of them.
However, Monk Shikong also knew that the emperor would most likely come to Da Ci'en Temple to pay homage when he came to Jinling City this time, so he calculated the time to lock these people up in the alley outside the second gate, not allowing them to speak, and only having the kitchen steam a steamed bun for each of them every day, and only let them out after the emperor left.
Unexpectedly, Her Royal Highness the Princess discovered the existence of these people.
Hearing these words, Nan Yan's face darkened, and her anger rose. She paced back and forth for a few steps, really not knowing what to do. She turned around and walked to the door, pointed at Shi Kong and shouted angrily: "How dare you!"
Xinping didn't expect that even her mother was angry, and she was so scared that she opened her eyes wide like a frightened little rabbit.
At this time, the young monk Mingxin knelt on the ground, took two steps towards Nanyan, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, this is all my fault. I was the one who took the princess to see the starving people. My master only felt sorry for them and was afraid that the government would expel them again. These people really have no way to survive. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty. I am willing to bear any responsibility."
Nan Yan said, "You're taking it all on yourself? How capable are you? What can you possibly take on?"
“…”
"I thought you were a knowledgeable person, but I didn't expect you to be so ignorant!"
Mingxin was so scared that he kowtowed repeatedly.
Although angry, this wasn't the time to be angry. Besides, Mingxin had been the princess's savior, so any further vengeance couldn't be pinned on him. Nan Yan was truly overwhelmed. You have to know that while Zhu Feng was magnanimous, as long as he was an emperor, there was a limit to his magnanimity. Every emperor had his own pet peeve, and their common pet peeve was starving people and famine.
How to deal with hungry people and how to control famine have always been very sensitive issues in all dynasties. It doesn't matter what the lower-level officials do, but letting them rush before the emperor would be a slap in the face of the emperor.
Today, Zhu Feng made a special trip to Da Ci'en Temple to offer sacrifices to Emperor Gao and Empress Renxiao, and more importantly, to his biological mother.
At a time like this, something like this happened—
If he really gets furious, everyone here will probably be in trouble!
She took a deep breath to calm herself down, looked outside again, and asked, "Where are those people?"
Monk Shikong said, "They are still outside the second gate. I dare not let them wander around."
Nan Yan said: "Close the door and watch your mouths!"
Shi Kong said: "Yes."
Nan Yan went out again. Fortunately, Zhu Feng's companions were waiting outside the Chong'en Pagoda. There were only a few guards and eunuchs and palace maids outside this side hall. Nan Yan said with a sullen face, "No matter what just happened, if any of you dare to gossip in front of the emperor, I will cut off his tongue, chop it up and feed it to the dogs!"
Several people immediately knelt down and said, "Yes."
Nan Yan waved to Shi Kong and the others again and said, "Go back and do what you should do."
With the imperial concubine as a guarantor, Shi Kong and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left the side hall. Monk Na Buji also left.
Nan Yan knew in her heart that this matter couldn't be concealed. With all the chaos going on here just now, Chong En Tower must have heard about it. Once word got out, Zhu Feng would definitely ask about it. But at least, she could save face at this moment.
Then, she squatted down again, looked at Xinping, who was tearful, and said, "No matter what you just saw, you are not allowed to say anything nonsense in front of your father."
Xin Ping asked timidly, "Why?"
Nan Yan said, "Because if your father gets angry, everyone here will be beheaded!"
Xinping flinched in fear.
She thought for a moment, then said to Nan Yan, "Mother, why are there still so many people starving in this world? Is it because Father hasn't done a good job?"
Nan Yan's face suddenly turned pale.
But she didn't get angry. She just thought for a long time, then looked into her daughter's eyes wearily and said, "Sometimes, it's not necessarily that your father did something wrong, but rather—"
"And what?"
"But your father is also difficult."
"Isn't Father the Emperor? How could it be difficult for him?"
Nan Yan said, "Everyone has their own dilemmas, but your father, the emperor, governs millions of people under heaven, so he has his own difficulties."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com