Chapter 3411: Is there no food in Jinling City?
“Then he recited the mantra: Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.”
Another section of the Heart Sutra has been recited.
Mingxin put his hands together and chanted the Buddha's name softly. His small, still a little childish face gradually became solemn and dignified. Obviously, for him, there was no difference between chanting the Heart Sutra to a little princess in the harem and chanting it in the Buddhist temple.
However, there was another person beside him, Xinping, who was nodding his head and about to fall asleep.
But at this moment, Concubine Yi, who was sitting on a chair beside the bed, suddenly opened her eyes wide and said, "Yongping?"
Xinping woke up all of a sudden, but she was still a little dazed, with her eyes wide open, not knowing what was going on. Mingxin and Concubine Yi walked to the bed together, and saw that Princess Yongping, who had been in a coma, slowly opened her eyes.
Concubine Yi laughed happily and said, "My son, you finally woke up!"
She couldn't wait to rush over and hug her daughter. Yongping had been running a fever for almost the whole day and hadn't eaten anything. When she was held in her mother's arms, her whole body felt soft and she had no strength.
Xinping happily jumped onto the bed, touched Yongping's face and said, "Sister, are you still in pain?"
Princess Yongping shook her head at her.
At this time, she seemed to have come back to her senses. The faint blush on her little face caused by the low fever had subsided a lot, and her eyes were bright, and she saw Mingxin at once.
Suddenly she grinned at him.
Mingxin said: "Amitabha."
At this time, the people outside also heard the noise and came in one after another. Monk Mingxin stepped aside, and the palace maids and eunuchs below immediately called the imperial physician. After a check, they found that Yongping's fever had actually subsided, and he was fully awake and even felt hungry. Concubine Yi was overjoyed and immediately asked someone to send some light meals over.
During this process, Yongping kept looking at Mingxin with his eyes wide open and grinning at him.
Concubine Yi also came back to her senses, turned to look at Mingxin, and said, "You, are not bad."
Although she was grateful, she was a concubine after all, so it was impossible for her to express her gratitude to a young monk like this. Mingxin still clasped her hands together and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. Since the young prince is fine, I will take my leave first."
Hearing him say this, Xinping turned around to look at the sky outside the window and stuck out her tongue.
"It's so late."
Concubine Yi finally calmed down and said, "It's so late, you should go back. If you are any later, the Imperial Concubine will be worried. Come, send Princess Xinping back to Yikun Palace."
Xinping touched Yongping's face again and said gently, "Be good, sister, and have a good rest. I'll come to see you tomorrow."
Yongping nodded obediently.
After saying this, Xinping slid off the bed and left with Mingxin.
When they reached the door, Yongping suddenly shouted again: "Brother!"
Mingxin looked back at her, clasped his hands together, and chanted a Buddhist mantra, then turned and walked away. Concubine Yi patted her daughter gently and said, "Don't shout. Your brothers are all in the capital. One is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the other is His Royal Highness the Prince of Han. How can there be other brothers?"
As he said this, he tapped her little nose.
"If your father heard it, he would scold you."
Yongping opened his eyes wide, said "Oh", and nodded obediently.
In Yikun Palace, Nan Yan hadn't noticed how late it was. Xin Ping and Monk Ming Xin hadn't returned from Jianfu Palace yet. She simply frowned, her face solemn. After a long silence, she turned to Zhu Feng and said, "Did the starving people outside the city rob the imperial court of its grain?"
Zhu Feng's gloomy face revealed a murderous intent that had not been seen for a long time.
After a while, he said "hmm" in a deep voice.
Because of this heavy sound, the entire Yiku Palace seemed to be shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. The people in the imperial kitchen were about to deliver something, but at this time they were also very careful. Under Ruoshui's command, they arranged the dishes and retreated one by one, holding their breath.
After finishing, Ruoshui looked over here again.
Nan Yan just waved at her, and Ruoshui didn't say much. She bowed and left Yiku Palace.
There were only two of them left in the huge palace.
Nan Yan looked at Zhu Feng cautiously, feeling somewhat uneasy. While starving people stealing food was rare, it wasn't uncommon. When starving, people are capable of anything. There was no point getting angry about such a thing. At most, she could send troops outside the city to recover the food, apprehend the troublemakers, and punish them accordingly.
However, judging from Zhu Feng's expression today, it seemed that this matter was not that simple.
If it were that simple, he wouldn't have brought Chen Xuan and the others to the imperial study to discuss it for most of the day.
What puzzled Nan Yan the most was why, when the famine victims entered the city, Jinling hadn't provided even a grain of food to the victims? If they had no food, then what about the food that was looted by the famine victims?
But seeing Zhu Feng's gloomy face, Nan Yan didn't dare to ask any more questions. She just said softly, "Your Majesty, you should eat something first. It won't be too late to think about things after you eat."
Zhu Feng frowned, and after a long while, he sighed deeply.
He walked to the table with Nan Yan. Nan Yan filled a bowl of porridge and handed it to him with both hands. Zhu Feng took it, but just held it in his hands for a long time without taking a bite.
Nan Yan also knew that he must have a lot of things on his mind right now, so it would be better to help him sort them out.
So he whispered, "Your Majesty, why didn't Jinling provide a single grain of food to help the victims this time? Is Chen Xuan really that bold?"
Zhu Feng glanced at her.
After a long silence, he said stiffly, "A good cook cannot cook without rice."
"How can you cook without rice?"
Nan Yan frowned, as if she understood something: "There's no food left in Jinling City?"
Zhu Feng didn't say anything.
But this is obviously a default.
Nan Yan gasped inwardly—there was no food left in Jinling City? How could this be possible?
Jinling is the southern capital of the Great Yan Dynasty, a land of fish and rice, and the richest place in the entire south. How could there be no food?
Hearing her say this, Zhu Feng gave a wry smile and said, "Think about it again."
“…”
Nan Yan frowned and thought for a moment before slowly coming to her senses. She recalled how she and Zhu Feng had been counting the court's expenses on their fingers, figuring out how to prepare for the Crown Prince's wedding a few years ago. At the time, the treasury was already stretched thin. Besides the large sums spent on the diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, Ye Zheng's voyages were also entirely covered by the court. Most importantly, after Zhu Chengjin's rebellion, Jinling City was practically destroyed.
After that, the city was rebuilt, and the people were appeased, taxes were reduced, etc.
So, when you calculate it this way...
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