Zhao's mother and the others also put on smocks and hoods, praising their young master for his brilliant idea. Otherwise, what would have happened if those disaster victims' women, with their dirty clothes and messy hair, dropped something into their steamed buns and noodles?
With Wang Wu leading the team to maintain order, a long queue quickly formed outside the porridge stall.
The aroma of rice simmering in the large pot wafted outside, making the disaster victims frequently swallow their saliva.
After turning off the fire, Xiao Youran made everyone wait for another half an hour until all the steamed buns were made and the porridge had cooled down a bit. Then she stood on a stool and began to give a speech.
"Dear fellow villagers, aunts and grandmothers, a severe drought has struck, beyond human control. My daughter is unworthy and has accomplished nothing, yet she has received the Emperor's boundless grace, being bestowed the title of Princess of Fengle County. To express my gratitude, I, the Princess, will be distributing porridge here starting today. Twice a day, morning and evening, each person may bring their empty bowl, fill it with porridge, and receive a steamed bun. If anyone is too ill to get out of bed, please inform the officers of the Five Cities Garrison and ask them for assistance. I have only one request: please say thank you when you receive the porridge."
As soon as he finished speaking, the disaster victims thanked him repeatedly, all talking at once.
The group split into two teams. Madam Yang and Mama Zhao started serving porridge to everyone, while Xiu'er and Su Yue began distributing steamed buns.
The disaster victims were clearly starving; they stuffed the steamed buns into their mouths as soon as they got them, and they didn't mind that the porridge was too hot, so they kept shoving it into their mouths.
Xiao Youran gained nearly 200 luck points in one day. Repeated thanks to the same person do not earn gratitude points, and gratitude points are not earned unless the thanks are sincere.
In the morning, she estimated there were about two or three hundred disaster victims at the scene, which means that more than a hundred people still did not express their sincere gratitude to her.
She already knew these points when she treated the villagers in Dadu Village last time, so she didn't insist.
Meanwhile, in the county magistrate's mansion, Madam Su was waiting for Xiao Youran's "someone to come to the door."
Before noon, someone delivered a note, saying they had come to visit Lady Su.
She took the card, opened it, and was startled. She quickly welcomed the person inside.
She never expected that the visitors would be the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Registrar of Households.
She didn't recognize Ye An, the Prefect of Jingzhao, but she did recognize Lu Ning, the Registrar of Households.
That was the commander of the Five Cities Garrison who had helped her and her children when they left the capital that day; he was later promoted to the position of Registrar of the Capital Prefecture.
Then she finally understood why the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture had also come.
The Sihu Canjun was an official in the Jingzhao Prefecture responsible for finance, supplies, and the resettlement of disaster victims.
It must have been yesterday that Wang Wu went to see his former superior, Lu Ning, to help her out of her urgent predicament. Lu Ning thought Xiao Youran's idea was excellent, so he asked the Prefect of the Capital to participate as well, preparing to submit a memorial directly to the Emperor.
Unfortunately, Lu Ning wasn't qualified to submit a memorial, but the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture could directly report to the Emperor.
The three had a very pleasant conversation and quickly reached an agreement.
First, the Su family came from a merchant family and didn't have many fussy rules; second, the Prefect of Jingzhao was delighted to hear that it was an opportunity to make a great contribution; and third, it could solve Lu Ning's urgent problem, so why wouldn't he agree?
...
A few days later, the letter from Su Chongwen, the head of the Su family, along with the list of Su's dowry from back then, finally reached Su's hands.
Two weeks ago, she received a letter from her elder brother. He first sent her an original dowry list, saying that he needed some time to count the items from Dingzhou before replying to her.
So she waited for her elder brother's inventory results and did not make any rash moves.
On this day, the inventory list finally arrived.
Su looked it over, a cold smile appearing on her face, before handing it to Xiao Youran.
Xiao Youran also glanced at it and sneered, "As expected, less than one in ten remained in Dingzhou."
She raised her eyebrows. "Mother, I heard that the Princess's Mansion will also start distributing porridge tomorrow. It's in the east of the city. Why don't we go and ask them to return our dowry?"
Madam Su shook her head. "That's not appropriate. Jiang Mingyi didn't marry into the family. If he wants to get his dowry back, he should go to the Jiang family."
Xiao Youran was even more excited, "That's even better! Three days later at the Jiang residence is the ninth day of the sixth lunar month, the birthday of the Marquis of Yong'an! The Jiang family, having just arrived in the capital, will surely take every opportunity to hold a grand celebration and get to know the powerful and influential. Last month, we forgot about the dowry list for the Marquis of Yong'an's wife's birthday celebration, but this time... hehe! Mother! Last time at the Princess's residence, it was my battlefield all by myself. This time, how about we go to the Jiang residence together and demand an explanation?"
Madam Su tapped her forehead and scolded her playfully, "You're just always stirring up trouble!"
"To avenge Mother, how can things not be chaotic?! We must make the Jiang family a complete mess!" Xiao Youran laughed triumphantly.
Madam Su was never a weak person. Seeing that her daughter had become strong, she felt she had to stand up for her. So she smiled, took the dowry list, and began to copy it down with the pen and ink on the table.
Three days later, the mother and daughter arrived at the gate of the newly built Jiang residence in that huge and long iconic carriage.
Just as Xiao Youran had said, the Jiang residence was brightly decorated and bustling with activity.
The steward who greeted guests at the entrance was also surnamed Jiang. He was a servant of the Yong'an Earl's mansion and a steward he was used to in Dingzhou.
Upon seeing that the Su mother and daughter had arrived uninvited, he immediately stopped them, saying, "I'm sorry, Miss, it's the Jiang family's birthday today. We didn't send an invitation to the county princess's residence, did we?"
Xiao Youran blinked and raised her voice crisply, "Oh my, this is the first time I've ever heard of needing an invitation to visit one's own grandfather on his birthday? If an invitation is absolutely necessary, then it's a dereliction of duty on your part, Steward! Isn't the Earl of Yong'an my grandfather? Knowing that I am his eldest granddaughter, how can you not give me an invitation? What kind of behavior is that?"
Butler Jiang's face immediately turned bright red. "Miss, please watch your words."
"What are you being careful about? Steward Jiang, is your kidney inflamed?" Xiao Youran giggled. "Last time, I, the county princess, said that I am the eldest daughter of the Jiang family. Steward Jiang, are you stopping me at the door to remove my name from the family register for him?"
Butler Jiang quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his head repeatedly, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."
"You know you don't dare, yet you still don't move aside!" Xiao Youran shouted.
Having no other choice, Steward Jiang had to step aside and quickly sent the old woman to the backyard to inform the old lady.
Xiao Youran took Su's hand and walked inside.
Butler Jiang had no choice but to bite the bullet and stop Madam Su again, advising, "I'm sorry, former Second Madam, you'll only feel uncomfortable going in, so why bother?"
Madam Su stared at her and said bluntly, "I'm here today to collect my dowry. If you want me to stand in front of the door and read through my dowry list, feel free to stop me."
Butler Jiang was on the verge of tears.
Last time, when Xiao Youran caused trouble at the princess's mansion, he secretly felt fortunate.
I never thought it would be my turn today.
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