Smoke curls up from the riverside, and the rich aroma of porridge wafts in the air.
The people lying by the river who were taking turns to rest could not help swallowing their saliva when they smelled the fragrance.
Looking again, there were three big pots in front of Bai Zhirou and others.
Ming Cui couldn't help but worry as she looked at the porridge bubbling in the boiling water.
In just a short while, a quarter of the rice had been consumed, but this was only the first day.
No one knows when the flood will recede, and they don’t know how much more rice they need to buy.
Bai Zhirou also had the same idea. She thought she should have another talk with that group of wealthy gentry.
"Excuse me, how much is a bowl of this porridge?" A strange voice interrupted Bai Zhirou's thoughts.
She looked up and saw a man covered in mud and with messy hair. There was a desire for white porridge in his eyes.
"It's free, just drink it. But each meal and each porridge is hard-earned, so don't waste it." Bai Zhirou said. Ming Cui had already prepared a bowl of porridge.
When the man heard that it was free, he was excited and took the white porridge from Mingcui's hand.
He ignored the scalding heat, blew on it a few times and then couldn't wait to drink it.
The thick porridge flowed into his mouth all at once, scalding him and making him scream.
Ming Cui couldn't help laughing out loud. The man shrank his head in embarrassment and walked away with the bowl.
He told everyone the good news, and everyone lined up to get some porridge.
Those who had just landed also rushed here, including Prince Xia Qixuan who was surrounded by the crowd.
"My cousin the Crown Prince, I think you shouldn't have gone into the water just now. If you catch a cold, the Emperor and the Empress will blame me." As soon as Chen Zhao and his companions came up, the people on the shore had prepared clean clothes for them, and they only needed to change in the tent.
The third prince also agreed with Shen Zhao's statement.
The crown prince is the heir to the throne and cannot make any mistakes.
Xia Qixuan coughed lightly a few times, suppressing his cough before speaking, "Don't say anymore. I know what's going on. If you sit high up in the court for too long, you won't understand the suffering of the people."
"This trip has made me see through the superficial prosperity."
Before coming here, he grew up in a magnificent palace and lived a life of luxury.
Those poems about ordinary people who were starving and poorly clothed only exist on the pages of books; they are just characters.
People cannot imagine what they have not seen.
Now that he had seen this with his own eyes, Xia Qixuan felt infinite sadness in his heart, and he wanted to do his best to help these people.
The county magistrate followed behind him with a clatter of footsteps. He came out without even putting on his shoes, and he didn't care about being impolite at this moment because there were more important things to do.
"There is a porridge stall over there, you can order a bowl of porridge." Someone said, holding a bowl of thick porridge.
The prince smiled slightly and walked over with his men.
Bai Zhirou and Ming Cui were feeding people porridge, while Qiu Tong and Ma Da were maintaining order among the crowd.
When everyone saw the Crown Prince approaching, they all stepped aside to make way for him. The county magistrate smiled servilely and turned to Bai Zhirou, saying, "Why don't you quickly serve a bowl of porridge to His Royal Highness? You're such a clueless person!"
He had barely finished speaking when he was kicked out. He wailed and turned around to find that the person who kicked him was Shen Zhao, so he immediately fell silent.
But he didn't understand what he did wrong. He just urged them to hurry up.
"You don't know this, right? Do you know who this beautiful and charming woman standing in front of you, who looks like a fairy, is?" Liang Ziwen squatted down in front of him and asked.
The county magistrate's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously looked at Bai Zhirou, who was smiling, and shook his head like a rattle.
He couldn't afford to offend any of the big shots in front of him, so he thought that he could at least yell at this little girl.
Unexpectedly, instead of being a lackey, he was kicked. The county magistrate had no place to vent his anguish.
"This is our famous Princess Mingzhu! You'd be blind if you couldn't recognize her!" Cao Lei patted his face and said with a smile.
The county magistrate was so angry after being scolded that he turned around with the help of the yamen runners and kowtowed to Bai Zhirou seriously.
"I have been blind and ignorant, and my outrageous words have offended Princess Mingzhu. I hope Princess Mingzhu will be magnanimous and forgive me this time!" The county magistrate kowtowed, and soon his forehead was bleeding.
Bai Zhirou saw that it was almost time, so she let him get up. She asked Qiu Tong to serve the porridge and then she came out.
She bowed properly to Crown Prince Xia Qixuan and personally served the porridge to him.
"This porridge is very fragrant. Mingzhu is really a woman with ideas." The prince praised her without hesitation.
Several people gave up their seats to the yamen runners and migrant workers who were queuing, eating porridge and looking at the rushing river.
I don’t know when the water level will drop, and how to accommodate the homeless people.
These are the questions that the prince thought about.
They are building a dam today, and the effect is not very obvious, but they still have to continue.
"Floods surge, destroying houses and turning people who have nowhere to go into exile."
"If this continues, there will definitely be chaos. It would be better to build a temporary shack for them to live in."
"First, it can stabilize the people's hearts. Second, it won't affect other cities. Third, it can control some potential patients."
Bai Zhirou seemed to know what he was thinking and expressed her thoughts one by one.
There will be epidemics after disasters. If we don’t take precautions in advance, many people may die.
The county magistrate felt that her methods were not only a waste of money and time, but also a bit of an overreaction.
When the sun comes out, the water level will naturally drop.
Now that the water level has dropped, won’t it be possible to build houses?
As for epidemics, he thought it was impossible.
The county magistrate also expressed his own ideas, but no one agreed with his point of view. Instead, they all agreed with Bai Zhirou's.
The county magistrate did not dare to get angry and just smiled and complimented him.
Bai Zhirou didn't care whether he really thought so or not, she just chatted with the prince and others.
It soon became dark.
It's time to go back.
As soon as the group turned around, they heard someone shouting something anxiously, but the distance was too far to hear clearly.
The prince walked forward worriedly, and the third prince Shen Zhao and others naturally followed.
"Your Highness, part of the dam has been washed away, and the water is even more ferocious!" a bailiff reported in panic.
When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned. Xia Qixuan was the first to take off his outer robe and walked towards the dam.
The county magistrate screamed in fear and followed in a panic.
This dam has been in trouble frequently since he took office.
It is repaired every year but it gets worse every year.
This year is even worse, and the prince has also been invited here.
If something happens to the prince in the area under his jurisdiction, he would lose his head!
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