Chapter 77 Giving alms and accumulating blessings. Not long after, outside the Guangning Gate of the outer city of the capital...
Not long after, the soup kitchen outside Guangning Gate in the outer city of Beijing began operations. This was an official establishment, but the last time soup was distributed was several years ago, to relieve disaster victims who had fled from Shandong, Hejian, and other places. In recent years, soup kitchens had been opened very infrequently, at most setting up a cold tea stall for a month during the hottest days of summer, and only opening soup pots for three months if there was a snow disaster in winter.
But now the people at the porridge distribution center are really busy. These people are usually very leisurely, even bored to death. While having nothing to do is nice, they can't earn any extra money if they stay idle forever, and who knows, they might be laid off someday. So, when they heard that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were going to distribute porridge as a way to accumulate merit, they all sprang into action.
The sheds outside were quickly set up, and behind them, more than a dozen large pots were erected, each capable of cooking a whole pig. As soon as it was light, the stoves were lit, and amidst the thick black smoke, bright yellow sparks flew up, followed by the crackling and popping of the wood in the stove.
The portly cook and his helpers worked together to pour buckets of well water into the well, then tossed in rice, millet, and various beans. All that was left was to wait for the water to boil and the rice to cook.
Before noon, a long queue had already formed. It was late April, a time of scarcity between harvests, and everyone was anxiously awaiting the autumn harvest. Few families had surplus grain, so when they heard about the porridge distribution, those who were able-bodied rushed over.
Those who brought weapons were waiting for a hot drink, but even those who came empty-handed weren't without a reward; they could receive five liters of grain. Those who came for porridge could come every day, but those who came for grain could only do so once a month, and their names had to be recorded. Anyone who dared to fraudulently claim grain would have their pants pulled down and be flogged; if they didn't die, they were lucky; if they did, they deserved it.
Soon the pot of porridge was boiling and ready, and the servants began serving it. The deputy supervisor of the porridge distribution center walked around with a whip in his hand, keeping an eye on the workers. Every now and then, he would glare at those queuing and trying to get by, and if they disobeyed, he would lash them with the whip. Those who wanted to cause trouble would look around and see the yamen runners with knives, and they would all stop.
When Cheng Shifu arrived, this was the scene he saw. Men, women, young and old, with patched clothes, were divided into groups to receive supplies. Those receiving rice and grain told their names, and the servants wrote them down. Those receiving porridge held their bowls and slurped them down, pressing their fingerprints on the book as they did so.
Cheng Shifu thought to himself: Helping the poor is a good thing.
The deputy chief steward spotted the approaching group from afar. A mule cart was being pulled by several sacks, presumably filled with grain. Besides the driver, an older-looking man in a robe sat at the front. Quite a few people had been transporting grain here these past few days; initially, only the Crown Prince's guards and people from various grain merchants came, but later, princes and nobles also sent people to deliver supplies.
The deputy steward didn't know which master had sent him, but judging from his attire, he looked a bit like a clerk working in a prince's mansion. So he quickly walked over and asked with a smile, "Are you here to deliver grain? May I ask which master you serve?"
Cheng Shifu exclaimed "Ah!" and replied with a smile, "It's true that they've come to deliver grain, a total of about two hundred catties. However, they're not here on anyone's orders; they're from their own family, bringing their surplus grain."
The deputy steward was taken aback, thinking he had misjudged the man; it turned out this was some local gentry. He said "Oh," and called out to the back, "Tiger, get a few people from Puji Hall to come and move things here." After giving the order, he still had to go through a formality, so he asked again, "Which family are you from? I'd like to remember your name."
Cheng Shifu said, "My surname is Cheng, and I live near Chaoyangmen. By the way, I need to ask you to find someone."
Upon hearing that this person lived in the inner city and was presumably from the banner, the deputy chief steward asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Cheng Shifu: "I'm looking for Cheng Yexing, the bodyguard who served the Crown Prince. Just tell him his father has come."
Cheng Yexing and the head steward came out of Pujitang together. After walking about twenty or thirty steps to the right, they saw his father. The deputy head steward of the soup kitchen was bowing and scraping as he spoke to his father, who had even been given a stool to sit on. He strode over and asked, "Father, what brings you here?"
The head steward hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting and said, "This humble official, the head steward of the porridge kitchen, greets His Highness the Crown Prince's father-in-law."
Cheng Shifu hurriedly returned the greeting, straightened up, waved his hand and said, "No, no, sir, please get up." As he spoke, he took the box from the front of the mule cart from the driver and stuffed it directly into the steward's arms. "You've all worked hard, this is a small token of my appreciation, consider it an invitation to drink with you all."
The head steward knew immediately upon handling the contents that there was quite a lot inside, at least twenty or thirty taels. However, considering that this was the Crown Princess's father and the Crown Prince's father-in-law, he felt it was too hot to handle and repeatedly declined.
Cheng Shifu said solemnly, "Please accept it, sir. The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess want to help the people and accumulate good fortune. You are all among the people. Please do your best. If you do a good job, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess will remember your contributions."
The chief and deputy chief managers no longer declined, and with smiles on their faces, they assured each other that they would do their jobs well.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with them, Cheng Shifu prepared to return home, and Cheng Yexing escorted him all the way to the crossroads. Once he had turned his back to them, the smile on Cheng Shifu's face vanished, and he said in a deep voice, "This is a good deed that brings blessings and good fortune, so we must not let anything go wrong." The grain must be distributed to those who are entitled to it.
Cheng Yexing immediately understood his father's meaning and nodded, saying, "I know. I already gave them money three days ago." If the servants weren't fed, they'd inevitably skimp on supplies. Of course, he didn't hide anything about it, openly telling the two supervisors at the soup kitchen how much silver he'd spent on bribes and how much food and money they needed daily. As long as it wasn't excessive, he turned a blind eye. Anyway, since the Crown Prince and his younger sister wanted to do good deeds, he might as well let these servants benefit first.
Cheng Shifu was relieved and then smiled broadly: "Don't worry about doing your job. Your mother and wife are both very good. They both asked me to remind you to do your job well."
Cheng Yexing's wife, Yu Lu, was also pregnant, three months ahead of Cheng Qianyue, and expected to give birth in a few more months. With both their daughter and daughter-in-law pregnant, especially their daughter carrying twins, the Cheng family was experiencing double joy. Hearing that the Crown Prince was holding a soup kitchen to pray for their daughter and unborn grandchildren, they wanted to show their support, so they brought most of their stored grain, both to bring good fortune to their daughter and grandchildren and to help their daughter-in-law and her unborn child.
Cheng Yexing said with a smile, "It's fortunate that Father came today."
"how?"
“If it were tomorrow, I would take some people to distribute things in the villages on the outskirts of Beijing,” Cheng Yexing said. “There are quite a few counties and villages around here, and it would take at least one or two months to cover the entire area.”
Cheng Shifu, thinking something was wrong, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Then go ahead." After saying that, he got into the mule cart and slowly drove away.
Cheng Yexing spent a month and a half traveling, finally covering every village near Beijing and Hebei. He had spent all the money and belongings he had brought. Upon returning to the capital, he didn't even bother to visit his hometown. He went straight to the soup kitchen at the outer city gate, grabbed the account books for the past two months and the list of people who had received soup and rice, and rushed to the West Garden. Once there, he reported his mission in detail.
Yinreng flipped through the soup kitchen's booklet and the records of relief efforts for widowed, orphaned, and lonely villagers, then let out a long sigh of relief and unconsciously tapped on it.
Cheng Yexing sensed that the Crown Prince's expression was a bit off. Was he annoyed that Cheng Yexing hadn't handled things thoroughly enough, or was he being too slow and making his master impatient? Just as Cheng Yexing was about to reply, the Crown Prince spoke up: "Come with me to the back to see your master, Cheng."
Cheng Yexing swallowed what he wanted to say and followed Yinreng to Donglizhai without stopping.
By this time, Cheng Qianyue's belly had grown considerably, even larger than when she was pregnant with the Third Prince. She was being helped along for a walk in the courtyard. Although the weather was getting increasingly hot, she still wanted to go out for a stroll, carrying an umbrella. Then Cheng Qianyue saw who had arrived, and her mouth gaped open.
How did this charcoal-faced guy come in?! Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be her brother.
Inside the house, Cheng Yexing sat down and began to recount his experiences in the countryside in a serious and methodical manner. He wanted to be as detailed as possible, both to give Cheng Qianyue something interesting to hear and to prove that he had been doing his job diligently.
"I encountered this in Fujia Village." He said slowly, "When I arrived at the village with my men and money, I went straight to the village chief's house. After asking about the elderly, widows, and children in the village, I led my men there. On the way there, I saw a group of people surrounding a dilapidated house, and I could faintly hear a woman cursing inside."
"When I inquired, I learned that they were a mother and daughter. The husband was a barefoot doctor who died after falling while collecting herbs in the mountains. The two women were kicked out of their home by their uncle, and their land and house were all taken over. The woman had no choice but to live with her daughter in a dilapidated house in the village that was almost half collapsed, and beg for a living every day."
Cheng Qianyue listened intently, then frowned and asked, "And then?"
"And then..." Cheng Yexing continued, "Who knew that the uncle's family was scoundrels. After squandering all the family property they had acquired, they set their sights on their niece. They sneaked here while the woman was begging, intending to sell the girl. But the woman happened to be returning from outside, and that's when the trouble started."
Cheng Qianyue was so angry that she trembled and cursed incoherently, "Damn it! A bunch of bastards who eat the offspring of the dead!" If it weren't for Yinreng's presence, she would have cursed that person's ancestors for eighteen generations!
Yinreng reached out and patted Cheng Qianyue's back. "Anger is bad for your health. Slowly exhale." Then he looked at Cheng Yexing and frowned, asking, "And then?"
Seeing that Cheng Qianyue was angry, Cheng Yexing quickly replied, "Since I saw it, I certainly couldn't just sit idly by. I immediately ordered my men to beat that uncle's family and all the thugs he gathered to a pulp. Then I praised the woman for her strength and gave her twenty taels of silver and ten catties of flour. Also, seeing that the girl was timid, I felt sorry for her, and since she had an unused sandalwood comb in her hand, I gave her the comb."
Hearing about the fate of those people, Cheng Qianyue's anger subsided a little, and her chest stopped heaving so quickly.
Cheng Yexing breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Before I left, I heard that they had enshrined the comb. The villagers, knowing that it was something the Crown Princess had used, all came to kneel and worship it."
"Then I guess no one will dare to bully them anymore." She caught her breath and slowly smiled broadly. "Brother must be tired from being outside. Look at you, you're so tanned."
Cheng Yexing chuckled, “Running around everywhere, but it’s a good deed that brings good fortune, so it’s worth all the effort. When I’m out there, I make sure I’ve found out who deserves the relief before giving them money and supplies, for fear of giving it to the wrong person and ruining my master’s plans.”
Seeing that Cheng Qianyue was happy, Yinreng was also much happier. He said to Cheng Yexing in a deep voice, "You must be tired from your journey. I grant you a few days' leave to go back and rest."
After Cheng Yexing left, Yinreng had someone present the list of names to Cheng Qianyue. Cheng Qianyue opened it and saw that one book had a long list of names, and when she opened another book, it was covered with bright red finger marks.
Yinreng said, "These are the names and handprints of the people who received the grain and porridge. This is all good fortune. So many people remember your kindness, so you will surely live to be a hundred years old."
Cheng Qianyue felt much better after just a quick glance. It was more of a psychological comfort than anything at all. She nodded emphatically and smiled, "Mm!"
Yinreng forced a smile and half-embraced Cheng Qianyue on the couch for a while. Only when Cheng Qianyue couldn't see him did Yinreng reveal a hint of worry. Yesterday, Cangjin, the Prince of Duling of the Ongniud tribe of the Borjigit clan, delivered a memorial saying that Princess Heshuo Wenke, who had married into the tribe, had passed away, along with her unborn child.
When Yinreng learned of this, his heart was shaken. Only after Cheng Yexing returned to report did his unease subside somewhat. He thought that Cheng Qianyue was different from the Eighth Princess; she was strong and healthy, had given birth once, and had also done good deeds. She would surely be blessed, she definitely would!
He muttered to himself, as if saying it too much would make his dreams come true. He decided not to tell her about the princess's funeral, lest she be frightened and unable to eat or sleep properly.
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Author's Note: Today is September 30th, and tomorrow is the start of the holiday. Is everyone slacking off? Hahaha [winking emoji]
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