Chapter 126 Granny Yuan, please save me!
Yuan Hongqu's worries were not unfounded.
She had only thought about it for a moment, and by evening, a northwest wind suddenly began to blow from the ground.
However, it started snowing again during the mealtime, but fortunately it wasn't heavy.
The Lin family servants who were helping with disaster relief in Xicheng managed to return just before the snow started.
Hearing the commotion, Yuan Hongqu called someone over to ask.
The old woman who delivered the message at the second gate had already found out the details and was preparing to come back at dawn to give a reply.
When Yuan Hongqu asked, she immediately replied,
“Granny Yuan, our family’s disaster relief team has returned. We heard that Prince Xian received orders and led a thousand soldiers to forcibly cut off the road to the West City. The teams that spontaneously went to provide disaster relief were all persuaded to return. The West City is currently under military control until the reconstruction of the West City is completed.”
"Alright, I got it. Are any of the people from our family who went there injured? Are any of them cold?"
"A few people slipped and fell on the snow, but it wasn't a big problem. Only one person broke his arm while trying to save a child from the west side of the city."
"Has our family's doctor examined him? Has the bone been set?"
"Dr. Wu has already set the bone. Fearing that there might be another problem at night, he has asked the young apprentice to keep watch over him."
"That's exactly right. If that doesn't work, take the master's invitation tomorrow and ask a royal physician to take a look at him."
"Granny Yuan, how could we possibly be worthy to invite the imperial physician to examine us?" The gatekeeper was moved, but she also knew that if she really invited the imperial physician, he might risk his life to serve the Lin family, which would be the least of her worries.
"There's no question of being worthy or unworthy. Regardless of what others think, in my opinion, he has brought honor to the Lin family, and it's only right that the Lin family treats his illness. Besides, doctors may categorize people into different classes, but money doesn't have such distinctions in their eyes."
"You can go down now. Let them rest for a while. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."
The old woman bowed and respectfully withdrew. Yuan Hongqu's words quickly spread among the Lin family's servants.
Yuan Hongqu once again became the first to stick her neck out, for no other reason than that it was her idea for the Prince Xian to lead his troops to the western city.
Simply because the Jia family is unreliable.
Grandmother Jia and Jia Zheng thought that since Yuan Hongqu had given them this reminder, they could take this opportunity to turn things around. However, they did not expect that there were too many parasites in their own family and that their incompetent teammates were dragging them down too badly.
Jia Zheng himself was afraid that in the end, he would not only fail to gain any credit for his disaster relief mission, but would also be executed by the emperor.
He hesitated and wavered, still not daring to take large-scale disaster relief measures in Xicheng, and only dared to do small things like distributing porridge and clothes.
If he continues like this, it will take forever to fix the disaster in Xicheng!
In the capital, besides a few people from the Rongguo Mansion, the only person Yuan Hongqu was somewhat familiar with was Prince Xian.
She decided to write a letter to Prince Xian, reminding him that this disaster relief method was too slow.
Prince Xian didn't take it seriously at first. This was the usual way of disaster relief; the common people would just have to endure it.
Besides, snow? It's been snowing for so many days, how could it possibly snow again?
To everyone's surprise, it started snowing again in the evening. Although the snow was light, the temperature dropped sharply. If this continues, I estimate that many people in Xicheng will freeze to death tonight.
The king immediately went to the palace to explain the situation.
The Emperor initially did not pay much attention to the snow disaster in the western city, but after rescue teams entered the western city in the past two days, it was roughly estimated that nearly 70% of the 10,000 households in the western city had collapsed, and the known death toll was over a thousand.
The Emperor was now alarmed. Given the current situation, an edict of self-reproach was inevitable. If the situation in the western city continued to deteriorate, the Retired Emperor might even use it as an opportunity to cause trouble.
He immediately ordered the Prince Xian to take a thousand soldiers to the western city for disaster relief.
As for whether King Xian would do anything else with these thousand soldiers, he believed King Xian would not.
The people of Xicheng are mostly ordinary citizens, and many of them are poor. They are the ones most affected.
However, there was one place in the West End where the blizzard had no effect whatsoever.
This place usually receives many offerings from the people of the western city, but when heavy snow comes, it closes its gates immediately, remaining steadfast despite the raging winds and snow outside.
This is the ancestral temple of the Prince of Beijing's residence.
The temple gates remained closed for as many days as the snow fell.
One hundred soldiers cleared the way, five hundred soldiers entered the western city to rescue people, and another two hundred soldiers set up tents on the spot to protect the disaster victims in the western city from the strong winds and heavy snow.
The other two hundred people followed King Xian to the family temple. King Xian knocked on the door, but no one inside the temple responded.
The king simply ordered the gate to be broken down so that the disaster victims could go inside to escape the cold.
The Prince Xian's actions will inevitably be criticized in the end, but as long as people in the western city continue to die, not to mention the family temple of the Prince of Beijing, even the royal family temple will have to be vacated for the disaster victims to take shelter from the cold.
After all, this is under the emperor's nose, and there are too many people watching. Even the emperor, who is above all others, cannot do whatever he wants.
Prince Xian's disaster relief efforts were far more efficient than the Jia family's half-hearted attempts at deception.
Yuan Hongqu felt that with Prince Xian taking over the matter and the disaster victims in the western city being properly resettled, she could finally give Daiyu an explanation.
She was finally able to relax a little. She had just talked with Daiyu for a while when she heard intermittent exclamations coming from outside.
Yuan Hongqu frowned, thinking, "My servants would never exclaim in surprise outside Daiyu's warm pavilion. What could have happened?"
She comforted Daiyu and quickly walked out.
"Second Miss, how can you be in such cold weather?"
But Yingchun was only wearing a cotton coat, without a cloak or hood. She was thin and had red eyes. She was standing pitifully in the main hall of Jiaoyun Garden.
Upon seeing Yuan Hongqu, she cried out as if seeing a long-lost relative, her lips trembling.
"Granny Yuan, please save me."
Yuan Hongqu saw that among the people following her were Ping'er and Zhou Rui's wife, as well as Yingchun's maid named Siqi.
"Second Miss, no rush, let her warm up first before we talk slowly." Yuan Hongqu called over a maid, "Take Yingchun to freshen up and bring her a few new clothes to change into."
"My second sister and I are the same height. Go get the new cotton-padded coat I made for her to change into. She must be freezing after all this wind and snow. Go change your clothes first, and then have some hot ginger tea, otherwise you'll catch a cold tomorrow." Daiyu came out when she heard the voice.
Because they had left in a hurry, none of them wore thick woolen coats. They rode in a horse-drawn carriage through the wind and snow, and felt the cold seeping into their bones the whole way.
The heated walls and geothermal system in Jiaoyun Garden were burning brightly, making it as warm as springtime.
The sudden change from hot to cold made them feel itchy all over. It wasn't until the maid brought them ginger tea that they felt a surge of warmth after drinking it, and they immediately felt comfortable all over.
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