Sun Shi buried her face in Qin Huaiyuan’s embrace, her tears soaking his entire front: “That day Qi Tai came back saying you wanted to see Yi Jie’er about something, asking Yi Jie’er to go to the foot of the mountain that evening so he could take her to see you. I thought that after Qi Tai had followed you for so many years, there was absolutely no way he could harbor ulterior motives, so I let Yi Jie’er go.”
“Who knew that not only has she disappeared, but our people who went out searching also discovered Qi Tai’s corpse—he was killed by a knife thrust to his neck. Only then did I realize Yi Jie’er might have been kidnapped. Such a good daughter, and it’s all because I, as her mother, am useless—letting her suffer every day, and in the end couldn’t even keep watch over her!”
Qin Huaiyuan held Sun Shi, who was so thin she was just skin and bones, saying heartbrokenly: “Don’t be anxious, don’t cry. Yi Jie’er is fine.”
“Really? You’re not deceiving me?” Sun Shi lifted her face to look at Qin Huaiyuan.
“Of course. She’s my only daughter—her safety is so important, how could I deceive you about such a matter?” Qin Huaiyuan used his sleeve to wipe her face, comforting her: “Come, let’s go inside first. I’ll tell you slowly.”
Sun Shi had always known Qin Huaiyuan’s character. If he said Qin Yining was fine, then she should indeed be fine.
Only then did she realize she had actually thrown herself into Qin Huaiyuan’s embrace and cried in full view of everyone. Her face instantly burned red, and she quickly stepped back several paces.
Qin Huaiyuan, completely unconcerned, took Sun Shi’s hand and walked ahead, greeting the various people who came out to welcome them along the way.
Cao Yuqing lowered her eyes and followed behind the two as they went upstairs.
Hearing that Qin Huaiyuan had returned, the Old Madam was overjoyed beyond measure, supporting herself on Nanny Qin’s hand as she came out to greet him.
“My Meng Ge’er, you’ve finally returned!”
Qin Huaiyuan smiled as he stepped forward to bow: “Your son pays respects to Mother.”
“Get up quickly, get up quickly—I’ve missed you to death!” The Old Madam grasped Qin Huaiyuan’s arm to examine him, then said heartbrokenly: “You’ve gotten darker and thinner.”
Qin Huaiyuan smiled, then greeted the Second Master, Third Master, and other family members nearby.
After everyone had exchanged pleasantries, Sun Shi finally couldn’t contain her anxiety: “My lord, where exactly is Yi Jie’er?”
Only with her question did the Old Madam remember about Qin Yining’s disappearance.
Qin Huaiyuan then went inside with the family and repeated what the Emperor had told him.
Regarding the details, even what he surmised, since it concerned the dignity of the imperial court and wasn’t suitable for discussion, he finally only said: “…His Majesty has already decided to surrender to Great Zhou. These coming days will be busy.”
Sounds of exhaling came from within the room.
Although everyone felt the sorrow of a fallen nation, they were all ultimately relieved.
Qin Han said: “Great Uncle, since His Majesty has agreed to surrender, will the Great Zhou people outside the capital withdraw?”
“They will.”
“Will they massacre the city?” The Second Madam was very worried.
Qin Huaiyuan shook his head and smiled: “The Emperor of Zhou is extremely shrewd and skilled at winning hearts. I think at this time, not only will he not slaughter the people in the city, he’ll quickly transport grain here as well.”
Everyone understood. Even the Grand Emperor of Great Yan didn’t care about his people’s lives or deaths, hiding away the silver meant for buying grain. If the Emperor of Great Zhou could let the common people eat their fill, such a stark contrast would be enough to give the capital’s people a good impression of the Zhou Emperor.
As for talk of a fallen nation, these starving commoners didn’t care about that—they only cared whether they themselves could survive.
Not to mention ordinary people—even the Qin family members felt excitement rising in their hearts.
Only the Old Madam’s expression didn’t look good.
Just days ago, she had eaten the little rabbit that Prince Zhongshun had given to Qin Yining, and had even severely mocked Qin Yining!
Who could have imagined that His Majesty would directly send Qin Yining to Prince Zhongshun’s side?
If Great Yan surrendered to Great Zhou, Qin Yining might very well become Prince Zhongshun’s concubine in the future, or even better, become a secondary consort! She would leap to become a noble lady of Great Zhou!
But what about them? They were family members of surrendered officials, with their lives and deaths in others’ hands—a single word could determine their futures…
“So Yi Jie’er is still very much favored by Prince Zhongshun?” The Old Madam’s voice was somewhat hoarse.
Han’s Second Madam also turned her moist gaze toward Qin Huaiyuan, clearly thinking along the same lines as the Old Madam.
She now regretted her past actions deeply—she really shouldn’t have urged the Old Madam to eat Qin Yining’s pet out of momentary gluttony. That little rabbit, just as Qin Yining had said, didn’t have two ounces of meat on its entire body—not enough to fill a tooth gap.
At the time, she had thought she should eat whatever she could and had secretly cursed Qin Yining for being pretentious—about to starve to death yet still unwilling to eat that little rabbit.
Who could have known that rabbit was a love token from Prince Zhongshun to Qin Yining, and that Qin Yining was going to become a princess?
Han’s Second Madam regretted it so much her intestines turned green!
Seeing his old mother and nephew’s wife both wearing such expressions, Qin Huaiyuan guessed that something he didn’t know about must have happened. Without revealing his thoughts, he said: “Mm. Prince Zhongshun is very fond of Yi Jie’er. I imagine that barring any accidents, she will become a princess.”
The Old Madam laughed dryly twice: “That’s very good, very good. It’s still our Yi Jie’er who has ability. In the future, we’ll inevitably have to rely on her.”
Han’s Second Madam also nodded with a smile, but that smile looked stiff no matter how you looked at it. Even Qin Han, who was supporting her, noticed something amiss, though he ultimately didn’t ask about it on the spot.
Qin Huaiyuan peacefully stayed on the mountain for two days.
During these two days, the Huben Army guarding the city gates indeed withdrew, the gates opened wide, and people were again allowed to enter and exit as before.
The barely surviving refugees stumbled out, seeking a way to live.
Many people had already starved to the point of having no strength left, crawling and rolling their way out.
Just then, not far from the city gates, Huben Army soldiers called out loudly: “His Sacred Majesty of Great Zhou takes pity on the disaster victims! By imperial decree, there will be two meals daily, with porridge stations set up at the inner and outer city gates as well as various places throughout the city. Everyone can come eat porridge!”
As that person’s words fell, people came driving carts, unloading large pots, rice, grain, firewood, and other supplies, then starting fires to cook porridge.
The fragrance of rice immediately spread far and wide!
The disaster victims with vacant stares, smelling the aroma of grain, could no longer endure! They all surged toward the porridge stations.
Among them were many who had already lost their strength from hunger. After being knocked down by the crowd, they could never get up again.
But under such hunger, who could care about so much? Being able to save their own lives was already good enough—where would they find the energy to care about what was underfoot?
Thus, no one heard a hoarse voice beneath their feet, breathing out more than breathing in, scolding: “All of you get away, move your stinking feet—I… will kill you all, you dare commit regicide…”
No one heard his voice, but countless feet trampled over his back, leaving several more footprints on his dirty clothes that were so filthy their original color couldn’t be seen.
He wanted to wail from the pain but couldn’t make a sound. When he opened his mouth, he only spat out blood. He wanted to crawl up but had no strength, and his vision gradually became blurred. Only one signal remained in his mind—pain, the pain of broken bones and torn tendons.
The porridge station was not far away. He stretched out his filthy arm but ultimately never got to taste even a mouthful of thin porridge.
No one could have imagined that Emperor Qinglong, who had brought disaster to Great Yan for thirty-five years, would end up trampled to death by the disaster victims he most despised.