They set out the next day. The carriage was small and lightweight, nothing like her previous jade palanquin that was so luxurious and cumbersome.
His personal guards numbered several men, initially all on horseback. Seeing her emerge, they immediately dismounted and swept their sleeves in salute. “Greetings to Your Highness the Grand Princess.”
She said they were excused. The person standing before the carriage saw her dressed in men’s clothing, his eyes showing amazement. She wore a moon-white robe with silver thread hidden patterns, a jade belt at her waist, and a golden crown on her head. Though clearly a lady’s face, wearing men’s clothing couldn’t fool anyone. However, she did possess some heroic elegance. To match this attire, she took very large steps and frantically waved a folding fan with scraping sounds, looking less like an elegant young gentleman and more like a master placing bets in a gambling house.
He laughed. “What are you doing?”
She said it was for ease of movement, turning to address Tonghuan and Xiao You. “Look how many people there are – it’ll be fine. Wait for me at home, don’t wander around, and watch over the courtyard.”
Tonghuan curtsied to her. “Your Highness, be careful on the journey. If anything happens, just instruct Attendant Yu. Don’t get playful and wander off alone. That place is quite frightening – refugees are crammed together nose to nose, no one knows anyone. Remember?”
She said good, “I’ll remember everything.” He came to assist her, and she hopped up, diving into the carriage.
This was her first time traveling far by land route, so she was full of curiosity, lying against the window just watching outside. The road surface was uneven, sometimes hitting rubble and stones, causing heavy jolts. He kept urging her to sit properly, but she wouldn’t listen. Finally, with a thud, she hit her head and grimaced, almost ready to cry.
He hurried to look, pressing one hand to the injury while rubbing it for her, frowning. “Nanyuan is short of money – the official roads haven’t been repaired for several years. Last time it rained heavily for half a month straight, so potholes are inevitable. You must be obedient and sit properly. If sand gets in your eyes later, you’ll be the one suffering.”
She felt disheartened. “How is there no money even for road repairs? Was it all used for disaster relief? How can things continue this way? Such a large Nanyuan being hollowed out – won’t it ultimately burden the people of Jiangnan?”
He said exactly. “People keep pouring in, but we can’t just watch them die. We’re truly at our wit’s end.”
She pondered for a moment, then said determinedly, “Submit three memorials in succession asking the Cabinet to make decisions – either provide disaster relief or guide the refugees elsewhere. They must give a detailed explanation. Also, the numbers must be controlled. Deploy troops at all major routes – no more refugees can flow into Nanyuan. Even efforts to stem the tide must be within one’s capabilities. If saving this group harms that group, ultimately this matter will still fail.”
Her having such resolve truly exceeded his expectations. He thought she was kindhearted and soft, inevitably showing a woman’s excessive compassion, but didn’t expect her to be decisive when necessary. This really suited his taste. He deliberately tested her. “Unfortunately, feudal princes cannot maintain troops. To set up checkpoints ultimately requires having people at hand.”
She glanced at him. “Whether it counts as maintaining troops depends on numbers. I remember county princes cannot exceed one thousand, feudal princes cannot exceed five thousand. Gathering together all the various guards and cavalry, holding the Huaining line shouldn’t be a problem. Leave the rest to individual prefectures and counties to handle. Help when possible, but don’t force what’s impossible. Since we’re already giving our all to help, we’ve done our utmost… It’s just puzzling where so many refugees came from.”
He turned away and coughed lightly.
Where tens of thousands of refugees came from – this truly couldn’t be said. Prince Chu driving all the famine victims into Nanyuan was true, and rough statistics showed about twenty to thirty thousand. As for the extra twenty thousand that appeared from nowhere, they were naturally arranged by him. Feudal princes not maintaining troops was actually just surface formality – which prince or marquis didn’t have forces at hand? This Great Ye was gasping its last breath; upheaval was foreseeable. In the west was Prince Wusi, in the south Prince Zhen’an, and here in the name of Nanyuan but actually in the east – in terms of strength, it was probably a three-way balance of power. Undeniably, he plotted for the realm, but everyone was stirring restlessly. Prince Zhen’an was acting on his own, even moving his princely residence to Bijie Guard. The further north, the closer to the capital – what this meant, everyone understood except that muddled emperor in the capital.
However, having troops still required avoiding attention, scattering those prepared forces around the territory, especially at borders between fiefs. When the time came to act, they could be regrouped; normally the target would be much smaller. Those twenty thousand men in Huaining mixed among disaster victims during the day to rest and recuperate, only drilling at night. The deployment of troops at major routes she mentioned, he had already implemented long ago. Once entering Anqing Prefecture, there was no return, so he wasn’t afraid of spies mixing among the refugees.
He brought her along on this journey to let her see how rotten this realm was, but she was very clever – not an ordinary boudoir lady. Speaking of girls practicing calligraphy, most had elegant small script, at most only casual script. But she practiced rapid draft script – swift and urgent, every character powerful. She was a woman with wisdom, valuing not gentle breezes and winter snow but carrying the realm in her heart. He sometimes hoped she could be more foolish – the more stupid, the more blessed; the more clever, the more tormented by cleverness. Being too penetrating, seeing to the essence, the one hurt was always oneself…
He wouldn’t think about this anymore – thinking was useless. What he could do was look after her well.
At first she was lively and energetic, but after a long time she couldn’t manage it. After all, she was a delicate lady who usually walked steadily and smoothly. In the carriage, cramped in a small space and shaken until her bones felt loose, by afternoon she drowsily wanted to sleep.
She supported her head with one hand, nodding like a pecking chicken. He found it amusing and patted her shoulder. “Sleepy?”
She became alert for a moment and said no. After all, sleeping in front of him would be very rude – she felt she could persist a bit longer.
He spread his hands and patted his legs. “Lie down. Sleeping while sitting is so uncomfortable.”
Wanwan hesitated greatly. Having just become closer, sleeping on his legs wouldn’t be quite appropriate. This was precisely when she needed to pay attention to her image. Perhaps after a longer time, yawning and sneezing in front of him would all be no problem.
But he didn’t give her a choice, pulling her over. “What’s there to be polite about with me? It’s not like I haven’t seen you sleep – rolling from one end to the other. I thought then, this princess looks so dignified, but when asleep becomes like this. So no matter how ugly you are, I can bear it. Don’t worry about such small matters.”
She struggled up. “Nonsense! Where am I ugly? It’s just that when sleepiness comes, it’s hard to control! Don’t you sleep? When you’re asleep, can you still be so graceful and swaying?”
Hearing this, his face turned green. “When was I ever graceful and swaying?”
She pouted, really wanting to say you did quite the performance last night – where else would the flute come from? Where else would the tea implements come from? You even wore such beautiful clothes… As a result, she lost control of herself and this relationship was forcibly established by you.
He understood her thoughts, and after staring at each other for a long time, he suddenly couldn’t help laughing.
His laughter was clear and bright. She leaned against his chest, feeling the vibration of his chest cavity – rumbling, vivid, making her even more embarrassed.
His fingers gently caressed her cheek as he sighed. “So this is how I appear in your eyes! Well, my deep affection letting you see it isn’t shameful. My heart has always been empty with nowhere to settle. Thank you for coming last night, saving me from wandering and giving me a branch to perch on. I’ve never told you how I spent my days before – before the wedding just constantly thinking of you, after the wedding you ignored me and I began to fear. Afraid that continuing this way, we’d grow further apart and never be close again. I shamelessly pestered you, you found me disgusting, I felt awkward and hurt, unable to find peace even when handling affairs outside. Now it’s good – we’ve made an agreement. Let’s continue this way from now on. Neither of us is allowed to change our minds, alright?”
Speaking of feelings, once you love, you probably can’t take it back. She thought of her previous feelings for the factory minister – never spoken, never receiving response. Love was between two people; one-sided affection couldn’t last long and ultimately needed mutual warmth to nurture. Now married, mutual love was natural and wouldn’t produce guilt. So this was what being loved felt like – no wonder Yin Luo would unconsciously show happy smiles. She had envied her then but was helpless; now she experienced it too – very good. He said he had a branch to perch on; wasn’t she the same? Struggling bitterly in the human world, when tired having a shoulder to lean on was also fortunate.
She relaxed, lying on his lap and mumbling, “Originally wanted to sleep, but your fuss drove away all sleepiness.”
He bent down to look at her, very close, his eyes tender as rising tide. “Promise me.”
Eager binding was also due to feeling uncertain. Wanwan looked at him and slowly smiled, nodding. “I promise you.”
So this Huaining journey wasn’t like inspecting disaster conditions but rather leisurely travel and spring outings, with favorable weather and slow progress.
Though Wanwan usually appeared steady, she was ultimately playful. Halfway through she got out to fly a kite. The kite flew in the sky with the string pulled into the window, and she leaned against the carriage frame flying it. When it seemed about to fall, she’d tug it up a few times, flying it from Ningguo Prefecture all the way to Huaining.
If the journey had unique Jiangnan poetic charm, the situation after reaching Huaining was completely different. Huaining’s original population wasn’t large, but with massive refugee migration, it suddenly doubled overnight. The small county town was almost overwhelmed. Guards outside continuously brought back new reports, Wanwan’s kite string broke, and she leaned out the window to see – disaster victims everywhere.
Having grown up in the capital with its prosperity and peace, she saw none of that here. The city walls were old and worn with peeling plaster exposing gray-blue bricks. Inside the walls were refugees everywhere – adults dragging children, filling every corner. They said because the weather had warmed, casualties had decreased. Last year after a heavy snowfall, the roadsides were full of fallen bodies. Second Brother Shuquan spoke of this with a face full of worry.
“Dig through the snow with your hands and there were people buried underneath. When pulled out, the corpses were already stiff. Loaded on carts, lying crosswise – daily at least ten or eight carts, sometimes twenty or more. That tragic scene you didn’t witness – white-haired people burying black-haired ones, children chasing the carts and running, the whole city filled with crying sounds. Walking around at night was like entering the underworld – truly terrifying! Now it’s somewhat better. The weather’s warm so no need to burn charcoal, bedding is sufficient. The worry is what comes next. If plague breaks out, with so many people, deaths wouldn’t be one or two but massive numbers. I’ve already sent people everywhere to sprinkle quicklime and boil honeysuckle as drinking water to reduce internal heat somewhat. Whether it works is hard to say.”
Wanwan smelled carefully – the air always had a stench, like what she’d smelled at the Imperial Stables. She tugged at Liangshi’s sleeve. “Why is the smell so strong?”
He looked down at her helplessly. “Too many people – eating, drinking, and relieving themselves all in one place. How could it not stink? This can’t continue. I’m thinking of opening up wasteland at the mountain’s foot. It was originally used to divide the border between Xiangchu and Nanyuan, but now we can’t worry about that. So many mouths to feed – relying solely on Suzhou-Hangzhou supply also burdens Jiangnan people. I’m thinking of letting refugees feed themselves – planting millet and corn so they can have a full meal come autumn. Relying on others’ charity can’t last a lifetime. If they become self-sufficient and settle permanently in Huaining, that wouldn’t be impossible either.”
Wanwan sighed deeply. Looking around, everything was pale and gloomy. Children in piles of torn clothes were frightened, staring wide-eyed, faces covered in dust. She thought of Lan Zhou – about the same age as them, he in fine silk and brocade while they were ragged and wretched.
“Check the bags – how much dried food is left?” She turned to Yu Qixia. “Take it out and distribute it. The children are quite pitiful.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a group of children caught wind and moved like springs had been pressed – jumping up and swarming toward her. Though she sympathized with them, this overwhelming momentum was also frightening. She froze in shock, but fortunately he was there. Without a sound he shielded her behind him while the guards drew swords to stop them. But the crowd didn’t disperse – hundreds of clay pots and chipped porcelain bowls still clanged earth-shakingly.
He was extremely angry, cursing bitterly, “Truly bottomless pits that can’t be filled! The soup kitchens provide relief three times daily – how are they still like starving ghosts reborn!”
Shucun was the squad leader among the guards and hurried forward to disperse the crowd. An old woman grabbed him with trembling hands – gray defeated face, cloudy eyes, expressionlessly mumbling, “Hungry… hungry…”
Liangshi’s expression changed, and he immediately headed toward the soup kitchen. Relief points were set up in the south and north of the city. Since it wasn’t yet time for soup distribution, only a few yamen runners were busy under the sheds. Seeing a group approaching hurriedly without recognizing who they were, they shouted loudly, “Stop! What are you doing? The soup kitchen is restricted – all idlers stay away…”
No one listened to these words. The guards cleared an area, and he went forward to inspect. The firewood in the stove had long been extinguished, and the soup ladled from the pot into large wooden buckets was thin water without a grain of rice visible. Thunder and lightning gathered between his brows as he sternly asked where the supervisor was. A man with a crooked official hat came running over, looked up, and quickly bowed deeply. “This humble official greets Your Highness. Not knowing of Your Highness’s personal visit and failing to welcome you properly, please forgive this humble official.”
He didn’t answer but casually picked up chopsticks and inserted them into the bucket. “I’ve repeatedly commanded – chopsticks float, heads fall. What’s the situation now?” He released his hand, and the bamboo chopsticks immediately tilted and bobbed on the water surface. He smiled coldly. “Where did the ten thousand shi of grain from Suzhou-Hangzhou go? In just half a month, was it all consumed?”
The minor official fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly. “Your Highness, please see clearly! This humble official only manages this soup kitchen. Whatever rice and grain arrives, this humble official cooks that many bowls of soup. Because recent deliveries have been increasingly scarce, this humble official is like a clever wife unable to cook without rice. With so many people waiting eagerly, I could only add more water so everyone could have something hot. As for other matters, this humble official knows nothing. If Your Highness wants to blame this humble official, it’s truly a great injustice.”
Shuquan kicked him over. “Usually you all act so proper, but when trouble comes, you all become turtles pulling in your heads! His Lordship was only away for a month and things here became chaotic. Speak! Who manages the granary – is it your County Magistrate Sha or Prefect Sun?”
The official was kicked to the ground but didn’t dare delay, hurriedly kneeling again and speaking tearfully, “The county magistrate said this matter is significant and he would handle everything personally. Sir, don’t be angry – taking it out on me is useless. Better summon County Magistrate Sha for questioning. He handled everything personally – asking him will definitely be correct.”
Seeing this, Shucun came forward to report, “Master, don’t worry. This servant will go to the county yamen immediately to arrest him. Have Dachun and others escort you back to the post station to rest first. This long journey has tired not only you but surely exhausted Her Highness as well. With so many refugees and various troubles, there will inevitably be unpleasant matters. Please remain calm – we’ll handle things one by one. With us servants here, rest and recover your energy first. Interrogation can wait.”
This was indeed beyond his expectations. Because his troops were mixed among the refugees, Huaining’s provisions should absolutely be sufficient. Now that grain had vanished into thin air, even his soldiers were going hungry along with them. Obviously someone was embezzling for personal gain, taking him for a fool.
He restrained himself. Normally a several-hundred-li gallop wouldn’t matter, but now with Wanwan present, she hadn’t experienced this and stood bewildered beside Yu Qixia, confused by everything before her.
Very well, let things settle first and deal with her before continuing. He nodded. “Divide forces into two groups – one to arrest Sha Wansheng first. This is Nanyuan territory, and dealing with subordinate officials is within authority, whether county magistrate or prefect! The other group seals the granary. Arrange tonight’s meal first, then interrogate that bastard at dawn tomorrow.”
Shucun received orders and left. He turned back and took a breath, giving her a bleak smile. “You see – even in great disasters, people make such profits. Today’s human hearts are all rotten.”
Having lived deep in the palace with a life of luxury, how could she understand the world’s dark chaos outside? She just looked at him, his face full of dejection. “I never imagined the people of Great Ye lived such lives.”
However, the unexpected was yet to come. That night they didn’t interrogate County Magistrate Sha but instead waited for his wife. Magistrate Sha’s wife came to the post station and without a word dove straight into Yuwen Liangshi’s bedchamber.