Upon hearing the word “hungry,” the man immediately said nothing more and followed the woman to chase after the rabbit that was running farther and farther away. For them right now, the most fearsome thing was nothing other than “hunger.”
Seeing the two chase desperately, Jixiang shook her head, “It’s just for a rabbit – is it really worth all this?”
Yunyi said softly, “What they’re fighting for isn’t a rabbit, but the hope to survive.”
While they were talking, the rabbit had run farther and farther, and just as it was about to run out of the alley, a person holding his stomach emerged from around the corner. The rabbit collided right into his feet and fell backward onto the ground.
The man was stunned at first, then showed great joy, immediately grabbing the rabbit by its ears and lifting it up, “I was just worrying about having to eat those sour and bitter fruits again tonight, and here comes a fat rabbit. Heaven truly has eyes! Good! Good!”
The man from before immediately pointed at him, “Wang Erniu, this is our rabbit – give it back immediately!”
The person called Wang Erniu quickly hid the rabbit behind his back, raising his chin, “Mao Liu, you say the rabbit is yours – what evidence do you have?”
Mao Liu said, “Everyone in this alley knows our family keeps a rabbit. Are you trying to rob us by saying this?”
Wang Erniu lifted his chin, “So what if I really did rob it? Who told you to let this rabbit run out? Now that it’s in my hands, it’s mine. What, are you going to chop me down?”
Mao Liu’s hand holding the knife trembled continuously as he gritted his teeth, “Give me the rabbit immediately, or I’ll fight you to the death!”
Wang Erniu ignored him and instead called out loudly. Soon someone came to answer from nearby – a man who looked quite similar to him. The latter said, “Did you find something to eat?”
Wang Erniu waved the rabbit in his hand, “Big brother, I found a fat rabbit, but the Mao Liu couple insist it’s theirs and say they’ll fight me to the death!”
Hearing this, the man returned to the house, then came out with a hoe, walked to Wang Erniu’s side, and stared at the Mao Liu couple, “If you’re smart, you’ll leave immediately, or don’t blame me for being impolite!”
Mao Liu trembled all over with anger, saying hatefully, “You two bandits, I… I’ll fight you to the death!” With that, he actually charged forward with the cleaver. But how could one person match two men? He was quickly beaten and injured. Seeing her husband at a disadvantage, the woman picked up stones from the ground and rushed up to help. For a moment, the four fought in a tangle.
The little girl who had just stopped crying under Yunyi’s comfort saw this scene and began crying again, her small body shaking from weeping like autumn leaves in the wind.
Seeing the several people fighting until they were bloodied, Yunyi finally couldn’t bear it and shouted, “Someone come! Separate them!”
Mao Liu and the others were fighting with red eyes and didn’t hear Yunyi’s words, but soon they couldn’t continue fighting because several people rushed out from somewhere and forcibly separated them.
These people were naturally the guards secretly protecting Yunyi. After controlling the situation, Yunyi stepped forward, “I saw very clearly – that rabbit indeed belongs to their family.”
Wang Erniu said defiantly, “I don’t care whose it is – once it’s in my hands, it’s mine!” As soon as he finished speaking, his arm that was being twisted experienced severe pain, and he involuntarily loosened his grip on the rabbit’s ears, causing it to fall to the ground. Taking advantage of the rabbit’s dazed state, Yunyi picked it up and handed it to the continuously crying little girl, then took a money pouch from Jixiang, pulled out a small string of five-zhu coins and handed it to her, “This money should be enough to buy some grain. Keep it safe!”
Wang Erniu and the others saw that string of five-zhu coins and immediately widened their eyes. Though the people’s lives were difficult now, it wasn’t that there was no rice or flour in the market – it was just that prices were extremely high, and ordinary people simply couldn’t afford it. That’s why they could only endure hunger and satisfy themselves with tree leaves and wild fruits. Now seeing money, how could they not be envious? Unfortunately, they were being held tightly, or they would have rushed up to snatch that money pouch.
Amid the little girl’s grateful thanks, Yunyi left that alley. When she reached a certain place, Yunyi stopped. Through a broken window, she saw several people gathered around a stove cooking. Each of those people was thin as a skeleton, even more wretched than Wang Erniu and the others they’d encountered before. What was cooking in the clay pot wasn’t anything else but the tree bark and leaves the teahouse keeper had mentioned.
Ruyi also saw this scene and shook her head repeatedly, “I never thought there would really be people filling their stomachs with tree bark and leaves. How pitiful.”
Jixiang said, “I heard the court has many granaries, and those granaries are full of grain. Why won’t the court open the granaries to distribute grain at this time? Do they really want to starve them all to death?”
Ruyi sighed, “Without His Majesty’s permission, who would dare open the granaries to distribute grain? Do they not want to live?”
“His Majesty…” Jixiang bit her lip, saying incomprehensibly, “These people are all His Majesty’s subjects. How can he have no compassion? If all the people starve to death, then who will pay taxes and provide grain?”
Ruyi smiled bitterly, “It’s better not to think about such things, or it will only add to our troubles.” With that, she said to Yunyi, “Princess, we’ve been out for a long time. We should return to the palace.”
Yunyi nodded and returned to the palace with them. After entering the palace gates, Ruyi saw that Yunyi was walking in the wrong direction and reminded her, “Princess, Feixiang Hall is this way.”
Yunyi ignored her and walked forward silently. Ruyi and the other had no choice but to follow closely. When they saw the three characters “Chengxiang Hall,” they finally understood Yunyi’s purpose.
Before even stepping into Chengxiang Hall, they could hear the sound of strings and women’s laughter from inside. The palace servants guarding outside the hall saw Yunyi approaching and came up to greet her quietly, “This servant pays respects to Princess, may Princess have peace!”
Yunyi said expressionlessly, “Is Father Emperor inside?”
“His Majesty is currently enjoying dance performances with Consort Chen inside the hall.” Seeing Yunyi about to enter, he quickly blocked her, “Princess, please wait.”
“I have urgent matters and must see Father Emperor immediately.” Facing Yunyi’s words, the palace servant didn’t step aside but said, “His Majesty has decreed that no one is to disturb him. Please come again tomorrow, Princess!”
Ruyi said from the side, “Princess, since it’s not convenient now, let’s come again tomorrow.” She had followed Yunyi for many years and could somewhat guess Yunyi’s intentions, but… even if the Princess saw His Majesty, His Majesty would never listen to the Princess’s counsel.
Yunyi ignored her and only said, “If Father Emperor blames anyone, I will bear full responsibility. Step aside.”
“Please forgive this servant, but…” Before the palace servant could finish, Yunyi had already gone around him toward the hall entrance. The palace servant wanted to stop her again, but it was too late.