As dusk settled over Jinli Town, Yuijin and his group returned to their temporary base. More tents had been erected, and earthen stoves had been built. With the entire town in ruins, they could no longer make do with makeshift solutions to feed so many people.
“The Village Head is back!” The townspeople quickly gathered around, asking eagerly, “Village Head, did you rescue anyone?”
At this point, there was no use in concealing the truth. Meeting their hopeful gazes, the Village Head sighed, “We only managed to save Nini from Dog Sheng’s family. The child has been sent away with His Highness for medical treatment. As for the others—”
Wails immediately filled the air.
“My husband! If only I hadn’t let you go back! Oh, how will we, a widow and orphans, survive without you?”
“Second Brother, you shouldn’t have gone back! You’ve only been married for two months, not even leaving behind an heir—”
Those whose families had escaped unharmed or without losing close relatives didn’t cry, but their eyes were rimmed red. They felt a deep sense of fear: if they had gone back, they might have been the ones who perished in the earthquake.
All thanks to Prince Yan!
A man, dragging his wife and child, fell to his knees before Yuijin. He slapped his mouth, saying, “Your Highness, this humble one was blinded by greed and even harbored resentment towards you… You saved my entire family. I kowtow to you and vow to erect a longevity tablet for you, praying daily for your safety and long life…”
Another family knelt: “Your Highness, you are truly benevolent. To save our lives, you even used money to prevent us from rushing to our deaths… There is no one kinder than you…”
Many broke out in cold sweat. Without the Prince’s promise of silver, they would have surely gone back…
More and more people came to kneel before Yuijin, expressing their gratitude.
The Crown Prince watched coldly, feeling somewhat displeased. These ignorant commoners didn’t know that it was Erniu who had saved them! It was Erniu who had foreseen the danger, allowing Seventh Brother to fabricate the story about a divine warning in a dream.
Watching Yuijin being worshipped by the commoners, the Crown Prince felt increasingly uncomfortable. If he had known that Jinli Town would experience an earthquake, he would have claimed the divine dream warning for himself.
“There’s no need for all this. I merely did what little I could. The officials here are the ones who truly worked hard…” Yuijin, not particularly interested in dealing with tearfully grateful commoners, quickly deflected the praise to Minister Zhao and the other officials.
Minister Zhao and his colleagues were quite pleased to hear this. While it was certain that Prince Yan would be revered by the people of Jinli Town after the earthquake, the fact that he didn’t forget to mention their efforts was truly heartwarming.
Minister Zhao cleared his throat, about to say a few words when the Crown Prince spoke up: “Fellow villagers, I am the Crown Prince, and I came here specifically to check on you all. Please rest assured, that you have suffered a disaster, and the court will certainly make proper arrangements for you. I promise you, in addition to the silver Prince Yan promised earlier, each person will receive an extra two taels of silver in aid, to help you rebuild your homes…”
Minister Zhao and the others listened, their faces turning green.
The compensation Prince Yan had promised was already slightly above the standard disaster relief from the court, though it could still be managed. But the Crown Prince casually promising two taels of silver per person? Did His Highness think money grew on trees? It wasn’t coming from the Eastern Palace’s coffers, after all.
Though anxious, Minister Zhao and the others couldn’t interrupt the Crown Prince in front of the commoners. They could only listen with darkened faces.
Fortunately, it was already dark, and no one noticed their black expressions.
“Thank you, Your Highness! Long live the Crown Prince!” someone shouted.
“Thank you, Your Highness! Long live the Crown Prince!” the crowd chanted in unison.
Hearing this, the Crown Prince’s blood began to boil, and he proclaimed, “And one bolt of silk for each household—”
The Ministry of Revenue officials nearly fainted.
The people of Jinli Town cheered even more enthusiastically.
It cost nothing to shout a few words, and they would receive both silver and silk. It was an incredible windfall.
Hearing the crowd’s fervent cheers, the Crown Prince was about to offer even more.
“Minister, we can’t let His Highness continue. If he goes on, we’ll be returning to the capital naked!” In desperation, an official whispered urgently, forgetting decorum.
Just as the Crown Prince was about to offer more benefits to the commoners, he felt a strong tug from behind.
“What is it?” the Crown Prince turned back, displeased.
He had never before enjoyed such a scene of people gratefully kowtowing to him. His emotions were running high, and he wondered who dared to interrupt him.
Looking down, he saw Erniu wagging its tail not far away.
Seeing it was Erniu, the Crown Prince’s expression softened. “Oh, it’s Erniu.”
Erniu silently turned its head away.
What did it have to do with this? Stupid, self-important fool.
Minister Zhao pulled the Crown Prince aside, wracking his brains for an explanation. Seeing this, he wished he could rush over and kiss Erniu.
Erniu was truly a divine dog. Not only could it predict danger, but it could also take the blame at crucial moments.
Back in Wuji Town, the Crown Prince was still excited: “I never expected these commoners to be so easily placated…”
Everyone’s mouths twitched simultaneously.
They wanted to spit in the Crown Prince’s face.
Was that called being easily placated? Who wouldn’t be willing to say a few kind words to someone handing out money? Words cost nothing!
Minister Zhao suppressed the urge to berate him and calmed himself before speaking, “Does Your Highness know how much of a deficit we’re facing with two taels of silver per person and one bolt of silk per household?”
The Crown Prince was stunned. “Deficit?”
Minister Zhao held his forehead. “Your Highness, the court has set rules for disaster relief funds. If we exceed them, where will the money come from?”
The Crown Prince was dumbfounded.
Unable to contain themselves any longer, the others chimed in, “Indeed, Your Highness. Money can’t be promised so casually. It causes too many problems, especially since you also promised silk. The deficit is even larger now…”
The Crown Prince blinked.
Was he being criticized by his officials?
The Crown Prince couldn’t help but look at Yuijin.
When the Seventh Brother promised money to those commoners, he was praised. Why was he being criticized for doing the same?
“Prince Yan also promised money earlier!” he protested.
Minister Zhao’s mouth twitched. “Your Highness, when the Prince promised money then, it was because a mere dream wasn’t enough to persuade those commoners to evacuate safely. Money was necessary as an incentive. But now, the earthquake has already happened. There are established protocols for disaster relief. Arbitrarily increasing or decreasing the amount will only cause trouble…”
Too little would trouble the disaster victims, too much would trouble them. This Crown Prince truly caused problems with every word. He would have been better off staying in Wuji Town.
Moreover, how could the Crown Prince compare himself to Prince Yan? Prince Yan had stated that if no earthquake occurred, the money would come from his household.
The Crown Prince looked unhappy. “Those commoners have lost everything. What’s wrong with giving them a few more taels of silver? Minister Zhao, don’t be so petty. I’m tired, I’m going to sleep.”
The Crown Prince stormed off, leaving Minister Zhao nearly apoplectic with rage.
The other officials wore worried expressions.
Minister Zhao sighed. “Well, I’ll write an urgent report to send to the capital.”