“We want food.” One disabled soldier shouted loudly.

“What food?” The guarding soldier frowned. “Until the Third Prince appears, none of you are eating a single bite.”

“If you want to blame someone, blame Night Prince and the Third Prince — if they hadn’t started this civil war, none of this would have happened.”

“If we starve to death, if we freeze to death, it’s all the fault of Night Prince and the Third Prince.”

“Everyone, shout! Make Night Prince and the Third Prince bring us food — otherwise, even as ghosts, we won’t let them off!”

“Third Prince, get out here! Your own people are about to be killed because of you.”

Once that soldier shouted, several of the soldiers under him joined in.

“Third Prince, get out here! Your own people are about to be killed because of you.”

The soldier in charge looked at the wounded soldiers and frowned again.

“What’s the matter with you all? Why aren’t you shouting together with everyone else?”

“We want food!” several wounded soldiers said in unison.

“I already told you there’s no food. Are you planning to rebel?” the lead soldier shouted.

“You think you’re the only ones suffering from hunger and cold? We’ve gone a full day and night without food too,” another soldier said coldly.

“We’re all part of the Feng Clan. What does it matter if we sacrifice ourselves for the clan’s unity and wholeness?”

“Hahaha……” Suddenly, a low woman’s voice rang out across the entire area outside the city gate.

Everyone outside the gate looked up, turned around — all eyes fixed on the towering city wall.

But all they could see was the same neat row of soldiers; nothing else seemed out of place.

“How laughable!” The woman’s voice sounded out again.

“If all of you had gone a full day freezing and starving, would you still have this much energy in your voices?”

“Who are you?” The voice of the soldier outside the wall carried a note of fear.

“Witch, hurry and bring the Third Prince out — let him see for himself exactly where he’s leaving his own people!”

“Isn’t the very scheme your General Feng Rui devised simply taking advantage of the Third Prince’s merciful nature?” The woman’s voice seemed to come from all directions at once.

Her words left the lead soldier momentarily unable to respond.

Feng Jiu’er had no intention of wasting more time — too many of the people out there truly couldn’t hold on much longer.

“Swish, swish, swish……” Several sounds cut through the air, and the coats on the backs of the dozen or so soldiers standing at the very front were sliced open by a blade almost simultaneously, all at once.

In an instant, dried meat, steamed buns, flatbread, and beans tumbled out from the slits in their coats.

From some of them, porridge came sloshing out with a splashing sound.

“Is this what you call standing by the people through life and death?” Feng Jiu’er asked coldly, her voice carrying without moving her lips.

“Feng Rui says Night Prince and the Third Prince harmed the people — but did Feng Qiongcang ever tell you how he murdered his own father to seize the throne all those years ago?”

“It’s been years since Feng Qiongcang killed his father to take power — everyone has seen with their own eyes how the Feng Clan has fared since.”

“Night Prince’s return this time is the only real effort to seek the welfare of the Feng Clan’s people!”

As Feng Jiu’er’s voice faded, Xiao Yingtao’s voice rang out immediately after.

“The Third Prince knows full well this is Feng Rui’s scheme, knows full well that leaving the city to rescue these people isn’t the wisest move — but he can’t bear to watch the people suffer either.”

“Who is the true wise ruler? Everyone, wait and see!”

The tightly shut city gate slowly creaked open. What emerged from within were not weapons-bearing, cold-faced soldiers, but women dressed in plain, simple clothing, one after another.

The women carried baskets on their arms, hurrying along with quickened steps.

The same sunlight streamed out through the gate, but now it seemed to carry a different color entirely.