That day, by the time Jun Huailang hurried to the southern part of the city, the sky was gradually darkening.
By this point, the repairs to the river embankment had only just begun. The damaged section of the embankment was quite severe and covered a large area. On top of that, the surrounding cities had also been flooded, which made the difficulty of repairing it even greater.
But if it was not repaired, the river water would continue spreading. By then, it would not be impossible for the entire city of Jinling to be submerged.
Jun Huailang had been leaving early and returning late. It was not until today, after he had roughly arranged the plans for repairing the embankment, that he was finally able to catch his breath.
But when the carriage arrived at the entrance of the Governor’s residence, he had the coachman turn around again.
“Go to the place where the refugees are being settled in the southern part of the city.” He did not get out of the carriage. “I want to take a look.”
The coachman immediately raised his whip and urged the horses on, taking him all the way to the western city gate.
After several days of arrangements, order within the city was already much better than it had been on the day of the disaster. The various shops and streets were also operating again.
When they passed a street, the curtain of Jun Huailang’s carriage was lifted by the wind, allowing him to see a long line of people in front of a shop at the corner.
It was a grain store.
Although the line was long, very few people were actually able to buy anything. Some common people could be seen leaving with cloth bags that were still mostly empty, while some refugees dressed in rags had waited in line for half a day only to leave carrying empty baskets on their backs.
Jun Huailang could not help frowning.
He remembered that the government had indeed been working on this matter these past few days. But before the grain could be distributed into the hands of the people, it first had to be carefully counted and recorded in the registers, and then distributed according to the number of refugees and the severity of the disaster. These matters not only had to be registered by the local government, but also had to be reported to the imperial court.
According to the government’s progress, the grain would reach the people’s hands within the next few days.
The government’s considerations had always started from the overall situation. When money and grain were distributed to the people, they had to consider whether the allocation was reasonable, and they also had to follow the court’s procedures so as not to throw the order into chaos.
Doing all this naturally made the distribution of grain slower. But since it would only take a few days, it was not enough to starve people to death. Naturally, the government could not take into account how the people were supposed to get through these days.
Jun Huailang pressed his lips tightly together and slowly lowered the carriage curtain.
Diagonal ahead of the carriage was an old woman with a hunched figure. She carried an empty basket on her back, with two young children beside her. One of them was mischievous and seemed to have spotted something on the road, so he ran straight toward the middle of the street.
It was dark, and the coachman did not notice the child in the middle of the road until he had almost reached him. He hurriedly pulled back on the reins.
With a loud clatter, the carriage stopped in the middle of the road. The startled horse neighed and raised its hooves, almost stepping on the child.
The coachman was covered in cold sweat. Angrily, he said, “Where are this child’s parents? Why aren’t they watching their child properly!”
The old woman, her head covered in sweat, ran over and grabbed the child. She repeatedly bowed in apology.
“I am sorry, my lord. My son injured his leg and cannot move. This old woman came out to buy rice, and I failed to notice for a moment, so I offended you. Please, my lord, forgive me…”
“All right.”
The coachman was about to say something when he heard Jun Huailang’s voice from inside the carriage, stopping him.
The coachman immediately fell silent.
A long, pale hand lifted the carriage curtain. Jun Huailang leaned forward slightly and asked, “Was the child hurt?”
The old woman hurriedly said, “No, no. Thank you, my lord!”
Jun Huailang paused.
“What is the price of grain in the city now?” he asked.
The old woman’s face filled with bitterness.
“It has gone up nearly eighty percent.”
Jun Huailang lowered his eyes, opened a hidden compartment in the carriage, and took out a money pouch filled with silver. He handed it to the coachman.
“Give it to her,” he said.
The coachman immediately obeyed.
The old woman carefully accepted it. Only then did she realize what was in her hands.
“This…”
Jun Huailang said, “Take it for emergencies and buy some rice and grain for the children. In another two days at most, the government will distribute grain. Just endure these two days, and you won’t need to worry anymore.”
Upon hearing this, the old woman immediately shed tears of gratitude. As she wiped her face, she knelt down to thank him, and even tried to press the children beside her to their knees so they could kowtow to Jun Huailang.
But the gloom on Jun Huailang’s face could not be dispelled.
He could save one person, but he could not save everyone. He had given silver to this one old woman before him, but he did not know how many other people were still going hungry.
“…Let’s go,” Jun Huailang said indifferently after a moment, lowering the carriage curtain.
Just then, a rattling sound came from behind the carriage, as though a convoy was approaching.
Jun Huailang was about to tell the coachman to make way when he heard the convoy behind them stop.
Immediately afterward, someone got out of a carriage and ran all the way to the side of Jun Huailang’s carriage.
“His Highness the Heir!”
It was the distinctive shrill voice of a eunuch. One listen was enough to tell that it was Jinbao.
Jun Huailang lifted the carriage curtain and, through the window, immediately saw Jinbao talking to the old woman.
With his head held high and his voice quite loud, he almost seemed to be deliberately dropping hints and taking credit.
“Don’t go buy grain anymore. Hurry home. The grain is about to arrive.” He said, “Our Prince paid out of his own pocket and bought several large carts of grain, personally bringing it here to give to all of you!”
After saying that, he looked up toward Jun Huailang’s carriage and smiled so broadly that his teeth could hardly be seen.
“What a coincidence, Your Highness the Heir. Shall we go together?”
——
The sky had become completely dark. Smoke from cooking fires drifted up from the refugee camp in the southern part of the city, and the fragrance of food gradually spread through the air.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards had always been swift in their actions. Although there were tens of thousands of refugees in the southern part of the city, they had distributed all the grain they had brought before nightfall.
Jun Huailang sat at the edge of the camp, watching the cooking smoke and lamplight within it.
Just then, a figure walked out from the area of light.
Tall and upright, dressed in a black-and-gold brocade robe with dark patterns and wide sleeves, he was unmistakably Xue Yan even from a distance.
Jun Huailang raised his head and watched as he walked over step by step. He lifted his robe and sat down beside him.
“Was it all distributed?” Jun Huailang asked.
Xue Yan nodded.
Jun Huailang sighed.
“Although there is a lot of grain, it’s only enough for them to have one meal, right?” he asked.
There were more than ten thousand refugees in the southern part of the city. All of them had their families with them, and there were many elderly people, women and children, and injured people. Those several large carts of grain, placed before such a huge number of refugees, were nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
“At the latest, the government grain will be distributed by the day after tomorrow,” Xue Yan said.
He paused, then continued, “But it still won’t be enough. The Jinling treasury cannot compare with Chang’an. There is a fixed amount of money and grain stored in the treasury every year. The money and grain distributed this time will last at most another ten days before being exhausted again.”
As Jun Huailang listened, his expression gradually darkened.
“That won’t do,” he said. “The embankment will take at least forty or fifty days to repair, not to mention that the northern part of the city still needs to be rebuilt so that they can settle down again. Relying only on this grain from the government will result in people starving to death.”
Xue Yan hummed.
“Your father has already submitted a memorial. I imagine it won’t take more than half a month before Chang’an allocates money and grain here.”
Jun Huailang nodded.
But immediately afterward, he said thoughtfully, “However, every time the capital sends grain and money to the local regions, it passes through various government offices and checkpoints, and gets stripped away layer by layer. Will it be the same this time?”
Xue Yan nodded firmly.
“It will.”
Not only would it be stripped away layer by layer, but it was likely that as soon as the supplies left Chang’an and traveled east to the starting point of the canal leading toward Shandong, they would be detained.
Because the prefect of Shandong had long ago been replaced by someone from the Xu family’s faction.
Replacing someone at this critical juncture, and replacing him with an insignificant official who had only recently come under their command, clearly meant they intended to sacrifice that person to make a risky move.
As long as that prefect found an excuse to hold back the grain, the emergency in Jiangnan would become even more severe. If he kept most of it and only transported the remainder onward, then once it entered Jinling and Guo Rongwen took charge of it, registering it into the treasury according to the original quantity, everyone who had handled the supplies along the way would be from the Xu family’s side.
And the money and grain that had been detained would simply disappear in the process.
By then, Jinling would not have enough grain and supplies to provide disaster relief. The resulting shortfall would become a crime committed by Duke Yongning and Prefect Shen.
What the Xu family needed to do now was simply arrange for the officials ordered to transport the supplies to be their own people.
Hearing this, Jun Huailang’s expression became somewhat tense.
“Then what should we do?” he asked.
The money and grain would be distributed according to the Emperor’s decree. Once they received an insufficient amount, there would be no time to report it and investigate thoroughly. By then, if disaster relief was delayed, it would be the officials of Jiangnan who would suffer this hidden loss.
He looked toward Xue Yan and saw that Xue Yan was also looking down at him.
The surroundings were dark. The lamplight from the camp in the distance cast a warm glow into his light amber-colored eyes.
Xue Yan smiled faintly.
“Do nothing.”
He raised his hand, pressed down on the back of Jun Huailang’s neck, and guided his head onto his own shoulder, letting him lean against him.
He could see the dark circles beneath Jun Huailang’s eyes perfectly clearly.
The young master who had come from Chang’an had grown up in luxury, never having to do even the slightest bit of hard labor, much less endure the sleepless days and nights, exposure to sun and rain, that he had suffered through these past few days.
None of this was suffering he should have had to endure.
Jun Huailang struggled a few times, but Xue Yan suppressed him each time. He was already exhausted and had little strength or energy left at this moment. Unable to break free, he simply let Xue Yan do as he pleased.
That shoulder was hard and solid, carrying the heavy scent of sandalwood. Within only a few breaths, Jun Huailang felt sleepiness gradually rising over him.
His eyelids also began to grow heavy.
Come to think of it, there was something rather amusing about it. The person beside him was clearly filled with murderous energy and had killed countless people, yet whenever he was beside him, he felt the most at ease.
It was an inexplicable sense of security that he could neither refuse nor deny.
“…If we do nothing, aren’t we just waiting to die?” He sighed, his eyelashes involuntarily lowering.
The cooking smoke and lamplight before him blurred into large patches of warm yellow halos.
Xue Yan smiled faintly.
“You don’t need to do anything. Once the imperial decree comes down, I’ll personally lead people there and bring the grain and supplies back.” He said, “However much is allocated from the national treasury, I’ll bring back exactly that much. Not a single grain of rice will be missing.”
Jun Huailang could not help letting out a soft laugh.
“I believe you,” he said.
Xue Yan’s lips also curved upward involuntarily. He lowered his eyes to look at Jun Huailang, his eyes filled with a tenderness and warmth that even he himself had not noticed.
After a moment, he remembered something else. He paused, then took the initiative to admit, “The grain I brought today was bought from Guo Rongwen.”
Hearing this, Jun Huailang raised his head in surprise.
“Hmm?”
Xue Yan nodded.
“Mm. I had him count the government treasury, and he secretly transported this grain out and sold it all.”
Jun Huailang’s sleepiness vanished instantly.
“Then, then where did that money go?” he asked. “Could it have been sent to the capital again? If so, we have to catch him red-handed before he gets rid of the money. Otherwise, by then, he’ll have nothing on him, and there will be no evidence left.”
Xue Yan laughed softly.
“The money really isn’t in his hands anymore,” he said. “But it’s not a case of having no evidence either.”
Jun Huailang was confused.
“Then where did it go?”
Xue Yan met his gaze and saw Jun Huailang looking at him with a tense, serious expression.
He laughed aloud and raised his hand, lightly patting Jun Huailang’s cheek with the back of his hand.
“In a couple of days, I’ll take you somewhere,” he said. “You’ll know when we get there.”