Dong Si gave a low hum. “Fengzhou isn’t merely donating money. My lord is also preparing a large quantity of grain, medicine, and other supplies to send to Sizhou for disaster relief.”
Ji Wangfei frowned. “Why?”
Dong Si looked puzzled. “Why? Do you really need a reason for this? They’re all Han Chinese, and those are real, living human beings. Fengzhou still has some resources to spare, so of course we should lend a hand.”
Ji Wangfei gave him a long look. After hesitating for a moment, he took out a silver ingot and held it out to him. “I didn’t bring much money when I left. This is all I have on me. Consider it a donation for the disaster victims.”
Dong Si stared at him in astonishment. “W-W here did you hide that money?”
The ingot weighed at least three or four taels. Given Xie Nanxiao’s thoroughness, there was no way he could have escaped a body search.
Ji Wangfei didn’t think much of it and answered honestly, “I hid it in my topknot.”
As he spoke, he gave Dong Si a meaningful look. “That salted fish saw that the ribbon around my hair wasn’t worth anything, so he didn’t bother checking my hair.”
Dong Si: “…”
What a wonderfully devious way to hide money!
Indeed, one could never stop learning. He had picked up another trick.
Sun Zheng was dumbfounded. “Wait, didn’t you say you had no money? How did you still have an ingot hidden away?”
Ji Wangfei smiled. “It never hurts to be prepared.”
Sun Zheng: “…”
“So, may I make a donation?” Ji Wangfei asked, looking at Dong Si.
Dong Si nodded. “Of course.”
Ji Wangfei cupped his hands. “Then I’ll take my leave. Until we meet again.”
He turned and walked away.
Dong Si hurriedly called after him. “Are you planning to leave Gefeng?”
Ji Wangfei nodded. “That’s right.”
Dong Si rose to his feet. “Then I’ll see you off. Come on, let’s go together.”
He claimed he was seeing them off, but after settling the bill for Sun Zheng and the others’ food and lodging during their stay, he left with great satisfaction.
Ji Wangfei: “…”
Once Sun Zheng climbed into the carriage, he couldn’t help cursing. “What kind of inn is this? They actually charged us more than sixteen thousand taels of silver. They might as well have robbed us!”
Ji Wangfei was riding beside the carriage. Hearing this, he couldn’t help smiling. “Didn’t we agree on the price beforehand? We paid, so let it go. Nearly two hundred of us stayed there for more than twenty days. We ate there and slept there.”
Sun Zheng abruptly pulled open the carriage curtain. “What do you mean, let it go? His Majesty gave us all that money to buy grain. Now we haven’t bought any grain, and the money is gone too. How are we supposed to explain this to His Majesty when we get back?”
Ji Wangfei was helpless. “What could we do? That’s simply what the inns in Gefeng charge.”
Sun Zheng’s face was filled with disgust. “Hmph. They bleed us dry, then turn around and ask the common people to donate to disaster relief. What hypocrisy! Utter hypocrisy!”
Ji Wangfei frowned. “Lord Dong already said that it isn’t only the people of Fengzhou who are donating. The princess will also dispatch grain and medicine to Sizhou for disaster relief.”
“Hah, putting on a show. Do you believe her?” Sun Zheng sneered.
Ji Wangfei nodded. “I do.”
Sun Zheng: “…”
He stared at Ji Wangfei suspiciously. “What exactly do you mean?”
Ji Wangfei shook his head. “Nothing. I’m just stating the truth. Besides, whether the princess actually helps with the disaster relief or not, won’t we know soon enough?”
During this period, he had not only stayed in Gefeng. He had also visited the nearby Shanguan County and Chunrong County.
It was said that those three counties had been the first territories taken by Princess Jinyang.
He had truly witnessed an age of prosperity there—a flourishing world unlike anything he had ever seen. The people lived and worked in peace, the officials fulfilled their duties, and the people gave everything they had.
Not to mention in a time of chaos—even in an era of peace, no emperor had ever managed to achieve such prosperity or truly ensure that the people had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear.
At that moment, he had felt like crying. He finally understood why the great general and the others were willing to follow Princess Jinyang.
He also understood why Mo Song had faked his death and remained in Fengzhou.
Yes, he had seen Mo Song in Gefeng.
At the time, he couldn’t help asking, “Why?”
Mo Song’s answer had been direct. “As you can see, Gefeng is prosperous. I hope to see the mountains and rivers of this vast land become like Gefeng. I now firmly believe that only the princess can keep the realm safe and bring peace to all beneath Heaven.”
Now Sizhou had been struck by flooding, and the princess had already decided to provide aid. Just as Dong Si had said, those were human lives—the lives of countless common people.
As for how His Majesty would handle the disaster relief, Ji Wangfei did not know. But based on past experience, there probably would not be any relief at all.
Sun Zheng said angrily, “Even His Majesty can’t simply order disaster relief whenever he wishes. How can Princess Jinyang do it? She’s merely collecting money from the people and taking the opportunity to buy their loyalty.”
Ji Wangfei didn’t want to argue with him. “Perhaps.”
His attitude made Sun Zheng even angrier. “What’s wrong with you?”
Ji Wangfei looked baffled. “What do you mean?”
Sun Zheng stared at Ji Wangfei for several breaths, then abruptly dropped the curtain. He simply felt terribly uncomfortable.
Unlike Sun Zheng, Dong Si was in excellent spirits after collecting such a large sum of money. He headed to the Gefeng Tavern, intending to eat two of its famous “choke-to-death” fried dough sticks.
Only after entering the tavern did he realize that Sun Acao was not there. He asked curiously, “Where’s Shopkeeper Sun?”
The tavern attendant was frying the dough sticks for him as she explained, “There aren’t as many customers right now, so the shopkeeper went to the county office to make a donation.”
Then she added somewhat sheepishly, “I donated too. I had the shopkeeper take it over for me. It isn’t much, but it’s a small token of my feelings.”
Dong Si smiled. “The newspaper already said that donations are voluntary. Donate or don’t donate, and give as much or as little as you can afford.”
The fried dough sticks were ready soon. Dong Si had no intention of eating them in the tavern, so he wrapped them in oiled paper and ate them as he walked.
When Sun Acao returned, she spotted Dong Si’s back in the distance and hurriedly asked, “Did Lord Dong just come by?”
The attendant nodded. “He just left. I told him you’d gone to make a donation.”
At the mention of that, a worried look appeared on her face. “The wars were already hard enough on people, and now Heaven won’t even leave them a way to live.”
Sun Acao sighed. “Yes. Our lives are better now, and since we have the ability to help, we should lend a hand.”
They had all suffered before, so they could understand that despair better than anyone—just as her own family had once experienced it.
If their lord had not bought them, her father-in-law and stepmother would have thrown their entire family out to exchange them for food. How could they possibly have the good life they had now?
All five members of her family now worked under their lord. Li Su had even risen to become a minor manager at the horse ranch, earning a considerable wage.
Their lord had shown them a kindness as great as a mountain and as deep as the sea. She would support any policy he introduced, so she had donated two taels of silver without hesitation.
That was an enormous sum for an ordinary family, and even for hers it was a considerable amount. Yet she had given it willingly.
She couldn’t help placing a hand over her belly. Just yesterday, she had been diagnosed as pregnant.
Although she had suspected it, she still found it hard to believe.
She was already forty years old. Her menstrual cycle had stopped for seven or eight years, but perhaps because she had been eating well over the past two or three years, it had started returning intermittently during the past year or so.
Unlike the calm and peaceful atmosphere in Gefeng, in a mountain range somewhere in Xigan Commandery, two groups of men were confronting each other.
Qingming had not expected to encounter such a group of Han Chinese commoners deep in the mountains.
Yet it was not quite right to call them commoners. They carried an air of iron and blood, and at a glance, it was obvious that they were soldiers.
“Who are you?” he asked.
