The moonlight stretched like a white ribbon, clear and bright. Under its glow stood a man atop a sedan chair, dressed in azure robes, his features as exquisite as a deity.
His voice, a blend of coolness and authority, swept over the crowd, leaving the refugees rooted to the spot, staring at him in awe.
Li Shuchen's indifferent gaze swept over their gaunt, sallow faces as he slowly spoke, "Yunzhou is suffering from a severe drought, which pains me deeply. Since I'm passing through, I naturally cannot stand idly by. Come, distribute water and food."
"Each citizen may receive a bowl of water and a flatbread, until supplies run out."
Before entering Yunzhou, he had noticed the cracked earth and the scorching, rainless sky, fearing a drought. Despite Eunuch Luo and Commander Mo insisting on the Emperor's verbal order to continue their journey, Li Shuchen had agreed while also requesting they load several more carts with water and food.
He had also arranged for each guard to carry a few flatbreads in their robes and two water skins on their belts, to be replenished after use. Thus, he unhesitatingly ordered the provisions in the mule carts to be distributed to the refugees.
Eunuch Luo seemed reluctant, but Mo Wangshan had already begun directing his subordinates to distribute water and food. He truly didn't want to use force against these emaciated refugees.
His spear should be pointed at foreign enemies, not at poor citizens driven to revolt by hunger.
The refugees licked their chapped lips, their eyes fixed greedily on the water buckets.
The hot weather had evaporated some of the water, leaving each bucket about three-quarters full.
Every refugee wanted to push to the front to get water sooner, but the guards ordered them to queue, instructing them to leave immediately after receiving their share.
A few individuals who tried to get a second helping after receiving their water and food were caught and sternly warned.
The refugees who had been wielding sticks earlier had now scattered... they had gone to find containers for the water.
"Come back, come back! Don't you remember what we agreed on? Rob Prince An, share the water and food!" The tall man who had led the uprising stomped his feet in frustration as he watched his 'troops' disperse, but to no avail.
Refugees are easily incited, but also easily placated.
Prince An had already ordered the distribution of water and food; there was no need for them to risk their lives with sticks, fighting and looting.
Seeing his words had no effect, the tall man signaled for retreat. The assassins hidden among the refugees temporarily withdrew.
Prince An couldn't possibly distribute water and food all along the way. They only needed to incite another group of refugees to surround and intercept Prince An, and then they could strike during the chaos, pinning the blame squarely on the refugees.
Over an hour later.
The last drop of water had been poured from the buckets, and all the flatbreads in the baskets had been distributed. The refugees who received food began to devour it ravenously, taking small sips of water from their bowls.
Saving it might lead to theft; only in their stomachs would it be safe from others.
After eating and drinking their fill, they spontaneously knelt and kowtowed, thanking Prince An for his generosity.
"Prince An is a good man! He cares about us!"
"That's right, thank you, Prince An!"
"We'll never forget your great kindness!"
...
Listening to the refugees' words of gratitude, Eunuch Luo's usual smile faded. He approached Li Shuchen and said dryly, "Your Highness, we've given all our provisions to them. What shall we do now?"
Li Shuchen summoned Mo Wangshan before replying, "Seeing the citizens suffer from disaster, I couldn't bear it and distributed our water and food. Now, even our soldiers have little left. We can't continue like this."
"Once word spreads, there will surely be more refugees waiting for us ahead."
"Relay my order: travel in groups of three, ride swiftly, and head separately to Yunzhou City. We'll regroup and replenish our supplies there."
Eunuch Luo still had objections, but Mo Wangshan pulled him aside to select guards for his escort.
"Eunuch, His Highness speaks reason. If we insist on traveling together, we're bound to encounter more trouble from refugees ahead. Yunzhou City isn't far. Let's disperse and meet there, then we can plan our next move."
"Consider this, Eunuch: a few thousand refugees might be manageable. But what if tens of thousands gather to loot? How would we handle that?"
"If our guards are spread too thin and neglect you, I've heard... these refugees might resort to cannibalism. You're so plump and white..."
Eunuch Luo's mouth twitched, causing the flesh on his cheeks to quiver. Finally, he conceded, "Fine, we'll split up. But you must assign more guards to protect me!"
That night, under a clear, starry sky.
The guards didn't rest but were divided into several small teams, dispersing under the cover of darkness.
Li Shuchen also abandoned his carriage, taking Yan Qinghe, Yan Wu, and Seventeen Yan with him as they rode away on horseback.
Seeing them separate from the guards, Qi Huan quickly stood up, intending to quietly follow, but Yan Jiu grabbed her sleeve.
"Miss Qi, His Highness instructed that if we encountered each other on the road, we should pretend not to know each other. His journey is fraught with danger; it's not suitable for you to accompany him."
Qi Huan pouted, "Their horses have four legs, we only have two, and we've already wasted this time. We can't catch up now anyway. So, you can let go of my sleeve. Otherwise, the tear will only get bigger, and how am I supposed to wear it then..."
"Of course." Yan Jiu abruptly released her sleeve.
"Let's go. It's a bit cooler at night, we should continue our journey."
Hidden beneath her long dress, Qi Huan wore a pair of sneakers, making walking much easier.
By the time the sky began to lighten with dawn, her legs felt as heavy as lead. She leaned against a tree trunk, panting, "Let's rest for a while."
Yan Jiu surveyed the surroundings before saying, "There's no one nearby."
Qi Huan understood immediately.
She took out bottled water and self-heating meals from her space. They each had a bottle of water and a bowl of food, feasting heartily.
After everyone finished eating, she collected the trash.
The three of them huddled around the thick tree trunk, preparing to catch some sleep.
The night temperature was slightly lower than during the day, but it was still stuffy and hot.
Qi Huan wiped her sweat and said to Yan Jiu and Yan Qing, "The mortal realm is too hot. I'm going back to the Heavenly Court to cool off for a bit. See you tomorrow."
It wasn't that she was being selfish; it was because her space could currently only accommodate one person, so only she could enjoy humanity's greatest invention—air conditioning!
With that, she flashed into her space, turned on the car's air conditioning, reclined the seat, casually draped a piece of clothing over her stomach, and fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up the next day, Qi Huan emerged from her space again.
Seeing her reappear, Yan Jiu finally felt relieved. Thank goodness, the celestial maiden had descended to the mortal realm once more.
At this moment, the morning sun was slowly rising, and the world was growing increasingly hot.
This weather was not suitable for traveling, so the three of them continued to rest under a tree.
Yan Jiu, with his inner strength, was still doing fine. Poor little Yan Qing, however, was drenched in sweat, looking as if she'd just been fished out of water.
Qi Huan kept giving her diluted salt water.
She then negotiated with the system: "Dear, sweet system, could you search if there are any handheld fans in the delivery storage?"
"There aren't any, but there are folding fans and round fans."
"Buy them!"
The fans appeared out of thin air. Yan Qing and Yan Jiu were no longer surprised by this. Reality had forced them to believe that Miss Qi was a little fairy.
The little fairy distributed the fans to them.
They quickly opened them and started fanning themselves.
During winter, Qi Huan had stored two carriages full of ice, along with some cola and mineral water chilling inside. She took out a few bottles and handed them to Yan Jiu and Yan Qing. They could quench their thirst and cool their faces, driving away the heat.
After lunch, it was the hottest time of the day. Qi Huan left them with enough water and ice, then entered her space.
Cool air flowed continuously from the air conditioner vents. She asked the system with delight: "Has anyone ordered ice cream online?"
"Host, your search function has been used up. If you wish to continue using it, please gift this system more points."
Qi Huan: !
Immediately after, the system added: "The oil in the vehicle has also been consumed. If the host wishes to continue using the air conditioning, please pay points to fill up the oil."
Qi Huan: !!
