Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 53 The Heir Apparent of the Prince of Qi

Manager Wang was so dizzy from being slapped that he didn't dare to utter a sound.

Jiang Xun was about to fan himself again when suddenly the sound of horses' hooves came from afar, very dense, at least dozens of them.

Everyone turned to look and saw a troop of black-armored cavalry galloping towards them.

The horses were fine horses, the men were elite soldiers, their armor gleaming, and their weapons in perfect order.

The leader was a man in his thirties with a resolute face and sharp eyes.

The cavalry arrived in the blink of an eye.

The man reined in his horse, glanced around the scene, and frowned slightly.

"What happened?"

As if seeing a savior, Steward Wang hurriedly and indistinctly cried out, "General Zheng! General Zheng, save me! This scoundrel is trying to kill me!"

Jiang Xun looked at the man who was leading the group, and the man was looking at him as well.

The two men exchanged a glance. The man dismounted, walked up to Jiang Xun, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "I am Zheng Xiao, captain of the personal guards of Prince Qi's mansion. Brother, what has happened?"

King Qi?

Jiang Xun's heart stirred.

He had heard that Prince Qi was the current emperor's younger brother, whose personal name was Zhen. He was the only royal prince, and his fief was in Haiyou City. He had a very good reputation.

"General Zheng," Jiang Xun returned the salute, "these people blocked the road and robbed grain, and were caught by government troops. The troops wanted to kill them, but I felt their crime didn't warrant death, so I stopped them."

Zheng Xiao glanced at the grain carts, then at the bandits kneeling and begging for mercy, and nodded: "Indeed, their crimes do not warrant death."

He turned to Steward Wang, "Steward Wang, although these people have broken the law, they are refugees after all, and their situation is understandable. Why don't you let me take them back and deal with them according to the law?"

Steward Wang, clutching his face which was swollen like a pig's head, nodded repeatedly: "It's all up to General Zheng! It's all up to General Zheng!"

He dared not utter a single word of dissent; he only wanted to get as far away from this scourge as possible.

Zheng Xiao then looked at Jiang Xun: "Brother, what do you think of this plan?"

Jiang Xun thought for a moment and realized that he only disapproved of Steward Wang's indiscriminate killing of innocent people, not that he approved of the bandits robbing grain.

Since the people of Prince Qi's mansion are willing to take over and handle the matter impartially, that would be the best outcome.

"Okay." He nodded and released his hand.

Manager Wang felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He scrambled to hide behind the soldiers and huddled behind the grain cart, trembling with fear.

Zheng Xiao gave a few instructions to his men, ordering them to tie up the bandits and take them back to Haiyou City to be dealt with according to the law. He then said to Steward Wang, "Steward Wang, the grain convoy can leave now. Be careful on the road."

Manager Wang dared not linger any longer and urged the officers and soldiers to leave quickly.

After the grain convoy left, Zheng Xiao turned to Jiang Xun, looked him up and down, and suddenly laughed: "Brother, you have good skills."

Jiang Xun humbly replied, "It's just a trivial skill, not worth mentioning."

"To be able to subdue Manager Wang among so many people by yourself is no small feat." Zheng Xiao's expression turned serious. "Manager Wang is not one to give up easily. If you don't mind, you can come with us."

Jiang Xun hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Thank you for your kindness, General Zheng, but I have other matters to attend to and cannot delay you any longer."

Zheng Xiao didn't insist. He took a water pouch from his waist and handed it to him, saying, "Take this and drink it on the way."

Jiang Xun did not refuse, took the water pouch, and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect: "Until we meet again."

Until we meet again.

…………

Jiang Xun walked for another day and finally arrived at Haiyou City.

From afar, you could see a dark mass of people at the city gate.

It's not a person, it's a tent.

It was densely packed, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Big and small, new and old, they sprang up on the open ground outside the city like mushrooms after the rain.

Between the tents, some people were walking around, some were making fires, and some were queuing up to receive porridge.

The order was quite good; there was no crying, screaming, or chaos as I had imagined.

Jiang Xun entered the city and walked around, looking at things as he went.

The streets in the city are quite wide, and the shops on both sides are open, selling the same things as before.

He casually asked someone and learned that all of this was thanks to the King of Qi.

"His Highness Prince Qi? He's such a good man!" An old man's eyes lit up when he talked about Prince Qi. "Those tents outside the city were all set up by His Highness. He's provided two meals of porridge every day without fail."

Jiang asked, "Didn't Haiyou City also suffer from floods? How come there's still food relief being provided?"

The old man sighed: "There were torrential rains for several days recently, and Haiyou City was also affected. The river rose several feet and was about to burst its banks. His Highness Prince Qi personally led people to reinforce the dikes and evacuated people from low-lying areas overnight. He worked for three days and three nights without sleep. If it weren't for him, Haiyou City would have been flooded like other places."

His eyes were full of admiration. "Under the rule of King Qi over the years, the people have been able to recuperate and build up a considerable amount of grain. This time, he has used it all to help the disaster victims. I heard that King Qi has even used his own salary and sold his queen's jewelry."

As Jiang Xun listened, he felt a growing respect for King Qi.

Just as I was feeling sentimental, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.

Looking up, the sound was coming from the direction of a warehouse not far away.

The warehouse occupied a large area, with several guards standing in front of it, and a group of people gathered around the entrance, their emotions running high.

Jiang Xun, curious, walked over, squeezed into the crowd, and saw a civil official in his fifties standing on the steps, sweating profusely as he spoke.

Several leading refugees stood in front of him, arguing with him.

"Registrar Liu, our family of five only gets that small bowl of porridge each day. How is that enough?" A man with a full beard patted his chest. "Even I, an adult, am dizzy from hunger, let alone the elderly and children!"

Several people nearby joined in the commotion.

"Exactly! My mother fainted from hunger! Didn't your King Qi say he would open the granaries to provide disaster relief? Why is this all he's given?"

"We've traveled a long way to seek refuge with the King of Qi, but we can't even get a decent meal. Has the King abandoned us?"

The civil official, known as Liu the Registrar, wiped the sweat from his brow and patiently explained, "Fellow villagers, it's not that His Highness Prince Qi is neglecting you, it's just that grain prices in the city have risen too quickly, and the people are almost starving. His Highness Prince Qi needs to allocate some grain from the granaries to stabilize grain prices in the city."

He paused, then added, "But His Highness Prince Qi said that even if he doesn't eat or drink, he will make sure everyone has something to eat, so please don't worry."

"Relax?" a sarcastic voice rang out from the crowd. "How can we be at ease? Is there no grain left in the granary?"

Jiang Xun looked in the direction of the sound, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The man was in his fifties, with a fat head and big ears. He was wearing a silk robe and had a jade pendant hanging from his waist. He looked like a wealthy man.

Although he had changed into plain clothes, Jiang Xun recognized the face—Qian Bancheng.

The grain merchants of Yunzhou were unscrupulous merchants who hoarded and speculated on grain.

Jiang Xun suddenly remembered that Qian Bancheng had indeed mentioned that he wanted to make a fortune during this flood, and he didn't expect him to come to Haiyou City as well.

But how did he end up mixing in with the crowd and causing a ruckus?

The crowd stirred, like a pot of porridge about to boil.

Liu, the registrar, stood on the steps, wiping the sweat from his forehead again and again. His lips moved a few times, but he couldn't utter anything coherent.

Qian Bancheng stood in the crowd, his face filled with anguish: "Registration Officer Liu, I have only one question: Is the Prince of Qi planning to use the grain intended for the disaster victims outside the city to subsidize the people inside?"

Registrar Liu hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "That is indeed the case."

"That's right." Qian Bancheng's voice suddenly rose. "This is using the food from the disaster victims outside the city to supplement the people inside the city. Are the people inside the city considered citizens of Dayong, but these disaster victims aren't? Is the King of Qi treating them so differently?"

These words were so harsh that Liu, the registrar, was speechless for a moment. He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to respond.

But the surrounding crowd had already erupted in uproar.

"Yeah! Why should we?"

"We are also citizens of the Great Yong Dynasty!"

"King Qi is biased!"

"We need food! Give it to us now!"

Jiang Xun stood outside the crowd, watching this scene, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

It wasn't that I felt disheartened by King Qi—it was that I felt disheartened by these rioting disaster victims.

King Qi emptied his coffers to save them, but they complained it wasn't enough; King Qi stabilized grain prices, but they accused him of favoritism.

How can a person be so selfish?

The shouts grew louder and louder, with some pushing forward, some shoving, and some yelling and cursing from behind.

Several leading victims gathered at the bottom of the steps, sleeves rolled up, looking ready to fight.

Suddenly a commotion arose from behind, and the crowd parted as if by an invisible hand, making way for each other.

"The Crown Prince has arrived!"

"The Crown Prince of Qi has arrived!"

Shouts rose and fell, and the restless crowd gradually quieted down as if doused with cold water.

Jiang Xun looked in the direction of the sound.

A group of people slowly approached from the other end of the street.

The one in the lead rode a jet-black steed, his moon-white outfit tightly cinched at the waist. He had a handsome face and a composure beyond his years.

He sat upright on his horse, his gaze fixed straight ahead. He was neither arrogant nor deliberately friendly. He simply sat there calmly, yet he exuded an aura that made people hesitant to approach him.

Jiang Xun's gaze fell on the man's face, then suddenly stopped.

He recognized that face.

Jiangning Prefecture.

The boy who asked him to escort his siblings.

That wealthy young master who was so generous, giving away two hundred taels at a time.

Jiang Xun stood there, stunned, momentarily dazed.

Li Che?

Prince Qi's heir?