sbdcsierra Chapter 186 Disaster Relief
Chapter 186 Disaster Relief
As she spoke, the Queen Mother raised her hand and called Concubine Xian to her side, patting her hand affectionately.
Concubine Xian bowed her head modestly and said, "Your Majesty, I am too flattered to praise you. I dare not take credit for it. I just saw that the Empress and you were worried about this matter, so I wanted to do my part."
The Queen Mother smiled and said to Concubine Xian, "Okay, I'll leave this matter to you. Make sure the refugees feel the care of the court."
Empress Xian responded respectfully, "I will obey your order and will not let the Empress Dowager down." After that, she stood up and said goodbye, ready to take care of the matter.
In Zhongcui Palace, Concubine Chun, who was under house arrest, did not want to sit idle.
Concubine Chun sat on the couch, holding a book in her hand, but her eyes drifted towards the jade pot beside her from time to time.
Because Concubine Chun was in a bad mood just now, she gave acupuncture to her maids Yuhu and Baizhi.
Yu Hu seemed to be calm as ever, carefully applying ointment on Concubine Chun's fingers with gentle and skillful movements.
Concubine Chun thought about it and decided that attacking the Queen wouldn't work, and attacking Concubine Gao wouldn't work either, so she might as well try attacking Concubine Xian.
After all, the current Concubine Xian has replaced the former Concubine Chun. She goes to Changchun Palace every day, not only to handle palace affairs, but also to appreciate paintings and drink tea with the Queen. It is very lively.
Concubine Chun felt very upset and she didn't want them to have such an easy time.
She suddenly put down the book in her hand and looked at the jade pot. A trace of confusion flashed in her eyes, and then she slowly lowered her eyes, as if she was lost in thought.
Yu Hu noticed that Concubine Chun was acting strange, so he stopped what he was doing and asked with concern, "Madam, is there anything bothering you? You might as well tell me, maybe I can help you."
Concubine Chun raised her head and looked at Yuhu, with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
She frowned slightly, with a slightly dissatisfied tone: "I have spent so much effort, but ended up in such a situation. What's even more infuriating is that Concubine Xian actually took over my position as the assistant in charge of palace affairs.
She saved the Queen Mother at the Chongyang Banquet and became a celebrity in the palace. And tomorrow she has to provide relief to the victims at Di'anmen. What should she do?"
Yu Hu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head with a sly smile:
"Your Majesty, don't worry. If Concubine Xian wants to provide relief to the victims, she still has to rely on us servants! I will definitely find a way to let her know that this harem is not something she can easily manipulate."
The next morning, the sun shone on the stone pavement of Di'anmen, reflecting a busy scene.
A group of palace maids and eunuchs hurried to Di'anmen, where they would provide assistance to Concubine Xian's relief activities.
Qingyun also followed the Queen's order and led the palace maids and eunuchs of Changchun Palace to the outside of Di'an Gate.
Yuan Chunwang followed the people from Chengqian Palace. He walked silently at the back, his eyes calmly scanning the crowd around him.
After arriving at Di'anmen, Yuan Chunwang quickly joined the work team.
He helped set up the big pot and cooked hot porridge, and together with other servants, distributed steamed buns to the refugees.
Everything seemed to be in order, but as time went on, the number of refugees continued to increase and the scene gradually became chaotic.
People started cutting in line, fighting for food, and even fights broke out.
Yuan Chunwang stood aside and watched all this with cold eyes. He wondered in his heart whether this chaos would affect Concubine Xian's relief plan.
But he did not intervene, just quietly watched the situation develop.
Concubine Xian stood in the porridge shed, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes revealing a hint of displeasure. She glanced at the chaotic scene outside, and a feeling of dissatisfaction surged in her heart.
She turned to look at Butler Wu and said in a slightly reproachful tone, "Butler Wu, how could you make such a mess?"
A layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on Wu Shulai's forehead. He wiped it hurriedly with his sleeve, looking terrified.
He explained anxiously, "Empress Xian, I don't know where all these refugees came from. They have messed up the whole scene, just like a pot of boiling porridge! Do you think we need to stop distributing them temporarily?"
At this moment, a refugee with a dark face and ragged clothes angrily threw the bowl of porridge in his hand heavily to the ground, and the porridge in the bowl splashed everywhere.
His eyes widened and he shouted angrily, "Didn't the Empress in the palace give us porridge? What kind of porridge is this? It's just water. You can see a person's reflection in it! Take a look for yourselves!"
As he said this, he quickly rushed to a palace maid, snatched a steamed bun from her hand, and broke it open. Everyone gathered around, only to see that the steamed bun was covered with tiny grains of sand.
The refugee was filled with anger and shouted, "This is made of brown rice and there's sand mixed in it. One bite of it will break your teeth!"
Wu Shulai was immediately furious when he saw this, and he shouted, "How dare you, a scoundrel, talk nonsense here! How could there be sand in our steamed buns?"
However, the refugees did not believe his words, and their eyes were full of suspicion and vigilance.
After all, the official in front of them, who was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a fair face, was too far away from these dirty and exhausted refugees.
For those people at the bottom of society, they are more willing to believe their compatriots who are in the same miserable situation.