Setting Up Porridge Stalls (2)

Di Qingyu moved quickly. She had only received the silver that morning, but by noon, she had already arranged for people to set up several temporary porridge stalls.

Accompanied by many guards, she handed out free porridge and padded winter clothing at one of the stalls.

They were given to impoverished commoners who did not have enough to eat.

"Everyone, His Majesty cares for you all. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, he wishes to celebrate it with you. In his boundless imperial grace, he has made special arrangements for meat porridge and padded winter clothing to be distributed free of charge in the outskirts to the east, south, west, and north of the royal city. You may register and collect them using the household register. One portion per person, please. Do not take more and leave others short of food and clothing. Thank you all."

Di Qingyu wore a white veil that covered most of her face. Her voice, cool and frail yet resilient, rang out clearly among the crowd listening in silence.

The commoners who had heard about the free porridge and gathered around immediately lit up with joy.

"Oh! The emperor's grace is boundless! Long live His Majesty! Long, long may he live!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty enjoy good health!"

They quickly knelt on the ground and bowed toward the porridge stall from afar, grateful in their hearts.

Seeing this, Di Qingyu immediately stepped forward to help the thinly dressed elderly and children to their feet.

"Everyone, please rise quickly. His Majesty will know how you feel. The weather is cold and the ground is chilly; kneeling is bad for your health."

The commoners were thinly dressed, some even filthy, but though she wore a white dress, she showed no distaste and helped the elderly up with warmth and gentleness.

Seeing this, the elderly people grew a little embarrassed and withdrew the hands she had helped them up with.

"Thank you, miss. Our clothes are dirty. We wouldn't want to soil your white dress." The old woman's wrinkled face was full of shyness.

Di Qingyu smiled and shook her head. "Please, you do me too much honor. Whether this white dress is dirty or not depends only on what the person wearing it thinks. Even if I rolled around in the mud, as long as I considered myself spotless, it would still be clean. Besides, what you carry isn't mud, but the honor of your labor, tilling and planting the land for our Xiling. You make a living with your own hands, and you're cleaner than anyone."

She could tell at a glance that the old woman was a farmer through and through.

Di Qingyu's words brought warmth to the old woman's eyes. "Oh, miss, I'm truly ashamed to hear you say that. Thank you for comforting me."

She was just an ordinary commoner who had farmed all her life and had rarely been treated with such respect by those above her.

"Elder, those words came from the bottom of my heart. Please don't look down on yourself. Every inch of land you till is an inch of Xiling's royal soil, and you, too, have rendered great service to Xiling."

Di Qingyu turned and ladled out a bowl of hot porridge. Taking the old woman's hand, she gently placed the bowl in it. "Here, have some hot porridge to chase away the cold. If it's inconvenient for you to carry the padded clothes home later, we can send someone to deliver them."

"Oh, there's no need to trouble yourselves so much. I still have that much strength in me." The old woman smiled and waved her hand. "You said it yourself, miss. I shouldn't look down on myself too much, should I?"

"Yes, I underestimated you. I was wrong, and I apologize."

Di Qingyu was taken aback. Then her lips curved slightly beneath her white veil, and she spoke softly.

As she spoke, she bent forward slightly.

The old woman hurriedly stopped her. "Oh, miss, don't tease me. I wouldn't dare accept a bow from you. I'm afraid the others would point fingers at me behind my back."

Their playful exchange made everyone around them laugh. The atmosphere grew relaxed and warm, and everyone lined up in an orderly fashion to collect their things. The imagined chaos and scrambling never appeared.

Di Qingyu personally helped hand out porridge for a while, until her arms ached so slightly that she found them somewhat hard to lift.

Just then, a child with a dirty face came forward cautiously, holding a bowl.

"Big sister, I'd like a bowl of porridge too." She placed the bowl on the table with her thin, dark little hands.

Di Qingyu showed no sign of weariness and smiled gently.

"All right, wait a moment."

As she spoke, she lowered the ladle to the bottom of the pot, then raised it steadily and slowly, bringing up a ladleful of meat porridge. But her arm ached, and it trembled slightly.

The ladle was just about to fall back into the pot.

But unexpectedly-

"Let me do it. Go rest to the side for a while."

Zhu Wuyang, who had been maintaining order at the front, had come over at some point. He reached out and gripped the ladle's handle a fist's width from her hand, without touching her or spilling the porridge.

He had noticed that Di Qingyu had not revealed her identity from beginning to end, so he did not address her by her title either.

Clearly, he had noticed that her strength was failing.

Di Qingyu did not try to push herself. She nodded and said politely, "Thank you, Guard Zhu."

With that, she turned slightly to the side, then stepped away and rubbed her aching, swollen right arm with her left hand.

Zhu Wuyang withdrew his gaze and took her place, continuing to hand out porridge.

It had already been going on for two hours, and the commoners were still coming after hearing the news. The end of the queue was almost out of sight.

"Master, sit down and rest for a while." Chunzhi brought over a stool and raised her hands to massage Di Qingyu.

Glancing at the growing queue of commoners and at Zhu Wuyang, Di Qingyu lowered her shimmering eyes slightly and dropped her voice so that only the two of them could hear.

"Where is Du Chengji's son?"

Ever since Du Chengji had been transferred to Xiling's central government a few days ago, his son Du Yutao had used his connections to open several grain shops in the royal city. Although the court controlled grain prices, the merchants still made a considerable profit. With the empress dowager backing him, most of the grain-shop business in Xiling had shifted in Du Yutao's favor.

Chunzhi glanced around and leaned down under the pretext of massaging her, parting her lips slightly.

"He's still in his own grain shop. He hasn't made a move."

Di Qingyu half closed her eyes. "Send people to put on an act and ruin the deals others are making to sell grain to his shop. Spread word that free porridge will be handed out here for half a month."

She had only said that porridge would be handed out during the Mid-Autumn Festival, without specifying how many days. Only she and the emperor knew the truth.

"Yes."

Chunzhi nodded, glanced around, then turned and pretended to go fetch something, gradually making her way away from the place.

By the time Chunzhi returned, it was already evening.

Most of the meat porridge they had prepared in reserve had been distributed, and there were few people still coming. When Di Qingyu saw Chunzhi return and shake her head slightly, she knew Du Yutao had made no move. She pressed her lips together and stood.

"Guard Zhu, let's end today's porridge distribution here. Thank you and the other guards for your hard work. This is drinking money for everyone. You can all go back and rest."

Di Qingyu personally took out a bag of silver and handed it to Zhu Wuyang.

Zhu Wuyang glanced at it and immediately refused with a cold expression.

"Please forgive me, but I cannot comply. This was already a duty His Majesty assigned to us. If I accepted it, I would be disloyal to His Majesty and disrespectful to Your Highness."

Seeing this, Di Qingyu's lips curved slightly. "In that case, I won't insist. Everyone can pack up and return to the palace."

"Yes."

Only after he left did Chunzhi step forward and approach Di Qingyu.

"Master, there's still no movement from Du Yutao."

Di Qingyu half closed her beautiful, shimmering eyes. "There's no hurry. Didn't they say he likes visiting brothels? Tonight, find out who he usually spends time with, and pay someone to get him drunk tomorrow night. That will do."

It was only a matter of paying to get someone drunk, not murder or arson. With enough money, someone would always do it.

Chunzhi said, "Yes."

Afterward, the group returned to the palace to rest.

"Your Majesty, the sixth princess's porridge distribution was extremely well received. The commoners are all grateful for Your Majesty's boundless grace."

Inside Xuanzheng Hall, a dark figure appeared.

Hearing this, Di Yunqian did not look up from reviewing memorials.

"Oh? And Qingyu? How did the commoners react to her?"

"The sixth princess treated the commoners with warmth and courtesy and handed out porridge herself. When some asked who she was, she only said, 'All the people under heaven are Your Majesty's children, and we are all sisters.' From beginning to end, she never revealed that she was a princess and gave all the credit to Your Majesty."

Di Yunqian nodded slightly. "Mm. Then let her be."

The dark figure hesitated for a second. "Should this servant continue watching her?"

"No need. Go and investigate why Wei Ning submitted his resignation. Watch his every move and see whom he meets."

"Yes."

After the dark figure disappeared, Di Yunqian's hand paused over the memorial he was reviewing. He gazed at a certain word on it and gently closed his eyes, his thoughts inscrutable.