Chapter 309 – Three Years of Langya (Part Nine)
This year’s first snow lasted for over half a month, and the weather grew colder by the day. Countless houses collapsed under the weight of the snow, and many common people lost their lives. Several noble families in the capital opened granaries and set up porridge stands, while more wealthy households continued to revel in their decadence.
Jiang Pengji was now staying at the Feng Residence, and hearing about the porridge stands, she decided to accompany Feng Jin to help distribute porridge to the common people.
Snow continued to fall outside, and several lines of commoners had already formed in front of the porridge stand.
Almost everyone appeared gaunt, dressed in tattered clothing. Some wore thicker garments but were covered in patches of various sizes.
“This heavy snow… I wonder how many commoners were crushed to death… How many froze to death…”
A young servant helping at the porridge stand looked at the seemingly endless line and whispered to the other young servant beside him with pity and sympathy in his tone.
Despite having two large pots set up, the porridge cooked was still not enough for everyone.
“Quit your chatter and focus on the work… Can the lives of the nobles and the commoners even be compared?”
The commoners lined up in a daze to receive their porridge, while Jiang Pengji assisted in ladling out porridge and stoking the fire, and even Feng Jin, a frail scholar, was sweating profusely.
Surrounding them, the commoners were silent, with no chatter or cutting in line. The active audience in the livestream had also grown quiet, creating a somber atmosphere. Some viewers couldn’t help but feel teary-eyed as they watched, unable to muster the courage to continue, and nobody sent those shameless bullet comments.
【Bunny Dance】: …Even though I’m always complaining about how cold winter is, making me shiver, and how the south has no natural heating, it’s really a blessing that we live like this now…
【Bunny Dance】: This area doesn’t have natural heating, but we can buy space heaters, or turn on the air conditioning to heat it up. If we don’t mind wasting electricity, we can stay in our homes in summer clothes during winter… These things were almost impossible in ancient times. Wealthy families can wear more clothes and burn quality coal for warmth, but what about the commoners?
Right? What about the commoners?
Too many commoners can’t afford warm clothes, can’t live in windproof houses, and can’t burn coal for heating, and this is in the capital city beneath the Emperor’s feet! If it’s like this here, what about the surrounding regions?
After such a heavy snow, how many houses have collapsed, how many commoners have been crushed, how many innocent lives frozen to death?
With no external help, they can only rely on their own bodies to resist; those who can’t endure will freeze to death… That’s freezing to death!
“System, can I exchange popularity points for food? Warm clothes would do too…”
Jiang Pengji quietly inquired of the System.
“No, your host level is too low. Unless you choose to level up.”
The System’s cold mechanical voice fell into Jiang Pengji’s ears, igniting an unprecedented murderous intent in her heart.
Jiang Pengji silently calculated the total points in her account and asked, “Can I exchange food after leveling up? What’s the conversion rate?”
The System answered, “Ten thousand points can be exchanged for a hundred pounds of grain.”
Ten thousand points for a hundred pounds of grain?
Jiang Pengji currently had over one hundred thirty thousand points, which superficially seemed like it could be exchanged for tons of food.
However, Jiang Pengji was not that easily fooled.
The System was evasive about the previous question, so even if she leveled up to a third-tier streamer, she still wouldn’t receive the exchange rights.
Leaving that aside, it takes a million popularity points to level from a second-tier to a third-tier streamer.
If she exchanged all of it, the remaining popularity points according to the conversion rate given by the System would barely yield much food.
This was a trap.
“Forget it, you’re not reliable at all.” Jiang Pengji coldly replied, turning to seek other solutions.
The System was frustrated but didn’t dare to retort back at Jiang Pengji.
Unless Jiang Pengji chose to expend popularity points to level up, the current System was powerless against this host.
The Feng Residence was one of the few noble families in the capital that chose to set up a porridge stand. They worked tirelessly from morning till night to cook porridge, yet it still fell short of demand.
A bowl of porridge was not thick, in fact, it was quite watery, but it at least filled the stomach with some liquid and warmed the chilly body.
Jiang Pengji helped out at the porridge stand for several days but hadn’t heard any orders for disaster relief, let alone any rice or warm clothing.
After returning from court, Liu Zhi looked more worn out each day.
With a grim expression, he said, “Father has submitted several petitions, but the Official Master always uses the second prince’s wedding as an excuse to vaguely delay. Today he finally relented, but he gave the task to a certain Chief Eunuch Shi… That man is greedy by nature, picking the bones from carcasses… The twenty thousand taels dispatched will certainly be embezzled significantly, so how much will actually reach the common people…?”
In this current world, although true chaos had not yet erupted, how much better was it than a chaotic world?
Jiang Pengji had helped at the porridge stand for several days, or distributed some warm clothing to the commoners; she understood the situation regarding the snow disaster the best.
She snorted coldly, “Twenty thousand taels is already not enough, and after being siphoned off repeatedly… what can it really do?”
Liu Zhi sighed, “Father has secretly purchased some grain to send north to the capital, hoping to alleviate the urgent situation a bit.”
In this current world, no matter what he did, it felt like a drop in the bucket. It was better to resolve the underlying issues.
Three days passed, and the heavy snowfall finally ceased.
Jiang Pengji looked at the invitation card and smiled coldly, “The second prince’s wedding? I’m not related to him in any way, why should I go?”
In the vast capital, blanketed in white snow, the world looked desolate and colorless.
The princess of the Northern Border Royal Court donned a bright red bridal gown, seated in a palanquin carried by sixteen men, under the rare honor granted by the Emperor of Dongqing.
The palanquin was adorned with gold, silver, and precious stones, festooned with red silk; it shimmered under the sunlight, radiating luxury.
The wedding procession, clad in festive new clothes, paraded through the capital with music and celebration, while commoners on the streets cheered and offered blessings. Next to the royal residence, a hundred banquet tables were set up, with ministers and noblewomen coming in and out, creating quite a buzz.
In stark contrast, in a distant corner of the capital, lay the rigid bodies of many commoners dug out from the rubble.
One by one, the frozen corpses filled cart after cart.
Dressed in plain garb, Jiang Pengji had her long hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin, her expression as cold as ice and snow.
This world… truly needs to change!
Jiang Pengji instructed the young servant clearing the bodies, “Make sure they’re buried properly. The weather is cold now, and the bodies won’t decay easily, but that can’t lead to slackness. If the bodies pile up and aren’t dealt with, come spring, it’ll lead to outbreaks of disease.”
“Rest assured, Young Master, I will handle it properly.”
Meanwhile, at another part of the capital.
Lü Zheng held a plate, chewing on the slightly hard cold cake, and sighed, “It’s been almost a month since the evaluations, yet the court still hasn’t issued any appointment letters. It seems this year is hopeless…”
“Master has already decided to leave for Langya in a couple of days… I truly don’t want to come back to this capital again.”
Han Yu listened to the sounds of celebration outside, feeling incredibly restless.
So many commoners froze to death and starved, yet the Official Master threw such a grand wedding for the second prince, on a scale even exceeding that of the Crown Prince.
How can this Dongqing not go to ruin!
