Pang Xiao was oblivious to the loyalty and respect he’d unknowingly harvested from many of his subordinates. His wife’s health had completely occupied his attention.
Bingtang dressed Qin Yining’s wrist wound on the wrist.
“I’ll forage for more herbs in a bit, Your Highness. You need to take a few more doses of the medicine. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine. However, no excessive mental or physical exertion.”
“I understand.” Qin Yining smiled at her maid with gratitude.
Bingtang and Jiyun took their leave after Pang Xiao entered the shack. They grabbed a few others to forage for herbs together.
Pang Xiao sat sideways by Qin Yining and said feelingly. “It looks like life has other plans for us.”
“There’s no such thing. Everything’s just fine with my health. I’ll be my old self again after a few more days of medicine, and I’ll also have Bingtang put together what’s needed for the trip. Let’s not dally here. We need to head to the disaster zone as soon as possible so that gossip doesn’t start circulating.”
Chapter 443: Arrival
“I understand your reservations, but you’re sick and can’t rest properly because of me. You fell sick because you had to suffer in the wind and rain by my side. This really doesn't sit well with me.”
Pang Xiao held Qin Yining’s hand, the unnatural flush of her cheeks the only sight in his eyes. Cold sweat beaded her forehead and her lips were white.
She shook her head with a slight smile and swung his coarse hands. “Why think about things this way? You and I are husband and wife. We’re one entity. No matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side.”
“My dear…”
“Do you not like me keeping you company?”
“I do, of course I do.” Pang Xiao’s low voice was tender as he spoke of his deep love for her.
“Then that’s that.” Qin Yining beamed radiantly. “I also like keeping you company, isn’t that enough? Besides, who doesn’t get sick throughout the course of life? We’re not immortals. If I didn’t come with you on this trip, you wouldn’t have known about it if I got sick at home and didn’t tell you. Not knowing doesn’t mean never having been sick.”
That was the logic, yes, but Pang Xiao still felt the guilt of not adequately protecting his loved ones. Though it plagued him, he smiled reassuringly. “Anything you say is right.”
His wife gifted him an eye roll.
“What do you mean by that? Of course everything I say is right. You sound like I’m bullying you.”
Pang Xiao adored the impish side of her. Some notes of mischief rang out amidst her frail discomfort. Her voice was charmingly mild and marked with a hint of raspiness, like she was putting on cute airs for him.
Head over heels in love, the prince bent down to hug her tightly and rub his face against hers. He never wanted to let go of this warm, smooth sensation.
“My dear, I like you so much. You’re so soft and smell so good. I want to spend every day with you like this and do nothing at all.”
Chuckles rang out in the air. “Now do you understand why some emperors of old never held morning court?”
Pang Xiao buried his face in her neck and nodded rapidly, huffing out hot air all over her.
Qin Yining smiled despite herself and laid a kiss of precious tenderness on his forehead.
As sensitive as he was, he immediately discovered her kiss and dropped one back in kind on her neck.
He’d wanted to give her more time to rest, but Qin Yining insisted that they couldn’t delay the relief efforts. The prince also understood the gravity of the matter. There were still many pairs of eyes watching them. If he didn’t immediately execute the imperial orders, Li Qitian would likely levy the crime of delaying the mission onto the two of them. Then any delays occurred thus far would somehow become Pang Xiao’s fault as well.
Preparations were swiftly made, and the convoy set out in the wee hours of the next day.
Qin Yining was highly feverish in the night; her temperature didn’t break until dawn. Therefore, she fell into a deep sleep as soon as she entered the carriage.
Pang Xiao was of no mind whatsoever to ride with the men outside. He sat with anxiously furrowed brows within the carriage, leaning on a wall and cradling his wife’s upper body. He would decrease any of the vehicle’s lurching and bumpiness that he could.
Bingtang and Jiyun sat closer to the carriage door. When she saw how worried the prince was, Bingtang couldn’t help but speak up.
“Your Highness, the princess consort will be fine. There was some venom in that mosquito, which is why the wound grew infected. She’ll be fine after two more days.”
Realizing Bingtang’s kind intentions, Pang Xiao quirked his lips and nodded. They actually all misunderstood him.
His sorrow, worries, and anguish had nothing to do with how sick his darling was. He’d be the same way even if she’d only pricked herself when patching his clothes. He was this way because her suffering was due to him.
When he’d brought her over his threshold, he’d wanted to give her a carefree life without worry.
But in the end, he was the one who brought further hardship upon her.
The helpless sense of failure that descended was far worse than any self-condemnation.
Bingtang and Jiyun had no idea what the prince was thinking, but they remained silent when they noted his despondent mood. They followed Qin Yining out of true loyalty, so they were absolutely happy for their mistress that her husband cared for her so deeply.
The closer the convoy drew to the old capital, the bleaker the landscape became.
It didn’t register to the Dragon Riders or Elite Tigers, but the people Qin Yining had brought with her were all once denizens of the old capital and had lived through the great disasters.
The roads grew worse the more they traveled. Gradients appeared in the road and cracks or fissures spontaneously marked the surface. Travel via carriage grew nigh impossible.
The original river was now a dried up riverbed, and a deep crack within it was the culprit that sucked away all of the waters. Once flourishing forest now fell helter-skelter to the sides.
Qin Yining finally felt better on the second day. A fever no longer plagued her, but she had no strength in her limbs. Thus, she lifted the carriage curtains to see what she could take in from the outside world.
The disaster relief convoy could now finally observe in full the conditions after the earthquake.
After rounding an enormous boulder the size of half a house, the group found themselves on a corner turn of a mountain road leading to the city. It offered a vantage point of the entire city.
The sight that greeted them was one of toppled and collapsed houses, rubble and ruin strewn throughout the city like an overturned bowl of congee with plenty of fillings.
It was a mess.
They didn’t need to draw near to understand the ghastly conditions that the people must be suffering through.
It wasn’t a matter of the local government not having enough silver to purchase food and thus having a famine develop instead. Even if people had silver, deliveries couldn’t be made because the roads were blocked. There also weren’t any places to purchase from.
Not to mention, the people had to gather together everyday to dig out those trapped beneath the debris.
White smoke wafted from the northwest and southeast corners of the old capital, which drew Bingtang’s attention.
“What’s going on there? There weren’t any factories or workshops there when we left.”
Qin Yining shook her head and responded in a choked voice, “That, that may be massive funeral pyres.”
The shocking answer slammed a lid on all of the questions swirling in Bingtang’s mind.
The bodies that could be pulled from the wreckage had to be burned to decrease the chances of plague occurring. There was no other way for it.
The closer they drew to town, the more difficult travel became. Qin Yining a
lighted from the carriage to walk, but Pang Xiao carried her on his back, not wanting her to unduly suffer.
They quickly approached the city gates.
After the earth dragon’s exertions, chunks of outer layers were shaken off the previously stalwart city walls. Cracks criss-crossed the structure, and a scene of disaster could be glimpsed through a hole in the city gate.
Chapter 444: Scenes of Devastation and Despair
Panning the familiar city gates and once-familiar streets, Qin Yining’s lips quivered. Heartbreak and grief coursed through her veins like lava, debilitating her.
This was a place plagued by frequent ills. Other than the harassment and turmoil of war, those who called this place home were constantly tormented by natural disasters.
Did the heavens intend to destroy every living soul?
Her time in the capital may have been limited, but this had become her home after returning to the fold. Though brief, the time she’d spent in the city was richer and more memorable than her previous fourteen years of life.
That’s why, out of the entire group. Qin Yining least wanted the old capital to lay in ruins.
Pang Xiao flung an arm around Qin Yining’s shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. He turned to call out his orders. “Let’s head into the city and swing by the yamen first.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A long, scraggly gorge ripped through the formerly wide and level avenue. Most of the houses lining it laid in shambles.
The stench of death permeated the street. Smell of white limestone powder wafted into the air, intermingling with the stink of incinerated bodies and the fetid scent of corpses not properly disposed of in time.
It was now July, and given that the old capital sat in the south, those entombed in the wreckage didn’t need much time before exuding the pungent odor of rot.
As it were, crude, makeshift shacks raised by bedraggled people peppered the streets. The few houses fortunate enough to sustain only cracks in their facade still boasted of structural integrity. However, those naturally belonged to the rich and powerful.
Residences still standing in more or less pristine condition were evidence of immense care in the building process and selection of material. Commoners, however, called mud houses home. How would those possibly withstand the earth dragon’s violent thrashing?
Taking in the scenes along the way, Qin Yining’s forehead furrowed. These streets—those she knew well or those she’d never trod on—were now all piles of rubble.
Pang Xiao held her close and shielded her from the heartbreaking sights, knowing how upset she must be. After all, this was once her home.
The procession made their way to the former Hall of Heaven’s Will, now known as the ‘Old Capital Prefecture yamen’. The people they encountered completely ignored them, so faint from hunger that they couldn’t muster the strength to lift their eyelids.
They were simply too hungry.
Since roads to the old capital were blocked off, the city craved supplies. Food was in scarce supply, and stores with stock refused to open for business. No food could be procured even if there was any silver to be found.
There was also no sign of the supplies supposed to arrive from the imperial court.
Given that surrender was how they’d become part of Great Zhou, it was naturally difficult for the people to feel any sense of belonging.
And as expected, Great Zhou had forgotten about them in their time of need, not unlike that bastard former Great Yan emperor, who never cared about the welfare of his people.
So what of a new emperor on the throne and a new nation name? What was to be discarded would still be discarded.
Deep grooves carved themselves between Pang Xiao’s slender eyebrows when he noted how sallow-faced and emaciated the refugees were.
“Sister-in-law Liu! Sister Liu!” A bitter wail suddenly sounded from the side of the road, low and weak. Everyone looked in the direction of the cry, while several townspeople scurried toward a remote alleyway.
A husk of a woman dangled from a belt, her body swinging off a thick trunk stretching obliquely outward. A tattered skirt and bare feet swayed gently under the leafy umbrage. Underneath her bare feet were several bricks and rocks, kicked over in a mess.
Qin Yining exclaimed in horror and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Pang Xiao followed that up with a hand over her eyes, shielding her from the gruesome sight.
Huzi rushed over to see if he could help, but returned momentarily, crestfallen.
Amid the feeble whimpering of refugees too starved to cry, he murmured, “That woman was a widow. Her ill husband starved to death last year during the famine. When the earthquake struck, her son and mother were crushed beneath the rubble of their old house. She was the only one spared because she was a servant for a rich family in town. But that family can no longer afford to pay her and kicked her out. She has nothing to live for already and went without food for many days. Her despair drove her to…”
Brows knitted, Pang Xiao gave a quick nod. “I see. Let’s move on.”
The band of people pressed forward, leaving behind the faint cries. However, scenes like these were found in abundance everywhere throughout town.
A chunk of the yamen’s walls had been knocked off by the earth dragon’s exertions. It bore obvious signs of having been patched up later. The front gate of the yamen was locked. Pang Xiao had the guards knock and announce their arrival.
The men who answered barely had the strength to remain on their feet. They scrambled to open the door together after learning who Pang Xiao was.
Several wan guards craned their necks for a look at what trailed behind Pang Xiao’s entourage, but saw only a carriage and a horse. No rations or supplies were in sight.
Disappointment flashed across their eyes, but they managed to welcome the visitors with respect before carefully shutting the door.
The local prefect posted to the old capital was a forty-year-old man by the name of Gong You, courtesy name Zhongtang. He was a Metropolitan Graduate Scholar from Northern Ji, and had always enjoyed deep favor from Li Qitian. Bestowed with the title of prefect, Gong Yu was sent to oversee the affairs of the old capital and those of its neighboring cities.
Gong You hurried out of the building to greet Pang Xiao and his men. Both parties exchanged pleasantries before stepping into the front hall.
The prefect cut to the chase. “Did Your Highness bring the supplies with you?”
Pang Xiao forced a smile and sighed. He couldn’t very well just tell the embattled prefect that Li Qitian didn’t give him any supplies.
“This prince set out first, out of concern of the situation here. Supplies from the Ministry of Revenue should arrive shortly.”
Suspecting nothing, Gong You sighed. “It must have been a difficult trip?”
You wouldn’t have taken so long otherwise.
Pang Xiao recognized the message unsaid, and his smile grew more labored.
“This mission is entirely beyond me as well. The Commandery Prince of Yan was the original envoy for the relief mission. Who would’ve thought that he’d mutiny along the way and desert the nation!? We were held back for quite a few days to deal with the mess, and I became the stand-in envoy for the mission.”
“So that’s why!” Understanding dawned on the prefect. “How can the Commandery Prince of Yan bite the hand that feeds him! His Majesty trusted him so much that he was sent on this mission because of his local familiarity. This was out of concern for the people’s stability—but he uses the chance to run off!”
At that, Pang Xiao could tell that Gong You was a passionate and honest man. He needed to be just as forthright when working with the prefect; it also happened to be the prince’s preferred working style.
“Ai, forget about him.” Pang Xiao sighed. “How are things in town? This prince didn’t see any soup kitchens set up on my way in.”
Gong You shook his head and smiled ghastly. He answered with dejection, “
There are things Your Highness isn’t aware of. The old capital was hollowed out long ago. Last year’s famine took sixty percent of our population. Sixty percent!
“It was no wonder that the Great Yan should fall!” The prefect gestured with the thumb and pinkie of his right hand, explaining with anguish. “That imbecile of an emperor was utterly unfit and forced people out of their homes into the streets! Truth be told, when l was sent here last winter, the entire city was a ghost town! We were lucky to be spared of a plague!
“Who would’ve expected the remaining forty percent to be hit by the earthquake barely a year after the famine! There’s no telling how many will die this time around!”
Chapter 445: For the People
Qin Yining stood behind Pang Xiao with the rest of their retinue. It felt that knives stabbed continuously into her heart as the prefect explained just how dire the situation was.
The previous winter, groups of surrendered officials departed the old city for Great Zhou, leaving the citizens famine-torn streets full of corpses.
Qin Yining had tried her best to take in as many as she could. She owned land in all of the nearby cities, so those she took in could earn their keep. And yet, try as she might, she couldn’t hope to save everyone, no matter how wealthy she was.
Then the earthquake struck, fanning the flames of the catastrophe even further. Nothing was spared, be it Pang Xiao’s stores or her own farmland. And that was only their personal losses; she couldn’t even begin to imagine how badly the common folk had been affected.
She feared they would all end up in the state they found Sister-in-Law Liu in. So many had chosen to end their suffering through drastic means, so they could be reunited with loved ones who had passed.
Amid the heavy atmosphere permeating throughout the room, Gong You volunteered, “Your Highness, the government hasn’t sent any rice. Last year’s famine has already wrung the city dry. Even with more than half of the population dead, those who survived still need to eat.
“The location of this city is unique in that it was once the capital of Great Yan. Many aristocratic houses who held high positions in the Great Yan court reside here. Some of them refuse to serve Great Zhou, while others have retired due to old age.
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