Chapter 365: Doing a Good Deed

"Exactly, anyone who didn't know would think the world belonged to the Song family."

Hearing the outcry, the few young women grew a bit scared; they exchanged glances, looking as if they were about to slip away.

Shopkeeper Niu waved at the assistants behind him, "Throw them off this street, and from now on, you're not allowed to come here again. Come once, and we'll beat you once."

Before the assistants could act, the people in line started doing it themselves—they truly couldn't stand women like these, unmarried yet acting like shrews, coming to someone's shop to beg for food. How shameless! They had to be thrown out.

Within a day, news of the Song family girls being thrown off Huangdao Avenue reached the Imperial Palace.

The Emperor was so furious he swept everything off his dragon desk onto the floor. The Crown Prince stood to the side, head bowed, lips pressed together, silent.

"Since they refuse to learn despite repeated warnings, then I'll teach your maternal family a lesson on your behalf. Yubao."

"Your servant is here."

"Take a squad of the Imperial Guard, along with a few palace matrons, to the Song residence. Drag the women who tried to freeload food today to the Song family gate. Since they want to eat for free, I order you to slap their mouths hard."

Seeing that the Crown Prince was serious, they finally got scared.

The aroma of that porridge would make even the wealthy salivate.

But Qiao Mai intended to train Ling'er, so this year's debt collection was assigned to her. Accompanying her were Jin Mama, Yuehong, and Yuexia. Flame was too big—it scared people wherever it went—so it couldn't go along.

"Line up, everyone line up. Starting today, our Fu Wang's consort will distribute porridge until the second day of the second month, Dragon Raises Its Head. Rice will be provided every day without fail. Don't push—anyone who pushes gets nothing."

Returning home, she had a porridge stall set up at the crossroads not far from her gate. The fragrant, simple rice porridge immediately attracted many beggars.

After this incident, the Song family became much more subdued.

Unable to accompany his fiancée, the Crown Prince felt some regret, but he rose early to see Ling'er off, escorting her all the way outside the city.

Time passed in a flash, and winter arrived. Jia Mei's belly had grown large—she was five months along.

Qiao Mai sent a sheep and a rat along, of course. Heizi, having nothing to do, was also dispatched by her.

"We can't let them stay here any longer, or else the entire Jingcheng will become the Song family's. Even more so, we can't let them go back, or else once they find out you've become Crown Prince, the common folk there will be oppressed by them beyond imagination."

And the Emperor and the Crown Prince—since they're like this, why stay in Jingcheng? Letting them attend such a wedding—isn't it disgusting?

You say the royal family is heartless, yet in this regard, they're terribly inept.

Holding broken bowls, they rushed forward to beg. The steward led people to maintain order.

"Really? That's great! Then we won't go hungry."

Zhang Guanjia nodded. The servants ladled out porridge for them, took the money, and placed it in the basket.

This time, they lost face badly in Jingcheng. Not only that, but that very night, the Song residence was surrounded by the Imperial Guard, and they were forbidden to leave their home.

Fragrant white rice porridge steamed with heat. The beggars lined up orderly to receive their portions. The servants of Jixiang Yuan ladled out the porridge and also gave them a small piece of pickled vegetable to go with it.

The one who made the biggest fuss was often the one who died the worst death.

"Your son will not let them cause any more trouble."

Seeing that the servants of Jixiang Yuan hadn't returned by noon and simply scooped a bowl of porridge to drink on the spot, they knew the porridge was genuine.

And they were warned once more—this was the last time. If they stirred up any more trouble, the entire Song family would be exiled to a bitter, cold land.

"Any place sheltered from the wind will do. Many kind-hearted families give us their old, unwanted quilts."

The Crown Prince did not follow along; he had many matters to attend to and was extremely busy.

Since Qiao Mai came out of seclusion, she hadn't gone into seclusion again that year.

"Hehe, having porridge to drink is enough to be content."

By now, the Song family had been under house arrest for three months. Seeing that they had become much more obedient, the Crown Prince finally withdrew the Imperial Guard and restored their freedom.

At this point, she was already somewhat displeased. Seeing the Crown Prince like this, she truly felt uneasy about marrying Ling'er off to him.

"This porridge is meant to aid the poor and needy."

The head of the Song family initially wanted to argue, but upon hearing about the girls' shameless attempts to freeload food, they all shrank back inside the residence.

Thinking about returning to Tianshui Town in the twelfth month, she sighed. It seemed she wouldn't be able to go along this time.

"It's in their nature."

He watched the carriage go far into the distance before turning around and entering the city.

"Mm, if you're in trouble, you can come to Jixiang Yuan and find this consort."

"In my opinion, exile them all to the border. Without suffering hardship and punishment, they won't change."

Qiao Mai smiled, "It's so cold—where do you all stay?"

"In a few months, it will be your son and the princess's wedding day. Why not wait until after the wedding? I'll buy them some property in a village on the outskirts of Jingcheng and let them farm the land."

Ling'er was about to marry. Let's do a good deed before the year ends.

The Emperor glared at the Crown Prince. "Look at what kind of mongrels your maternal family are. No sooner do they arrive in Jingcheng than they try to take advantage of others and bully people by relying on power. I truly want to exterminate their entire clan."

Every year, Yuan Jiaqi took several hundred thousand taels of silver from her to aid the people. This year, the weather was exceptionally cold, and she feared many would freeze to death.

"Father Emperor, your son had no idea they were like this. If I had known earlier, why would I have brought them here?"

Although the Crown Prince had them under house arrest, he didn't skimp on their food and daily necessities.

Starting from the end of the eleventh month, Jixiang Yuan began distributing porridge, from morning until evening every day—all thick porridge with small pickled vegetables.

"Fortunately, your mother doesn't carry their base nature. All these years, I've spared them out of consideration for your mother's face."

"We know, but the porridge smells so good, we just wanted a taste. Don't worry, one bowl of porridge costs ten wen. Consider it our donation to the people. Is that alright?"

Watching these people finish their porridge and squat off to the side, she asked.

The faces of the six Song family girls were swollen like pig heads. After the beating, Yubao led his men straight back to the palace.

In these times, beggars were beggars. No one would give up a good life to beg on the streets.

Qiao Mai clasped her hands behind her back, observing these beggars. There were old and young, injured and disabled—few were whole.

She had disguised herself and was walking the streets with her hands behind her back. As soon as it got cold, the common folk's lives became hard, especially for the poor.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The beggar drinking porridge stopped, wiped a tear from his eye, and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Especially in Jingcheng, everyone says that the common folk now live in peace and prosperity, yet there are still quite a few beggars.

Those people lifted the porridge, took a sip, and immediately kept blowing on it as they drank, muttering while they drank.

That afternoon, the Song Family's young lady, right at the Song Family's gate, was slapped; the townsfolk gathered to watch, and that big slap was truly satisfying.

Aside from attending to household affairs, they just lie warm on the heated brick bed inside the house; otherwise, they just walk back and forth on the ground for no reason.

Several people came over with bowls to ask, "Um, I think your porridge is good; could I have a bowl?"

"One bowl of porridge probably isn't enough to fill you up, right?"

From then on, they never showed off again, no longer jostled with others when going out, and acted very low‑key; they just didn't dare go to Huangdao Avenue any more. If they wanted something to eat, they would send someone to line up and buy it.

Yubao stole a glance at the Crown Prince, then slipped away quietly.

When Qiao Mai heard about it, she let out a cold snort: "Is the Song Family a bunch of pigs? Not a single sensible person?"

"You give such fine rice to the common folk, it's really wasteful; this porridge is truly delicious. What kind of rice do you use, and can we buy some to take home?"

"No, our family's rice isn't for sale,"

Of course, this isn't ordinary rice; the rice in Zhou Peng is harvested from the void, batch after batch, and has long become spirit rice.

One bowl not only satisfies hunger, but also cures ailments, granting longevity with regular consumption.

(End of chapter)