Chapter 222

Palace servants have begun clearing the snow, but the road to East Great Camp obviously cannot be cleared that quickly; the Great King, ignoring advice, insists on wading through the snow right away.

He jumped into the snow with one foot, and instantly his whole body was buried halfway... The snow depth reached the Great King's waist.

A bit awkward.

The Great King was struggling to pull his leg out, Lingyin hesitated whether to help, but Weini acted first.

It stood upright and lifted the Great King out...

It grabbed the Great King by the hood of his cloak and lifted him up...

After lifting him up, it didn't know where to put him, hesitated a moment, then placed him ahead for a bit, and the Great King's short legs were immediately buried in the snow again...

After thinking, it boldly pulled the Great King out again, this time placing him on the slowly following White Marsh's back, which gleamed in the snow.

Only after placing him did it dare to look at the boss's face, wondering if it was okay?

The Great King realized how wonderful it was, feeling for the first time that Weini was so perceptive!

"Weini! Ah, I never realized White Marsh was this tall!" Its legs are that long out there, unlike him, wait...

"How come you didn't fall into the snow?" The Great King finally noticed something odd: Weini was standing in a snowdrift, while the huge White Marsh stood on the snow surface!

White Marsh rolled its eyes, stayed silent, and, lazy to pretend on its own turf, carried the Great King a few leaps out of the Year Feather Hall's bounds and headed for East Great Camp.

Lingyin calmly used a movement technique to keep up, while Zhao Bao and Tong Chen were the most confused, looking at the footprints White Marsh left... just shallow marks? How could something so massive weigh so little?!

No one bothered about how they were windswept and disheveled; Zhao Bao and Weini also wouldn't abandon following the Great King, so in the end only they were really wading through the snow on foot.

With his super mount, the Great King reached East Great Camp in an instant and immediately summoned everyone in the camp for a meeting.

He planned to first send cavalry to inspect the disaster situation in surrounding counties and towns.

The Great King and Zhang Tu discussed it, took out a map, and assigned each area, sending a team of twenty people per village to check the situation.

To be honest, You Prefecture's population is still concentrated in a few major cities; twenty people are enough for a small village, and the rest stand by for news, ready to reinforce anywhere that turns severe.

"If individual homes are damaged, stay and help; if you can organize local residents for rescue, you can also organize self‑relief. Record the disaster details clearly; when you return, they must be tallied. If the situation is severe and you can't handle it, immediately send someone back to report, and I will dispatch reinforcements. Before setting out, go to East Splendid Gate to receive a two‑day ration pack, and each group should bring a cold‑proof tent just in case. All right, move out!"

Zhao Chuan, waiting at West Great Camp, hurried over upon hearing the news, while East Great Camp had already dispatched over two thousand cavalry in a flash.

"West Great Camp, return to organize snow clearing; everyone else, stand by."

The Great King hated to leave White Marsh's back, and when Zhao Bao and Weini arrived covered in snow, he heard him say: "... The court audience is canceled; I will also go into the city to look. Zhao Bao, make the arrangements and bring Weini back as well."

Zhao Bao: "Yes!"

Weini: "... No way."

The dispatched cavalry went to fetch their horses and tents, then upon leaving received a cloth bundle and a waterskin at East Splendid Gate, stuffed them onto their saddles, crossed the bridge, mounted up, and scattered in all directions.

The Great King, being lazy, refused to ride a horse, clung to White Marsh, and after saying a bunch of nice things, White Marsh finally agreed to bring him along with the soldiers heading into the city.

The Great King wasn't too worried about You Prefecture City, since the five poorest wards had already been rebuilt, basically finished, and were drying out these two days; he had people prepare to allocate them so everyone could move in for the New Year. He trusted Mengmeng's screening, and the relatively better wards should be able to hold up...

You Prefecture City was blanketed white overnight; at dawn, everyone went out and habitually shoveled a path, checking the situation of left and right neighbors to see if help was needed.

Actually, during the snowfall, experienced northerners would get up to clear snow from their roofs, and some households would brave the wind and snow to sweep two or three times; they know their own homes best, and this is also the common folk's way of survival.

The kind of silent burial the Great King imagined would either be households without adult men or only the elderly and weak; once they could go out, the village wards would be the first to check on such families.

When the five poorest wards of You Prefecture City were demolished and rebuilt, there were plenty who wanted to take money and flee south, leaving the dangerous border prefecture, but the refugees who had wandered in dealt them a heavy blow.

First, the situation in the south also seemed unfavorable.

Second, if they left, they would be giving up their You Prefecture household registration.

The poor had practically gone through a round of conscripted labor service, easing their lives; going south might even turn them into illegal residents. Look at the refugees in Red Water Village— they're tightly watched, not allowed to wander about at all.

Once they realized this, everyone chose to have a house.

They wanted to free up the land, mostly renting vacant houses in the city as temporary lodging.

Living cramped together in the deep winter is certainly unpleasant, but seeing the large houses built on the old sites gave them complete hope; most never imagined in their lifetime that they could one day live in such tall, sturdy houses.

What idle properties You Prefecture could offer weren't much better than the five poor wards, and a heavy snowfall knocked down many of them.

Qian Dayong of the Five Leaves Ward, once redeemed by the Great King, was miserably digging out the collapsed house; he had gotten out, but all his belongings were still buried inside.

As he dug, he heard hoofbeats on the street, looked up, and saw several lightly armored cavalry riding over; seeing that his house had collapsed, they immediately galloped forward to inspect.

Qian Dayong jumped in shock— could it be that the Great King had something to announce, or that the Northern Beards had marched south?

Before he could overthink and frighten himself, the lead soldier said the Great King had sent them to check the disaster situation, asking if anyone was buried inside; Qian Dayong hurriedly shook his head: "No one, no one! Everyone got out!"

Those soldiers, hearing no one, rode off; a single expression of concern warmed Qian Dayong's heart. This shows something— it shows the Great King cares about them!

The horses had ridden far away, but his little brother was still craning his neck, saying, "How impressive! When I grow up I'll become the Great King's personal guard!"

Not long after, a cheerful neighbor came over excitedly sharing the latest buzz: apparently a household on Front Street had collapsed a wing, trapping two young ladies inside.

"What do you think? The Prince You's personal guard, upon patrolling there, all dismounted to help dig! Those guards are built like tanks— they shoved aside the broken wing in a few moves, pulled it apart, and the two young ladies were alive, though one had a broken leg; they even helped send her to the clinic. Old Yu's family also had no money, having just married off his son with empty pockets, but the Great King's personal guard said, 'Just treat them first— saving lives comes first, we can talk about money later.'"

Qian Dayong's sister inquired: "Did the Great King cover the costs?"

"Probably."

"... Just now cavalry came asking if we'd crushed anyone; the Great King truly doesn't discriminate against us. In the past, You Prefecture hasn't lacked heavy snow, yet nobody ever looked after us."

"Exactly! The Great King is quite impressive for his age..."

Qian Xiaodi became even more determined, and began to declare earnestly: "I like this Great King; when I grow up I will also go to serve as his personal guard."

Qian Xiaomei was speechless: "How many times do you have to say it? You should first grow up! If you weren't so young, older brother would have gone, and it wouldn't be your turn." Who let her family have only one adult male.