Chapter 407

It shouldn't be delayed; maybe with just one day earlier the crops could be saved, and the Great King quickly made preparations to set off from Secluded Prefecture.

This time it wasn't incognito; a temporary unit was taken from the garrison to serve as engineering soldiers. Besides himself and Bai Ze's carriage, they only brought one extra empty horse-drawn carriage for people, intending whoever got heatstroke to ride it. Anyway, the purpose of this trip was to inspect the farmlands—to endure hardship, or mainly to ride horses.

Several young nobles brought piles of luggage and attendants, but the Great King had no hesitation and cut them all off, traveling light with minimal retinue.

Civil and military officials all came to see him off. Seeing the Great King dressed in an all-white jade robe, wearing a matching jade crown on his head, holding his precious Sun-shooting Bow in his left hand and a folding fan in his right, followed by his elegant giant fluffy creature, with a solitary sculpture hovering above his head, matching his delicate little face, he looked like a flawless, jade-like young noble.

The Great King proudly waved at his oxen and horses, nimbly climbed onto his carriage, fearing that if he moved slowly he'd attract a crowd of nagging.

Xie Yuan and Xu Zhi had expressionless faces, not in a hurry, not in a hurry.

Outside Xihua Gate still waited a group of young nobles, all in fine clothes and riding tall horses—you say this bunch is going to disaster relief?

Anyway, the ministers didn't think they could accomplish anything in disaster relief.

The Great King climbed onto the carriage, Bai Ze directly climbed onto his own, and the troupe officially set off.

With many people, a delay occurred; by the time the troupe left Secluded Prefecture, the sun was already high and heating up.

The Great King wanted freedom of movement later, fearing townsfolk would recognize his face, so he dared not ride openly in the city; once outside the walls he clamored to get down and share hardships with the outside young nobles, and Zhao Bailan couldn't hold him back.

"Oh dear, Your Highness, why are you being so stubborn? The sun out there is fierce—if you go riding you'll get scorched black as charcoal!"

The Great King was at that aesthetically pretentious age; hearing 'black as charcoal' made his eyes light up. He glanced at Wei Shen, who was hiding from the sun on his carriage, and said, "Cousin, that's perfect!"

Wei Shen tossed his head proudly: "Exactly! The darker, the more manly!"

Wei Shen trained daily with the Owl Cavalry; his complexion was no longer winter pale but now wheat-colored all over, which the Great King greatly appreciated.

"I, the King, also want to be black as charcoal!"

After shouting, he bolted out calling for the Personal Guard to fetch his horse; Zhao Bailan couldn't stop him, "…Blackened, wearing jade-white would look ugly…"

Before he finished speaking, the Great King had already climbed onto White Dragon's back…

Aside from Wei Ke and the Xue brothers, the rest of the Second Generation Group, after half a day of scorching sun, were wilting one more than the other. Seeing the Great King merely going out to bask in the sun was utterly incomprehensible.

Liang Bin exclaimed anguished: "Suffering for no reason!"

They had been eyeing that empty carriage all afternoon; he sidled up and put on a woeful face: "Your Highness, why did you come out? It's scorching out there—I'm about to get sunburned bald!"

The Great King earnestly examined his face: "Wow, you're all sweaty—how could damp skin peel? That's unscientific! Don't worry, it won't peel!"

Model student Xie Tu: …Now's the time to talk science? Where's your cleverness?!

Liang Bin, devoid of hope, said: "Your Highness, I mean, I think I've got heatstroke—my head's spinning, my vision's blurred, sweat pouring like rain."

The Great King loudly scoffed: "Eh! You're just being pretentious!"

The unfortunate ones behind him: …

For a moment everyone straightened their backs, nobody wanting to admit they were weak.

"It's so hot out there, while the common folk are still outside hauling water to irrigate the fields, we're just sitting on horseback doing nothing—could that really cause heatstroke? Come on, we're already out of the city—let's run; running will bring a breeze. We'll rest at the first stop, Peace and Health County."

After the shout, he squeezed the horse's belly; the spiritually perceptive White Dragon instantly accelerated, disliking the hard paved road for hindering its performance, it automatically left the road and sprinted swiftly across the grass.

This commotion left the Personal Guard no time to gawk; they all dismounted onto the grass and chased after the Great King, whose mount was no pushover……

Liang Bin practically wanted to cry from heartache, asking why he'd come along! These people were all students; only he held a proper official post—what a legitimate excuse to opt out—so why was he participating in this activity? His father was the same; even when his son skipped work, he didn't stop him. Regret—just regret.

Peace and Health County

The scorching sun baked the earth; village streets were deserted, except when an rambunctious child, unable to stay indoors, burst out barefoot, stepped on a stone and was instantly burned, squealing and wailing, drawing the ire of napping family members who flung open windows to shout.

The sweltering weather and the dread of total crop failure made people's tempers flare even more, and their tolerance for mischievous children plummeted in a straight line.

The Great King hadn't yet reached Peace and Health County when, in a small mountain hollow, he discovered a inhabited village; heaven and earth seemed insignificant compared to him at that moment, so he simply changed course and turned in without greeting, and upon entering the village he saw villagers beating a child right then and there.

That child was four or five years old, barefoot and bare-bottomed, wearing only a little vest, and a man presumed to be his father held him aloft, repeatedly smacking his buttocks……

The Great King grinned—truly hilarious! He barely managed to swallow the laughter that had risen to his throat.

No, can't mock the common folk; that's not right.

Judging others by oneself…… He was made a feudal prince at five; if his father tried to lift him to strike…… never mind, his physique at five or six, his frail father could still lift him—this assumption doesn't hold.

"Cough cough! Uncle, why are you beating the child under the blazing sun? The weather's dry and things are flammable—let's all calm down our fire!"

The man in his thirties only then turned to look back, seeing only an immortal-like young boy riding a pure-white horse with no mixed colors, smiling brightly… and addressing him?

He instinctively released the rebellious son from his grasp; the son, once free, darted out four or five meters……

All because the brat yelled so loudly he didn't hear the horse's hooves, letting the noble person see a joke.

Yes, a noble person—he and I are not of the same world.

He had absolutely no experience dealing with such nobles, and for a moment he was stuck there, not knowing how to respond.

The Great King observed his uneasy, awkward demeanor, then spoke more gently: "Uncle, we are inspection envoys from Secluded Prefecture City, here specifically to check the drought conditions. How are your village's farmlands now? Can they be irrigated? Is there any difficulty obtaining water in the village?"

Upon hearing the question about water and drought, the man instantly forgot his nervousness; at that moment Ling Yin and the Personal Guard also gathered around, the guards wearing ordinary uniforms without armor but with waist-worn sabers, and the man grew ever more certain these were officials from Secluded Prefecture City, directly disregarding the Great King's age.

"Sir… sir, speaking to you, our village's river has already run dry, but the corn in the fields is still alive—everyone says this corn is drought-resistant, though we don't know how much longer our village can hold out… Sir, does Secluded Prefecture City have a solution?"

The Great King gave a big, all-encompassing nod; the man was delighted, and the trailing troupe was stunned—"You dare to take on all that?"

"How is your village's water supply?"

There are still a few wells with water; after using them during the day and letting them sit overnight, one can still get water by fetching it early the next morning, though one has to queue.

The king again asked how many people and how many mu of land this village had; the man, thinking that Youzhou city had some method, became delighted and forgot his fear, and told everything he knew.