Chapter 853: Winter Is Coming, and All Under Heaven Suffer

All the villagers present dropped to their knees and kowtowed, shouting in unison.

Jing Qianying had wanted to stop the common people from kowtowing, but Li Zhang got there first and held her back.

Under Jing Qianying's puzzled gaze, Li Zhang whispered a reminder: "Your Highness, this is Brother Qin's idea. Showing kindness to the people is only one part of it; what's more important is that we need to establish authority, to make the people clearly aware that they have a Princess, and that this Princess is about to return to the kingdom."

"If you only show goodwill, the people will think you're a good person, but they won't regard you as Imperial Orthodoxy."

Hearing this, Jing Qianying suddenly understood. She was unskilled in political matters, and since this was Qin Feng's idea, she only needed to carry it out.

Jing Qianying sat on horseback, watching the common people kneel and worship.

Sensing the dignity Jing Qianying radiated, the people present felt even more awe in their hearts.

Li Zhang and Jing Qianying did not linger long in Heishitou Village; they left the grain behind, gathered their large contingent, and pressed deeper into Huang Ye.

Throughout the entire process, the column never came within five hundred steps of Heishitou Village.

Watching the caravan recede into the distance, the villagers of Heishitou Village finally awoke as if from a dream.

"Vil…Village Chief, I'm not dreaming, am I?!"

A sturdy man of about thirty, watching the vast column of troops, first wiped the sweat from his palms, then pinched his thigh hard.

After the piercing pain, the middle-aged man was instead overjoyed, because all of this was real.

Not to mention the sturdy man's disbelief; even the old Village Chief, who had lived a whole lifetime, was encountering such a situation for the first time.

The old Village Chief swallowed, saying in disbelief: "For a village like ours, any army passing through is worse than a natural disaster."

"Back when the war was raging on the Border, the armies coming from the direction of Wang Du would conscript able-bodied men wherever they went; many of the young laborers died on the Battlefield."

"You all saw it just now — this army deliberately kept a great distance from the village. This is the legendary 'not violating even a single autumn hair'!"

Not violating even a single autumn hair…

Any child knows that phrase, but when such a thing truly happens to oneself, it feels somewhat unbelievable, because for the Common People, there simply does not exist in this world an army that truly keeps to its duty.

Even the most Elite Troops, the most Discipline-abiding army, will inevitably cause some harm to the people.

But Qin Feng's soldiers truly做到了 this!

The villagers exchanged glances, and a heated discussion broke out at once.

"Th…this is the Marquis of Qin's Army?!"

"No wonder the troops under the Marquis of Qin are invincible in every attack, victorious in every battle — an army with such strict Discipline deserves to be so."

"Strict Discipline is only one part of it. You all saw how fierce that Deputy General was just now. In my view, strict Discipline is only secondary; the key reason this army can做到 'not violating even a single autumn hair' is that the Main General can keep them in check."

"Well said! What manner of hero is the Marquis of Qin?!"

"Not just the Marquis of Qin — even that young lord just now is no ordinary person."

Just then, a child asked softly: "Grandpa Village Chief, I'm hungry. Can we eat this grain?"

The Village Chief finally came to his senses. He took a deep breath, turned to look at the starving villagers, raised both hands, and said excitedly: "This grain was given to us by the Marquis of Qin and the Princess to see us through the winter. Since that is so, of course we can eat it. Everyone, divide up the grain — there is a share for every person."

At these words, warm cheers erupted once more in the small village.

"Long live the Marquis of Qin!"

"Long live the Princess!"

The common people don't care about so many political positions; their standard for judging good and evil is the simplest and most straightforward — whoever is good to them is a good person, and the opposite is a bad person.

The caravan, already far away, continued onward toward the next village.

Li Zhang, at the head of the column, sighed softly: "Although Sangzhou borders our Northern Border, life there is even harder."

"After all, once winter comes the ground freezes over; whether one can survive the winter depends entirely on whether enough Grain was stockpiled in spring and autumn. After this great war, the Sangzhou common people's winter Grain reserves were almost entirely Squeezing Dry by the military."

"Making this winter even harder to endure."

Although Jing Qianying had never lived a life of hardship, she deeply empathized with the people's difficult lives.

Her gaze suddenly grew firm: "The moment I return to the Imperial House, I shall set about reviving People's Livelihood!"

At this point, her tone softened again: "I wonder how Feng'er is faring over there."

Mentioning Qin Feng, Li Zhang laughed heartily, his eyes full of pride: "Your Highness need not worry. A man like Brother Qin is in his element wherever he goes."

"In Brother Qin's own words, he's the one who bullies others — when has anyone ever bullied him?"

"By the time reckoning, the Marquis of Qin should have made most of his arrangements. It won't be long before he sends someone to escort Your Highness to Wang Du."

Jing Qianying naturally knew that Li Zhang's words were meant to comfort her.

Still, she remained full of confidence in Qin Feng.

If even Qin Feng could not sweep away the obstacles, then under Heaven and Earth, there was likely no one who could escort her back to the Imperial House.

As they spoke, another village gradually came into view.

From a great distance, the large contingent halted. As before, Li Zhang and Jing Qianying personally brought the Grain to offer comfort and reassurance.

……

The Northern Di had already entered deep winter, and within Shedynasty it was by no means a land of birdsong and flowers. The North, though it had not yet snowed, was already extremely harsh. The Central Plains region, though not yet in heavy winter clothes, had layered on autumn wear one piece after another.

Well-off commoners still had spare autumn clothes to wear, but the poor didn't even have a single decent autumn garment and could only tough it out in summer clothes. When they truly couldn't bear the cold, they stuffed straw into their clothes.

Unless driven to the wall, who would willingly come up with such "ingenuity"?

The common people under Heaven are all the same.

The common people of Liang Kingdom, compared with those of the Northern Di, were better off — but only barely.

Moreover, the Central Plains common people, who ought to have had it easiest, were actually faring the worst this winter. The North, being close to Wang Du and having fertile land, could still count on a little care from the court when they truly couldn't carry on.

Winter in the South was practically nonexistent.

The people of the North were nearly freezing to death, while those in the South still wore summer clothes, living carefree and at ease.

On top of that, the Imperial Party had backed the wrong horse, offending the Qin Family and losing the Liang Emperor's trust; they could barely look after themselves, and the local common people naturally became the "stepmother's child that neither uncle nor aunt dotes on."

Taking advantage of the days remaining before the deep winter set in, Central Plains common people flooded into the streets and fields, some gathering Firewood, some trying to get hold of food, making Preparation for the coming severe winter.

Just then, a caravan, traveling along the Official Road, entered the Imperial Party's territory in grand fashion.