Baskets were filled with steamed buns and lowered to the ground below by ropes. To prevent the refugees from scrambling for food and causing unnecessary injuries, the soldiers who had been locked outside the city gate earlier were responsible for maintaining order, ensuring that the elderly, children, women, and the weak received food first.
Seeing this situation, the people inside the city were inspired and began to donate supplies one after another, including food and cotton-padded clothes, all of which were urgently needed by the refugees.
Yun Xi placed the last steamed bun in the basket, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and finally showed her first smile of the day as she looked at the happy refugees outside the city and the continuous stream of supplies being brought in from inside.
In this way, not only could they avoid direct contact with the refugees, but they could also temporarily solve the problem of the refugees' food shortage before the imperial court's rescue arrived.
After that, until the imperial physicians diagnosed the refugees, they could continue to help them in this way.
Yun Xi stood on the city gate, looking down with hope in her eyes. A sudden gust of cold wind made her sneeze.
Qi Rong walked over and stood behind her, shielding her from the wind with his broad back as he smiled down at her.
"Aren't you hungry? Why didn't you keep a steamed bun for yourself?"
Yun Xi looked up at Qi Rong. The setting sun cast a golden glow on his lazy and smiling face. His sword-shaped eyebrows slanted into his temples, his thin lips were slightly raised, and his jet-black pupils sparkled like a god.
Yun Xi was suddenly dazed. It was the first time she realized that Qi Rong was so handsome! Compared with the gentle and jade-like Prince, he was even more captivating!
Seeing Yun Xi staring blankly at him, Qi Rong suddenly smiled and took out a steamed bun, gently tapping her cute nose with it.
"Are you so hungry that you've gone stupid?"
The warm aroma immediately brought Yun Xi back to her senses.
"When did you hide this?"
She happily took the steamed bun from Qi Rong's hand. It was still warm! Unable to control her hungry stomach any longer, she took a big bite.
It was soft and delicious, with a rich meaty flavor. The wonderful taste slowly spread in her mouth, and Yun Xi couldn't help but close her eyes in satisfaction.
Watching Yun Xi's contented little face like a kitten, Qi Rong playfully scraped her nose and said teasingly,
"Is the steamed bun delicious?"
"Delicious!"
Yun Xi nodded vigorously, almost in tears.
It felt like this was the most delicious steamed bun she had ever eaten since she was born!
The feeling of hunger was really torturous. She wondered how many such steamed buns the refugees outside the city could eat.
"Qi Rong, I find that you're not as bad as I thought."
Yun Xi swallowed the last bite of the steamed bun and looked at Qi Rong seriously.
Before, when Qi Rong said he would take her to the city gate tower for a meal, she secretly cursed him for being malicious. But now, she realized she had misunderstood him.
He was not cold-blooded at all. Instead, he could take immediate action and come up with a way to help the refugees, which made her think more highly of him.
Hearing Yun Xi's rare praise, Qi Rong raised his eyebrows and suddenly lowered his head, looking at her beautiful eyes playfully.
"Are you smitten with me?"
Seeing Qi Rong getting closer, his nose almost touching hers, Yun Xi blushed and suddenly stepped back.
"Absolutely not!"
Before she could finish her words, she felt her body losing balance and about to fall backward. Only then did she remember that she was standing on the city gate. Qi Rong quickly hooked her waist and pulled her into his arms.
"If you're still so careless, I'll spank you next time!"
Yun Xi was still in shock. Lying on Qi Rong's chest, she was about to retort when she heard his chest vibrating. It seemed that he was even more nervous than she was.
A strange feeling welled up in her heart, and she obediently nodded.
"Got it."
Thinking that they were in full view of the public, Yun Xi pushed Qi Rong away and looked at the increasing number of people outside the city with a worried frown.
"Winter is coming soon. What will these refugees do?"
If Qi Hong were a good emperor who loved his people like the late emperor, it would be fine. However, since he ascended the throne, the people's lives had become increasingly difficult.
Not only did they have to face the increasing taxes imposed by the imperial court year after year, but they also had to endure the extortion and plunder of local officials. Almost all walks of life were affected by the new policies, and the state of Liu was in decline.
The current emperor only focused on controlling and balancing power, paying little attention to people's livelihood.
Even the project of building dams and bridges was planned by the late emperor, but it was not until many years later that Qi Hong finally decided to implement it.
This snow disaster was undoubtedly a test of the emperor's ability, but the result of the previous life proved that the emperor's governance ability had failed!
Thinking of this, Yun Xi frowned deeply, hoping that the Prince Qi Yu could successfully admonish the emperor and lead the officials to nip this crisis in the bud as soon as possible.
She hoped that the state of Liu could survive this disaster safely! In this way, she would not have lived this life in vain!
Under her sleeve, a big hand tightly wrapped around Yun Xi's small hand, ignoring her struggle. Qi Rong said,
"Don't worry. The problem of the refugees will be solved soon."
In the past, like other men, Qi Rong thought that the young ladies in the boudoir only knew how to compete for beauty all day long and were ignorant of the sufferings of the world.
Even their false kindness was just for the sake of getting a good reputation and some benefits. It was so boring that he felt disgusted.
Therefore, he had never been patient with women.
However, he had no doubts about Yun Xi.
Although she had many little tricks and was sometimes as cunning as a little fox, in his eyes, she was always true to herself.
She was kind-hearted but also a little stubborn, which made him helpless.
"Really?" Yun Xi looked at him hopefully.
"Really." Qi Rong nodded, with a smile in his eyes.
For some reason, Qi Rong's words were like a reassurance pill. Although Yun Xi knew that things might get out of control, she felt much more at ease at this moment.
Because she knew that Qi Rong was a man of his word!
Just as Yun Xi had hoped, after leaving, the Prince Qi Yu rushed to the palace and reported the situation to the emperor seriously, hoping that the emperor would take immediate action.
At first, the emperor scolded the Prince for scaremongering and told him not to cause panic. However, when the prime minister Yun Sheng led a group of civil officials into the palace to see the emperor, the emperor finally took it seriously.
After discussing with the officials, the emperor adopted the Prince's suggestion: set up camps outside the city to properly resettle the refugees and manage them in batches; quickly organize the imperial physicians and folk doctors to form teams and go to the refugees outside the city for diagnosis; dispatch officers and soldiers to cook porridge and distribute medicine outside the city and manage them in an orderly manner.
The refugees outside the capital were temporarily settled, but a greater hidden danger lay in the northwest thousands of miles away.
If the source could not be contained, continuous disasters would sweep across the state of Liu. By then, not only would the capital not be able to hold on for long, but other cities would also be affected.
The officials in the court looked solemn. They all knew that this was a major matter and that someone must be sent to the northwest as soon as possible to deal with the local disaster and rectify the local officials.
However, who to send had become the biggest problem at the moment!