Mu Jingrui's heartbeat accelerated. If he had been a step late just now, the consequences would have been disastrous.
He held Shangguan Wan Ning's hand tightly and stared into her eyes seriously.
"Jing Rui? Why are you here?" Shangguan Wan Ning felt the warmth transmitted from Mu Jingrui's palm, and a bright and reassuring smile broke out on her face.
Mu Jingrui secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you still talking about? Aren't you studying medicine with Imperial Physician Qin? What are you doing here?"
There was a hint of endearment in Mu Jingrui's scolding, and Shangguan Wan Ning's heart felt warm.
"Don't rush to tell me first, quickly find a way to stop them."
Mu Jingrui handed Shangguan Wan Ning over to his accompanying men, jumped onto the wall, and subdued the general guarding the city gate.
He took out a token from his arms and said coldly: "I have been ordered by the prince to inspect the disaster situation. You immediately tell your men to stop. If you dare to hurt a commoner, you will be buried with him."
The general who defended the city had no choice but to order his men to stop.
At this time, corpses littered the fields outside the city, blood soaked in the mud and snow, and the painful wails struck people's hearts.
The officers and soldiers stopped attacking the victims, but Mu Jingrui did not force the defenders to open the city gate.
He just sent someone to bring Shangguan Wan Ning in and placed her in the county government office.
It was not until evening that Shangguan Wan Ning waited until Mu Jingrui came to see her.
Meeting each other in a foreign place two months apart, the two of them felt a little heavy.
"Does your hand still hurt?" Mu Jingrui asked softly, looking at Shangguan Wan Ning's bandaged elbow.
"It's okay, it's just a minor injury." Shangguan Wan Ning waved her hand nonchalantly, letting Mu Jingrui feel at ease.
Mu Jingrui sighed softly: "How courageous are you? How dare you rush to save people in such a chaotic situation?"
"I just want to prevent more casualties..." Shangguan Wanning seemed to have thought of something and asked, "When will the victims outside the city be able to enter the city?"
"I have no intention of letting them into the city."
Mu Jingrui's words surprised Shangguan Wan Ning.
From what she knew about him, he was indeed the kind of person who could be completely indifferent to irrelevant people.
"Is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered to provide disaster relief?" Shangguan Wan Ning needed to confirm again, because many things were different from what she experienced in her previous life.
"yes."
"You take the lead for him?"
Mu Jingrui shook his head.
"The emperor does not know that I belong to the prince's camp. The reason why I came here is to patrol and assist local officials in maintaining order and security. However, I received news before departure that the prince did receive the emperor's imperial decree and brought disaster relief food.
Already set off."
"The prince is ordered to provide disaster relief, so he has the responsibility to help more victims. You are on his side, so you should help him win over people's hearts. If you don't help the victims outside, they will die."
Mu Jingrui looked at Shangguan Wan Ning. After all, she was not deeply involved in the world and her mind was too simple.
"Ning'er, you think things are too simple."
Mu Jingrui frowned and said, "Do you know how many victims there are outside? Have you ever thought about whether there would be enough space in the city to accommodate them if they were all allowed to enter the city?"
"This..." Shangguan Wan Ning was stunned. She really hadn't thought about these issues yet.
Moreover, this seems to be a very critical issue.
"Now that the snow disaster is severe, the victims are starving, and the people in the city are not much better off than them. A large number of victims have entered the city but cannot be properly resettled, and the security of the city will become a problem. Can you guarantee that the victims will not fight for food and clothing?
And burning, looting and plundering?”
Shangguan Wan Ning was stunned.
In the face of survival, people's moral bottom line will become very low, or even have no bottom line.
"The current situation, at least, the city is relatively stable. Letting the victims enter the city is not the best choice. Ning'er, the victims are the people of the imperial court, and so are the people in the city. To be fair, we must take into account the safety of everyone."
Shangguan Wan Ning lowered her head and remained silent.
She admitted that what Mu Jingrui said made sense.
"Then...should we just watch the victims outside the city and ignore them?"
"Of course not." Mu Jingrui could see that Shangguan Wan Ning couldn't bear it, and comforted him, "You don't have to worry too much, I've thought of a temporary solution."
Mu Jingrui discussed it with the county magistrate for an afternoon and felt that this method could be tried.
"I have seen the topographic map of the nearby area. There are several warehouses ten miles outside the city. They are the property of several members of the city. They have piled some goods such as lumber in them. The county magistrate has already discussed with them to move the goods
Move them all out and provide temporary shelter to the victims."
"It's better to let them have a roof over their heads than to sleep on the street. More people won't freeze to death." Shangguan Wanning sighed softly, "Now that we have a place to live, what about food and clothing?"
"The magistrate took out all the liquid silver in the government office and bought rice, noodles and warm clothing from merchants in the city. He will distribute them to the victims. I hope he can survive until His Highness the Crown Prince arrives."
Shangguan Wan Ning's heart is heavy, and there seems to be no better way than this at present.
Everything went according to Mu Jingrui's plan, and things went smoothly in the first few days, but problems soon emerged.
The county government's money is almost exhausted. If it lasts for another day or two, it may not even be able to supply porridge.
"Calculating the itinerary, it will take His Royal Highness seven days to arrive at the fastest..." Mu Jingrui was also a little anxious.
"Is there... is there really nothing we can do?" Shangguan Wan Ning looked at Mu Jingrui's sad face. It was hard to imagine that the mighty God of War in the future would be worried about a few buckets of rice at this time.
Mu Jingrui remained silent.
"Maybe... there are others." Shangguan Wanning expressed the thoughts that had been hidden in her heart. "As far as I know, there are several wealthy businessmen in the city. They have strong financial resources. If they are willing to donate a little, they might be able to support it.
His Highness the Crown Prince arrives."
"I've already tried what you said. They keep complaining to me that they are poor. After all, they are all legal merchants. I can't rob them openly."
"That's because your method is wrong." Shangguan Wan Ning raised the corners of her lips and smiled sweetly, "It's up to me. General Mu, I promise that they will be willing to donate supplies tomorrow."
Mu Jingrui looked at the light in Shangguan Wan Ning's eyes, and his heart rippled, as if something was tapping his heart.
In the name of Miss Prime Minister's Mansion, Shangguan Wan Ning sent invitations to the wealthy businessmen and ladies in the city to have tea at the county government office.
In this remote and isolated county, it is rare for big shots to come, and the young lady who is the direct descendant of the Prime Minister's Mansion must be given face.
Almost everyone invited was present.
"Thank you all for coming here. I came to Guibao Land by chance. Thanks to all the gentlemen and ladies for taking care of me these days, I would like to have a cup of tea instead of wine as a token of my gratitude."