The beloved baby has a space

Early winter of the twenty-fourth year of Minghua.

Ayu never expected that she would stay in Yuecheng until winter.

[Bao, you've already mastered the Nine Dragons Cauldron. In a few more months, the one-year period will be almost over. If you take your time, you can slowly set off back to Wanning City now.]

Yuecheng has never experienced such a major natural disaster in previous years. After the earthquake, it rained continuously for nearly a month, causing flooding.

Not only that, but a small-scale plague also broke out.

Now that winter has arrived, although the disaster victims have been gradually resettled, their original clothing is not enough to keep them warm. Even with the governor's relief efforts, it is still a drop in the ocean compared to the needs of all the disaster victims.

Tuanzi watched as Ayu first put in the effort, and within that month, she quickly learned how to diagnose and treat many common diseases.

At first, Ayu could only secretly add spiritual spring water to the medicine to ensure its efficacy, but that also had its drawbacks. Some people who didn't have a good impression of Ayu would experience various problems after drinking the medicine with spiritual spring water.

Tuanzi was happy to see it happen, but Ayu couldn't bear to.

She wasn't exactly a hot commodity; she couldn't expect everyone in the world to like her. She also realized that the drawbacks of the spiritual spring water were indeed quite significant, especially when used on a large scale.

So Ayu squeezed out time to learn from the senior doctors around her. The senior doctors were extremely busy, eager to save lives, and wished everyone could know medicine. Since Ayu wanted to learn, they naturally taught her as much as they could.

Before long, they discovered that Ayu was able to apply what she had learned to other situations, and the large number of patients allowed her to quickly accumulate a foundation.

Apart from some difficult and complicated diseases, she can easily diagnose and treat common diseases.

Now, some senior doctors secretly want to take her as their disciple, but when they learn that she is actually a nobleman personally appointed by the emperor and an official of the court, they are terrified and give up their plans.

Ayu learns everything quickly. In Yuecheng, everyone was busy with post-disaster reconstruction, so Ayu wasn't taken care of as much as usual. This, however, allowed Ayu to learn a lot.

She was determined to build a girls' academy, so she took the opportunity to observe the daily lives of people in Yuecheng and gained a lot of insights.

The Carefree King was not a sensitive person, but he was farsighted and had a more comprehensive view of things. He wanted Ayu to experience some mental training and also provided a lot of assistance from the side.

By early winter, Ayu had become quite capable of handling things on her own, displaying the demeanor of an adult. When she went out, the yamen runners dared not neglect her, for her overall presence was completely different from what it used to be.

Ayu shook her head: "There's no rush. Yuecheng is about to enter winter. The terrain here is not flat, and we have suffered a great disaster. I'm afraid there will be heavy snow in winter."

Even if it snows, there's nothing you can do alone.

“There’s a lot we can do. There’s a salt field 500 miles outside Yuecheng. The salt there tastes terrible. Didn’t I see it a few days ago? If there’s snow here, we can use the salt to melt the snow in case of a snow disaster.”

The disaster victims are eating sparingly, so where would they get the money to buy coarse salt to melt the snow? They'll probably have to eat it themselves.

Ayu spent her own money to buy a lot, intending to stockpile it in the city garrison's office in Yuecheng.

In addition, she ordered a lot of cotton and wrote a letter to Zhang Zhan, hoping that he could organize some manpower to purchase cotton, hemp and other products, which would come in handy later.

All of these were purchased by Ayu with her own money. She planned to use these supplies as a starting point to encourage more wealthy businessmen to participate.

This was Ayu's idea. She wanted to take this opportunity to pilot it in Yuecheng, and if it worked, she would try it in Jiangsai.

With Jiang Sai's condition improving, she returned to Wanning City, leaving the Nine Dragon Cauldron at the Astrology Department before resuming her work on the Girls' Academy.

She would refine whatever ideas came to mind.

A few days later, just as she expected, the supplies delivered to Yuecheng were six times more than what she had originally purchased, all of which were gifts from wealthy merchants along the way.

What's most surprising is that the escort officer is none other than Hu Rui, the former Little General Hu, who is now a fifth-rank general!
Hu Rui's eyes lit up when he saw A Yu: "I was suppressing bandits over there when I heard that some bandits wanted to rob disaster relief supplies, so I took care of all the bandits in the vicinity. By sheer coincidence, I learned that these were the supplies you purchased, so I brought them over to you."

Ayu smiled happily: "Brother Hu Rui, aren't you stationed at the border? Why are you here suppressing bandits?"

Hu Rui wanted to tell her something, but seeing that Xiaoyao Wang was also there, he said, "It's just that I have some transfer orders and I'll be leaving soon. By the way, besides yours, these supplies were donated by some wealthy merchants along the way, as well as seized from those bandit dens. I used some of them on the way and distributed them to the disaster victims. Do you see if there's anything missing?"

Ayu: "It doesn't matter if there's less, it's all going to be used for disaster relief anyway." "That's good."

Hu Rui didn't recognize A Yu at first, since her appearance changed every year and she hadn't reached marriageable age yet, so he couldn't recognize her immediately.

But after making inquiries and verifying their identities, he realized that this person could probably be no one else but Ayu.

After all, Ayu was the most intelligent and generous girl he had ever met. Her behavior was different from that of many young women at the time, making her particularly easy to identify.

Because it was a disaster relief effort, the banquet to welcome Hu Rui was not extravagant. Everyone ate a meal at the city magistrate's residence, which was considered to have fulfilled their courtesy.

Ayu stayed for a few more days and told the city guard and the carefree king in advance that she was leaving. Although everyone was reluctant to see her go, they knew that she was not a playboy and must have other plans, so they naturally did not stop her.

As for the Carefree King, having stayed with Ayu for so long, Ayu guessed that he probably had other plans as well, so she didn't invite him to leave with her.

Ayu, along with Tangyuan, Xiaoyang, and Xie Zhen and the others who came with them, planned to go to Jiangsai again to settle things there before returning to Wanning City.

Xie Zhen said with emotion, "I didn't expect the Commander to be so responsible. During our time in Yuecheng, we have witnessed Yuecheng getting better and better."

Unexpectedly, on the day they left, people from Yuecheng who had heard the news came to see them off. A huge crowd gathered inside and outside the city gates, and those who didn't know the situation thought it was a large army approaching.

"Lord Yuxiang, please wait!" A man stepped out from among the people, holding something high in his hand, looking anxious.

When Ayu came, she rode in a cliff eagle, but she couldn't be so high-profile when she went back, so she was given a carriage.

Hearing the noise, she stepped out of the carriage and, seeing the person who had come, asked in surprise, "Uncle, is something the matter?"

The man raised what he was holding above his head with both hands and said earnestly, "During this time, we are grateful for Lord Yuxiang's care, which has spared us from being displaced and suffering from hunger. We will never forget your great kindness!"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply, and when he raised his head, his eyes were already brimming with tears: "Lord Yuxiang, you do not know that you saved everyone in Baili Valley, sparing us the pain of separation and death. Such a great kindness and virtue can never be repaid, even if we were to become oxen or horses!"

The man choked up and spoke for a long time, and then the people around him realized that he was from a village in Baili Valley and had rushed here as fast as he could.

When everyone heard him say this, they remembered how they usually saw Ayu walking among the disaster victims like an ordinary person, helping them to get rid of their disasters and difficulties. Where was there any airs of an aristocrat?

"...This is just a small gift, I hope you will accept it!" The man rambled on, then raised the item in his hand again.

Ayu winked at Tangyuan, who then stepped forward, took the item, and gently opened it, causing many people to gasp in surprise.

"This is?!"

"It's a umbrella for the people!"

"The legendary umbrella for all people!"

"But there are still empty spaces, and I'd like to write my name on one of them too!"

"Lord Yuxiang is truly virtuous; he deserves this reward!"

The "Ten Thousand People's Umbrella" is a plain umbrella inscribed with the names of ordinary people; it cannot be obtained without the will of the people.

In the hundreds of years since the founding of the Great Chang Kingdom, only two or three people have received this honor. It is said that officials who possess the "Umbrella of Ten Thousand People" can be exempted from the death penalty.

[Ding! Congratulations on unlocking the 'People's Will' achievement, and you'll be entered into a prize draw for 10 draws]

A cold voice echoed in Ayu's mind.

Then came Tuanzi's excited voice.

Wow! My little one, you've unlocked an unprecedented achievement!

[Quick, quick, quick! This is a special prize pool! It'll drop special items, and they're even group items!]