The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

Shang Xi had been observing here for the whole morning. The child lowered his head and moved around in the grass, and no one knew what he was looking for.

"How old is he? Look at his height. He is a little taller than our son."

"He is fifteen years old, about the same age as Qiao Rong, and Song Tingzhi is twenty-nine."

Cheng Feng opened his mouth wide, "You can't judge a person by his appearance. This man has a son at the age of fourteen? Is this true? Is your information reliable?"

Shang Xi curled her lips and said, "Why don't you believe it? Just sit here for a whole morning and see if there is any news you can't get."

Cheng Feng heard that this was a complaint about him being late. He looked around and saw that there were no people around him. He said to Shang Xi, "There is not much food left at home, and there is not much we can use. Before I came here, I went to find my uncle and hoped that the government would give us money and we would provide people, but my uncle refused."

Shang Xi heard Cheng Feng's idea and thought it was feasible. This year is a drought year, and grain is indeed very precious. If the government gives money to help the refugees, the grain in their Wanjia granary can also be used for emergencies. "Why didn't my uncle agree?"

"Humph, the grain in their states and counties is reserved for military supplies and will not be easily taken out. In addition, this year is a bad year and the grain production has been reduced by half. Everyone attaches great importance to grain reserves. He saw that our Prince Pang's Mansion raised his head and advocated relief for the refugees. What a good opportunity for him and his court to save grain. My uncle will naturally not miss it. The main reason is that he doesn't know how to deal with these refugees."

Shang Xi didn't think as much as Cheng Feng. From the beginning, she had no intention of transferring the food relief for the refugees to Wan Lianxing. She didn't expect Cheng Feng to have such an idea and ask Wan Lianxing for food.

However, as the emperor, this man is really thick-skinned. Although these refugees came from Dalang and have not yet entered their hometown of Fengqi, it is only a matter of time. These people will sooner or later become Fengqi's people, and it is only natural to open the granaries and release grain.

Shang Xi still has his own standpoint. "No matter what, as long as we have extra food, we can't watch these people starve to death. My uncle is stingy, don't learn from him."

"Wife, your husband is not stingy."

"Then why are you scheming like this? No matter how much you scheme, can you outsmart your uncle? I've been waiting for you here for a whole morning. Aren't you afraid that I'll die of heat?" Shang Xi wiped the sweat from her head and fanned herself vigorously with a fan. All that came out was hot air. It had been a whole morning and she was sweating all over and feeling very uncomfortable.

"Wife, you feel hot because the weather is hot and the sun is strong. Will you wait for me or not? You will have to accompany Yuhua here to wait for the Chen brothers for the whole day! And I am really not calculating. Am I the kind of stingy person? Wife, our Wan family has limited food, and there is a limit to doing good things."

"There aren't that many refugees here." Shang Xi raised her finger to show Cheng Feng righteously, but her white and tender hand froze there. "Huh? That's weird. How come there are so many more people?"

Cheng Feng fanned the two of them, and he reminded Shang Xi in a gentle voice, "Wife, this is just the beginning. The number of refugees will increase day by day. If the court does not take action, this will be a bottomless pit."

“How many people are there?”

"Five hundred people at least."

Shang Xi comforted himself, "It's okay. We have helped tens of thousands of refugees in the past. Five hundred people are nothing." Having said that, Shang Xi still walked towards the people who were cooking porridge. Yuhua, who had inspired divine power from somewhere, was directing everyone to cook porridge.

Shang Xi looked at the rice in the pot and said, "Don't add more rice. There's too much. This rice is enough to cook two pots of porridge. Take it out with a basin and divide it in two."

Yuhua glared at Shang Xi and said, "These people are so hungry. You are distributing porridge, not rice soup."

Then Yuhua ignored Shang Xi's opinion and added two more scoops of rice into the pot herself.

"Yuhua, there is a long way to go. Giving out porridge is not something that can be done overnight. As long as the court does not take action, they will be shut out of the city and starve. It is better to do it slowly and steadily."

"Everyone is looking forward to it. Let them have a thicker porridge. It would be great if someone could give you, Brother Chen, a bowl of porridge on the way."

A wave of sadness welled up in Shang Xi's heart. She could no longer talk about saving food. She also wanted to give everyone thick porridge. If there was endless food in the warehouse, she would give them steamed buns.

It was a bad year and even with money, she couldn't get food. Shang Xi only hoped that the crops that were about to be harvested would produce more food. However, seeing how Cheng Feng was calculating, it was estimated that not much food would be produced.

Looking at the refugees who were looking here with full of expectation, Shang Xi's heart was also shrouded in a cloud of worry.

Shang Xi understood that if they wanted to truly solve the plight of the refugees, only the imperial court could intervene. The two bowls of porridge they gave out were only a temporary solution and could only alleviate the urgent needs of the people.

As the aroma of porridge filled the air, the refugees, holding eating utensils in their hands, gathered around little by little.

Including the eight-year-old child who had just escaped from Cheng Feng's hands, he was also standing in the crowd holding a broken bowl, staring at the steaming pot.

The scorching sun was like a fire, and the hot air made it hard to breathe. Shang Xi instructed everyone: "Everyone line up, don't fight, everyone can get some porridge."

Shang Xi looked at the long queue and was glad that there weren't too many people.

After everyone got the porridge, they went in groups of three or five to find a cool place to drink it.

Watching the disappearing queue, Cheng Feng stopped standing in the middle of the wasteland and chatting with Song Tingzhi. He said to Cheng Youning who was still working, "Youning, go have some porridge."

Cheng Youning shook his head and said, "Well, the child is not hungry yet."

Song Qianyuan, who was searching for katydids, curled his lips and shook his head. Cheng Feng saw this scene. The father and son of the Song family are really unique.

"How can you work without eating? Come on, let's go and have some porridge with daddy." Cheng Feng took the hoe from Cheng Youning's hand, put it on the ground, and pulled the reluctant Cheng Youning towards the main road.

"Dad, I'm really not hungry. I'll wait for Qiao Rong to come back before eating."

"At that time I saw Qiao Rong going into the city. What did you send him out for?"

"I didn't do anything. I just got three katydids. They were of average quality. It would be a shame to keep them, but I thought it would be a pity to let them go. So I asked Qiao Rong to take them to the city to exchange for silver."

Cheng Feng pulled off Cheng Youning's big straw hat so that he could see Cheng Youning's face clearly. The child was sweating all over his head, which showed how much physical energy he had consumed.

"Son, you are the prince, not a small trader. You should not try to make all the money. It would be embarrassing if you went to the street to sell three katydids. "