Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

Ma Teng's grip on the jade pendant at his waist loosened slightly, but then his brow furrowed sharply. "But three hundred thousand elderly, weak, women, and children... if they're not properly accommodated in such a hurry, they'll become a hidden danger in the city!" He paced back and forth, the bricks clattering under his boots. "Food, shelter, and warmth are all essential. Any mistake will destabilize the people, and even tens of thousands of troops will rebel!"

"Dad!" Ma Yunlu smiled and tugged at her father's sleeve, pushing him back into his chair. "Mr. Wenyou has already made plans, just waiting for your order!" Seeing the suspicion in Ma Teng's eyes, she winked cunningly, "Look, why didn't Sister Dong Bai come back with me? This difficult problem of resettling refugees is a headache for us, but there are great talents in Chang'an who can solve it!" She tapped the order on the table with her fingertips, "Just hand it to me. Tomorrow, I will ensure that 300,000 people have hot meals to eat and warm houses to live in. You can rest easy then!"

Ma Teng rubbed his hands together anxiously, "You little girl! You're still playing dumb when the situation is pressing!" Ma Yunlu's eyes curved with laughter. He leaned closer to his father and lowered his voice, "Mr. Wenyou has a backup plan—Lord Xun Yu of Chang'an City. You still remember him, right?"

"Lord Xun?" Ma Teng raised his thick eyebrows sharply. "He does have the talent to govern the country and maintain its peace, but he has been shutting himself in to visitors since Liu Bian passed away, and no one wants to invite him!" "That's why Mr. Wenyou asked Sister Dong Bai and me to act separately!" Ma Yunlu winked cunningly. "As soon as Sister returned, she went to find Lu Wan. With her status as the former Queen and the future Princess of Liang, and the support of 300,000 starving and cold people outside the city... Even if Lord Xun had a heart of stone, he would have to relent!"

Ma Teng slapped his thigh heavily, and his heart finally settled down: "Good one Wen You! You even calculated this move!" He grabbed the command arrow on the table and stuffed it into his daughter's hand, and said in a deep voice: "You go to see Lord Xun immediately and follow his instructions! With his ability, he will definitely make sure the refugees can settle down safely!" In the light of the candlelight, the old general's tense face finally relaxed, and the chill in the conference room seemed to be dispelled a little.

The night in Chang'an was deep, and the gates of the Lu Mansion were tightly shut. Dong Bai dismounted, her skirt brushing against the lingering snow on the stone steps. Before she could knock on the door, she heard a muffled voice from inside, "Who is there?"

"It's me, Dong Bai!" Dong Bai stamped his feet and exhaled white air, "Dian Wei, you idiot, you don't even recognize your aunt?" The heavy wooden door creaked open, and Dian Wei's iron tower-like figure leaned out, leaning his two iron halberds against the doorpost: "Little ancestor, in the middle of the night..."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Dong Bai walked past him and rushed in, her skirt and armor bringing a gust of cold wind. The candlelight in the hall flickered. Lu Wan hurried out in her nightgown, still wearing the hairpin on her temples: "Bai'er? What happened?"

"It's too late to say anything!" Dong Bai grabbed her wrist and pulled her out, "Mr. Wenyou has ordered that we go and ask Lord Xun to come out of seclusion! There are 300,000 refugees outside the city waiting to be resettled. If we delay any longer, they will freeze to death!" Before he finished speaking, he had already half-dragged and half-pulled Lu Wan out of the mansion.

Dian Wei stood there in a daze, holding the iron halberd, scratching the back of his head and about to stop him, but Dong Bai turned around and glared at him: "What are you standing there for? Protect the emperor!" The cold wind swept her scolding and hit Dian Wei in the face. The fierce general scratched his head and followed in a muffled voice. The sound of the two halberds clashing startled the stray dogs on the street corner and they whimpered and fled.

The silence of the night was shattered by the sound of horse hooves. The winter wind was as cold as a knife, carrying fine snow and hitting the red gate of the Xun Mansion. The knocking of copper rings penetrated the heavy wooden door, startling the frozen crows under the eaves.

"Who's knocking on the door?" The old servant's hoarse voice came from inside the door, with a vigilant tremor.

Dong Bai dismounted, her sable cloak brushing the thin ice on the steps. Her voice was as clear as a silver bell. "I am Dong Bai, the fiancée of Ma Chao from Xiliang. I seek an audience with Lord Xun! Three hundred thousand refugees are trapped outside the city, starving and freezing. This matter cannot be delayed!"

There was silence behind the door for a moment, and then the old servant's voice sounded again, a little more hesitantly: "Young lady, please go back. The master has already retired and vowed not to interfere in military affairs..."

Lu Wan clutched her cloak tightly, her fingertips white from the cold, but every word she spoke was powerful: "Please tell Lord Xun that my old friend Lu Wan is here, and for the sake of the lives of the people, I beg him to come out of seclusion!" After the words fell, only the sound of wind and snow hitting the door knocker could be heard.

After a long while, the old servant returned with a lantern, its light flickering on the snow. "The master said that men and women shouldn't touch each other, and it's late at night... Please come back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Dong Bai's eyes widened as he whipped out his horsewhip, cracking the air with a bang. "By tomorrow, the flowers will be cold! Dian Wei!"

The towering man stepped forward and slammed his twin iron halberds down on the doorknob, shaking the entire red door with a humming sound. "I'm sorry, old man, but this young lady's temper is even fiercer than the sandstorms in Xiliang!"

The old servant was startled by the loud bang of the double iron halberds banging against the door, stumbling back, his lantern nearly falling to the ground. He turned and hurriedly ran back into the mansion. Dian Wei groaned, veins bulging in his arms. The iron halberds in his hands pried up the red door like a plow, and sawdust flew everywhere before the heavy door panels crashed to the ground.

Dong Bai rushed into the courtyard, stepping on broken wood, her sable cloak rustling in the night wind, and shouted loudly: "Lord Xun! Three hundred thousand starving people are waiting to die outside the city. Can you really bear to see them freeze to death on the streets?" Before she finished speaking, she had dragged Lu Wan around the screen wall, and the soles of her boots crushed the frost on the ground, startling the winter sparrows perched under the corridor.

In the darkness of the night, the lights in the Xun Mansion gradually lit up, and the screams and barking of dogs one after another seemed particularly chaotic in the howling cold wind.

Suddenly, a wiry figure stood on the veranda, his white robe rustling in the cold wind. It was Xun Yu. He held a candlestick, its dim glow making his face appear even more stern. "Miss Dong, as a member of the Prince of Liang's family, how dare you break in like this?"

Dong Bai looked up, her eyelashes frosted but sharp as ever: "If your Majesty is willing to help, Bai'er will tie herself up and apologize tomorrow! But three hundred thousand women and children will be here soon, huddled in the snow with nowhere to go, and even babies in swaddling clothes are starving - if you still want to be 'proper', you might as well let me kneel and die in front of these steps!" After saying this, he really knelt down, but was held up by Lu Wan.

Xun Yu stood in the corridor, his expression frosty under the candlelight in his hand. He said in a cold voice, "Miss Dong, do you know that since the death of the late emperor, I have vowed not to interfere in worldly affairs. Are you forcing your way in? Are you trying to put me in an unjust position?"

Dong Bai raised his head, anger burning in his eyes. "What an indifferent person! Your Majesty, you enjoy a peaceful life in this deep and spacious house, but have you ever thought about the 300,000 refugees outside the city? They are old and young, huddled in the snow, waiting to die! If you really want to keep your oath of 'indifferent to worldly affairs,' you might as well change all these fine clothes into mourning clothes and pay your respects to those wronged souls!"

Lu Wan hurriedly held Dong Bai's trembling hand, took a step forward, and said in a choked voice, "Lord, when the late emperor was still alive, you devoted all your energy to assisting the government, and you cared about the people of the world. Now, most of these refugees have left their homes to escape the war. All they want is a hot meal and a warm house. Can you bear to watch these innocent people suffer under your noses?" She knelt and said, "I am a woman, unable to protect everyone. I can only ask your Majesty to consider the suffering of the people and lend a helping hand!"

Xun Yu's hand trembled slightly as he gripped the candlestick. Candle wax trickled down the copper stand, condensing into ice crystals on the blue bricks. He gazed at the two women before him, one sharp-tongued, the other earnest and mournful. His memory suddenly ripped back to the past—the days spent tirelessly striving for the Han dynasty. Ultimately, he couldn't let go of this devastated world...

Xun Yu gazed at the snowflakes flying in the courtyard, his voice suddenly becoming cold and hard. "Xun Yu, I am a Han minister in life and a Han ghost in death. Ma Chao may hold the title of King of Liang, but he is truly a wicked and ambitious man! He doesn't respect the emperor, just like Dong Zhuo in the past. How could I serve a traitor?"

Dong Bai's pretty face flushed with anger. "What a 'Han minister'! Did you know that Ma Chao is revered as a god in Xiliang? The people have farmland to farm, and the children go to school. Now, when foreign invaders arrive, it's Ma Chao who leads the army to suppress them. Where is the Han court at this time? You cling to the empty title of 'Han minister', yet you allow 300,000 women and children to freeze to death in the streets. Are you loyal or just pedantic?"

The snow at Lu Wan's knees soaked through her skirt, but she still raised her head and cried, "Lord, the fall of the Han Dynasty is inevitable. Although Ma Chao holds military power, he has never treated the people harshly. Instead, he has built extensive water conservancy projects in Guanzhong and reduced taxes. You often talk about the integrity of a Han minister, but is it not more important than the lives of 300,000 people? The people are the most important, and you must hope that the people can live and work in peace and contentment..."

Xun Yu's body trembled violently upon hearing this, his white robe rustling in the wind. A flicker of hesitation flashed in his eyes. He looked at the two women before him, then recalled the old servant's sorrowful expression as he recounted the plight of the refugees. He murmured, "The people are precious... The people are precious..."

Seeing his expression soften, Dong Bai quickly struck while the iron was hot: "Your Majesty, you've read the books of the sages and should know that 'the people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important!' If you let 300,000 people die in vain, that would be the true disloyalty and injustice!"

Lu Wan also choked up and kowtowed, "Your Majesty has the world at heart. How could you abandon the people because of your own prejudices? You should put the people's lives first!"

Xun Yu was silent for a long time. In the swaying halo, his white hair trembled slightly, and he sighed deeply: "Forget it... Just for this sentence, 'The people are the most important,' I am willing to break my oath and come out of seclusion! But let me be frank, I only serve the people, not others!"

The candle in Xun Yu's hand flickered violently, its light and shadow dancing in the furrows between his brows. Ever since the late emperor's passing, he had shut himself in, ignoring the turmoil of the world. Yet, now, he saw the late empress and the fiery female general of Xiliang, breaking into his mansion to plead for the lives of the people.

"Prepare the carriage." He suddenly turned around, and his robe sleeves swept off the snow on the corridor pillars. "Bring me the sealed map of Chang'an." The old servant was stunned where he was. When he saw his master turned around, the candlelight illuminated the newly grown white hair on his temples - that was the frosty color that had never appeared during all these years of working hard for the Han Dynasty.

Dian Wei scratched the back of his head and grinned, he raised the iron halberd to his shoulder, shaking the beams of the corridor: "wouldn't it have been over sooner?" Dong Bai and Lu Wan exchanged a glance. The cold wind was still biting, but the snowflakes falling in the courtyard seemed to be tinged with warm light.

The sound of horse hooves tore through the night like a torrential downpour. Ma Yunlu, draped in a scarlet cloak, galloped over, the command arrow in her hand gleaming coldly in the moonlight. As she dismounted, the wind and snow she stirred up lashed the map spread out before Xun Yu's desk: "Lord Xun! My father has commanded me to obey your orders!"

Xun Yu's bony fingers flicked across the map like a dragon: "The old government office west of the city can accommodate 34 people, and removing the partitions can accommodate another 34. The warehouse of the cloth shop in the south market has been raised to prevent moisture, and can accommodate 34 women and children..." He suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze as sharp as a hawk: "Order Wei Yan to immediately mobilize 34 soldiers with tools to clean out the vacant houses in the city! The broken walls, cobwebs and dust must be made habitable before dawn!"

Ma Yunlu was about to speak when Xun Yu pushed the bamboo slips towards her: "I'll lend you 34 female guards. When the disaster victims arrive tomorrow, each of them will be in charge of 34 refugees. The elderly, the young, the sick and the disabled will be placed separately, and the young and strong will be assigned to the corvée team to repair houses." He grabbed the abacus and quickly moved the beads, the sound of the beads clashing mixed with the wind and snow outside the window: "Miss Dong Bai, first open the treasury and take out 34 dan of corn. If there is not enough, use the Xiliang grain to make up. Order the blacksmith shop to make 34 marching pots overnight, and they must be set up on Zhuque Street before noon tomorrow!"