Quickly wear a child, the villain is more favored, who wants the male protagonist?

The hunting of several days was over quickly.

When he returned to the capital, he learned that the flood in Zhuozhou had become more serious, several surrounding counties had been affected, and the outskirts of Shangjing City were full of refugees.

The emperor decided to open the granaries and release grain in the morning. Coincidentally, news came from the desert border that food and medicine had been insufficient for half a month, and they hoped that the court would send people to deliver grain as soon as possible.

What the ministers did not expect was that Qin Yi stood up and said that the disaster was serious and that they needed to temporarily hold off on sending food from the desert and prioritize the victims first.

He had many supporters and the emperor also had the same intention. In the end, Qi Yi's request for food was shelved, and the entire morning court was devoted to discussing disaster relief.

......

After the court session, at the palace gate.

"Lord Qi, I'm very sorry. I'm only concerned about the victims. The national treasury is not well-off and there is a shortage of food. I'll have to put off the food from General Qi for now..."

Qin Yi walked towards Qi Rongzheng with an apologetic look on his face, took the initiative to apologize and lowered his status so that no one would feel sorry for him.

He is truly a rare and good crown prince who is dedicated to the people.

If the prince ascends the throne, it will definitely be a great thing for the people of the world.

Someone spoke up for the prince.

"Your Highness, there's no need to apologize. You're wholeheartedly concerned for the people, and Lord Qi will surely understand. The disaster is severe, so we must first reserve food for disaster relief."

"Yes, General Qi has so many people there. We can ask the surrounding people for donations to help us get by for a while. Besides, it's not like we can't grow food in the desert."

Before the man finished speaking, a man dressed as a general laughed angrily and cursed.

"Bullshit! Damn it! Do you even know what the desert border is? There aren't many civilians around here, and they're already living a very tight life. You expect them to donate food to an army of tens of thousands?!"

"You're still talking about growing crops? There's not much arable land over there. If you're capable, go and try growing some!"

"They're all a bunch of idiots who haven't even been on the battlefield and only know how to talk big on paper."

The man was so angry that his face turned red.

"You! How can you be so rude! I'm just stating a possibility!"

"Besides, food needs to be shipped in every two months. Doesn't Qi Yi know to store more food when there's plenty? Why does he have to wait until there's nothing left?"

The general was so angry that he rolled up his sleeves and was about to beat someone up, but Qi Rong stopped him and gave him a look to shut him up.

Then he turned to Qin Yi and said,

"Your Highness, you worry too much. I know that the Crown Prince is also concerned about the victims. Your Highness used your private treasury to provide disaster relief. I am deeply moved by your heart for the country and the people. I believe that my useless son will also understand the Crown Prince."

"I'm glad that Lord Qi can understand me... I'm going to distribute porridge at the city gate soon, so I won't talk to you any more." Qin Yi said sincerely.

The two exchanged a few polite words, and Qin Yi got on the carriage and left.

Qi Rong was looking at Qin Yi's back when his eyes suddenly turned dark.

What he said was just a pretext to put pressure on him and Yier, to force him to take sides...

......

After a while.

There was a long queue at the soup kitchen in Caishikou.

"Be quiet, slow down, don't push, we still have plenty of porridge, enough for you." The guard who was maintaining order shouted loudly, and the crowd immediately quieted down.

Someone suddenly asked, "Whose family is giving out porridge?"

The soup kitchen staff scooped porridge with a big spoon and said loudly,

"It's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness has taken out the private treasury to give you grain. Recently, grain has been hoarded by unscrupulous merchants and sold at high prices. We don't have much grain in the Crown Prince's Mansion.

His Highness has ordered us to use 90% of our food to provide you with porridge, so you must remember to be grateful."

Some people lamented,

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has always been so kind."

"Yes, thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, otherwise we would have starved to death."

“Those unscrupulous merchants are so hateful!”

"Who says it's not true? These days, food is only one ounce of silver per pound. Who can afford it? Isn't this killing us ordinary people?"

"What's even more abominable is that normally a contract to sell one's body would cost 20 taels of silver, but now those merchants only give 2 taels of silver, and you have to sign a death contract."

"Yes, the Manzi family. Yesterday, Boss Zhao gave him two taels of silver and took his little girl, who was only a little over ten years old, away. Alas, there was no other way. If we don't sell her, no one will survive. It's better to sell her and have something to eat."

"Luckily the Crown Prince came to distribute porridge, otherwise who knows how many people would have starved to death. From now on, I will be angry with anyone who dares to say anything bad about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"His Royal Highness is such a good man, who would say anything bad about him? When I have money, I will build a temple for His Royal Highness and dedicate it to him! I will also erect a longevity tablet for him."

A group of people were talking at once, and without exception they all spoke well of the prince.

Qin Yi stood at the window on the third floor of Zuixianlou, looking at the refugees queuing outside to get porridge, listening to their conversation, and felt very satisfied.

"Your Highness, we've profited from the flood and earned hundreds of thousands of taels of gold. We also have ample food. Why not take this opportunity to win over Qi Yi? He may be far from Shangjing, but he has 50,000 soldiers. Bringing him here would be a boon to us."

Bai Zhuo didn't quite understand why Qin Yi wanted to stop Qi Yi from asking for food today.

Qin Yi retracted his gaze, his eyes turned cold.

"Oh! During this hunting trip, the Queen was going to arrange a marriage between me and the eldest daughter of the Qi family. But the always dignified and polite Qi Qinglan happened to be secretly engaging in a secret transaction with someone and was even caught..."

"I've had people investigate. Qi Qinglan and Zhang Xiu have never had any contact. Suddenly, this happened in the hunting ground..."

Bai Zhuo paused.

"Your Highness means that the legitimate daughter of the Qi family does not want to marry into the Eastern Palace? How is this possible..." Bai Zhuo did not believe it at all.

"Nothing is impossible. Qi Rong is a seasoned crafty person and has never given me any definite advice. The Qi family doesn't want to get involved in any struggle for the throne and wants to stay out of it. It's not impossible that they don't want their daughter to marry into the Eastern Palace."

"Your Highness's actions today are not pushing the Qi family further out..." Bai Zhuo was puzzled.

"Some people just don't want to drink toasts, but only want to drink punishment..." Qin Yi said coldly.

"I wonder if the Qi family would still be so resilient if hundreds or thousands of people died of starvation in the desert."

These words made Bai Zhuo shudder.

Your Highness is still as ruthless as ever...