Traveling through time and space

"I'm afraid I have to go back to Beijing," Prince De said solemnly.

"It's okay. Your Highness is going to take care of important matters. Yuanyuan can go to the disaster area by herself."

"I will think about it again." After saying goodbye to Prince De, Su Yuanyuan returned to the space, took a good bath, and cooked a meal. The two of them had a full meal. When they were ready to leave the space, it was already dawn.

"Princess, the prince is here." Su Yuanyuan was pretending to have breakfast when Rumei came in.

"Your Highness, please come in." Su Yuanyuan put down her chopsticks. "Your Highness, please take a seat."

"Princess, I need to return to the capital immediately. Would you like them to accompany you to the disaster area, or wait until I return?"

"Your Highness, today is the seventh day since the disaster. Nothing from the imperial court has reached the disaster area yet. The victims must be very disappointed. I, the princess, can go there on behalf of my father, and they can accompany me. Besides, I am not a three-year-old child. Your Highness, rest assured. Please rest assured, my father, when we return. Yuanyuan will take good care of herself and will not bring shame to your father."

"Okay, they are all ready, let's get ready to go." Su Yuanyuan followed him to the gate of the mansion. It turned out that her eldest brother and the others had also arrived.

"We are honored to meet Princess Anle." There was a large group of people in front of him, quite a lot.

"Please excuse the formalities, everyone. Please take good care of me in the coming days." Su Yuanyuan gestured for them to disregard the formalities. "Yulin, come here. I have a few words for you." Su Yuanyuan told them to stay in Liupu County, not to cause any trouble, to rest well, and to inquire about the situation at the Wu Mansion. Yulin agreed.

"I will bring everyone back to the capital, including Lord Cai."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Big brother, do you want to go back with us?" Su Yuanyuan asked her big brother who was standing aside, and her big brother shook his head.

"Your Highness, I only hope that the Cai family can receive a fair trial. As for my father, he did something wrong and deserves to be punished. I simply want to atone for him and the Cai family."

"Princess, don't worry. I will protect his life." Since Prince De had promised, neither of them said anything else. "Princess, these are Du Heng, the prefect of Chengping, and Shang Jingyu, the prefect of Yuqing Prefecture. They will handle the matter on my behalf. I have met with the emperor and will return immediately. Xining, Yunqiao, from now on, you are responsible for the princess's safety."

"You guys go with the prince, I have enough people here," Su Yuanyuan refused. "You guys are responsible for the princess's safety." They got on the carriage over there, and the three carriages drove off together. Su Yuanyuan understood that they were sending everyone back to the capital.

"Princess, would you like to prepare some sedan chairs to accompany you? The mountain roads to Puji Mountain are rugged and there are many roads that carriages cannot pass." Sun Yan stepped forward.

"No need, my Lords. I'm not going along to enjoy the pleasures of the land. You don't need to treat me any differently. I'll just eat, sleep, and travel like everyone else." Su Yuanyuan saw some disdain in their eyes, so she naturally had to explain clearly what she was doing. "Lord Du, Lord Shang, what are the rules for this trip?" Su Yuanyuan approached the two responsible officials and asked, "When will the relief grain and silver from the court arrive?"

"Princess, it's time for us to set off. I wonder if you could ride in the same car with me so that I can report to you." Lord Du stepped forward and saluted.

"Okay, this will save time. My Lords, please."

"Princess, please."

Su Yuanyuan boarded the carriage and sat down. The two adults also boarded and sat opposite. "My lords, although I am a princess, you are all trusted ministers of the emperor and the court. I am only a junior to you. I am still young and have much to learn from you. So please don't be so polite. Just treat me normally, just like your daughter. I believe the emperor will be grateful if he knows." Su Yuanyuan bowed slightly as she sat down.

"Old Du, the prince has already said that Princess Anle is different from those princes and princesses. Don't you believe it?"

"Now I believe it, Princess Anle. From now on, I won't be so nervous when I see you. I'm just afraid that if I'm not careful, the Emperor will blame me for being disrespectful to you."

"Don't worry, my lords. Father won't do that. Now, can you tell me what preparations you have made?" Su Yuanyuan trusted these two people very much. They were chosen by the prince.

"Princess, the silver has arrived in batches, and we are also purchasing food from the surrounding areas. However, now is the time of the harvest, and we don't have much spare food. We have already collected 100,000 kilograms, but I'm afraid there will still be a gap. The number of people affected by the disaster this time has reached as many as 10,000. I heard from Sun Yan that there is no food left in many places." Lord Shang said helplessly.

"Yes, I don't know how serious it is unless I see it with my own eyes. I think what I saw was much more serious than I expected."

"Well, since you two are truly concerned about the people and want to serve them, I will do my best to cooperate with you. Isn't the national treasury's food supply insufficient?"

"Princess, you don't know that since the second half of last year, Qingyang has experienced several disasters. The south has been flooded, the north has been dry, and the crops have failed. After several disaster relief efforts, the imperial court's granaries are no longer as full."

"This princess really doesn't understand the people's livelihood and customs. This shouldn't happen. Has the court bought some food from other countries?" Su Yuanyuan asked.

"Princess, is this okay?"

"Of course. It's called exchanging money. It's like a street vendor. For example, I have more rice than I can eat, but you have more cloth. Then we can exchange. I'll have cloth and you'll have rice. Besides, if we pay them money to buy their grain, won't they refuse to sell it to me?"

"Princess, you don't know that every country's treasury must be sufficient at all times because no one knows when natural disasters or man-made disasters will occur. Of course, man-made disasters refer to wars, so they prioritize ensuring their own country's treasury. Very few of their treasuries are sold to other countries. They are all self-sufficient." Lord Du explained.

"So that's how it is. It's just that everyone is cutting back on food to ensure the victims have enough to eat. Otherwise, the people will go hungry and become violent mobs," Su Yuanyuan explained. "My Lords, how much of a food shortage is there?"

"Another hundred thousand catties, and we should be able to get through until the wheat harvest."

"But where can we get so much food?" Su Yuanyuan asked curiously.

"Princess, as long as there's silver, the wealthy families across the country should be able to gather the money. Almost every family has extra in stock."

"My lords, have you prepared the herbs and other supplies? While some simple injuries can be treated in the mountains, do some medicines still need to be brought in from outside? And most importantly, have you prepared the disinfectant lime?"

"Princess, what are you preparing for?" Lord Du asked curiously.

"Lord Du has forgotten that there will be a major epidemic after a major disaster. The death of so many livestock may cause a plague and spread among people, which would be troublesome," Su Yuanyuan reminded.

"These past few days I've only been thinking about feeding the disaster victims and really forgot about this. Old Shang, the princess is so young, but she knows more than us two old guys. It's so fortunate that the emperor has such a good daughter." Lord Du was very satisfied with Su Yuanyuan.

"Well, Princess, what you said makes sense. Let's do this. Once we get to the scene, we'll see what the situation is, and then send people back to prepare. We'll have to go to the surrounding counties to prepare."

"I really don't know how Wu Yuhui managed to become the prefect. He has made Anping Prefecture extremely poor. I also wonder if the prince will arrange for a new prefect when he returns to the capital this time."

"Yes, the prince will report to the emperor. This time, Su Yuhuan, who has been in mourning for three years, will become the new prefect of Anping Prefecture." The two old men did not shy away from mentioning Su Yuanyuan. After a while, the car stopped.