Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Yan Zhen didn't miss the contempt in Zhang Liao's eyes, but she ignored it. She called Hongyu Ziying and a few soldiers to accompany her on a tour of the main roads in the city, and then went to the disaster relief area outside the city.

As soon as the carriage entered the disaster relief area, it immediately attracted the attention of the disaster victims.

Many ragged people followed closely behind, and the dozen or so soldiers accompanying them became more vigilant, fearing that these disaster victims might suddenly rush up and injure the princess.

Before long, the carriage stopped at the resettlement area, and Hongyu and Ziying helped Yanzhen out of the carriage.

As soon as she landed, a five or six-year-old child, taking advantage of his small stature, crawled between the soldiers' legs, pounced on Yan Zhen, grabbed her skirt tightly, knelt on the ground, and looked up pitifully, saying, "My lord, my lord, please give me some food! I've been starving for days!"

Yan Zhen glanced down at the child, who was so hungry that his face was ashen, and shoved him aside without any politeness.

The child was startled and tried to lunge forward again, but the soldiers beside him swiftly pulled him up, roughly threw him aside, and drew their swords, shouting, "Get back! Don't come any closer!"

Yan Zhen did not stop him.

This scene instilled fear in the displaced people who were eyeing them menacingly, and they all consciously retreated a good distance.

Yan Zhen didn't linger. After making her way around, she had a general idea of ​​what was going on, so she turned back to the carriage.

Looking at the emaciated old people and children outside the carriage, Zi Ying felt a pang of pity and asked in a low voice, "Princess, we still have some food in the carriage. Why don't we give it to these children?"

Before Yan Zhen could speak, Hong Yu frowned: "No."

"Why?"

“There are too many disaster victims. This little bit of stuff is just a drop in the ocean. If we take it down, it will cause a looting frenzy. If it causes a stampede, people will die,” Hongyu said. “Otherwise, why do you think the princess pushed that child away just now?”

More than three months have passed since the earthquake, and these people have lived in a state of hunger and homelessness for hundreds of days. They have long since learned to read people's expressions and compete for resources.

Once they realize that the "benefactor" is showing goodwill, they will swarm around him.

In an optimistic scenario, the looting would end and the crowd would disperse. In a less optimistic scenario, the looting would end, but the commotion would continue to attract more and more disaster victims from the surrounding area. How could their few dozen guards possibly stand against hundreds or thousands of disaster victims?

I'm afraid that not only will there be a stampede, but they will also lose their lives.

Upon hearing this, Zi Ying's face paled: "It was my oversight."

Yan Zhen didn't mind: "Just be more vigilant in the future."

After she finished speaking, she pondered for a while and then knocked on the side of the car.

Lord Zhang's voice soon rang out from outside the carriage: "What are your orders, Princess?"

Yan Zhen ordered in a deep voice, "Summon the official in charge of disaster relief to come see me."

As evening fell, the lights were lit early in Lord Zhang's residence. Yan Zhen sat in the main seat, reviewing the disaster relief ledgers in his hands.

Below, a dozen or so officials exchanged glances. Some had their hands in their sleeves, looking calm and collected, while others appeared uneasy. Some were looking around furtively, exchanging secret glances with their colleagues. The atmosphere in the large reception room was subtle.

After a full half hour, Yan Zhen roughly flipped through the account books, asked the officials a few questions, and then began to assign tasks.

"Lord Xu Fang, tomorrow you will lead a team to remeasure the main roads in the city and submit the detailed data within two days so that we can re-plan the reconstruction of the city."

"Recently, the weather in Sichuan has warmed up. The bodies of the victims who died under the ruins have not been dug out, buried and burned in time. After they decompose, they are prone to causing plague. Lord Li Ru, take two hundred men to collect a batch of quicklime, mix it with water and spray it in various parts of the city for epidemic prevention."

"Lord Zhou Yu, take a group of people to the disaster relief area and recruit disaster victims to participate in work-for-relief programs. The reconstruction of the city requires a large number of people..."

One instruction after another was issued in an orderly manner, more than a dozen in total. After Yan Zhen finished speaking, the officials below looked at each other, but no one responded.

Yan Zhen met their questioning gazes, not at all surprised by their reaction.

In their minds, women should stay at home, be good wives and mothers, and manage their own little plot of land. It's none of their business to come to the disaster area and interfere.

She leaned back in her chair, her posture seemingly languid, but her eyes held a strong edge: "What, esteemed gentlemen, is there a problem?"

An official named Zhou Yu looked left and right, but no one spoke. He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but the money spent on this work-for-relief program is considerable. The disaster relief funds allocated by the court are almost gone. Where are we going to get the money to hire disaster victims to work?"

"How much silver did the imperial court allocate?"

Zhou Yu paused, then said, "A total of 1.2 million taels of silver and 900,000 shi of relief grain were delivered to the disaster area in four batches, and the income and expenditure are all recorded in the ledger."

"One million two hundred thousand taels of silver, nine hundred thousand shi of relief grain—three months have passed, and you haven't even managed to get this main city up and running. Tens of thousands of disaster victims are still crammed into the resettlement areas, and you don't even know how many people have died in the more remote villages." Yan Zhen slammed the account book on the table. "Have you been doing your best for the imperial court?"

The officials looked slightly taken aback.

Zhou Yu's face darkened, and he retorted, "The princess may not know, but disaster relief is never an easy task. During major disasters, the price of food and goods inevitably rises. One million two hundred thousand taels of silver sounds like a lot, but it can't buy much in the disaster area..."

“Controlling prices is also part of your duty during major disasters! Failing to do so is dereliction of duty!” Yan Zhen interrupted him.

She clapped her hands, and immediately more than a dozen guards with swords rushed in from outside the door: "Princess!"

The elite troops trained under the former crown prince marched with a powerful, resounding gait that sent a chill down the spines of the officials.

"Zhou Yu's ineffective disaster relief efforts have left tens of thousands of victims homeless and starving. Moreover, he has used deceitful words to shirk responsibility, which constitutes serious dereliction of duty! From today onwards, he is stripped of his official post and imprisoned. He will be held accountable one by one after the disaster!"

The officials present all changed their expressions drastically.

Xu Fang immediately stepped forward, his face no longer showing his previous composure: "Princess Yining, Lord Zhou is the main force in this disaster relief effort and is also a fifth-rank official. He has been in the disaster area since the earthquake, working tirelessly. Even if you are the Emperor's personally appointed pacification envoy, you have no right to punish Lord Zhou!"

The others also looked indignant: "Yes, why should we be stripped of our official positions just because you say so!"

"We refuse to accept this!"

"Princess Yining's actions are going to chill the hearts of us old ministers who have been steadfastly guarding the disaster area!"

Faced with accusations from more than a dozen officials who shared the same hatred, Yan Zhen remained calm and gave Hongyu a wink.

Hongyu understood and immediately took out a jade pendant and handed it to her.

The officials' expressions changed drastically upon seeing the jade plaque that represented the Crown Princess's identity.

"His Majesty's personally appointed Pacification Commissioner is not enough to strip you of your official positions, so what about the Crown Princess?"

Yan Zhen placed the jade token on the table. "His Majesty's words are law. No matter who is named Crown Prince, I, the Princess, will be the Crown Princess. As the Crown Princess, can I punish you for your inadequate disaster relief?"