Hearing the voice, Chushi Weiming turned his head and looked at Shuo Ling. He had no choice but to suppress his anger and said, "It's fine. How are you?"

"What about the food and disaster relief fund?" Shuo Ling asked.

Chushi Weiming replied, "2,500 kg of grain and one thousand taels of silver."

"What? Only 2,500 kg of grain and 1,000 taels? " Xiao Mu was surprised.

Chushi Weiming added, "Xiling may offend us recently. For the sake of safety, food and money were sent to the army first. As for disaster relief, my father only gave me this."

"Well, I see. Where are the grain and money?" Shuo Ling nodded and asked.

Chushi Weiming said, "At the foot of the mountain. You can go and have a look?"

"Don't bother. Mo Li, His Highness must be tired all the way. Take him to have a rest!" Shuo Ling said to Mo Li.

Mo Li walked to Chushi Weiming, "Your Highness, the room is ready. Please follow me."

Then he made a gesture to show the way!

Chushi Weiming glanced at Shuo Ling and left.

"My lord..." Xiao Mu said.

Shuo Ling glanced at the direction Chushi Weiming left, and then responded, "Let's go and have a look."

Then he walked to the courtyard.

As Chushi Weiming said, there were 2,500 kg of grain and one thousand taels of silver.

One thousand taels of silver! It was not even enough to repair the dam. How about these victims? And the 2,500 kg of grain was not enough to sustain their lives.

Mo Li also went down the mountain after showing Chushi Weiming where he lived.

"My Lord, what should we do now?" Seeing these things, Mo Li asked.

They did not expect that Chushi Youtian would do this. His action could fight against the criticism of officials and free himself from being considered as a ruthless emperor.

Shuo Ling closed his eyes and thought for a while, and then said to Mo Li, "We will offer one meal a day since now!"

"My Lord..." Mo Li looked worried.

Shuo Ling interrupted him, "Do what I said. I will think of a solution later!"

"Yes, My Lord." Mo Li nodded and left to give the order.

As soon as the news was spread, people began to talk about the issue.

Someone started talking about something in private.

"Why do they only offer one meal a day? Unexpectedly, although the plague is over, we will be hungry since now."

"I don't think Marquis Shuo is a good official. Seeing that the situation is getting better, he also wants to deduct money, just like the previous prefects."

"Now that we are homeless and even hungry. It is better to die."

"There are no clean-fingered officials nowadays. I didn't expect people from Jing City to be like this."

"Keep quiet. I heard that he would kill people without any hesitation. If he hears it, he will kill you."

"I am not afraid. Now that he dares to deduct the relief fund, he should bear what he hears."

"Be quiet. His follower is here."

Mo Li heard what they said, but he could only pretend not to listen to them. After all, he couldn't take his sword to scare these people and say that His Lordship has his own plan. Even he did so, they would not believe it.

There were complaints from all sides.

Xu Qing in the crowd frowned upon hearing this. He used to talk with Shuo Ling, and from the conversation, he felt that he was not like what the people said. But now there was indeed only one meal offered per day. What happened?

Xu Qing felt that the problem could not be solved by thinking about it here, so he decided to go to Shuo Ling's residence and ask him what happened.

Qiao Shu just came out of the kitchen after making some pastries, and she saw someone walking into the yard and looking around. Qiao Shu stopped and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Hi, I'm the Community Head of Qianxi Village, Jiandu, and I'm here to find Marquis Shuo." Xu Qing smiled and walked to Qiao Shu to explain his intentions.

Qiao Shu looked at him. Although he looked handsome, his clothes were ragged.

She smiled and said, "Oh, I know. His Lordship went out early in the morning. I'm afraid he won't come back soon. If you have anything to tell him, you can leave a message."

"Thank you. I think it's better to talk with him face to face." Xu Qing looked a little embarrassed, and then said.

Qiao Shu said with a smile, "If it's not convenient, you can wait for him to return."

"Ah... how about Her Highness?" Xu Qing asked.

Qiao Shu was speechless and thought that Yang Zijin really knew everyone.

Seeing that Qiao Shu was silent, Xu Qing asked again, "Hi, hi."

"Ah... Her Highness, she didn't go out. Her room is over there." Qiao Shu said.

She pointed to Yang Zijin's room.

Xu Qing hurriedly said, "Thank you."

Then he walked to the room.

Seeing Xu Qing walking towards Yang Zijin's residence, Qiao Shu disdain Yang Zijin in her mind: Yang Zijin did grow up in a dirty place. It's no wonder that she dared to make friends with all kinds of people.

Thinking of this, she went back to learn how to make pastries.

This was the third time she had made it. Although it didn't look good, the taste was much better than the previous two times.

She believed it would be better if she did it a few more times. Then she would put the poison into the pastries and let the maid of Yang Zijin send them to her.

As long as Yang Zijin ate it, she would disappear in this world.

Qiao Shu sneered and quickly walked into the kitchen.

Xu Qing walked to Yang Zijin's room and knocked gently on the door.

Yang Zijin was thinking that it wouldn't be long before they went back to Jing City as the plague was under control, and the house was being repaired.

Hearing a knock on the door, she asked, "Who is it?"

"Your Highness. It's me, Xu Qing." Xu Qing replied.

Hearing Xu Qing's voice, Yang Zijin frowned. Was there something serious happening? Thinking of this, Yang Zijin quickly got up and walked to open the door and said, "Why are you here? Is there something happening?"

"I have something to ask you." Xu Qing said and nodded.

Yang Zijin said, "Come in."

Yang Zijin turned around and sat on the chair beside the table.

Hearing what Yang Zijin said, Xu Qing twitched.

"What's wrong? Why don't you come in?" Yang Zijin turned around and saw Xu Qing standing outside the door.

Xu Qing had no choice but to say, "Your Highness, I think it is more convenient to talk outside."

After hearing this, Yang Zijin patted her head. She had forgotten that in ancient times, men were forbidden to get into women's rooms casually.

People like Shuo Ling were exceptions.

There was no need to embarrass Xu Qing. Yang Zijin stood up and walked outside. She walked to Xu Qing and said, "Let's go outside."

"Yes, Your Highness." Xu Qing bowed his head and responded. He followed Yang Zijin to the stone table in the courtyard.

Yang Zijin said, "Sit down."

Yang Zijin sat down at first.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Xu Qing said and sat down opposite her.

Yang Zijin asked, "What's the matter?"

"Your Highness, do you know that the porridge is only offered once a day?" He said.

She was puzzled when she heard it and asked, "Once a day?"

"Originally, two meals can barely make us full. But one meal is far from enough. And some people have begun to say that Marquis Shui is like the prefect and deducts the relief fund." He told her.

She stood up after hearing this, "How is it possible? He would not be such a person."

"I used to talk with him before, and he is not like what they said, so I came here to ask what happened." He continued.

She sat down and said, "Don't worry. Although I don't know about this, it will not be what they said. When he comes back, I will ask what is going on and give you a reply."

"Thank you, Your Highness." He stood up and bowed to her.

She then said, "It's what I should do."

"Your Highness, I'll go back and appease those people first." He said.

She nodded, and Xu Qing left!

After he left, she couldn't help thinking that why Shuo Ling suddenly reduced the frequency of offering porridge? Could it be that there was not enough food? But didn't Chushi Weiming come here with grain and disaster relief funds?

Chushi Weiming came, and all the victims along the way saw that.

Why was the food reduced at this critical moment?

The corruption said by people was not without basis.

Before the grains came, the porridge was offered twice a day, but now it was offered only once a day. It was unreasonable!

After thinking about it, she felt that the problem was still in the grain.

She decided to ask Chushi Weiming to find out how much grain and silver had been brought here.

So she got up and walked to his room. She knocked on the door.

Chushi Weiming was sleeping in the room. When he heard the sound, he was awakened. He opened his eyes and asked, "Who is outside? Don't bother me."

"It's me!" Yang Zijin replied.