After arriving in Yuzhou, the uncle Li Chengshang left early and returned late. He was busy contacting the governor of Yuzhou, the state pastor and other forces, naively wanting to contribute to the rescue of the capital.
But without a reciprocal exchange of interests, everything Li Chengshang tried to do was in vain.
Xia Jing did not step in to stop his actions. People always have to hit a wall and fall before they realize their own weight.
Drought, water shortage, river cessation, and crop failure have slowly extended to Yuzhou, and Yuzhou is not immune to the general environment.
Thousands of refugees have gathered outside the city of Yuzhou. If the drought continues, Yuzhou will follow in the footsteps of northern towns.
Xia Jing thought that maybe there was no need to wait for the natural disaster to continue. Soon, when the team protecting the old emperor arrived, Yuzhou would also be plunged into war.
Therefore, Xia Jing wanted to take advantage of this period of time to prepare as much supplies as possible before the emperor arrived. In this way, her next escape would be more secure.
First, let the housekeeper buy a lot of large water tanks from the market, and then ask the guards at home to fetch water and fill the water tanks.
Li Chengmu saw that the water in the bucket brought up by the guard was gradually decreasing. At first, there was half a bucket of water, but now when he brought it up, there was only water covering the bottom of the bucket.
"Concubine, the water in the well is counted every day. You said the guards have brought it up. What is it for in the kitchen?"
A wry smile appeared on Xia Jing's face: "If we don't pump up the water, there won't be much water."
"But even if we pump it up, the water won't increase." Li Chengmu especially didn't understand Xia Jing's unnecessary and confusing operation.
"Go and ask the servant, how much water did the well produce yesterday and how much water does it produce today? Compare the two, and you will know why I did this."
Xia Jing was too lazy to talk nonsense and let the child discover the truth by practicing it.
Then she said to the guard who was fetching water: "The riverbed outside the city has dried up, and the groundwater level will also drop. It is normal for the well not to produce much water. If this well really cannot produce much water, then we will go further."
Dig deeper. I hope to save more water before the emperor's team arrives."
The guard nodded: "I understand that if the water flow is not ideal today, the well will be deepened a few feet tomorrow."
Coming out of the backyard, I met Zeng Yan in the atrium who was out shopping.
He was directing his servants to move things in, and when he saw Xia Jing coming out, he quickly dropped what he was doing, walked over and bowed.
"Greetings to the princess, are you ready to go out?"
"Well, I'm going to go to the market and buy some if I need anything." Xia Jing stopped and looked at the sack on the servant's shoulder.
She asked: "Is this the food you bought today?"
"It doesn't count as purchased. These are the grains produced in our own village." As he said this, Zeng Yan couldn't help but stand up straight, and a smile appeared on his face: "I'm lucky today. I learned that the prince's palace is in Yuzhou.
Because the terrain of a village is slightly remote, it has not been plundered by the refugees, and all the grain produced in the village has been preserved. Today and tomorrow we are preparing to arrange for manpower to transport the grain into the city."
Xia Jing strongly agreed: "You have to bring your luck to the city. Fucheng is safer than the small village outside."
Speaking of safety issues, Zeng Yan knew that Xia Jing was going out and asked his men to unload the food on their own. He hurriedly arranged the carriage and the guards accompanying it.
At the door of the house, Xia Jing looked at the twenty guards lined up in two teams, and turned back speechlessly: "Steward Yan, we are just going to the market, there is no need to mobilize such a large force, right?"
While she was shopping, she wanted to buy some things and put them into the space. How could she go shopping with so many guards?
"Princess, how can this be considered a mobilization of troops?" Zeng Yan smiled and said: "If it hadn't happened before the disaster, according to your rank, Princess, the carriage would have been drawn by two horses, and the guards and maids would have been lined up with hundreds of people.
, it matches your identity."
It was impossible to take so many people to the market. Xia Jing asked the driver to drive the carriage around the main streets of Fucheng. Which street sells what, which street has more inns and pubs, and which street is aimed at dignitaries.
,Which street’s customer base is for civilians?
After clarifying this, Xia Jing was no longer in the mood to go shopping and asked the coachman to drive the carriage back.
Sitting in the carriage with her, Hongmei and Baimei were both confused. They wondered whether the shopping the princess meant was taking a carriage around the city.
"Princess, don't you want to go for a walk?"
Although Yuzhou is experiencing drought, the public security in the city is relatively stable, and many shops on the streets are open for business.
Xia Jing pinched her eyebrows: "No, go back."
Supplies that have passed through the open road cannot be stored in the space anyway, so they should be left to the stewards in the mansion for purchase.
She knew that in order to welcome the male master of Prince Qian's Mansion, the housekeeper had made many lists in the past few days, and even sent his people out to purchase a lot of supplies.
"Princess, look! The man in rich clothes must be the Fourth Master."
The carriage passed by a flower house, and Bai Mei was surprised to find that under the current situation, the Fourth Master actually still had the heart to visit the flower house?
Xia Jing looked in the direction she pointed, and saw that the man in the sky-blue brocade robe was not her "fourth son".
At this time, he and several men who were also dressed in rich and colorful clothes were slowly walking into the flower house, followed by their respective servants.
Xia Jing looked away and asked the two maids: "Do you know whose family the men with him belong to?"
Hongmei and Baimei both shook their heads: "It's a new face, the slaves have never seen it before."
Xia Jing pursed her lips. From the looks of it, her good "fourth son" life was very nourishing.
"Princess, do you think you should call Fourth Master back?"
"Need not!"
Back at the house, Xia Jing sent the two maids away, then rummaged through the room and took stock of her belongings.
Except for a few pieces of jewelry and a few sets of clothes sent by the housekeeper yesterday, there was no other money.
Is there such a poor princess as her in the world?
It can't be done!
Xia Jing called the housekeeper and asked straight to the point: "Have all the gentlemen asked you to pay money when they arrived in Fucheng?"
Hearing this, Zeng Yan was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the princess would ask about the expenses of these gentlemen.
He answered truthfully: "Yes, the uncle has been out and about these days and has paid five thousand taels. The fourth master has paid five hundred taels, and the fifth master has paid one hundred taels."
After hearing the specific amount, Xia Jing's heart bleeds. She is a princess in a royal palace, and her current total wealth is only a few sets of clothes and jewelry, plus the coffin board in the space, and no other property.
And her good sons even paid five hundred taels for a visit to a flower house!
What should I do if I feel so unbalanced?
"How much liquid money does the royal family's property in Yuzhou still have now?"
"When I first took over, I probably had less than 20,000 taels. Now I have about 12,000 taels left after purchasing supplies in the past few days and taking them away from me."
Zeng Yan knew the accounts of these days very well. If the princess wanted to see the specific accounts, he could bring over the account books.
Twelve thousand taels may sound like a lot, but for a big family like the Wangfu, it is a drop in the bucket. But no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat.
"You are the steward. You are in charge of the account books. Bring over the remaining money and I will keep it."