"Indeed, why have they come here today?"
"The snow disaster has been happening for so long, and not only has the court not provided disaster relief, but now that people are providing relief, they send a Grand Princess. What do they intend?"
...
It is said that trees live for their bark, and people live for their reputation.
Only at this very moment did Shen Xiaoyan finally understand the true meaning of this saying.
Perhaps these were all illiterate rural women.
Perhaps these were all farming men who only knew to face the soil and till the land.
But what they said came from their hearts, and it reflected the voices of all the disaster-stricken people.
Grand Princess Zande was surrounded by a group of people in tattered clothes. Although Jiangyi and a few young maids, along with the personal guards, were trying their best to fend off these people, preventing them from getting close to Grand Princess Zande and Baili Ziyun.
But while they could block their bodies, they could not block their mouths.
Every word spoken by these people was like a fierce slap, directly smacking Grand Princess Zande across the face, making her complexion turn red.
Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin walked over to Zheng Wei and the others, watching the scene quietly, showing no intention of helping.
After about fifteen minutes, this small commotion finally subsided.
Perhaps it was because their grievances had been vented, and the courage spurred by those grievances had also disappeared.
Those who had been shouting curses and blaming them were now retreating as much as possible, hiding in the crowd, not daring to look up.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at their actions, feeling a little amused and a little pathetic.
Were these people only brave enough to speak their minds under such circumstances?
And after they spoke, they would certainly be filled with worry and fear.
Even now, their worries were clearly unnecessary, because Grand Princess Zande had no intention of finding out who had said those words earlier.
What she was thinking about now was how to escape from the encirclement of these people.
Thinking of this, she cast another resentful glance at Baili Ziyun.
If it weren't for the scene she had just created, things wouldn't be like this now.
Upon seeing Grand Princess Zande's gaze, Baili Ziyun flinched.
She felt a little apologetic, but more so, she felt indignant.
Although the current situation was partly her fault, it could not be entirely blamed on her.
Seeing that the commotion in the crowd had stopped, Shen Xiaoyan asked Zheng Wei, "Why was there such a disturbance just now?"
This was indeed very strange.
These were just ordinary commoners. Even though the snow disaster had brought them great suffering, they wouldn't dare to treat a princess of the realm like this because of it.
Unless something had happened to trigger their violent tendencies.
"Something did happen," Zheng Wei nodded and said.
It turned out that after Zheng Wei and his group came out, they first tried to appease the emotions of these people, and then proceeded to register information at the gate for the distribution of food and clothing.
However, due to the large number of people and lack of prior preparation, the gate became blocked, inevitably leading to some congestion.
When Grand Princess Zande, Baili Ziyun, and others came out, they saw such a scene.
Grand Princess Zande was fine. After all, her age and experience were there.
She had gone through enough, and naturally, she had seen such scenes.
To her, this was nothing more than a minor incident.
But for Baili Ziyun, a pampered young lady, apart from the time Shen Xiaoyan forced her to do manual labor, she had never witnessed such a chaotic scene.
It was precisely because Shen Xiaoyan had forced her to do manual labor, making her lose her dignity while digging the ground every day, that she detested such a scene even more.
Since it was near Shen Xiaoyan's residence, she did not dare to be too excessive. She merely ordered the guards to separate the crowd at the gate so that she and Grand Princess Zande could pass.
But who knew that these people's minds were currently focused on registering their information, and they were not very obedient to the guards' attempts to disperse them.
This back and forth caused some delay, and Baili Ziyun began to get agitated.
When people are agitated, they often do irrational things.
Especially someone like Baili Ziyun, with her fearless temper, it was even more so.
Baili Ziyun immediately drew the golden whip from her waist and lashed out at the person closest to her.
Being suddenly whipped by a leather whip, anyone would be terrified.
Furthermore, Baili Ziyun had been restraining her temperament while in the room, so when it finally erupted, it was somewhat difficult to suppress.
Before she could lash out a second time, someone shouted at her, asking why she was hitting people.
The questioning from others served as a catalyst for her.
The ultimate consequence was that she grabbed the person in front of her and whipped them severely.
It was only when Zheng Wei and his group, who were observing from outside, heard the commotion and came out to stop her, that more people were saved from injury.
"How many people were injured? And where are the injured?" Shen Xiaoyan quickly asked.
"They are bandaging their wounds over there," Lu Taobao said, pointing to the west side of the gate.
Shen Xiaoyan and Yue Qingxin followed her gaze and indeed saw Fan Yong leading people in bandaging the wounds of a group of people in ragged clothes.
"Then what happened just now?"
Shen Xiaoyan was relieved and continued to ask about the earlier events.
Zheng Wei looked at Baili Ziyun, who was still being surrounded, and said, "I went up and taught her a lesson and destroyed her whip."
"Then, she started yelling that her mother was the Grand Princess, sent by the Emperor for disaster relief, and that anyone who dared to cause trouble for her would have their food supply cut off by her mother." Lu Taobao continued.
Shen Xiaoyan could only press her forehead after hearing this.
What kind of brainless person could say such things?
"So, they and their mother were besieged. And because we were watching from outside, the guards dared not retaliate, otherwise, it would have turned into a complete mess long ago."
Yizixie said in a chilling tone, as if contemplating something.
For a moment, everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere became somber.
"It's snowing!"
Just then, someone suddenly exclaimed, and everyone looked up at the sky.
Shen Xiaoyan and the others also looked up and saw snowflakes fluttering down.
Originally, this was the most serious situation.
Next, they would have to endure the winter, and when spring arrived, the snow would melt, and the common people's lives could slowly resume.
But who knew that it would snow again.
At first, the snowflakes were relatively small, and they fell slowly.
But in less than a moment, before everyone could recover from their melancholy, the snowflakes were falling like willow catkins in spring, making it difficult to see each other's faces even at a short distance.
Everyone's heads and bodies were covered in white.
"It's snowing again, what should we do!"
"Heaven won't let us live!"
"Are they going to freeze us to death?"
Listening to these desperate words, Shen Xiaoyan felt unbearable.
At this moment, Yizixie suddenly stepped forward and said loudly to everyone.
"Everyone, don't be discouraged. Hasn't the court already sent the Grand Princess for disaster relief? I believe the Grand Princess will give you a surprise tomorrow, something that will allow you to safely pass through this snow disaster, won't she, Grand Princess?"
Grand Princess Zande smiled and said to everyone, "Don't worry, the Emperor has you in his heart, which is why he sent this Princess to provide disaster relief."
The crowd looked at Yizixie, then at Grand Princess Zande, and after a long pause, someone said with doubt, "Really? Can she be trusted?"
"Exactly, exactly. Just now her daughter said she wouldn't give us food."