Her tone held no mockery, making her sound genuinely concerned for Xiang Rui.
However, Xiang Rui found it increasingly uncomfortable.
She quickly stepped forward, took the teapot from Song Chaoyu's hand, and then carefully walked to Mu Changxi's side.
Mu Changxi was not as "good-tempered" as Song Chaoyu. He raised his eyes and asked Xiang Rui, "When you served by the Emperor's side, was it also like this?"
Xiang Rui's face immediately flushed red.
Mu Changxi, however, did not even glance at Xiang Rui again before turning to Song Chaoyu and saying, "If there is a next time, I will send her back to the capital."
Although Xiang Rui felt indignant, she knew she was in the wrong. In the palace, any palace maid who dared to be so lazy and sleep until noon on a duty day would be beaten with a rod!
Song Chaoyu shook her head, signaling Pick Red and Qiu Qing not to make things difficult for Xiang Rui because of this.
Although Xiang Rui was difficult to deal with, there were ways to manage her.
The day passed quickly.
Lord Zhang came twice more in the meantime, but both times he was stopped by Ping Jiang and did not even get to see Mu Changxi.
However, Ping Jiang did inform Lord Zhang that the Prince was in a bad mood today and advised him not to disturb him. He suggested that if Lord Zhang came again tomorrow morning, the timing would be about right.
Lord Zhang was inwardly furious but could only leave dejectedly. As he left, he saw Xiao Ruizhi leading a troop of men escorting several large chests towards Pingzhou City. Lord Zhang thought to himself that camping outside was indeed not a viable option, and it was likely that Mu Changxi would have to return to Pingzhou City tomorrow.
Only then did he leave with peace of mind.
How could Lord Zhang have imagined that, before dawn, Mu Changxi's men, without even entering Pingzhou City, had already bypassed it and continued south along the official road?
—
The next morning, when Lord Zhang arrived at the Prince of Chang's campsite with breakfast personally prepared by his wife, he found only an empty expanse. It was then that he realized the Prince of Chang had already departed!
In a fit of rage, he smashed the food box in his hand onto the ground, only to have the soup splash all over him.
Meanwhile, Mu Changxi and Song Chaoyu were already heading towards Yuezhou City.
Because they had woken up too early, Song Chaoyu, sitting in the carriage, kept yawning.
It wasn't until she leaned her head on Mu Changxi's shoulder and, unable to fight off her sleepiness, drifted off that Mu Changxi smiled and let Song Chaoyu lie on his lap to sleep soundly.
By noon, they had not yet left the territory of Pingzhou City.
However, they saw some refugees from Haizhou heading north.
At noon, their carriage stopped in a small town called "Ju'an Town," which belonged to Pingzhou.
There were many refugees in this town, most of them homeless and huddled in the corners of the town.
However, the town's residents were clearly not friendly towards these refugees.
Most of the merchants, upon seeing these refugees, even spoke to drive them away.
Some wealthy refugees could afford to stay in inns, while those without money could only wander the streets of the town, trying to find a way to live.
This scene made it difficult not to imagine what Haizhou City must be like now.
They also checked into the largest inn in town, the Penglai Inn, which was already overcrowded.
However, seeing their status as the Prince of Chang's manor, the innkeeper naturally reserved rooms for them.
Since they had not stopped in Pingzhou City, they were not in a hurry in Ju'an Town and planned to rest for half a day.
What Song Chaoyu did not expect was that after just one night's sleep, by the next morning, the Penglai Inn was surrounded by refugees!
This was the first time Song Chaoyu had seen such a scene. She had only heard of refugees causing trouble before, so she was a little nervous.
However, these refugees only gathered outside. Before long, Xiao Ruizhi knocked on Mu Changxi and Song Chaoyu's door: "Your Highness, there are two leaders among these refugees who wish to see Your Highness and have something to report to Your Highness!"
They did not barge in directly but used this method to show that they still hoped for a peaceful resolution.
Song Chaoyu's opinion of these refugees seemed to have changed somewhat.
Mu Changxi also nodded, then closed the window: "Bring the two of them up."
Song Chaoyu brought him his wheelchair. Upon opening the door, she found Xiang Rui standing at the entrance with water.
Fortunately, they had always been cautious. Even though Song Chaoyu now knew Mu Changxi could walk, she never allowed him to move around freely.
After a short while, Xiao Ruizhi brought in two men from outside.
One was in his twenties, and the other was slightly older.
They both looked as if they had endured much hardship, and their clothes were tattered.
But Song Chaoyu could see that they were by no means ordinary people.
Especially the young man in his twenties, he seemed to possess an inherent nobility. Even in his tattered clothes, his proud demeanor could not be concealed.
After entering the room, the two men knelt before Mu Changxi.
The elder man spoke first: "Your humble servant Qiao Feipeng pays his respects to the Prince of Chang and the Princess. Your humble servant is a scribe from the Haizhou City Prefecture Office. I lead two hundred and thirty refugees and implore Your Highness to uphold justice for the refugees of Haizhou!"
After speaking, he presented a petition with both hands.
Xiao Ruizhi stepped forward to take it, but Song Chaoyu stopped him.
Then she personally stepped forward, took the petition, and handed it to Mu Changxi.
At the same time, the young man beside Qiao Feipeng also spoke: "Your humble servant Xu Yuan, a scholar from Ping'an County under Haizhou's jurisdiction, pays his respects to the Prince of Chang and the Princess. I lead one hundred and two households, totaling three hundred and seventy-three people from Ping'an County, and implore Your Highness to uphold justice for the refugees of Haizhou!"
He also presented a petition, and again, Song Chaoyu personally accepted it.
The two petitions told different stories, yet they were the same story.
Qiao Feipeng's petition was for the refugees who had been wronged by the prefecture office. He said that the disaster in Haizhou had been foreshadowed long ago, and the imperial court had allocated a considerable amount of disaster relief funds in the past two years. However, their whereabouts were a mystery. He accused the prefect of Haizhou Prefecture and the garrison of colluding to embezzle funds, murder refugees, and disregard their lives, and implored the imperial court to deliver justice.
This petition contained over five hundred handprints. However, only the two hundred and thirty people who followed him were still alive.
Xu Yuan's petition made Song Chaoyu even more indignant.
Ping'an County, where Xu Yuan was from, was the county closest to the sea in Haizhou City and the one most severely affected by the flood.
However, the county magistrate and the disaster relief officials colluded, not only failing to provide relief to the refugees but instead "profiting from the disaster."
They robbed refugees of their money, abducted beautiful women, and slaughtered helpless children. They committed all sorts of atrocities against the refugees of Ping'an County.
As a scholar, Xu Yuan, in desperation, led the county residents to flee, but they were slandered as criminals, and a wanted notice was issued throughout Haizhou.