Chapter 91 - 2#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Who in Jiangbei City doesn’t know that Miss Qi is a great philanthropist, a living Bodhisattva descended to earth!
Qi Sifeng cast an appreciative glance at his sister.
Qi Siyu was still immersed in her role, her eyes red from crying.
Li Suye listened to these words with a faint smile on his thin lips. If he hadn’t stayed by Qin Qing’s side and witnessed with his own eyes the efforts he made to save more refugees, the criticism and even hatred he suffered, he might have been deceived by this Miss Qi’s “kindness”.
People really cannot be compared.
Li Suye passed through many dark alleys and finally stopped at a certain place.
He looked ahead with dark eyes.
A refugee was not far ahead, fighting with a wild dog for a dark lump of something. His arms, legs, and even his neck were bitten by the wild dog, bleeding profusely, but the refugee didn’t care at all.
He finally snatched the dark lump into his hand and couldn’t wait to take a bite.
Then, his joyful expression twisted into despair and pain. He covered his mouth and groaned, then spat out a mouthful of blood, which contained a broken tooth.
That dark lump was not a moldy steamed bun, but a bone.
For this bone that couldn’t be swallowed at all, his already weak body took another step towards death.
Li Suye pointed at this refugee and asked, “Miss Qi, is he the person you want to help?”
Qi Siyu covered her mouth and gasped softly, as if she couldn’t bear to watch this miserable scene.
“Yes, they are the ones I want to save. It’s too bitter, their lives are really too bitter!” Qi Siyu shed tears of heartache, but gritted her teeth and dared not cry out loud, as that would be too improper.
Li Suye turned his head and watched Qi Siyu’s performance quietly.
Qi Siyu wiped her tears and said, “I’ll take him to drink porridge.”
She ran over hurriedly. Qi Sifeng ordered a few bailiffs to drive the wild dog away and help support the refugee.
“Someone is distributing porridge in Furong Garden. I’ll take you there,” Qi Siyu said softly.
“Distributing porridge in Furong Garden? Heh, who doesn’t know—”
Even with a dirty face, the refugee showed a sarcastic expression. The words he hadn’t finished turned into silence like a cicada in winter after looking up and seeing Li Suye’s gloomy face.
He looked at Qi Siyu carefully, as if recognizing her, so he shut his mouth even tighter.
Qi Siyu didn’t notice the refugee’s strangeness. She tried her best to hold her breath to avoid inhaling the man’s stench. The feeling of lack of oxygen made her head dizzy.
Finally, the group walked out of the dark alley and arrived at the street corner of Furong Garden.
The carriage of the Tai’an Marquis’s residence didn’t enter the alley but waited aside. Hearing footsteps, the curtain was lifted by Jiang Feishi, and Qin Qing’s head poked out from under Jiang Feishi’s arm.
The two huddled together, their faces both carrying a playful look of watching the excitement.
Li Suye took a deep breath. He suddenly doubted the decision he had made. To protect Qin Qing, he must first give up Qin Qing. Doing so, what color would his remaining life be?
But in the whole world, only he could protect Qin Qing.
Li Suye’s wavering mind became firm again under such a thought.
He withdrew his gaze and said to Qi Siyu, “Let him go drink porridge by himself. You just stand here and watch.”
Qi Siyu thought the Fourth Prince wanted her to accompany him, so she agreed shyly.
A few bailiffs gave a push, and the refugee staggered towards the porridge shed. He looked back as he walked, showing no ecstasy of getting food soon, even though he had fought a wild dog for an inedible bone not long ago.
The refugee slowly approached the crowd grabbing porridge.
“Look at him, then look at these people receiving porridge around. What did you discover?” This question was asked to Qi Sifeng.
Qi Sifeng composed himself and observed the crowd ahead carefully.
The common people who secretly followed to watch the excitement were also investigating.
“Did you see it?” Li Suye asked with emphasis.
Qi Sifeng’s puzzled expression turned into realization, then into embarrassment and helplessness.
He finally discovered that this refugee, who was scantily clad, dirty all over, and skeletal, was a completely different group from the people surrounding the porridge shed. Those grabbing porridge were wearing clean clothes, smiling vigorously, and praising Miss Qi’s Bodhisattva heart with loud voices.
As the refugee got closer, the women in the crowd would pinch their noses and curse or dodge, while the men would lift their feet and kick the refugee down fiercely, telling him to roll away.
The refugee got up, looked back, and looked at Li Suye with fear and uneasiness.
Qi Sifeng’s face turned pale. He finally realized what a stupid mistake his sister had made by distributing porridge for several consecutive days.
Before he could think of a remedy, Li Suye waved his hand and sent a few hidden guards to help the refugee.
The hidden guards pushed through the crowd and took the refugee to the front.
Finally, it was the refugee’s turn to drink porridge, but the Qi family maid scooping porridge asked, “Where is your bowl?”
The refugee didn’t even have a place to stay, so where would he get a bowl?
“I can use my hands.” The refugee extended his pitch-black hands.
“Ah, why are your hands so dirty! Go away, go away, find a bowl!” The maid waved her hands repeatedly, her face full of impatience.
The hidden guards didn’t speak either. They pushed through the crowd, brought the refugee out, sent him to their master, and recounted what happened just now in a rigid and calm tone.
The refugee trembled, terrified. He didn’t know what these people wanted to do.
Li Suye looked at Qi Sifeng, then at Qi Siyu.
Neither of the siblings was a fool. After the observation just now, they already knew where the problem lay. They thought Qin Qing was a clown, but in the end, they discovered that they were the real fools in the Fourth Prince’s eyes.
Their faces burned with pain, as if someone had peeled off their skin alive.
Qi Siyu shed tears. This time she was really crying, not pretending.
Qi Sifeng’s forehead broke out in a dense layer of cold sweat.
The common people following not far away still didn’t know what happened and were looking forward eagerly.
Li Suye looked at the refugee and asked, “Do you often wander around Furong Garden?”
“Yes, yes.” The refugee’s voice was trembling.
“Does Miss Qi distribute porridge here regularly?”
“Yes.”
“You were hungry enough to fight a wild dog for food, why didn’t you go drink porridge?”
“I, I—”
“Answer honestly, do not hide anything!”
“Yes, noble one.” The refugee knelt down with a thud and cried, “The Qi family’s porridge is not for us to drink at all. Such precious white rice porridge, even the nearby residents don’t have enough to grab, how would they share it with us refugees? Once we get close, we get beaten. Without a porcelain bowl in hand, we get scolded by the person scooping porridge. But we have been displaced all the way, abandoned everything that could be abandoned, leaving only this cheap life. Where can we find a bowl? People with bowls have homes; we lost our homes long ago!”
The refugee prostrated on the ground and wailed loudly.
He was so thin that his bones stuck to his skin piece by piece, as if his body was full of withered trees.
Li Suye looked at Qi Siyu and asked, “Miss Qi, do you remember what I asked you before? What is your purpose in distributing porridge?”
Qi Siyu bit her lip tightly, ashamed to answer.
Li Suye emphasized his tone and ordered: “Answer this Prince!”
At this moment, he finally revealed his clear disgust. His pitch-black eyes burned with anger but emitted a bone-chilling coldness.
Qi Siyu shed more tears and quickly answered, “It is to help the refugees who fled to Jiangbei City!”
Li Suye pointed at the group of people grabbing porridge and asked again, “Are they refugees?”
Qi Siyu looked ahead, her cheeks flushed red with shame. She hadn’t looked carefully at these people drinking porridge; she had long been lost in the praises of “living Bodhisattva”.
“Miss Qi, if you distribute porridge for a good reputation, your goal has been achieved.”
Li Suye said slowly.
Qi Siyu’s flushed face instantly turned pale as paper. She knew the Fourth Prince was implying that she was fishing for fame.
Qi Sifeng, standing aside, gasped repeatedly, thinking quickly about how to help his sister out of the predicament.
Too stupid! Really too stupid! Distributing porridge with good rice is stupid! Arresting Qin Qing to punish him is even more stupid!
What to do? How to smooth over this huge stupidity?
Qi Sifeng, racking his brains, suddenly heard the Fourth Prince say: “Before, the Little Marquis asked me what I thought of you, Lord Qi. I said you are skilled in administration and litigation, a good official with a promising future. But I really misjudged you! A muddled official like you is more harmful to the country and the people than corrupt officials!”
After speaking, Li Suye strode towards the porridge shed across the street.
A group of hidden guards also followed.
Everyone pushed away the crowd grabbing porridge and came to the front.
Although Qi Sifeng and Qi Siyu were full of fear and shame, wishing they could dig a hole to hide in, they had to follow.
Approaching, the two saw the Fourth Prince grab a handful of dirt from the ground and sprinkle it into the porridge bucket.
The maid distributing porridge wanted to curse but dared not speak because of the group of hidden guards holding broadswords.
The crowd grabbing porridge was stunned at first, then started cursing: “You are so wicked! Why sprinkle dirt into the white rice porridge? How can we eat it?”
“They have knives!”