Jiang Changning's worries came true. Snow fell for several days in a row, and a utility room in the palace collapsed.
Fortunately, no servants went in to take anything and no one was injured.
But even the utility rooms in the palace were crushed by the snow, and the simple wooden houses in and outside the city collapsed one after another.
The city's medical clinics are full of patients suffering from frostbite, cold, and injuries.
Relief bureaus, nursing homes and other places were crowded with homeless victims.
Just when Jiang Changning was thinking about whether he should provide free porridge or cotton clothes to help the victims, he received an invitation from Prince Ding's Palace.
"Disaster relief banquet." Jiang Changning's eyebrows moved slightly.
If it was really a disaster relief banquet, Jiang Changning would be happy to donate some money, but he was afraid that Princess Ding was just seeking fame.
Jiang Changning closed the invitation and said, "Xiu Lan, go and reply to the invitation and tell them that I will be there on time."
She had to go to support Princess Ding on this occasion. She just hoped that Princess Ding would not be so heartless.
She will go to the disaster relief banquet, but disaster relief does not have to wait until after the banquet.
"Ask Uncle Wu to set up two pots outside each store, one for cooking porridge and one for cooking anti-cold medicine." Jiang Changning instructed Shu Fei.
After discussing it with the concubine, porridge stalls and medicine stalls were set up at the east and west gates to distribute to the victims.
In addition to the Prince of Jin's Mansion, the Prince of De's Mansion, the Prince of Changshan's Mansion and other mansions all set up porridge stalls and medicine stalls.
The weather was getting colder and colder, and it snowed for the next few days.
On the day of the disaster relief banquet, Jiang Changning got up early and found that the King of Jin did not go to the morning court. He sat in the warm room, flipping through the script she had read, "Are you taking a day off today?"
"The weather is too cold, Your Majesty, please excuse me from the morning court session. Besides, I have also received an invitation. Would you be happy to go with me?" Prince Jin asked with a smile.
When male and female guests went out to attend the banquet, they could not be in the same room together, but they could travel together on the way to Prince Ding's Palace.
However, Jiang Changning still smiled with curved eyebrows and said, "I'm happy."
"If anyone is so blind as to offend you, just go ahead and I will take care of everything," the King of Jin instructed.
"I will never lose the prestige of Prince Jin's Mansion." Jiang Changning answered seriously.
Prince Jin pinched her small nose and said, "I'm asking you not to wrong yourself."
"I have the prince as my backer, who dares to wrong me?" Jiang Changning hugged his arm with a bright smile on his face.
The couple was talking and laughing when the maid came in and reported, "Princess, the two ladies and Aunt Liu are here to pay their respects to you."
"Why are you greeting us in such a cold weather?" Prince Jin frowned.
Jiang Changning's eyes flickered, "Your Highness, are you feeling sorry for me? Are you blaming me for not exempting them from paying their respects?"
"You little heartless girl, I just feel bad that you have to get up early." Prince Jin had already told the Queen Mother to exempt Jiang Changning from paying his respects.
He still remembered what Jiang Changning had said: Sleeping in is the greatest respect for the warm bed in winter.
Although he didn't quite understand this sentence, he remembered that his little princess liked to sleep in.
"I exempted them from paying their respects. They didn't come yesterday, but came today. I think they knew you were here, so they came to pay their respects to you specially." Jiang Changning explained.
Prince Jin's face darkened, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes.
These three concubines actually dared to spy on the mistress’s main courtyard. Damn it!
"Your Highness, please go out and meet them. I won't go." Jiang Changning sat on the kang and grabbed the soft pillow. "Your Highness, please go quickly and come back soon. I'll wait for you to have breakfast."
"You are so sincere, aren't you afraid that I will never come back?"
Jiang Changning raised an eyebrow, "The legs are on the prince. If the prince wants to leave, I can stop him once, but I can't stop him countless times. What's more, they are also the prince's legitimate concubines. It's natural for them to see the prince. How can I stop them?"
Jiang Changning stretched out his hand to stop him, "Your Highness, please send them away quickly. We have to go out after breakfast. Don't delay us."
"The princess asked me to do something, shouldn't I be paid for my work?" The prince of Jin turned his hand, palm facing up, "Heaven doesn't send people for nothing, and the court doesn't send hungry soldiers. Come on, governor."
Jiang Changning suppressed his laughter and said, "The governor has no money."
"I don't want silver. The governor can pay with his body. I don't mind."
"If the governor minds, you should go quickly." Jiang Changning threw the cushion to him.
"I will do my job right away, sir." Prince Jin smiled and walked out of the door.
When he entered the warm room, the smile on Prince Jin's face had disappeared. He walked in with a cold face. The three people in the room saw that it was him who came in, and their faces were full of joy, "Prince."
They asked their confidants to keep an eye on what was happening in Rujing Courtyard. When they saw Chang Youzhong, who was supposed to go to the yamen with Prince Jin, was in Rujing Courtyard, they guessed that Prince Jin did not attend the morning court.
The three of them came to pay their respects to the princess without any prior arrangement. They met on the road, and without any prior arrangement, they entered Rujingyuan together.
As for whether they could see the prince after they came, they were not sure. After all, the princess was a domineering and jealous woman.
But unexpectedly, the princess did not come out, and the prince came to meet them alone.
The Prince of Jin asked straight to the point, "It's so cold, why did the princess come here even though she didn't ask you to pay your respects?"
"In reply to Your Highness, the princess rewarded me with several pieces of fine fabrics, and I made new clothes with them. I just put them on today, and I came here specially to show them to Your Highness." Chen Yi saw that Prince Jin's face was not right, and immediately gave a reasonable excuse.
King Jin stared at Chen Yi, but did not point out that there was something wrong with her excuse. Instead, he looked at the other two people, "Why did you come here?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, my aunt is ill and I want to go back to see her." Park's reason was better than Chen Yi's.
Liu has always lacked quick wit. "In reply to the prince's words, I, the concubine, the princess is too kind to me. If she doesn't come to pay her respects for a day, I will feel uneasy. Yes, I will feel uneasy."
"You're worried?" Prince Jin sneered, "You dared to spy on the mistress's main courtyard, what else are you afraid of?"
"I, I don't have it." Liu defended herself subconsciously.
"The princess is thin-skinned but kind-hearted. She has been lenient towards you, but not only are you ungrateful, you also harbor malicious intent and are spying on the mistress's main courtyard. What do you want to do?" Prince Jin asked sternly.
The three concubines knelt down in fear. Pu and Chen Yi insisted on their reasons. They could not afford the crime of spying on the mistress's main courtyard.
For no reason, Liu became the one who stood out and was used by the King of Jin as an example to others.
"Chang Youzhong." King Jin called out, and Chang Youzhong responded and walked in.
"Let her move to Tongyouyuan, it's a quiet place." Prince Jin ordered.
The name Tongyouyuan sounds good, but it is the most remote courtyard in the palace, where some sundries are stored and no one has lived there for a long time.
"Your Highness, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me." As soon as Liu said this, Park and Chen Yi knew that she was completely finished.
"Take him away." King Jin was cold and ruthless.
Liu only brought a maid with her. After collecting a few sets of clothes, she was locked up in Tongyouyuan.
As for Pu and Chen Yi, Prince Jin said a few words to them, "Behave yourself and take care of yourself. If you think Prince Jin's Mansion is not good, I will move you to another place to live."
Except for two personal maids they brought from their mother's homes, all the other servants were replaced.
(End of this chapter)