Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Without Restraint

At the beginning, Wang Huai Zhi truly came to hand out porridge only because he had no choice. But once Wang Huai Zhi actually went, and once Wang Huai Zhi saw the hungry children and the old and weak in the slums, Wang Huai Zhi could not turn away. Some were clearly teenagers, yet they still looked like seven- or eight-year-old children. Some elders were sick and endured the pain day after day.

That Auntie only took a small sip of porridge and refused to drink another. Auntie wanted to carry it back for her little granddaughter. Was it some rare delicacy? It was only a bowl of porridge, and it was not made from precious rouge rice, only the most ordinary rice, the kind Wang Huai Zhi wasted without thinking.

Only after Wang Huai Zhi promised again and again, and had someone give Auntie another bowl, did Auntie finally dare to drink. Young Master Wang, who had never suffered, felt his eyes burn and sting.

The message Sheng Zhi Wan sent through Liu Shang made Wang Huai Zhi feel even worse. Wang Huai Zhi immediately declared that the original two thousand taels would become three thousand. Not only that, Wang Huai Zhi even tried to persuade other young masters who were his close friends to donate as well.

But before Wang Huai Zhi could convince them, Wang Huai Zhi received a summons from the Shun Tian Prefecture Magistrate. A slum that had once felt lifeless saw three bloody assault cases in less than half a day. One boss lady had nearly been beaten to death.

After the Shun Tian Prefecture Magistrate confirmed the facts, he learned it was all because of a single bowl of porridge. That was why he sent someone to bring Wang Huai Zhi over.

Wang Huai Zhi stared at the Auntie lying in the clinic and blurted out, “How could this happen?”

Not long ago, Auntie had thanked Wang Huai Zhi again and again and called Wang Huai Zhi a good person. Yet now Auntie lay on a wooden bed with her head split open and her leg broken. Her little granddaughter cried until her voice cracked. And the reason was that plain bowl of porridge.

A Ya Men Runner sighed. “It was only a bowl of porridge.”

The Ya Men Runner continued, “Young Master Wang, we know you want to do good, but you must think about reality. That ordinary rice you used is something even us Ya Men Runner cannot afford. You dared to let those commoner in the slums eat it?”

Wang Huai Zhi lifted his chin. “What? They do not deserve it?”

The Ya Men Runner felt speechless. “It is not that they do not deserve it. But think about it-can something that good truly end up in their hands?”

The Ya Men Runner said, “Auntie Zhou refused to let go even when hooligans tried to snatch it. That hooligan did not even live in the slums. He could already eat his fill, so why did he still fight over a bowl of porridge? Because the rice in that porridge was too good and too fine. Even he could not eat it, so why should the old and weak women and children in the slums be able to?”

“Then you should lock those hooligans up!” Wang Huai Zhi argued.

“Of course we locked them up,” the Ya Men Runner replied, “but we cannot lock up everyone like that.”

The Ya Men Runner finally suggested, “If Young Master Wang wants to hand out porridge, you should hand out old millet porridge. It is not fine, but it fills the belly and warms the body, and it does no harm.”

The Ya Men Runner added, “It is also cheaper. One jin of polished rice can buy dozens of jin of common millet with bran. If you hand out porridge that way, you can feed more people.”

Most importantly, no one would beat each other bloody for a bowl of porridge.

Wang Huai Zhi listened to the Ya Men Runner’s earnest words, then looked at Auntie on the bed, covered in injuries. So that was why Princess Qing Ning had sent someone to tell him to switch to old millet, preferably with bran, with rough husks that did not taste as good.

At the time, Wang Huai Zhi had only felt Princess Qing Ning was fake to the core, not truly pitying the commoner at all. If Princess Qing Ning truly pitied them, why did Princess Qing Ning live with fine food and fine clothes, yet tell the commoner to eat coarse grain with husks?

Wang Huai Zhi had been unhappy. Yet only now did Wang Huai Zhi understand. Princess Qing Ning had actually predicted all of this.

But why? Princess Qing Ning also grew up in luxury. How could Princess Qing Ning know that the lowest commoner would fight over a bowl of porridge? Even Wang Huai Zhi found it unbelievable.

Princess Qing Ning was a woman who rarely went out. How did Princess Qing Ning know?

Wang Huai Zhi could not figure it out, but Wang Huai Zhi listened and replaced all the rice used for porridge. Over the next few days, there were still occasional arguments when people lined up, but no one ever tried to snatch porridge again. Wang Huai Zhi even paid for Auntie Zhou’s medical treatment, and without realizing it, Wang Huai Zhi lost much of the restless arrogance of a noble Young Master.

Meanwhile, in Ji Zhou Prefecture, Sheng Shi Hall had faced trouble almost every two days over the past half month. Sometimes it was commoner who could not buy cotton causing a disturbance. Sometimes it was Mountain Bandit carrying weapons and robbing. As for fires, there were too many to count, but the Hunter and commoner on duty always spotted them early, so no greater disaster formed.

Today, Du Yi Zhi noticed that far fewer people came to Sheng Shi Hall to buy cotton.

“Maybe the commoner nearby already have cotton?” A’Jian guessed.

Du Yi Zhi frowned.

At that moment, Ninth Uncle Du rushed in with a dark face. “Something happened!”

Ninth Uncle Du said, “At the Sheng Shi Hall branch shops we set up in the subordinate counties, everyone who bought cotton yesterday ran into trouble!”

Du Yi Zhi stood up sharply. Ninth Uncle Du reported everything he had learned. Before Ninth Uncle Du even finished, other households of the Northern Du Branch also sent people over with more news.

The more Du Yi Zhi heard, the darker Du Yi Zhi’s eyes became. The Southern Du Branch and Yan Hai had realized they could not deal with Du Yi Zhi directly, so they worked on the commoner instead. Anyone who bought cotton from Du Yi Zhi’s Sheng Shi Hall got robbed by bandits on the way home.

Starting yesterday, six people had already been stripped of their cotton and even their clothes, then frozen to death on the road. They truly did not care about human life at all. Or did they think that since they had latched onto Third Prince, they could act without restraint and do whatever they pleased?

No wonder so few commoner came to Sheng Shi Hall today.

Outside, a voice sounded. “Tsk, tsk, Boss Du. I did not expect your business to be this bad.”

Du Yi Zhi’s gaze turned cold.

The man met Du Yi Zhi’s eyes and hurriedly stepped back. “Oh, oh, Boss Du’s look is terrifying! Prefect Yan already checked it all. The fire in your courtyard had nothing to do with me. You were a victim, and so was I! I had several hundred jin of fire oil stolen!”

Du Yi Zhi sneered. That man was a shopkeeper in the Du Family’s businesses. The clerk who had been caught for arson had come from that shop. As for the truth, Du Yi Zhi knew it clearly.

Now the man came by Sheng Shi Hall again and again, just to provoke Du Yi Zhi.

Du Yi Zhi said, “Still better than the business at Shopkeeper Sun’s shop. Shopkeeper Sun was blind and deaf and could not even watch over several hundred jin of fire oil, yet the Du Family did not throw you out. How merciful.”

Sun Dun Xu’s face darkened. Sun Dun Xu stepped closer and asked, “Does Boss Du know why Sheng Shi Hall’s business is so bad?”

Du Yi Zhi said nothing.

Sun Dun Xu spoke each word slowly: “Because Boss Du has a father who violated another man’s wife and caused her death. Boss Du’s cotton carries bad luck too. Anyone who buys Boss Du’s cotton will run into misfortune.”

Sun Dun Xu raised his voice. “Yesterday, many people froze to death on the road because they bought Boss Du’s cotton!”