叭哒漫画

I’m just worried that because I’m often away, I won’t be able to keep in touch With you, and rumors might mistakenly reach you, causing you unnecessary worry.” Wei Jinyi answered.

“Second brother, rest assured, I won’t believe in rumours easily. You only need to take care of yourself, don’t worry about me,” Wei Ruo said.

“Hmm.”

After entering the city, instead of heading straight back to the Military Prefecture, Wei Ruo instructed the carriage to detour to the Four Treasure House.

Just like her last visit to the Four Treasure House, this time, Wei Ruo didn’t avoid Wei Jinyi. She simply took him there with her.

Wei Ruo found the wet nurse and said to her, “Nanny, help me send a letter to Brother Xiaoyong. You can simply tuck it into your family’s letter.”

One big advantage of having the troops stationed nearby was that family letters from the troops would be delivered home every once in a while, and letters from the families would be taken to the camps for the soldiers as well. “Alright, it’s almost the end of the month. The camp should be sending letters soon. At that time, I will tuck Miss’s letter into our letters and deliver it,” the wet nurse replied.

“Hmm.”

Wei Ruo nodded and then sat down to write the things she wanted to tell Xu Zhengyong on paper.

Wei Jinyi chose to avoid eye contact and did not watch what Wei Ruo was writing down.

Once she finished her business, Wei Ruo returned to the Military Prefecture with Wei Jinyi.

It was only when the two returned home that they discovered Wei Mingting was also at the Prefecture today.

This was unusual as he had just returned a few days ago. He wouldn’t return at this time unless something urgent had come up, especially since the frontline situation was tense.

At dinner, all members of the Wei family were present except for Wei Qingwan who was still recuperating from her injury.

After dinner, Wei Mingting revealed the reason for his return today- to arrange for military provisions.

Seeing that a confrontation with the Japanese Pirates was imminent, the lack of timely replenishment of military provisions was shaking the soldiers’ morale.

Not to mention, in a few days when the grain stocks in the military camp run out, the soldiers would have to go hungry. They would have already lost half of the battle even before it began.

Wei Mingting presently didn’t have a good solution and could only return to the city to ask for help from Magistrate Yuan Zhengqin.

But Yuan Zhengqin was also stuck in a hard place. He had indeed managed to procure a decent amount of grain, but this grain was provided by the influential gentry of Taizhou prefecture lured by Wei Ruo’s method of working in exchange for disaster relief. The grain did not belong to the Government Office, and consequently, they couldn’t use it freely.

After listening to Wei Mingting’s explanation, Lady Yun turned to Wei Ruo and said, “Ruoruo, you’re the one in charge of this disaster relief. You’re also the one coordinating resources, including the grain obtained. Could you please think of a way to send some of it to the military camp to alleviate the immediate need?”

Wei Ruo replied, “Mother, didn’t Father just mention that he has already consulted with Mr. Yuan? Mr. Yuan does not have the liberty to utilise the grain for the military camp, how could I have such authority? If the gentry and wealthy individuals who have contributed money, effort and grain become dissatisfied and lose faith in the Government Office and this disaster relief operation, have you considered the consequences?”

But we can’t just stand by and watch our soldiers, who are fighting for their country, their families and the people, starve, can we?” Lady Yun said anxiously.

Wei Mingting interrupted Lady Yun, “Ruoruo is right, we cannot arbitrarily touch this grain, don’t make it difficult for her. We need to think of other ways to deal with the military provisions.”

I understand,” Lady Yun replied in a low voice.

Wei Yichen and Wei Jinyi remained silent throughout, not expressing any opinions.

###

When Wei Ruo returned to Tingsong Garden, Xiumei asked her, “Miss, didn’t you say earlier that if the military runs out of grain, you’re willing to provide from your stock? Why didn’t you tell your father just now?”

The granaries in Wei Ruo’s estate were filled to the brim. She had mentioned before that she wouldn’t sell this grain. It was kept for a rainy day, unless the military ran out of supplies.

“Meimei, did you forget that I went to the Four Treasure House today?” “Hmm, miss wrote a letter to Brother Xiaoyong.” After answering, Xiumei paused for a moment as if she had realized something, “Miss, are you planning to have Brother Xiaoyong intervene?”

“Hmm, if it can solve the urgent needs of the military camp, it should count as a merit, right?” Wei Ruo said.

Xiumei nodded, “If you can solve the pressing problem for the Prince and your father, it would certainly be a great achievement!”

“In that case, I can’t just give out grain for free. I should at least help Brother Xiaoyong earn some military merit.”

“Yes, yes, yes, let Brother Xiaoyong earn some military merit!” Xiumei agreed enthusiastically, waving both her hands and feet.

###

Wangmei Garden.

Wei Qingwan, who was recuperating, also heard that Wei Mingting had returned. She was eager for him to come and see her.

If it were the past, regardless of the severity of her injury, even if she had accidentally fallen in the courtyard and just had a minor scrape, when her father came home, he would always come to see her. Or if he couldn’t come, he would send someone over to check on her.

However, today, she waited until late at night but Wei Mingting did not come to see her.

Her hope turned futile, and Wei Qingwan couldn’t help but feel disappointed and saddened.

In the past couple of days, Wei Qingwan had been able to get out of bed. With the help of her old nurse, she stood by the window, gazing at the crescent moon outside, filled with melancholy.

“Nanny, what should I do now? Now that father really despises me, can I still hold my ground in this house?” Wei Qingwan turned to her old nurse to seek advice.

The old nurse was also worried. Her level of anxiety over the matter didn’t fall short of Wei Qingwan’s in the least bit.

However, she had to muster up patience to console Wei Qingwan, “Don’t worry, Miss, your father is still upset. Once he calms down, he will remember the affection he has for you.”

Wei Qingwan didn’t respond and continued to look outside. She felt like the wilted flowers in the courtyard, swaying with the wind with no support. She felt feeble and insecure.

“Miss, you’re still weak. Let me help you back to bed to rest,” the old nurse suggested.”

Upon helping her into bed, Wei Qingwan asked, “Nanny, why hasn’t tonight’s medicine been brought over yet?”

Wei Qingwan had to take her medicine twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, both internally and externally.

But tonight, neither the oral medicine nor the topical medicine had been brought over.

“This is…” The old nurse didn’t know what to say.

In truth, she had already sent her daughter Cuihe to remind the kitchen, but they said the medicine had run out and they hadn’t bought more yet, so there was nothing they could do.

“What’s going on?” Wei Qingwan sensed that the old nurse was hiding something.

“Miss, the medicine has run out…”

“But I’m still not fully recovered. Why aren’t they getting more medicine?” Wei Qingwan couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

She was still not fully recovered, so why had they stopped buying medicine for her?

“This…” The old nurse didn’t know what to say.

“So now they don’t even care whether I live or die?” Wei Qingwan felt utterly defeated. Her eyes turned red as tears welled up in her eyes..