"Yes, yes! Your Highness is right!" Chen Zhizhou nodded repeatedly. He quickly turned sideways, extended his arm, and made a gesture of invitation, "Your Highness, this way please. The Prince's Manor... the Prince's Manor is in the east of the city, not far, not far."
From the city gate to the so-called Prince's Manor was a journey that, though not long, was enough to plunge Li Chen'an's mood to rock bottom.
The carriage wheels rumbled over the uneven streets, making a "clunk, clunk" sound, and the jolting was so severe it felt like his internal organs were out of place.
Li Chen'an lifted the curtain to look out, and the sight he beheld was even more shocking than what he had seen at the city gate.
On both sides of the street, nine out of ten houses were empty. Occasionally, a few homes had their doors open, revealing bare walls inside, a scene of utter desolation.
A child of about seven or eight, barefoot and dressed in ill-fitting, ragged single-layer clothes, was squatting in a corner, futilely digging at the rock-hard frozen earth with a twig. He saw the carriage procession approach, glanced at it with vacant eyes, then quickly lowered his head, as if he had lost all curiosity about this world.
A scrawny stray dog, dragging an injured leg, rummaged through a pile of garbage and found half a bone of unknown origin. It clutched it warily, limping and disappearing into the depths of a narrow alley.
The further they went, the more intense the complex smell of dust, animal feces, and poverty became.
Li Chen'an silently lowered the curtain, gripping the pebble in his sleeve even tighter.
His beautiful fantasies of hotpot, lounge chairs, and hot baths were, during this journey, crushed bit by bit by the wheels of reality.
Finally, the convoy stopped in front of a mansion that looked grander than the surrounding civilian houses, but was equally dilapidated.
On the mansion's main gate, a newly hung plaque crookedly bore three large characters—Idle Prince's Manor.
The ink seemed not yet dry, appearing particularly glaring in the cold wind.
The so-called Idle Prince's Manor was a former general's residence abandoned by the previous dynasty.
The moment he stepped through the gate, even Li Chen'an, who was mentally prepared, couldn't help but gasp—though he skillfully covered it with a cough.
The courtyard was certainly large enough, with a few bare, crooked trees swaying in the cold wind, making a "whooshing" sound, as if lamenting the desolation here.
The red paint on the porch pillars had long peeled off, revealing the cracked wood beneath, with a few dead vines clinging to them, like the withered arms of an old woman.
This was no Prince's Manor; this was clearly a haunted, ill-omened house.
Zhao Pan and the group of guards' expressions turned extremely grim. Zhao Pan even gripped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles turning white, and a flicker of anger ignited in his eyes.
In his opinion, to make His Highness live in such a place was an utter disgrace to royal prestige! This was a serious dereliction of duty by the local officials!
Li Chen'an, however, shook his head at him, signaling him not to be angry. He was already inwardly calculating that the courtyard had considerable space and, with some tidying, could be cultivated to grow vegetables for self-sufficiency.
They passed through the desolate courtyard and arrived at the main hall.
Here, at last, a clean area had been cleared, and several crooked tables and chairs were pieced together to serve as a banquet setup.
Chen Zhizhou and several local officials stood there uneasily, having prepared what they claimed was a welcome banquet, using all the city's resources for Li Chen'an.
Li Chen'an was invited to the head seat, and when his gaze fell upon the solitary banquet table, his last shred of illusion about dignity was utterly shattered by the iron fist of reality.
What was called a banquet was actually so shabby it was heartbreaking.
The main dish was a bowl of millet porridge, which was indeed thick and smooth, with a few scattered, dark-boiled beans floating in it.
There were two side dishes. One was a plate of pickled bok choy, yellow in color and emitting a strong, aged sour smell. The other was a few dry radish strips, which looked utterly unappetizing.
In the center of the table, there was only one main course—a plate of boiled lamb. This main course was barely passable; the bottom of the plate held a few large lamb bones, and a few slices of lamb floated in the broth, but the cooking method was very poor. The lamb broth was just bland water, with a few lonely scallions floating on top.
This was… a feast?
Alright, at least it wasn't the pig slop I imagined. Li Chen'an mocked himself internally, but this standard was worse than the work meals at my company's annual meeting in my previous life. How is this entertaining a Prince? How can Yunzhou's produce be so barren? Now I understand why ancient officials were so reluctant to be exiled to the frontier!
Chen Zhizhou and the subordinate officials dared not breathe, each with their heads bowed, fine beads of sweat appearing on their foreheads.
"Your Highness…" Chen Zhizhou's voice was full of humility and embarrassment. He spoke with difficulty, "Yunzhou is barren, the cattle and sheep are thin, it's really… it's really impossible to bring out anything decent. This… this is already all the prefecture has, prepared for Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will forgive us."
Li Chen'an said nothing. He simply extended a slender finger, and with chopsticks, very elegantly picked up a thin slice of lamb.
The meat, when it entered his mouth, was bland and even carried a hint of the lamb's inherent gaminess, clearly lacking even basic spices to remove the smell during cooking.
He swallowed the meat without changing his expression, then gently put down his chopsticks.
This action made everyone present's hearts jump into their throats.
His gaze no longer rested on any of the dishes on the table but slowly fell on the chipped clay bowl in front of each person.
The bowls contained murky water, so turbid that fine grains of sand could be seen slowly settling at the bottom.
Under everyone's tense gaze, he extended his pale finger, picked up the broken clay bowl. He didn't drink, but merely brought the bowl to his nose and gently sniffed it.
A strong earthy smell, mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible scent of decay.
The dishes being meager is due to material scarcity, which I can understand. But failing to even offer a bowl of clean water, that's not a problem of poverty; that's a problem of attitude.
His movements were slow, and light, but each one was like a silent slap, stinging the faces of all the Yunzhou officials present.
"Zhao Pan."
Li Chen'an finally spoke.
"Your subordinate is here!" Zhao Pan immediately stepped forward; he had been waiting for His Highness to speak.
"This Prince… is a bit thirsty," Li Chen'an said indifferently, "Go, bring our own water skin."
"Yes!"
Zhao Pan turned and left. Soon, a Prince's Manor guard entered, carrying a large cowhide water skin and a clean white porcelain bowl.
Zhao Pan took it, deliberately placing the white porcelain bowl down with a loud "clunk" on the table, making a crisp sound that made Chen Zhizhou flinch.
He slowly swept his cold, murderous gaze over every Yunzhou official present, then lifted the water skin and poured clear, pure drinking water, completely free of impurities, into the white porcelain bowl.
The clear water formed an incredibly stark contrast with the murky mud-water on the table.
The atmosphere in the entire main hall, at that moment, froze to an icy point.
Chen Zhizhou and the officials' faces suddenly turned paler than their official robes. Especially Chen Zhizhou, his gaunt body, beneath his wide official robe, began to tremble uncontrollably.
He wailed in his heart: It's over, it's over! This Idle Prince, though appearing sickly, has such ruthless methods! He's trying to assert his authority over us!
The Prince's action, seemingly just to quench his thirst, was in fact silent but more cutting than any harsh reprimand, more humiliating.
This was tantamount to clearly announcing in front of everyone: Your local Yunzhou government cannot even provide a bowl of clean water! You useless lot!
In the main hall, there was a deathly silence, broken only by the faint "chattering" sound Li Chen'an made as he used the bowl lid to skim the surface of the water in the white porcelain bowl.
Next to him, a young clerk named Zhang Qian, seeing Li Chen'an's pretentious demeanor, had already clenched his fists in his sleeves.
He looked at the faint, almost imperceptible smile on the Prince's lips, as if he were watching a clown show, and felt a rush of blood to his head, burning away all his reason.
He couldn't stand it anymore! He couldn't tolerate all the efforts and dignity of Yunzhou's people being so contemptuously trampled underfoot!
"Your Highness!"
Zhang Qian suddenly stepped forward, with a hint of indignation, and loudly argued:
"Your Highness is unaware! Yunzhou has suffered from severe drought for many years, with scarce rainfall, and the city's only old well is almost dry! It is already a blessing for the common people to drink this water, and we… we have absolutely no intention of neglecting Your Highness!"
His voice, sharp with emotion, was particularly jarring in the dead silence of the main hall.