Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 159 The Startled Horse!

Due to the heavy snow in the capital, the nighttime curfew has become virtually non-existent.

During the day, there are hardly any people on the streets, and after nightfall, the temperature drops even further, and the streets become as quiet as a ghost town.

The Five Cities Garrison no longer patrols seriously; the soldiers would wander around the streets a few times and then find a place to hide and drink.

Everyone looked up at the sky, discussing when the blizzard would finally stop and how much the prices of food and charcoal would rise tomorrow.

Even those who received military pay and salaries felt a sense of crisis.

In times of natural disasters like these, survival is the most important thing.

Ning He had been busy at the porridge stall all day. After looking at the sky outside, she gave instructions to Yun Mo'er.

"I won't be going back to the General's Mansion today. Tomorrow, you will take some men and deliver the grain that Father sent over back to the Prime Minister's Mansion."

Yun Mo'er was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Miss, this was specially sent by the master for the soup kitchen. The soup kitchen consumes a lot of food every day, and if there is no food stored, it probably won't last more than a few days."

“I know,” Ning He said, “but the Prime Minister’s mansion doesn’t have much food in reserve either. Even though I’m distributing porridge, I can’t let my own family fall into hardship.”

Yun Mo'er nodded, then thought of Lu Zhiyan again.

Lu Zhiyan has sent people to find Ning He these past few days, wanting Ning He to close the soup kitchen and return to the General's Mansion to stay put.

Ning He ignored them all and only told the messenger to pass on a message to Lu Zhiyan.

"If the general truly cares about me, then he should have the general's mansion send some stored grain over. Doesn't Lu Zhiyan have a private treasury?"

Ning He had always known that Lu Zhiyan had his own secret stash of money.

She simply didn't care back then. Lu Zhiyan's resources were not as good as the Prime Minister's Mansion. Even if he had a secret stash of money, how much could he possibly save?

But now the situation is special, and Ning He has also started to be very meticulous.

Even if Lu Zhiyan's personal savings aren't substantial, they're still better than those of ordinary people. Giving her some things would allow her to support herself for several more days.

After the messenger returned to the general's mansion to report, Lu Zhiyan indeed had several carts of grain and charcoal delivered.

However, it only happened once. After that day, not only were there no supplies, but even the messenger never appeared again.

Ning He didn't bother with him; the disaster was too severe for her to care about Lu Zhiyan.

We'll settle accounts with this man slowly after the snow disaster is over.

Besides Lu Zhiyan, Xie Yuan also sent Xi Tong to deliver a large amount of gold and silver to Ning He.

He earned all of this through his writing skills over the years!

The two large boxes were almost filled with all of Xie Yuan's savings.

When Xi Tong arrived, he also told Xie Yuan, "Young Master said he was sorry, Miss Ning, but with the snow disaster, money is the most useless thing."

"The money he gave me probably won't buy much food or charcoal. Sending it to Miss Ning is just better than nothing."

Ning He felt a warmth in her heart; she knew that it wasn't easy for Xie Yuan to save this money.

He hid in the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment district), where, although he was protected by the Prime Minister's mansion, he still had a livelihood beyond mere survival.

It's not enough for a person to just be alive. Why do so many children living under the roof of others feel unhappy? It's because there are too many trivial things in life.

Without close relatives, no one will plan for you!

“Since it was given by Xie Yuan, I will accept it. Go back and tell him that there are no formalities between us.”

Xi Tong nodded and added, "Miss Ning, the young master also said that if manpower is really needed, he can come and help."

"Even if he were to disguise himself as a young girl and follow Miss Ning around, the young master would be willing."

Ning He was amused by these words.

Her soup kitchen is now well-staffed; in just over ten days, several bright and clever women and children have been trained.

Not only can they do physical labor, but they can also provide basic medical treatment to patients.

She's much more relaxed than she was at the beginning!

This was all thanks to Zhou Wei's suggestion.

Thinking of Xie Yuan, Ning He was a little distracted until Yun Mo'er suddenly shook her arm.

"Miss, what's that sound?"

Ning He snapped out of her daze, listened intently, and immediately recognized the sound as horses' hooves.

Although there was snow on the street and the sound of horses' hooves hitting the snow was not crisp, Ning He could still tell that someone was galloping towards them from a distance.

"Go out and see."

As Ning He walked outside the soup kitchen, he saw a horse galloping towards him from a distance, thanks to the reflection of the snow.

She squinted and saw that the person on horseback was a woman!

The woman held the reins, her body swaying precariously, seemingly unable to control the horse.

"Oh no, the horse has spooked!"

The horse was clearly frightened and was running wildly through the street. If it wasn't stopped, the person on its back would likely be thrown to their death.

Ning He didn't have time to think much before her eyes caught sight of the ropes piled up at the entrance of the porridge stall.

She quickly stepped forward, grabbed the rope, tied a knot, and blocked the road.

Seeing this, Yun Mo'er was terrified and shouted, "Miss, come back quickly, it's dangerous!"

Ning He could no longer hear anything. Her eyes were fixed on the frightened horse galloping towards her. She seized the opportunity and threw the rope around the horse's neck!

hiss--

A horse neighed, and the startled horse slowed down only for a moment, but did not stop.

Instead, he dragged Ning He along and continued running forward at breakneck speed!

Ning He tightened the rope in her hands and flipped herself onto the horse's back!

Sigh—

Ning He snatched the reins from the woman's hand and finally brought the horse to a stop.

She was about to ask the other person why they were riding a horse in the street during curfew.

But then they found that the other person's body swayed and fell straight to the ground.

Before fainting, he kept muttering, "I'm looking for... looking for... Miss Ning..."

Ning He reached out to support the woman and jumped off the horse with her in his arms.

Only then did they realize that the woman was extremely thin, her clothes were thin and disheveled, some parts of them were torn, and her face and body were covered in wounds.

"Yun Mo'er, quickly make a bed and brew a bowl of medicine."

…………

Day two.

Ning He returned from purchasing grain with a smile on her face.

Yun Mo'er helped Ning He take off her cloak, shook off the snow, and asked curiously, "What's making you so happy, Miss?"

Ning He smiled and said, "The price of grain didn't go up today."

"Why?" Yun Mo'er was stunned. In the capital, it was common for grain prices to rise three times a day. "Could it be that the rice shops are out of grain?"

"No, I heard that the imperial court received a large amount of grain and charcoal to use for disaster relief."

Yun Mo'er was also very happy after hearing this.

The current pressure on the people to provide porridge kitchens is immense. If the imperial court could step in, Ning He would be much more at ease.

Heaven knows how hard Yunmo'er has been working these past few days.

She felt disgusted being surrounded by beggars and refugees every day, but dared not show it because of Ning He.

If the imperial court could intervene to provide disaster relief, Ninghe's soup kitchen might be able to close down in a few days.

She can go back to the General's Mansion and enjoy her life again!

Ning He sat down and took a sip of tea. Remembering the woman she had rescued yesterday, she asked, "Has that woman woken up?"

Yun Mo'er nodded: "Not only did he wake up, but he also helped out from behind!"

Ning He paused in her tea drinking, then got up and walked towards the backyard.

As soon as I stepped inside, I heard a soft yet firm voice.

"This is called winter grass. After crushing it, you can apply it to relieve the pain and itching of frostbite."

"And this, when decocted and taken orally, can induce vomiting and cleanse the intestines. If there is internal heat, this will be effective after one day."

"The important thing is that people with weak constitutions should not use it. This herb is not a medicine; I figured it out myself. It can only be used to save lives when there is absolutely no other medicine available."

Jiang Zao was surrounded by a group of women and children, who followed her to identify some weeds.