At this time, the courtyard was almost entirely dark, save for the light coming from the bridal chamber.
Originally, the two were sitting face to face, but at some point, they had shifted to sitting shoulder to shoulder. By the time Lin Yuan noticed, Xia Zheng’s body was practically pressed up against hers.
"Hey, Jiangnan, how’s it going?" Shifting her body inconspicuously to the side, Lin Yuan randomly brought up the matter of the relief work in Jiangnan.
Xia Zheng curled his lips and followed by shifting closer to her, grabbing her tender hand before she could react. He kneaded it fiercely a few times, seemingly venting his displeasure.
"I’ve been through so much toil traveling for more than half a month, and the first thing you ask isn’t how I’m doing, but rather about Jiangnan!"
Lin Yuan was amused by his aggrieved tone. After several unsuccessful attempts to pull her hand back, she let him hold on to it, "Alright, my lord, how were your days in Jiangnan? Were you hungry? Did you get cold? Did anyone bully you?"
When she asked these questions, Lin Yuan’s tone was one of jest; she really didn’t believe that a noble like Xia Zheng would suffer hunger or cold during the relief work.
Unexpectedly, she was wrong. Xia Zheng sniffled, caressed his face with her hand, his eyes gleaming brighter than the candles in the room, "Of course I was hungry and cold. Didn’t you notice? I’ve lost weight."
Lin Yuan hadn’t really noticed that Xia Zheng’s face hadn’t changed much, but feeling it up close, she indeed noticed it had grown more angular.
Even without mentioning it, Lin Yuan could guess from his unkempt hair and scruffy beard; she initially thought he looked this way because he was in a rush to see her and didn’t have time to groom. Now it seemed that he must have been enduring such hardships in Jiangnan all along.
Xia Zheng seemed to sense the shift in Lin Yuan’s mood and quickly changed the subject, talking about happier things.
"I’m still one of the lucky ones. Let me tell you about Little White Rabbit, oh, that’s Zhao Hongde. We grew up together. You have no idea how miserable he really was. Not just hunger and cold, as soon as he arrived at the Jiangnan border, the refugees stopped his carriage. They all reached out with their dirty hands, begging for food."
"This guy is too kind-hearted; he immediately took out his wallet and shared his provisions with the old people and children. But, what good did that do? It was just a drop in the bucket."
Xia Zheng sighed, and Lin Yuan could imagine the scene: too many refugees, one person’s provisions couldn’t possibly be enough. And if one wasn’t careful, it might even result in a refugee revolt, making the situation even worse.
"This Little White Rabbit is really a simpleton. After the refugees had been starving for so many days, who wouldn’t rush forward when they saw food? Luckily, at that moment, there was someone as clever and brave as me to prevent the situation from worsening."
Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh and became genuinely interested, showing an expression of admiration and curiosity, "So, my lord, what did you do?"
Xia Zheng was quite pleased with Lin Yuan’s expression, affectionately flicking her nose, and excitedly said, "Of course I stood up valiantly, lifted my arms high, and shouted, ’Everyone! We have no more food left in our carriage; all the provisions are now in Jiangnan. Please, do not panic. At noon, we will distribute porridge at the Yamen gate, so everyone, please go to the Yamen gate to line up and wait!’"
After speaking, he cockily raised his eyebrows at Lin Yuan, "How about that? With just one sentence, I calmed everyone down, and they all happily went to the Yamen gate to wait."
Lin Yuan brought her fists together in front of her chest, mimicking the gesture of profound respect she had seen in martial world figures on television, "My lord, you truly are wise and valiant; I am thoroughly impressed and bow to you."
Xia Zheng was delighted by her gesture and burst into