Royal Gold Magistrate

With the first aid lesson complete, the sanitation team continued towards Emperor Jing’s direction.

Emperor Jing’s group watched the approaching team with long faces.

Before they could speak, Captain Wang spotted them and looked them up and down curiously. “Why are you all standing in the rain? Why not take shelter indoors?”

“Ahem… We’ve just arrived in the district,” Emperor Jing replied awkwardly, avoiding a direct answer to Captain Wang’s question. “We encountered a woman who suddenly fell ill, and she has a child with her. Could you tell us where to find a physician?”

“In this weather, no clinic would be open! Keep walking a bit further, and you’ll find the Wanfeng Restaurant. It’s an official shelter point. Go there to escape the rain. They have a resident physician too!”

“We must go now!” With that, Captain Wang was about to leave hurriedly.

Emperor Jing quickly reached out to stop him. “Where are you all rushing off to?”

“It’s nothing! The drainage channels in a few nearby districts aren’t cleared. There’s widespread flooding, and we heard some houses have collapsed. We’re going to rescue people and clear the drains.”

With that, he pulled down his rain hat and rushed off in the opposite direction, ignoring Emperor Jing’s further questions.

Emperor Jing and his companions felt a bit strange… These people seemed quite normal, yet on the street they… How odd!

Following Captain Wang’s directions, Emperor Jing headed towards the Wanfeng Restaurant. They hadn’t walked far when they saw its sign.

From the entrance, they could see lights inside and hear many voices. It seemed quite lively.

Emperor Jing pushed open the door and entered. To his surprise, an enthusiastic waiter immediately greeted them.

With a delighted face, he said, “Welcome, guests! Please, come in!”

Emperor Jing was taken aback by the scene inside the restaurant. There were so many people.

Many sat around tables, four small tables pushed together to form one large one. The tables were laden with food, melon seeds, and snacks.

Fearing the cold weather, the restaurant had lit braziers, making it warm and cozy.

The diners chatted happily, creating a lively atmosphere. Apart from some scattered customers, the crowd seemed to be divided into two groups.

One group was clearly scholars, while the other was more casual, their speech peppered with coarse language.

Seeing Emperor Jing’s silence, the waiter continued, “Oh my, I see your clothes are all wet. We have some coarse cloth garments. Why don’t you change into those, and we’ll dry your wet clothes for you?”

Emperor Jing smiled, surprised that a waiter in an ordinary restaurant could be so thoughtful.

“Is there a physician here? We have a patient… Please find someone to take a look. We’ll pay in full.”

The waiter turned and called out to an old man with a white beard in the crowd, “Hey, listen to you talking about money! Dr. Xie, there’s a patient! Please, bring the patient in quickly.”

Emperor Jing was confused. No charge? Had the local customs become so pure and simple?

But he didn’t think much of it and waved his hand. Two guards went to the carriage to bring in the woman and child.

Dr. Xie stroked his beard and chuckled, “Finally, a patient! I’ve been bored these past few days.”

He immediately went to check the woman’s pulse. After a while, he shook his head and said with disappointment, “Tsk, how boring. I thought it was some serious illness. She’s just weak. Waiter, prepare some honey water for her to drink and restore her energy.”

“Take her to a private room. When she wakes up, give her something good to eat. The same for the child. Nothing serious!”

With that, Dr. Xie walked away, hands behind his back.

Hearing this, Emperor Jing felt relieved. He found an empty table and sat down, with Li Yansong and the others following.

Soon, the waiter brought a stack of cloth garments for Emperor Jing and his group. After changing into dry clothes, they sat back at the table.

Zheng Qiao sighed with admiration, “Wonderful! Truly wonderful! Such pure and simple folk customs! It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and Banshan District has changed so much.”

“We’ve always heard outsiders talk about this place, but seeing is truly believing!”

Emperor Jing smiled, his expression one of satisfaction.

“Waiter! Bring us two pots of warm wine!”

The waiter responded promptly, soon bringing over not just the wine but also several dishes, along with some ginger soup, placing them on Emperor Jing’s table.

Emperor Jing was puzzled. “We didn’t order any food, did we?”

The waiter grinned slyly. “Just eat up! For these few days, all food and lodging here are free! Eat as much as you like!”

“The government will pay for it!”

Li Yansong asked curiously, “What? You mean everyone eating in this restaurant is being treated by the government?”

“That’s right! With the recent heavy rains causing disasters, the district has set up several temporary shelter points. All consumption at these points is paid for by the government.”

“So, eat without worry. I’ll bring you a plate of candied fruit in a bit.”

“That candied fruit is something special! It’s from Chen’s Grocery next door, blessed by eminent monks! I heard they even have ‘blood bodhi’ for sale now, though that’s their prized possession.”

The waiter smacked his lips, imagining the taste of the ‘blood bodhi’.

Emperor Jing asked, puzzled, “Does the government pay for the items from next door too?”

“Oh no, Chen’s is too clever for that. They’re not getting much business these days, so they’re using our place for some free advertising. If you like the snacks, you can go buy directly from them, right? Ah, no wonder they’re making money. They’ve got the business sense!”

Emperor Jing nodded repeatedly, picking up the ginger soup and drinking it in one go. He immediately felt warmth spreading through his body.

He couldn’t help but feel moved.

“Such thorough and appropriate arrangements. Fang Zheng and Yuanzhao haven’t disappointed me.”

Li Yansong and the others nodded in agreement as they sipped their ginger soup.

How comfortable! After the hardships of the past half day, being able to drink a bowl of ginger soup and eat some hot food in a restaurant was blissful!

Having been soaked in water for so long and walking such a distance, everyone was famished.

Once Emperor Jing picked up his chopsticks, everyone else started eating. They ate in silence, listening to the chatter of the other diners in the restaurant.

Some discussed opera, others talked about jianghu affairs, and some lamented their collapsed houses. All the flavors of common life were present.

Halfway through the meal, something unexpected happened.

Captain Wang, whom they had met on the street earlier, burst through the door.

He called out loudly to the crowd in the restaurant, “Houses have collapsed in the neighboring district! We don’t have enough manpower. Is anyone willing to help?”

After waiting a moment with no response, Captain Wang shouted again urgently, “Is anyone willing to help? Don’t you have any balls?”

One of the scholars stood up abruptly. “Stop shouting! I’ll go!”

“One person isn’t enough! We need more!”

The scholar turned to his tablemates. “Will any of you join me?”

Someone tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “Brother Shen, it’s pouring outside. We’ve just dried off.”

Shen Yi shook off the hand. “So what if we get wet again! What’s more important, human lives or dry clothes? If you’re not going, I’m off!”

Seeing him stride away, his companions felt too embarrassed to remain seated. They all stood up, saying, “We’ll go too!”

Captain Wang grinned broadly. “Great! That’s enough people. Don’t delay, let’s go quickly!”

Then a group of scholars swarmed out of the restaurant, following Captain Wang.

Lord Ji Er, sitting nearby, suddenly slammed his wine cup on the table as he watched Captain Wang’s retreating figure.

“Brothers, let’s go! We’re going too!”

His gang looked bewildered. “Boss, let them go. They’ve got enough people. Isn’t it better for us to keep drinking?”

Lord Ji Er lowered his voice, “Are you an idiot?”

“We’ve already beaten most of the thugs in the North City. If the government starts investigating later, we’ll be the only ones getting beaten, and no one will escape.”

“This disaster relief is a chance to show the government what we can do. It’ll help us transition later. I could run away anytime if I wanted to.”

“Who do you think I’m doing this for? It’s for you lot!”

The gang looked at him with newfound respect. “Boss, you’re so noble!”

Lord Ji Er grinned. “As long as you understand. Brothers, follow me!”

With that, a group of thugs poured out of the restaurant, heading off to help with disaster relief…