Chapter 292

Fei Yanchen’s marriage proposal to the Shen family did indeed put a stop to many people’s speculations, but life had to go on as usual.

After a few days, Shen Yu’an took the five people that Fei Yanchen had left for her and went to the prefectural capital.

The number of temporary shelters built outside the prefectural capital was increasing.

While there were many wealthy families within the city, not every one of them was willing to spend their resources freely, especially when it led to diminishing returns.

On the day Shen Yu’an arrived in the prefectural capital, she happened to see Bai Miaqing distributing porridge and food outside the city gate.

“Stop the carriage!”

Fei Yi immediately halted the moving carriage and pulled it over to the side of the road.

In addition to Fei Yi, there were four more people seated on the extended carriage frame behind. These individuals were Fei Er through Fei Wu, the ones Fei Yanchen had left behind when he departed. They were given numerical names from one to ten.

Given the current turbulent situation, the Shen family was concerned about Shen Yu’an traveling alone, so they had Fei Yi to Fei Wu accompany her.

Fei Yi looked toward the carriage curtain and asked, “Master, what’s the matter?”

“I’ll get off first. You all wait here for a moment.”

With that, Shen Yu’an lifted the curtain and stepped down.

After disembarking, Shen Yu’an walked over to the porridge distribution stand, with two guards following closely behind her.

Bai Mingxi took the ladle from Bai Miaqing’s hand and said, “Miaqing, take a rest in the back for a while. We’ll manage things here.”

The Bai family, which consisted of Bai Wu, Bai Mingxi, and Bai Miaqing, had come out to distribute porridge and food, accompanied by their household servants.

Bai Miaqing ladled bowl after bowl of porridge, and her arms were starting to ache. She handed the ladle over to her eldest brother and stepped back.

As she stepped away, someone quickly took over her task.

The Bai family had brought her along to improve her reputation. Since her return, Bai Miaqing’s aunt had treated her like her own daughter and had been worried about her marriage. That’s why she was asked to join the porridge and food distribution today.

However, Bai Miaqing didn’t want to get married.

As she retreated to a corner of the tent, looking for a place to rest, she heard someone call her name.

“Miaqing.”

Bai Miaqing turned her head and saw Shen Yu’an, surprised. She said, “An’An, how did you come here?”

She had originally intended to tell Shen Yu’an that it wasn’t very safe outside now, and she shouldn’t come out too often. However, she swallowed her words when she saw the two people behind Shen Yu’an, who exuded an aura of hostility.

Shen Yu’an replied, “I heard that there’s a growing number of refugees gathering in the prefectural capital, so I wanted to contribute my part. I didn’t expect to see you as soon as I arrived.”

Bai Miaqing brought Shen Yu’an into the Bai family’s area, where there were no refugees to push and shove.

Bai Miaqing explained the current situation to Shen Yu’an.

The number of refugees outside the city was increasing, and they were consuming a significant amount of food each day. As a result, some people began to resist receiving food aid.

In truth, this wasn’t entirely unreasonable because the food was constantly going out, and these people weren’t benefiting from it in any way.

However, this had kept General Xiangnan quite busy, as he had to figure out ways to gather food constantly.

Shen Yu’an nodded in understanding.

Lack of food was not an issue for her. She had plenty, and she could simply donate it in the name of the grain store.

Because she planned to reside in the prefectural capital for a while, Shen Yu’an had already purchased a residence with her entourage.

During the days Shen Yu’an was distributing porridge in the prefectural capital, Fei Yanchen had finally caught up with the group before his family arrived at the western border.

Upon arriving in the western border, the Fei family acted decisively and wrested control of the military power from the Cheng family.