My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

In front of the Cui family mansion in Qinghe, several large, heavy, black-lacquered flat-topped carriages were already harnessed to horses.

The four corners of the carriage were adorned with bronze bells, symbolizing the prestige of a thousand-year-old family, which jingled crisply in the cold wind.

Wearing a snow-white fox fur cloak, Cui Wanqing stepped lightly onto the front carriage, using a stool as a stepping stone.

Following closely behind was Cui Ming, the core manager of the Cui family of Qinghe, who was in charge of managing all the industries in Chang'an City, and also her cousin.

"Young Miss, the snowstorm outside hasn't stopped yet. Are we really going to inspect the workshops in the West Market and the South City today?"

Cui Ming rubbed his hands, which were a little stiff from the cold, his brows furrowed, and a lingering worry in his eyes.

"The city was far from peaceful last night. Our honeycomb briquette business has driven the charcoal businesses of the Lu family of Fanyang and the Cui family of Boling to the brink of collapse. Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall. If these people were to secretly plot against us, our few carriages would be caught off guard."

Cui Wanqing picked up the hot tea that was warming on the small clay stove in the carriage and gently blew away the foam.

Her beautiful peach blossom eyes revealed a calm and sharp strategist.

"If it's impossible to guard against, then don't guard against it."

Cui Wanqing took a sip of tea and said calmly, "His Highness Prince Qin's name is now the biggest shield in the entire Chang'an City. Even if the Lu family of Fanyang hates me to the core, they would never dare to intercept and kill me, the legitimate daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe, in broad daylight."

"Pass down the order: Set off. To the West Market."

"Snapped!"

The coachman cracked his whip loudly.

Several carriages bearing the prominent insignia of the Cui family of Qinghe, escorted by two teams of elite guards, slowly rolled through the snow and headed towards the West Market.

Inside the carriage, Cui Ming lifted the heavy curtain and looked out the window at the pedestrians hurrying to make way for him.

As a scion of a prominent family, he was all too familiar with this kind of scene.

In the past, whenever the emblem of the Cui family of Qinghe appeared on the street, the common people along the way would flee like mice before a cat. They would hang their heads, clinging tightly to the walls, their eyes filled with deep fear and panic.

This is the majesty of powerful clans.

The fear that is forcibly created in the hearts of ordinary people through centuries of accumulated knowledge and power.

Cui Ming once felt incredibly proud of this reverence, believing that this was the dignity that a wealthy family should have.

But today, things seem a little different.

The carriage had just entered the archway of the West Market.

The once wide street was now completely congested with a bustling crowd. The horses pulling the carriage ahead snorted, exhaling two puffs of white breath, and were forced to stop.

"What's going on? What's the Martial Lord up ahead doing? Why isn't he clearing the way?" Cui Ming frowned, his tone carrying the usual arrogance of a noble family.

Several Cui family guards on horseback immediately gripped the swords at their waists and spurred their horses forward.

"The Cui family of Qinghe is on official business! All bystanders, get out of the way immediately!" The guard commander shouted in a deep voice, his hand already on the hilt of his sword. If the crowd in front hesitated even slightly, they would lash out with their whips without mercy.

however.

Instead of scattering in fear as usual, the people in front of them all turned around in a flurry.

"It's a carriage belonging to the Cui family of Qinghe!"

"Miss Cui's carriage has arrived!"

Someone in the crowd shouted something.

next second.

The originally crowded people instantly erupted like boiling water!

Hundreds and thousands of ordinary people did not retreat; instead, they surged toward the carriage like a tide!

"Protect the young lady!"

The guard commander's expression changed drastically, and he drew his gleaming sword with a clang.

This situation looks exactly like a premeditated riot! Could the Lu family of Fanyang really be so depraved as to incite refugees to assassinate people in the streets?!

"Stop! Put the knife away!"

The carriage curtain was suddenly flung open.

Cui Wanqing stepped out of the carriage and stood on the carriage shaft, her eyes quickly scanning the crowd surging forward like a tide.

There were no weapons, no murderous intent.

Only faces, red from the cold, yet radiating boundless fervor and excitement!

An elderly woman with a full head of white hair and all her teeth struggled to squeeze to the front of the carriage with the help of several young people.

She was clutching a tattered bamboo basket wrapped in several layers of coarse cloth tightly in her arms.

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you...?" Cui Wanqing was stunned.

The old woman shakily lifted the coarse cloth.

Inside the bamboo basket lay a dozen or so hard-boiled eggs, still steaming hot.

In this time of heavy snow and soaring prices, these dozen or so eggs are probably the only food this old man can afford to eat to survive.

"Miss Cui... This old woman knows that you noble families look down on such coarse food."

The old woman's hands, covered in calluses and chilblains, grabbed two scalding hot eggs and forcefully shoved them into the hands of a Cui family guard standing nearby, who was gripping a knife handle and looking wary.

"But if it weren't for the three-cent stove and coal your Cui family sold, my wife and her family of five would have all frozen to death in that dilapidated cave last night!"

The old woman raised her head, her cloudy eyes brimming with hot tears.

"This old woman has no money to set up a longevity tablet for you, so this little bit of hot food is just a token of our poor folks' appreciation... You are truly kind people!"

The old woman's crying was like lighting the fuse of a powder keg.

"Cui Dashanren!"

"A living Buddha!"

"Thank you so much, Miss Cui, for saving my life!"

Hundreds and thousands of people, holding freshly roasted sweet potatoes, handfuls of dried red dates they had saved, or even hard coarse grain cakes, pushed and shoved forward.

They were no longer afraid of the menacing guards, nor of the gleaming weapons.

They just wanted to personally deliver their only and best possessions to the benefactors who had saved their lives!

"Here you go! Sir, take this to warm your hands!"

A young boy forced a charred sweet potato into the hand of the guard commander, who was holding a knife.

The commander of the guards was completely dumbfounded.

He started wielding a knife at the age of sixteen, living a life of bloodshed for over a decade, killing without blinking an eye.

But now, looking at the roasted sweet potato in his hand that was burning his palm, and then at the child giving him a pure smile, this tough man suddenly felt a lump in his throat, and his eyes uncontrollably reddened.