The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Minister Luo was eager to rescue people and make a contribution, wanting His Majesty to see his loyalty and ability. He urged, "Minggeng, Mingfang, all of you go back and change your clothes. Change into servants' clothes and put on your raincoats too."

Luo Mingfang stamped her feet and trudged through the thick snow back into the house to change her clothes.

Like her brother, she had no desire to participate in disaster relief.

Because of her noble birth, those commoners were not worthy of being saved by her.

Going to those remote, filthy places will only make your pretty clothes and shoes dirty.

The situation at the Prime Minister's residence was the opposite of that at the Luo residence.

Prime Minister Feng did not want his youngest son, Feng Yuanxi, who had been frail since childhood, to participate in disaster relief, but Feng Yuanxi insisted on going anyway.

Feng Yuanxi said, "If it were Miss Su, she would definitely have participated in the disaster relief."

The Prime Minister's wife said, "Let Xi'er go. Master Tianyuan said that our Xi'er was able to change his fate of dying young, perhaps because of doing good deeds. I will also go to help with disaster relief and accumulate more blessings for our Xi'er."

The Prime Minister's wife came from a very influential family of high-ranking officials, so she usually had a lot of say in the household, and Prime Minister Feng did not interfere much.

"Okay, you and Yuanxi can both go, but you must arrange for someone to keep an eye on Yuanxi and make sure he doesn't get hurt."

Feng Yuanxi objected, "I'm not a four or five-year-old child. I've practiced boxing with Miss Su, and I'm very good at it."

Prime Minister Feng was a little jealous. His most beloved youngest son was completely devoted to Miss Su, and he couldn't stop talking about her.

It seems that even his biological father is less important than a stranger!

Luo, accompanied by dozens of men, bought many wooden spatulas and excitedly arrived at Liuye Village on the outskirts of the capital, following orders.

On his first day back in office, he was full of energy.

But when you actually do it, you realize that disaster relief is not as easy as you imagined.

Vice Minister Luo was a civil official who was not good at carrying heavy loads and had no experience in disaster relief.

He and several dozen servants spent half a day working in a collapsed house, but they only managed to clear away the snow, roof beams, and stones, failing to rescue a single buried person.

After the clutter was cleared away, things got even more complicated. There were five mud houses, and the only ways to dig were with a spatula and by hand.

They dared not use those efficient, sharp iron shovels at all, for fear of injuring the people underground.

Luo Mingfang held a wooden shovel in her hand, looked at her mud-covered hands and shoes, and cried in grievance.

My nails, which I'd been growing for months, are all ruined now.

Moreover, the weather is extremely cold, and I'm afraid I won't be able to endure it for more than two days before my hands develop ugly chilblains.

When she attends the Flower Festival in the spring, people will definitely laugh at her hands.

Luo Mingfang complained, "Whether I came or not is completely unimportant. Even with me here, you still didn't manage to rescue anyone."

Luo Minggeng and the others had never suffered like this before. Braving the cold wind and heavy snow, they dug the soil with small wooden shovels. In just one afternoon, blisters appeared on their hands, and they were extremely painful.

They all started to slack off, hiding in a corner to take it easy.

Only the servants are still holding on.

The Luo family's rescue efforts were extremely slow; by almost nightfall, dozens of people had still not managed to rescue a single buried person.

Luo, the Vice Minister, was defeated by reality. He no longer thought about making merits, but only about not being the worst one, so as not to be disliked by the emperor again.

After looking around, Minister Luo found that his grandsons were all slacking off and were really disappointing. He was so angry that he lashed out at Luo Minggeng with his whip.

"Don't slack off, all of you get moving!"

Luo Minggeng was heartbroken. This was the first time he had ever been beaten since he was born. "Grandfather, it's too difficult to dig a hole and save someone with a wooden shovel. No matter who does it, they won't do it well, just like us."

Luo Mingxin disagreed, "That's not necessarily true. When the news of the siege of Yinguan City reached the capital, you all said that Yinguan City was bound to lose, but it turned out that Miss Su helped Yinguan City repel the enemy."

These words served as a reminder to Vice Minister Luo: if someone surnamed Su could accomplish great things, why couldn't someone surnamed Luo?

Thinking of this, he lashed out at Luo Mingxin with his whip again, "At least you still have wooden shovels. Many people who couldn't buy wooden shovels had to dig with their bare hands, so you're all lucky. Get to work now, or you won't be able to go home to sleep tonight."

Less than 100 meters away from the Luo family, Emperor Qi Jing was also busy rescuing people.

He was so dizzy from digging that Grandpa Fu had to drag him to sit on a wooden stake to rest.

"Your Majesty, everyone is working overtime and we will surely be able to rescue the people soon. Please don't be too anxious or stressed; it's not good for your health."

Emperor Qi Jing: How can I not be anxious! The ministers, along with the servants of each household, and the hired men, numbered over ten thousand, but the latest report indicated that only five people had been rescued.

The more than 300 missing people in Liuye Village are most likely buried under the collapsed houses.

The number of missing persons is only for one village; the total number of missing persons reported by nearby counties is approximately 6,000.

Moreover, the heavy snow is still falling, and the number of missing persons will continue to increase. By tomorrow, the number of missing persons may increase from six thousand to ten thousand.

If they aren't rescued in time, they'll probably all die down there.

So Emperor Jing of Qi lost his appetite for dinner.

The ministers were all starving, but seeing that the emperor was also hungry, how could they dare to complain?

After dark, bonfires lit up the village of Willow Leaf.

Minister Luo was extremely impatient and lashed out at his servants several times. Fortunately, the Luo family managed to rescue an old woman from the ruins.

Vice Minister Luo was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to report to the Emperor.

The rescued old woman was covered in mud, and both her legs were broken by stones, but she didn't care about the pain. She just lay on the mud and kept digging with her bare hands.

He cried as he dug, "My son, daughter-in-law, and three grandsons are buried underneath. Please, please help us rescue them!"

Vice Minister Luo had the old lady moved aside to have her legs treated, and then ordered the servants to continue digging to save her.

Luo Mingfang crouched in the corner and, under the cover of night, quietly took out the sharp shovel hidden on her body.

Digging with a sharp shovel did indeed speed things up considerably.

After a while, she felt she had scooped up something. She picked up a small piece of it, held it up to the firelight, and was immediately terrified.

What? Could this be a child's finger?

Luo Mingfang quietly threw the shovel into the snow and shouted, "Help! There seems to be a child buried here!"

Several people dug with all their might and quickly pulled the child out of the soil.

Luo Mingxin, holding the child, said, "This child looks very healthy, but wait, it seems like he's missing a finger and it's still bleeding. It's obviously a recent injury."

The seven servants who participated in the rescue of the child were in a panic.

"It wasn't me, I dug them out with my hands."

"It wasn't me. Even though it was dark, my eyesight is excellent, and I would never accidentally hurt a child."

Luo Mingfang felt guilty and quickly changed the subject, "Alright, now is not the time to assign blame. You guys hurry up and dig. The old lady's son, daughter-in-law, and two other grandsons are down there."

Luo Mingfang didn't think she had done anything wrong. Although she had cut off one of the child's fingers, if she hadn't secretly used tools to increase efficiency and discovered the child earlier, the child might have died in the ground.

Minister Luo was very pleased. So far, the Luo family was the only one to have rescued two people, giving them a significant lead. Indeed, these children and grandchildren are not worth the trouble.

I must be even stricter with my children and grandchildren tomorrow.

As Minister Luo was pondering this, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly.

"Gu's Tea House has delivered black coal and lots of food. Come and eat, everyone!"

Black coal is in great need because many of the people rescued from the ground are suffering from hypothermia and need to warm themselves by the fire.

As for food, not only do the people being rescued need to eat, but those involved in the rescue also need it.

Everyone worked until it got dark, and they were completely exhausted.

However, many people discovered that the food delivered by Gu Ji Tea House included buttered popcorn and neatly diced rice candy.

Gu's Tea House is so generous. I heard that they don't have enough rice candy to sell every day, but they are willing to give it away for free to everyone.

Luo Minggeng's hands were covered in mud. He grabbed some snow and rubbed his hands, but before he could get them clean, he ran off to grab some cream popcorn.

This thing is a rare item; you can't buy it even if you have money.

He held the popcorn, eating it with great relish, and exclaimed, "Today was worth the trip!"