Chapter 62: Righteous Donation

  The two imperial historians had by this time come out of the house and understood the whole story. They couldn't help but admire the old man, who was able to donate the ten taels of silver he had just received on the spot, and not just in words. People like him were truly rare for them to see.

  Very soon, under the supervision of the imperial historian, the registration of materials was completed. Yu Haining originally wanted to go and tell the people who were by his side yesterday that the things from Zhongxingbo had been delivered. But looking at the campsite, it was no longer the same environment as yesterday, with tens of thousands of people, he couldn't find them even if he wanted to, so he gave up and returned the borrowed flatbed cart.

  The clerks in the Ministry of Revenue had barely warmed up when they were idle again.

  After that, several people came intermittently, all of whom were ordered by the old lady and madam of the government office to donate money, and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue also seriously recorded them.

  As for those young masters, after eating and drinking their fill, they made an appointment to come to the Welcome Spring Building.

  At this time, the sister inside had just gotten out of bed, and the servants were still cleaning. This group of people first drank tea in the main hall, chatting loudly.

  Among them, two people were bored and took the imperial edict as a joke to mock the court.

  Yuè ér, the top courtesan of Yíng Chūn Lóu, had just finished her toilette and overheard the conversation between those two men, which she found somewhat strange. She told her maid, Xiǎo Kē, to go eavesdrop on them.

  Soon, Xiaoke listened and came up to tell her about this joke.

  Yuè didn't smile as she had imagined, but instead stood up and hastily went downstairs. Xiao Ke felt a bit strange and followed Yuè down.

  A group of young men in the large hall downstairs saw Yue'er, the top courtesan from Yingchun Building, and walked towards them. They all got excited and went to greet her one after another.

  The moon girl saw them gathering around, so she stopped in her tracks, slightly bowed to them, and then opened her cherry small mouth: "Excuse me, which two gentlemen are discussing that, that nonsense proclamation?"

  A group of people looked at each other in dismay, unsure what the phrase "Moon Girl" meant. However, they were happy to chat with Moon Girl, so the two men acknowledged it.

  The moon girl smiled and said softly: "Two young masters, do you remember the content of the notice?"

  One advantage of plain language is that it's easy to remember.

  Everyone wanted to show off, but one of them volunteered and said: "Miss Moon, I remember it, not a single word is missing."

  The moon girl smiled at him and said, "Would you be so kind as to recite it once for me?"

  Everyone thought Moon Girl wanted to hear a joke. The person then recited the content on the bulletin board, and even showed off his own reading level with a rise and fall in tone.

  Unexpectedly, the whole notice was finished, and there was no sight of the expected Miss Yue's smiling face with a radiant smile, but instead, the initial smile had disappeared.

  Although I haven't personally seen the scene of the refugee camp, Dongge University's Wen Ti-ren's writing is not to be covered up. The moon girl who has experienced hardships deeply felt the tragic situation of the refugees in that plain white notice.

  She curtsied to the young masters around her, then said: "I'm not feeling well, I'll go upstairs first. Xiao Ke, bring out some of my treasured Longjing tea for the young masters to taste."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and went upstairs. He started walking slowly at first, but suddenly quickened his pace when he reached the halfway point of the stairs.

  Look at you young masters, I look at you and you look at me, who scared the moon girl so much that she's running away like this?

  The moon girl quickly returned to her own room, sat in front of the dressing table, and tears fell like broken beads to the ground.

  The moon girl remembered the nightmare of her childhood, in Liaodong, where the Jurchen army was rampant, a large number of Han people were slaughtered, and her parents took her to escape to Dongjiang Island, but due to extreme poverty and hunger, they were forced to sell themselves. Those hardships have been etched in her mind forever, even though she is now the top courtesan of Yingchun Building, with no worries about food or clothing.

  The imperial court's proclamation says that within the capital, there is a group of people who have experienced similar hardships as oneself, struggling on the brink of life and death. The imperial court is powerless to provide disaster relief, calling on the people to make donations. Thinking about the desperate mood of those refugees, Yue'er's heart aches repeatedly.

  Without thinking for long, he let Xiao Ke, who had just returned from delivering tea leaves, go and call over the sisters who came with her from Liaodong, saying there was something important to discuss.

  After her sisters came over with a look of surprise, Moon Girl explained the situation and expressed that she wanted to donate her savings. She asked for their opinions on whether they wanted to go together or not.

  Apart from a few who hesitated to consider saving for their own old age, everyone else unanimously agreed with Yue's suggestion. Even those who had reservations expressed willingness to donate a portion of it.

  After gathering all the donated silver and counting it, there were as many as 266 taels.

  How can so much silver be delivered safely with just a few weak women?

  Finally, Moon Girl made up her mind and asked Xiao Ke to invite the old madam over.

  The madam of the Welcome Spring Pavilion, a middle-aged woman who looked very astute, walked into Moon Girl's room with a hint of puzzlement. What could be the matter so early in the morning?

  After figuring out the reason why Moon Girl asked her to come, she was stunned for a moment and then immediately agreed to Moon Girl's request. Moreover, as a place with integrity and sympathy, Welcome Spring Building also wanted to make a contribution, donating 100 taels of silver. At the same time, they dispatched guards to escort Moon Girl and others to Wang Gong Factory to donate money.

  The girls in the room saw that the old prostitute had such a sympathetic heart, first curious, then one after another expressed that it was a happy thing to be under the care of such a kind mother.

  Soon, the donation team of Yingchun Building set off.

  At the very front of the vehicle, a strongman sat holding a "donation" signboard. Behind him was a large drum fixed in place, with another strongman responsible for beating it. At the rear of the vehicle, facing away from the front, sat a group of musicians from the Yingchun Building, playing suonas and other instruments.

  The second car is for the girls who donated money.

  The third cart was also a group of thugs pulling a banner that read "Spring Building and the girls donated 366 taels of silver".

  Before leaving, the old lady specially instructed the first driver to take a detour with the convoy.

  The moon girl only understood the old prostitute's intention at this time. A little speechless, but thinking back, didn't her own intention also come true? So, she was also relieved in her heart.

  Those young masters were stunned from head to toe until the donation convoy left Yingchun Building.

  Some of them are even blaming their bad luck, if they had known earlier, they wouldn't have said anything, now the fun is ruined.

  Some people say it's easy to switch to another one, but that's not fun at all.

  But there were also a few who seemed lost in thought and bid farewell to their companions, returning home.

  The brothels were all on one street, and the commotion at Yingchun Building startled the other brothels.

  All the old hags who could open in the capital were not stupid people. As soon as they saw the formation of Yingchun Building, they immediately understood the meaning. They also didn't want to fall behind and made corresponding moves one after another.

  At this moment, many people in the capital were startled by the commotion on the street and came out to watch the excitement.

  After understanding the situation, some scolded him for being showy, others scolded him for being shameless, of course, there were also those who admired and felt ashamed, with opinions varying widely.

  This also affected some wealthy families' change of views, after all, they couldn't be worse than the prostitutes, so they prepared to donate something.

  The quiet capital suddenly became lively.

  The clerk of Wang Gongchang looked at the few lines of words on the registration book, sighed a little and felt helpless.

  It's the imperial court's responsibility, let the common people do it, would they be happy? No, only a few people came. With such a small amount of goods, can it support several refugees through the winter?

  Just as they were lamenting for these refugees, they heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from afar.

  At that moment, the clerks, soldiers, refugees in the refugee camp, and the imperial historians in the house were all startled, and they all looked in the direction from which the sound came. What happened?

  Before long, a procession appeared before their eyes. By this time, it had formed into a mighty motorcade with all sorts of musical instruments and banners.

  The people on this side of the refugee camp don't need to guess their intentions, because it's all written on that banner.

  Two imperial historians stood opposite each other in silence, finally waiting for the donor to arrive, but it turned out to be a person of such identity.

  Refugees, however, do not think so. When they need help most, when they are struggling for life and death, whoever lends them a helping hand, regardless of their identity, is grateful. Don't the Chinese inherit the idea of "repaying kindness with gratitude"? Is there anyone who has heard this sentence with limited conditions, that one must have a certain identity to be grateful?

  Soon, such a big disturbance was investigated and cleared up by the Dongchang guards who had just been released from their cages. A report was sent to the desk of Emperor Chongzhen.

  In memory of those courtesans in the late Ming Dynasty who were more virtuous than some scholars!