Duan Jin replied, “There’s plenty left in the pot.”

Xiao Yunqing was satisfied. “Eunuch Liu, I don’t want this kind of rice anymore. I want to eat brown rice.”

The brown rice was a completely different color from the white rice, but when mixed together evenly, it looked quite pretty.

Xiao Yunqing smiled as he took a bite. The texture of the brown rice was quite different from that of white rice—white rice was soft, sticky, and sweet, while the brown rice was firm and chewy. Xiao Yunqing immediately felt that changing his plans had been well worth it; he was able to see and taste so many things he’d never encountered before.

However, when he tried to swallow, it was agonizing. It felt as if a tangled ball of rough, dry fibers was blocking his throat. He couldn’t seem to get it down, no matter what. He took a sip of the radish and pork rib soup beside him to help it go down, and only then was he able to swallow it slowly.

Xiao Yunqing’s eyes welled up with tears. “Why is this rice so hard to swallow?”

Eunuch Liu looked at him with concern. “Your Highness, please don’t eat this.”

“It’s hard to swallow, of course. Because it’s the staple food most commonly eaten by ordinary people—though it’s not very tasty, it fills their stomachs.” He paused, his voice growing softer. “Actually, ordinary people would never eat brown rice and white rice together. White rice is too expensive; they can’t afford it, and even if they grow it in their own fields, they wouldn’t dare to eat it. That’s only for families that are somewhat better off. If a family is struggling to make ends meet, they won’t even have brown rice to eat and will have to go up into the mountains to forage for wild vegetables.”

At this point, Duan Jin recalled a natural disaster recorded in the county annals.

It was a severe drought that lasted an entire year. The land dried up so completely that it cracked like a turtle shell, with fissures running deep into the soil. Not a blade of grass grew, and the people faced a desperate shortage of food. They even gnawed on tree bark and dug up tree roots. Finally, when there was truly nothing left to eat, they resorted to digging up the soil from the ground to eat—they would stuff anything into their stomachs just to fill their bellies.

But while leaves, bark, and roots could barely sustain life, soil was completely indigestible. In the end, these people all swelled with bellies full of undigested earth, yet they continued to shovel soil into their mouths until they died.

It was a veritable hell on earth.

After hearing this, Xiao Yunqing looked at the brown rice in his white jade bowl, scooped up another spoonful, and put it in his mouth. This time, he savored it carefully, chewing for a long time before swallowing, as if through this bowl of rice he could feel the taste of the common people’s lives.

Early the next morning, Xiao Yunqing was eager to go out on an inspection tour.

Eunuch Liu checked to make sure the young prince’s attire was neat and tidy: “Oh my, Your Highness, what’s so urgent about this inspection? Why not have breakfast first?”

Xiao Yunqing shook his head firmly: “I can’t. Magistrate Duan said that if I wait until after breakfast, it will be too late.”

And today, the young prince remained adamant that Eunuch Liu not accompany him. Eunuch Liu never imagined that missing just one outing would cause him to fall out of favor; he looked at Duan Jin as if he were gazing at a seductive concubine who had suddenly risen to great favor in the palace.

Unexpectedly, Duan Jin eventually led Xiao Yunqing to the county’s most famous fish market. Because it was located by the sea, the county had many fishermen who made their living from the sea. Every morning before dawn, they would set out to sea to fish, then come here to sell their fresh catch as soon as they returned.

The fish market was located near the pier, so fishermen could unload their catch there and transport it directly to the market to sell—a very convenient arrangement. However, as Duan Jin looked at the dilapidated pier, he made a mental note of it.

Xiao Yunqing had never seen live fish before and found every single species utterly fascinating.

“Magistrate Duan, Magistrate Duan, what kind of fish is this?” 

“Magistrate Duan, what about this one?”

“Magistrate Duan, what is this one?” 

“Magistrate Duan…”

All morning long, Duan Jin talked until his throat was parched, while Xiao Yunqing listened with great satisfaction.

Finally, the two stopped at a breakfast stall, bought a pancake and a bowl of oil tea, and planned to sit down, rest, and have a late breakfast.

Before Xiao Yunqing sat down to eat, Duan Jin saw Gao Yuan step forward, pull out from his bosom a legendary royal essential—a poison-testing silver needle—and test it on both the pancake and the oil tea. When neither changed color, he put it away and stood behind Xiao Yunqing like a door guardian.

Xiao Yunqing looked at Gao Yuan and said, “Gao Yuan, why don’t you sit down and have some too? It tastes pretty good.”

“Young Master, I don’t need to…” Before he could finish, a loud rumbling sounded from Gao Yuan’s stomach. For a man who usually wore a stern expression, his ears suddenly turned bright red.

Duan Jin smiled and said, “Young man, sit down and have some. The local oil tea is a specialty—you won’t find it anywhere else. This old lady’s version is especially authentic.” The old lady chimed in with a laugh, “That’s right, young man. You won’t regret having a bowl of my oil tea.”

Gao Yuan sat down, his face flushed.

As they ate, Xiao Yunqing smiled at Duan Jin and said, “Magistrate Duan, this place is different from others.” 

“How so?” Duan Jin asked.

He hadn’t noticed anything different—could it be that the difference referred to an extraordinary level of poverty? 

“Everyone had a smile on their face.” Xiao Yunqing observed them closely. Whether they were selling vegetables or tea, fishing or raising chickens, though they were thin, every one of them was beaming—and they actually looked more pleasant than the officials he had met before. 

Duan Jin smiled as well, looking around. “They’ve always been good at finding their own entertainment. Even the toughest hardships are weathered this way. Since much of this land is unsuitable for farming, they find ways to fish to supplement their income, barely scraping by. But it’s still not enough. When winter comes, and they can’t go out to sea, almost every fisherman’s family goes hungry for a while.”

After a meal of pancakes and tea with oil, Xiao Yunqing was full of enthusiasm again and insisted that Duan Jin take him to the docks. Duan Jin thought of a place he had visited before, and a faint interest stirred within him. “The docks are just filled with seafood they’ve already caught and brought back from the sea,” he said. “There’s nothing particularly interesting there. I wonder if Your Highness might be interested in ‘beachcombing’?”

“What is ‘beachcombing’?” Xiao Yunqing asked. He realized that ever since arriving here, he’d encountered countless things he didn’t know, and no matter what it was, he wanted to get involved, go out and have a look.

Duan Jin explained, “There are several villages in our county that lie right by the sea. As the tide ebbs and flows, all sorts of things—fish, shrimp, crabs, shells, and conches—are left behind on the beach. It takes almost no effort at all. Women and children who can’t go out to sea can head to the beach to forage for these things to eat.”

“Beachcombing is actually quite fun. You might even come across some unusual things now and then—like fish with eight legs, fish that squirt black ink, or conch shells that squirt water when you touch them…”

“I want to go foraging on the beach.” Xiao Yunqing’s eyes lit up; the moment he heard about the squirting conch, he was brimming with excitement, eager for Duan Jin to take him there right away.

It wasn’t until Duan Jin mentioned they needed to return to the magistrate’s office to prepare some supplies that he finally calmed down.

Given the need to take good care of this delicate young prince, Duan Jin thoughtfully prepared a bamboo basket, straw sandals, a hoe, tongs, an iron hook, and even coarse salt for catching clams, determined to ensure the prince had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Upon hearing that the prince was going on an outing, Eunuch Liu bustled about, preparing no fewer than two carriages. As he packed, he muttered to himself, “How can those clumsy guards possibly take good care of His Highness? Your Highness, you must absolutely bring this servant along…”

Xiao Yunqing was getting a headache from his constant nagging. He really didn’t want to have such a chatterbox by his side while he was out having fun, but then he heard Eunuch Liu say, “Come to think of it, I have to thank the Prince. If it weren’t for accompanying him on this trip, this old servant would probably have grown old and died in the palace—how could I ever have seen so many different rural landscapes?”

His heart softened again. After a moment’s hesitation, he relented and said, “If you must come along, then come. Just don’t reveal my identity to anyone out there, and don’t start telling me what I can and cannot do.”

It wasn’t until after they had finished lunch at the magistrate’s office that the Prince’s main entourage finally arrived, long overdue.

At the entrance to the magistrate’s office, Duan Jin stood before his own mule-drawn cart, gazing at the two luxurious horse-drawn carriages in front of him, and fell silent.

Xiao Yunqing also noticed the stark contrast, gaining a deeper understanding of the county magistrate’s office’s poverty. He paused for a moment before saying, “Magistrate Duan, please join me in the carriage.”

Eunuch Liu immediately objected, “Your Highness, that is unbecoming of your station.”

Xiao Yunqing replied, “What is unbecoming about it? My imperial brother often summons his ministers to ride in the same carriage to discuss official business.”

With that, he turned and climbed into the carriage, gesturing with his eyes for Duan Jin to follow.

Duan Jin complied without hesitation, moving with remarkable agility.

Poor Eunuch Liu found his words choked in his throat. He cursed silently to himself: Though Magistrate Duan was a frugal and upright official, he was hopelessly clueless about social etiquette. Didn’t he realize that in the past, only officials of at least the third rank were permitted to ride in the same carriage as the Emperor or a prince? Yet here was a lowly seventh-rank minor official—a dime a dozen—climbing the ladder without a second thought. How utterly impolite!

When he saw the figure below step onto the carriage a moment after him, Xiao Yunqing couldn’t help but curve his lips. This Magistrate Duan wasn’t a complete fool after all. It wasn’t until the other man had taken his seat, however, that he realized his earlier suggestion had been a bit of a misstep. Duan Jin usually looked frail and impoverished, but sitting in the carriage, he actually seemed quite imposing.

Xiao Yunqing felt as though the once-spacious carriage had somehow become cramped and suffocating, as if the air itself had stopped circulating. For some reason, he felt a tightness in his chest.

It wasn’t until Eunuch Liu’s rotund figure followed them in and took a seat across from Duan Jin that the carriage felt as spacious as before. Yet the tightness in his chest persisted, so he had to ask Eunuch Liu to open the curtains on the carriage wall before he finally felt somewhat more at ease.

Duan Jin was completely unaware of the thoughts of the person beside him. He merely observed that the young prince had avoided making eye contact with him ever since he’d boarded the carriage, instead resting with his eyes quietly lowered. Aside from instructing Eunuch Liu to open the curtain halfway, the prince had said nothing else. Duan Jin surmised that this delicate, pampered member of the imperial nobility simply couldn’t endure the rigors of the journey over the past few days.

He, too, remained quiet, making no sound so as not to disturb the young prince’s rest.

Still, a horse-drawn carriage is definitely better than a mule cart—it’s roomier, faster, and much smoother. He wished he could afford one himself.

Watching the frugal Magistrate Duan examine the carriage walls, inspect the roof, and run his fingers along the curtains, Eunuch Liu couldn’t help but mutter to himself once again: “A seventh-rank official is just a seventh-rank official—so petty!”