Harmed Her

Irena patted her waist and pockets, her face instantly turning a few shades paler—

That coin purse contained the last of her gold coins. She had originally intended to buy something along the way to distribute to the street children, but she hadn't expected it to get stolen.

She looked in the direction the little girl was fleeing. "Wait, child!"

"She won't get away," Ye Chuan said flatly. With a gentle flick of his finger, an invisible force shot out like a silk thread, accurately wrapping around the little girl running ahead.

The next second, the little girl's body suddenly lifted into the air uncontrollably. Like a kitten being picked up by the scruff of its neck, she was yanked right back in front of the two of them, suspended in mid-air.

"Ah!" the little girl cried out in fright, her arms and legs flailing wildly. Her face was full of terror; her dirty little cheeks were stained with grime, and her large eyes were filled with wariness.

"Hand over the coin purse." Irena took a deep breath, trying hard to make her voice sound gentle.

"Why did you steal my money? Are you hungry?"

The little girl pursed her lips, clenching her jaw tightly, and turned her head away to avoid looking at Irena in a completely uncooperative manner. Her small hands were tightly clenched, clearly hiding the coin purse within them.

Seeing this, Ye Chuan deliberately put on a stern face, his tone turning a few degrees colder.

"Not talking? If you don't hand it over, I'll throw you into the river outside the city and drown you, so you'll never see your mother again."

"And I'll take your mother away."

"No!" The little girl instantly burst into tears. Tears mixed with the grime on her face and flowed down, forming dark streaks.

"I... I'm just so hungry! Mom is starving to death too! You nobles are so rich, why can't you give us a little? You are all bad people!"

Crying, she opened her hand, and the intricately embroidered coin purse fell to the ground.

Irena didn't pick up the money. She just looked at the little girl crying her heart out, and the blame she felt vanished instantly, leaving only heartache.

"We are not bad people." Irena crouched down, meeting the suspended little girl at eye level, her voice as soft as a feather.

"Tell us clearly, what exactly happened? Why are you and your mother going hungry?"

The little girl sobbed, looking at Irena's sincere eyes, and then at Ye Chuan, who had a cold expression but was no longer threatening her. Finally, between sobs, she told the truth.

It turned out that the Lord of Gallon was an extremely greedy man. He levied heavy taxes on the people in his territory year-round, refusing to reduce them even a fraction during years of disaster.

The people worked hard all year, only for most of their harvested grain to be scraped away by the lord, leaving them with only scraps to barely survive on.

Some time ago, news came that a war was about to break out. The Lord of Gallon, afraid of being caught in the crossfire, actually took the extorted wealth and grain and fled Gallon overnight, leaving the unarmed people behind to fend for themselves.

Without the lord's governance and with a severe shortage of food, there were more and more vagrants on the streets. Brawls over a piece of moldy bread were commonplace. Driven to a dead end, she had resorted to stealing money to buy food.

"To think such a thing happened..." Irena's face turned incredibly grim after hearing this.

She stood up, tugged at Ye Chuan's sleeve, her eyes full of pleading.

"Lord Xi Xi, can we... can we provide some relief to the people of Gallon? And take over this place so they don't have to suffer like this anymore?"

Ye Chuan glanced at her and asked in return:

"I can save them, but if I wasn't here, what would you do?"

Irena's eyes instantly dimmed, her shoulders slumped slightly, and her voice choked with emotion.

"I... I don't know... I can't do anything. I don't have enough food, I don't have enough power. I can't even protect my own people. I'm really useless..."

She lowered her head, her long silver-gray hair falling down to conceal her reddened eyes.

Back in the Royal City, she thought she was ready to bear the responsibility, but when truly faced with such a predicament, she realized just how small and powerless she was.

What on earth was she supposed to do?

"Realizing your own shortcomings is not a bad thing," Ye Chuan's voice slowly rang out, carrying an imperceptible trace of comfort.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. Kaiaolen walked over quickly with a few attendants. Seeing Ye Chuan, Irena, and the little girl suspended in mid-air, he paused in surprise.

"Xi Xi, Your Highness Irena, why are you here? This is..."

Irena told Kaiaolen everything she had just learned from the little girl, as well as the predicament of the people of Gallon.

After hearing this, Kaiaolen's expression turned very grave, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes. "That despicable scum! To be so irresponsible!"

He was silent for a few seconds, then said,

"We can't just leave Gallon like this! Since that lord ran away, Miral will temporarily take over Gallon! As for the people's food and clothing...

Xi Xi, I know you have ample food supplies. Could you sell a batch to us first to provide relief to the people here?"

Ye Chuan raised an eyebrow. "It's wartime right now, and provisions are of the utmost importance. Are you sure you want to distribute food to these unrelated civilians?"

"They are not unrelated people!" Kaiaolen said solemnly.

"The reason I lead troops to war is to overthrow the monsters in the Royal City and protect the people of the Hill Empire."

"If I refuse to save the suffering people right in front of me, then what is the point of fighting? Although military funds are tight, even if I have to exhaust all of Miral's wealth, I must ensure these people survive first!"

Looking at the determination in Kaiaolen's eyes, Ye Chuan felt slightly moved.

He hadn't expected the little dragonman to have such a noble heart.

How interesting.

"Alright." Ye Chuan nodded and spread his hands.

"I can sell the food to you, but this time I'll give you a discount and only charge the cost price. You'll still have to rely on yourselves for everything that follows."

Kaiaolen froze for a moment, then said solemnly, "Thank you, Xi Xi."

Ye Chuan waved his hand, and with a flick of his fingertips, he released the magical binding on the little girl.

The little girl landed on the ground, looking timidly at the group.

Irena stepped forward, poured out the gold coins from the coin purse, and handed them to the little girl.

"Take this money and go buy some food for your mother."

But the next second, Ye Chuan snatched the gold coins right out of the little girl's hands.

"Lord Xi Xi?" Irena was stunned.

Would Lord Xi Xi even rob a child of her money?

"Giving her money is no different from a death sentence," Ye Chuan said. "Don't you know the value of gold coins? You are only harming her."

After saying that, Ye Chuan glanced at his inventory space, then took out some food and stuffed it into the little girl's arms.

Unsurprisingly, the little girl's eyes lit up when she saw the food. She bowed deeply to Irena and Ye Chuan, then hugged the food tightly, turned around, and ran quickly toward the street corner.

Kaiaolen then ordered a guard to follow and ensure the child's safety.

"I'm sorry, Lord Xi Xi," Irena said after snapping out of her daze. "There are... far too many things I don't understand."

"No worries." Ye Chuan silently pocketed Irena's gold coins.

"Consider this your tuition fee."

"Huh?" Irena tugged at Ye Chuan's sleeve. "That was all the money I had left..."