Yuan Xiu was the eldest son. In addition to his full sister Yuan Yun, he had more than a dozen half-brothers and sisters.

During his puppet reign immediately after ascending the throne, several of his younger brothers were unfortunately killed, so Yuan Xiu dared not get too close to his younger brothers and sisters anymore.

Only the fifth brother, Yuan Li, loved to hang out with Yuan Xiu and Yuan Yun since he was a child, and they couldn't be driven away no matter what.

Fortunately, he was lucky and survived because he was not targeted by the Hou Party and Erzhu Party.

After Yuan Xiu assumed power, he immediately bestowed upon him the title of king.

The two brothers had a deep bond, and Yuan Li was one of the few people Yuan Xiu trusted.

"Greetings, Prince Xin!!!" Wen Tai and the others bowed.

Yuan Li opened his folding fan, without making a fuss about helping him up, and simply said, "You are all pillars of the nation, so there's no need for such a generous gift from me."

Yuan Xiu pulled Yuan Li by the hand and led him to the table, pressing his shoulder to sit down. Then he sat on another stone bench and said, "Fifth brother, tell me quickly, how is the pirate threat?"

When the conversation turned to serious matters, Yuan Li's expression became serious. He said, "The officials and people of the three eastern prefectures often complain to the court about the severity of the pirate threat. The court officials are tired of hearing it and start to think that they are exaggerating. They become indifferent and numb, which leads the court to pay less and less attention to the pirate threat."

"But on this trip, I traveled from the north of Jingdong County all the way along the coast to the south of Yunjing County, where it borders the Southern Zhou Dynasty. I found that the pirate threat in the three counties of Jingdong, Jiangyang, and Yunjing is indeed very serious."

"These three prefectures may seem to be economically advanced, but that only applies to the prefectural capitals and a few other cities. The people along the eastern coast of these three prefectures are suffering terribly!"

"Especially in the eastern part of Yunjing County, the pirates are even more rampant!"

Yuan Li said earnestly, "Your Majesty, I have been in contact with the spies that Dong Xiao planted in Southern Zhou and we have discovered some suspicious things. Your Majesty suspects that the relationship between Southern Zhou and the pirates is not simple. It seems that they have bribed many pirates and are using their power to harass the coast of our Great Jing."

"Despicable!!!" Yuan Xiu cursed, "They call themselves a civilized country, but these Southern Zhou people are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites!!"

"Have they forgotten how the pirates slaughtered their people?"

Yuan Li said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to be angry. They have no bottom line and will stop at nothing to get their comeuppance sooner or later. It's good that we know this. From now on, the court should strengthen its tough stance against the pirates and come up with targeted strategies."

Yuan Xiu nodded and said, "We'll discuss this later. I just heard you say that you came directly from Yun Jing?"

"right."

Yuan Xiuchao glanced at Du Yuhe and continued, "When you were in Yunjing County, did you see the Imperial Uncle and Cai Qiong?"

Yuan Li said, "Imperial Uncle is always in the Yun Jing Army, so I naturally saw him. But I didn't see Lord Cai because he was out."

Upon hearing this, Du Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief.

Cai Qiong went out.

Where else can we go?

They went to the Right Prime Minister's residence in Yanchuan!

"However, when my younger brother traveled north through Shangyang County, he met Lord Li Lu."

Yuan Li smiled and continued, "This Li Lu used to be just a city prefect, but suddenly he was promoted to prefect. I was worried that he was not capable enough, so I deliberately tested him."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiuhe and Du Yuhe both felt that something was amiss.

Didn't they say that Li Lu also went to Yanchuan City?

Yuan Xiu remained calm and followed Yuan Li's words, asking, "Oh? How did the examination go?"

Yuan Li gave a thumbs up and smiled, "In recognizing and employing talent, I am not even one-tenth as good as Your Majesty."

Yuan Xiu laughed happily and waved his hand, saying, "This is not my decision on my own; it is the recommendation of my ministers!"

Yuan Xiu personally peeled lotus seeds and handed them to Yuan Li, then asked, "Did you notice anything unusual when you met with Li Lu?"

Yuan Li became alert and asked, "What does Your Majesty want to ask?"

"For example, he may have just returned from a long trip, or he may be ready to go and have other plans."

"He just got back."

Where did he go?

"Disaster relief."

Yuan Li gently shook his folding fan and said, "This is one of the ways I tested his political affairs. I asked him how he carried out disaster relief, how he arranged manpower, and how he selected targets. He told me about his actions, which I truly admire."

"Oh right, this disaster relief effort is a large-scale operation, and it's not just him doing it alone."

Suddenly, Yuan Li thought of something and continued, "The scourge of pirates has long plagued the coastal people of the three prefectures of Jingdong. This disaster relief effort was initiated by the governor of Jingdong Prefecture, who joined forces with the governors of Jiangyang Prefecture and Yunjing Prefecture to mobilize the resources of the three prefectures and encourage the wealthy clans and merchants of the three prefectures to donate money and supplies to provide targeted relief to the refugees in the coastal areas."

“This matter originally had nothing to do with Li Lu, but Li Lu believed that Shangyang County was the central hub of the empire and was closest to the three counties of Jingdong, so he also got involved.”

"Therefore, I feel more and more that Li Lu is a capable minister and a good official!"

"I see..." Yuan Xiu's expression relaxed, and he suddenly asked, "The Prefect of Jingdong is..."

“Qinian,” Yuan Li sighed. “The old prefect served in Jingdong Prefecture when he entered officialdom, and he is now seventy-three years old. He has been rooted in Jingdong Prefecture for his entire life. When I inspected Jingdong Prefecture, the old prefect told me that he would resign from the court after serving the people well one last time.”

"This disaster relief operation is probably the last thing he wanted to do during his tenure!"

“Such a good official, it’s a pity he’s already old.” Yuan Xiu shook his head, unusually serious for once, and glanced at Du Yuhe before continuing, “Fifth brother, before you came I heard some news that the three prefects of Li Lu, Cai Qiong and Deng Fugui had abandoned their posts. Not only that, they also took many wealthy merchants with them.”

“This is a misunderstanding,” Yuan Li said with a smile. “They didn’t desert their posts; they went to provide disaster relief. It was only right that they brought the wealthy merchants with them. They were worried that the merchants would later accuse them of embezzlement, so they wanted the merchants to see firsthand how they distributed money and supplies to the refugees.”

Yuan Xiu shook his head again and said, "But what I heard was that these three prefects abandoned their posts just to go to Yanchuan City to give gifts to the Right Chancellor. They brought wealthy merchants with them to curry favor with the Right Chancellor."

"This is outrageous!"

Yuan Li's expression changed instantly. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Who is spouting this nonsense?!"

As he spoke, Yuan Li grabbed Yuan Xiu's hand and added, "Brother, my elder sister is now the eldest daughter-in-law of the Right Chancellor. We can't let anyone frame her!"

Yuan Xiu turned to look at Du Yuhe, smiling but saying nothing.

Du Yuhe quickly knelt down and said loudly, "Prince Xin, the information I received is absolutely true, I dare not speak nonsense!"

Yuan Li stood up abruptly, walked up to Du Yuhe, stared at him, and said, "Are you saying that I'm talking nonsense?"

Du Yuhe loudly proclaimed, "I did not mean that!"

Yuan Li, being only an eighteen-year-old boy, immediately displayed his competitive nature and said, "Brother, I don't accept this! Tell me, who do you believe?"

“There is no younger brother here. Both Lord Duyu and I are your subjects.”

"Don't try to shift the blame to the Left Prime Minister and his group. You decide, who do you believe?"