Chapter 478 I Can Help You

Su Ying didn't know yet that Wei Zhongming was actually reporting her behind her back.

She sneered, "Is this old guy trying to put all the blame on me? I'll twist him into a ball and kick him around like a ball."

As a local official, Wei Zhongming deserved to die, but it was his shameful thoughts that made him find Su Ying. Because of this, Xiao Jin decided to give Wei Zhongming a chance to live. However, sometimes, living is not as good as dying.

"Where did you go after you fell off the dam?" Xiao Jin's voice was hoarse. After asking this question, his heart trembled inexplicably, which made him think of how painful it was to miss Su Ying every day and night.

Su Ying knew he would definitely ask, so she had already thought of an explanation. "I was indeed in danger of death at that time. I almost thought I was going to die, but when I woke up, I was hanging on a piece of driftwood. Because the water was turbulent, I didn't dare to force my way ashore, so I was washed away to a far place. Later, it took a lot of effort to return to Chu."

Even though these few calm words were spoken, Xiao Jin could already imagine the danger that had occurred at that time.

But he still wanted to know where she was and what she had experienced during the months she disappeared.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you send me a message?" His low voice was choked with barely perceptible sobs.

Su Ying moved closer to him and leaned gently in his arms to calm his panic.

"I caught a small wooden boat on the way and was taken to the estuary. I was washed into the sea and later rescued by fishermen on the island. I survived and waited for the arrival of a large ship on the island before I was able to dock in Jin State."

"After leaving Chu, I also thought about sending you a letter, but I couldn't find a suitable channel. I was also afraid that the letter would be stolen by someone with ulterior motives, so I decided to give up on this for now."

Xiao Jin held her hand and interlocked their fingers. "Before you came back, a message was sent outside the palace saying there was news about you. Have you met anyone since you came back to Chu?"

Su Ying shook her head. She had never taken off her disguise until she revealed her identity. Even people who knew her could not know her identity through her disguise, so she was sure that no acquaintances knew her whereabouts before she arrived in Luocheng.

"No, absolutely not."

Su Ying frowned, "Someone wants to use my whereabouts to deceive you."

Xiao Jin nodded, "Yes, I have sent people to find out who is behind this, but they are very smart and did it very secretly, leaving no clues."

Hearing this, Su Ying felt that Xiao Jin should return to Beijing as soon as possible.

"You go back to Beijing first. I'll wait for the people from the Ministry of Industry here."

Xiao Jin refused without a second thought, "No, let's go together."

Xiao Jin knew that she was worried about the situation in the capital. "With Duke Jingguo here, there won't be any major problems in the court for the time being. Just hurry up and they will be here in a few days."

The previous Cangjiang Dam and the drought in Luocheng also made Xiao Jin realize a serious problem: the central imperial power still had too little control over the local areas, otherwise Wei Zhongming would not have been so bold as to have evil intentions towards the official grain.

Such a major mistake could have occurred in such an important project as the Cangjiang Dam, and the corruption involved was outrageous. If the State of Chu could not find a way to weigh the pros and cons, it would be difficult for it to go far. This was a question that he needed to think about as a king.

Su Ying knew that Xiao Jin’s decision would not be easily changed, so she could only try her best to arrange things here before leaving Luocheng.

Xiao Jin will deal with the drought. While Xiao Jin is busy, Su Ying will go into the space to take out the dug out corpses for research.

The corpse was too carbonized, and it was difficult to study what she wanted from it. Every detail needed to be repeatedly pondered, so even though Su Ying studied it from morning to night, she still didn't make any major discoveries.

Wei Zhongming was also in a state of panic. Xiao Jin asked him to get all the government grain within three days. That same day, he called all the merchants who were involved with him and asked them to spare no effort to find food for him.

But these merchants, perhaps they had heard some rumors, all thought that Wei Zhongming was doomed to die, so they only dealt with him superficially. They sent people to deliver one or two hundred bags of grain as a show, and that was all that happened.

There are tens of thousands of government grain bags, and the little that is sent over is not even a fraction of the total!

"These lowly merchants are so shameless. They bowed and scraped like dogs when they asked me for help before. Now they hide when I ask for help!" Wei Zhongming was very angry. Seeing that a day had passed, he had only collected less than 3,000 bags of food. Where would he get the rest? Even if he had asked people to buy food in the nearby cities, it was still far from enough!

At this time, the attendant walked to the door and reported: "Sir, Miss Zhou wants to see you."

Wei Zhongming frowned, not knowing why Zhou Xiangrong came here at this time. However, it was at least a credit to him, and it might save his life at the critical moment, so he asked his servants to bring the person in.

Zhou Xiangrong was still wearing a green gauze dress, looking peaceful and gentle, "I pay my respects to you, my Lord."

Wei Zhongming waved his hands in confusion, "Miss Zhou is up. I wonder if Miss Zhou wants to see me now, is there something?"

Zhou Xiangrong glanced at the housekeeper in the room and said, "I have something to say to you, my Lord."

Wei Zhongming understood and asked everyone in the room to leave.

After the study door was closed, he said, "Just say whatever you want to say."

"I know you are in some trouble now. Although I am not talented, I have a way to help you."

Wei Zhongming's eyes were sharp, and he sneered, "What trouble have I encountered?"

Facing his fierce gaze, Zhou Xiangrong remained calm. "I think that even if those merchants don't have 10,000 bags, they should be able to take out 8,000. It's just that they have determined that the situation is hopeless and are unwilling to sacrifice their own interests for you."

"How did you know this?"

Zhou Xiangrong smiled and said, "After you met those merchants, they talked a lot along the way. I heard it from them. I now have a way to make them hand over the grain obediently."

Wei Zhongming is now somewhat desperate. Although he knows that Zhou Xiangrong has a purpose, he is also curious about what she can say.

"Tell me your solution."

Zhou Xiangrong took a step forward. "I heard that Lord Wei was a student of Duke Jingguo. After the emperor ascended the throne, he reused Duke Jingguo. If Lord Wei can use the power of Duke Jingguo, he will surely be able to avoid this disaster."

When Wei Zhongming first started to make his mark, he was indeed appreciated by Duke Jingguo, and it was with the help of Duke Jingguo that he got his first job.

But in this situation, will Duke Jingguo still help him?

(End of this chapter)