Wu Muyue said to Xu Di, "It must have been hard for you to come all this way."

Xu Di picked up a candied plum and put it in his mouth. After chewing it a couple of times, he felt a sweet and sour taste that made his cheeks tingle, followed by a mouthful of saliva.

Xu Di quickly took a sip of tea and said, "Uncle, Dengzhou isn't that far from Miaozhou. With such a big incident happening here, how can I be at ease if I don't come here personally?"

Wu Muyue, however, felt it was inappropriate for Xu Di to come over so suddenly, and asked, "Have you made any arrangements in Dengzhou?"

Xu Di nodded and said, "Of course, Uncle. As the local official, if I cannot ensure that the government orders cannot be implemented and the government office cannot function properly after I leave, then my control is a failure. You can rest assured that I will be fine if I leave Dengzhou for ten days or half a month."

Seeing that Wu Muyue still looked worried, Xu Di whispered, "When I returned to the capital last time, I went to see the Emperor. He gave me a gold medal. With that gold medal, I can go to the nearby prefectures to deal with some tricky issues. I specifically asked the Emperor for it."

Wu Muyue nodded, and even Xu Bai and the others were relieved. Last time, when something happened in Liaodong, Xu Di went to Liaodong without an imperial edict and was impeached in court. Because of this, the entire court was in an uproar. In the end, Emperor Liang Cheng got angry and said that they were just talking after the event and did not know that when the front line was urgent, a little more delay would change the situation of the entire battlefield. He also scolded several censors for being incompetent and only knowing how to point fingers and not do practical work. Only then did the matter finally get under control.

The censors of this dynasty have the power to have a direct audience with the emperor, and also the power to impeach any official, regardless of whether that official is of higher or lower rank than themselves. They can directly submit a memorial to the emperor to impeach them.

Xu Di was very indignant and secretly had someone investigate the affairs of those censors' families. Within a few days, many big-character posters about the private lives of these censors were posted all over the streets and alleys of the capital. They said things like favoring concubines over wives, abandoning their wives who had shared their hardships, and that their children were disgraceful and had caused shame to their families. The censors' reputations were ruined, and they asked to resign. Emperor Liang Cheng had to give them a lot of advice before he could keep them in office.

However, Xu Di was also summoned to the imperial study by Emperor Liang Cheng and scolded for being too radical and not giving others any face. At that time, Xu Di became more shrewd and asked for a token so that if there was anything that required him to go in person, he could act first and report later.

Wu Muyue only learned about these things later. When he heard Xu Di mention the gold token, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile and say, "Xu Di, no wonder His Majesty said you are too radical in your actions. You are indeed a bit too radical."

Xu Di smiled and nodded, saying, "Uncle, I'm still young, so it's understandable that I'm a bit radical. When I reach my father's age, I won't do such things anymore. But doing this really makes me feel good. Those pedantic scholars are always looking at other people's behinds, but they never think about whether their own behinds are clean. They can't always be so lenient with themselves and strict with others, can they?"

Remembering the news from the capital, Xu Bai walked over to Xu Di and sat down next to him, saying, "Big brother, you are my idol. Let me tell you, I admire no one but you now."

Xu Di gently tapped Xu Bai's forehead with his index finger and said, "I haven't seen you in a long time. I wonder how your studies are going. I'll check on you properly when I have time tomorrow."

Xu Bai pouted and said unhappily, "Look at you, all you do is pour cold water on others. Don't you know that asking a child about their homework is the greatest act of malice?"

Xu Di smiled and said, "I really don't know. I only know that if you don't study well, it will be difficult to establish yourself in this world in the future. In order for you to be able to stand in society in the future, I am willing to be a bad guy now."

Xu Bai didn't want to talk anymore. He knew he shouldn't have any illusions about this older brother he hadn't seen in a long time. Look at himself, he was really looking at himself in the mirror and making a fool of himself.

Xu Bai wanted to go away and shut himself off, but Xu Zhi smiled and pulled him to sit down, saying, "Alright, sit down and listen to your brother tell you how you got here. The road from Dengzhou to Miaozhou is not easy to travel."

Xu Bai looked at Xu Di with a worried expression. Xu Di smiled and said, "I didn't know how difficult the journey would be. We made thorough preparations before we left. Two bridges collapsed, so we found some wood locally and made a raft. Later, the Ma family's boat picked us up. After we arrived in Miaozhou, the journey from the river to Miaozhou City was the most difficult. Many roads no longer existed, otherwise it wouldn't have taken us so long to get here."

Wu Muyue nodded and said, "The sun will come out tomorrow or the day after. At that time, Miaozhou City and some surrounding villages will need to be rebuilt. Boyuan, what does Lord Chu mean by this?"

Zheng Boyuan sneered twice and said, "It seems that Lord Chu is waiting for the court's disaster relief funds. In previous years, most of the disaster relief funds for Miaozhou ended up in their pockets, and this time should be no exception. Brother, you haven't been discovered along the way, have you? This Chu Huaigui is really not a good person."

Xu Di frowned and said, "I met him during the county examination. At that time, I felt he was a pretty kind person. Later, he passed the provincial and metropolitan examinations. I asked someone in the Ministry of Personnel to inquire about him. Although he is not particularly shrewd or capable, he is still a kind person."

Zheng Boyuan recounted in detail what Feng Shaoli had told him about the disaster relief grain and silver during the day. Xu Di listened, then looked at Wu Muyue. Wu Muyue pondered for a long time before saying, "A few days ago, Lord Chu sent someone over in the middle of the night. These past few days, I've seen him patrolling the city gate as usual, and also helping to take care of the people at the government office. His demeanor is exactly the same. I was thinking that either he wasn't involved, or he was a very good at hiding himself. Now it seems that he is indeed a person who is good at disguising himself."

Along the way from Miaohe to Miaozhou, someone had already recounted what had happened to the Zheng family a few days ago. Xu Di knew that Chu Huaigui was now in the Third Prince's camp, and it seemed that he was quite favored by the Third Prince. Otherwise, such an important task would not have been assigned to Chu Huaigui.

Xu Di nodded and said, "Now that it has surfaced, it will naturally not give up so easily. Fortunately, I am here now. Tomorrow morning, Boyuan will bring some special products from Dengzhou and say that I sent them. More things will be sent later, all of which are urgently needed supplies for Miaozhou. I think Chu Huaigui will not expect me to come in person. After all, I am now the prefect of Dengzhou and cannot easily leave my post without an imperial edict."

Zheng Boyuan agreed, and seeing that it was getting late, Wu Muyue told everyone to go and rest first.

Xu Di went to Zheng Boyuan's courtyard in the front yard to stay with Zheng Boyuan. Xu Zhi saw the two of them off to the front yard. When they reached the entrance of the study in the front yard, Xu Zhi said, "Brother, the eldest daughter of Lord Feng next door is already thirteen years old. I want to arrange a marriage for her and would like to ask for your opinion first."

Xu Di laughed and said, "If you want to be an ice man, why did you ask me first?"

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "I was just thinking about my cousin Yu Han from my third uncle's family. I wasn't sure what to do, so I wanted to ask for your opinion first."

Xu Di thought for a moment and said, "I estimate that someone from my uncle's family will be coming in a few days. If it's my third uncle, wouldn't it be perfect if you could ask him for me?"