Chapter 587 Just in Time

Yun Yichen was naturally unaware of Lu Yuanbin's thoughts. His gaze swept quickly across the map, finally landing on several large mansions that had already partially collapsed.

"Based on our observations over the past few days, He Biyou's character suggests he wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket. Therefore, we need to arrange for people to investigate these locations as soon as possible."

Almost all the houses in the city were destroyed, but these places managed to maintain their basic shape. Yun Yichen guessed that these places must have been reinforced, which is why they were able to withstand such a large earthquake.

Of course, there is another possibility: the house was so full of things that even if it collapsed, the contents inside could hold it up.

Regardless of the situation, Yun Yichen believed it would be good news for them.

"Your Highnesses, if I am not mistaken, your men should all be outside the city, right?"

Yun Yichen and his group are now being watched by He Biyou's men wherever they go, and all of their own people have been sent out. Therefore, if they want to find out the situation in those places, they will need to rely on Lu Changqing and Lu Youming's bodyguards, which is precisely why Yun Yichen brought the two of them out this time.

His gaze fell firmly on the two of them. They wanted to lie, but the feeling of being completely exposed in front of Yun Yichen forced them to nod.

Seeing this, Yun Yichen smiled slyly and immediately assigned tasks to the two of them, while also giving instructions to the others.

That evening, He Biyou came to find Yun Yichen as usual.

Seeing that Yun Yichen was writing something, He Biyou's eyes flickered slightly.

"This humble official was unaware that you, sir, were busy. Please do not take offense." He Biyou remained as respectful and courteous as ever.

Yun Yichen was delighted to see him and quickly finished writing the last word, saying, "Lord He, you've come at just the right time. I happen to have something I'd like to ask for your opinion on."

As Yun Yichen spoke, he handed the memorial he had just written to He Biyou. “The earthquake in Suzhou has caused countless deaths and injuries. Now, it seems that less than half of the original population of the city remains. In order to give everyone a home as soon as possible, I intend to petition His Majesty to rebuild Suzhou City. In addition, I have also made detailed calculations regarding the distribution of disaster relief grain to the victims of the Suzhou disaster, and I have written down the specific suggestions in the memorial.”

As the chief minister, and having come specifically to address the issue of refugee resettlement, Yun Yichen naturally had to propose several targeted countermeasures.

He accepted the memorial with a smile, and when he heard Yun Yichen say that he wanted to rebuild Suzhou City, he was quite supportive. After all, the current Suzhou City had been destroyed by natural disasters, and rebuilding a new city would be much more advantageous in terms of both manpower and resources than repairing the old city.

However, as he looked down one by one, his expression changed instantly.

"Sir, why is the disaster relief fund so much less?"

He Biyou had already listed all the expenses in the budget long before Yun Yichen arrived, and had even personally compiled a receipt.

Clearly, Yun Yichen hadn't followed his invoice exactly; in fact, he'd omitted many necessary details. Even so, He Biyou still maintained a cheerful expression.

"These are the results of my careful calculations after learning about the refugee situation recently. Does Lord He think there is anything wrong with them?" Yun Yichen looked at He Biyou, with a humble and eager-to-learn expression.

He glanced at Yun Yichen, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately didn't say what he really wanted to say.

"The adults' calculations are precise, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

"That's good. I thought there was a miscalculation somewhere! The disaster is severe now. If something really goes wrong, it will be difficult for both me and the magistrate to explain to His Majesty."

Yun Yichen put the memorial back and then passed it out right under He Biyou's nose.

Back at his lodgings, He Biyou smashed a teacup, but thanks to years of accumulated anger, he managed to suppress it.

"Lord He, you're so angry as soon as you return. Did you fail to reach an agreement with the Grand Secretary?"

Why bother going today? I originally went to find Yun Yichen to discuss how to handle the surplus disaster relief supplies. But who would have thought that Yun Yichen would directly reduce most of the disaster relief grain, and what about the disaster relief silver? That was all hard-earned money!

"Don't give me that sarcastic remark. Yun Yichen has written a memorial asking His Majesty to reduce the amount of disaster relief grain and funds."

Yun Yichen had been very cooperative before, so this sudden change in attitude caught He Biyou off guard. Fortunately, He Biyou didn't completely trust Yun Yichen either.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Shan was initially startled, but seeing that He Biyou was not in a hurry, he immediately guessed, "Has Your Excellency already withheld the memorial?"

He Biyou did not respond, but from the look in his eyes, Prefect Shan knew that this was the case.

"That little brat is trying to play dirty tricks on me. Doesn't he know where we are? If I don't agree to send a memorial to His Majesty, how can he possibly get it out?"

He felt much better after saying that. With Suzhou suffering from disaster, who wouldn't want to take this opportunity to make a fortune? Only a fool like Yun Yichen would think about cutting expenses.

"I told you long ago to be careful, sir. Now it seems that his cooperative behavior these past few days was all planned in advance."

In Shan Tongpan's mind, Yun Yichen was never an easy person to deal with. He thought that he was fortunate enough to be the Tongpan in Suzhou because of the Grand Secretary.

However, no matter how capable he is, once he enters Suzhou City, it won't be so easy for him to get out again.

He Biyou wholeheartedly agreed with the prefect's words: "Tell our people to be more careful and prevent them from coming into contact with those refugees again."

To make the tragic scene more realistic, He Biyou mixed some poor people among the refugees. Yun Yichen always seemed to have eyes, and he could always find these people in the crowd and ask them some trivial questions.

Because Yun Yichen always asked them trivial things like where their hometown was, how many people were in their family, how long it would take to get out of the city, which direction to take, and what the road conditions were like, He Yichen eventually got tired of hearing it and stopped looking at him.

However, it was this seemingly trivial conversation that allowed Yun Yichen to not only discover the changes in the terrain of Suzhou from these people, but also to learn a way to leave the city without going through the city gates.

"Don't worry, sir. From now on, I guarantee that no refugee will dare to speak to him again."

With the magistrate's confident assurance, He Bi nodded and began discussing other matters with him.

However, what He Biyou didn't know was that after leaving Yun Yichen that day, a secret letter quietly arrived outside the city and set off for the capital.