Chapter 692 Debut - Court Assembly

Not far away, in a secluded corner, a person dressed in a black cloak stood under a tree, quietly watching the direction from which Sun Ruoyun had swum.

"Master, would you like to go and pick up Miss Sun?"

A voice rang in the man's ear, and then another masked man in black appeared in front of him.

"I'm relieved to see that she's safe and sound."

The man's words made the man in black sigh.

For the past two days, the master has been coming to this place and standing there all night. He said that if Miss Sun returns safely, she will definitely enter the city from here.

The master had anticipated that Miss Sun would encounter difficulties and that she would not be able to enter the city, but he simply could not go to pick her up in person, nor could he even meet with her.

Why does the master have to do this so secretly when he clearly cares so much about Miss Sun?

The man in black didn't understand. Seeing him in a daze, the cloaked man reached out and patted him, then placed the prepared items in his hand, gesturing for him to go forward and see Sun Ruoyun.

"Understood!" the man in black said with a hint of helplessness.

Then, under the cloaked man's gaze, the man in black slowly walked up to Sun Ruoyun, who had just climbed ashore.

"Ms. Sun, thank you for your hard work."

As soon as the man in black spoke, Sun Ruoyun's tired eyes immediately lit up.

Has he arrived?

Sun Ruoyun's tone was urgent.

The man in black looked at Sun Ruoyun, who was not only disheveled but also panting, but his first thought was still of his master.

The man in black couldn't help but glance in the direction of the cloaked man, and Sun Ruoyun's gaze followed, instantly turning into lust.

The two looked at each other from a distance, but dared not approach. Sun Ruoyun nodded in that direction, and the other person nodded back at Sun Ruoyun.

Then, Sun Ruojun reluctantly withdrew her gaze and asked, "What did he say?"

The man in black handed the item he had just received to Sun Ruoyun and instructed, "The clothes have been prepared for Miss Sun. Miss Sun just needs to go according to the previous plan."

"Okay, I understand."

After answering, Sun Ruoyun forced herself not to look in that direction.

The man in black felt sorry for Sun Ruoyun and couldn't help but ask, "Miss Sun, is there anything you want to convey?"

Before this, Sun Ruoyun had thought that when she saw him, she would hug him and cry her heart out, and then tell him about the hardships and beliefs she had faced along the way.

But now that she was actually standing here, Sun Ruoyun couldn't utter a single word, despite having so much to say.

Tell him to take care!

Sun Ruoyun only said this one sentence until the very end.

Seeing that she really had nothing to say, the man in black frowned slightly, and finally turned and left.

Upon seeing the man in black leave, Yun Yichen immediately ordered his men to follow him, while he and Gu Shuyan continued to keep an eye on Sun Ruoyun.

After the man in black left, Sun Ruoyun immediately collapsed to the ground and remained motionless.

She wanted to cry, but because she had cried so much during the day, she couldn't cry at all.

After standing there blankly for an unknown amount of time, Sun Ruoyun suddenly got up from the ground, picked up the things the man in black had given her, and quickly left in one direction.

"It seems that Sun Ruoyun is madly in love with that person."

As a woman herself, Gu Shuyan could tell from Sun Ruoyun's behavior that the man who had disappeared under the tree was very important to Sun Ruoyun.

As for that person's thoughts, Gu Shuyan couldn't make a judgment because she couldn't see clearly from their position.

"Now that Sun Ruoyun has entered the city, let's keep a close eye on her and see what she wants to do when she comes back."

Yun Yichen said exactly what Gu Shuyan was thinking. Looking at the sky, which was already past dawn, Gu Shuyan simply yawned.

"Let's go back, I'm so sleepy."

Seeing Gu Shuyan's exhaustion and remembering that she was pregnant and had been there for so long, Yun Yichen immediately picked her up and carried her back to the Yun residence.

Gu Shuyan was overcome with sleepiness and fell asleep leaning against Yun Yichen before she even got home.

After carefully placing Gu Shuyan on the bed, Yun Yichen quietly left the room.

"Master, we've lost track of them."

The bodyguard who had followed returned and bowed to Yun Yichen with a look of self-reproach.

Fortunately, Yun Yichen had prepared for the worst from the beginning, so he did not blame the guards for this.

"Does that person's voice sound familiar?"

When Yun Yichen mentioned it, the guards felt that they had heard the voice somewhere before, but where could they hear it?

The guard couldn't remember, and Yun Yichen didn't dwell on it, simply telling him to go and rest.

As April drew to a close, the weather began to warm up.

Problems that were not apparent last year are finally starting to surface this year.

Because of the reduced harvest last year and the depletion of the imperial treasury, grain prices suddenly began to surge at the end of April.

Some grain shops in the capital have even raised their prices to five times the original price.

Seeing the prices skyrocketing, even the emperor could no longer sit still.

"The national granary is currently suffering from severe grain depletion, and the autumn harvest is still several months away. Various regions have submitted memorials stating that grain prices have soared, and the people are no longer able to make a living. What do you, my esteemed ministers, think is the best way to resolve this matter?"

Last year's disaster affected most of the city, although only Suzhou was the most severely affected, but other areas were also affected to a considerable extent.

The reason why problems did not erupt immediately was because many people still had surplus grain in their hands, and the national treasury was able to provide support.

Now that the remaining grain on hand is almost gone, and there are no more supplies, the price of grain has naturally skyrocketed.

The court officials looked at each other in bewilderment as they listened to the emperor's question.

"Your subject believes that we can increase the fishing of seawater. The rise in grain prices is simply because the people have no food. If we can solve the food problem with the fish caught, the price of grain will naturally come down."

After waiting for a while without anyone speaking, Lu Yuanbin immediately told his advisors what they had discussed.

"Hmm, that's one way to do it."

The emperor nodded, then looked at the crowd and asked, "Does any of my ministers have a solution?"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers lowered their heads, and Lu Yuanbin smiled smugly.

Food is essential for human beings. When Gu Renjie suggested setting up disaster relief points to distribute porridge, some of his staff members suggested this possibility to him.

So Lu Yuanbin had been trying to collect grain for a while, but who would be willing to sell him grain during this famine year? Most importantly, he didn't have that much money.

So he settled for second best and sent people to the seaside to buy a lot of fish at a low price.

"Since no one can do anything about it, let's leave this matter to the Fifth Prince!"

Seeing that no one stepped forward, the emperor waved his sleeves and made his conclusion directly.

"Father, I think this is not feasible."

The Fourth Prince, Lu Changqing, suddenly stepped forward.