Jiang Qianruo thought about it and had no objection: "But what about Tao'er?"

A trace of pain flashed across Emperor Mingde's face. "Tell him the truth. Even if he's not well in the future... he won't be a threat to Zhou'er. If he behaves well, then I'll grant him a lifetime of wealth and leisure."

——

The people of Prince Zhuang's faction fell as soon as they were told to. If the street in Caishikou had not been flooded with blood, many people would still not have reacted.

Emperor Mingde's decisiveness and ruthlessness in killing made everyone in the capital shudder and sober up.

All nine clans of Yongle Earl were wiped out, not a single one was left alive.

Even the descendants of His Royal Highness Prince Zhuang were almost all killed, and the only remaining baby, still in swaddling clothes, was secretly sent out of the capital and his whereabouts are unknown.

This outcome served as a wake-up call to everyone.

With this big news, the rumors about the Zhou family naturally dissipated a lot.

Ji Changying was invited by Gong Yehong to go to Baihe Tower to discuss important matters.

Not long after she walked onto the street, she was stopped by a 'homeless man'.

"My dear friend, I see that you have a strange bone structure and a dark spot on your forehead. I'm sure something bad will happen to your family soon. I'm giving you this amulet to keep you safe."

Yanyun saw the old man who suddenly jumped out. His body was covered with patches and he exuded an unknown stench. His dirty hair was blocking his face and his appearance was completely invisible. He was holding a black and yellow amulet in his hand and handing it to Ji Changying.

She couldn't help but yelled, "Nonsense! How dare you, a liar, curse my girl!"

The old man didn't seem angry. He just stared at Ji Changying with a pair of clear eyes: "It's right to listen to my promise. If you miss this day, you will regret it!"

Ji Changying sighed: "How much?"

The old man shook his head: "No money, I'll give it to you for free."

Yanyun was a little confused now, "Why are you blocking our way if you don't want money?"

"Fate, it's wonderful!"

The old man shook his head and said, Yanyun was about to refuse, but saw Ji Changying reach out and take the two amulets with black fingerprints in the old man's hand, and put a tael of silver in his palm: "I'll treat you to some buns."

The old man's stomach growled at the right moment, and he grinned, "Great kindness!"

Then he took the silver and ran to the bun vendor like a vicious dog snatching food. He grabbed the hot buns still on the steamer and stuffed them into his mouth without caring about the heat. Before the vendor could scream or hit him, he threw the silver at him.

Yanyun stared at him, "I knew this old man was a liar!"

"It doesn't matter, just treat it as treating the old man to a meal."

Ji Changying casually put the amulet in his hand into his sleeve and went to Baihe Tower with Yanyun.

After she arrived there and gave her name, she was taken to a private room.

Yanyun was stopped by the guards at the door.

"No problem, just a few words, wait here."

Ji Changying gave an order and stepped into the private room.

There were quite a few people from Beiyan sitting inside, and when they saw her come in, they all looked at her with burning eyes.

Gong Yehong saw her come in and immediately stood up with his men. "The princess's presence today has brightened up our humble home! Please take a seat!"

Ji Changying raised an eyebrow and looked at them in confusion: "Didn't the Crown Prince say a few days ago that he was leaving Dali? What's this...?"

She was a little confused. They weren't that familiar with each other, so why did she have to see him off before leaving?

Luo Chengwu chuckled: "Originally it was urgent, but now it seems not so urgent. I can go back later."

So what does this have to do with her?

"Then I wonder why you all called me here today?"

Luo Chengwu stood up with a bang and said, "I'm always quick to speak. I heard from somewhere that the princess has potatoes and sweet potatoes."

Ji Changying was silent.

Luo Chengwu was anxious: "To be honest, it was snowing a few days ago. When the princess was meeting with fellow villagers at the White Crane Tower, one of our people happened to be in the crowd and had already seen that thing!"

Ji Changying understood. So that's why. No wonder they came to her door.

She didn't say anything originally because this was a matter of state, and she wouldn't say anything easily before knowing the other party's purpose.

But now that the other party has seen the thing, there is no point in denying it.

"Yes, yes, so what?"

"This proves that you are the one destined by heaven that the old Taoist priest mentioned!"

The Minister of Agriculture explained anxiously.

Ji Changying remained unmoved: "Let's not talk about whether the old Taoist's words are true or not. Even if they are, what can we do?"

Gong Yehong's face was solemn. "We in Northern Yan have suffered a severe drought this year, and the harvest has been completely wiped out! Wuyouzi predicted that the situation will get worse each year, and we won't be able to recover for at least three years. If we had potatoes and sweet potatoes, we in Northern Yan would be much better off, and our national strength wouldn't decline so drastically."

"The princess has also been an ordinary citizen, so she must be able to sympathize with the lives of ordinary people. We want to take advantage of the fact that the treasury is still relatively full and exchange the money for grain to get through these difficult days. Otherwise, the people will be unstable and chaos will naturally arise. Our original intention was to keep our relationship with Dali separate, but if it comes to that, I'm afraid the situation will be forced upon us!"

Ji Changying sneered: "Even if it really comes to that, it's hard to say who will win or lose."

Luo Chengwu said seriously, "That being said, you suffered from floods and epidemics last year, so your national strength may not be as strong as our current Northern Yan. Perhaps nobles like you might not be affected by this, but the people of both countries will be living in dire straits. Is it possible that the princess would be happy to see this happen?"

Seeing that he was serious, Ji Changying naturally put away some of her nonchalance: "You are Beiyan, we are Dali. Now that our positions are different, don't preach those big principles to me. Besides-"

"Until now, you still haven't explained why you provided the two-winged arrows to the foreign tribes, causing irreversible damage to my mother's health and our family."

Luo Chengwu explained: "We have already informed your Dali Emperor of the specific reasons, and we have also made compensation!"

"But you didn't say a word about us, did you?"

They didn't expect Ji Changying to care so much about this matter. Gong Yehong pondered it in his heart and sighed: "It was because of the internal struggle within our Northern Yan that the arrows from the two wings were leaked..."

The current emperor of Northern Yan, Gong Yeji, also killed more than a dozen of his brothers before he broke through the siege and ascended the throne.

However, he refused to marry and have children for the first five years after he came to power, causing unrest in the court. Finally, he reluctantly took in several concubines, but after two years, they were still childless. Finally, the imperial physician diagnosed that he might have a hidden illness.

The ministers were shocked. While looking for various ways to cure the emperor's illness, they also began to try every possible way to find the surviving bloodlines of the emperor's brothers, so that they could be adopted by the emperor if that didn't work.

The Emperor of Northern Yan, however, did not follow the usual path and let him raise the bloodline of his enemy? Dream on!