Chapter 41
Yao Chunnuan had no idea that this scene was being seen by someone on their way home. Although he was too far away to hear their conversation, he could clearly see the change in Wei Qiuyu's expression, especially her mood, which was clearly off. Yao, the chief steward of his household, had clearly noticed this and then said something that only irritated him further.
The newly hired clerk in his family is taking advantage of his condition to kill him. She has no mercy like a woman, so - that's good.
Wei Qiuyu was in a daze when she left. It was quite dangerous for her to walk alone in such a snowy day with such a distracted look.
Seeing her like this, Yao Chunnuan's eyes darkened. She wanted to kill her, seriously. Although she had dealt a severe blow to Wei Qiuyu this time, and she probably wouldn't be able to get up, there was always a chance of something happening, and killing her was no longer the solution. But she couldn't. Yao Chunnuan suppressed her murderous urge. She hadn't forgotten what she had always done: she treated herself like a project. She didn't have the strength to act recklessly yet. Besides, she had a superior. If she really killed someone, she didn't know what they would think of her. Well, this position was still a little low. She still had to work hard to climb up.
When Yao Chunnuan separated from her, she deliberately let people see her, and then on the way back, she smiled and greeted her all the way, trying to get witnesses so that if she died, she wouldn't be blamed for it. Her friendly behavior actually flattered some ordinary military families in the southern district.
The general saw clearly the intention of her action. He smiled. He felt at ease to use someone who was cautious, ruthless and had a bottom line.
When Yao Chunnuan returned home, Luo Suyi placed the brazier in front of her and went back to the stove to start cooking. They had killed a chicken today, the winter solstice, and now the large pieces of chicken were bubbling and emitting a fragrant aroma in the iron pot. When it was almost done, she moved the pot onto the stove, which was already lit with charcoal.
Dinner was chicken stewed in an iron pot, and the staple food was pancakes stuck to the edge of the iron pot. Then the three of them ate dinner around the stove.
Yao Chunnuan glanced at Luo Suyi, picked up a chicken leg for her, and then picked up a chicken claw from in front of her.
Luo Suyi glanced at the chicken leg in the bowl, then at the chicken feet she had taken away, and said anxiously, "A Nuan, you can eat this chicken leg. Chicken feet are delicious. I like to eat this."
Yao Chunnuan nodded in agreement. "Yes, you stewed the chicken feet very well and they are very tasty. I love them too." Little guy, do you really think she can't see that? Chicken feet are delicious, yes, but are chicken butts, chicken heads, and chicken necks also delicious? Not necessarily. She is always like this, always wanting to save the delicious food for herself and Xiao Jieming, and eat the leftovers herself.
Russell was at a loss.
"Don't be dazed, eat it while it's hot." Yao Chunnuan urged her. She didn't lie to her. The chicken feet were indeed delicious. They were meaty and stewed until tender. They were full of collagen.
Luo Suyi saw that she was eating with gusto, knowing that she really liked it, but also felt a little annoyed that she had just eaten the other one. A Nuan liked this one, and if she hadn't eaten it, it would have been great if she had left it all for her.
After finishing her meal, Yao Chunnuan said with a hint of lingering satisfaction, "These chicken feet are delicious. I'll teach you how to braise some chicken feet, duck feet, duck necks, and duck heads someday. The flavor is incredible." Speaking of braised chicken feet, she had eaten them in many places in her later life, but the Sichuan-style chicken feet were what she remembered most. They were braised to perfection, cooked at just the right temperature, neither too soft nor too mushy, with a firm texture yet not too chewy. And you couldn't even taste the spices in them. The flavor was incredible.
Luo Suyi nodded and said, "Okay, you teach me and I will learn it well." I will stew it for you when I have learned it well.
In recent days, due to the two difficulties currently faced by the Shogun, the atmosphere in the shogunate has been serious and a bit depressing.
That morning, the shogun summoned them to a meeting. The attendees included the shogun's subordinates and members of the shogunate. The topic of discussion was the current food shortage crisis in the military settlements and the crisis of streamlining the military system that would be proposed by the Yingchun camp next year.
Yao Chunnuan also got a chance to show up, but because she had just joined the General's Mansion, her seat was at the back.
Yao Chunnuan also discovered that Wang Lang was there, standing behind the lieutenant general Ji Ze.
Yao Chunnuan hadn't expected Ji Ze to be so highly regarded by the general so quickly, and for Wang Lang to become either his confidant or his top aide. She guessed that, given Wang Lang's inherent pride, it was probably the latter.
Noticing her gaze, Wang Lang looked at her and nodded slightly.
Yao Chunnuan simply turned her head away without responding at all.
As soon as the meeting started, an angry general directly requested troops, "General, please give me two thousand soldiers and horses. Meng Yi and the boys will charge over and kill him!"
Then, another general stepped forward and said, "General, I will go too. I only need 1,500 elite soldiers to teach these scoundrels a lesson! They are really going too far!"
"Yes, the streamlined system proposed by Yingchun Camp next year is completely aimed at us. They want to turn our 6,000 elite soldiers into mere farmers. Their intentions are despicable!"
"General, Zhu Chengyu of the Yichun camp has repeatedly plotted against you. We can't tolerate this any longer. Our soldiers are all holding back their anger."
Chief Steward Wu showed a gratified smile. Although the soldiers were reckless, the morale of the army was good.
The general nodded and said, "You can withdraw first. Don't worry, there will be a time when we can use you."
Chief Wu said, "General, the military food crisis is imminent. In fact, the problem of food shortage is secondary. The most urgent matter is the proposal of the Yichun camp to streamline the troops. It is already the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and there will definitely be a memorial from the Yichun camp sent to the capital. We must not let the memorial requesting streamlining enter the capital." The third prince is now assisting the old emperor in regulating the country, and the third prince does not like him. Once the memorial to streamline the troops is submitted, the other party will definitely be happy to see it happen.
"Yes, we can't let them succeed. As long as we can go out to fight, we won't have to worry about food." As long as they can go out to fight, food will not be a problem. They were not without food shortages when they were in the northern border, but the Xing family army relied on fighting to support the war and managed to survive.
Submitting memorials is their right, how can they stop it?
"Kill him!" Meng Yi's eyes were fierce and he made a gesture of raising his hand and cutting with a knife.
Yao Chunnuan: You are so brave. You are worthy of being the general's subordinate. You even don't take the Grand Marshal seriously.
The general frowned, "Be careful with your words! Meng Yi, you really dare to say anything!"
The others were also speechless, but they all knew that he was a fierce warrior and using his brain was not his strong point.
"How about I lead the troops to set up sentry at the checkpoint?"
The general sat at the top, listening quietly to his subordinates' discussion.
Yao Chunnuan sat at the end of the table, listening quietly. She had spent the past two days researching information, hoping to be of some help. She had actually had some clues from the very beginning, fortunately having found some information when she had been sorting through the past three years of military settlement.
While Meng Yi's proposal was unreliable, it was on the right track. As the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must first catch the leader. There's another saying: If I can't solve this problem, I'll just deal with the person who created it. Submitting memorials is your right, so why don't I just ask you to voluntarily give up that power?
Of course, killing is definitely not allowed. But Zhu Chengyu is not without weaknesses. His weaknesses are eating empty salaries and embezzling money. He has not been discovered all this time because
The person who does the accounting under him is very capable and just balanced all the accounts for him.
She had also researched years of relevant records from the military settlements and speculated that he had embezzled so much grain each year. Yao Chunnuan didn't believe he would take it all back to the Yichun camp. Yao Chunnuan was certain he must have his own private treasury, but she just didn't know where it was. Yichun was so large, it was hard to guess.
She handed over all the inferences and evidence she had compiled. In fact, her information was still a bit thin, but the direction was correct. She expected that if the general dug deeper, he would be able to find a way to restrain Zhu Yucheng.
This was Yao Chunnuan's plan. If you don't let me live, you won't live either. Think carefully before you mess with me. I'm not afraid if you strike first; I'll strike later and get there first. I'm not sure if you can kill me, but I can definitely kill you.
This method was not difficult to come up with, but the evidence was hard to find. It was also thanks to her keen intuition regarding this data that she was able to successfully collect so much relevant evidence.
Yao Chunnuan felt that there was no need to kill him. She thought, "Let's get a handle on each other and keep each other in check." Her point was, if Zhu Yucheng was brought down, it would be hard to tell what the next Yichun Marshal would be like. It would be better to keep Zhu Yucheng around.
But she was not the decision maker, she was just a small clerk. She compiled the evidence and handed it over. What the general did with it and how he did it was none of her business.
Xing Changfeng's thoughts coincided with hers. He had no interest in eliminating Zhu Yucheng, the pest, for Daliang and the Third Prince. If the other party didn't pity his soldiers, how could he pity the other party's country?
In fact, she had a more unsophisticated way to solve the food problem, but she thought about it and didn't mention it.
After reading her memorial, Manager Wu gave her a private account book that he had gotten from somewhere. He did not tell her what to do specifically, only asking her to study it.
So Yao Chunnuan began to study it. After a day or two, she seemed to have figured out something. After she started working on it for most of the day, she discovered that she had found the location where the private account books were hidden. This was most likely the location of Zhu Yucheng's private vault.
When she told Manager Wu the news, his eyes lit up and he praised her for doing a good job.
Because she had to figure out the location, she was delayed in getting off duty, so it was almost dark when she got off duty.
On her way out, she stumbled upon a group of soldiers changing into uniforms. Their attire made them look like bandits. The general and Chief Steward Wu were also there. Were they preparing to do something bad?
Yao Chunnuan's surprised expression pleased them.
Wu Zongguan laughed and said, "You have to get used to it. Soldier, soldier, soldier. When you put on that layer of skin, you are a soldier, and when you take it off, you are a ruffian. You will understand it later."
A hint of smile also flashed in Xing Changfeng's eyes.
Yao Chunnuan: ...
It wasn't that she wasn't used to it, but she was surprised that their thoughts coincided with hers, though she hadn't written it down in the memorial. She figured she should at least establish herself as an upright person, maintain her image, and avoid using methods that were too extreme, so her boss wouldn't think she was being cunning.
But the current situation is like she is covering up her own personality, but the other party is exposed.
It was a dark and windy night. Manager Wu said to Yao Chunnuan, "Go back. It's getting darker. You'll have good news tomorrow when you come back for duty."
They didn't hide it from her. They said it so clearly, so why couldn't she guess it? For a moment, Yao Chunnuan was in a strangely good mood.
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