Chapter 36 Empty Your Granary
Cheng Shuyi gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
As he turned around and walked out of the academy, he met He Guangzhi who was chasing him with his sister in his arms.
She took her sister from He Guangzhi's arms and said to him, "Manager He, please go to the Regent's Palace to find the prince and tell him that he fell into the water as expected. I am going to the Prince of Yan's Palace."
Seeing that her face looked strange, He Guangzhi nodded, turned around and ran.
Cheng Shuyi took his sister to the Shen family and asked Shen Zhoushi to help take care of her.
Then go straight to Prince Yan's Mansion!
The Prince of Yan's Mansion is magnificent, and the copper nails on the vermilion gate sparkle in the setting sun.
The guard at the door knew she was coming, so he led her directly into the flower hall without informing her.
I saw Prince Yan sitting in the hall, leisurely sipping tea.
An ice bucket was placed in the center of the flower hall, but it was not ice from Darun Vanguard, but ice from the Prince of Yan’s own cellar.
My brother was sitting in a chair beside me, his face pale and his half-dry clothes sticking to his body.
"Shuyi——"
Pei Ruqi rushed over to her as soon as he saw her.
Cheng Shuyi squatted down, hugged his son, and looked at King Yan warily.
He had heatstroke yesterday, but today his complexion is rosy and he can eat and drink.
It seems that heatstroke is not as serious as rumored.
Cheng Shuyi smoothed the loose hair on his son's forehead, stood up and protected the child behind him.
She still didn't know whether her brother's fall into the water at the academy was intentional by the King of Yan or an accident.
If they fall out now, they might not be able to get out.
Cheng Shuyi could only suppress his anger and bowed to Prince Yan, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for saving me."
Prince Yan raised his eyelids and slowly placed the teacup in his hand on the table.
With a pleasant expression, he said, "It's just a small favor. My pleasure boat just happened to pass by."
Boats can be seen everywhere on the moat.
But the incident happened at dinner time, so how could the King of Yan appear there?
Too deliberate!
Cheng Shuyi knew that he did it on purpose, but she couldn't get angry. She felt so frustrated.
"Your Majesty, I will never forget your life-saving grace."
She looked at the ice bucket in the flower hall. The ice stored in Prince Yan's Mansion melted quickly and was not as good as the ice in her store.
"If Your Majesty does not mind, I am willing to provide ice to the palace for the whole summer to repay Your Majesty's kindness."
Ice is now more expensive than food.
"This king does not want ice."
King Yan sighed and looked heartbroken.
"The people of Lingnan are still living in dire straits, with insufficient food and clothing. How can I sit here in the capital and enjoy a moment of coolness?"
Cheng Shuyi frowned: "..."
Don't dare to enjoy a moment of coolness?
So what are these two buckets of ice?
Are they cheap?
Cheng Shuyi watched him perform without responding.
Upon seeing this, Prince Yan cursed her in his heart for being ungrateful, and his tone gradually became displeased, with a hint of imperial oppression.
"I heard that Madam Pei's Darun Wanjia has recently supplied food to many officials in the imperial court, and she even threatened to give them as much as they want..."
"I, the prince, have been ordered by His Majesty to raise grain for disaster relief in Lingnan. Madam Pei, why don't you set an example for all the major merchants in the capital and donate 50,000 dan of grain?"
"I will ask His Majesty for mercy on your behalf, and I will reward you handsomely!"
Fifty thousand stones!
He really dared to speak up.
And seeing how determined he was, if Cheng Shuyi refused, she would probably die on the spot.
"OK."
Cheng Shuyi's attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees.
"Since this is a good cause to help the people, we have no choice but to accept it." She said, "Your Highness, please allow me to prepare. I will definitely be able to raise 50,000 stones before midnight tonight."
"But it's night time now, and I'm afraid we won't be able to find carriages and people to transport the food..."
"No problem!"
King Yan waved his hand and said, "I will send someone to do it!"
Today is the deadline, and tomorrow the emperor will inquire about the results of raising grain and silver.
He still has a chance to seize a batch of food tonight.
Sheng Huaimin naturally would not let it go.
Cheng Shuyi and King Yan agreed on a time to transport the grain at midnight.
It's late at night and it's a good time to fish in troubled waters.
See if she doesn’t empty the granary of his Prince Yan’s Mansion!
When Cheng Shuyi brought his brother out of Prince Yan's Mansion, they happened to run into Pei Yanli who came with his men.
He Guangzhi had told him that his son had fallen into the water, but did not say why Cheng Shuyi came to Prince Yan's Mansion.
He stepped forward and asked, "What happened? Why are you here?"
During this period, Pei Yanli had been secretly investigating the Prince of Yan and the flood in Lingnan.
According to information sent back by spies, there were no problems with the procedures for distributing disaster relief grain allocated by the imperial court in recent years.
The only puzzling thing is that every year the disaster relief grain is sent out from the west gate.
Pei Yanli still couldn't figure out why it was the west gate.
"Let's go back first. Qiqi is frightened." Cheng Shuyi held his son and kept coaxing him.
After all, my brother is only five years old. No matter how brave he is, he can't withstand what happened today.
When passing by the Shen family, Cheng Shuyi went to pick up his sister.
Both children were frightened to varying degrees today and burst into tears as soon as they got home.
My brother sat down while crying and stretched out his right foot.
"Shuyi, my foot is broken and it hurts so much..."
"foot?"
Cheng Shuyi hurried over and rolled up his trouser legs.
I saw that there was a swelling the size of an egg on the instep of my brother's right foot, and there was a bruise on the swelling.
Pei Yanli recognized it immediately, "This is the injury caused by being hit with a stone."
Combining all these factors, he immediately guessed: It was King Yan who did it!
The fall into the water was indeed man-made!
Cheng Shuyi said nothing, and as usual, she applied medicine, cooked, and bathed the child.
He didn't even ask where Pei Yanli went after he left with a gloomy face.
At night.
Cheng Shuyi once again entrusted the two children to Shen Zhou's care, and she went to open the shop and transport grain.
The gong sounded at midnight.
The King of Yan's men also arrived.
The torches of the grain-transporting team were like winding fire dragons, illuminating the entrance of Pingxi Lane and Changsheng Street.
Cheng Shuyi opened the back door of the shop and watched quietly as Prince Yan's men loaded up the grain one cart at a time.
Since she opened the shop, when she buys grain, she has instructed modern shops to pack it in sacks and deliver it.
It made it convenient for ancient shop assistants to move and replenish goods.
Transporting grain late at night makes quite a bit of noise.
It woke up several families nearby and they came out to see what was happening.
Cheng Shuyi apologized loudly, "I'm so sorry. Our Darunwan family donated grain to the imperial court for disaster relief. I hope you can forgive me for disturbing you all."
She just wanted everyone around her to know that she had donated food.
As for whether the food will still be in the granary tomorrow, it is hard to say.
The grain transport team moved all night long.
Perhaps the King of Yan was afraid that people would know that the caravan went to two different places, so he ordered people to complete the move before dawn.
This gives Cheng Shuyi a good opportunity.
The last cart of food gradually disappeared into the darkness, and Cheng Shuyi followed it.
She didn't care which granary the grain was destined for.
Whether it is a government treasury or a private treasury.
She wants to move!
If the official treasury was moved, the Prince of Yan would be unable to hand over grain to the court tomorrow and he would be held accountable.
If the private warehouse was moved, the King of Yan would collapse when he saw the empty granary.
Cheng Shuyi didn't suffer any loss at all.
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