Chapter 82 Chapter 82 Wei Shutan passed away
General Liang's Mansion. Secret Room
Liang Li sat at the top with his legs crossed. Jiang Tao was pacing anxiously beside him, and Tian Yu, who was tied up, was kneeling in front of him.
"Tian Zhizhou." Liang Li played with the golden beads in his hand for a while, then put them down and leaned forward. "You're quite brave."
"What? You think someone from the royal family is here to try to turn things around? To redress your grievances? To plead for mercy?" He raised the golden ruler in his hand, tilted Tian Yu's chin, and sneered. "You're dreaming."
Tian Yu had a piece of sackcloth stuffed in his mouth and was unable to speak. He only looked at the two women, one big and one small, who had fainted in the corner.
It was his wife Fu Xian and his daughter who had just turned three years old.
"If I see you act restless again," Liang Li tightened his grip, pressing against his neck. "I'll have them both die before you—"
"Being toyed to death by men." He smiled maliciously. "And you, just watch like this. When you've seen enough, let them toy with you."
Tian Yu couldn't utter a single word and kowtowed anxiously and frantically.
"Let him talk." Liang Li ordered his confidant to throw the sackcloth out of his mouth.
"I admit my guilt." Tian Yu said with difficulty.
Liang Li chuckled softly, "How much silver did the court allocate for disaster relief?"
"I don't know." Tian Yu replied.
"How much did you get?"
"...Five hundred taels." After a moment of silence, Tian Yu lowered his eyes.
"How did the river embankment collapse?" Liang Li asked again.
“…the embankment was made of inferior materials and could not bear the heavy load.”
Liang Li smiled with satisfaction and ordered his confidant to loosen the ropes that bound him: "Go."
"General Liang, my wife and daughter..." Tian Yu was carried out and struggled unwillingly.
"Until you completely obey my wishes," Liang Li said with a wild and unbridled smile, "how could I possibly let them go?"
Tian Yu was carried away, looking back every three steps. Liang Lifang leaned back in his armchair and glanced at Jiang Tao, who was still pacing. "What are you afraid of?"
"The letter I sent to the Lord of Beixuan has disappeared!" Jiang Tao rubbed his hands. "They must have taken it. Now that the Emperor has condemned me and sent troops, what should I do?"
"I've sent people to stop them. If they can be stopped, they'll be killed immediately." Liang Li was unconcerned. "Even if they can't be stopped, it would take at least a month to get to Kyoto and back, even if we galloped."
"Your Majesty...how many troops are you willing to send?" He sneered, spinning the golden beads. "You and I have nearly 200,000 troops under our command. Send a letter to Beixuan now, and reinforcements will be sent along with the imperial edict of condemnation. If all else fails, ask my beloved nephew to come to Liangzhou to visit relatives and bring the 50,000 troops with him!"
"Not counting Bei Xuan, that's 250,000." He lowered his crossed legs, grinning wildly. "You say, His Highness Prince Heng'an only has 50,000. Would His Majesty be willing to send him 200,000 to strangle the loyal ministers of the Liang family?"
"Your sickly son, can he really fight on the battlefield? Without soldiers and generals, how can they possibly win?" He said, his eagle eyes narrowing slightly. "The thought of killing a guy named Shen makes me excited."
"It's time to write a letter to my good nephew, expressing my longing for him..."
-
Kyoto
Jiang Heye did not rest his horse, and in less than ten days, he galloped to the palace.
Following Shen Qingchen's instructions, he submitted Jiang Tao and Liang Li's letters of treason. Emperor Hengshun did not keep him in the palace to make things difficult for him, but said that he needed to think about it again.
As he had to wait for the imperial edict of conviction, he could not leave the capital, so he happily went to look for Chen Chuning, whom he had not seen for a long time, but he came to nothing.
She had no choice but to follow what her palace maid said and go to Renshu Temple to look for her.
At the beginning of May, Kyoto is in the midst of spring, making it the best time for travel.
There are also unusually many pilgrims at Renshu Temple.
Jiang Heye climbed the mountain with ease and familiarity. Before he could squeeze into the crowd, he heard a clear female voice: "Liangzhou is located in the northern gate. The flood is raging now, and the people are displaced. I implore you to donate grain and silver to accumulate good deeds."
"If misfortune befalls us in the future, we will surely receive lasting blessings. In this way, all the states and counties in the country will unite and overcome the difficulties together."
"Master?" Jiang Heye pushed through the crowd and was slightly startled when he saw Wei Shutan standing in front of the donation box.
"Sir, please go sit in the courtyard." Wei Shutan didn't raise his eyes, as if he had expected his return. "I'll be here."
She did her job in an orderly manner and didn't need any help, so Jiang Heye did as she said. Knowing that Shen Chuning was there, he walked inside and listened to her talking with the pilgrims, persuading them to donate more.
"This year's harvest is good, and the emperor is so kind that he has reduced most of the harsh taxes. Liangzhou and Beixuan are currently in a stalemate. Would you be more generous?"
"How much did Mengniang donate?" someone asked mischievously.
"I have been a princess for two years, and my annual salary totaled 1,200 taels. I kept 200 taels to buy some materials for repairing antiques and medicine, and donated the remaining 1,000 taels." Wei Shutan was not angry and spoke in a gentle voice.
Some pilgrims advised her to take care of her health, while others advised her that as a princess, the banquet should not lose its splendor. She responded with a smile.
"My coming-of-age ceremony is approaching, and Sister Shutan won't let me show my face outside, so I have no choice but to wait in the courtyard." Shen Chu looked at him with concern. "How is Liangzhou?"
"Everything is fine." Jiang Heye simply said to her. "Princess, wait for me to come back."
Shen Chuning nodded with a blush on her cheeks. When he asked about Xu Qingyan again, she explained, "My grandfather is seriously ill, and my third cousin has returned to Jiangzhou."
"Sister Shutan won't let me do anything, and she even asks my aunt to watch over me. She runs around soliciting donations to restore your reputation. I'm worried that her body will be exhausted by all this running around." Shen Chuning touched his thin face with her hand and said in a muffled voice.
"The princess is still young." Jiang Heye rubbed her head.
After Wei Shutan finished his business and chatted for a while, he heard that Emperor Hengshun had summoned him, so he immediately rushed back to the palace and took Shen Chuning with him.
On the second day of the fifth month in the twenty-second year of the Yongjia reign, General Liang Li, the General of the Pingbei Army, and Jiang Tao, the Marquis of the Zhenbei Army, were convicted of treason and collaborating with the enemy.
Jiang Heye took the imperial edict and led two light cavalry to Liangzhou. The 30,000 troops allocated by the emperor, together with the 50,000 under Shen Qingchen, had to wait for the approval of the commander-in-chief Xie Junxiao before they could set off.
Before leaving, he went to the Funan General's Mansion and took back the ancient northern mysterious language that he had asked Chen Chutang to translate. Then he went to Renshu Temple to collect the disaster relief funds according to Wei Shutan's instructions.
The bright moon is like frost, but the night wind is sad.
-
Liangzhou
The raging flood gradually subsided, but the situation became increasingly grim.
That night, the old woman threw herself into the Liang River after a grief-stricken attack, which attracted the condemnation of the displaced people.
The efficiency of embankment construction work has also been greatly reduced. Work that could be completed in a day in the past can now only be completed in three days.
With Jiang Heye away, Shen Qingchen was almost split into several people to use, and he didn't even bother to check whether Jiang Hexue was staying in the government office peacefully.
Jiang Hexue naturally had not done so. He was running around all day inspecting and supervising, and when he saw that the laborers were lazy, he couldn't help but urge them to do so.
But it didn't work.
"You have money to build a dam, but you are not willing to use good materials. The dam will collapse as soon as the river rushes in. What's the point of going through so much trouble to build it?" a ferocious-looking man questioned.
"Even if we build it, it will collapse. We can just let the flood flow away." Another woman agreed.
"Even if we want to build a dam, we need the strength to do it!" the big man shouted again. "The rice soup we were given is all water. You can't even see the rice grains. How can we have the strength to build a dam?"
Jiang Hexue was slightly stunned: "Impossible."
"The court allocated two thousand taels of silver, and the rice grains were distributed according to the quota. We will definitely not be limited to drinking only watery rice soup."
"It hasn't rained in the last few days, so the embankment wasn't washed away, but rather dynamited," she explained calmly. "Zhizhou Tian went to see it at the time, and he can prove it."
"Sir, are you serious?" the big man walked up to Tian Yu and asked, looking at him. Tian Yu instinctively dodged, not daring to look at Jiang Hexue, and said in a stammered voice, "No one will bomb the dam."
Jiang Hexue looked at him in disbelief: "This is clearly what the prefect told this princess himself..."
"Then, sir, how much silver did the court allocate for disaster relief?"
Before she could finish her words, the big man interrupted her with a loud voice: "Is it really two thousand taels?"
Tian Yu's head drooped lower and lower, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "The total account has always been based on five hundred taels."
"You all heard that, didn't you?" the burly man said, a man who could hold his own against three Jiang Hexue brothers. "The princess keeps talking about two thousand taels, but the prefect only got five hundred. He embezzled fifteen hundred taels for himself, leaving us to drink rice porridge that won't fill us, and toil away building a dam that collapses at the slightest flood!"
"The people of the Heavenly Family really take human life lightly!"
Public outrage suddenly rose. Jiang Hexue observed Tian Yu's reaction and suppressed his anger: "Zhizhou, follow me."
"Come along? Don't even think about coercing or bribe our Liangzhou governor!" the large man shouted. "Fellow villagers, she dared to harm the governor in broad daylight. With such a vicious heart, how could she care less about us, the lowly commoners?"
The voices of condemnation grew louder and louder, and all of Jiang Hexue's explanations were drowned out by the noisy crowd.
Someone threw a stone at her first, and then dead branches and mud came flying at her.
Xue Lan immediately protected her and retreated: "Princess, I will take you back first!"
Just at this moment, a dazzling silver light flashed by. The big man instinctively squinted his eyes to dodge. When he opened his eyes again, Tian Yu beside him was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by the young man in white and was walked away.
"After spending so many days on thin rice soup, you look rosy and full of energy." Shen Qingchen said coldly. "You all have energy too."
"Even if the dam is of poor quality, it's better than nothing. If we let the flood flow freely, it will be a dead end!" Jiang Hexue said immediately after the noisy crowd subsided. "Everyone, please think carefully. Have you seen this person in the past few years? Is he really a refugee from Liangzhou?"
The crowd, who had just spoken in unison, suddenly started arguing.
"Let's go." Shen Qingchen held the ashen-faced Tian Yu in one hand and hugged Jiang Hexue with the other.
-
"If the prefect is threatened by the Liang family or the Marquis of Zhenbei, you can tell His Highness and me." Jiang Hexue personally poured him a cup of hot tea.
Tian Yu didn't respond, just looked at her blankly and knelt down.
Jiang Hexue wanted to reach out to help, but was stopped by Shen Qingchen.
After a long period of silence, a sharp voice of an imperial decree was suddenly heard.
"Liang and the Marquis of Zhenbei were convicted of treason, do you still have any concerns?" Shen Qingchen glanced at him coldly.
Tian Yu finally raised his head, which had been lowered all the time: "Your humble servant..."
"Sister!" He uttered a sound, and the tightly closed door was suddenly thrown open, and Jiang Heye stumbled in.
He pushed away Shen Qingchen, who was vaguely hugging Jiang Hexue, and threw himself helplessly into her arms.
Several people were stunned.
"What's the matter?" Jiang Hexue reluctantly stretched out a hand and gently patted his trembling shoulder. "Don't cry."
Jiang Heye said something in her ear. His voice was very soft, but it made her freeze in place.
"...What did you say?" After a while, she spoke with difficulty.
"Shu Tan, passed away?"
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The author has something to say: Meng Meng and Xiao Xu have always designed the be line [burst into tears]
There may be a short story later. This book will not write too much about the tug-of-war between the two of them. Now is the time to wrap up the plot [burst into tears]
(YeYe also felt very uncomfortable writing [burst into tears][burst into tears][burst into tears])
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