Chapter 148
Yan Shujin really had something to do and had already made an appointment with someone; the carriage and guards were waiting outside.
Inside the carriage, Yu Run straightened Yan Shujin's clothes and asked, "Does the princess think Mei Bai can find Young Master Han?"
Yan Shujin hugged the hand warmer. The weather in Shucheng was colder than in the capital, and it felt a bit dry. Without the pearl cream, Yan Shujin felt very uncomfortable. She wondered if Han Jing, who was so particular, would even use such things: "I don't think so. If he really had news of Han Ning'an, he would have told my father long ago."
Yu Run asked, "Does the princess think he didn't try his best to find it?"
Yan Shujin said, "Since he knows so much about bandits, he must have some private connections. The more people there are to search, the more hope there is."
This time when Yan Shujin went out, she only took Yuzhu and Yurun with her. Aunt Yu stayed behind to take care of Prince Xuan, because someone always had to keep an eye on things like decocting medicine.
The wives of officials from the Northwest specially prepared a welcoming banquet, but it was only as a test to send Yan Shujin an invitation. Unexpectedly, Yan Shujin accepted it immediately. Little did they know that Yan Shujin was worried about how to let everyone know that she liked mutton fat jade as quickly as possible. Even without their welcoming banquet, Yan Shujin would have found an opportunity to organize a poetry gathering or something to bring people together.
The news that Princess Yongfu loved jade, especially mutton-fat white jade, quickly spread throughout Shucheng.
If any jade ornaments sent to Princess Yongfu caught her eye, even merchants might get to meet her.
Just like Mei Bai, because of his merit in delivering the jade, he has been frequently visiting the villa recently, and even some officials are not as well-received as him.
Most importantly, it is said that King Xuan will be coming to Shucheng in a few days. If Princess Yongfu can say some good things about them to King Xuan... then there will be many benefits.
Many people are now jealous of Mabel, and no one knows where Mabel got the news, but she managed to curry favor with the princess before everyone else.
Mei Bai, who was said to have contributed to the jade offering, felt bitter upon hearing this news. Even if he denied it, no one would believe him, since many people had heard Princess Yongfu say these words. Mei Bai felt that he had schemed against Princess Yongfu once, and he was afraid that he would be used for the rest of his life.
However, Mei Bo was also somewhat grateful to Princess Yongfu, as this gave him a legitimate excuse. Otherwise, if people suspected that he was a spy planted by Emperor Yan, his future would be difficult. After all, there were so many officials in the Northwest, and they would not be happy to be monitored like this.
Therefore, after the notice was posted, Meibo could only arrange for people to try to persuade some of the bandits he knew, at least to make them believe that this was not a trap set by the imperial court, but that they really wanted them to come down from the mountain.
For some reason, although many people were unhappy and even cursed when they heard that there would be further punishment, they no longer suspected it was a trap as they had initially thought.
In the past, there were notices posted to persuade them to come down from the mountain, and many of them even promised to give them land, fields, and houses.
At that time, before Meibo's men could even test them, the bandits' expressions changed, and they wondered if Meibo had been bribed to harm them.
On the contrary, nowadays, going down the mountain not only brings no rewards but also many punishments, which has made some bandits less wary and even tempted, waiting to see what happens.
When Mabel learned of all this, she didn't know how to comment. It was truly a case of being led by the nose but not led by the nose.
Yan Shujin wasn't surprised. After listening to what Aunt Yu said, she casually put the few pieces of mutton-fat jade pendants she had just received aside: "It's just that nobody believes in free lunches, especially those who are 'forced' to become outlaws. It's like having a pie in front of you and telling you you can eat as much as you want. Would you feel at ease eating it? Or would you feel more at ease eating it if you had to fill a vat of water before you could eat as much pie as you wanted?"
Aunt Yu also realized that, compared to Yan Shujin, she couldn't guess the thoughts of ordinary people.
Yan Shujin gritted her teeth and said, "Two more days."
The notice stated that there was a five-day deadline. If those people did not come down the mountain after five days, the imperial court would take measures, but it did not specify what measures would be taken.
However, most of the bandits didn't take it seriously. There had been similar notices before, but they were mostly all bark and no bite.
The most powerful families, in particular, were not afraid. Officials who wanted to gain merit mostly targeted the smaller mountain strongholds and rarely wanted to confront them.
The officials in the Northwest were puzzled, because they had no information either. They were only told to follow Sun Qiao's arrangements. Both Eunuch Zhao and Lord Wei kept their mouths shut, and no one could get anything out of them.
It wasn't that Lord Wei and the others wanted to cooperate with Yan Shujin, but rather that Yan Shujin's words had frightened them.
After arranging everything, Yan Shujin told everyone in front of Yan Zhili: "My father's injury must have been caused by an inside traitor. We still don't know who the traitor is, but whoever leaked the information and caused my plan to fail must be in contact with the inside traitor. After all, only an inside traitor would not want to see me succeed."
Lord Wei was practically cursing under his breath. Only Princess Yongfu's shamelessness could link these two matters together. He immediately asked, "What if the news hadn't leaked, and it still failed?"
“That means there’s an internal traitor dragging us down.” Yan Shujin said matter-of-factly, “Guard Sun led troops to defeat the previous dynasty’s general, so how could he not defeat a few mountain bandits? Therefore, if we lose, it’s because there’s an internal traitor dragging us down.”
While speaking, he kept glancing at Lord Wei.
Lord Wei was so shocked he could hardly breathe. How could this be compared to anything else?
Soon Yan Shujin told Lord Wei that anything was possible once it came into Yan Shujin's hands.
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