Chapter 271
The official sent to the south was the second-place scholar in the imperial examination after Emperor Yan ascended the throne. He was under forty and not from a prominent family. Emperor Yan preferred the second-place scholar to the top scholar and kept him by his side. Sending him out this time was also a sign of high hopes for this second-place scholar.
However, this second-place scholar had previously studied at home and later followed Emperor Yan in writing imperial edicts. He had no experience as a local official. He originally thought that even if he couldn't become an official in the capital, he could still go to a wealthy place like Jiangnan. But unexpectedly, he was assigned to the south, which made him extremely resentful.
When Han Jing was around, the second-place scholar pretended to be respectable, but as soon as Han Jing left, he revealed his true nature. He summoned all the merchants and families in the south, but he had no intention of showing up. Instead, he sent his page to talk to them and ask them to contribute money to build him a separate courtyard.
At that time, most of the officials in Nanzhong were killed by Yan Shujin, leaving only minor officials. The second-place scholar was specially sent from the capital. At that time, Nanzhong could be said to be a place where one person had absolute power.
The businessmen looked at each other, realizing that the meaning of the fairy tale about the second-place scholar was simply to get them to spend money.
What government office is dilapidated and needs repair? What second-place scholar still has nowhere to settle down?
These merchants cursed inwardly. Back when the princess was alive, she also stayed at the post station and didn't complain at all. Could it be that the second-place scholar was more noble than the princess? Even so, they could only obediently agree and then discuss how much money to offer.
The second-place scholar had only been gone a few days, yet he was already asking for money. This was definitely not good news for them. They were afraid that the second-place scholar would never be satisfied. The prince consort had only just left, and these people were already missing the princess and her family.
As for the mountain people, apart from the time Han Jing hosted the event, they had never seen the second-place scholar again. Chief Jin and the others tentatively sent a lot of mountain goods over, and the second-place scholar's gatekeeper accepted the goods and made them wait for almost an hour before saying that the second-place scholar did not want to see them.
The mountain clan chief went every day, but even after waiting for one or two hours each day, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of the second-place scholar. As a result, they all realized that the second-place scholar didn't like them, and the promises he made to the prince consort to take good care of them were just empty words.
This is not good news for them either.
When they met the steward sent by Yan Shujin to collect the mountain goods, both the mountain people and the merchants from the south felt invigorated. The mountain chieftains no longer hesitated. The second-place scholar was currently exploiting the merchants from the south, but the merchants from the south were not wealthy. Once they could no longer exploit the merchants, the second-place scholar would probably start exploiting them.
The person who came was just a steward from the princess's residence. The steward was pulled aside and talked to for a long time, so he couldn't make any promises. He only agreed to pass on their words to Yan Shujin.
The mountain man prepared all the mountain products with extra care this time, including live pheasants, which he had people raise carefully. The mountain man, the village chief, also specially arranged for people, both men and women, to take care of the pheasants, all of whom went to Fuzhou with the steward.
The steward did not refuse and took the person back directly. He had been instructed before he came that no matter what happened in Nanzhong, he should remember it carefully and not make any promises. In addition, if anyone wanted to come along, he should not refuse.
King Xuan had intended to visit his granddaughter before leaving, but unexpectedly, he fell ill when he was about to depart. As a result, he could not force himself to travel, and even with the imperial physician accompanying him, Yan Shujin was still worried.
As a result, King Xuan had no choice but to stay and rest, and Yan Shujin also wrote a letter back home.
While the Prince Xuan stayed behind to recuperate, Yan Shujin was holding her daughter and handling official business when she saw Aunt Yu and asked, "Aunt, can that 'medicine' be used indefinitely?"
The truth is that Prince Xuan's illness was caused by Yan Shujin having someone give him "medicine," and this was also due to a letter from Princess Xuan. Princess Xuan only mentioned that Prince Xuan had been working hard these days and asked Yan Shujin to give Prince Xuan more nourishing food.
Based on the tacit understanding between mother and daughter over the years, Yan Shujin understood the meaning behind Princess Xuan's words. Yan Shujin's idea was also to let Prince Xuan lay low for a while. After all, the Prime Minister had caused a major incident. If Prince Xuan returned and Emperor Yan felt there was a replacement, he would directly deal with the Prime Minister and let Prince Xuan take the position again. That would definitely not be a good thing for Prince Xuan.
If the incident involving the Hu family of Qi and Lu had not occurred, although the matter of investigating Yintian was inherently offensive, King Xuan could have taken responsibility for it back then. However, he cannot now. Now, no one can get involved in either investigating Yintian or the reforms without suffering the consequences.
Yan Shujin admired the Prime Minister's willingness to take on such responsibility. The Prime Minister's merits and demerits would be judged fairly. At least, not everyone has such courage.
Yan Shujin felt that when the Prime Minister accepted such a heavy responsibility, he had already thought about his future, and the Prime Minister must also know what kind of person Emperor Yan was.
However, Yan Shujin does not want this kind of thing to happen to Prince Xuan now, because the Prime Minister still has room for maneuver, but Prince Xuan does not.
If things succeed, Emperor Yan would not hesitate to do something like sacrificing family ties for the greater good, something that could salvage all his reputation.
No matter how many people died during the reform process, Emperor Yan eventually killed his only younger brother, which was enough to appease public anger. Yan Shujin even guessed what Emperor Yan would say: the reform was a good thing, and he entrusted the task to Prince Xuan because he trusted him. However, he did not expect Prince Xuan to do so many evil things. Emperor Yan was deceived, so he put righteousness before family.
In fact, Yan Shujin felt that her father understood, so after he fell ill, he immediately sent a message to the capital, along with the imperial physician's medical records.
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