"Then I'll have to trouble this brother from the Imperial Guard." Yao Jinle saluted to the Imperial Guard.
After the Imperial Guard returned Yao Jinle's greeting, they led him towards Fengqi Palace. "By this hour, His Majesty would have returned from the Imperial Study to the Empress's chambers. When you enter the harem later, remember to follow me closely and don't get lost."
Yao Jinle responded, "Of course."
When the Imperial Guards led Yao Jinle to Gu Yanyue's bedroom, Yuwen Ran had just returned from the Imperial Study and was eating the cakes Gu Yanyue had prepared for him when he suddenly heard Zheng Hai report from outside: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue, Lord Yao, requests an audience—"
When Yuwen Ran heard Yao Jinle's request for a meeting, he choked on the cake he hadn't yet swallowed. Gu Yanyue hurriedly brought Yuwen Ran a glass of water, and only after he swallowed it did he feel reborn.
Yu Wenran put away all the cakes that Gu Yanyue had made for him, then shouted to Zheng Hai outside the door: "Tell him to come in!"
Before Yao Jinle came in, Gu Yanyue tugged at Yuwen Ran's sleeve and asked, "Ah Ran, the Minister of Revenue must have come to discuss official business with you. Wouldn't it be against the rules for me to remain here?"
The previous dynasty had a rule that the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Yu Wenran wouldn't care about this, but Gu Yanyue thought Yao Jinle might care. So she decided to go see Xiao Yuntun first and come back after Yao Jinle left.
As she spoke, Gu Yanyue was about to stand up and leave to give Yuwen Ran and Yao Jinle space to discuss business, but Yuwen Ran pulled her back.
Yuwen Ran patted Gu Yanyue's hand and said soothingly, "Jinle is different from those pedantic old ministers. He won't mind your presence. What's more, if you were here, you could listen to what Jinle has to report and come up with a solution together."
The moment Yao Jinle walked in, Yuwen Ran was frightened by his appearance. In his impression, Yao Jinle had always been a clean person, especially in front of outsiders, and he had never been as disheveled as he was today.
"Jinle, how did you get into such a mess? And the severe drought in Qianzhou, which caused famine to the people of Qianzhou, has been resolved?"
After Yao Jinle paid his respects to Yuwen Ran and Gu Yanyue, just as Yuwen Ran said, he did not mind Gu Yanyue's presence and took out the blood letters written by the people of Qianzhou from his arms.
He presented it to Yuwen Ran with both hands, "I hope Your Majesty will forgive me for my unclean attire. Your Majesty, I returned to the capital this time because of the severe drought in Qianzhou. This is a blood letter from the people of Qianzhou, asking me to hand it to Your Majesty. Please review it!"
The moment Yuwen Ran heard about the blood letter, his brows furrowed. How could the drought in Qianzhou have gotten so severe that they had to write a blood letter?
He frowned as he read through the letters written in blood. Each one contained the same content. These hundreds of letters all accused Prince Xiang of his evil deeds in Qianzhou.
After reading it, Yu Wenran clenched his fist and smashed it hard on the small table beside him.
The moment the fist landed, Xiao Ji was shattered into pieces by Yuwen Ran's internal force. "How ridiculous! I sent him to help with the disaster relief, but I didn't expect him to live a better life in the disaster area than in the capital!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. I have something else to report." Yao Jinle knelt down consciously the moment Yuwen Ran got angry, and now he was talking to Yuwen Ran with his head down.
"explain!"
"The Qianzhou government is just a decoration. Since Prince Xiang arrived in Qianzhou, his daily routine has been to accompany Prince Xiang on his quest to plunder women."
"This man took advantage of the severe drought in Qianzhou and the resulting poor autumn harvest to sell the relief grain sent by the imperial court to the wealthy merchants in Qianzhou at exorbitant prices!"
After saying this, Yao Jinle kowtowed heavily towards Yuwen Ran and refused to get up for a long time.
"Good! Good! Good! The governor of Qianzhou and the King of Xiang are both excellent! They pretend to obey but actually disobey, treating the lives of the people as a joke! I must have been blind to believe the Queen Mother's words and let the people of Qianzhou suffer like this!"
Yu Wenran stood up and put away all the blood-written letters.
Then he said to Yao Jinle, who was still kneeling on the ground, "Jinle, get up first. Go back to the mansion and have a good rest. You must have been tired after traveling all the way back from Qianzhou. After you have rested, I will summon you to the palace tomorrow to discuss the matter of Qianzhou."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I request that you issue an edict as soon as possible. After all, if you delay for a minute, the people of Qianzhou may be in more danger! Before I returned from Qianzhou, nearly a thousand people had died in Qianzhou!" Yao Jinle received Yuwen Ran's edict and retreated.
When Yao Jinle left, the imperial guard was still waiting outside the door. Seeing Yao Jinle coming out, he hurried to greet him, "Sir, have you discussed this with His Majesty?"
Yao Jinle nodded, "Yeah."
"Then let me escort you out of the palace. We have prepared a carriage for you at the palace gate so that you can return home to rest as soon as possible." The royal guard took Yao Jinle towards the palace gate.
Yao Jinle thanked him and said, "Thank you for your help."
"Your Excellency, these are what we should do."
After Yao Jinle got on the carriage, Yuwen Ran also arrived at the Empress Dowager's Cixi Palace.
As soon as Yuwen Ran entered Cixi Palace, he threw all the blood-letters that the people of Qianzhou had handed over to Yao Jinle onto the table in front of the empress dowager and shouted at her: "Mother, why don't you take a look at your good son and see what good things he has done in Qianzhou!"
The Queen Mother was yelled at for no reason by Yuwen Ran. She slammed the table and put on her Queen Mother's airs towards Yuwen Ran, trying to use her status as an elder to suppress him. She also shouted: "The Emperor is so arrogant that he even dares to yell at me. If Prince Xiang commits a crime again, will you put a knife to my neck?"
Yuwen Ran didn't follow the Queen Mother's words this time. He just snorted coldly, "Mother, you should first see what good things the good son you recommended has done in Qianzhou!"
After saying this, Yuwen Ran swung his sleeves and sat down in front of the Queen Mother. Seeing that the Queen Mother had not yet picked up the blood letter in front of her, he pushed the blood letter in front of her and said, "Your Majesty, please read it quickly. After you finish reading it, I have something to discuss with the ministers in the cabinet in the imperial study."
The empress dowager looked at the blood letter that Yuwen Ran pushed in front of her. The bright red words were obviously written in blood. But just a glance at it made her feel a little dizzy, let alone reading it all.
"Your Majesty, just tell me what you want to show me. I really can't bear to see this."
Yuwen Ran snorted coldly.
"These are all written in blood by all the people of Qianzhou. Others may not read them, but Mother, the Queen, must. If Mother, the Queen, still does not want to read them, then have the literate maids around you read them to you one by one. When Mother, the Queen, or the maids have finished reading them, I will leave."
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