"Princess, you've heard the news too?" The head steward was clearly anxious and started nagging.
"What are we going to do? So much grain, how could it all be wasted? The ship was perfectly fine, it was in the water every day, how could it leak during the grain transport? Someone must have tampered with it!"
"I wonder which despicable bastard did this! If I knew, I would love to eat his flesh and drink his blood!"
"The Marquis is fighting with his soldiers outside, and not only is no one helping him, but they also have to be so vicious as to drag him down!"
Jiayin was completely confused, but instinctively felt that something was wrong.
"Uncle Butler, please speak slowly! What exactly happened?"
The head butler was stunned for a moment, and finally noticed that Jiayin's expression was off. He immediately regretted it.
Perhaps the Li family was afraid that the princess would worry, so they hadn't told her yet, but he had let it slip first!
But now that it's already been said, it's too late to hide it anymore.
He could only say, "This old servant only just learned of the news. The second batch of military rations, which was to be sent to Jiangbei, was loaded onto a ship at the dock, but when it reached the middle of the river, the cabin leaked and the ship sank into the water."
"These grains were all collected from various prefectures and counties. Even if more can be collected, it will take another half a month before they can be shipped out."
"The Marquis has 100,000 troops in Jiangbei; they can't go hungry for half a month! What should we do?"
The head butler was so angry he stomped his feet!
Jia Yin's face also turned pale. Needless to say, the shipwreck must have been deliberately caused by someone!
Just as the head steward said, the ships traveling back and forth between the north and south banks of the river were fine every day, so how did the problem arise when they were transporting grain, and how did they end up sinking all the military grain in the river?
One or two of them, it can be said that they are not properly maintained or cared for on a regular basis.
There were dozens of those ships, all of them sank. It wasn't man-made; could it be some kind of supernatural phenomenon?
Fearing that the princess would be upset, the head steward suppressed his anxiety and advised, "Princess, please don't worry too much. There are still a thousand dan of grain stored in the manor. This old servant will send someone to gather them out right away..."
Jiayin shook her head and said, "It's just a drop in the ocean! Uncle Steward, stop wasting your time. Let's keep this grain for the people in the manor."
"I'll go find my second uncle and Mr. Wen first to ask what happened and see if they have any solutions."
After saying that, she turned and left. The head steward quickly followed behind to see her off, repeatedly instructing her, "Princess, this old servant will stay in the manor. If there is anything that needs my attention, please send someone to take care of it."
"Okay, don't worry, Uncle Steward." Jiayin hurriedly got into the carriage and ran off to find her second uncle.
Li Lao Er was not well-educated and did not take the imperial examination route. Even after becoming a local magistrate, he was initially ostracized and ridiculed by many.
However, during his youth, when his older brother was missing and he was forced to mature early, he learned to be shrewd and worldly without any formal instruction.
Many flower lovers frequented the Hundred Flowers Garden, and the Li family had been thriving in recent years, enjoying the Emperor's favor. As a result, he gradually became familiar with the Six Ministries and made many friends.
Around noon, he had just come out of the Ministry of War when he saw his niece waiting outside. He quickly went up to her and said, "Come on, let's go home and talk about it."
Jiayin followed her second uncle into the car. As soon as the door closed, she immediately asked, "Second Uncle, what exactly happened? Do you know who destroyed the military rations?"
Li Lao Er's brows furrowed like iron lumps as he replied in a low voice, "This matter is very strange. We originally suspected that the old woman was behind it, but her henchmen outside have been closely watched and have not made any moves recently."
"That's strange. Either we made a mistake, or a third party interfered. And they were able to plant a spy in the dockside military camp. Otherwise, they would never have been able to do something so big."
"Has Uncle Dayong started his investigation yet?" Jiayin asked.
“Of course,” Li Lao Er sighed, “This happened last night, and your Uncle Dayong sealed off the dock overnight.”
“I’ve already had Zheng He check on him. Da Yong thinks he’s messed up a big deal. His eyes are bloodshot. He’s not eating or sleeping and has been interrogating him intensely.”
"What did Uncle Huang say?" Jiayin asked pointedly, getting to the heart of the matter.
Li Lao Er's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but want to sigh.
For so many years, my niece had gotten along well with the emperor, as if she were a close relative to her own uncle, only with more respect.
But ever since before this northern expedition, my niece had been subtly showing some distrust of the emperor.
In front of outsiders, she of course didn't reveal a single thing.
But in front of her own family, her subconscious expressions and words often reveal her true nature.
Although he was well aware of the saying "emperors are ruthless," he always felt that perhaps the current emperor would be an exception. After all, the emperor's current position was almost entirely due to the support of the marquis, which involved not only kinship but also gratitude.
As it turned out, he didn't expect to be proven wrong so quickly.
"The Emperor was very angry and ordered the Ministry of War to investigate. He also ordered the collection of grain from various prefectures and counties again, preparing to transport it again in half a month."
"In addition, the Emperor sent someone to deliver a message to the Marquis, instructing him to... hold on for half a month."
Jiayin was immediately furious. "What kind of talk is this! What can those incompetent officials in the Ministry of War possibly find out? Even if they could, it would take a year and a half. If we let these hidden cancers exist, who knows how they'll cause trouble for the Northern Expeditionary Army in the future!"
"Furthermore, which of the prominent families in Xindu doesn't have 10,000 dan of grain stored up? A few families could easily pool their resources and that would be enough to immediately replenish the military rations and transport them away. Why wait for the various prefectures and counties to collect them?"
"What do you mean by 'persevere for half a month'? The situation on the battlefield changes in an instant, and the slightest mistake can cost thousands of lives! Is that something that can be solved with just 'perseverance'?"
“Sigh,” Li Lao Er sighed, comforting his niece, “Don’t worry, the Marquis is a veteran of many battles. With the battle lines stretched so far this time, he must have had some preparations beforehand.”
"Moreover, Mr. Wen and I have discussed it, and tomorrow your Uncle Dayong and I will go to various aristocratic families to borrow grain. Each of these families has children or grandchildren serving in the army, and I believe they would not want their children or grandchildren to go hungry."
"In this way, the grain will be transported away in less than three days. Once the grain collected from various prefectures arrives, it can be returned to the households."
After thinking about it carefully, Jiayin realized that this was indeed a good idea.
In fact, she had a lot of food in her storage space, enough to immediately replenish the military rations lost this time.
But this is her trump card, a trump card that is not bound by anyone, a trump card that can unexpectedly turn the tide.
It's not the right time yet, so we can't bring it up.
Jiayin replied, "Second Uncle, this is a good idea. You can go ahead and do it. If you need any help, just let someone know."
"I still need to go back to the palace this afternoon. My godfather isn't here, so it's not appropriate for you to enter the palace. I need to keep a close eye on things."
Li Lao Er was somewhat worried, but he couldn't stop him even if he wanted to. He could only advise, "This matter is of great importance. There may be many hidden details, and it may not be as simple as it seems on the surface."
"You must think twice before you do anything. The most important thing is to protect yourself and not get yourself into trouble, understand?"
"Understood, Second Uncle, don't worry." Jiayin solemnly replied.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the Earl's mansion. Wan'er was unaware that the Northern Expeditionary Army's food supplies had been destroyed. Seeing her father-in-law and sister-in-law return, she was very happy and busied herself preparing to add more dishes for lunch.
But a short while later, Mr. Wen also returned.
When the food was served, Li Laosan and Jia Huan stepped through the door one after the other.
Even a fool would realize something was wrong at this point.
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