Chapter 94 Impersonating His Prestige
The Prince of Yue's Palace.
"Your Highness, Marquis Cheng'an requests an audience."
"Marquis Cheng'an?"
King Yunchen of Yue placed the letter in front of the candle and lit it. After watching it burn to ashes, he raised his hand to signal for people to come in.
Mei Chengxu was surprised to find that the King of Yue received him in his study.
Upon entering, one can smell a faint, lingering scent of burning paper.
He glanced at the table casually and noticed that there were ashes resembling burnt paper in the tea stove on the table.
"Your Highness, I apologize for my intrusion, but this matter is of utmost importance!"
"You flatter me, my lord. May I ask what brings you here to see me?"
Yun Chen intended to recruit Mei Chengxu, so he treated him with a degree of respect and deference.
"Your Highness must have heard about the plague in Jiangnan."
Mei Chengxu brought up the matter directly, and Yun Chen nodded calmly.
"Of course I've heard about it, but His Majesty has already made a decision on this matter. I heard that Ding Yan from the Cabinet has already set off for Jiangnan."
"The magistrate of Yangguan County is an old acquaintance of mine. He found a pharmacy through a friend..."
They initially planned to use medicinal herbs to treat the plague, but the other party claimed to have the backing of the Fifth Prince.
He wouldn't give them medicine unless they paid, saying that even if the imperial court issued a decree, it wouldn't break his rules.
Magistrate Yang was also afraid. What if this matter had nothing to do with the prince? What if the report reached His Majesty?
Wouldn't that accuse the prince of disregarding human life and embezzling money in private?
Therefore, Magistrate Yang asked me to privately confirm whether it was just these thieves impersonating the prince.
"Your Majesty, I will certainly resolve this trouble for you, so that Magistrate Yang can obtain the medicinal herbs as soon as possible."
As Mei Chengxu spoke, he carefully observed Yun Chen's changing expressions.
A flash of murderous intent appeared in Yun Chen's eyes, followed by an angry expression on his face.
He slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Outrageous! Absolutely not! How dare these people use my name to commit such a heinous act of disregarding human life!"
"That's what I said too. How could the King of Yue commit such a corrupt and illegal act? This man is so audacious!"
"I will go to the palace immediately and beg Your Majesty to allow me to lead troops to arrest him and distribute the medicine to the affected areas as soon as possible!"
Mei Chengxu sneered inwardly, not giving Yun Chen a chance to back out.
He immediately stood up with a sense of righteous indignation and walked out.
Yun Chen felt a lump in his throat, wanting to call out to stop the person, but he held back.
Only after Mei Chengxu had gone far away did Yun Chen shout and call his men in.
"Go quickly and send a message to have someone get rid of Lao Ba, and find someone else to replace him. Just say that the old manager has suddenly fallen seriously ill."
The newly appointed manager is willing to cooperate with the magistrate of Yangguan County to offer the medicinal herbs to the imperial court at cost price.
If Marquis Cheng'an leads his troops there, everyone must obey his orders and insist that it was the old shopkeeper who implicated the Fifth Prince.
Their employer was the Qian family, wealthy merchants from Yangling Prefecture. Upon learning of this, the Qian family specifically sent him to take over the business!
"Your Highness, this is the cost price... this means we'll lose money!"
His men were shocked.
They support these pharmacies, not just for selling medicine!
The money was given to the imperial court at cost price, and by the time it reached the princes' residences, very little was left!
"Are you trying to give the Emperor some leverage over me so he can punish me? If they investigate further..."
"You think they can't trace it back to me? The Emperor is currently struggling to find a reason to take over my uncle's military power; we absolutely cannot let him find even the slightest opening!"
Yun Chen knew very well that his third brother, Yun Xuan, had always had the world in his heart and would never be corrupt or break the law.
He vaguely sensed that the emperor had forced the affairs of Jiangnan onto his third brother in order to eliminate his own brothers.
His maternal grandfather's family commands an army of 60,000, and he might be the next brother to be purged.
At this critical moment, he absolutely cannot allow anyone to find any fault with him!
As Marquis Cheng'an left the imperial city with the imperial edict, Yun Chen's letter had already been sent out by carrier pigeon.
Outside Yangling Prefecture.
Yang Jingyan personally led a group of people here, but they didn't even get a glimpse of the medicinal herbs.
"My lord, these merchants are utterly lawless. So what if they have the Fifth Prince's backing? The imperial decree will surely come through."
Even if we forcibly take it now, does the Fifth Prince think he'd send someone to openly stop us?
The officers under his command said through gritted teeth.
The journey from Yangguan County to Yangling Prefecture takes only half a day. The medicine can be directly dispatched from here and rushed back overnight so that the people can use it tomorrow.
But this merchant has already wasted their entire day!
"Shut up! If the King of Yue wants to kill our lord, he has plenty of ways to do it. Don't make things worse here!"
Another officer rebuked him angrily.
Yang Jingyan paced back and forth, his mouth blistered with anxiety.
He suddenly stopped, a resolute expression on his face.
“Since he refuses to give it, we will force it. I believe the court will not refuse to issue this decree. Even if I am punished, I will have a clear conscience!”
"My lord, this is too dangerous. Perhaps if we wait a little longer, news will come from the capital!"
"Wait? Wait until how long? Do you know how many people will die if we miss out on medicine for even one day?"
Yang Jingyan immediately gave the order.
"Everyone, follow me!"
He led the officials out of the post station and headed straight for the merchant's warehouse.
Old Eight was counting silver notes in the warehouse, his face crinkling with smiles.
These were all deposits from wealthy merchants in the area who bought the medicinal herbs at high prices after learning about the plague remedy!
"Eighth Master, Magistrate Yang is here again!"
Old Eight chuckled and stuffed the silver note into his pocket.
Before he could speak, another person strode in.
"Eighth Master, they've picked up their weapons; it looks like they're planning to use force!"
"Trying to use force? I've never been afraid! Brothers, grab your weapons! Even the prefect wouldn't dare utter a word to me!"
"A mere county magistrate dares to talk back to me! Today I'll show him what a real villain is!"
Lao Ba grabbed his machete and went outside, where he ran into Yang Jingyan.
"What is Lord Yang doing? Is he planning to force us common people?"
"Chen Ba, this is the last time I'll say it. The imperial order will definitely come down. Here's a deposit of one hundred taels for this batch of medicinal herbs."
"I've made up my mind. If you remain obstinate, I will report this to the imperial court, and even the King of Yue won't be able to protect you!"
Yang Jingyan took out the one hundred taels he had managed to scrape together and made one last negotiation with Chen Ba.
"Hahaha, Lord Yang, why don't you look around before you speak!"
Chen Ba laughed arrogantly and even brandished the machete in his hand.
Yang Jingyan then discovered that dozens of burly men had emerged from outside the warehouse fence!
"Protect the adults!"
The officials were terrified and quickly drew their swords, surrounding Yang Jingyan.
Yang Jingyan was a civil official; he had never seen such a scene before.
He forcibly suppressed his panic and shouted angrily, "Chen Ba, do you dare to plot against an official of the imperial court?!"
"Hahaha, Lord Yang, I'm not plotting against a high-ranking official; it's clearly bandits trying to steal medicinal herbs!"
We protected the medicinal herbs alongside Lord Yang, but unfortunately, Lord Yang was killed by bandits, and we were powerless to capture them alive!
These people were clearly prepared to ensure that there would be no way to prove anything!
Yang Jingyan never expected that these people would be so audacious.
The dozen or so men he led were no match for these ruthless bandits!
Just when Yang Jingyan thought he was doomed to die this time.
From the haystack not far away, a rustling sound could be heard!
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