Chapter 187 People's Livelihood
"Humph." The emperor sneered again, "Yes, I have handed the truth to her. As long as I announce it to the world, it will be a slap in my face and revenge for her grandmother."
Nothing could be more convincing than the Fourth Prince's wife telling the truth that Fourth Prince Xiao Yuan was not the heir to the throne, but she... actually lost control.
The emperor planned everything, but in the end something unexpected happened to Shen Anan.
"If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen that idiot from the Duan family!"
It was in vain that he had spent so much effort to plot against the Shen family. Unexpectedly, the death of Old Madam Shen did not completely make her lose her mind.
"My good son is really charming. He bewitched the Shen family girl so much that she even forgot about revenge. I gave her a chance, but she didn't want it. It's not my fault."
"Where's Ye'er? Any news?"
"This old servant has already sent someone to pick up the fifth prince."
The emperor nodded and said, "Let those people act quickly. If Ye Er loses even a hair, I will kill them."
——
At the same time, Xiao Yuan also received a letter from Li Huaiyan. His hand holding the letter was white-knuckle and his whole body was shrouded in darkness.
"What did the letter say?" Ling Chenyi had just asked when he saw Xiao Yuan suddenly stand up and rush out.
"Where are you going?" he asked, grabbing his arm.
"Tianshui City."
Ling Chenyi took the letter and scanned it quickly, then hurried to stop Xiao Yuan, "No, if you leave now, you will die."
"Get out of the way." Xiao Yuan's eyes were bloodshot.
He didn't dare to imagine what it was like for her to face those conspiracies alone, kill people with her own hands, and massacre more than a hundred people.
Ling Chenyi cursed in his heart and blocked the door, "If you leave, everything Shen Anan has done will be in vain."
"She cares not only about you, but also the Shen family and the Lin family. You can just leave, but what about the Shen family and the Lin family? Won't she be angry and blame you?"
Xiao Yuan stood there with bloodshot eyes and clenched fists tightly.
"Even for everything she cares about, you shouldn't leave now, but negotiate with the emperor. Killing an official of the court is not a minor crime. If the emperor insists on investigating, how will you protect her?"
Xiao Yuan slowly calmed down and closed his eyes deeply.
[“You have to stay in the capital, then I will be safe!”]
Her clear voice rang in his ears, and Xiao Yuan turned around and sat down at his desk again.
Ling Chenyi didn't say anything for a while, giving him enough time to calm down.
A quarter of an hour later, Ling Chenyi spoke again.
"My cousin's wife's method is simple and crude. It is the best way to deal with this matter. However, if the emperor is determined to bring you down, he will not only use this method. What we should think about now is what to do next."
"Tomorrow morning, we will act according to the situation. As for the fifth prince mentioned by Li Huaiyan in the letter, you should send people to keep a close eye on the palace. He will definitely make a move. If you can find him first, kill him directly."
Xiao Yuan's tone has returned to calm.
"Kill him directly?" Ling Chenyi frowned. "Then the hatred with the emperor will be sealed. It will be a fight to the death. Have you really thought it through?"
"Ever since he designed An An to deal with me, we, father and son, have been at war until death."
Half of his face was hidden in the darkness, contrasting with the night outside.
After Ling Chenyi left, he held the letter and read it for a long time.
I wonder what she was thinking when she ordered the massacre. Was she afraid? Was she soft-hearted?
It must have been extremely painful and difficult for her when she cut Cao Pei's neck, because on one side was him, and on the other was her beloved grandmother.
But in the end, she chose him. Doesn't it mean that she loves him, and all those days and nights of entanglement were not in vain?
"An An, wait for me. I will clear the thorns on your road and take you home."
——Tianshui City, Shen Mansion.
All the officials and soldiers were massacred by the bandits. Shen Anan took out Xiao Yuan's token and temporarily took over Tianshui City. Some of the Qi family soldiers were also left behind to guard the city.
After the massacre that night, Shin Yunbai suddenly disappeared in prison. No one knew where he went, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
Qingfeng inquired for a long time but received no news.
"Do you think he could be the emperor's illegitimate son?" Li Huaiyan guessed, touching his chin.
Shen Anan, "The age doesn't match. If he is an illegitimate child, he should be younger than Xiao Yuan."
"That's the emperor's pawn. I guess he ran away because he saw that his accomplices were all dead."
Shen Anan didn't say anything and asked, "Where is Chen Tian? Where is he?"
"It's locked in the woodshed."
Today they still live in the Shen family's house.
"Have you confessed?"
Li Huaiyan shook his head. "Qingfeng tortured him. He insisted that he was Chen Tian and didn't know anything else."
At this moment, Qingfeng walked in quickly, "Princess, there is a letter from the master."
Shen Anan was stunned for a moment, turned her head slightly and did not take it. Finally, Li Huaiyan reached out and took the letter and opened it.
"Yesterday morning, the emperor was furious about the incident in Tianshui City. He sent new officials and envoys to investigate the case and asked us to return to the capital as soon as possible."
"There is one page left, I'll give it to you, I won't read it." Li Huaiyan handed the letter to Shen Anan.
She hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it, but without looking at it, she folded it and put it in her sleeve.
"The emperor is so anxious to let us go back, he must be waiting to convict me."
When new officials took over, evidence of crimes and testimony were still fabricated at will.
It can't be said to be a forgery, after all, she did kill the person.
"But we can't stay away forever. The officials sent by the emperor should arrive in half a month."
"Let's wait a little longer until the situation in the capital stabilizes. If we go back now, it will only add to his burden."
The massacre at the government office plunged the entire city into silence again. Even in broad daylight, there were very few people walking on the streets, and all businesses were closed.
People's livelihood was once in panic. This situation lasted for three or five days, and then chaos gradually arose. Some people began to burn, kill and loot because they did not have enough food.
The ones who suffer the most are naturally orphans and widows.
Shen Anan wanders around the streets every day, and whenever she finds such a situation happening, she suppresses it severely at the first opportunity, and only then can she suppress it a little.
"Give it back to me, I will kowtow to you, please, this is the only thing my family has left to eat, and I have a one-year-old child to raise, please give it back to me."
"Get out of here, you old bitch." The big man kicked the old woman to the ground viciously and walked away with the steamed bun she had just bought.
Without Shen Anan saying anything, Qingfeng rushed forward, grabbed the man's shoulders and pushed him back.
"Take him to jail."
Shen Anan said in a cold voice, if such a person is not punished, he will not learn his lesson.
The big man's face was pale and he didn't struggle.
"Your steamed bun." Mo Xiang returned the bun to the old woman and added a small ingot of silver. "Go home quickly. Your child is still waiting for you."
"Thank you, thank you, you are living Bodhisattvas, thank you."
She kowtowed several times and then ran into the alley with the steamed bun in her arms.
Li Huaiyan frowned, "It's not a solution to keep going like this. We must convince the local people to continue working and restore the economy."
When there is no money and food, it will be a true survival of the fittest, and even the most peaceful and prosperous times will eventually fall into complete chaos.
Shen Anan scanned the closed shops one by one, "Tomorrow you will issue an order to let them open for business. If they don't comply, you will have to double the tax next year."
Li Huaiyan nodded in agreement.
At this moment, a shrill howl suddenly came from the end of the alley.
The few of them looked at each other and immediately walked towards the alley. At the corner of the long narrow road, they found a dead body.
She fell in a pool of blood, and the bright red blood dyed the steamed bun that had rolled to the ground deep red. The small ingot of silver was still tightly held in the woman's hand.
Qingfeng went up and touched her neck, then shook his head at Shen Anan, “Dead.”
From the despair of having his last bit of food snatched away by someone, to being rescued by Shen Anan, his eyes, full of hope, were now wide open, but there was no life in them.
"The buns and silver are still there. The other party is not after the things."
Shen Anan's eyes were fixed on the old woman's neck, which was cut open by a sharp blade. "Such a sharp killing method is obviously a habitual killer."
Without waiting for orders, Qingfeng led his men to chase after them.
"Both County Magistrate Cao and County Magistrate Li are dead. Who else is committing evil in the city? Could it be those bandits?"
But now that the Qi family army is guarding there, they should be wary.
"The person who came here is trying to intimidate and threaten me." Shen Anan stared at the old woman's body and said coldly.
After Gu Chen's death, the bandits stopped making any moves, so Shen Anan had no time to deal with them for the time being.
"The leaders and the officials who supported them are all dead. If they were smart, they should have retreated to the mountains. Why did they do such evil things? Are they not satisfied because we threw dirty water on them?"
“Before the officials sent by the emperor to take over arrive, make sure to get rid of those bandits first.” Shen Anan said coldly.
She should leave the emperor with no evidence to prove her wrongdoing.
She moved her gaze and landed on the woman on the ground. "You are bullying the weak and only dare to attack a powerless woman. You deserve to die!!"
At the same time, dozens of fast horses were approaching Tianshui City at a very fast speed. The further they went, the uglier the face of the leading man in black became.
"Damn it, why is there still no news about the Fifth Prince?"
"Boss, do you think the Fifth Prince might have died in that massacre?"
"Impossible," the leader frowned, "Our people have searched again and again and confirmed that the Fifth Prince is not among them."
"Then why is there no one here? According to the plan, he should have escaped and headed towards the capital, unless... he ran into trouble."
The man in black narrowed his eyes slightly, "Could it be... still in Tianshui City?"
"We must find the Fifth Prince, otherwise we won't have to go back."
"But... the situation in Tianshui City is unclear now, so it may not be easy to sneak in..."
"The emperor has ordered that the fifth prince must be protected at all costs when necessary." The man in black said in a cold voice.
The group only stopped for a short while before heading towards Tianshui City again.
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