Chapter 60 An unexpected discovery
The imperial palace in Beijing.
Emperor Yongde had just retired from the morning court and came to the imperial study.
At this moment, his face was terribly gloomy, he was suppressing his rage, his eyes were red, and he wanted to eat Liu Yi, the governor of Liangzhou, who was kneeling on the ground.
Liu Yi was kneeling on the ground, with sweat dripping from his forehead onto the shiny floor. He held his breath and dared not breathe, for fear that the emperor would issue an edict and his head would be moved.
He was not that stupid. If he had listened to Wu Mingzi and really sent a letter to His Majesty, he would probably have been beheaded without even seeing His Majesty.
After much consideration, he decided to personally take the blame.
His reliance was on the fact that Emperor Yongde had sent Wu Mingzi to handle the matter, and Wu Mingzi had given him the order. If it was considered disobeying the emperor's order, he would at most be considered an accomplice.
But seeing how furious His Majesty is, I feel like my death is imminent.
His current situation was even more precarious than Wu Mingzi's. Wu Mingzi had only an old mother and few relatives; if he died, he died. The lives of the entire Liu family depended on him. There were over a hundred people in the palace alone. He trembled at the thought of Emperor Yongde executing his entire family on trumped-up charges.
"Where is Wu Mingzi?" Emperor Yongde finally spoke, but his voice was so cold that it made people's hair stand on end.
Governor Liu Yi dared not hide anything, so he confessed everything, even describing in detail how Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi flew away on a strange ball.
"Commander Wu said he would go and capture the deposed crown prince himself. I have received information that he is currently searching at the border between Shengzhou and Liangzhou."
Emperor Yongde sat at the desk, leaning back in his chair, squinting at Prefect Liu.
He seemed to be thinking about whether to chop this man to death.
Being stared at by the emperor, Liu Yi was so frightened that his face turned pale, his lips trembled, and he gritted his teeth, not daring to make any sound.
Time passed bit by bit, and the imperial study was eerily quiet. Prefect Liu was waiting for the emperor's final judgment on his fate.
Emperor Yongde stood up and walked to the window to look out. The palace attendants who were waiting on him had already left.
Wu Mingzi is still away, whether he's genuinely searching for Xiao Zhuo or simply afraid to return due to fear of punishment. The fact remains that he hasn't returned. If Liu Yi were truly executed, Wu Mingzi would likely lose his loyalty to him upon learning of the situation.
What's more, there are still three days left before the deadline of fifteen days. The emperor's words are golden. How can he kill important officials before the deadline and give the court an excuse?
After a long pause, Emperor Yongde said, "Go away. Don't mention this matter again."
Liu Yi, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling with fear, finally felt relieved after hearing this, but he didn't dare to raise his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face.
"I thank the Emperor for sparing his life."
After saying this, he kowtowed several times, and even though his forehead was bruised, he didn't feel any pain at all.
Emperor Yongde did not look at him, and Prefect Liu did not dare to stay any longer. He stood up, knelt down and bowed, then walked tremblingly out of the imperial study.
After walking a long way, he finally dared to look back at the towering palace and hurried out of the palace.
"Your Majesty, it's time to eat."
The palace attendant whispered a reminder to Emperor Yongde, who was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.
The palace servants outside who were carrying meals did not dare to go in without hearing any instructions from inside.
The palace attendant saw that people were waiting outside, so he stepped forward to ask the emperor's opinion.
The emperor suddenly opened his sharp eyes, as if he had thought of something, and asked, "Where is the Prince of Qi now?"
The palace attendant, who had been keeping his head down, immediately replied respectfully, "The Prince of Qi has already left Liang Province and is currently on his way back to his fiefdom."
After saying this, he subconsciously stole a glance at the emperor, his eyelids twitched and he quickly retracted them.
The emperor's cannibalistic expression frightened the palace servants so much that they lowered their heads.
"Humph! The King of Qi's son is quite ambitious. It's good to be ambitious, haha..."
Emperor Yongde suddenly felt inexplicably comfortable.
If the King of Qi sent his son to Liangzhou to find Xiao Zhuo, but failed to accomplish his mission, he hurried back to his fiefdom and did not continue to firmly carry out his father's instructions. This shows that the father and son were not of one mind.
This is an unexpected discovery.
The Prince of Qi is called Xiao Beiheng, right? He has great ambitions.
"Haha, I want to have a meal." Emperor Yongde wiped away his gloomy expression.
…
In three days, the well in the Xiaogang Village Square was dug, and the village bricklayers also covered the well with bricks and tiles.
A group of women lined up with buckets to fetch water.
After Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo handed the garlic extract capsules to the owner of the drug store in the city, they returned to the village without much hesitation.
Now, when the villagers saw Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo, they couldn't suppress the enthusiasm on their faces. They all smiled and took the initiative to greet her: "Madam Pei, you're back."
Shen Yuexi not only dug a well for the village, but also collected their garlic. Their lives had improved, and at least they could go to the city to buy some food for emergencies.
Shen Yuexi faced the sunshine and greeted everyone with a smile. Her sweet voice was like the flowing water of a mountain spring, flowing into people's hearts.
Some of the older women laughed and said, "In all my years, I've never seen anyone as compatible as Master Pei and Madam Pei."
"That's right, I don't know how good-looking your future children will be."
After a round of teasing, Shen Yuexi's face flushed with shyness. Xiao Zhuo took a look at her with a cold expression, and stood in front of her to block the teasing gazes of the women.
Country women love to tease young newlyweds.
The next morning, when Shen Yuexi woke up, Xiao Zhuo had already left and Yang Cong was busy in the kitchen.
Now all the miscellaneous items in the house are taken care of by Yang Cong. She originally wanted to stop her, but Yang Cong mistakenly thought that she disliked her.
For Yang Cong, her life now is much better than before. In her opinion, these are all trivial matters, not to mention that her life was saved by Madam Pei and her husband.
"Madam Pei, you should get up. It's early this morning and someone from the village has come to deliver garlic. But I've already sent the money. When can we start making medicine?"
Yang Cong knew that he would be very busy these days, so he got up early in the morning and did everything he needed to do.
"And the well drilling machine was pulled over by the village head and others. They said they found another water hole and are ready to start digging." Yang Cong was talking to Shen Yuexi about the things in the village while eating a steamed bun.
Shen Yuexi looked around and didn't see Xiao Zhuo, so she asked, "Where's my husband?"
Why did he go out so early in the morning? She could always feel that Xiao Zhuo was very busy these days.
"Master Pei went to the mountain after breakfast this morning."
Before leaving, Master Pei also instructed not to wake Madam Pei.
After washing and combing her hair, Shen Yuexi walked to the table and sat down to eat. The food on the table was quite good: a plate of scrambled eggs with vegetables, two large steamed buns, and a bowl of porridge. All prepared by Yang Cong.
What made her happiest was that two chicks hatched from the eggs the villagers gave her due to the hot weather. She kept the chicks in a large basket and waited for them to grow up and lay eggs.
The eggs they lay will become chickens, which will lay eggs again, and the eggs will become chickens again... and the cycle will repeat. By then, every household in Xiaogang Village will be raising poultry, processing chicken, and selling fried chicken and fresh eggs. This is called diversification. It could even become a pillar industry.
She smiled as she drank her porridge, as if she could see silver flowing into her pocket.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com