...
Sunrise.
At this moment, Su Yunying was absorbing the essence of the dragon, and Ding Bu'er saw with his own eyes that a phantom of a Xuanhuang was floating behind her, constantly flapping its wings that were burning with flames.
If Shen Zhao hadn't set up an isolation barrier around the dense forest beforehand, this commotion would have inevitably attracted the covetous eyes of countless forces.
With the awakening of the Xuanhuang bloodline, she is destined to be a prodigy among prodigies. No sect would miss this incredible opportunity and take in such a girl with top-grade spiritual veins.
However, opportunities are accompanied by dangers, and some evil cultivators who are enemies of the righteous path will not let go of the chance to eliminate such future variables.
"Phew~"
After a long while, Su Yunying exhaled a breath of stale air.
Ding Bu'er hurriedly called out, "Oh, Grandma, you've finally come to your senses! How are you feeling?"
Su Yunying sensed the changes in her body and smiled faintly: "It's not fully refined yet, but I've now transformed from the third grade of the Nascent Soul Realm to the fourth grade of the Soul Sea Realm. Give me two more days to completely refine the Dragon Essence, and I can at least advance one or two more minor realms."
"Oh, that's great! All my hard work tonight wasn't for nothing."
Upon hearing this, Ding Bu'er immediately collapsed to the ground.
"Now that Master Chen has spoken, I can at least give an explanation. Otherwise, who knows how he might torture me?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yunying realized that Shen Zhao was not beside her: "By the way, where is Elder Shen?"
"He went out to discuss business, he should be back soon."
"Hmm? Business?"
Just as Su Yunying was wondering what was going on, she saw Shen Zhao stroll into the dense forest.
"Boss!"
How are you feeling?
"Yes, you've reached the fourth rank of the Soul Sea realm."
"Only a fourth-rank official?"
"There's still a small portion that hasn't been refined. Once fully refined, it should reach at least the fifth rank."
"Okay, let's find a place to take a shower first, you stink."
Su Yunying then realized that her body was covered in filth, all impurities excreted from the conversion of dragon essence into spiritual energy, and the stench was unbearable.
"It's so dirty, where can I go to change?"
"There's a small town ahead, let's just find an inn to tide us over."
"Okay!"
With a smile on her face, Su Yunying, like a demure young lady, walked lightly toward the town with her hands behind her back.
Looking at Su Yunying's silhouette bathed in sunlight, Shen Zhao couldn't help but sigh softly and shake his head.
Ding Bu'er suddenly asked, "Master Chen, what are we still doing here? When are we leaving?"
Shen Zhao: "I still have some trivial matters to take care of."
"What's up?"
"To clean house for the Guhe Sect?"
"What?"
Ding Bu'er was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
"Uncle Chen, can you please stop this? My old bones just can't take it anymore!"
...
Meanwhile, Yu Xiyan, worried about the affairs of the country, flew back to the capital on her sword for two consecutive days.
However, as she traveled, looking down at her homeland from mid-air, all she could see were starving refugees, surging towards the capital like a tide.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, Yu Xiyan convened a court meeting as soon as she returned to the capital.
"Your Majesty, the seven southern prefectures of Luzhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yunzhou, Shenzhou, Jiaozhou, and Yanzhou have suffered from severe flooding, which has breached dikes, destroyed countless farmlands, and caused disasters affecting tens of millions of people. Your Majesty is begging you to go there immediately to provide disaster relief!"
"Your Majesty, the famine victims from the south have turned into refugees and are heading towards Chang'an. If they are not restrained and managed, they will surely flood into the capital."
"Your Majesty, a million refugees have arrived outside Yunxia Pass awaiting aid. There are constant frictions between the generals guarding the pass and the refugees. Robberies and murders have occurred in nearby villages and cities. We hope Your Majesty will decide on a course of action."
This once-in-a-century natural disaster dealt a heavy blow to the Yintian Dynasty and also tested whether Yu Xiyan was a qualified emperor.
After listening to the reports from the officials, Yu Xiyan turned her head and asked, "Have the officials in the various prefectures and counties along the way opened their granaries to distribute grain?"
Minister of Revenue Yang Gongyan said, "Your Majesty, officials from various prefectures and counties have sent urgent reports saying that the granaries are running low on grain, and that displaced people are storming government offices. The situation is about to get out of control."
"What!"
Yu Xiyan said angrily.
"Last month, I thoroughly investigated the grain reserves in all counties and prefectures. Didn't I say that all granaries were full, enough to supply the people of all regions for more than a year? Why are you now saying that the grain reserves are insufficient! Are you deceiving the emperor?!"
Yang Gongyan hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the officials who participated in the thorough investigation of grain storage in various prefectures and counties were not from the Ministry of Revenue."
"Minister Yang! How dare you! You are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, yet you delegate this crucial duty to an outside official?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I know this is against etiquette, but I have no other choice."
What do you mean by that?
Yang Gongyan glanced at Pang Yi not far away, and mustered his courage to reply: "Your Majesty, it was Grand Tutor Pang who detained the Ministry of Revenue officials who were supposed to thoroughly investigate the grain reserves, and replaced them with officials from the Ministry of Personnel."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiyan immediately asked in a deep voice, "Grand Tutor Pang, is this true?"
Pang Yi slowly walked to the center of the hall, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, it was indeed this old minister who replaced the officials of the Ministry of Revenue."
Yu Xiyan: "Grand Tutor Pang, do you know what the punishment is for overstepping your authority?"
Pang Yi replied unhurriedly, "This old minister is naturally aware of this, but Your Majesty previously promoted Yang Gongyan to Minister of Revenue without regard to precedent, and the entire Ministry of Revenue was replaced."
This old minister believes that a thorough investigation into the grain reserves is of paramount importance, which is why I decided to accept this post. Everything I have done is for the sake of the nation.
"What a fine 'thinking of the country,' Grand Tutor Pang! Tell me, why is it that your memorials stated that the granaries in all counties and prefectures had sufficient grain reserves, but now they are in short supply?"
"Your Majesty, the officials I sent would certainly not deceive you in the slightest. However, Your Majesty is unaware that just half a month ago, I received a secret report that the granaries in various counties had mysteriously caught fire, resulting in insufficient grain reserves."
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