Chapter 122 Entering the Mansion
"Prefect Zheng has suddenly fallen ill and has not yet appeared. Once he recovers, he will preside over the opening of the granaries..."
"...Everyone, please go back first. With this imperial envoy here, Pingliang will certainly not run out of food..."
With Zhou Qianxian's promises and reassurances, the gathered people gradually dispersed.
Xu Rong also returned to the inn.
Lin Xin's warning lingered in her mind, and she seemed to be deep in thought—it seemed that the situation here was more dangerous than she had imagined.
"Is Grandma worried about Prince Qing?" Bai Fu asked.
It's already afternoon, and the boy I sent out hasn't returned yet. I wonder what's going on with him.
"No," Xu Rong said, then paused for a moment and added, "Yes, it is."
Bai Fu was bewildered: "Huh?"
"There's a problem with the granaries here; they can't distribute the grain, and the prefect has either gone into hiding or fled," Xu Rong said succinctly.
Bai Fu was shocked: "Grandma, why do you say that? That imperial envoy just said—"
“I believe Vice Inspector Zhou is a capable official. If there were grain in the granaries, he should have ordered them opened long ago given the situation,” Xu Rong shook his head. “Why would the Prefect need to step in?”
Bai Fu was stunned: "Grandma is right... then why can't the Ever-Normal Granary distribute grain? Where did all the grain go?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she had asked a stupid question. Where else could they go but to line the pockets of corrupt officials?
Such things have happened many times in the past, are happening now, and will not disappear in the future.
“So the Pingliang prefect concealed the drought situation before.” Xu Rong had figured out the whole thing. “He didn’t just neglect his duties. He actually knew very well how to deal with it—if you report a disaster, you should provide disaster relief, you should check the local granaries, and you should provide grain. He knew all of this, but he couldn’t do it.”
All he could do was stall, hoping the drought wouldn't get too bad.
But fate didn't grant him any favors; what he feared most eventually came to pass.
The subsequent involvement of Yue Hanlin, Lin Xin, and the magistrate of Pingliang County further pushed the situation into an abyss completely out of his control.
In the end, since Prefect Zheng could not conjure up grain, he could only make himself disappear.
The whole story is clear, but it doesn't seem to be of much use.
Because Xu Rong couldn't immediately produce grain, while the needs of the entire city's residents were urgent.
If things go wrong, it could lead to civil unrest.
So Lin Xin told her to hurry up and leave.
Xu Rong hesitated, unsure whether she could protect herself amidst the tyrannical civil unrest, but she also felt unwilling to leave.
Thinking of Lin Xin's appearance just now, a disheveled state she had never seen before, even during their escape—
A commotion suddenly broke out in front of the inn.
Bai Fu was startled: "What's wrong?"
She hurried to the door to check, and Xu Rong's heart tightened. Could it be that the disaster victims had already started a riot?
Before she could finish her thought, Bai Fu slowly retreated—forced to do so.
Seven or eight tall, imposing men dressed in brightly colored clothes, clearly distinguishing them from ordinary people, swaggered into the inn. The leader, with a clear target in mind, immediately fixed his gaze on the mistress and her servants: "So it was you who dared to send people to spy on the Prince's mansion?"
Before Xu Rong could respond, he waved his hand arbitrarily, "Take them all back to our house and interrogate them thoroughly!"
Xu Rong: "..."
She didn't feel terrified for a moment; instead, she breathed a sigh of relief: she didn't have to make a choice.
She smiled slightly: "My lord, there is no need to be violent. The Prince's Palace has given the order, and we will obey it."
She walked steadily out, and Bai Fu subconsciously followed. The servants opposite her looked at each other in surprise. The leader was also stunned for a moment, and after the surprise, he snorted coldly and finally did not order anyone to take action.
After leaving the house, Bai Fu finally regained some of her senses from her terrified blank mind: "Grandma, are we just going to be taken away like this?"
Xu Rong hummed in agreement.
She knew Bai Fu was scared, so she gently patted her arm as they walked to comfort her: "You were bound to go through this, there was no way to avoid it."
The fact that both Baiquan and Xiaoliu's forces perished here one after another sends a clear signal: Pingliang, both inside and outside the city, is now under the surveillance of Prince Qing.
Therefore, she did not conceal her whereabouts when she entered the city. It was a pointless effort, so she decided to leave it at that.
**
The powerful servants of Prince Qing's mansion were so aggressive that they wouldn't allow Xu Rong and the others to ride in a carriage, and forced them to walk to Prince Qing's mansion.
Fortunately, Xu Rongrong was staying at the same inn as Xiao Liu. Since Xiao Liu had come for the Prince Qing's mansion, she wouldn't choose a place too far away, but she also wouldn't dare to stay too close.
It would take at least half an hour to walk there.
When they finally caught sight of that magnificent building complex, unique in Pingliang City, everyone felt their legs go weak.
But Xu Rong didn't care. Instead, he slowed down and glanced discreetly at the ragged people huddled under the red wall in front of him.
These people had been here for who knows how long, their faces covered in sweat and grime, yet few of them looked up to wipe it off, numb and lifeless like a group of statues.
Those people who can afford to rush to the grain stores to buy rice are actually considered to be well-off, at least they can afford it.
In the face of such a great disaster, the poorest people were quickly overwhelmed and unable to survive until the government provided relief.
Bai Fu was shocked. Forgetting that she was still being watched, she couldn't help but ask, "Grandma, what are they doing here? Why don't they go to the city gate to eat porridge?"
“That porridge can only keep people from starving today,” Xu Rong replied in a low voice. “But what about tomorrow? The day after? What if the supply stops? This season’s harvest has already withered in the ground. Where will the seeds and seedlings for the next season come from? Where will the money for doctors and medicine come from if someone gets sick…”
"So they're staying here—" Bai Fu realized, "are they looking for work?"
Xu Rong nodded slightly.
With the government failing in its duties, the poor could only rely on wealthy families. Who was the wealthiest family in Pingliang City?
Prince Qing's Mansion.
Only the Prince Qing's Mansion.
Without any deliberate effort, natural disasters and man-made calamities have automatically propelled it to a critical position.
Whispering, Xu Rong entered this important, and potentially deadly, mansion.
They ran into a group of people.
The woman at the head of the group, surrounded by others, appeared to be in her early twenties. Her hair was piled high in a bun, and a golden crown on her head shone brightly in the sunlight. Her gaze swept over them from under the embroidered parasol.
"Oh dear, Your Highness, this old servant greets you. Why are you standing outside in this scorching sun?"
The once arrogant servants all shrank back, and the leader seemed to have lost all his strength, stumbling and running forward to meet them.
Xu Rong stopped in his tracks—Princess?
She had inquired before coming that Prince Qing, under official authority, had two sons and one daughter, one of whom was the daughter of his principal wife, with the title of Shu'an.
Judging from the imposing presence of the woman under the umbrella, she is clearly Princess Shu'an.
Princess Shu'an ignored the servants and fixed her gaze on Xu Rong, saying indifferently, "Alright, that's all for you. Go down."
The head servant was taken aback: "Princess—"
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Princess Shu'an asked without looking at me, her tone slightly raised.
"...Yes, this old servant obeys."
Princess Shu'an clearly held a high position in the mansion. Although the servants were acting on the king's orders, they dared not contradict her to her face. After bowing, they dejectedly led the others in another direction.
Xu Rong guessed that he had probably gone to report to Prince Qing.
As for her, she had only been in the manor for a short time when she inexplicably fell into the hands of this noble and unfamiliar princess.
"Please," said a nanny behind Princess Shu'an.
After wandering through corridors and halls for an unknown amount of time, Xu Rong was "invited" to a spacious room.
Inside, there were ice chests, fans, and soup, making it seem like a completely different world from the high walls behind the overlapping vermilion gates.
Bai Fu and the others were not allowed to enter. Xu Rong stood alone in the hall, her head slightly lowered, her gaze focused, pondering Princess Shu'an's intention in intercepting her.
She could feel Princess Shuan's gaze sweeping over her again, but this time it was quick, and she heard a voice from the head of the table say, "Sit down."
Xu Rong bowed in thanks and then sat down in the first chair at the bottom.
She was tired and hot after walking so far, so she needed to rest.
Princess Shu'an didn't say anything more for a moment. She drank two sips of the plum juice served by the maid, handed back the small bowl, and then asked leisurely, "You don't seem surprised that I invited you here?"
Xu Rong smiled and bowed slightly: "I dare not, I am asking the princess for clarification."
"You're quite bold, knowing that Father is targeting you, yet you still dare to run straight into the tiger's mouth without dodging or avoiding it." Princess Shu'an raised the corners of her mouth, a half-smile on her face.
"Your Highness is too kind," Xu Rong said with a smile. "The world belongs to the imperial court, and the prince belongs to the imperial court. I am merely walking on the prince's fiefdom. How could I possibly be in the tiger's den?"
“Furthermore,” she continued, “with Your Highness’s insight, what can be hidden from Your Highness in Pingliang? Whether I hide it or not, what difference does it make? Why go to all this trouble and make a fool of myself?”
“As expected, you have a silver tongue.” Princess Shu’an nodded. “No wonder you were able to escape unscathed from the Marquis of Changxing’s residence. Even with the power of the Xiao couple, they couldn’t make things difficult for you.”
Xu Rong's heart stirred slightly, and she understood why she had been pulled over. She did not show it on her face, but still smiled and said, "Some misunderstandings from the past are over. I'm sorry that the princess made such a fuss."
Princess Shu'an stroked a gold-inlaid gourd ring on her finger for a while, then said meaningfully, "To talk about misunderstandings, there seem to be too many. It's one thing for the Xiao family to recognize an outsider as your husband, but I heard that they've recognized a second one. This is happening one after another... The Xiao family is a prestigious noble family, yet their threshold is too easy to cross."
Xu Rong understood completely.
really.
There is no love or hate without a cause. Princess Shu'an did not appear out of thin air. Her true intentions were not with her, but with the Xiao family—or more accurately, Xiao Shan.
The reason why a princess would pay attention to a secluded girl who rarely leaves her house, thousands of miles away, is obvious.
To be honest, Xu Rong's first feeling was one of helplessness.
The situation outside the mansion is already extremely critical, yet Princess Shu'an still wants to confront her about this old domestic feud.
But who can say this isn't an opportunity?
She was a little worried because she didn't have enough chips in her hand. After all, she was not only going to face a prince, but she also wanted to snatch some food from the prince's mouth.
Xu Rong maintained his smile, adopting an expression that suggested he was not in a position to comment on other people's affairs: "Perhaps, each family has its own difficulties."
Princess Shu'an frowned, showing her impatience with this roundabout conversation. As a woman of her status, she didn't have many people to worry about, so she was too lazy to go through any more trouble. She raised her eyes and asked directly, "What are the characteristics and temperaments of that mother and daughter from the Xiao family like? Tell me about them."
They didn't even bother to hide it anymore; their words revealed complex emotions, a mixture of curiosity and disgust.
The old woman standing behind her couldn't help but whisper, "Princess—"
She shrank back under Princess Shu'an's glare.
“If the princess has asked, I dare not refuse to answer.” Xu Rong appeared calm and honest.
Princess Shu'an was somewhat satisfied with her sensibility, but then she heard her continue, "However, this humble woman is bold and also has a question that I would like to ask the Princess for guidance."
Princess Shu'an grew impatient: "What?"
"May I ask, Princess, where is Prefect Zheng?"
Princess Shu'an hadn't intended to answer Xu Rong. She held the home-field advantage and there was no need to exchange answers. However, this question came as if from an unexpected angle, catching Princess Shu'an completely off guard. Her first reaction was to change color: "...How should I know!"
She knew.
Xu Rong got the answer.
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