“That’s natural. My mother-in-law originally thought that I just needed to manage the inner courtyard. I just couldn’t stand dealing with all those trivial matters in the inner courtyard all day long. Now, I’ve assigned the affairs of the inner courtyard to several older nannies. I’ve made it clear to them that each person is responsible for their own area. Whoever makes a mistake will be held accountable. I don’t care how they manage their subordinates. At the end of the year, I’ll organize a special inspection of their work throughout the year. Whoever does well will be rewarded, and heavily. Whoever doesn’t do well will step down and let someone more capable take over. And believe it or not, our inner courtyard didn’t have a single mistake last year. My mother-in-law even said I’m capable.” Xu Yao said happily to her uncle and sister.
The three were chatting happily when someone from the backyard came over.
Xu Zhi looked at Xu Di with a worried expression. Xu Di smiled reassuringly at Xu Zhi and said, "We've found out everything. Their plan was flawless. It's just a pity they didn't anticipate that the flood was too big this time. The reinforcements that came later didn't arrive in time. It's also because Chu Huaigui is really cunning. He's still pretending to be fine to deceive us."
Xu Yao quickly tugged at Xu Di's sleeve and said, "Big brother, please tell us what happened."
Xu Zhi poured him a bowl of tea. Zheng Boyuan went outside and took boiling water from the stove to fill the teapot again. The aroma of tea filled the small study. Xu Zhi felt a warm feeling on her body, probably because Xu Di came over to say that everything was alright.
Xu Di drank a bowl of hot tea, sat opposite Wu Muyue, and then slowly began to talk about what had happened.
The old woman was now completely weak and felt like she was dying. Because she had been poisoned with the muscle-softening powder, she didn't even have the strength to commit suicide. All she wanted now was a quick death. Most importantly, she knew Xu Di and knew his methods. When she saw Xu Di secretly come to Miaozhou from Dengzhou, she immediately knew that the situation was hopeless, so she simply explained everything.
The story begins with Zheng Boyuan and Xu Zhi leaving the capital. The Third Prince couldn't swallow his anger and ordered his men to kill Zheng Boyuan and Xu Zhi. However, Xu Zhi was always accompanied by Jia San and a few others. Those men had fought with Jia San before and knew that he was a master from the palace, so they failed to kill him on the way.
Later, they changed the location of the operation to Miaozhou. However, Chu Huaigui was always cautious and did not want to give anyone a handle to use against him, so he thought of finding an opportunity to get rid of the person silently.
Every year, the Miao River floods. This time, Chu Huaigui's wife took the silver that Chu Huaigui had secretly amassed from Miao Prefecture and returned to the capital early. The people of the Third Prince who had followed him from the capital were settled by Chu Huaigui in a county town about a hundred miles away from Miao Prefecture.
Actually, the old nanny didn't expect to be exposed from the very beginning. She usually stayed by Madam Chu's side, helping her with some shady matters. When Madam Chu was about to return to the capital, the old nanny received orders to get rid of Xu Zhi and Zheng Boyuan, so she stayed behind to wait for orders. In fact, it was a good opportunity at first, but Chu Huaigui's concubines did not cooperate. Later, Jia San and his men took them by surprise and kidnapped them all.
According to the old woman, apart from her group, the others waiting for news in another location had not been contacted.
Those who sneaked over a few nights ago should be all the forces that Chu Huaigui could mobilize in Miaozhou.
Xu Zhi listened attentively, and then asked with some doubt, "That's not right, why hasn't Chu Huaigui made any moves?"
Xu Di laughed and said, "What can he do? He doesn't dare to move an inch right now. You may not know what's going on in Miaozhou City, but I know very well what's happening on my way here. It's incredibly difficult to leave Miaozhou City. You were lucky to send people there from the beginning. If you send someone there now, it won't be a matter of a day or two. It will probably take four or five days on the road, and we don't even know if they'll be able to get there smoothly."
"But this isn't normal. According to normal people's thinking, shouldn't we go all out in one go?" Xu Zhi still hadn't resolved her doubts.
Zheng Boyuan chimed in, "Then we have to look at Lord Chu's character. Chu Huaigui is a very shrewd man, and he is good at putting on a simple and honest appearance. He feels that he has already established a good image in front of us and has always believed that the assassination attempt a few nights ago was not his doing."
Xu Yao burst out laughing and said, "Why does this sound a lot like that guy who stole a bell while covering his ears?"
Zheng Boyuan laughed and said, "Indeed, this person is very greedy, but he is just too good at disguising it. Feng Shaoli next door has made a secret account of the silver and grain that the court has donated for disaster relief over the years. If we take the account book and compare it with the account of the Ministry of Revenue, we can find out how much he has embezzled."
Several people were talking, but Xu Di remained silent, instead holding the teacup in his hand, turning it back and forth. The dim candlelight shone through the thin porcelain, making the tea soup inside the teacup appear even more fragrant.
When Zheng Boyuan mentioned that Feng Shaoli had the account books, Xu Di suddenly looked up and asked, "Besides the two of you, who else knows about this?"
Zheng Boyuan thought for a moment and said, "No one should know anymore. When Feng Shaoli told me, he said that he did all these accounts secretly by himself, just to have a witness to prove that Chu Huaigui and Wan Jingchen embezzled the court's disaster relief funds. Besides, this matter is too dangerous. He still has a wife and children with him. How could he dare to let others know?"
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