The result was not much different from what Wan Fugui knew.
It's still almost half as good.
An Piao'er burned the two pieces of paper in the fire pit. Looking at the firelight, An Piao'er's eyes shone with excitement: "An Yuan'er, you're halfway there. Let's see how you beat me now?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"You can't win."
"I'm determined to get control of this household. Once I'm in charge, I'll teach you a lesson. I'll settle my scores and avenge my wrongs. Just you wait!"
The maidservant, watching her mistress's delirious and frantic expression, felt somewhat frightened.
For years, the young lady suppressed her emotions, trying to please her grandmother, repair her relationship with her mother, and win over various young ladies. Her days were filled with lessons in etiquette, accounting, calligraphy, and so on, leaving her with almost no time to rest. These years, An Piao'er has lived a very tiring life.
She worked so hard because she had only one thought in mind: to finally triumph and defeat An Yuan'er.
Now that victory is within reach, it's no wonder the young lady is acting this way...
The maid secretly prayed that everything would go smoothly for her mistress and that nothing else would go wrong.
*
In the summer of the fifteenth year of Tiansheng, a large-scale locust plague suddenly broke out on the southeastern border. The year was already dry, and the people were having a hard time getting a harvest. But after the locust plague broke out, locusts the size of half a fist ravaged the fields and almost ate all the crops. The people suffered terribly.
This isn't even the worst part...
What's serious is that Prefect Fang, who is quite powerful in the southeast, not only failed to report to the court and apply for disaster relief immediately after such a major incident, but also lied about the situation in order to advance his career. Every month, he submitted the same report.
The people of the southeast are prosperous and the harvests are plentiful. It is a blessed land, so Your Majesty can rest assured.
The reality is that the people in the southeast have run out of food, yet they still have to pay heavy taxes, leaving their families destitute.
At the prefect's mansion, there was still plenty of meat and fish, and beautiful women singing and dancing, while ordinary people had long since run out of food.
Countless elderly people and children starved to death... To fill their stomachs, the people began digging up tree roots and grass. Without grain or meat, everyone's faces were sallow and they had lost a lot of weight.
Worse still, due to Prefect Fang's delay in reporting the situation, the worst-hit area, Toyama Prefecture, had even had its tree roots and grass dug up.
The survivors ate grass and tree roots as they climbed the mountain paths and crossed waterways... The journey was arduous, and countless people died along the way.
Until—
Large waves of refugees began to pour into Shengjing. You could see refugees begging on the streets everywhere, just to get a bite to eat.
Under the emperor's nose, in government offices, countless refugees kneel every day.
The people made their final appeals and pleas for help, hoping to punish corrupt officials and provide relief to refugees. This matter could no longer be suppressed.
When the Prince of Tiansheng learned of this, he was furious and dismissed dozens of officials in succession.
The first to suffer were the Southeastern clan.
The Emperor ordered that Prefect Fang be escorted to the capital immediately to await further orders.
These past few days, the ministers have been living in fear and trembling. The emperor's anger has not yet subsided, the grain disaster is raging, and there are too many disaster victims to provide relief. For a time, the court was in complete chaos.
Several days later, Prefect Fang was finally escorted to the capital.
Only then did the corrupt official realize the dire straits he was in. He cried and wailed in court, repeatedly pleading, "Your Majesty, I am guilty! Please have mercy! Please have mercy!"
No one in the court dared to plead for him.
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