Chapter 430: First Entering Qingzhou City
The midday sun was scorching, shining on every corner inside and outside Qingzhou City.
Qingzhou prefect Shi Yuanzhong was wearing a cotton coat and lying in a rocking chair under a plum tree in the courtyard to bask in the sun. The charcoal basin next to him made the surroundings warm.
A servant came hurriedly through the winding corridor.
"Sir, I received a letter via carrier pigeon."
Shi Yuanzhong lazily opened his eyelids, took the letter, opened it and took just two glances. His originally relaxed body suddenly tensed up, and his fat body straightened up from the rocking chair.
"...The imperial guard will arrive in Qingzhou in half a month?"
He thought for a moment, then ordered:
"Quick, invite Magistrate Miao and Master Shen to come and see me immediately."
The servant took the order and left. Shi Yuanzhong read the letter carefully twice and his expression gradually became solemn.
Finally, he slowly reached out and threw the letter into the charcoal basin beside him.
The flames greedily devoured the paper until the two words "Mu Zi" signed on it turned to ashes.
…
Half a month later.
The carriage made a creaking sound on the snow as it moved slowly forward.
Zhu Lan gently opened the curtains and looked out the window, "Master Li, can we reach Qingzhou today?"
Li Moxu, who was outside the carriage, replied:
"Yes, we will be there this afternoon."
Zhu Lan nodded and said, "Please ask Sir Li to bring two fast horses over."
Li Moxu ordered someone to bring the horses over. When he turned around, Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan were already wearing cloaks and standing outside the carriage waiting.
"What are you two doing?" Li Moxu was a little surprised.
The two men mounted their horses. Zhu Lan pulled the reins and leaned over to Li Moxu and said:
"Master Li, let's go ahead and check out the situation in Qingzhou.
Thank you, Lord Li, for taking care of the grain transport vehicles into the city for the handover."
"Sir, are you going to enter the city in plain clothes? Well, well, well... why not send someone to escort you..."
"No need." Zhu Qingyan raised the corner of his lips, "Lord Li, we'll see you in Qingzhou City!"
"drive!"
"drive!"
The two riders on fine horses passed the grain transport team and galloped towards Qingzhou City like an arrow.
Li Moxu looked at the direction where the two people disappeared and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, I had sent a letter to Qingzhou prefect Shi Yuanzhong in advance, otherwise once these two men entered the city in plain clothes, they would definitely discover the problems in Qingzhou, and then there would be no way to resolve the situation.
…
Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan arrived at the foot of Qingzhou City, dismounted and looked around.
Outside the city, there was a vast expanse of deserted land. Apart from a few civilians entering the city, the only thing visible was white snow.
"Hey, didn't they say that many hungry people from other counties gathered here at the Qingzhou city gate? Why can't I see them?" Zhu Qingyan asked curiously.
Zhu Lan frowned.
"Let's go into the city and see what's going on."
…
Qingzhou government office.
"Sir, two young women have just entered the city. Judging from their figures and ages, they should be the two imperial envoys."
Shi Yuanzhong was wearing an official robe and sitting in the hall. A thin old man sat below him. He patted his chest and said thankfully:
"Master Futai is very smart. Thank you for your early preparations, otherwise we would be in danger this time."
Shi Yuanzhong smiled faintly and lowered his head to sip his tea.
"Miao County Magistrate, our Qingzhou government is located in your Yu County. This matter may affect your career. Have you arranged everything inside and outside the city?"
"Don't worry, sir. I have already made all the arrangements. The refugees gathered outside the city have all been dealt with. Arrangements have also been made inside the city. I guarantee there will be no problems."
"Okay, you have always been thorough in your work, I am relieved." Shi Yuanzhong put down the tea bowl, "We are going to host a reception for the Imperial Envoy tonight, you should also go and prepare early."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Miao stood up, but did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he asked hesitantly:
"Mr. Futai, what about Magistrate Lu..."
"Don't worry, Lu Feng has been claiming to be ill for more than a month. I have also arranged some personnel near his home, and I will never let him ruin our plans.
As long as we send those two imperial envoys away safely, he can do whatever he wants, and nothing can happen to him."
…
Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan stepped into Qingzhou City. Although what they saw seemed a little desolate, it was far from as miserable as Hu Ping'an said.
The wind was cold and there were few people on the street. After walking for a while, they finally saw a porridge stall. Some people gathered nearby and lined up to receive porridge.
Zhu Lan walked up to an old woman who was holding a child and drinking porridge, squatted down, and smiled gently.
"Auntie, I want to ask you something. How do I get to the biggest rice shop in Qingzhou City?"
The woman was feeding her child porridge and pointing in a direction with her chin.
"Over there, keep going straight ahead and you'll see the biggest golden sign, which is the largest Chen Ji Rice Shop."
Zhu Lan thanked him but did not leave. He continued to ask:
"We are from Jiangzhou. We heard that there was a famine in Qingzhou in the middle of the year. Everyone is still hungry now, right?"
The old woman shook her head. "We were hit by a famine before, but the prefect, Lord Shi, has already distributed food to us, enough to last us for half a year!"
Zhu Qingyan pointed at the porridge stall and said, "Since we have food at home, why do you come here to get porridge in such a cold weather?"
The old woman smiled awkwardly and said, "This is the kindness of the adults who are giving porridge to the people. We thought that we could save as much food as possible at home, so we came here."
Zhu Lan said "Oh" and asked, "Is it easy to buy rice in the city?"
"It's good to buy, of course." The woman nodded repeatedly, "It's sold at Chenji Rice Shop every day, you can go and see for yourself."
Zhu Lan thanked the old woman again and asked several people living near the porridge shed, and everyone basically said the same thing.
"Qingyan, did we bring any white cakes on the road?"
"I've got it!" Zhu Qingyan took out a white cake wrapped in oilcloth from his arms and handed it to Zhu Lan.
Zhu Lan went back to the old woman, squatted down, looked at the five-year-old girl in the old woman's arms, took out a white cake and handed it to her.
"The child is so young, just drinking porridge is not enough."
When the old woman saw the white cake, her eyes suddenly lit up. She swallowed her saliva and thanked Zhu Lan repeatedly.
After Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan walked away, Zhu Qingyan finally couldn't help but speak:
"Zhu Lan, didn't you notice something was wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Zhu Lan turned around and looked at her.
"Those people just now looked pale and skinny, they didn't look like they had any extra food at home!
And the old woman, isn't it just a piece of white bread? Her eyes lit up when she saw the white bread, she was obviously hungry! "
Zhu Qingyan simply stood in front of Zhu Lan and said anxiously: "There is something strange about that porridge stall. It feels like it was deliberately done for us to see. Don't be fooled!"
Zhu Lan patted her shoulder, a slightly cold smile in his eyes.
"You're right. It seems that the Qingzhou prefect already knows that we have entered the city. I wonder how many eyes are staring at us right now.
If they want to act, we will play along with them to the end and find out how deep the water in Qingzhou is. "
Zhu Lan pointed forward.
"Hu Ping'an said that Shen Wanxiong is the biggest local tyrant in Qingzhou, and half of the taxes in Yu County are supported by his rice and wine business.
Let's go to Chenji Rice Shop and have a look. I think there's something interesting waiting for us there."
(PS. I was too lazy to play games, so I will only write one chapter today. I am guilty and I will reflect on it! Welcome to wait for the Qingzhou plot, it will be very interesting!)
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