Shen Shaoyang still has a stubble beard, although he has trimmed it and looks clean and tidy. His skin is dark and his muscles are tight. He has completely lost the air of a playboy and has gained a bit of a murderous aura. Only his narrow eyes can still reveal the handsomeness hidden under the stubble. Moreover, the silly look on him seems to have disappeared.
When he saw Xia Yixin, he hid his passion deep inside, but the smile on his lips was impossible to hide.
The city lord here is still Li Gui, who ceded the city lord's mansion to Xia Jingfeng long ago.
After a ceremonial welcome dinner with everyone, Xia Yixin and Xia Mingyu went into the study, where Xia Jingfeng had prepared many messages that had come from the past.
"Liu'er, these messages have all come in suddenly over the past few months. I felt something was wrong, so I kept them. Take a look and see if there's really something amiss."
Xia Yixin nodded and looked at the messages. They were all from Nan Lin's side. The more she looked, the more familiar the operation seemed. On the other side, Xia Mingyu also noticed something was wrong.
“Mother, isn’t this just like the prelude to the ‘economic crisis’ you told me about before? The government is extending large amounts of credit to farmers, resulting in a lot of bad debts and a deficit. This Crown Prince Gao Qi is courting death.”
Xia Yixin nodded. "That's right. Even Mingyu could see it. Father, something is definitely not right. Do you know who instigated Crown Prince Gao Qi to do this?"
Xia Jingfeng was initially shocked, then sighed and shook his head. "Besides finding out that it's related to Imperial Noble Consort Gao, we don't know anything else for now. But the biggest reason Crown Prince Gao Qi did this is to combat the hoarding and speculation by many merchants in Nanlin. In recent years, Nanlin seems to have grown stronger, but for some reason, those merchants have been declaring bankruptcy and closing down one after another, causing many people to lose their jobs and farmland to be left idle, resulting in a steady rise in the prices of agricultural products."
Xia Yixin frowned slightly. Actually, when she stayed in Nanlin three years ago, she felt something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Nanlin was indeed developing very quickly, especially in business.
Now it seems...
She slowly said, "This is probably intentional. It's a grand scheme. First, capital is used to enter other countries and occupy their markets. When farmers find that farming is not as profitable as working, they will go out to work, and the farmland will be abandoned. Over time, when the capital withdraws, the country will face a serious food crisis, especially after the other side cuts off imports and exports."
Upon hearing this, Xia Jingfeng gasped sharply. After Xia Yixin's analysis, he immediately thought of Beiwu.
As if guessing what he was thinking, Xia Yixin reassured him, "The situation in Beiwu shouldn't be that serious yet, because we gave farmers a lot of subsidies before, and their income is still the highest. In addition, we enacted the 'Anti-Monopoly Law' a few years ago. However, we still need to investigate the background of all long-term businesses."
Xia Mingyu had learned a lot from his mother during this time, and he had also absorbed some of Xia Yixin's memories while he was in her body, so he understood immediately.
He drew inferences from one instance to another, saying, "Grandfather, I think you'd better be careful. I think this might be Yu Shang's doing. When Crown Prince Dong Qi can't hold on any longer, Yu Shang will definitely send someone to negotiate and then demand money from Nan Lin in exchange for unequal terms, such as cities or even troops. At that time, even if Nan Lin has ulterior motives, he will definitely not be able to leave Yu Shang easily."
Xia Jingfeng was surprised that his grandson and daughter had gleaned so much from just a few letters. He was even more shocked by what they had discovered.
He sighed, "These people really treat the people of the world as pawns. Hundreds of thousands have already starved to death in Nanlin. I really don't know who could come up with such a vicious scheme!"
After he finished speaking, all three of them fell silent.
In the struggles of those in power, it is always the most vulnerable people who suffer, yet they are powerless to help.
Xia Jingfeng sighed softly, his eyes turning slightly cold. "Liu'er, Mingyu, in my opinion, in this game, the puppet emperor in the palace is unlikely to be the one. That old fox Lin Sikong and the one from the Eastern Depot are the most likely candidates."
In recent years, the two have worked together seamlessly, one externally and the other internally.
"I wonder what kind of leverage the Eastern Depot has over that old fox Lin Sikong, otherwise how could the two of them be so united, and how could a eunuch have so much power?"
Xia Jingfeng sighed.
Xia Yixin also seemed to be deep in thought. In fact, she knew more than they did. Perhaps Shen Ruyu was also involved. However, she had tried to investigate Cao Anmin, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, since they last met, but he seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
Xia Mingyu pondered for a moment before speaking, "Grandfather, now that they have set a trap, we can only wait and see what happens, and then try to break the deadlock."
After discussing for a while, Xia Yixin led Xia Mingyu back to their residence in the East Garden.
Throughout the journey, Xia Yixin frowned deeply, pondering carefully. Besides Shen Ruyu, who possessed a modern mindset, perhaps she had also told another person about this method of using business to defeat other countries, but…
She was distracted and tripped, almost falling over, but luckily a hand on each side caught her.
"Mom, what are you thinking about?" Xiao Mingyu complained.
The man on the other side asked worriedly, "Are you hurt?"
Xia Yixin patted her startled heart and, a beat later, realized it was Shen Shaoyang. He had changed into a tight-fitting outfit, which softened his murderous aura and made him look much gentler, but he was still different from the Shen Shaoyang the original owner had first met.
But why would he be here so late at night?
"General Shi, what's going on?"
To avoid being overheard, she still referred to him by his current public name, Shi Niu.
Shen Shaoyang coughed lightly, then looked at Xiao Mingyu, who was watching the commotion. The two exchanged a glance, and the latter left after saying, "Don't forget what you promised me."
She knew about the occasional correspondence between Xia Mingyu and Shen Shaoyang over the past few years. She was amazed that the two, who were more than twenty years apart in age, could become friends. But now it seemed that the young boy had betrayed his mother.
Shen Shaoyang was honest. Seeing her face darken, he immediately confessed, "I promised him that I would take him to the battlefield when I had the chance. Don't worry, Liu'er, I will definitely make sure nothing happens to him."
Xia Yixin narrowed her eyes slightly. Very good, so the child has grown up and dares to discuss going to the battlefield with others without telling his mother.
A young boy, completely unaware that he had been "sold out," felt a chill run down his spine.
"We'll talk about Xiao Mingyu later," she said, looking at Shen Shaoyang. "So you waited here on purpose?"
Shen Shaoyang blushed slightly under her gaze. "Are you free tomorrow? I have something I'd like to give you."
"???" Xia Yixin was completely bewildered. She remembered that she had made things clear to him when she left Beiwu. Could it be that Shen Shaoyang still misunderstood their relationship?
Xia Yixin was about to refuse when Shen Shaoyang seemed to have guessed and said seriously, "Actually, I already knew about my past a few years ago."
When she parted ways with Shen Shaoyang and returned to the East Garden, as expected, she saw a young boy sitting obediently in the house waiting for her.
She raised an eyebrow. "Explain?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com