In a field not far away, Li Heitie had already handed Liu Guafu's baby to Cai Fuyuan.
She was sitting on the edge of the field and became quiet when she saw Cai Fuyuan.
Cai Fuyuan lovingly fed her a sip of water and continued to tend his fields. Cai Fuyuan walked farther and farther away, and the little child on the ridge could only see a vague figure.
He heard some villagers shouting, "Widow Liu has money again. It was given to her by the Empress. She must have used it to treat that thieving brat."
"Widow Liu doesn't even want her own baby, so she's treating someone else's kid. How foolish!"
Cai Fuyuan was a little surprised and tightened his grip on the hoe.
He stood there for a while, then returned to the ridge of the field and asked in a gentle voice, "So that girl is the empress in the palace. Do you like her?"
The little kid stretched out his thin arms and said stupidly, "Go to school. My sister said I should go to school..."
Cai Fuyuan held her hand and wiped it on the handkerchief, still very gentle: "You miss your elder sister, right? When there is no more famine, your elder sister will come back."
...
...
"Don't stay here. You will starve to death here." The little kid shook his head stubbornly.
Cai Fuyuan was silent for a while. Just as Lin Zhiya said, the sun was very strong and made him dizzy. Cai Fuyuan thought of the crazy Widow Liu and the students who starved to death.
He took the little baby's hand and said, "Then let's go study with the mother."
…
Of course, Lin Zhiya would not eat the steamed buns made by Li Daya's mother. When a few eunuchs stood at the door of the Li family's house, they gave the Li family a great sense of oppression.
Lin Zhiya met Li Erya, who was indeed good-looking. She hid in the corner timidly and looked at her.
At this time, Chi Xuanye came back with two rabbits and a pheasant, and a wooden cage trap he had made.
Lin Zhiya: "It turns out that the young general went to hunt rabbits, but the two rabbits did not show the young general's talent."
Chi Xuanye had a strange look on his face. "Does the Queen want me to hunt a bear? That's not a problem, but I'm afraid we won't encounter bears in the mountains."
Chi Xuanye tied the feet of the two rabbits and threw them on the ground, motionless.
Lin Zhiya didn’t think this wild thing was cute. It was too big and smelled bad.
Seeing that Lin Zhiya showed no interest, Chi Xuanye pulled the corner of his mouth and showed a strange smile: "It's a snack for Her Majesty. Since Her Majesty doesn't like it, Her Majesty can just eat pheasant."
Lin Zhiya had not planned to eat here, but Li Daya's mother nodded repeatedly when she heard it: "I can kill a chicken, I'll kill it for you right away!"
Before Li Daya's mother could take any action, the eunuchs brought by Lin Zhiya had already taken charge and cleaned up the mess. Li Daya's mother stood aside awkwardly.
Chi Xuanye picked up the rabbit and cut it with a knife to let the blood flow, while Li Daya and Li Sanya were playing with the other one.
The village chief also sent a lot of mountain products, and the table was filled with food that day.
As soon as Lin Zhiya and Chi Xuanye sat down, the Li family members naturally didn't dare to sit at the table. Lin Zhiya didn't force them and gave some meat to the children. They then happily ran to the kitchen to eat.
Lin Zhiya had no appetite. "Let's go back in the afternoon and move everyone in the village out."
Chi Xuanye ate a lot. He ate the steamed corn bread very naturally, which was much better than eating sand at the border.
Chi Xuanye put down his chopsticks: "Of course I listen to Yaya, Yaya asked me to come so I came."
Lin Zhiya: ...Such a gangster tone, are you crazy?
At this time, there was a noise outside the door. Cai Fuyuan was standing at the door holding the child he saw next to Widow Liu.
Chi Xuanye glanced over with some murderous intent in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Lin Zhiya reminded: "Hey, hey, hey, don't think that if you kill someone in the mountains you don't have to bury the body."
Chi Xuanye turned the tables, "My queen, please don't frame me."
Cai Fuyuan bowed to Lin Zhiya outside the door, as if he would never step in without Lin Zhiya's permission, "Your Majesty, I was rude before. I want to follow you back to the academy."
Lin Zhiya's heart moved, but she thought about Cai Fuyuan's previous attitude, how did he change?
Under Lin Zhiya's questioning gaze, Cai Fuyuan smiled awkwardly and said simply, "I have run out of money for the trip here."
Lin Zhiya suddenly realized, "If that's the case, Mr. Cai would have starved to death if I hadn't come."
Cai Fuyuan: “…”
The atmosphere was quite harmonious. Cai Fuyuan brought the little kid in. The little kid swallowed and hid quietly behind Cai Fuyuan.
Lin Zhiya sat up straight and began to question Cai Fuyuan about his background.
"Where did Mr. Cai go to school? What year and class was he in?"
Cai Fuyuan answered them one by one: "I am from my hometown, Longcheng. I am a humble man, but I passed the imperial examination three years ago."
Juren? It's rare to find a Juren so poor.
Lin Zhiya asked with concern: "Has Mr. Cai ever been an official?"
Cai Fuyuan was even more modest. "I used to be the prefect of Xuanzhou. Two years ago, I resigned and became a student of Master Wang Yueming. Later, my family fell into poverty and I wandered around and finally came here."
That’s amazing.
Lin Zhiya looked at him with admiration, and realized that his temper matched his abilities.
At this time, he took out a bamboo scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Lin Zhiya: "Please give this to the emperor. It records the corruption and evil deeds of the Nian family in Xuanzhou for many years. Please investigate it thoroughly."
Lin Zhiya didn't catch it, and the bamboo slips fell to the ground. When she unfolded the front side which was covered with tiny handwriting, the most conspicuous part actually said that Nian Huixiang embezzled 3 million silver coins from the disaster-stricken areas.
Nian Huixiang is the father of Nian Zhaoyi. Under the management of Nian Zhaoyi, the Nian family was one of the most powerful families in the capital. It was not until Zhao Chen exiled Nian Zhaoyi that the Nian family's momentum gradually faded.
The bamboo slips not only record corruption, but also incidents of Nian family members beating innocent people to death, abducting women, using their power to squeeze out others and so on.
Lin Zhiya also found traces of Nian Huixiang trying to secretly sell contraband salt inside.
Lin Zhiya closed the bamboo slips and looked at Cai Fuyuan sternly: "Are you serious? If there is any falsehood in this, the emperor will not forgive you."
Cai Fuyuan: "I am willing to guarantee with my life that I have long experienced the power of the Nian family in Xuanzhou. If I had not met the queen, this bamboo slip would not have been handed over."
Lin Zhiya strangely trusted Cai Fuyuan's words, as if she subconsciously felt that the Nian family was just like this and had done so many evil things.
If Concubine Nian had not been exiled, the Nian family would have become extremely powerful by now.
No wonder everyone wanted to place helpers in the harem. Concubine Nian was the most popular person in the harem, and Lin Zhiya was just a foil...
All the turning points came when Concubine Nian was exiled.
What would the situation be like now if she had not left the harem?
Lin Zhiya felt a splitting headache, as if a switch had been turned on and countless memories flooded into her mind.
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