Chapter 75 Finally, Yan Jiarou's...
After frying the cake, Yan Jiarou felt particularly sleepy and lethargic. She slumped weakly in Xiao Che's arms, feeling limp and powerless, as if she had been soaked in spring water.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, a strong restlessness and longing suddenly welled up from the depths of her heart. She didn't know if it was because of what she had just experienced... Her body became unusually aroused, and it felt as if tiny electric currents were flowing through her nerves. The sensations crept up her spine, and even the slightest touch from Xiao Che would cause her to groan uncontrollably.
She suddenly felt it wasn't enough; she wanted more.
Her breathing quickened, and she opened her hazy eyes, her face flushed an unnatural red. She murmured softly, "Xiao Che, I want... I want..."
Xiao Che glanced at her, brushed aside the sweat-dampened black hair clinging to her cheeks, and asked lazily, "Want blood?"
"I……"
Yan Jiarou clung to his shoulders and neck, her eyes suddenly becoming confused.
She didn't even know what she wanted.
She should want blood, but she doesn't seem satisfied with that.
I felt an unprecedented discomfort in my body, a discomfort that could not be relieved simply by drinking blood.
She desperately needed something else from Xiao Che, but what could it be? She couldn't figure it out at all.
She was almost in tears.
"Brother...I...I feel unwell...please help me..."
"I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you," Xiao Che stroked her head and smiled lazily, "Why are you being so coquettish?"
After saying that, he turned his head slightly to the side, gesturing for her to come over and take the blood.
Yan Jiarou, however, did not make a move.
No, she wants more than just that...
Xiao Che turned around, frowning slightly, seemingly puzzled: "What's wrong, baby?"
"N-nothing..."
Her pearly white teeth bit her lip, leaving clear teeth marks.
She eventually nestled against his neck and gently bit his skin to draw blood.
Although her threshold is getting higher and higher, Xiao Che's blood alone is no longer enough to satisfy her, but it can still provide some relief.
More importantly, Xiao Che has important matters to attend to right now, and she doesn't want him to be distracted by her.
Whatever she wants, let's wait until Xiao Che finishes his business before discussing it further.
The sweet blood flowed slowly down her throat into her body, calming her frantic and restless state slightly.
However, it's only a little bit.
Although a lot of blood was still drawn, my body still felt very empty, and it only provided some slight relief from the discomfort.
After the blood was drawn, she got off Xiao Che, turned over and curled up in a corner, not wanting Xiao Che to notice her abnormality.
Xiao Che indeed did not notice anything unusual about her.
Having managed to cover up the fact that he carried the scent of another woman from Xiao Tu, Xiao Che focused his attention on important matters and stopped paying attention to Yan Jiarou.
Naturally, no one noticed her trembling body and her unusually flushed face.
During the day, when she felt a little better, she would help Xiao Che distribute porridge. The two of them, with their striking appearances and demeanor, attracted much attention. Their good deeds also spread their fame, and the people praised them for their compassionate hearts, calling them like immortals, a match made in heaven.
——
After Emperor Xiao Che issued the decree to raise grain prices, the price of grain in Huai County did rise at first, and merchants did indeed benefit. However, they gradually realized that something was wrong.
The surge in grain prices in Huai County has not only benefited local merchants who, fearing insufficient grain reserves, have begun purchasing grain from other regions to profit from the price difference, but has also attracted grain merchants from other areas who have begun transporting their grain to Huai County to sell.
Seeing that Huai County's grain reserves were almost depleted, Xiao Che ordered the previously purchased grain to be released back into the market at a lower price. This caused the grain price to plummet.
The grain merchants who came from other places originally thought that the high grain prices in Huai County would make them a fortune. However, they were surprised to find that the grain prices had fallen as soon as they arrived. If they transported the grain back at this time, the transportation costs would be a considerable expense. Therefore, in order not to lose money, they had no choice but to lower their prices and sell their grain.
As a result, there was a surplus of grain, and grain prices fell lower and lower, thus solving the problem of food shortage for the people.
Meanwhile, Xiao Che ordered Xue Zhi to spread rumors that there was a gold mine in Dragon Ridge Mountain, attracting many disaster victims to go to the mountain to mine. There were no large gold mines, only some placer gold, but the gimmick had already been created, and it quickly attracted a large number of people to mine.
Not much gold was found, but the limestone underneath was inexhaustible and profitable. Huai County had just experienced flooding, and the people were short of money. Since someone had started, people disregarded the old rules and rushed to mine and dig.
This really worried the local gentry and wealthy families.
Is Dragon Ridge Mountain something that can be mined and excavated at will? That's the location of the dragon vein!
If the dragon vein is damaged, the feng shui of the entire Huai County will be affected!
What do those ignorant fools know? For the sake of petty gains, they are willing to destroy the very foundation of Huai County!
As the saying goes, those with nothing to lose are not afraid of those wearing shoes. These common people are too preoccupied with their immediate concerns to think about the long term, so they are naturally much less concerned about the future than the local gentry and wealthy households.
Even when the local gentry and wealthy families tried to take measures to suppress the people, it backfired and provoked a strong backlash from the populace, leading to widespread resentment.
At this moment, Xiao Che gave them an idea—what the people wanted was nothing more than money. There was a lot of limestone at the bottom of Dragon Ridge Mountain, and mining it could make money, which is why the people flocked there.
It's understandable that people want to make money, especially now that they've just experienced flooding and are in dire need of funds.
Cutting off someone's money is like killing their parents.
It's understandable that the local gentry and wealthy families in Huai County want to protect the dragon vein from damage, but they can't stop the common people from making money, since the Dragon Ridge Mountain doesn't belong to these gentry and wealthy families, but to all the people of Huai County.
The local gentry and wealthy families wanted to stop the common people from continuing to mine, and the only way to stop them was to pay them a sum of money to buy out their mining rights.
Since it's a buyout, it naturally won't be a small sum.
However, in order to protect the dragon vein from being damaged, thereby affecting the feng shui of Huai County and their wealth, those gentry and wealthy households gritted their teeth and had no choice but to give up.
But this was just the beginning; the real trouble was yet to come.
Previously, when Xiao Che and Xiao Yan called for donations of silver, they all claimed to have a lot of debts. They looked wealthy, but their foundation was actually very weak.
But this time, in order to get the people to give up mining limestone and protect the dragon vein, they have gone to such great lengths. Isn't it obvious that they were just fooling people before?
To put it bluntly, this is deceiving officials appointed by the imperial court.
Moreover, Xiao Che and Xiao Yan were not simply officials appointed by the imperial court.
That is the current emperor's own son. If he says something to the emperor after we go back, even if the emperor doesn't pursue the matter this time, the career prospects of the scholars in Huai County will probably be affected. If they lose in politics, it will be very detrimental to the development of the entire Huai County.
Therefore, when Xiao Che proposed to host another banquet for them, even though they knew it was a trap, they still had no choice but to agree to attend.
What they didn't expect was that the first person Xiao Che would target was He Zhao, the magistrate of Huai County.
The pretext for the attack was readily available—he had issued a summons to him for a meeting, but he had not shown up for a long time.
He Zhao knelt at Xiao Che's feet, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and his explanation was:
"Your Highness, I am aware that I am related to the current Crown Prince by marriage, so it is understandable that I am concerned. I heard that Your Highness is having trouble sleeping at night and is always restless. You need to use a thousand-year-old ginseng as medicine. This is a rare item, and it may not even be available in the palace. Fortunately, I heard a few days ago that a villager in Baini Village, Ningyang County, accidentally dug up a ginseng from the mountain. I immediately went to buy it myself, which is why I delayed Your Highness's summons."
"I believe that since the Third Prince and the Second Prince are both the Crown Prince's brothers, the Crown Prince's affairs are also the affairs of the two princes. I think the two princes will understand if I delay for a while..."
Xiao Che immediately sneered after hearing this, saying, "You keep talking about His Highness the Crown Prince. What, do you only care about His Highness the Crown Prince, but not about the people, the court, or even the Emperor?"
"The disaster victims in Huai County are all waiting for disaster relief funds. I asked you to call on wealthy households and merchants to donate silver and pay taxes, but at this critical moment you went all the way to Ningyang County to buy some worthless old ginseng..."
"I had no idea that the Crown Prince's personal affairs would interfere with official business. His personal matters were more important than those of the court. To accuse someone of sacrificing personal matters for the sake of public duty—what would the Crown Prince and the Emperor think if they found out?"
Upon hearing this, He Zhao's face turned deathly pale. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Highness, please investigate! This humble official dares not, this humble official dares not..."
Xiao Che glanced down at him and said, "Since you said that century-old ginseng is a rare item, it must be quite valuable, right? How much did you spend?"
"This..." He Zhao didn't know what he meant, but dared not not answer: "Your Highness, because it is the King of Ginseng, with an age of a thousand years, therefore... therefore the cost was a bit higher, three thousand taels..."
"Three thousand taels? You spent three thousand taels on a ginseng that's hardly anything special. It seems Lord He has quite a treasury. It wouldn't be right if you didn't donate some silver, would it?"
He Zhao inwardly groaned, but now that he was being put on the spot, he had no choice but to reply, "Yes...yes..."
Xiao Che smiled and said, "Then on behalf of the people, I thank Lord He for his righteous act."
As he spoke, he took the donation book from Xue Zhi and, with a flourish of his pen, directly pledged 50,000 taels of silver for He Zhao.
Xiao Che smiled handsomely, but He Zhao's heart was pounding. Sure enough, after seeing the number on it, his vision went black and he almost fainted.
But now that things have come to this, he has no choice but to accept it.
Once the door was opened, things proceeded much more smoothly from then on.
Those local gentry and wealthy households spent a lot of money to buy out the mining rights of the common people in order to protect the dragon vein. Because of this, they inevitably felt a little guilty when facing Xiao Che. They had a handle against him. In addition, with the example of He Zhao in front of them, they had also witnessed Xiao Che's methods. At this time, they naturally dared not say anything and donated according to Xiao Che's wishes.
The disaster relief funds were raised in just one afternoon.
But after it was over, the gentry and wealthy people who came out of the hall all looked unwell, as if they had been cut in half.
——
After finishing his business, Xiao Che finally had time to spend with his younger sister, and that very night he noticed Yan Jiarou's unusual behavior.
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