In the evening, Qingyan replaced Fei Yanggu and the others to continue the supervision. It was the first time she had seen rice packed in burlap sacks, and she couldn't help but be curious. She touched one of the burlap sacks placed underneath with her little paws.
Based on her sense of touch, she was somewhat confused.
In modern supermarkets, rice has been touched, so how could it have a hard husk?
"Sulan, go and call Sisi here!" Qingyan quickly told Sulan to go find someone.
These past few days, Qingyan has been feeling uneasy, and now she finally understands where her worries come from.
"Little Darling, what's wrong?" Yin and the others rushed over.
If she hadn't encountered something important, she certainly wouldn't have called him away while he was having his meal.
"Have the guards wait outside," Qingyan said, glancing at the sacks being carried into the tent, wondering how many had been tampered with. "The rice shouldn't be prickly, right?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the faces of the men present turned grim. This was clearly a conspiracy aimed at them.
"Little darling, you can't say things like that!" Chang Ning looked at the servants around her. Luckily, they were all trustworthy. If Qing Yan had made a mistake, it would have been difficult to recover if the news got out.
The grain transfer is not yet complete. If anything goes wrong, they can say that someone is sabotaging them. But once the transfer is signed, they will have to bear the losses alone.
Yin felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it; Xiao Guai always said she felt uneasy.
Qingyan tugged at Yin's sleeve, urging him to take the lead and say that he wanted to re-inspect the food and fodder inside the tent.
"Sixth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, you saw it. If these have been switched, we will be held responsible." Yin became frightened. He pulled out a dagger from his leg and, in front of everyone, cut open the sack. A drop of rice husks immediately spilled out, and Yin's face turned black.
Qingyan stared blankly at the empty husks on the ground. She thought that at most, the rice grains hadn't been extracted, but who would have thought that these people would use rice husks without rice grains to make up for the weight.
"My God!" Geng exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the scene.
Chang Ning and Fei Yanggu's faces both darkened. Chang Ning was glad that she had come, otherwise Yin would definitely have made a scene.
"Fourth brother, you don't need to get involved in this. We can't let things get out of hand, otherwise the disaster victims will become unsettled, and then we'll really have a hard time handling the situation," Chang Ning quickly instructed.
They brought far too few guards; if they were not careful, those people might take their anger out on them, causing a popular uprising, and then they would be in a very difficult position to explain themselves.
Yin clenched his fists; this wasn't the first time he'd experienced such a frustrating disaster relief effort.
In his past life, he had experienced much of this, and his subsequent vigorous efforts to rectify the situation after ascending the throne were not without reason. Qingyan walked to Yin's side and gently squeezed his soft little hand.
Instantly, most of his anger dissipated.
"Sisi, we can't just get angry. That's the worst approach. We need to think about how to make amends!" Qingyan felt there was a reason behind everything. If they easily bypassed the person behind the scenes, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble later.
Yin gripped Xiao Guai's hand tightly, his cold gaze fixed on the person on the ground. He would not compromise easily.
"Sixth Uncle, we must secretly inform Father Emperor. We absolutely cannot tolerate this, otherwise... the consequences will be unimaginable." Yin was worried that a similar situation might occur with his three elder brothers.
Fei Yanggu nodded. The remaining three princes would never have imagined that someone would use such methods.
"Alright, Fourth Brother, you come with me to submit the secret memorial and see what His Majesty says." Chang Ning was unsure of what to do.
Qingyan turned to look at the tent, which already contained hundreds of sacks of grain. How much of it was rice husks?
"How exactly did you two manage to switch the grain supplies?" Yin asked, looking at them. "How many more are still alive inside?"
Yin's furious appearance frightened the two men escorting the grain, who kowtowed repeatedly, unaware of what was happening!
"Fourth Prince, this servant really knew nothing about it!" The two quickly distanced themselves, knowing they had no powerful backers and absolutely could not get involved in such trouble.
Fei Yanggu had E Shuo and Sai Tuo accompany Chang Ning's chief guard to the tent to check how many items were substandard.
At this moment, Qingyan felt a chill run through her body. Through the spatial system, she could see the contents of the sack. At least a third of the contents were rice husks that had been replaced.
This is enough food supplies for tens of thousands of people from summer to winter!
Qingyan's eyes reddened with anger. How could these officials do such a thing!
This shows a complete disregard for the lives of tens of thousands of people, especially since the area they were providing disaster relief to was close to the south, where anti-Qing and pro-Ming forces were rampant.
"Si Si, keep people on guard. We can't let the news leak out!" Qing Yan was very worried. If the disaster victims found out, and someone was secretly instigating them, would they still be able to get through all the crises safely?
Yin was also very worried. What should he do?
"Fourth Prince, this servant really dares not replace these provisions. My hometown is also in Zhili, and there are distant relatives of mine among the disaster victims!" The leader quickly explained that the people above had been replaced, and he did not want to be made a scapegoat.
Yin and Qingyan exchanged a glance, and she stood closer to Yin to prevent him from suddenly getting angry.
He was amused by Xiao Guai's nervous expression; this little guy really brought him joy.
"Now, I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourselves. Think back, besides you, who else touched these provisions!" To ensure a smooth disaster relief effort, Yinwei had arranged for two servants from the Sticky Rod Office to hide in the Ministry of Revenue, but they did not report it.
So, when they left the Ministry of Revenue, the grain and fodder were still there.
Qingyan was somewhat confused. Had the grain been switched during transport?
Was he trying to frame Yin, or her? Or perhaps his father and his disciples?
Qingyan's little head was a little tangled. She couldn't imagine what they would have done if they hadn't discovered it and the grain had been handed over.
These sums of money, amounting to at least several hundred thousand taels of silver, would severely damage the Yue Lai Inn in Jiangnan if all of them were taken out.
Could it be... those imperial merchants from the Imperial Household Department?
She listed out all the suspects, planning to have a serious talk with Si Si that evening.
Yin held her small hand and felt the temperature of her hand getting lower and lower. He turned his head but looked at her.
"Little darling, don't be scared!" Yin was secretly annoyed that he was the culprit who scared Little darling, and this matter was definitely not over yet.
Qingyan leaned against Yin's back, feeling a little weak in the knees. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became about the future of Fei Yanggu and the others.
Yin helped Qingyan up, telling her not to overthink it. Meanwhile, he watched as Changning arranged for guards to surround the tent, and the main people in charge of transporting the grain found excuses to keep watch.
The disaster victims simply assumed that Yin and his group were rewarding the people who escorted them. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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