Chapter 454 True Redemption
That night, Xiao Zhian got drunk.
She hugged Shi Yu and cried bitterly. Even after she became unconscious, she held Shi Yu's arm tightly and refused to let go.
While lying on the bed next to Xiao Zhian, Shi Yu thought that he was probably drunk too.
Otherwise, how could he soften his heart because of his crying and let such a tall and strong brother sleep in his bed with his arms around him.
But when he heard Xiao Zhian hiccuping from time to time after he fell asleep, he thought, forget it, forget it, I only have this one brother, so I might as well let him sleep with me for one night.
But he can no longer drink alcohol.
I didn't sleep well that night, so I got up early and went to the study to handle government affairs.
After Xiao Zhian woke up, he was stunned looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar room.
Is this the room of the prince and his sister-in-law?
How could he sleep here?
"woke up?"
The door was gently pushed open and Lin Qianning's voice rang out.
Seeing that it was her, Xiao Zhian quickly got up from the bed and said, "I...you..."
When facing Lin Qianning, he was a little at a loss.
Lin Qianning seemed not to notice his restless hands. She placed the tray on the table and said calmly, "Drink this hangover soup."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhian hurriedly picked it up and drank it all in one gulp, "Thank you."
"Thank whom?"
Lin Qianning looked at him leisurely.
Xiao Zhian carefully observed her expression and said, "Thank you, aunt."
"That's right. Go wash up and have breakfast. Don't you have to go back to the palace later to take inventory of the things there?"
Having missed out on spending time with her son for many years, Lin Qianning didn't know how to make it up to him or if there was anything she could do to help, so she often cooked for her son herself, making his favorite food.
Fortunately, she liked cooking when she was still a child, and her father was open-minded and didn't think there was anything wrong with a woman liking cooking.
Not only did he indulge her, but he also did not allow her stepmother to interfere, which allowed her to develop good cooking skills.
When she learned that the two brothers were going to drink together, she went into the kitchen herself and made some snacks for them. After sending them to them, she was invited by her son to stay and have dinner with them.
Listening to the conversation between the two, he also knew Shi Yu's arrangements for the palace.
She naturally supported her son's decision, but she didn't expect Xiao Zhian to agree as well, since that was where he grew up.
But after hearing him cry so miserably, I felt that it was a dirtiness to the palace and it was better not to have it.
"Don't you hate me?" Xiao Zhian suddenly asked.
Lin Qianning paused for a moment and asked, "Your brother, the Crown Prince, arranged for you to collect food, which made you suffer the cold shoulder of many people. Do you blame him?"
Xiao Zhian didn't expect her to ask this, and hurriedly shook his head, "It wasn't the Crown Prince who asked them to be so disrespectful to me, so how could I blame the Crown Prince?"
Lin Qianning smiled, "It wasn't you who harmed me, why should I hate you?
My aunt doesn’t understand any profound principles, but she knows one thing: if the laws of nature or the world bully me, then I must not bully myself anymore.
I don’t know what you looked like before, but I believe in my son. Since he came to bring you back, this is your home.
You don't have to be so cautious in your own home, so be more casual from now on."
After a pause, she continued, “When I was in trouble, your father once told me that a bird never worries about a branch breaking, not because it trusts the branch, but because it trusts its own wings.
The real salvation is self-salvation.
Today I am passing this message to you, hoping you will not break your wings."
Xiao Zhian was silent for a moment and bowed deeply to her.
Lin Qianning didn't avoid him, and feigned anger, "Hurry up, hurry up, if you dawdle any longer, I'll start to suspect that you're trying to slack off.
Brothers are on the battlefield together, and your brother the Crown Prince is counting on you for help."
The gloom that had been between his brows for many days finally dissipated, and Xiao Zhian showed a long-lost smile, "I know, aunt, I will go find the prince brother now."
"You haven't washed up or had breakfast yet..."
But the person had already run away.
Lin Qianning smiled and shook her head.
What she just said was to advise Xiao Zhian, but also to advise herself. She had wasted more than twenty years of her life in vain, and she didn't want to waste the rest of her time taking her anger out on Xiao Zhian.
Unlike Cao Yizhao, Xiao Zhian is valued by both his son and his father, so she also tried to include him in the ranks of her relatives.
After the news that the crown prince asked the second prince to sell items in the palace to buy food spread, the imperial city exploded again.
Some people are grateful for the kindness of the two princes, while others secretly laugh at them for being prodigals.
The palace is the home of the royal family. Selling off the ancestral property is a waste of money.
After the old ancestor knew about it, he hurried to find Shi Yu, but Shi Yu only asked him if he had a better way.
The national treasury is empty, and although many ministers are wealthy, their property cannot be confiscated. There are no fish in clear water. If we confiscate their property based on any evidence, then most of the court will be confiscated.
In this case, there would be rebellion within the party even without Chi Lie attacking.
The old ancestor hesitated for a long time, and finally just sighed heavily and left with his hands behind his back.
There was indeed no better way. Even he himself could not use all his property to help the people.
He alone cannot save all the people.
As for Xiao Zhian's side, no one dared to buy at first, but Qingwu was an exception.
He bought several items from the palace in one go and carried them back to the princess's mansion.
Ah Man went to watch the fun and took a fancy to a few items. Qing Wu waved her hand and paid some money as a wedding gift to Ah Man and Qian Shan.
Next came Qingyin and Lao Zongzheng. The palace was their former home, and many objects inside carried their past, and were also a disguised way of providing financial support to the court.
In this auction, money was exchanged for goods, and the identity of the buyer and the whereabouts of the items were not asked. Those who were interested but reluctant to show up would send their servants to buy, and the transaction was actually successful.
The others saw this and followed suit. On the first night, Xiao Zhian brought more than one million taels of silver back to the Prince's Mansion.
He was worried that this was a trap set by the prince, and when he saw that the items were sold without any movement in the prince's mansion, he became bolder.
After all, these are things from the palace. Many people don’t even have the chance to enter the palace on ordinary days. Now that they have the opportunity to buy treasures from the palace, how many people would not be tempted?
In just three days, Xiao Zhian had more than 8 million taels in his hands, and he only sold antique calligraphy and paintings for appreciation, or women's jewelry and head ornaments.
During the auction, Shi Yu also asked people to disguise themselves as ordinary people to purchase food.
Xiao Zhian volunteered to personally escort this batch of grain to the north and implement the locust control policy that Lin Wanzhi had ignored.
Shi Yu agreed.
Xiao Zhian has seen the fickleness of human nature, the cruelty of the world, and the filthiness of officialdom. Shi Yu hopes that he can go back to the grassroots level, see the people struggling to survive, and see those simple and upward forces.
He also asked the county magistrate who had previously disregarded his personal safety and gone to the imperial city to file a complaint on behalf of the people to go back with him and help him complete this task.
Qing Wu sent several male favorites with strong martial arts skills to follow Xiao Zhian from then on, to protect his safety and also to supervise him.
After being comforted by Shi Yu and Lin Qianning, Xiao Zhian, who knew Qing Wu's intention, felt very calm in his heart.
Even he himself cannot get out of Lin Wanzhi's shadow for the time being. It is natural for Qingwu to not be able to trust her completely, or to worry that Cao Yizhao's people will find him.
He understood.
He vowed in his heart that he would successfully resolve the difficulties in the north and, like Abu, be able to share Shi Yu's worries.
But Abu encountered a problem at this time.
He disguised himself as Wei Qingyan, left Fengzhao Imperial City openly, then left the team and secretly went to Pu State to find Wei Qingyan.
But at the border of Pu State, he rescued a girl who was almost kidnapped by bandits.
The girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old, lively and pretty. Perhaps she was frightened by the bandits and insisted on following Abu...
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