Chapter 440: Exposing Miss Xue II
"As expected, give the order that we should not take the official road in Yunhe Mountain, but take the small road outside Yunhe Mountain to Pingyu direction after dark."
Su Qianqian looked at the map she had drawn according to the map and explained it very clearly. However, if you asked her for directions, she wouldn't even be able to tell the directions.
"Yes, ma'am." Qin Shiliu took the order and went down to pass on the message.
Xue Zhiqing, who was sitting in the carriage, put down the cake in her hand after hearing this, stretched her neck and choked and said:
"Sister-in-law, why do we have to take a detour? Duke Xu's troops are stationed at Yunhe Mountain. Perhaps we can get some supplies there."
Su Qianqian ate her tomato slowly, not caring that Xue Zhiqing was drooling.
The four members of the Qin family brought enough food along the way. Although the food and drink were simple, they were nutritious and delicious. Even the soldiers of the Qin family army had compressed biscuits and dried meat provided by Su Qianqian, as well as the energy water she developed.
Only Xue Zhiqing thought that Su Qianqian would prepare something for her. However, after eating the snacks and meat jerky prepared by Madam Xiao, she could only buy cakes along the way. Drinking hot water was a luxury.
Su Qianqian blocked Xue Zhiqing's mouth from the beginning:
"The Second Miss only brought this little food. Is she trying to play a trick? I understand. I will definitely cooperate with the Second Miss. You... no one is allowed to ruin the Second Miss's plan. Don't give her food or drinks!"
Su Qianqian finished eating the juicy tomatoes, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and then chuckled and said:
"Is Second Miss testing me? I don't know what Duke Xu is thinking, but doesn't Second Miss know?"
Xue Zhiqing was putting the last bite of biscuit into her mouth when she was choked by these words. She slapped her tongue desperately before finally swallowing it. She raised her head and looked at Su Qianqian with flickering eyes:
"What does sister-in-law mean by this? Zhiqing doesn't understand." Xue Zhiqing could only pretend to be confused.
"Second Miss, borrowing power is a good idea, but it depends on whose power you borrow and what you give back. Second Miss borrowed the power of Duke Xu. What did Duke Xu promise to you? How can you repay this favor?"
Su Qianqian asked with a smile.
Xue Zhiqing slowly stopped smiling: "Sister-in-law, you are much smarter than I thought. How did you know that?"
"There's an old saying that goes, if you don't want people to know, then don't do it. Wasn't Mr. Qiu Shi's affair the work of the Second Miss?
But the Second Miss had just entered the Prime Minister's Mansion, so how could anyone do it? If I'm not mistaken, it was Duke Xu's people who helped the Second Miss. ”
Su Qianqian spoke slowly, and Xue Zhiqing's face turned even paler.
"She used Qiu Shi to frame His Royal Highness Prince Xiang, and then helped His Royal Highness Prince Xiang to win his favor, and also won the favor of His Majesty. The Second Miss has put in a lot of effort for His Royal Highness Prince Xiang."
"What the Second Miss does is none of my business, but you can't step on the corpse of our Wuning Marquis to get on your sedan chair.
Miss Second, you must take care of yourself when you go to Jiangnan this time. I will pretend not to see what happens between you and Prince Xiang, but if you want to destroy our Marquisate, you'd better think carefully. ”
Su Qianqian's smile remained on her face, but her words were like a knife, tearing open Xue Zhiqing's mask.
"I admire my sworn brother's sister-in-law for knowing so much. If she knew, I would definitely not dare to do anything to let my sworn brother down." Xue Zhiqing lowered her eyes and agreed.
Now that she was in Su Qianqian's palm, Xue Zhiqing instinctively felt that if she did anything to make Su Qianqian unhappy, she probably would not be able to return to Xijing.
After warning Xue Zhiqing, Su Qianqian ordered the team to set off as the sky gradually darkened. Xue Zhiqing, who could no longer bear the hardship of riding with Su Qianqian, went out to ride her horse again.
After walking all night, they finally bypassed Yunhe Mountain and arrived outside Pingyu City at dawn. Su Qianqian ordered their men to hide in the dense forest to regroup and rest, and set out again two hours later.
After passing Pingyu, they met more disaster victims, and Su Qianqian ordered the team to cover their faces with cloth soaked in medicine.
At the same time, Xue Zhiqing, as the disaster victims' comfort envoy, ordered the nearby county and state governments to resettle the victims, provide them with a fixed residence, check whether they had any symptoms of the epidemic, and distribute medicinal materials for preventing and treating the epidemic.
Xue Zhiqing was naturally willing to help Yang Ming. The imperial edict of Emperor Gan De was genuine, and there was no stipulation that it was only effective in Hongzhou. Moreover, with three thousand Qin family soldiers stationed there, the prefects and county magistrates were very cooperative.
The refugees were resettled all the way to Hongzhou, but they found that the number of refugees there was extremely small. Not only the refugees, but even the people on both sides of the Hong River who were affected by the disaster had disappeared, leaving only dilapidated houses and destroyed farmland on both sides.
Su Qianqian sent Qin Shiliu to investigate first, and everyone approached Hongzhou cautiously.
Qin Shiliu came back to report that he met the imperial physician who was going to Hongzhou outside the city gate of Hongzhou. He could not enter the city because the gate was closed. No matter how he shouted, the city guards refused to open the gate.
"Let the Qin family army hide in the woods on the hillside outside the city. We will only take a hundred or so people over there to see what the situation is and then make a decision."
Su Qianqian gave the orders and changed into convenient men's clothes and rode on a small white horse. She asked the second old lady and Qin Yuzhuo to wait for her signal. She took the third old lady and Xue Zhiqing and led their men to approach the city gate.
Sure enough, the three imperial doctors and the twenty imperial guards who escorted them stood at the gate, helpless, and it seemed that there was no one on the gate.
Su Qianqian rode a little white horse and led people around the city. It took a full hour from the north gate to the south gate, but this gate was just as tightly closed as the north gate.
However, Su Qianqian discovered a phenomenon: the official road facing the south city gate was obviously often walked on.
Su Qianqian led his men further south along the official road and discovered many farms. Coincidentally, people were driving carts out of a farm, and several carts were loaded with straw bags and jars.
Su Qianqian ordered Qin Shiliu to capture the leader.
"Where did the hero come from? This is rice and oil sent to the prefect. You should always follow the rules. The prefect has given what he should give. How can you come and steal it?"
The man who looked like the village head said bravely.
Qin Shiliu was also wearing a mask and black clothes at this time, so it was understandable that he was mistaken for a bandit.
"Why did the prefect close the city gates? We wanted to go into the city to buy some sundries but couldn't, so we came to find you and ask for a way to get into the city."
Su Qianqian pretended to speak in a male voice behind her face mask.
"It's not impossible to enter the city. I can take one or two people in, but not more than that. I'm worried that the relief envoys sent by the emperor may sneak in. I asked the prefect to go to Cangshan Village to comfort the victims. I heard that many people died there!"
The man who looked like a village head lowered his voice and spoke.
"Why did someone die?" Su Qianqian raised her eyebrows.
"His Royal Highness Prince Xiang brought relief money and grain to Hongzhou, and the prefect was extremely grateful. However, who would have thought that after distributing more than half of the money and grain, the prefect did not benefit from it, and an epidemic broke out in Cangshan Village!"
The village head didn't seem to be afraid of the bandits and started gossiping.
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