Chapter 637 Playing the Riddle
Yang Tongpan was the most inconspicuous of all the Tongpan in Suzhou. He was both a classmate and a close friend of the deceased Zhou Tongzhi. When Zhou Tongzhi was ousted by He Biyou, he entrusted the evidence of He Biyou's embezzlement to Yang Tongpan before his death.
In the end, Judge Yang did not disappoint his old friend's trust. On the surface, he sided with He Biyou, but in reality, he secretly hid the evidence.
When Yun Yichen arrived, Magistrate Yang initially did not believe him. It wasn't until one day when he went out of the city and accidentally saw his old friend's young son meeting with Yun Yichen that Magistrate Yang found an opportunity to hand over the evidence he had to Yun Yichen.
He wanted to seek justice for his old friend, and Yun Yichen agreed. However, Yun Yichen told him that it was not the right time yet and promised him that when the time was right, he would definitely eradicate the scourge of Suzhou.
After that, Yang Tongpan secretly became Yun Yichen's informant to monitor that side.
After glancing at Gu Shuyan, Yun Yichen nodded and had the guards invite Lord Yang in.
"I wonder what business Lord Yang wishes to discuss with me?" Yun Yichen asked.
Upon hearing this, Judge Yang glanced at Gu Shuyan, clearly having some reservations about women listening to court proceedings.
Yun Yichen noticed Yang Tongpan's concerns and quickly said, "Lord Yang, please speak freely. My wife is not an ignorant woman; perhaps she can offer us some advice."
Hearing Yun Yichen say this, Judge Yang was finally relieved.
"My lord, the weather is getting colder, and the tents may not be enough to shelter the people. So I was thinking, could we arrange for some people to move into the houses that have been built? That way, they can at least temporarily keep warm."
Yun Yichen had thought of Yang Tongpan's idea before, but because the structure of the houses was different and the construction period was longer than that of their own houses in the villages outside the city, there were not many houses that could be lived in.
“There are many disaster victims in the city. If only some of them are allowed to stay in the houses, I’m afraid the other people will have objections. If they accidentally get into a quarrel, it will definitely cause unnecessary disputes.”
"In my opinion, we should wait until enough houses are built before moving people there. Besides, the Ministry of Revenue has not allocated much winter clothing, so there may be difficulties in distributing it."
As Yun Yichen spoke, a hint of melancholy appeared on his face. In previous years, it wouldn't have been difficult to gather enough warm clothing. However, this year was a bad year. Although the surrounding towns were not as severely affected as Suzhou, many people were still suffering from the disaster.
In addition, with local governments distributing grain and supplies to relieve disasters, the amount of clothing that could reach Suzhou was naturally even less.
"Everyone talks about clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. We currently have a relatively sufficient amount of food, but as for clothing and shelter..."
At this point, Magistrate Yang sighed heavily, his face clearly showing helplessness.
Seeing the two of them like this, Gu Shuyan couldn't help but smile and say, "Actually, we can meet their needs for clothing and shelter. It's not yet winter yet, so we can all squeeze in and get by for a while. Once winter arrives, I think we can solve both problems."
Looking at Gu Shuyan's smiling eyes and innocent expression, Judge Yang couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
As expected of a woman, she speaks so casually, without considering that it's already the end of October. Is it even possible to have everything you want in the winter?
Unlike Yang Tongpan's disappointment, Yun Yichen was delighted to hear Gu Shuyan's words.
"Shushu, have you thought of a good idea?"
In Yun Yichen's memory, Gu Shuyan never spoke carelessly. If she hadn't already had a plan, she would never have said such a thing.
"Does my husband still remember what we discussed when I first arrived?" Gu Shuyan asked.
When Gu Shuyan first arrived in Suzhou and saw that the people were sleeping on mats laid on the ground, she began to prepare for the winter.
Because of her experience living in the countryside, Gu Shuyan knew many ways to keep warm. Among them, the simplest was to use animal hair.
In order to obtain more animal fur, Gu Shuyan had Yun Yichen spread the word, urging the idle disaster victims outside the city to go up the mountain to hunt rabbits and other wild game whenever they had free time. She also bought up any surplus fur from the surrounding towns.
Furthermore, Gu Shuyan personally wrote a letter to Ji Wenxuan, instructing him to gather the border soldiers together and, under the pretext of going up the mountain to hunt and improve their meals, collect a large number of game pelts.
Once Ji Wenxuan delivers the furs, along with what the surrounding people have saved, it will be enough for the people of Suzhou to get through the winter.
Seeing Gu Shuyan smiling like a cat that had just stolen some cream, Yun Yichen couldn't help but affectionately poke her head.
"You little rascal, so you were already preparing back then!"
Without Gu Shuyan needing to spell it out, Yun Yichen had already guessed her plan. Back when he secretly left the Duke of Anguo's mansion to study martial arts in the north, he had also worn animal skins for warmth, so he was no stranger to this method.
Seeing the unspoken understanding between the couple, Judge Yang, though reluctant to interrupt them, couldn't suppress his doubts and had to speak up.
"Your Excellency, what preparations have been made? What exactly do you mean by this?" Judge Yang asked, looking completely bewildered.
"It's nothing, Lord Yang will find out in time."
Yun Yichen clearly didn't want Yang Tongpan to know yet, since the goods hadn't been transported into the city. If word got out, someone might try to cause trouble, which would be perfect for them to take advantage of.
"No, you just said you were prepared! Couldn't you have told me beforehand?"
Lord Yang found the riddle between the two quite tantalizing!
It feels like you're about to get what you want, but the other person tells you to wait, that it's not possible yet.
"Father, please don't ask anymore, let's go back first!"
The guards, standing to the side watching Magistrate Yang, couldn't help but offer their advice.
He had been working with Yun Yichen for quite some time and had a fairly good understanding of the man's personality. Since Yun Yichen said that they would know when the time came, he would never tell anyone in advance.
After glancing back at his son, Judge Yang, unable to resist the urge, finally returned home.
In the following days, however, he kept thinking about what preparations Gu Shuyan had made.
Finally, just when Judge Yang was about to go crazy, more than a dozen cartloads of animal skins were delivered into Suzhou City.
Gu Shuyan had already found women skilled in needlework, and as soon as the furs arrived, a large group of women sat around the tent and began making fur garments.
Because these were all women from the south, they were initially unfamiliar with the craft and resistant to it.
But seeing that even the once flamboyant and beauty-loving brothel owner was doing it, he couldn't complain anymore.
Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Gu Shuyan couldn't help but give the madam, Zhen Meiniang, a grateful look.
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