Chapter 656, Response
"What did you say?!"
Daohua looked at Yan Shouhou in shock and asked anxiously, "Why was my father imprisoned?"
Yan Shouhou gasped and said, "The 100,000 dan of military rations collected by the government office have been lost. Today is the day when Governor Yuan came to collect the rations. When he saw that the rations were missing, he arrested me."
Daohua couldn't believe it: "How could 100,000 dan of military rations be lost just like that?"
Yan Shouhou didn't bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He shook his head and said, "I don't know exactly what happened."
Gu Jian heard this and quickly said to Daohua, "Go back and take a look."
Daohua nodded and said, "Then Master, I will go back first." After that, she did not bother to pack up her things and hurriedly followed Yan Shouhou out of Taohua An.
After Daohua left, Gu Jian said to Dongli, "Go with me and find out what's going on. If you have any news, let me know."
He had met Yan Zhigao several times. How could such a cautious person lose the military rations?
Dongli nodded and quickly slipped away.
After getting off the boat, Daohua rode a carriage and rushed back to the city.
Not long after entering the city gate, we met the Jiang family's carriage leaving the city.
"Is this Miss Yan's carriage?"
The Jiang family maid stepped forward to ask.
Daohua was anxious and didn't want to deal with the Jiang family, but the other party's carriage blocked the intersection, forcing her to come forward.
"What's up?"
Daohua lifted the car curtain and asked.
The maidservant of the Jiang family said, "My county mistress wants to invite Miss Yan over to have a chat."
Daohua was stunned for a moment before she realized that the county lady the maid was talking about was Jiang Wanying. "I'm sorry, I have an emergency at home and I'm in a hurry to go home. Maybe next time, I'll send a note and come to see you."
In the carriage opposite, Jiang Wanying heard Daohua's refusal, sneered, and signaled the coachman to drive the carriage over.
When the two carriages were side by side, Jiang Wanying lifted the curtain and looked at Daohua. She looked her over unscrupulously before saying with a half-smile, "Miss Yan, long time no see."
Daohua frowned: "It's been a long time since we last met. Is there anything wrong, County Master?"
Jiang Wanying smiled and said, "I'm fine. I just wanted to talk to you for a while. Why, don't you want to?"
Seeing Jiang Wanying's expression of being kind to her, Daohua felt extremely disgusted and said directly, "I really don't want to do this. If the county lady has nothing else to do, I will leave first."
Jiang Wanying's expression froze for a moment, then she sneered, "Miss Yan is still as straightforward as ever. What's the matter? Do you think that just because you've charmed Brother Yang, you can ignore my Jiang family?"
Hearing this, Daohua looked at Jiang Wanying suddenly.
Jiang Wanying looked at Daohua sarcastically: "Who do you think you are? How dare you try to get close to Brother Yang? Don't you even look in the mirror to see if you are worthy enough?"
Daohua looked at Jiang Wanying with a cold gaze: "It's not your turn to judge whether I'm worthy or not."
Jiang Wanying's face darkened. She was so angry that she wanted to explode immediately, but suddenly she remembered something and sneered at Daohua: "I hope Miss Yan can maintain her courage and pride forever."
"Your father lost military rations, a serious crime. If the battle at the border is delayed because of this, even if your family is confiscated and exiled, it will not be enough to atone for the crime. I want to see how long you can maintain your arrogance."
Daohua narrowed her eyes and said, "Are you done talking, Lady County? If you are, I'll leave." After saying that, she signaled the coachman to start the carriage.
Watching the Yan family's carriage quickly go away, Jiang Wanying snorted coldly.
Thinking of the last purge of provincial government officials, when she saw Brother Yang protecting Yan Yiyi so carefully and intimately on the street, the anger in her heart couldn't help but erupt.
If she hadn't been concerned about Brother Yang and worried that he would dislike her, she would have wanted to deal with Yan Yiyi a long time ago.
This time, her family finally found an opportunity. Her mother was right. Without the protection of Prefect Yan, she, Yan Yiyi, would be nothing.
After separating from Jiang Wanying, Daohua's face darkened. Could the loss of military rations be related to the Jiang family?
Soon, they arrived at Yan's Mansion.
As soon as Daohua came back, she was told that Yan Zhigao had been taken to the provincial government.
"Why so quickly? Didn't Governor Yuan investigate? Even if the military rations were lost, wouldn't it be enough to just replenish them? There's no need to arrest anyone, right?"
Steward Sun said anxiously, "Master also promised Governor Yuan that we would replace the lost military rations as soon as possible, but Governor Yuan said that the war in the northern border is urgent, and the military rations collected in Zhongzhou must be shipped to the northern border in three days. There is no time for our family to collect new military rations. Master has lost the military rations, which has delayed the military operation."
Daohua's brows were tightly furrowed. Although Governor Yuan seemed to be doing his job impartially, she had a strong feeling that he was deliberately making things difficult for the Yan family.
"Where's my eldest brother?"
Steward Sun: "Master went to the provincial government with me to find a way to raise food."
Daohua: "As long as we can supply 100,000 dan of grain within three days, father will be fine."
Butler Sun nodded.
After confirming this, Daohua breathed a sigh of relief.
In less than three days, she could produce 100,000 shi of grain. As long as she could make up for it, her father would be fine.
Daohua forced herself to calm down, then quickly sorted out her thoughts. Soon, she said to Yan Shouhou, "Go and prepare 100,000 dan of grain immediately. Also, go and call Cao Chuan and Guangtou and the others to come to me."
Yan Shouhou nodded and trotted away.
Daohua looked at Steward Sun again and said, "There's no way 100,000 dan of grain could have been lost without a word. Father didn't know anything about it beforehand?"
Steward Sun said with a bitter face, "The grain was originally stored in the granary, but a few days ago, Governor Yuan sent an order for you to load it onto the ships in advance. You also took the safety of the grain into consideration and specially selected a relatively secluded river estuary for loading. But when I went there this morning, all the ships were gone."
Upon hearing this, Daohua immediately called Wang Maner and whispered in her ear, "Go find Deshou. Tell him to search along the Grand Canal and make sure the lost grain is recovered."
Wang Maner nodded in agreement and left quickly.
Daohua was silent for a moment, then asked Steward Sun again, "Who knows where the ship is being loaded?"
Steward Sun quickly replied, "The only ones I know about it are the master and the second master. As for who else in the government knows about it, I don't know."
Daohua hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is Master Xiao still in the yamen?"
Steward Sun nodded. "When the master was taken away, he told Master Xiao to look for the lost grain. He should be at the yamen now."
Daohua: "Go and call him over to me. I'll meet him at the waterside pavilion at Chuihua Gate."
After hearing this, Butler Sun ran to the front yard and brought Master Xiao over in a short while.
Daohua bowed to Mr. Xiao, then went straight to the point and asked, "Mr. Xiao, do you know how my father offended Governor Yuan?"
Master Xiao shook his head. "Your Excellency and Governor Yuan haven't even met, so how can there be any offense?"
Daohua's expression froze. "Are you sure? After listening to Housekeeper Su's account of the lost grain, I feel like Governor Yuan is deliberately setting a trap for my father."
Master Xiao sighed. He felt the same way, but unfortunately he couldn't find any evidence. "My dear, the master really hasn't offended Governor Yuan. Besides, we can't say that Governor Yuan is setting a trap for you."
"Because all the prefects in Zhongzhou received the order to load the grain onto ships in advance. The only difference is that the grain in Ningmen Prefecture was lost."
Daohua narrowed her eyes and asked, "Master, are you saying that the missing grain incident has nothing to do with Governor Yuan?"
Master Xiao nodded, then shook his head: "At least we have no evidence."
Daohua was silent for a moment. "But Governor Yuan is targeting my father. Master, you must have sensed that, right?"
Master Xiao nodded. It was really unreasonable to arrest the head of a prefecture immediately after seeing that the military rations were lost.
Daohua: "Governor Yuan wouldn't do something like this for no reason, would he?"
Master Xiao hesitated for a moment and said, "Maybe it was the potatoes that caused the trouble."
Daohua looked puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Master Xiao: "The high potato yield was reported to the Provincial Administration Commissioner not long ago."
Daohua thought for a moment before reacting: "You mean, Governor Yuan wants to take credit for the potatoes?"
Master Xiao nodded. "The potato yield per mu is as high as more than ten dan. You can imagine how many people can be fed once this is promoted. If this matter is reported to the court, the credit will be enormous. It's no surprise that Governor Yuan is interested."
Daohua sneered: "How can this person be so bold?"
Master Xiao pursed his lips and said nothing. There were too many cases of people stealing other people's credit in the officialdom.
Daohua thought for a moment and looked at Butler Sun: "Go to the provincial government immediately and tell my eldest brother that my father reported the potato incident to the court last year. Ask him to find a chance to tell Governor Yuan."
Housekeeper Sun hesitated. Wasn't it a bit hasty to let a young girl handle such an important matter? Although he thought so in his heart, he finally agreed and left.
Now the old lady and the lady are both extremely anxious. The eldest grandmother has just married into the Yan family and has no confidence yet, so it is not easy for her to interfere in the affairs of her husband's family. The people in the second and third rooms are even more confused when encountering problems.
After all the calculations, it turned out that only the eldest girl could take the lead.
Afterwards, Daohua asked Master Xiao for a list of people who knew the location of the grain ship.
That night, Yan Shouhou arrived with Cao Chuan and the bald men.
Daohua directly handed the list to a few people: "Go check these people and see who they have been in contact with recently, especially to see if they have had any contact with the Jiang family."
Cao Chuan and his companions, who received the task for the first time, took the list solemnly and said, "Don't worry, young lady. We promise to do a good job."
Daohua didn't react much: "I only look at the results."
Upon hearing this, Cao Chuan and his companions said nothing more and quickly retreated.
After the people left, Daohua looked at Yan Shouhou and asked, "Has the grain been loaded onto the ship?"
Yan Shouhou nodded: "It's ready."
Daohua: "You should take the grain ship to the provincial government right now and openly hand the grain over to Governor Yuan. It would be best if everyone knows that you are delivering grain."
Yan Shouhou took note of it carefully and left quickly after making sure that Daohua had no other instructions.
After doing all this, Daohua recalled the course of events again, making sure there were no omissions before turning around and going to the old lady's yard.
(End of this chapter)
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