Chapter 16 Separate Actions
After Xiao Heng finished speaking, Gu Xiyue understood after thinking about it carefully.
After all, Xiao Heng was the crown prince before, and the court was full of complicated connections. Those who supported the crown prince before might not support others quickly. It was normal for some people to be wary of his comeback, especially the second prince who had taken the lead in opposing him before. He wanted to make those who supported the crown prince in the court completely give up. Only when Xiao Heng died would those people really give up.
"If you want to deal with me, just come directly at me. Why bother involving others?"
Xiao Heng's voice was so sad that Gu Xiyue felt uncomfortable listening to it.
If the villagers in the Southern Wilderness starved to death in this natural disaster, they would probably never know that it was because of Xiao Heng until they died.
If the villagers died, Xiao Heng would bear a heavy psychological burden even if he died. Whether he was alive or dead, he would be trapped in this knot in his heart forever.
"Gu Xiyue, it is me who has dragged you down after all!" Xiao Heng stared straight at Gu Xiyue with a sincere expression and apology in his eyes.
"Oh!" Gu Xiyue felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by him. She reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Everything is fine now. Don't make it seem like we're parting forever. I just asked Master Xu, and he said that since the higher-ups have told us people from the Southern Wilderness to fend for ourselves, there's nothing the three of them can do. It all depends on what we do."
Xiao Heng was a little surprised by her relaxed tone, and then his eyes suddenly lit up after hearing her say that.
"really!"
Gu Xiyue nodded solemnly, "But..."
"But what?" Xiao Heng's brows immediately furrowed, and his tone was obviously nervous.
Gu Xiyue couldn't help laughing at his expression, "But... we are not allowed to leave the Southern Wilderness, otherwise if there is trouble, they will be in big trouble."
"But I think when the time is right, we should be able to find a way out."
Xiao Heng breathed a sigh of relief, clapped his hands together, and squeezed them hard. "As long as we can find a way out, there will be hope for the villagers of the Southern Wasteland."
After saying that, he stared at Gu Xiyue with sparkling eyes and took two steps towards her.
Gu Xiyue was startled by his burning gaze. Seeing that he was about to hug her, she quickly took two steps back. Her face turned red and her ears were obviously burning.
Xiao Heng then clasped his hands together and bowed to her, "Miss Gu, it's no exaggeration to call her a heroine. Please accept my respects."
Seeing him bow to her, Gu Xiyue panicked even more and quickly jumped aside, "Your Highness, I can't bear it. Don't forget that we are a partnership. I said you cook and I earn money to support you. Naturally, I have to pay more attention to your safety. These are what I should do."
Seeing that she was indeed a little frightened, Xiao Heng withdrew his hand, his expression returned to calm, and he turned around to serve the rice.
"Originally, I was planning to..."
He stopped talking halfway, and Gu Xiyue looked at him puzzledly, "What was your highness planning to do?"
"Forget it, it's all over. Let's eat!" Xiao Heng smiled and shook his head, put the bowl of rice on the stove, and gestured to Gu Xiyue.
The originally thin stewed noodles seemed a little thicker than before because they had been simmering in the pot for a while. Gu Xiyue looked at the little rice left in the pot and poured half of the rice in his bowl into it.
"Eat less at night, it's good for your stomach."
Xiao Heng cooks a fixed amount of food every day so that they can eat their fill and not waste any food. Today, he served a bowl of food to Granny Liu, so there was less food for the four of them.
Xiao Heng wanted to stop her, but when he saw the person turned around and went to the table with the bowl, he had to give up. He filled half a bowl for himself and left the two bowls of rice in the pot for Meixiang and Wei Lin.
The moment Gu Xiyue sat down, he suddenly remembered a brief introduction in the original book. Xiao Heng later rebelled and became a tyrant after taking power.
I don’t know if the turning point of his transformation is related to this incident. If so, it means that from now on, Xiao Heng’s life trajectory will be changed.
Thinking of this, Gu Xiyue's hand holding the bowl trembled. If it was to be changed, it would have been changed long ago. In the original book, her body was no longer there, but now she is still here. Who knows what will happen in the future.
She had to be more respectful to him in the future. What if he really became a tyrant and remembered the dark history of him cooking for her? I wonder if he would kill her.
Just as I was thinking about it, Meixiang and Wei Lin came back one after another. They both had bitter faces when they entered the room, as if they had encountered something sad.
"Your Highness, Young Lady!" Meixiang was quick-witted. "While delivering food to Granny Liu, I heard many people crying in their rooms. They said the heavens were going to take them away, that the rain wouldn't stop, that the court no longer cared about them, that they were just going to starve to death. Even General Xu's shop in the east has stopped supplying them. What are we going to do from now on?"
Madam Li heard what Mr. Xu said at that time. She didn't expect that she would not be able to have a meal, but the news had spread throughout the Southern Wilderness.
Gu Xiyue nodded, "I understand, go get some food."
Wei Lin looked at Xiao Heng worriedly, "Your Highness..."
"Let's go eat first!"
Xiao Heng said expressionlessly.
Meixiang and Wei Lin looked at each other and felt a little strange. The sky seemed to be falling, but their master was still sitting there calmly eating, without any sadness at all.
The two of them simply stopped thinking about it and served the food.
After dinner, Meixiang went to wash the dishes, and Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng went back to their own rooms. After a while, they came to the middle room together. Gu Xiyue put her purse on the table, and Xiao Heng put a small bag.
After they opened it, Meixiang and Wei Lin were both shocked.
The master has taken out all his wealth.
Gu Xiyue looked at her own pitiful thirty-odd taels of silver, then at Xiao Heng's two hundred-odd taels of silver, and said in surprise, "Your Highness is so frugal!"
The difference in the amount of silver between the two of them was almost ten times. You know, on the way here, Xiao Heng divided all the silver in half and gave more than three hundred taels to the original body. Now she only has less than thirty taels of silver in her hand, and Xiao Heng only used more than thirty taels of his own silver.
"From now on, we will pool our silver together and you will keep it."
Meixiang looked at her young lady worriedly, fearing that she would squander the silver. She really wanted to ask His Highness to take charge of the money, but it would be against protocol for her to interrupt in front of the two masters.
Wei Lin also had a worried look on his face, staring at his master, fearing that Gu Xiyue would really take over the money and spend all of his master's money. What would he do then?
Under the gazes of the two, Gu Xiyue gathered all the silver together, touched it with a money-grubber look, and then pushed the silver together towards Xiao Heng.
"I think that money and other things are better managed by His Highness, so I'll leave it to His Highness. When I need money, I'll get it from you."
Meixiang and Wei Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, both feeling that the young lady's decision this time was very wise. They both looked at Xiao Heng, hoping that he would take over quickly.
Xiao Heng looked at the two of them with amusement, and nodded obediently, "Okay then, if you need money in the future, just ask me for it."
He put all the silver into the bundle. Gu Xiyue held the bundle and said, "Your Highness, I need the silver now."
Xiao Heng raised his eyebrows, feeling cheated. "How much do you want?"
Meixiang and Wei Lin looked at Xiao Heng nervously, feeling the same as him.
"I want to buy all the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, flour and grains from the store on the east side..."
Gu Xiyue looked at Xiao Heng with a wicked smile, "How much silver do you think is needed, Your Highness?"
Xiao Heng was stunned for a moment, then his brows relaxed and he nodded with a smile, "Take fifty taels first, and come back for more if it's not enough."
After saying this, he quickly took out fifty taels of silver.
Meixiang and Wei Lin were stunned.
Miss, are you crazy? You want to buy all the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, flour and grains in the store?
How much does that cost?
"Meixiang, Weilin, you two go and buy it with money. If you can't carry it, borrow the shop's cart and ask them to pack the things and send them back to you. If they refuse, give them some money."
After that, he said to Xiao Heng, "Your Highness, come with me to find Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu."
Xiao Heng nodded, agreeing with Gu Xiyue's assignment.
These things cannot be delayed. Since the higher-ups have already given up on the Southern Wilderness, they will definitely intensify their actions. They won't be the most ruthless, but will only get more ruthless.
Before it got completely dark, Meixiang and Wei Lin hurried to the store with some money to buy things.
Meixiang guessed why the young lady bought these things, and Wei Lin also guessed what the prince wanted to do. They both felt warm in their hearts and full of energy.
When they arrived at the store, Mr. Xu was about to close the shop and go back to rest. When he saw the two people coming, he quickly turned on the lights and asked them what they wanted to buy.
After hearing Meixiang's words, Xu Junye thought there was something wrong with his ears. He leaned forward and asked in confusion, "What did you say? Say it again?"
Meixiang repeated what she had just said.
"Master Xu, our master told us to buy all the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, flour and grains and take them home."
Uncle Xu frowned and stopped talking. He turned around and took out an account book from the cabinet. He squinted his eyes and looked at it under the oil lamp, fiddling with the abacus and muttering to himself.
"Three hundred and eighty catties of rice, fifty wen a catty, a total of... nineteen taels of silver. Four hundred and twenty catties of white flour, thirty wen a catty, a total of... twelve taels and six qian. Black flour..."
In the end, the total cost of white flour, black flour, corn flour, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar was seventy-six taels of silver.
After Mr. Xu finished his calculations, he sighed sadly, pushed the abacus aside, and looked at the things in the shop. "Give me seventy-five taels of silver, and take away everything in here."
Meixiang and Weilin paused for a moment, and Meixiang took out her bulging purse. "Master Xu, we didn't bring enough money. We only brought fifty taels. Can I bring the rest to you later?"
Xu Junye waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay, just bring it over tomorrow."
It was getting dark outside and the rain had just stopped. He thought for a moment and said, "There are two carts here. Wait a minute, I'll go call Brother Li, and he and I will help you pull it over."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com