Chapter 79
"Something out of the ordinary must be wrong." A hint of vigilance flashed in Li Song's eyes. "The calmer he is, the more confident he is. Keep a close eye on every move in Prince Yan's mansion, especially Song Qingyuan! This woman is the biggest variable. I have a feeling she won't just sit there and wait for death."
"yes!"
Yet, for several days, the Prince of Yan's residence remained peaceful. Song Qingyuan, having "caught a cold," closed the door to visitors and never appeared again. Everything was as normal as it could be.
This calmness, on the contrary, made Li Song even more uneasy. He was like a hunter who had set a trap, but waited for the prey to panic and react, which made him doubt the effectiveness of his trap.
Just when Li Song was suspicious, an unexpected news reached his ears.
"Grand Master! This is bad!" A steward came running in, his face pale. "Qian... Qian Wanjin and the others were captured... captured by soldiers at Qingfeng Ferry!"
"What?!" Li Song stood up suddenly. "What's going on? Didn't we agree to have them disguise themselves as pirates and flee far away after the mission was accomplished?"
"They ran away, but... but Zhao Lin, the commander of Prince Yan's guards, used some unknown method to follow the clues and found their lair! He caught them red-handed! When Qian Wanjin was arrested, he was still shouting, 'It was... It was ordered by you, the Grand Tutor!'" The housekeeper was trembling with fear.
"You bastard!" Li Song was so angry that his eyes went dark and he almost fell down.
He had calculated everything, but he hadn't expected Shen Yanzhi to act so quickly and be so cruel! He hadn't expected Qian Wanjin, this idiot, to be so naive and give himself away as soon as he was caught!
Although there was no direct evidence, the fact that Qian Wanjin had been a guest of honor at the Grand Tutor's Mansion was well known in the capital. This basin of dirty water was thrown firmly on him.
"Grand Master, what should we do now? The Prince of Yan's Mansion has already submitted the witnesses and some...some specious physical evidence to the Dali Temple!"
Li Song's face turned pale. He understood that Shen Yanzhi was fighting back.
He used a swift and decisive arrest to tell everyone that anyone who touched him should be prepared to be uprooted.
And this is just the beginning.
The very next day after Qian Wanjin was arrested, a new story began to circulate in the capital.
"Have you heard? The Shu Salt fleet was attacked on the way. It was the Second Prince and the Grand Tutor's Mansion who were unwilling to accept defeat and sent people to do it!"
"I told you! Apart from them, who else is so vicious and can't bear to see us ordinary people live a good life!"
"How insane! He's downfallen, yet he drags the entire city down with him! People like him deserve to be hacked into pieces!"
Public opinion was once again ignited, and this time, the spearhead was more precise and more deadly.
If the previous "secret possession of weapons" was just a figment of the imagination, then this time's "colluding with water bandits and robbing official salt" seemed extremely real and credible in the face of the "fact" that Qian Wanjin was arrested.
The Second Prince, Shen Yanhong, who was reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors, was so angry when he heard the news that he vomited blood and fainted on the spot.
Li Song, on the other hand, experienced the feeling of being overwhelmed for the first time. On the one hand, he had to deal with the summons from the Dali Temple and the impeachment of his political opponents, while on the other hand, he had to find a way to suppress the overwhelming public opinion.
The trap he set up eventually backfired and trapped himself.
He finally understood that Shen Yanzhi's calmness during those days was not a pretense, but a final preparation for this thunderous counterattack.
He stayed in the capital, attracting all his attention, while the real killer move was quietly carried out thousands of miles away.
He was fooled!
Li Song sat on the armchair and felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He suddenly realized an even more terrifying possibility.
Shen Yanzhi went to such great lengths to arrest people and create momentum. Was it really to fight back against him?
Or is he... stalling for time?
Why was he stalling? What was he waiting for?
A thought flashed through Li Song's mind like lightning.
Salt!
Shen Yanzhi didn't care about the loss of 50,000 stones of salt at all! What he cared about was how to stabilize the situation in the capital before the Shu salt actually arrived, and how to completely crush himself!
But if there wasn't enough salt, how could he fulfill his promise to the people of the city? Those salt coupons he issued would become death warrants that would eventually cost him his life!
unless……
Unless he has another source of salt!
Li Song's pupils suddenly shrank.
"Song Qingyuan!" He spat out the name through gritted teeth.
Shen Yanzhi was responsible for attracting firepower in the open, while Song Qingyuan must be in the dark, executing the most crucial plan that he was unaware of!
"Hurry! Check! Find out where Song Qingyuan is! She is definitely not recuperating in the palace! She must have left the city!" Li Song roared at the outside of the door.
However, it was too late.
On the evening of the ninth day after he gave the order.
At the east gate of the capital, a long convoy of cars slowly came into everyone's sight under the reflection of the sunset.
The convoy was covered with thick oilcloth, but one could still see that the cargo was piled up like a mountain.
On the leading horse, there was a woman in tight clothes, with an upright posture. Although her face looked a little worldly, her eyes were as bright as the stars in the sky.
It was the Princess of Yan, Song Qingyuan, who had disappeared for nine days.
Behind her, the convoy stretched for miles, with no end in sight.
The soldiers guarding the city came forward to question him. Song Qingyuan took out a token and said loudly:
"I'm here on the orders of the King of Yan to deliver salt to the people of the capital!"
Her voice was clear and carried throughout the entire city wall.
Everyone was stunned.
Isn't the Shu salt fleet still on the way? Where...where did this salt come from?
A brave citizen came forward and carefully lifted a corner of the oilcloth.
In an instant, everyone gasped.
I saw that the car was loaded with...
Snow.
No, not snow.
It's salt.
It is salt that is as white, delicate and crystal clear as the first snow in winter!
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the mountain of salt sparkled with a warm and holy light, stinging everyone's eyes and igniting the ecstasy in everyone's heart.
"Salt! It's salt!"
"Oh my god! That's so much salt! It's higher than a mountain!"
"Princess Princess...Princess Princess really did bring us salt!"
After a brief silence, there was thunderous cheers.
People came from all directions, looking at the magnificent convoy and the woman on horseback who looked like a god descending to the earth, their eyes filled with tears of excitement.
They didn't know where the salt came from, they only knew that their wait was not in vain and their trust was rewarded.
Song Qingyuan sat upright on his horse, facing countless fanatical and grateful gazes, his heart pounding.
She turned around and looked towards the depths of the capital, in the direction of Prince Yan's Mansion.
Yanzhi, I'm back.
I came back with our victory.
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