It was the first time that Song Wan was urged by his son to rob his father's money. Yao Liwei was so different from others, he should stay here and farm the land well.
And just based on his attitude, he should have an extra bowl of meat in the evening.
In the evening, after a hard day's work, Yao Liwei put down his hoe and returned to his thatched cottage. Seeing a bowl of braised pork on the dining table, he fell into deep thought.
Did you get it so quickly? Is this meat only available tonight, or will it be available later?
Why is that soft, sweet thing that tasted so good that day gone?
Yao Liwei used chopsticks to dig repeatedly in the meat bowl, and there was really only meat.
It seems that not much silver was robbed this time.
Li Hu brought over his stir-fried vegetables. Seeing that he kept picking at them but not eating them, he was really wasting the meat. "If you don't want to eat them, I'll help you."
He hadn't eaten meat for several days. The last time he had eaten meat was four or five days ago, when he ate the minced meat in a bowl of minced meat eggplant.
Yao Liwei quickly covered the mouth of the bowl to prevent the other party from taking a peek. "You're dreaming!" How could his own flesh go into someone else's mouth!
Li Hu: "...I remember that Young Master Yao never liked to eat such greasy food when he was in the mansion, so..."
"You are the greasy one, your whole family is greasy!" When Yao Liwei heard him say this about the braised pork in his bowl, he immediately felt protective of the meat.
Li Hu... There's no difference between me and my whole family.
The steward who was sent back to Beijing to get the silver has left the capital and is heading towards Xinzhou.
From the capital to Xinzhou, one has to pass through seven prefectures and cover a distance of 2,000 miles. The round trip takes at least two months.
Counting the days, they should be arriving in Xinzhou City soon. Yao Xu had been waiting for more than two months, and finally the housekeeper was coming back with the silver.
God knows how he has been living these past two months, living frugally and even not going into the backyard in order to save energy and not get hungry so quickly.
He even reluctantly dismissed several beautiful concubines in the mansion and stayed in the study in the front yard all day, with only a few secret guards protecting him.
What Yao Xu didn't know was that his action of dismissing his concubines had unknowingly caused a lot of criticism.
Concubine Yu is one of them. Her son was kidnapped and the master of the family was unwilling to pay the ransom. Unable to see whether her son was safe, she won over Concubine Mei, who had recently gained favor.
She wanted to know whether Yao Xu had a homosexual tendency. Concubine Mei came into the mansion in May last year, and it had not even been a year yet.
Inside the Yulan Pavilion, Aunt Yu pulled Aunt Mei aside and asked, "How is it? I remember the master went to your courtyard last night. Did you guys go there?"
Aunt Mei couldn't let go of the new jade bracelet. She raised her eyebrows and said, "I just helped massage his shoulders yesterday, but the master didn't seem interested at all."
When Aunt Yu heard this, her face immediately turned bad. "This master hasn't been to the backyard for two months. Could it be that he really has fallen in love with one of the young men in Chunfeng Tower?"
Aunt Mei was so shocked that she almost dropped the bracelet. She stammered, "Chun, the young waiter from Chunfeng Tower? No way, how could the master..."
Aunt Yu looked at her with disdain, "You usually like to sneak into the master's study so much, how come you don't even know about this?"
Aunt Mei's eyes flickered, "Just because you like it doesn't mean you go there every day."
"What a coincidence! On the day you were away, someone saw the master and a guard in the mansion lying on the floor in disheveled clothes in the study."
Aunt Mei was shocked. Recalling that she had helped the other person massage not long ago, she now felt disgusted.
"So I was wondering if the master's sudden dismissal of his concubines was related to this incident. He used to love my daughter, Wei'er, the most, but now he's not even willing to pay a ransom." Concubine Yu covered her face and cried, "I wonder which vixen in Chunfeng Tower has bewitched her!"
Hearing her mention Chunfeng Tower again and again, Aunt Mei rolled her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe you're mistaken. Maybe the master is just too tired recently, so he rarely comes to our courtyard?"
Seeing that she was still speaking for Yao Xu, Aunt Yu was furious, "You don't have a son, of course you're not worried!"
She is already old and ugly, and her only support is her son. Now that her son is gone, how will she live in the future!
What Aunt Mei hated most was people saying that she had no son. All the women in the mansion who came after her and were favored by the master had been pregnant, but she was not.
"Since you have already made up your mind, why are you still looking for me?" Aunt Mei's face turned cold. "I remembered that I have something else to do, so I will take my leave, Sister Yu."
After leaving Magnolia Pavilion, Aunt Mei did not return to her own courtyard, but quietly left the house through the corner door in the backyard.
Yao Xu waited day and night, and the housekeeper finally returned to Xinzhou with more than a dozen carts of gold, silver and jewelry. Dozens of carriages were parked at the door, all of which were temporarily transferred from shops in the capital.
After more than a dozen carriages entered the mansion, Yao Xu had no intention of leaving these things in the mansion. He could not repeat the mistake of the last time.
He decided to hide these in the underground secret room of Chunfeng Tower, as he didn't believe they could find them.
In the mansion, Yao Xu only left one thousand taels of silver notes and a few bags of small change. When they were all used up, he sent his confidant to Chunfeng Tower to get more.
However, before Yao Xu could be happy for two days, the reply letter from the capital arrived.
The letter did not mention the decision on how to deal with the two rebels in Guizhou, but instead explicitly instructed him to get along with Jiang Zhen, the general stationed in Guizhou?!
Yao Xu read the secret letter over and over again, and finally confirmed that this was the order from the emperor. He suddenly felt chest tightness and shortness of breath.
He didn't know why the emperor in the capital didn't suspect Jiang Zhen after reading his letter. He was obviously the most suspicious. Without his permission and help, how could the Song and Gu families enter and exit Qiandi and Xinzhou so easily?
Gu Yan hurriedly brought Zhang Sheng to Song Wan, "Ah Wan, there's news from Xinzhou."
Song Wan's eyes lit up, "How much is there this time!"
Zhang Sheng glanced at Gu Yanji, then bowed and said, "There are eighteen carriages this time, most of which are filled with boxes of gold, silver and jewelry."
Gold, silver and jewelry are good. She likes things that are heavy. Silver bills and the like are light and fluttery, and she doesn't feel safe holding them in her hands.
"How come Yao Xu is so rich?" After the excitement, Song Wan began to think.
"The world is so big. A corrupt official like him, with big shots backing him up, can easily embezzle far more money from the people of two states." Gu Yan sneered.
"Then he is simply disgusting!" Song Wan clenched his fists.
"Well, he is indeed hateful." Gu Yan hurriedly followed her words.
"After we're done with this robbery, how about we capture him and use him as fertilizer?"
It’s easy to guess what the ancient fertilizers were, and Song Wan thought this was a good idea.
"Miss Song," Zhang Sheng interrupted, "Wouldn't that be too obvious? If we reveal our flaws, we could be in danger."
In addition to protecting the young prince, his mission was also ordered by the late emperor. If he ultimately failed to protect the young prince and get him to that position, the secret guards would spend the rest of their lives at the service of the Song and Gu families, obeying their orders and swearing to protect the safety of the two families with their lives.
"We can just kidnap him secretly and then find someone to impersonate him." Song Wan thought simply.
"It's still not appropriate. Yao Xu has many concubines and maids in his house. If he wants to pretend to be someone else, the problem can be seen from the dozen or so concubines alone." Although Zhang Sheng also felt that it was safest to keep the person completely under his own control, this matter needed to be considered carefully.
"You can let Yao Xu indulge in male homosexuality." Isn't it enough to just dismiss the concubine?
Zhang Sheng was puzzled as to whether Yao Xu was a homosexual and how they could know for sure.
Gu Yanji spoke up at the right time to explain for her and Zhang Sheng, "Last time I went to Xinzhou, Awan and I did something."
Zhang Sheng suddenly had a bad feeling. "...Could it be related to Yao Xu's homosexuality?"
Gu Yan nodded anxiously under his gaze and said concisely, "There must be rumors in his mansion now that he and his personal guards are having a secret meeting in his study."
Zhang Sheng... can actually be like this.
"It's decided. After we rob the silver, we'll capture him and make him work!" Song Wan said with a decisive gesture.
"Then I'll let my brothers prepare!" Zhang Sheng was not a hesitant person. Since he was going to do it, he might as well go all out and secretly take over Xinzhou City first.
As soon as Zhang Sheng left, Jiang Zhen arrived, bringing with him the emperor's oral instructions. "I guess the letter Yao Xu sent to the capital worked. The emperor secretly sent someone to let me supervise you."
"Why does the emperor make it so difficult to supervise us? Why doesn't he just kill us directly?" Song Wan tilted his head in confusion.
"Because he doesn't dare." Gu Yan sneered anxiously, "There is no fighting in the northwest and southwest now. He hasn't completely subdued the armies of the two places. Qiandi is much closer to these two places than the capital."
"So he's afraid that if we push him too hard, we'll rebel directly. Then he won't even know whether the soldiers from the southwest and northwest will help him or not. Is that what you mean?" Song Wan frowned. He felt that being an emperor was so tiring. He had to think so much. He wondered if being a general was also so tiring.
"Awan is so smart." Gu Yanji praised her without hesitation.
After being praised suddenly, Song Wan seemed to feel less tired.
But she still had a question, "Since those soldiers may not necessarily listen to this emperor, why don't you just tell everyone about A Yu's identity, kick the current emperor down, and let A Yu take the throne?"
Jiang Zhen was slightly surprised when he heard this. General Gu actually told Miss Song this secret.
"Ayu is still too young. The Dai Viet Dynasty may appear strong on the surface, but after years of war, it has become rotten from within. If another young ruler succeeds, it will surely cause unrest in the government and the country. Then the Daye and Qiang tribes, who have been defeated by Dai Viet year after year but still harbor relentless evil intentions, and even the smaller tribes in the east, will be ready to make a move again."
Gu Yan hurriedly explained, "But after the two major wars in the northwest and southwest last year, the imperial treasury is empty. If there are two more such wars, there will not be enough food and grass to support it."
Therefore, the late emperor knew that it was the labor-inducing drug sent by King Xiang that caused Queen Qi to die from hemorrhage and difficult labor, but he still endured it.
In addition to being Ayu's father and Queen Qi's husband, he is also a king. There are millions of people in this world who need his protection.
"When Prince Xiang ascends the throne, as long as he doesn't do anything drastic, the true situation of the Dai Viet Dynasty can be concealed for at least another seven or eight years. By then, A Yu will have grown up." This was the original plan of the late emperor.
However, Gu Yanji always felt that this plan would end early because of Song Wan's arrival. Once potatoes that can produce 1,000 kilograms per mu can be widely planted, it may only take three to five years for Dai Viet to return to its heyday.
Gu Yanji would sometimes sigh that the previous emperor had secretly conducted research for ten years but had not succeeded in increasing grain production. However, as soon as Song Wan arrived, she discovered that the world she lived in could produce a thousand kilograms of food per mu.
Perhaps Dai Viet's fate is really more than this.
Song Wan understood completely, "So now the emperor is just a maze, used to confuse the enemy, right?"
Gu Yan smiled anxiously and raised her hand to touch her soft hair, "You can say that."
"But isn't Ayu's uncle very rich?" In Song Wan's understanding, money can buy a lot of food. In the end times, even if food is scarce, gold and silver can still be circulated.
Some people who have awakened metal abilities will use the food they have collected to exchange for improving their own abilities.
"What does it matter if we have a lot of gold and silver? The soldiers at the border can't just eat when they're hungry." Gu Yan said anxiously, "Food is the most important thing."
"Yes, Miss Song, you don't know that more than a hundred years ago in Daye, a young man from a noble family found a kind of grain that could produce a thousand kilograms per mu. It is said that in order to prevent Dai Viet and the Qiang people from obtaining it, the emperor of Daye at that time specially designated several royal fields and planted it secretly, exclusively for the royal family and soldiers on the border." Before being demoted to Guizhou, Jiang Zhen had also fought on the battlefield, so he had heard of this matter.
When this secret first spread, no one in Dai Viet, whether the common people or the royal family, believed it.
But whenever there was a shortage of food at the border, the Daye soldiers would throw a few cooked ones towards them, deliberately angering the Daye soldiers.
Only then did they realize that it was true.
One thousand kilograms per mu?
Song Wan thought about it and wondered if that young man from a noble family had also traveled through time.
"Hey, big bearded man, do you remember what the other guy threw at you looked like? What did it taste like?"
If Jiang Zhen hadn't been so hungry at the time, he would never have picked up the food thrown by the enemy, but even if he could endure it, his brothers couldn't go without food.
So Jiang Zhen had picked it up twice and tasted a small piece, and he still remembered the taste.
"It tastes sweet and is relatively soft even when cold. The skin is red, and the inside is white and red. It's very large, not smaller than the potatoes you found, Miss Song, and may even be larger."
Through the description of the bearded man, Song Wan could be sure that this was sweet potato, and that the young man from a noble family was most likely a time traveler.
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