This child is beyond redemption.
Qi Ming, trembling with fear, knelt down. "Grand Tutor... I really... please spare me! I'm just trying to make a living! There are over a dozen people in my household; it's really hard to support them all." Tang Feng's expression softened somewhat. He coughed a few times, covered his mouth, and slowly sat down. "Lord Qi, have you considered redeeming yourself through meritorious service?" Qi Ming looked up at Tang Feng and grinned. "Of course I have. As long as the Grand Tutor gives the order, I will have no complaints." Tang Feng nodded and then said to Li Yunyu, "Your Highness, I have indeed been unwell these past few days. Please have Qi Ming take you to the disaster area tomorrow! You will be in charge of distributing the relief funds and grain. When you return, please be sure to tell me about the situation there." Li Yunyu nodded. "Yunyu understands. Sir, please rest well tomorrow. I've heard you coughing the whole way. Leave everything to Yunyu. Please rest well these next few days."
Tang Feng looked down at Qi Ming. "Then... Lord Qi, do your best tomorrow and try to get leniency?" "Leniency, leniency." Qi Ming nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and Tang Feng didn't bother to reply. He was exhausted from traveling these past few days, and he stood up by leaning on the stone table. He didn't say anything more. Zhou Ziliang and Zhang Mobai followed him into the house. "Xiao Feng, aren't you going to the disaster area tomorrow?" Zhou Ziliang thought that with Tang Feng's personality, he would definitely go. He had gone to Daze before. He could have corresponded with Lord Fang in Lanxi, but he insisted on going to Daze. "I'm not going. I just want to tell His Highness not to rely on me too much. Today when he came to the Qi residence, His Highness acted like my follower. No wonder Qi Ming is trying to curry favor with me." Tang Feng smiled bitterly. "Since His Highness saw His Majesty at the Misty Forest Garden that day, His Highness has obviously relied on me even more. But... how can I help him forever? I..." He felt Zhou Ziliang holding his wrist. Tang Feng's fingertips tightened, and he immediately shut his mouth. Then he looked at Zhang Mobai, "Little madman... you go with him tomorrow and keep an eye on things for me. Qi Ming is usually glib, don't let him fool the Ninth Prince." Zhang Mobai naturally agreed to Tang Feng's request, "Don't worry, little brother, I'll keep an eye on things. If anything happens, I'll come back and tell you. You should rest early today, I'm going back too." Tang Feng nodded, and only after seeing Zhang Mobai leave did he look up at Zhou Ziliang, "Are you unhappy? I just misspoke for a moment, don't be angry..." Zhou Ziliang sat down next to Tang Feng and patted his hand, "I'm not angry, it's just that hearing you say that makes me feel a little choked up. I can go tomorrow, why do you have to make Mobai go?"
“If I really send you, His Highness the Ninth Prince will think I don’t trust him. Mo Bai was sent by the Ministry of Revenue… so it’s only natural for him to go. Also… you should stay and take care of me! I’ve probably been working too hard lately; my whole body aches.” Zhou Ziliang sighed and helped Tang Feng lie down. “Get some rest today. You’ve been a bit tired these past few days. I’ll prepare the medicine tomorrow morning.” Tang Feng didn’t tell Zhou Ziliang that he had been too tired these past few days, and his chest was starting to ache again. Tang Feng knew that everyone was worried about the flood, and if he told them, it might affect the progress. He lay in bed and endured the pain until he finally fell asleep.
The next day, Zhang Mobai set off with Li Yunyu and Qi Ming. Qi Ming, seeing Li Yunyu walking beside him, stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Luo River is still quite a distance from Liangzhou! Perhaps we should split our journey into two days? Besides, the roads become difficult once we enter the Luo River region." Li Yunyu habitually glanced to the side and, seeing Zhang Mobai beside him, remembered that Tang Feng was recuperating at his residence that day and hadn't come along. "Your Highness, you can do it your own way. How can you grow if you rely on Grand Tutor Tang for everything?" Zhang Mobai also saw through Li Yunyu's thoughts. Li Yunyu lowered his head and asked softly, "Minister Zhang, what about the Master...?"
"Your Highness, please do not inquire about the past. Just focus on the present. If you are still not able to walk properly, I advise Your Highness not to try to run." Li Yunyu was speechless after Zhang Mobai's words and dared not ask anything more. He lowered his head and rode slowly. Zhang Mobai, who was lagging behind, couldn't help but feel sorry for Tang Feng. Was this the same prince he had helped even when he was ill? Incompetent and talentless, he was simply a brute. No matter how many failures Li Yunrui had made, he was still a wise prince. How could he have raised such a brother?
Li Yunyu remained silent the entire way. The closer they got to the Luo River, the more refugees they encountered. The living and the dead lay side-by-side, their hair disheveled, their eyes lifeless. Flies swarmed around them. An old woman, leaning on a wooden cane, knelt in the middle of the road. "Young master... please have mercy! I haven't eaten much for three days... please give me something." Li Yunyu frowned and pulled a steamed bun from his pocket, but Zhang Mobai grabbed his arm. "Your Highness, it's still over ten kilometers to the Luo River. The number of refugees will only increase along the way. Are you planning to give alms to them all? You'd be better off getting to the Luo River and solving the problem sooner." Li Yunyu felt a little awkward after being reprimanded twice by Zhang Mobai. He pulled on the reins and shook off Zhang Mobai's hand. "Thank you for the reminder, Minister Zhang. I'll be more careful next time."
Although they had set out early, the procession carrying the silver could not keep up. Despite the short distance, they had not reached the Luo River by evening. After calculating the remaining distance, Zhang Mobai ordered them to set up camp on the spot. He thought that he had indeed spoken too harshly to Li Yunyu today and wanted to apologize to him. After all, Li Yunyu was a prince, and he should give him the respect he deserved. At this moment, Li Yunyu and Qi Ming sat together. "Your Highness, I heard there's a Mazu temple ahead. Why don't you go to the temple tomorrow to pray for the people? Look at the suffering of the people along the way." Li Yunyu glanced at Qi Ming. "The people are suffering because of your corruption. It's only because the Master hasn't punished you. If it were me, I would have taken you back to Xiling long ago." Qi Ming quickly nodded and bowed, saying that if it weren't for Tang Feng, he would have been dead long ago. He would never forget their great kindness. Although Zhang Mobai was unhappy, he didn't step forward to disturb them. He just listened from behind. "Your Highness, look, if the people knew that the Prince went to the Mazu temple on the mountaintop to pray for them, wouldn't they be moved to tears?"
"But... the master told me to get to Luohe as soon as possible and find a way to solve the disaster victims' problem."
Seeing Li Yunyu hesitate, Qi Ming also became anxious. "We in Yanyun have always attached great importance to sacrifices. Isn't praying for blessings one of the solutions?"
Zhang Mobai saw through Qi Ming's ulterior motives and stepped forward to advise him, "If praying for blessings were effective, why didn't you go to pray for blessings earlier, Lord Qi? Why wait until the floods broke out and people died before you went to pray for blessings? In my opinion, you're probably just trying to delay the time so that His Highness won't see the tragic state of the Luo River!"
Having been rebuked by Zhang Mobai twice during the day, Li Yunyu now had a somewhat negative impression of Zhang Mobai. So he said bluntly, "Minister Zhang, you said this morning that everything would be decided by me, but today's events have all been attempts to obstruct me. In my opinion, praying for blessings is good enough. The people can see my actions, and Heaven can see my sincerity. You don't need to persuade me anymore."
Li Yunyu's words infuriated Zhang Mobai, who stomped his foot and said, "If it weren't for your brother's sake, who would care about you! What good are you anyway!" Although he thought this, Zhang Mobai didn't ignore it. He mounted his horse and rode back to the Qi residence that very night. Zhang Mobai didn't want to bother Tang Feng, but he knew this was Li Yunyu's first time leaving the palace on business, something Tang Feng had planned for a long time. If this went wrong, the chance to meet her again wouldn't be so easy.
Zhang Mobai returned the following morning. Tang Feng had just finished washing up and was sitting outside reading when he heard a commotion outside.
"Young man! His Highness the Ninth Prince didn't go to the Luohe Bridge."
Seeing Zhang Mobai return in a fluster, Tang Feng picked up his teacup and slowly asked, "What? Still on the way?"
He listened to Qi Ming's advice and went to the Mazu Temple to pray for blessings.
After listening, Tang Feng remained silent for a long time. His hand holding the teacup trembled. "Xiao Feng!" Zhou Ziliang called out, afraid that Tang Feng might push his luck and cause further health problems. After a long silence, Tang Feng forcefully threw the teacup away. It shattered on the ground, startling Zhang Mobai.
Seeing Tang Feng stand up and about to leave, Zhou Ziliang quickly stopped him, saying, "Xiao Feng, don't get agitated. Maybe it's not what you think."
Tang Feng seemed deaf, pushing away Zhou Ziliang's hand that was supporting him, and strode out. "Someone! Prepare a horse for me! This little bastard, I asked him to do disaster relief, and he's going to pray for blessings? Does he even know what priorities are?" Zhang Mobai and Zhou Ziliang saw that Tang Feng was quite angry, and fearing that he might further upset them, they quickly called for the sedan chair bearers. Tang Feng said, "What kind of time is this? Do he think it doesn't matter that so many people have died in Luohe! Bring the horse over! By the time he finishes his prayers, all the people of Luohe will be dead!"
Tang Feng rode at full speed, knowing from the kneeling refugees on either side that Li Yunyu had already gone up the mountain to pray for blessings. He pulled on the reins, whipping the horse hard to urge it on. Zhang Mobai and Zhou Ziliang followed behind, extremely worried. "I shouldn't have come back to tell him," Zhang Mobai sighed. He had no idea Tang Feng was suddenly so angry. But Zhou Ziliang shook his head. "The Ninth Prince is young and often acts impulsively. He probably doesn't realize that praying for blessings will delay many things. Perhaps he wants to get things done quickly, but he doesn't understand the principle that haste makes waste. You were right to come back and tell Xiao Feng. Don't let this delay everything."
As soon as Tang Feng entered the Mazu Temple, he saw Li Yunyu kneeling before the statue, shaking divination sticks. Tang Feng was furious. He strode over to Li Yunyu, snatched the divination stick container from his hand, and threw it away forcefully.
"gentlemen?"
"Are you insane! Huh? Hundreds of thousands of lives are in your hands, the fate of the Luo River is in your hands. What's the use of shaking a few broken pieces of wood! Why didn't you shake them when you begged me! If gods and Buddhas really worked, your elder brother would be far more devout than you, praying for the people on behalf of the emperor! But did he foresee that he would be discarded like a spent bird after the bow is used, or that he would be cooked like a dog after the rabbit is killed? Did he foresee that he would be betrayed and never be able to recover? Did he foresee that he would live a life of integrity, only to be branded a traitor in the end?" Tang Feng pointed at Li Yunyu, his eyes turning black with anger. He remained silent for a long time, until his body calmed down before slowly saying, "Someone like you! Hesitating and looking back..." "Without ambition, even if the throne fell on your head, you wouldn't be able to shoulder such a heavy responsibility." Tang Feng shook his head repeatedly at Li Yunyu. "Your Highness...you've truly disappointed me." Reaching the doorway, he slowly knelt, leaning against a pillar. "I shouldn't have made that promise to your brother. He owed me, but seeing you like this...cough cough cough, it seems I've wronged him." Tang Feng felt a surge of blood in his chest, his vision blurred, and Zhou Ziliang and Zhang Mobai, standing at the doorway, rushed forward to support him. Blood slowly seeped from Tang Feng's mouth. He tried to sit down and rest, but his body swayed, and he collapsed with a thud in front of the Mazu Temple.
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