The money from the Ministry of Revenue hadn't even arrived when Han Yunxi and the rest received bad news.
Rumors were spreading all over the country that His Highness Duke of Qin had no way to save the famine victims, so he'd purposely delayed his journey to the disaster areas.
This was the hottest topic in the three disaster areas. Some even began to slander His Highness Duke of Qin for embezzling the silver from the charity bazaar. Instead of buying food with the money, he'd indulged Qin Wangfei in all sorts of extravagant spending.
Han Yunxi's mouth twitched at the news. Aren't these rumormongers a little too impatient? There were a total of 7,400,000 taels of silver from the charity bazaar. Of the remaining 5,000,000 taels, Long Fei Ye's own money, came from the imperial uncle's estate. He still hadn't sent over half of the silver!
Now they were accusing them of embezzling the money? That was an insult to His Highness Duke of Qin! Was it worth it to embezzle one or two million taels of silver?
Han Yunxi didn't know if she should feel unlucky or honored.
Fine, she gave Long Fei Ye an open-minded smile and said, "Your Highness, chenqie is a femme fatale. I've harmed the country and its people."
Long Fei Ye only glanced at her, disdaining to express his opinion.
Han Yunxi's bracelet alone was worth an entire country. Was the one or two million taels he'd embezzled enough to feed Han Yunxi to eat, drink, and play?
Clearly, the people who'd framed him had underestimated his wealth.
Although he'd gone to the black markets instead of the disaster areas, he'd sent people to spread false news and fake his whereabouts for Emperor Tianhui to see.
Only Emperor Tianhui or the imperial uncle could spread rumors throughout the country in such a short time.
"Your Highness, isn't that little bit of silver a joke? Who'd believe that? "Even Chu Xifeng knew how to calculate the cost!
But Wu Shu only said, "Your Highness, it'd be great if the common people could tell right from wrong. Rumors are fiercer than tigers. What a vicious move! "
Uncle Wu's words did not mean to belittle the commoners. It was just that the commoners had limited access to information, and the truth they knew was even more limited.
It was human nature to echo the opinions of others. Therefore, no matter how ridiculous the rumors were, they would spread. As they spread, they would become true, and as they spread, they would become history.
Therefore, the pen of the literati and the mouths of the commoners were both knives that could kill without leaving a trace.
It wasn't a secret that the imperial court hadn't done its best in providing relief, so it was no longer a secret that their grain had been stolen. Under these circumstances, the people of the disaster areas were all dissatisfied with the imperial court. Why would they care about the open and veiled struggles between His Highness Duke of Qin and Emperor Tianhui? In their eyes, His Highness Duke of Qin was the imperial envoy for disaster relief and represented the imperial court.
Once the news of the Duke of Qin's corruption continued to spread, there was a high chance that a riot would break out.
Hearing Wu Shu's words, Chu Xifeng immediately added, "Your Highness, as this subordinate sees it, their next step will be to incite the disaster victims to revolt!"
Han Yunxi nodded approvingly. The battle for the hearts of the people had just begun!
"Your Highness, according to this concubine's understanding, of the three disaster areas, South Ning County's situation is the most serious and the people there are the most ferocious." Han Yunxi said seriously.
"You know?" Long Fei Ye was surprised.
"Chenqie didn't know which region Your Highness was going to go to first, so I did some research," Han Yunxi replied honestly.
As expected, this woman was an excellent assistant. Although he hadn't given her any orders, she still took care of everything.
Long Fei Ye gave Han Yunxi a long look that made Han Yunxi uneasy.
"Chu Xifeng, starting tomorrow, conceal all of your lordship's movements! Go to South Ning County in secret and deliver 1.5 million dan of grain there. Split the rest evenly between the other two regions and send them all under secret escort! "Long Fei Ye instructed.
Han Yunxi was amused by his words.
Long Fei Ye was the most treacherous of all!
The rumors had already spread like wildfire, but he'd even faked his own movements.
Once all of his movements were concealed, even Emperor Tianhui wouldn't be able to find him. Heaven knows what kind of rumors would spread then!
Long Fei Ye was adding oil and vinegar to his own flames. Without a doubt, he'd draw the attention of the entire nation's citizens onto himself.
Under these circumstances, if he personally delivered grain to the disaster areas to clear his name, it'd cause a stir throughout the country.
Long Fei Ye was an expert at creating momentum, but this time he'd borrowed the momentum of Emperor Tianhui's efforts to create even more momentum for himself.
"This subordinate understands. This subordinate will do it right away!" Chu Xifeng left excitedly. He really couldn't wait to see His Highness Duke of Qin personally deliver grain to the disaster areas!
Just the thought of it was enough to make one excited!
Still, Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi were completely unperturbed. Long Fei Ye personally poured tea for Han Yunxi. Husband and wife didn't speak, but enjoyed the tea in tacit understanding.
Wu Shu watched from the sidelines and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. These two masters are more two-faced than the other.
It's best not to oppose this couple, or else you'll be played to death before you know it.
— The next day, Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi personally went to the southern suburbs to secretly deliver grain to South Ning Prefecture. Meanwhile, the carriage that had disguised itself as them suddenly vanished without a trace.
Very soon, Emperor Tianhui and the imperial uncle received the news.
"Your Majesty, His Highness Duke of Qin and esteemed wangfei suddenly vanished early this morning. The carriage was abandoned by the side of the road, along with their servants," the scout reported.
A complicated look flickered past the imperial uncle's eyes. "The Duke of Qin, this …"
"Heheh, no matter what tricks he's playing, he's doomed this time! The disaster victims want grain, not their lives! No matter what the Duke of Qin is playing, it's useless! "Emperor Tianhui laughed coldly.
It wasn't that Emperor Tianhui was being arrogant, but he was certain that Long Fei Ye didn't have enough grain to send to the disaster victims, nor did he have a way to transfer grain.
Even Long Fei Ye's Jiangnan estate was running low on grain, while the rest of Tianning's grain reserves had either been used up or bought up by grain merchants long ago.
This time, no matter how skilled Long Fei Ye was or how much silver he had, he wouldn't be able to conjure up such a huge amount of grain!
"Your Majesty, this official is only curious as to why the Duke of Qin would disappear at a time like this?" The imperial uncle was cautious to begin with, but after handing over the silver yesterday, he grew even more cautious. He had a feeling that the Duke of Qin wouldn't be so easy to deal with this time.
"Someone come, spread the news!" Emperor Tianhui wasn't worried at all.
He was already displeased that the rumors of the Duke of Qin's embezzlement hadn't spread far and wide. This time, he wanted all of Tianning Country to boil over the news.
For a long time, the two words "Duke of Qin" were inviolable among the civil and military officials, the imperial family, and the common people. This time, he wanted Long Feiye to lose all standing and reputation! He wanted him to know that those who made an enemy of imperial power would never have a good ending!
The imperial uncle didn't say much. He'd already sold off all the grain he'd embezzled. Although it was a loss, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to clear it out at a time like this.
If Long Fei Ye had gone missing to investigate the embezzled grain, then he'd be able to escape unscathed.
Long Tianmo sat on one side without a word.
"Brother-in-law, it's been awhile since you've had a drink with Zhen," Emperor Tianhui had to be in a good mood to address the imperial uncle as such.
Besides Long Fei Ye, he was also happy about Chu Qingge. The Western Zhou emperor and Western Zhou's Chu Clan had already set a wedding date for him. Half a year later, Chu Qingge would arrive for a political marriage. He'd also agreed to make her a noble consort, one rank lower than the empress.
For one thing, Chu Qingge was the woman he'd taken a fancy to; for another, she was born in Western Zhou's strongest military estate. Her marriage would be a great help to him!
"Your Majesty's favor is better than deference. This humble official will accept your wishes!" The imperial uncle said respectfully. He secretly shot a glance at the silent Long Tianmo, but Long Tianmo pretended not to notice.
As the crown prince, he should curry favor with his imperial father while he was in a good mood. Unfortunately, Long Tianmo wasn't in a good mood either.
"Imperial Father, erchen still has some business to take care of, so I won't disturb you any longer," he said mildly.
"Any news from General Mu's estate lately?" Emperor Tianhui asked.
"Everything's as usual. Erchen just went to the training grounds with the young general yesterday," Long Tianmo replied honestly.
Mu Qingwu had been in a bad mood for days because of the betrothal gifts and wedding ceremony. He'd only agreed to see him yesterday.
Emperor Tianhui didn't ask any questions, but waved a hand to dismiss him.
Long Tianmo left just like that, leaving a trace of displeasure in the imperial uncle's eyes. It wasn't easy to stop him even if he wanted to.
Not only his own son, but even the Crown Prince had been taught a harsh lesson by him for the charity auction.
The crown prince was the heir apparent while he was a subject, but the crown prince still called him uncle in private. He was the crown prince's only support. If it wasn't for him, the crown prince would never have married Mu Liuyue or turned over a new leaf.
Of course, the imperial uncle supported the crown prince not because of their blood relations, but because the crown prince was also the imperial uncle's guarantee for his future.
Otherwise, the imperial uncle's estate would be the first to fall as soon as the heir apparent was replaced!
The imperial uncle drank with Emperor Tianhui while thinking about Chu Qingge's marriage alliance. Currently, there were only two Noble Consorts left in the imperial palace. One was Noble Consort Xue from the imperial uncle's estate, while the other was General Ning's younger sister, Noble Consort Ning. Once Chu Qingge arrived, the battle for the empress's position would begin.
If Chu Qingge became empress and gave birth to an imperial son, the battle for the crown prince might follow!
Long Tianmo allowed the imperial uncle to ponder all sorts of things while Mu Liuyue annoyed him to the core! Long Tianmo wasn't in the right state of mind, because Mu Liuyue had thoroughly annoyed him!
As soon as Long Tianmo returned to the Eastern Palace, Mu Liuyue came to greet him. "Your Highness, you've returned. Chenqie has prepared white fungus, lotus seed, and jujube soup. Your Highness …"
"Withdraw!" Long Tianmo waved his hand impatiently, too lazy to listen.
Mu Liuyue's happy expression immediately turned to one of grievance. "Your Highness, chenqie personally boiled it for a long time."
Long Tianmo didn't bother to reply. If not for the sake of the general's estate, he would have sent this woman to the western mountains to serve his imperial mother long ago.
Seeing that Long Tianmo was about to leave again, Mu Liuyue couldn't help but chase after him. "Your Highness, chenqie heard about His Highness Duke of Qin's embezzlement too. From what chenqie knows of Han Yunxi, this matter must be …"
Long Tianmo stopped in his tracks and warned, "You don't have the right to talk about the Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei's matters! Next time this crown prince hears something like that, be careful that I don't punish you for interfering with the imperial harem! "
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