Shang Junlin lowered his head and took a sip from Shen Yu's hand. He slowly savored the taste and said, "The tea this time seems to be different from the last time."
"You learned a new technique from the book. How is it compared to the last time?" The palace had a rich collection of books and Shang Junlin did not guard against him. At first, Shen Yu was reserved and did not pay attention to the books that were not sensitive to him. Later on, he became closer to Shang Junlin and no longer restrained himself. He would read the books that he was interested in.
"No matter what technique A Yu uses, the tea is still delicious to me." Before Shen Yu entered the palace, Shang Junlin only knew a little about tea. He was not passionate about it. Later on, Shen Yu would occasionally brew tea for him and tell him about the tea ceremony. This made him more fond of tea.
Rather than saying that he liked tea, it was more like he liked the feeling of drinking tea with Shen Yu.
Shang Junlin drank the entire cup of tea with Shen Yu's hand. Then, he took the empty cup from Shen Yu's hand and put it on the small table at the side.
"How many people have they arrested now? Did they find out anything? "One of Shen Yu's hands was still held by Shang Junlin. The two of them sat on the soft couch.
"According to A Yu's method, I asked them to pay more attention to the places where people gather. If they find something wrong, they will check and confirm that there is no mistake before arresting them."
Not only in the capital, but also in other places. The order was sent to the place along with the news. It was sent through another special channel. The arrests were also carried out secretly. The people behind the scenes did not know that the people they sent out to spread the rumors were all in jail.
"We have also received news of the interrogation. Most of the people we captured were just following orders from the higher-ups. We were unable to get much useful information out of them. However, according to the clues we obtained from them, we found out a few of their hiding spots. I have asked the Hidden Dragon Guards to investigate their backgrounds."
They didn't take action as soon as they found out because they didn't want to alert the enemy. These people had been hiding in the Great Huan Land for many years. Now that they were finally discovered, of course they had to follow the clues and get rid of them all in one go.
Regarding these matters, Shen Yu had always only given suggestions and never really intervened. It was not because he was afraid of Shang Junlin, but because he simply didn't want to.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the flower that Prince An sent over? I always felt that there was something wrong with that flower, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it." The vassal kings sent a lot of things, most of them were gold, silver and jewels. Only the An Wang sent a strange flower for no apparent reason.
Shang Junlin also knew about the existence of this flower. Shen Yu had told him about it before. "Did the people from the Imperial Institute of Medicine come to take a look?"
He was worried that this flower would affect Shen Yu, so he put the flower alone in a corner and didn't ask anyone to take care of it. As a result, after a period of time, the flower didn't wither because of lack of care. Instead, it bloomed more beautifully.
"Yes, Imperial Physician Gu said that this flower was similar to the ones that appeared in the ancient books. However, there were some differences when you looked at it carefully. The other Imperial Physicians also came to take a look. The attendants in charge of taking care of the flowers in the palace also took a look. Other than being sure that it wasn't poisonous, they couldn't tell what kind of flower it was."
Shen Yu felt that it was very strange. "Your Majesty, why do you think Prince An sent this flower over for no reason?"
"If A Yu doesn't like it, just ask someone to throw it away." Shang Junlin stroked his hair that was hanging down behind his back. "What kind of flower does A Yu want? I'll find it and send it over."
"Just leave it there for now. This flower always gives me a very strange feeling. Prince An shouldn't be so stupid as to give the Imperial Palace something that can be used against him."
"I'll listen to A Yu. However, A Yu shouldn't get close to the flower. Just ask someone to take care of it. I'll find someone who knows about flowers and plants to take a look. After confirming that there's no problem with the flower, A Yu can go take a look if she wants to."
Shen Yu also had the same plan. She nodded in the man's arms.
Shang Junlin brought up another matter. "The first batch of goods from the capital to Subei will probably arrive today."
"It's finally here. Looking at Fang Daren's memorial, the officials he brought over are almost at their limits." Shen Yu had personally witnessed the aftermath of a natural disaster in her previous life. She knew what kind of hell it was. No matter how good one's endurance was, they wouldn't be able to endure it for a few more days.
"Fang Jun wants to bring those people back." Shang Junlin stroked the strand of hair in his hand. "Especially two of the younger ones. Their condition isn't very good. When I mentioned it to them, they weren't willing to come back."
Among those two, one of them had once wanted to give the youth food. In just a few days, his understanding of the past few years had almost changed.
After knowing that the Imperial Court had sent many people in addition to the goods, Fang Jun called the officials who had followed him for a period of time together and asked, "Do any of you want to go back?"
"Daren, why are you suddenly asking this? There are still so many places in Subei that we haven't visited yet. How can we go back? "One of them answered without hesitation.
"Yes, we have to finish what we started. Since we're here, we naturally have to finish what we started before we leave."
In fact, at the beginning, a few of the officials were very uncomfortable. They were the children of aristocratic families and had never experienced such hardships since they were young. They had grown up in luxury and didn't know that the lives of the common people would be so difficult. They didn't deny that they had thoughts of retreating, but these thoughts were obliterated by one incident after another.
On the contrary, an indescribable ambition grew in their hearts. The confusion of their previous life as officials was swept away, and the conviction in their hearts was strengthened.
Hadn't they originally wanted to be good officials to benefit the common people? If they hadn't come out on this trip, if they hadn't seen these hellish scenes and shocking scenes, perhaps they would have spent the rest of their lives in confusion.
But now, they wouldn't. After experiencing this incident, they knew what kind of burden they were shouldering. As officials, they shouldn't look at power, but the responsibility behind the scenes.
"The Imperial Court's reinforcements will arrive soon. If any of you want to rest, you can return to the capital with them first," Lord Fang said as he looked at the officials whose spirits had greatly changed.
The crowd fell silent.
Did they want to go back?
Of course they did.
Compared to the capital, the environment here was truly too harsh and vile. If Lord Fang had asked this question a few days ago, perhaps some of them would have wavered.
But now, after experiencing so much, they asked themselves, were they willing to go back like this?
They still hadn't seen the leg of the old man next door get better, they still hadn't seen the birth of their wife's child, they still hadn't seen … There were still too many things that they had yet to see. If they went back like this, how could they be at ease?
"I won't go. I won't leave until I'm certain that the disaster in Subei is alleviated."
After the first person spoke, a second, a third … all of them spoke. Without exception, the answer they gave was that they weren't willing to leave.
Lord Fang had expected this. He had seen the changes in these people with his own eyes. It could be said that he had personally witnessed the changes in these people. Several of the muddle-headed scions of aristocratic families in the capital had undergone massive changes at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Lord Fang was happy for them, but at the same time, his heart ached for them. This was because these changes meant that they had experienced immense pain in their hearts. The scions of aristocratic families who had grumbled when they first arrived would no longer complain no matter how hard or tiring the work was. There were also faint calluses on their hands.
Lord Fang scanned these people's faces one by one. Their expressions were resolute and their eyes showed that they weren't willing to back down. He slowly retracted his gaze and unconsciously said in a gentle voice, "Don't be in a hurry to answer. You have one night to consider. I have already told His Majesty about your achievements. When you return to the capital, these will not be affected because of your early departure."
The next day, everyone's answer remained the same.
They were all willing to stay here until the day they saw Subei get better with their own eyes.
Lord Fang didn't say anything else. He just objectively wrote down this matter on a memorial and had the Hidden Dragon Guards send it back to the capital.
Shen Yu found the memorials that were sent from the Northern Su Province. Just like before, Master Fang wrote two memorials. One was sent back to the capital through the Hidden Dragon Guards while the other was sent back through official channels.
The latter was usually a few days slower than the former.
Shen Yu opened the memorial and read through it. "It seems that Lord Fang has a good opinion of these officials who followed him."
Half of the officials who went to the disaster relief were from the lesser aristocratic families. Lord Fang was the leader. At the beginning, there was some friction between the two parties. Now, both parties were able to put aside their differences and work together harmoniously.
Compared to when they left the capital, both parties had changed a lot.
Those who followed Lord Fang to Subei were mainly young officials. If there were no accidents, these people would become the pillars of the Imperial Court in the future. This experience was extremely beneficial to both them and the Imperial Court.
Because the news from the Imperial Court was that the people from the Imperial Court would directly meet with them, Lord Fang brought his people and stayed in the small city to rest and wait for them to arrive.
Their resources were almost depleted. Every time they arrived at a place, they had to leave behind a portion. Most of the resources they brought were left in the main city. If there were no more resources along the way, they could only return to the main city first.
The Imperial Court had sent an army to escort the resources. On the way, the officials in the main city had also received the news.
"Lord, if we don't act now, when the people from the Imperial Court arrive, it will be too late." In the dim study, the person who spoke was hidden in the shadows, his voice hoarse.
"Go arrange it. Do it cleanly. Don't let anyone discover that something is wrong."
"Lord, don't worry. This lowly one is very good at this. There definitely won't be any mistakes."
The door to the study was opened and closed. The wind blew the candlelight, as if nothing had happened.
Lord Fang's group had been on the move for many days and finally had a moment to rest. They took the officials who had come with them to look around.
This small city was a bit further north than the first one they had gone to, and the disaster was more serious. However, they had already given out porridge for several days, and the disaster relief work had been carried out smoothly. The situation was much better than when they had first arrived.
As they walked, the disaster victims put down what they were doing and greeted them.
The officials smiled in response. Occasionally, they would stop and talk to the people on the side of the road.
"I suddenly feel that these days are not bad." The official behind Lord Fang sighed.
"That's right. In the past, when we were in the capital, we felt that we were very powerful and amazing. Only after coming here did we realize how shallow we were in the past."
The officials whispered to each other.
The atmosphere was relaxed and lively. The gap between the humble officials and the aristocratic officials had completely disappeared here. Lord Fang listened to their conversation with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Suddenly, the crowd in front of them surged in their direction.
The youth beside Lord Fang grabbed him and shielded him behind him.
"Lord, be careful!"
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