When Pang Xiao heard this, he suddenly sat up. However, because he got up in such a hurry, he forgot that he was still injured. He hissed in pain as he sucked in a cold breath.
Qin Yining was startled. He hurriedly supported Pang Xiao's arm and helped him find a more comfortable position. "How can you be so reckless? You're still injured. Did you forget?"
Pang Xiao raised his hand. "I know. Before we leave the day after tomorrow, we must carefully examine the disaster relief items in front of everyone. "He held Qin Yining in his arms and shook him." Sister Yi, you're really my darling. "
"You might not have thought of this. You're just lost in your thoughts. "
"That's not true. A man with a virtuous wife will never meet with misfortune. You don't know how many people envy me." Pang Xiao whispered something in her ear.
Qin Yining's face immediately turned red. She hit him. "Why are you so annoying!"
Pang Xiao didn't mind and continued to look at her with a smile.
A day passed in the blink of an eye. After Pang Xiao made proper arrangements for the trip, Xie Yue, Xu Weizhi, and the other strategists left first.
In order to avoid danger, Pang Xiao also arranged for Tang Xiu to lead a group of people to follow and protect them.
Qin Yining gathered all the servants in the inner residence and gave them double the monthly salary.
"We don't know when we'll return from this disaster relief trip. Perhaps it'll be a year or so, or perhaps it'll be three to five years. For such a long time, the Prince's Mansion only needs people to look after the house. When Wang Ye and I return, I'll invite all of you here."
The servants naturally obeyed. They took the money and left.
The rest of the people were the ones who were going to be taking with them on this trip.
Although Li Qitian gave them a tight deadline of only one day, Pang Xiao and Qin Yining had already prepared everything.
On the morning of the eleventh day, Pang Xiao and Qin Yining had just finished dressing when someone came in to report, "Wang Ye! Your Majesty has personally come to see you off! "
Qin Yining and Pang Xiao glanced at each other. They had already guessed what Li Qitian wanted to do. The two of them led everyone out of the gate of the Wangfu and respectfully knelt down in front of the gate to greet him.
Li Qitian stepped down from the imperial chariot and looked down at the couple who were bowing respectfully. He stepped forward with a smile and said, "What are you doing? Zhixi, you haven't recovered from your injuries. Besides, you and I are brothers. You don't have to do this."
While they were talking, there were already many people gathered in front of the Wang Mansion. Carriages slowly drove in and stopped by the road in front of the Wang Mansion.
Pang Xiao glanced at the row of carriages out of the corner of his eye. There were twenty taels in total. He turned his head and respectfully said, "Although Your Majesty has said so, the etiquette between ruler and subject cannot be ignored. A subject is a subject, the Son of Heaven is the Son of Heaven. How can a subject be careless with the etiquette?"
Li Qitian smiled and nodded. He glanced at Qin Yining behind Pang Xiao and said, "Wang Fei, I haven't seen you for many days. Where did you go to play?"
Qin Yining knew that Li Qitian had once ordered people to track and kidnap her to threaten her. But she was very lucky and did not encounter Li Qitian's people. This Son of Heaven was so narrow-minded that he was willing to make a move on a woman. Qin Yining felt that this kind of person was very shameless.
"Replying to Your Majesty, I was just taking a casual stroll. The natural and man-made disasters are becoming more and more serious, so I returned to Jing."
Li Qitian thought for a moment and did not ask any more questions. He also did not mention Pang Xiao and Qin Yining's rude behavior that day. He only smiled and said, "Zhixi. There is no need for us to say more about the importance of disaster relief, right? When you go this time, you must do your best to relieve the suffering of the people. We don't want to see the miserable scene of the people losing their homes. "
But this was caused by this person in front of him.
Qin Yining lowered his long eyelashes, perfectly hiding the disdain in his eyes.
Pang Xiao said, "Your Majesty is right. I am afraid this subject will do my best to share Your Majesty's burden." He then looked at the carriages parked by the road and said with a smile, "These are the supplies for the disaster relief of the victims?"
Li Qitian smiled and nodded, "Yes. These have been recorded. You can take them with you. "As he spoke, he turned his head and indicated.
Xiong Jinshui's hands immediately touched a small book with a dark blue cover.
Pang Xiao took it and respectfully thanked His Majesty for his kindness. He took the account book and turned to leave. He handed it to Huzi, "Take some people to count the goods. The supplies in the carriages must be taken apart and displayed in public.
"Yes." Huzi nodded respectfully and quickly left.
Li Qitian's brows were tightly knitted. His face was hot and his heart was somewhat flustered.
Pang Xiao excused himself and led Qin Yining forward to help.
Li Qitian hurriedly said, "The things recorded in the book have been brought over. It's almost the auspicious time to set off. You should also make some preparations."
Pang Xiao did not seem to understand Li Qitian's words. He smiled and said, "Yes, this subject is making preparations."
Seeing Pang Xiao getting busy, Li Qitian's brows were furrowed so tightly that they could squash a fly, "Zhen said that the auspicious time has arrived. We cannot delay the departure time. Otherwise, according to the Imperial Astronomer's calculations, it will be a very bad thing. Zhixi, you and Wangfei should quickly get on the carriage and set off immediately. "
Although Li Qitian's tone was that of a discussion, he was the Emperor. His words were like gold and jade.
Pang Xiao could not disobey His Majesty's decree in public. He could only lead Qin Yining to the carriages.
Huzi, on the other hand, began to inspect the carriages with great fanfare. He did not care whether or not the carriages that were already packed would be overturned.
The veins on Li Qitian's forehead were bulging. He immediately said, "Zhen ordered us to set off immediately. Are you deaf?!"
Xiong Jinshui followed beside the Emperor. Since the Emperor had spoken, how could he dare to remain silent?
Xiong Jinshui quickly walked in front of Pang Xiao and said, "Hurry up. Your Majesty's decree cannot be disobeyed!"
Pang Xiao did not have any ill feelings towards Xiong Jinshui. His attitude could be considered polite, but his voice was as loud as a bell.
"Since Your Majesty said that we cannot disobey, then all the more we should investigate clearly. We cannot allow anyone to take advantage of this loophole. What if someone uses this opportunity to embezzle the disaster relief supplies? Then it is better to investigate clearly in person. This will prevent this official from becoming a scapegoat for no reason. "
Pang Xiao's words were very direct. Everyone present was shocked. The commoners who were watching from a street far away were separated by the imperial guards. When they saw this, they could not help but whisper among themselves.
"The world is already in chaos. Who would embezzle disaster relief supplies? Wouldn't that be intolerable! "
"You don't know. There are even more despicable grain merchants in the south who are still profiting from the disaster! Who knows, in the blink of an eye, someone might use fake supplies to deceive Wang Ye.
Li Qitian gritted his teeth when he heard this. He had made up his mind to be a benevolent ruler today, so he could not do anything. He could only nod with a smile, "Fine. Since you don't trust us, then it is right to settle things clearly in person."
"This official is afraid. How would this official dare to doubt Your Majesty. "Pang Xiao immediately knelt down with a plop. He did not care about the wounds on his body.
Qin Yining also quickly knelt down. As a woman, it was not convenient for her to speak. She could only lower her head and tremble. It was as if she was frightened by Li Qitian's words.
The commoners did not know what was going on. When they saw Wang Ye kneel down, they also knelt down.
Prince Zhongshun's voice in the court was too loud. Many commoners who cared about the court even felt that Pang Xiao could go to war with the Tatan. They did not expect that Your Majesty would arrange for him to go to disaster relief.
The commoners did not feel at ease. Taking advantage of the distance, their discussions became louder and louder.
There were even people whispering that Pang Xiao, a general who had made great contributions, was now a hero who had no place to display his abilities. He was even suppressed by Your Majesty and could only obediently kneel down and kowtow. He did not even dare to explain himself.
As the commoners thought this, the discussions of those who were not careful enough became louder.
Although Li Qitian did not know what the commoners were thinking, he could roughly guess from their expressions.
How could he have forgotten that Pang Zhixi was the best at winning people's sympathy and making them stand on the same side as him?
Although he was angry, Li Qitian had already thought of a countermeasure and was no longer flustered.
Originally, he was just trying his luck today. If he could use this method to subdue Pang Xiao, it would be an unexpected gain. If he could not, it did not matter. He was the Son of Heaven. Could it be that he could not intimidate a small person like Wang Ye?
After a short moment of anger, Li Qitian changed the topic, "Your inspection is correct. After all, We have many things to attend to every day. We do not have to do everything by ourselves. For example, the supplies for disaster relief this time were used urgently and in large quantities. We did not have time to inspect them carefully. It is good that you inspect them carefully. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, we would be letting down the victims. "
Pang Xiao lowered his head and looked at the ground. Li Qitian's shadow was elongated by the morning sun and cast a shadow on the limestone tiles in front of him.
It seemed that Li Qitian had stopped immediately after his plan failed and was planning to arrange for someone to take the blame.
Pang Xiao cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he smiled and kowtowed, "Yes, this subject will definitely inspect them carefully."
Sure enough, it didn't take long for Huzi and his men to check the contents of the carriages. Then, he handed the booklet to Pang Xiao and said, "Your Highness, we didn't find any gold or silver in the carriages. These twenty carriages of provisions and fodder can only fill ten or so carriages. There is no gold or silver written on the booklet. "
Pang Xiao handed the booklet to Li Qitian and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, this subject will not look into the missing parts. However, Your Majesty must strictly investigate the person who recorded the false accounts, or this person has embezzled the imperial court's money! This subject believes that the person who tampered with the books has ulterior motives!
"Think about it, this subject went to the south to carry out an errand for Your Majesty's sake. Naturally, this subject will be indebted to Your Majesty. This subject is also a capable person by Your Majesty's side. If this subject uses this to drive a wedge between you and your subject, it will be difficult to carry out disaster relief in the future."
Li Qitian nodded repeatedly, but he secretly sighed in relief. Fortunately, Pang Xiao had a different idea and did not directly suspect him. Otherwise, he would not be able to explain himself in front of these people, let alone in the distant future.
"Rest assured, this subject will investigate thoroughly!" Li Qitian's face was as calm as water.
Pang Xiao said respectfully, "Yes, this subject thanks Your Majesty." After he finished speaking, he turned and ordered Huzi, "Take people and gather the provisions. It will be easier to manage them after the trip. Otherwise, if the procession is too long, there will be trouble."
Huzi immediately obeyed and took people to move the supplies.
When the supplies were moved, the guards of the prince's mansion did not ask the people to move away. Everyone's eyes were fixed on them, and no one had a chance to do anything.
After the provisions and supplies were loaded into the carriages, Pang Xiao counted the number of carriages and said with a smile, "Eight carriages could have transported the provisions, but the Ministry of Revenue actually packed twenty carriages."
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