Robbed?
Bai Qingyan raised her eyebrows, thinking of Ji Tingyu. Could it be that Ji Tingyu led people to rob it?
But Xiao Rongyan had numerous skilled experts under his command. The goods protected by his people… and the quantity wasn’t small either. How could Ji Tingyu’s men have managed to rob them?
Bai Qingyan raised her eyes to look at Xiao Rongyan, whose eyes held a smile with deeper meaning, and immediately understood what Xiao Rongyan meant by his words.
She asked in return: “Although the Bai family’s ancestral home is in Shouyang, we have never resided there. How could such a wise and perceptive person as Mr. Xiao not know this?”
“Since I came to find the Princess, I naturally believe that in this matter… only the Princess can assist me somewhat.” Xiao Rongyan stopped just short of making his words explicit—he knew that the “bandits” who robbed his goods were Bai Qingyan’s people.
Rather than saying Xiao Rongyan was asking her to introduce families who owned tea mountains, it would be more accurate to say… Xiao Rongyan was giving her a reminder to return the goods to him.
She wasn’t afraid of Xiao Rongyan knowing that the so-called bandits were her people. After all, Xiao Rongyan’s greatest weakness… his true identity, she also knew.
Bai Qingyan, having her people pose as bandits, did not threaten Xiao Rongyan’s interests or Great Yan. Xiao Rongyan would certainly not make an enemy of her before Great Yan became supreme among all nations.
What Great Yan needed to do now was secretly strengthen itself in this chaotic world, preparing for future imperial ambitions.
Since Xiao Rongyan already knew, she wouldn’t play coy with him either.
“Mr. Xiao truly has… far-reaching eyes and keen ears.”
“It’s not far-reaching eyes and keen ears. The last time I went to Shouyang was to examine the commercial situation there and establish shops, and also to investigate the tea robbery. I also spent considerable effort, and only received news this morning…”
Hearing the conversation between Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan, Bai Jinzhi’s heart skipped a beat. She understood that this Mr. Xiao had probably discovered that those “bandits” were from their Bai family, which was why he came to find Eldest Sister.
However, since Mr. Xiao was unwilling to expose this directly, he would probably keep it secret.
Bai Jinzhi truly hadn’t expected Xiao Rongyan to be so formidable. Having such a person marry into the Bai family to help Eldest Sister would be perfect.
With Xiao Rongyan’s numerous capable subordinates, the fact that it took from the robbery until this morning to discover the truth showed he truly admired Ji Tingyu under Bai Qingyan’s command.
If his people hadn’t seen Ji Tingyu at the Bai mansion gates and held respect for this loyal and righteous man who risked his life to deliver bamboo scrolls back to the Bai family, they truly wouldn’t have been able to connect these bandits with Princess Zhenguo.
Precisely because they knew these were Princess Zhenguo’s people, Xiao Rongyan’s subordinates didn’t strike to kill, but returned to let Xiao Rongyan make the decision.
The Crown Prince had known early on that Xiao Rongyan’s goods were robbed. His exact words were… although he couldn’t spare troops to suppress bandits, the Crown Prince could order local officials to help Xiao Rongyan recover the goods.
This morning, upon learning that those who robbed his goods were Bai Qingyan’s people, before coming to Princess Zhenguo’s mansion, Xiao Rongyan made a special trip to the Crown Prince’s mansion, saying this matter wouldn’t trouble the Crown Prince. He wanted to ask Princess Zhenguo to help introduce families in Shouyang who had operated tea mountains for generations, hoping to draw closer to the Princess through this, and begged the Crown Prince not to let local officials interfere in this matter.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince laughed that Xiao Rongyan would even give up his goods for a chance to spend time with a beauty, and withdrew his order for local officials to help Xiao Rongyan recover the goods.
“Mr. Xiao is too modest. Regarding the Yanwo famine, Mr. Xiao knew about it much earlier than the Jin court. Isn’t this having far-reaching eyes and keen ears?” Bai Qingyan’s lips held an extremely faint smile.
Xiao Rongyan’s fingers in his sleeves rubbed slightly, his extremely long eyelashes squinting slightly against the dazzling bright sun: “It seems the Princess’s information network is also exceptionally well-informed.”
“Eldest Sister, let’s not stand outside the mansion talking! Let’s go in and invite Mr. Xiao for tea!” Bai Jinzhi’s eyes lit up as she bowed to Xiao Rongyan. “I wonder if Mr. Xiao has other arrangements?”
Xiao Rongyan didn’t answer, his smiling, dark eyes looking toward Bai Qingyan, as if wanting to see her intentions before responding.
Bai Jinzhi’s invitation had already been spoken, and Bai Qingyan also had questions about the Yanwo famine to ask Xiao Rongyan.
“Mr. Xiao, please…” Bai Qingyan made a gesture of invitation to Xiao Rongyan.
Xiao Rongyan nodded: “Then I shall respectfully accept rather than decline.”
After entering, Bai Qingyan had tea served, then asked Xiao Rongyan: “When does Mr. Xiao need this batch of white tea?”
Xiao Rongyan said: “At the latest, the twentieth of this month.”
Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes in thought, then looked at Xiao Rongyan’s faintly smiling appearance and spoke: “Mr. Xiao can rest assured and wait for news. It will not affect Mr. Xiao’s business.”
“I’ll take the Princess’s auspicious words as truth.” Xiao Rongyan bowed slightly to Bai Qingyan. “For the Princess’s help this time, I wonder how I might repay the Princess?”
“Mr. Xiao might as well honestly tell me when you learned of the Yanwo famine?” Bai Qingyan asked.
“At the beginning of the year…” Xiao Rongyan answered truthfully.
Bai Qingyan glanced at Bai Jinzhi, then asked Xiao Rongyan: “Does Mr. Xiao know when Great Yan… began preparing to guide Yanwo refugees into Great Yan?”
Xiao Rongyan methodically explained from the beginning to Bai Qingyan…
“When Yanwo was still the Great Yan territory, Empress Ji once ordered the renowned water conservancy expert Sima Sheng to oversee the construction of a Guanghe Canal. Although it was said to be for alleviating flooding in Ping’an City north of the Niuliang River, the long-drought lands of Yanwo also benefited from this, relying on this canal for irrigation to become fertile farmland!”
Bai Qingyan nodded.
“When this canal was built, there were insufficient financial and human resources. Master Sima worried that flooding would harm the people, so the canal construction was ingeniously designed. Only during the Niuliang River’s high-water period would the Guanghe Canal have abundant water. But using this method… the Guanghe Canal could only be maintained for twenty years at most. To make this canal benefit for thousands of years, it would be necessary to completely rebuild and renovate it after twenty years, expanding and extending it to the Long River.”
“Afterward… Yanwo became part of the Great Jin territory, but no one mentioned canal repairs again! It has been twenty years since the Guanghe Canal was completed. Last July, the Guang Canal dried up. The Yanwo prefect thought it would surely be alleviated this year, but Great Yan knew early on that this was just the beginning! However, Great Yan also hadn’t expected that later Yanwo, like Great Yan, would encounter winter snow disasters. During the Niuliang River’s flood season, the Guanghe Canal filled up, then encountered the March torrential rains. Since the Guanghe Canal wasn’t connected to the Long River, it would naturally cause flooding!”
“It just so happened that by this time, Great Yan had already recovered Nanyan and had sufficient grain and fertile fields to accept refugees, so they inevitably had this idea.” Xiao Rongyan said with a smile.
Bai Qingyan suddenly understood.
“Regarding Master Sima’s words, I have already informed His Highness the Crown Prince. I just don’t know… whether the Jin Kingdom now has the energy to spare manpower to rebuild the Guanghe Canal! After all… Great Liang and the Jin Kingdom might be going to war.” Xiao Rongyan said.
Bai Qingyan’s hand holding the teacup tightened. This Xiao Rongyan would never speak without purpose. If he said there might be war, then… There really might be war.
She raised her eyes to look at Xiao Rongyan, wondering if this had Xiao Rongyan’s handiwork behind it.
After all, with Great Yan’s main forces departing for the Rongdi territories, if the Jin Kingdom and Great Liang started fighting again, Great Yan would have no future troubles to worry about.