Although he didn’t look down on women, he hadn’t believed a woman could possess such courage and capability. In his deep-rooted consciousness, women ultimately had to depend on men.
“Your Highness, do you think the Crown Prince knows he’s been poisoned?” the advisor asked.
Xiao Changyan paused, somewhat uncertain: “He should know.”
He leaned toward believing Xiao Huayong knew, and it was precisely because he knew his life was limited and truly admired Shen Xihe that he complied with her in everything and granted all her requests.
“Have we discovered how the Shen family is transporting grain?” Xiao Changyan asked.
The advisor bowed his head: “Your Highness, the Shen family has many elite forces. Even our shadow guards might not fare well against them.”
Xiao Changyan was slightly shocked. The shadow guards were personally trained by him, each one a capable warrior who could fight independently. He hadn’t expected his advisor to evaluate Shen Xihe’s people so highly – it seemed they had clashed while investigating Shen Xihe’s movements.
Pressing his lips together, Xiao Changyan said: “Pull everyone back. Stop investigating.”
Given Shen Xihe’s approach, she wouldn’t give him another chance to take over the disaster relief. Her methods would be revealed sooner or later. He just needed to wait – there was no need to truly engage his shadow guards against her.
“Any movement from Twelfth Brother?” Xiao Changyan asked again.
The advisor shook his head, equally puzzled. By logic, someone should have gone to rescue the Prince of Yan, but until now, both the Eastern Palace couple and the Prince of Xin had entered the city, both seemingly believing deeply that the Prince of Yan was providing disaster relief in the neighboring county, showing no movement at all.
Frowning, Xiao Changyan could only order: “Just keep watching.”
Now they could only remain still and wait, avoiding any rash moves.
Xiao Changyan, who had been waiting patiently, was once again bewildered by Shen Xihe’s next actions. She seemed to have truly handed everything over to Xiao Changqing, who diligently began understanding all disaster relief matters within the county.
Shen Xihe appeared to have become a virtuous wife, staying only by Xiao Huayong’s side, caring for him, and ignoring external affairs.
The country’s grain reserves were already stretched thin, and Shen Xihe had cut off their righteous path of obtaining relief from wealthy households. Thus, the common people’s meals gradually decreased. In just three days, people could no longer eat their fill, only managing half portions.
The news Xiao Changyan had deliberately spread earlier began to take root among the people whose daily meals were becoming worse. The saying about gratitude for a pint versus resentment for a bushel of rice essentially meant this.
Previously, when wealthy households had contributed from their stores, allowing people to eat their fill daily – though not lavishly, many farmers from impoverished areas might not have dared to eat so well at home.
Suddenly, when they couldn’t eat enough, resentment naturally began building in their hearts. They completely failed to realize that others had been supporting them before, only feeling that Shen Xihe was meddling, taking money from these wealthy people and supporting these rich households who exploited the common people, leading to their current hunger.
Initially, when Xiao Changyan had these wealthy households contribute their stores, it was because someone had looted the wealthy homes. They had grown bold in their malice and felt they should make Shen Xihe compromise once. Thus, that night, many people gathered, targeting a gentry family in the city for a surprise attack.
However, they couldn’t even breach the main gate. The previous success had been because Xiao Changyan had planted his men among them – the real disaster victims were merely filling numbers, making it appear as though disaster victims were truly responsible.
Wealthy households all had guards, and while these guards couldn’t handle Xiao Changyan’s men, dealing with these ignorant commoners was child’s play.
Early the next morning, the yamen was alerted, with people bringing bound disaster victims to report their case, accusing these victims of intruding into private residences with intent to rob and murder.
The disaster victims naturally cried injustice. These victims weren’t acting alone – they had relatives who naturally couldn’t sit by and watch their family members be thrown in prison. Thus, they stirred up others who were equally dissatisfied with the declining food situation, running to the county office and shouting for justice.
“Imperial Consort, Prince of Xin’s men have come to request your presence at the county office,” Biyu explained the situation briefly.
Now the office was surrounded by disaster victims so tightly that not even water could pass through, their wailing cries even drowning out the heavy rain. As more and more disaster victims gathered, if they weren’t dispersed promptly, these people drenched in the heavy rain might catch cold, possibly leading to an epidemic, which would then cause deaths.
“Let’s go.” Shen Xihe wore a lapeled robe suitable for travel. Every step she took was calculated. She had deliberately waited for these people to cause trouble. To make them cooperate obediently with the later canal digging, she needed to establish authority here first, making them dare not easily question or oppose them.
Another reason was that the relief grain hadn’t arrived yet. Four days ago, the Emperor had proclaimed throughout the realm, seeking grain for Dengzhou.
Hua Fuhai and Qi Pei had already prepared. Qi Pei had long been openly Shen Xihe’s man – back then, the Qi family’s wrongful case had been overturned through Shen Xihe’s intervention. Qi Pei was the first to respond, donating three thousand shi of grain.
Following closely were those Qi Pei had influenced, also responding by donating grain, medicine, cloth, or other items.
Emperor Youning also deeply understood these people’s thoughts. He immediately personally wrote an imperial commendation, rushing an eight-hundred-li express decree praising Qi Pei. With this opening, Hua Fuhai then stepped forward with a grand gesture, donating fifty thousand shi of grain and various medicines.
This move drew attention and praise from across the realm. Common people couldn’t help but praise them extensively, and many even particularly favored the Hua family’s business because of this. Seeing this, major merchants who never moved without profit quickly followed suit.
Thus, this time’s materials were so extensive they even shocked Emperor Youning.
Three days ago, the first batch of grain, cloth, medicine, and other primary necessities had been loaded onto ships according to Xiao Huayong’s plan. Daily falcon messages allowed Shen Xihe to precisely track these supplies’ progress.
They would arrive in two days at the latest.
“Heaven has turned a blind eye, determined to cut off our lifeline! Why can’t Your Highness see our suffering? Our families are broken, we’re plagued by serious illness, and now without even a full meal, we’ll surely starve to death!” Heart-rending cries pierced through the rain sound, echoing throughout the county office. “If we can’t escape death anyway, we might as well dash ourselves to death here – just hoping the County Magistrate and Prince might show a bit of compassion-“
This was followed by a burst of shouting and commotion – some threatening suicide, others desperately holding them back, some crying heart-rendingly…
When Shen Xihe arrived, it was complete chaos. She entered through the back door of the county office, walking from inside to the front entrance. Biyu struck the gong heavily once, the deafening sound causing the chaotic scene to fall silent.
Shen Xihe’s cold voice then rang out: “Let him go.”
Everyone looked toward the source of the voice, seeing the cold-faced woman in male attire approaching slowly. Even the Prince of Xin and Prince of Jing cupped their hands in respect to her. She stepped over the threshold, coldly sweeping her gaze over everyone, finally landing on the person being held around the waist who was threatening suicide, saying coldly: “Let him go. Let him dash himself.”