Chapter 127
Chapter 127 - The Person Who Hides the Deepest Is Often the Winner
Yu Xuezhong was so anxious that his hair was about to turn white. What the hell was this?
He did not like to participate in the struggles between factions within the imperial government. He had always maintained his neutrality. On one hand, he felt that these people did not care about the lives and deaths of the people for their own personal benefits, and on the other hand, he was worried that he would be used by others.
This time, he also discovered that Hui State had become a board game for many people. Someone was using his small territory to compete with the Third Prince in the arena.
Thinking about those innocent civilians who had died in vain, Yu Xuezhong's head throbbed painfully. Those were commoners that he had spared no effort to protect.
How could those people dare!? How dare you!
“Pah!” Yu Xuezhong slammed the table and stood up, then shouted out: “Men!”
Very soon, a bailiff ran in, “Sir, what can I do for you?”
Yu Xuezhong took a deep breath, calmed his thoughts, and said with a steady tone: “Go and see if Third Prince is up yet. If he is, invite him to the yamen.”
Originally, he should have been the one to personally pay a visit, but now, he really couldn't care less about formality and formality. He only wanted to quickly settle these troublesome matters.
Yu Xuezhong was waiting in his study room for news, and it didn't take long for the bailiff to return with a letter.
“Master, I haven't seen Third Prince, but His Highness had someone deliver a letter to you.”
“Letter?” “Hurry and bring it over for me to take a look.” Yu Xuezhong didn't understand where the Third Prince would go if he wasn't in the manor, and even wrote him a letter. Hehe …
The letter was not long, only a few lines of words were written on a page. After reading it for the first time, Yu Xuezhong found it unbelievable and read it again.
This… What did this Third Prince mean? Why did he tell him not to worry about the place? Had he already thought of a solution?
When Yu Xuezhong thought about it again, he felt that it was not very realistic. The disasters that had occurred in various places were all targeted at the Third Prince.
“Wasn't His Highness in the manor when you went there?” Yu Xuezhong asked the messenger.
“I don't know, but I haven't seen Third Prince.”
“Have you seen the Seventh Young Master then?”
“Never.”
Yu Xuezhong nodded his head, and waved him out. He himself sat at the table and stared at the few words on the table, thinking about it for a long time, but he did not decide whether he should take care of it or not.
After all, he was a prefect of a prefecture, the one in charge of this Hui State. If he did not care about anything and in the future, a “dereliction of duty” would be strictly investigated and his three years of achievements would be in vain.
Just as the Prefect was sweating profusely from worry, Teng Yu and his men quietly left the Hui State, heading to the closest Lishui County.
Yin Xu did not accompany him, but stayed in the residence instead, bringing along a substitute with him to create the illusion that Teng Yu had not left the manor.
Yin Xu had already gotten used to the days of surveillance around his residence. As long as these people did not see anything that they shouldn't, he and Teng Yu wouldn't bother to care.
As a result, this time, those people who were watching saw the Third Prince and the Seventh Young Master Huo hiding in their residences, not coming out. Even when the Prefect sent someone to invite them, they did not see them go out.
In a manor at the outskirts of Hui State, a tall man frowned upon hearing his subordinate's report.
“We helped the mastermind intentionally, but we didn't lure them out?”
“Leader, there's no need to go through all that trouble. The security around the place where they live isn't tight. If we send someone to get in here in the middle of the night, they'll definitely be restrained!”
“They are officials, and we are bandits. How can bandits directly kill the officials?” Recently, the imperial government has clearly started to pay attention to the matters of the martial arts world. Do you think the emperor would allow us to hurt his son time and time again? “
In this period of time, the reputable and upright sects and sects in the martial arts world had gone crazy, and once again, a wave of “exterminating Evil Sect” had sprung up.
This kind of event, which would happen once every few years, was not rare. It was just that Xiao Feng saw the shadow of the imperial government behind this event and had no choice but to take it seriously.
Ever since they failed the last time they attacked Third Prince and retreated, the Hierarch had ordered them to keep a low profile, refusing to accept any business deal and hiding in his nest to lick his wounds.
But Xiao Feng did not want that to happen. Ever since that time, he had been extremely envious of the Seventh Young Master Huo's secret technique, and the Flame Yang Spell in his hands. If he could obtain these two techniques, then he would change his position as Sect Master.
So when he heard that Third Prince and Seventh Young Master Huo had all set out for Hui State, Xiao Feng followed closely behind.
However, he had to figure out how to obtain the two cultivation techniques.
Teng Yu did not make much of a move when he went to the Liushui County. He had his men investigate the collapsed shed, and after confirming the traces of people, he quietly killed a few of the perpetrators.
Some of them were crushed to death by the snow, some were frozen to death, and some even fell into the frozen lake and drowned. Under these circumstances, it was too easy and normal for a person to die.
Without the instigators, the originally high-spirited refugees gradually calmed down. Under the situation where there wasn't enough food or clothes, or even a place to sleep, they really didn't have much passion to vent.
And it was also at this time that Teng Yu got someone to bring ten carts of food over with great fanfare, and also requisitioned a few courtyards belonging to wealthy merchants. He wanted these victims to have a good meal and live in peace, and the ones that were treated well would make them panic.
From the beginning till the end, Teng Yu did not show himself as he coldly watched the development of the situation. He also realized that the people did not care about who the person in charge was, they only cared about the person in power who gave them a chance to live.
This was also the reason why they were still able to live on in this world.
With such a deep understanding of the situation, Teng Yu felt that his heart had hardened a lot. He did not go through all the affected towns and cities once, but after he finally found a useful witness, he immediately wrote a letter to Advice Letter and sent it to Shang Jing along with that witness.
Amongst the Advice Letter, Teng Yu told the Emperor about everything that had happened these past few days in detail.
He said: Royal Father, this is the first time I have been a servant. I have finally realized that it is not easy to be a ruler, and every decision can cost me my life.
He said: Royal Father, this son has seen many dead people this time. They are naked, emaciated, starved to death from starvation. This is the first time he has heard that the lives of common people are actually so lowly and lowly.
He said: Royal Father, this son has always been a complete scoundrel in the past. I don't know about the hardships of the people, and everything I've seen and heard during this trip of Hui State made me hate my old self.
Teng Yu did not complain among the Advice Letter, nor did he say who the culprit behind the poison was. However, the more it was like this, the more the emperor felt moved when he saw this set of Advice Letter.
This feeling was like a child who had been locked up in a small dark room and had suddenly seen the light outside. It was a kind of complicated feeling of being cautious, uneasy, and yearning.
“Da Da …” A fast horse galloped down the main road.
The imperial edict …
With a restless heart, the magistrate knelt to receive the imperial edict, and when he had finished listening to the long story, a relaxed smile hung on his downcast face.
It seemed that his gamble this time was correct, but the process was truly torturous.
In the royal decree, the Emperor first praised the Chief of the Hui State and gifted a calligraphy and painting to Yu Xuezhong. After that, he asked the Third Prince to provide relief and returned to the capital immediately after.
On the same day, another imperial decree was sent to the Residence of General Yun. After fifteen years, the emperor ordered General Yun Heran to set off immediately to the northeast to fulfill his duties as a great general.
The atmosphere in the hall was complicated, the people could not tell whether the two orders from the emperor had deeper intentions, but with the things that happened in Hui State slowly spreading to everyone's ears, most of the officials felt that the emperor was supporting the Third Prince.
In fact, the witness that Teng Yu had sent over was not enough to prove that Yun Heran had sent someone to intervene in Hui State's relief efforts, but the reason why the Emperor helped the Third Prince was to balance the Yun Family. Furthermore, it was impossible that the Emperor did not secretly follow up on this matter.
When Yun Heran left, the happiest ones were actually not Third Prince Teng Yu or Second Prince Teng Ji, but rather the First Prince Teng Yi.
In the First Prince's residence, Teng Yi had just sent his uncle out of the city and was warned by the First Prince to keep his guard up against Teng Yu. Although Teng Yi had promised him well, he could not help but sneer coldly in his heart.
He already knew about the matter of Hui State City. If it was him, he definitely would not use this method to obstruct Teng Yu from obtaining credit.
His uncle always liked to put himself at the forefront of danger. Although his actions were concealed, his motives were too clear, making it difficult for others to not suspect him.
These days, he had been on tenterhooks, putting all of his focus on the palace, afraid that Yun Heran's arrangement in the palace would go wrong. Compared to everything else, this was more important.
When he thought of the smile on Yun Heran's face before he left, Teng Yi had a bad premonition, and did not dare to slack off anymore. Everyday, he would enter the palace before daybreak, and stay in the palace to play chess with the emperor, chatting and chatting with him.
“Seeing your Royal Father like this, I'm afraid you are completely determined to cultivate Old Third.”
“Why is Royal Mother worried about this? Wasn't his intention obvious? The Yun Family of the dynasty has its own power, if it was her son, she would also cultivate another force, which is the way of checks and balances. “
Imperial Consort Yun glared at his son, “Of course I understand that, but don't forget, if Old Third takes the lead, many things might go wrong. Previously, it was us who looked down on him, but who would have thought that your uncle would actually be right about this.”
The First Prince pursed his lips but did not refute.
However, Imperial Consort Yun was so angry that she did not have a good rest for a few days. Ever since she knew that Teng Yu was not one who could not cultivate or martial arts, she had never let her worries go.
This was someone who had grown up right under her nose. She didn't even know when he had learned martial arts. If she didn't know the past of the emperor, she would have thought that this father and son pair had joined hands to deceive her.
At that time, your Royal Father was the most inconspicuous out of all the princes. But look at the result, even if the princes fought to the death, your Royal Father would still win in the end. So, don't underestimate any of the ordinary opponents.
The First Prince sat beside Imperial Consort Yun, “Royal Mother, you are becoming more and more unconfident, you did not say that in the past, do not worry, even if Teng Yu is powerful, we are not stupid, how can we let him win so easily?”
Imperial Consort Yun rubbed her eyebrows. In just half a month, she looked like she had aged quite a few years. “Sigh, I don't know why, but I feel that my temper has gotten a lot more violent as of late.
The First Prince placed his hands on her temples and rubbed them gently, “It must be because of the fright from last time, and I still haven't recovered from it. Since the harem isn't really that important, you might as well let this matter rest.”
“Who says it's okay?” Imperial Consort Yun snorted, “That Consort Rong has a big belly, this is the biggest matter of the palace. If I wasn't on alert, I wouldn't even know when I would have been tricked.”
The First Prince paused, not knowing how to comfort her. He did not know much about the struggles between women and did not want to know either.
However, he also knew that every time a concubine became pregnant in the palace, Royal Mother would act as if she was facing a great enemy. However, it was also because of her caution that he would have a few fewer opponents.
If the Royal Father only had one son, how could there be so many things?