Chapter 478:1 Can Help You
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying still didn’t know that Wei Zhongming had been snitching on her behind her back.
She gave a scornful laugh. “This old fellow wants to push all the blame on me, doesn’t he? Later I’ll definitely crush him into a sphere and kick him like a ball.”
As a local official, Wei Zhongming deserved to die for what he did, but it was also because of his ignoble thoughts that Xiao Jin found Su Ying. Due to this, Xiao Jin decided to give Wei Zhongming a chance to live. However, sometimes, it was better to die than live.
“After you fell off the dam, where did you go?” Xiao Jin’s voice became hoarse. After asking this question, his heart inexplicably shuddered. This made him recall how unbearably painful it was to miss Su Ying every day and night.
Su Ying knew that he would definitely ask, so she had already thought of an excuse. “At that time, it was indeed a narrow escape for me. I almost thought I was going to die, but when I regained consciousness, I was hanging on a piece of driftwood. Because of the rapid current, I didn’t dare to force myself ashore, so I was washed far away. It took me a lot of effort to return to the Chu State.” Despite those few incredibly calm words, Xiao Jin could imagine the danger at that time.
However, he still wanted to know where she had been and what she had experienced in the few months that she had disappeared.
“Where did you go? Why didn’t you send me a message?” His deep voice was choking back tears almost imperceptibly.
Su Ying moved closer to him and gently leaned into his embrace to calm his flustered emotions.
“I caught a small wooden boat on the way and was taken to the sea. Later on, I was saved by the fishermen on an island and managed to survive. After that, I waited on the island for the arrival of the big ship before I could get to the dock
in the Jin State.
“After getting washed out of the Chu State, I also thought of sending you a letter, but I wasn’t able to find a suitable channel. I was afraid that the letter would be stolen by someone with ill intentions, so I temporarily put this matter aside.”
Xiao Jin held her hand and interlocked his fingers with hers. “Before you came back, there was a message sent to the outside of the palace saying that there was news about you. Did you meet anyone after you returned to the Chu State?”
Su Ying shook her head. Before she revealed her true identity, she had never removed her disguise. Even those who knew her would not be able to find out her identity through her disguise, so she was certain that no one familiar with her knew her whereabouts before she arrived in Luo City.
“No. Absolutely not.”
Su Ying frowned. “Someone wanted to use my whereabouts to deceive you.
Xiao Jin nodded. “Mm-hmm. I’ve already sent people to investigate who’s behind this, but the other party is very smart and covered their tracks well.
They didn’t leave any clues behind.”
Upon hearing this, Su Ying felt that Xiao Jin should return to the capital city as soon as possible.
“You go back to the capital city first. I’ll wait here for the people from the
Ministry of Works.”
Xiao Jin refused without even thinking. “No. We’ll go together.
Xiao Jin knew that she was worried about the situation in the capital city. With Duke Jingguo around, there won’t be any major problems in the Imperial Court for the time being. If they speed up, the people taking over will arrive in a few days.”
The earlier Aquarius River Dam episode and the drought in Luo City also made Xiao Jin realize a serious problem. The central Imperial power had too little control over the local areas. Otherwise, Wei Zhongming would not have the guts to have such evil designs on the official grain.
For such an important project like the Aquarius River Dam to develop such a huge flaw, the corruption involved was downright heinous. If he could not think of a way to strike a balance, it would be difficult for the Chu State to go far. This was a problem that he needed to consider as the ruler of a kingdom.
Su Ying knew that Xiao Jin’s mind would not be changed so easily, so she could only try her best to settle the things here before leaving Luo City.
Xiao Jin would deal with the drought. While Xiao Jin was busy, Su Ying would enter her interspatial store to bring out the corpses she had dug up to study them.
The carbonization of the corpses was too severe, and it was very difficult for her to figure out what she wanted to investigate from them. Every detail needed to be studied over and over again, so even though she had been studying the corpses from morning till night, Su Ying still hadn’t made much of a discovery.
Wei Zhongming was also in a terrible state of anxiety. Xiao Jin had told him to get all the official grain within three days. On that very day, he found the merchants who were in cahoots with him and asked them to spare no effort to look for grains for him.
However, these merchants might have received some news and felt that Wei Zhongming was definitely going to die. Therefore, they only dealt with him superficially and got people to send one or two hundred sacks of gram to him just for show. After that, they didn’t give anymore.
There were tens of thousands of sacks of official grains. Sending this small amount over wasn’t even anywhere near enough!
“This bunch of despicable merchants! To think that they were capable of such a thing. Previously, when they needed favors from me, they all fawned and groveled like dogs. Now, when I ask them for help, all of them run and hide! Wei Zhongming was downright furious. A day had passed, and he had only collected less than three thousand sacks of grain. Where was he going to get the rest? Even though he had already sent people to the nearby cities to buy, the amount was still far from enough!
At this moment, an attendant arrived at the door and reported, “My Lord, Miss Zhou requests an audience.”
Wei Zhongming raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know why Zhou Xiangrong came at this time. However, she was considered to have made a contribution. She might be able to save his life at the critical moment, so he told the attendant to bring her in.
Zhou Xiangrong was wearing a green gauze dress as usual. She appeared quiet and delicate. “My respects to you, Lord Wei.”
Wei Zhongming gestured with his hand in a state of frustration. “Miss Zhou, you have woken up. Now that you are here to see me, is there anything you need?”
Zhou Xiangrong glanced at the caretaker in the room. “I have something to say to you, my Lord.”
Wei Zhongming understood and dismissed all the people in the room.
After the study door was closed, he said, “If you have something to say, just say it.”
“I know that Your Lordship has encountered some trouble. I am not talented, but I have a way to help you, my Lord.”
Wei Zhongming’s eyes became stern as he said with a scornful laugh, “What kind of trouble did I encounter?”
Zhou Xiangrong remained calm in the face of his stern gaze. “I think that even if those merchants don’t have 10,000 sacks, they should be able to produce 8,000 sacks. It’s just that they believe that you have lost your power and they are unwilling to harm their own interests for your sake.
“How did you know about this?”
Zhou Xiangrong smiled faintly as she said, “After you met up with those merchants, they talked a lot on their way back. I overheard them talking. Now, I have a way to make them hand over the grain obediently.”
Wei Zhongming was at his wit’s end now. Although he knew that Zhou Xiangrong had a motive, he was also curious to know what she would say.
“Tell me your plan.”
Zhou Xiangrong took a step forward. “I heard that Lord Wei was Duke Jingguo’s disciple back then. After the Emperor ascended the throne, he put Duke Jingguo in an important position again. If Lord Wei can leverage Duke Jingguo’s influence, I believe you can avoid this calamity.”
When Wei Zhongming had just made his mark, he had indeed earned recognition from Duke Jingguo. It was also with the help of Duke Jingguo that he landed his first job.
However, in this situation, would Duke Jingguo still help him?
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