Chapter 535
~ THE HOLE IS DUG ~
In the dignified Capital, at the feet of the Emperor, a group of victims begged here so fearlessly, and the methods were quite harsh, which made people feel incredible.
The Emperor suddenly remembered that Mu Yunyao had stopped him before and then considered what the people had just said about Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou’s porridge. He thought a little more in his heart before asking, “Yunyao, do you know about this?”
Mu Yunyao nodded straightforwardly. “Yes, after I returned, the shopkeepers from Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou told me about this matter, saying that there were a group of victims from Jiangnan who had nothing better to do during the day. After collecting porridge at Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou, they would beg in the streets. The methods were very pestering, so I told them not to serve them porridge in the future. But many of them were real victims, so they wouldn’t be able to refuse.”
“Shuntian Manor actually doesn’t care about such a thing?”
Mu Yunyao shook her head slightly and said, “Even if Lord Shen wanted to manage it, he probably wouldn’t be able to do so and would be powerless. After all, they were the victims of the disaster, and Your Majesty has already decreed that all cities should not refuse the surrounding victims to enter the city unless an outbreak occurs. Thus, the Capital is no exception. Lord Shen could not chase them away. He can only let the patrolling street officers find them and expel them. However, the number of patrolling officers was limited, allowing these victims to move around freely. They can’t manage them if they want to.”
The Emperor nodded, “Did you do the same with disaster victims in the past?”
“I’m not sure about that. But when I asked the embroidery ladies who worked at Ni Yun Fang about this, they’d never encountered such a situation. They also said the Emperor was tolerant of the people but strict towards the officials. Therefore, the people are not afraid of officials, which is why the victims dared to act brazenly.”
“So it turns out that there’s still because of me.” The Emperor didn’t know if he should be happy or worried.
Mu Yunyao replied with a smile. “The Emperor has strict requirements towards officials, so my Dali Dynasty is politically clear, and the people live and work peacefully. This situation is excellent. Moreover, although the methods used by the victims are inappropriate, they only want to live. Granduncle doesn’t have to be so concerned. After a period of time, the cities in Jiangnan have been rebuilt, and many people will return to their hometowns. Even if there are people left behind, there will be people who will be counting their household records to help them settle down.”
The Emperor nodded, letting go of the unhappiness in his heart. He concentrated on accompanying Grand Princess Yi De as she strolled around.
It was almost noon when they arrived at Sheng Yuan Lou. Mu Yunyao suggested, “Grandmother, Granduncle, we’ve been walking for the entire morning. Why don’t we go to Sheng Yuan Lou and rest well? I heard that the fish here is wonderful, and many guests came here with admiration.”
“Alright.” As several of them entered, the shopkeeper arranged them into a private room on the second floor with a meaningful gaze.
The sounds of gongs and drums rang out from outside, followed by waves of cheers. When Mu Yunyao heard the sound, her eyes flashed, and she gently retracted her gaze.
The Emperor’s curiosity was piqued. “It’s not a festival today. Why is it so lively?”
“Listening to this music, it should be someone getting married.”
The Emperor walked to the window and opened it to look down. With a glance, he frowned slightly.
He saw a group of beggars kneeling at the front of the wedding procession as if they were begging.
Some guests came forward to persuade the beggars, but they just kowtowed and had no intention of leaving. Afterward, the groom took the silver and gave it to them, but the beggars kept kowtowing until someone told them they were arrested to see the officials. Only then did they unwillingly step aside to give way.
“This is outrageous,” the Emperor said, looking displeased. “These people are indeed greedy.”
Mu Yunyao kept quiet as she focused on brewing the tea.
Grand Princess Yi De picked up her teacup and took a sip, a smile on her lips. “The Emperor really can’t rest for a moment. Hurry up and sit down. Just give some instructions to Shen Binghuai to properly teach these victims of disasters another day.”
Just as the Emperor was about to close the window, he suddenly heard a surprised exclamation from below. He looked over with rapt attention and saw an officer patrolling the street grabbing a beggar. The beggar kept twisting and turning, and suddenly, two ingots of white silver fell out of the beggar’s tattered clothes.
A sharp glint flashed across the Emperor’s eyes. Due to the distance, the Emperor couldn’t see everything clearly, but judging from the appearance of the silver, it was at least fifty taels. The people begging on the streets had fifty silver taels in their hands.
“Your Majesty, what’s the matter? Why is your face so ugly?”
“Imperial Elder Sister, I just saw a victim with about fifty silver hidden in his body.”
The Grand Princess Yi De creased her eyebrows. “This is unlikely, right? Did the Emperor make a mistake?”
“No, that man has been arrested by the officers patrolling the street.” The more the Emperor thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss. He turned around and instructed Xu Li, “Have someone secretly follow the victims and investigate their whereabouts.”
When the beggar with silver taels on them was just now apprehended, the other people’s reactions were too panicked. One by one, they clutched their clothes and fled as if they also had silver taels on their bodies.
The Emperor sat back in his seat and began to ponder this matter. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly regained his senses and looked apologetically at the Grand Princess Yi De. “Imperial Elder Sister, I said I would accompany you for a stroll and buy something. Who knew that such a thing happened and would spoil our fun.”
“It’s more important to be concerned about the people’s affairs. I would feel apologetic if the Emperor delayed official matters to help me celebrate my birthday.”
Not long after, the guard that had gone to investigate returned. “Reporting to the Emperor, after the victims with silver hidden in their bodies were arrested, the officials sensed something was amiss and reported the matter to Lord Shen, the governor of Shuntian Manor. Lord Shen had people track them down and find an abandoned house in the city’s west. They apprehended many beggars and discovered a large amount of silver. The exact amount is being counted, but at least there are several thousand taels of silver.”
The Emperor’s gaze became stern and fierce, “The beggars have so much silver on their body… “Interrogate them carefully and get to the bottom of this matter.”
Grand Princess Yi De stood up, “Your Majesty, since you have matters to attend to, you should go and busy yourself first. Yanhan and Yunyao can accompany me. It’s more important to do business first.”
“Imperial Elder Sister, Shen Binghuai, has done things faithfully and has assured me that he can investigate. Besides, I can only wait when I return, so there’s no rush.”
“That’s fine too.”
After a meal, the Emperor was somewhat absent-minded. Seeing this, Grand Princess Yi De didn’t try to persuade him again. Just as they finished eating, Shen Binghuai rushed over with his men.
“This humble subject pays his respects to Your Majesty and the Grand Princess.”
“Have you investigated the victims?”
Shen Binghuai’s face was extremely unsightly as he took out two ingots of silver from his sleeves and said, “Your Majesty, please look at these silver ingots.”
Xu Li hurriedly stepped forward, wrapped the silver in a handkerchief, and handed it to the Emperor.
“What’s wrong with these silver ingots?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, there are traces of cutting at the bottom of this silver. This humble subject speculates that this silver ingot should be official silver. Someone intentionally cut the bottom part of the official silver mark.”
“What?”