Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 740 - 737: Yanwo_1

"Wouldn’t it be appropriate for me to receive a reward for offering a strategy to the Crown Prince? Hongmei’s fate is bitter, a lowly life. I dare not ask the Crown Prince for a position, only hope that when the Crown Prince receives praise from His Majesty tomorrow for using Hongmei’s strategy, he could favor Hongmei for a few more days."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hongmei’s delicate hand gently slid into the Crown Prince’s clothes.

The Crown Prince quickly grasped Hongmei’s hand, his voice filled with ambiguity, "You couldn’t hold back earlier, why do you tease me again now?"

Hongmei bit her lower lip, pretending to be embarrassed and annoyed. Her face flushed as she turned away, wrapped herself tightly with the quilt, and sulked, ignoring the Crown Prince.

The room was filled with the Crown Prince’s laughter and the soft, cajoling voices of the women inside, but Quan Yu, who stood outside, could only think of Bai Qingyan’s frail figure.

·

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Shen Qingzhu rode swiftly to the gate of the Princess of Zhen’s mansion, knocking on the tightly closed door.

The gatekeeper opened the door a crack and peered outside.

The warm glow of the barely extinguished sheepskin lantern outside the mansion reflected on Shen Qingzhu’s face, turning pale from the cold wind, and her lips were chapped from lack of water. The gatekeeper quickly opened the door wider, "Miss Shen!"

Shen Qingzhu tossed her whip casually to the gatekeeper, stepped inside, and said, "Take good care of the horse at the gate. I am here to see the Eldest Young Lady!"

When the gatekeeper stepped out and saw the lathered horse Shen Qingzhu had ridden, it was already collapsed on the ground, its belly heaving, steam rising from its body.

The gatekeeper was at a loss, turning his head to call for help.

This was the precious horse that the Eldest Young Lady had once given to Shen Qingzhu, and yet Miss Shen had used it to such an extent.

With Ji Tingyu’s letter in her breast pocket, Shen Qingzhu did not dare to delay. She ran to Qinghui Courtyard and knocked on its door.

The servant woman in Qinghui Courtyard was awakened by the knocking sound. She struggled to get up, put on a dark blue padded jacket, slipped into her shoes, and emerged from the side room, buttoning her jacket as she asked, "Who is it?"

"Shen Qingzhu!"

The servant woman knew of Shen Qingzhu. She replied respectfully, "Miss Shen, please wait a moment. I will go inform the Eldest Young Lady and the Second Young Lady."

Last night, Bai Jinxiu had slept at Bai Qingyan’s Qinghui Courtyard. Bai Jinxiu had dismissed the night servant, stating she wanted to care for Bai Qingyan personally.

Hearing the knock, the lights in the upper room of Qinghui Courtyard were already lit. The servant woman walked to the window and whispered, "Eldest Young Lady, Second Young Lady... Miss Shen Qingzhu is here!"

"Let Qingzhu come in," Bai Qingyan’s voice sounded from inside.

"Yes," the servant woman responded, running over to open the door for Shen Qingzhu.

Bai Jinxiu put on a robe and was about to help Bai Qingyan when she saw that Bai Qingyan had already sat up.

Shen Qingzhu quickly entered, her body wrapped in cold air from her ride. She stopped behind the screen, fearing that she might pass on the cold, and took out a small bamboo tube from her chest. "Eldest Young Lady, Second Young Lady, Ji Tingyu has sent a letter back!"

Bai Jinxiu exchanged a look with Bai Qingyan before hurrying out from behind the screen to take the tiny bamboo tube from Shen Qingzhu, saying, "There is hot tea on the small stove. Have a cup and eat some snacks too."

Shen Qingzhu nodded.

Having ridden fast all the way, Shen Qingzhu had not dared to drink even a sip of water for fear of wasting time.

Right now, Shen Qingzhu could not be bothered with washing her hands or changing her clothes, hastily poured herself a cup of tea from the teapot, blew on it, and drank.

Bai Qingyan poured out the letter from the small bamboo tube and unfolded the delicate paper inside. There were only a few words: "Yanwo snow disaster, Huwei Ridge lacks food."

Bai Qingyan tightened her grip. Huwei Ridge was between Hushui and Yanwo.

Ji Tingyu must have lacked food because he was helping the disaster victims in Yanwo.

Yanwo had indeed suffered many disasters over the past two years.

Two years ago, Yanwo suffered from a severe drought in July, followed by a snow disaster in winter. In the new year, three consecutive months of heavy rain caused floods, submerging fertile lands and turning Yanwo’s people into refugees.

Just last year, Ji Tingyu had seized troops from three locations. Because the Official Government kept sending people to search, they had to hide in the deep mountain mazes. Later, Ji Tingyu spread rumors, making it look like a ghost story, so the local officials dared not investigate closely. The news had just reached Dadu City in late October, but the Imperial Court had no time to investigate further because of the Wude Gate rebellion.

After the Wude Gate rebellion was pacified and Dadu City returned to peace, the Crown Prince sent three officials in mid-November to investigate the incident further. However, these officials were also afraid of the ghost stories and did not delve deeply into the matter.

As the situation dragged into the end of the year, it began to cause public panic. There were even families with husbands and sons conscripted into the army rioting in front of the Government Office. The Crown Prince was worried that the prolonged delay would escalate the situation further.

Since no other place was losing soldiers, the Crown Prince discussed with Adviser Fang and decided that the number of missing soldiers was not significant. They made up a story that the forces had been located, allowing the soldier supplies to enter the Crown Prince’s pocket, which could then be used to curry favor with the Emperor.

Moreover, the Crown Prince had this advantage, as the Bai family army was now under his control. The Crown Prince could completely issue a secret order to Shen Kunyang, stating that the forces had been transferred to the southern territories, making Shen Kunyang take responsibility, thus calming the people’s fears.

The Emperor, obsessed with elixirs and seeking immortality, had no time to deal with this matter, so the Crown Prince acted accordingly.

The Crown Prince first declared that the new forces had been sent to the southern territories. By the time the secret order reached Shen Kunyang, the situation was settled. Shen Kunyang sent a message back to Shuoyang. When Bai Qingyan knew of it, she said nothing but sent a letter telling Shen Kunyang that he could rightfully take Bai Qingjue’s troops into the camp as new soldiers for proper training.

"Yanwo snow disaster?!" Bai Jinxiu was quite surprised. "The Dadu City hasn’t received any news!"

"One senses that last time, Yanwo suffered a severe famine. If it weren’t for the exposure of the examination fraud case, Li Mao wouldn’t have chosen to reveal it. Now that there’s a snow disaster in Yanwo, it seems likely that the news has been suppressed again," Bai Qingyan frowned, already beginning to ponder the issue of food supplies.

"Sister, I can handle the food matter. Shuoyang is training troops, and as a Bai family member, even purchasing food to send over wouldn’t seem unusual. But how to get it to Ji Tingyu still needs careful planning," Bai Jinxiu said.

"It’s too conspicuous if you handle this. I’ll take care of it..." Bai Qingyan tapped the agarwood table rhythmically. "Huayang and Qinhuai are suffering from a plague, and there’s a snow disaster in Yanwo. If the Bai family is willing to use its private assets to donate a batch of food, I think the Crown Prince will be more than willing."

Bai Qingyan thought of someone, the Governor of Shuoyang, Shen Tianzhi.

Since Shen Tianzhi had claimed that their father left a retreat path for the Bai family in Shuoyang, Bai Qingyan decided to use his assistance this time.

Yanwo was considered fertile land within the Jin Kingdom. Because of its fertile soil, it produced abundant food. During Empress Ji’s reign, it was named Yanwo, and this name had been used ever since.