Chapter 43: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 43: Dividing Land and Building Houses
Most of the refugees pouring into the capital were kneeling towards the direction of the Eastern Palace, expressing their gratitude for the royal benevolence before happily returning to their hometowns with their families.
The remaining refugees, who had just enough food to sustain them until the next spring, left the refugee camps and returned to the places where they were previously allocated, rebuilding their houses and reclaiming the wastelands to start anew.
"Master, the case of corruption in the southern provinces involves hundreds of officials!" Xiao Shiyi pointed upwards and continued, "That person who successively issued three imperial edicts to rebuke the Prince Jing and also interfered with the duties of Prince Jing's household, causing him to be reprimanded and reflect upon his actions, why don't we take advantage of this opportunity..."
"No need!" Xiao Ruiyuan narrowed his phoenix-like eyes, "The case of corruption in the south involves Prince Jing's faction the most, but the other princes may not be clean either. In order to absolve themselves, there will naturally be people who antagonize Prince Jing!"
"Master's foresight is unparalleled!" Xiao Shiyi chuckled flatteringly, then continued indignantly, "Prince Jing ended up in such a predicament, it's not unjust at all! If he hadn't allowed his subordinates to embezzle the disaster relief food, forcing the suffering people to the brink of survival, how could they have risen in revolt? What's even more infuriating is that he actually colluded with the Second Young Master to obstruct and kill you, attempting to destroy the evidence. If it weren't for your good fortune, they would have succeeded!"
Speaking of this "Second Young Master", Xiao Shiyi's expression was extremely disdainful. This person had been jumping around for many years but had not made any progress. He even colluded with the prince, what difference was there between that and courting death?
Thinking of this half-brother, Xiao Ruiyuan subconsciously touched the wound on his abdomen that had not yet fully healed, and sneered coldly. He didn't care much about this useless person, but Prince Jing had to be dealt with. Taking advantage of being the crown prince, he thought that as long as the crown prince died, the position of the heir apparent belonged to him. Originally, he didn't want to take action against Prince Jing, but he kept becoming more and more arrogant, constantly opposing the crown prince everywhere and even scheming to kill him. Since that was the case, he didn't need to be polite anymore. Keeping this person around was a disaster.
"The case of corruption was exposed by me, and the Crown Prince received praise from that person. The people from Prince Huai's faction won't just sit back, and my good little brother won't keep quiet either. Have someone keep a close eye on them. Once there's any movement, report immediately!"
Xiao Shiyi's expression became serious, and he clasped his hands together, "I understand, Master!" After speaking, he silently withdrew and conveyed the master's instructions to the hidden contacts in various mansions.
With one person less, the spacious study became even colder and more desolate.
Xiao Ruiyuan opened the latest confidential letter and looked at the contents, his eyes becoming even more profound and unpredictable. It seemed that exposing the corruption case was the right move!
The Crown Prince had been targeted in an assassination attempt when he was young, and his roots were damaged, making it determined that he wouldn't live past the age of twenty-five. Now the Crown Prince was already twenty-three, without any children, and his health was deteriorating. Taking advantage of his journey south to pacify the chaos, under the pressure of national crisis, those people actually incited someone to set up another crown prince to stabilize the country.
If it weren't for exposing the corruption case and the Crown Prince proposing to distribute the relief food embezzled by the corrupt officials to the refugees in the suburbs of the capital, giving refuge to those who didn't want to return home, and gaining a reputation for benevolence and wisdom, the Crown Prince's position as heir apparent might really not have been preserved!
Thinking of this, the chill in Xiao Ruiyuan's eyes almost solidified! As long as he, Xiao Ruiyuan, was still here, the Crown Prince's life was not in danger, and he would absolutely not allow anyone to covet the position of heir apparent!
...
No matter how the court was in turmoil, it didn't affect Mo Yan. At this moment, she was like a diligent little bee, constantly drawing and writing on the blueprint, preparing to build houses for the next spring.
The reason for choosing to build houses next spring was that they were going to build houses with blue bricks and tiles, and the weather was too cold now, making it prone to freezing, which was not suitable for building houses.
Looking at the flawless blueprints, Mo Yan couldn't help but imagine the appearance of the house after it was built, and she couldn't help but laugh happily.
Mo Qingze entered the room and looked at his daughter sitting at the desk, smiling foolishly. He couldn't bear to look directly at her, so he had to interrupt, "Yan'er, just now when I went to Liuyang Village, I met Brother Lin who was leading people to cut wood and build houses. When he learned that we were going to build houses next spring, he wanted to prepare the wood we needed. Father thinks it's a good idea, what do you think?"
Mo Yan came back to her senses, thought for a moment, and said, "We need a lot of wood. Let them finish building their own houses first, and then help us cut the wood. But Dad, they are not living a good life now. When the time comes, we have to pay them for their work!"
Mo Qingze nodded, the smile on his face faded slightly, "Father also thinks so. The weather is extremely cold now. I saw that they don't even have warm clothes. Adults can endure it, but it's hard for the elderly and children!"
Hearing this, Mo Yan also felt uncomfortable. After hesitating for a while, she said, "Dad, what Brother Lin's family needs most now is food and cotton. Apart from the money we used to buy land and build houses, we still have a lot left. We'll need to build houses and cultivate the land next spring. We'll definitely ask Brother Lin to help. I think we can buy some cotton cloth and food for them to use and let them work for us in return. This way, we can help them without hurting their pride."
Mo Qingze pondered for a moment and thought this was a good idea, "Okay, let's do that. When they return to the outskirts of the city in the evening, Father will go over and tell Brother Lin. After we have eaten, we'll go to the market and buy cotton cloth and food."
These days, the Lin family's house had not yet been built, and there was no place in Liuyang Village to accommodate them temporarily. They could only temporarily live in the house they had lived in before.
Seeing that her father agreed, Mo Yan felt relieved, and the mountain of food stored in the space could be consumed a bit!
But how to distract her father and take out the food and cotton in the space? Mo Yan couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
After lunch, while Mo Qingze was resting, Mo Yan briefly explained to the others and then left the house, heading straight for the house she had rented. When she entered the house, she was about to take out the cotton and food, but she found that her connection with the space had been cut off, and the things couldn't be taken out at all.
She quickly spread out her right hand and found that the ancient jade imprint was still firmly embedded in her palm. The space was still there, but she couldn't establish contact. There was only one possibility!
Thinking of the only possibility, Mo Yan was shocked as if she had won a huge cash prize. After the shock passed, only wild joy remained in her heart: the space was actually upgrading...
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