The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 560 - 549 Everyone is so busy

Chapter 560: Chapter 549 Everyone is so busy

Those who were eating and drinking just like Mr. Zhuang weren’t in as good a mood, Li Erlang had been invited to the governor’s residence, and within less than a quarter of an hour, the Prince of Yizhou had hurried over.

After that, he moved to the Prince of Yizhou’s residence for their evening meal, which was a banquet with food and drink and, incidentally, some appreciation of music and dance.

The Prince of Yizhou was very humble, also very concerned for Li Erlang’s safety, "Your Majesty only brought Cousin Gong out, what if something happened on the road..."

Li Erlang then waved his hand and laughed, "Fifth Younger Brother needn’t worry, our Great Jin is now peaceful with the citizens content, and besides, I am in your domain, what do I have to fear?"

The Prince of Yizhou then laughed, "That’s true, it’s rare for Your Majesty to leave the capital, so this time you must stay in Yizhou for a few more days. There are several places here that are quite enjoyable."

Li Erlang replied with a light-hearted "Alright".

Both parties were all smiles and joy, but after the banquet, they each sought out their own confidants to speak with.

The middle-aged man with a full beard who had been following Li Erlang entered the room behind him and reported in a low voice, "Your Majesty, all traces that could be swept away have been dealt with, but that might not guarantee they won’t be discovered."

Li Erlang dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, "Let them find out if they will, it’s nothing more than chatting with some locals and travelers, nothing that can’t be spoken of."

Li Gong softly acknowledged, "All traces that could be swept away on Zhuang Xun’s end have been dealt with, but that day Your Majesty stayed at the restaurant for a long time with those three children. Even though we’ve warned them, there might still be some slip-ups."

After pondering for a moment, Li Erlang said, "Just have someone keep an eye on it. They’re only children, Wulang might not do anything."

Li Gong agreed, "The Shenwu Army is now standing by outside Yizhou City."

Li Erlang then sighed, and Li Gong understood his meaning.

"Before coming here, Mother specifically mentioned that I should take good care of Fifth Younger Brother, but along the way, I think if I take more care, the people of Yizhou might have even less room to survive."

Li Gong frowned.

"The harsh words spoken by those three children might be unpleasant, but they couldn’t be more reasonable. Yizhou has been affected by floods, and not only has the court waived the taxes for three years, it has also allocated relief grain. Yet look at Yizhou, inside and out, there are still many displaced people, and the price of grain remains high," said Li Erlang angrily, "Yizhou is his fief!"

"Your Majesty," Li Gong interjected, "but as you have also said, the officials in and out of Yizhou are also appointed by the court. In my opinion, it’s Zhang Shide who hasn’t done well. He governs Jiannan, but looking at the area around Mianzhou, the situation is much better."

"Hmph, how much better is Mianzhou?" Li Erlang angrily said, "It’s only Luojiang County that is stronger, but Luojiang County itself is a lower-ranked county. The disaster in Yizhou is ultimately due to Zhang Shide’s incompetence, or he has the ability but chose not to act, and I think we need to investigate further."

Seeing that he had resorted to referring to himself in the first person, Li Gong understood that he was truly angry and dared not persuade him further.

This emperor was very proud, and he also greatly honored talent and humility. Usually quite amiable with people, when outside the palace he preferred to be called Erlang, and even in the palace, he referred to himself as "I" when speaking with his close officials, only using "We" when angry or needing to assert his authority.

Li Gong retreated, and Gu Zhong, who was standing guard outside, came in with hot water, lowering his head and whispering softly, "Your Majesty, please wash up and rest."

Li Erlang quietly responded with an acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, not too far away in another courtyard, the Prince of Yizhou asked with a gloomy face, "Did you find anything?"

"We found out. It was said that he dined with five people, three of whom were young boys, seemingly met on the road. In a private room, they asked about the situation in Yizhou."

The Prince of Yizhou inquired, "What of the people?"

"Couldn’t find them. The Emperor has met with a good number of people along the way, all casual encounters. Once they blend into the crowd, they become very hard to track. And it seems there are people deliberately erasing their tracks."

"So you don’t know what they talked about?"

The confidant bowed his head.

The Prince of Yizhou picked up a teacup from the table, about to smash it, then remembered that an emperor resided not far from here, and with that detestable person around, he clearly couldn’t be as free as he used to be at his own home, smashing teacups if he wanted to, or hitting people if he felt like it.

He took a deep breath and put the teacup back on the table heavily, his face darkening as he said, "Continue the investigation, but keep a low profile, and if they find out, don’t bother coming back to see me."

Although he had given the orders, his anger was not quelled. He said sternly, "It’s enough how useless you’ve been. The Emperor has been wandering around Yizhou City for two days and you only found out now. What’s next? Will the Shenwu Army have to surround my residence in Yizhou before you realize they’re in the city?"

The confidant knelt on the ground, drenched in cold sweat.

"Get out," the Prince of Yizhou commanded.

The confidant immediately lowered his head, backing away, and gently closed the door behind him, inwardly heaving a sigh. With so many people coming in and out of Yizhou City every day, and the Emperor keeping such a low profile, who would have known that one of those five entering the city was the Emperor?

Actually, he thought they had done quite well to have spotted the Emperor in the vast sea of people and even managed to arrange for Lord Zhang to encounter the Emperor by chance and reveal his identity.

But such thoughts he could only bury deep within himself, not daring to speak them aloud.

He could only sigh and turn to attend to his duties.

Those who are busy may have countless reasons, but they all share a similar state. The County Magistrate Tang was also very busy now. After having his evening meal and declining his wife’s invitation to enjoy the moon together, he returned to his study, bald-headed, to continue processing official documents.

And to take care of his correspondence as well.

Letters from home, from friends, as well as from classmates...

County Magistrate Tang tossed the less important letters aside, sifted through the pile for Yang Heshu’s letter, and unfolded it to read.

He laid out the paper intending to write a reply when remembering that he would see Yang Heshu’s young friend tomorrow, he paused, then decided to wait until after the meeting before responding.

County Magistrate Tang put away Yang Heshu’s letter, and Mrs. Tang just happened to bring in a bowl of soup, with a gentle smile saying, "Have some soup after finishing your work. You always keep busy even when you’ll have a day off tomorrow."

She set the bowl in front of him, her voice soft, "If you have time tomorrow, let’s go out together to enjoy the spring and fly kites."

"I won’t be available tomorrow," County Magistrate Tang took the bowl and said, "I have to visit a gentleman on Kangxue Street, and I’m afraid I won’t have time all day."

Hearing this, Mrs. Tang took the bowl from his hands, her expression turning stern, "The soup has gone a bit cold, you shouldn’t drink it. Eating too much at night can lead to indigestion. You’d better go to sleep."

With that, she took the bowl and left.

County Magistrate Tang watched her carry the bowl away, withdrew his outstretched hand, sighed, and got up to go rest in his room.

County Magistrate Tang, sacrificing his day off, arrived early in the morning by carriage at Kangxue Street. He disembarked at the entrance of the alley and proceeded on foot. Just as he reached the courtyard, he overheard the sound of reading from inside and couldn’t help but halt and listen for a good while.