Chapter 882 - 781: Request for Duty

Chapter 882: Chapter 781: Request for Duty

Lu Qianxue sighed and said, "That’s where you’re wrong. Letting them live on like that would just doom them to a lifetime of suffering. If you can give them a clean death with one stroke, don’t use two!"

Chi Huazhang said, "Sect Master is right. That was actually what I thought at first as well. Since they’re so ’reasonable,’ we ought to reciprocate in kind and give them a swift end. That would still count as us repaying恩 with恩, and living up to our code of: ’If others respect me one foot, I return them one yard.’ But then I remembered we’re going up the mountain to deliver betrothal gifts for the young master. We mustn’t stain this trip with blood. So along the way we didn’t even dare step on an ant. How about this—we go down the mountain first, then give them a clean end afterward!"

Lu Qianxue shook her head. "Forget it, forget it. Since the Xianglong Sword Sect will no longer exist in the Jianghu, there’s no need to bother with them."

Everyone from Haotian Village: "..."

So when she said that before the full moon the Xianglong Sword Sect would no longer exist, she hadn’t been speaking casually. She had truly meant to do it.

On this point, Prince Cheng wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Daring to come snatch his son to be their son-in-law, daring to stuff some inexplicable woman down his throat as a daughter-in-law—this was way too much of an insult to Jingchen. Xue’er was usually strict to the two boys, but she was also the one who doted on her children the most. How could she possibly tolerate something like this?

Xia Wenjin laughed. In fact, if she ran into the same situation, she would probably do the same.

"If people do not offend me, I do not offend them." Since it was the people of the Xianglong Sword Sect who provoked them first, and their skills were inferior, they could hardly blame others for using their own methods back on them.

Xia Wanqing was very pleased. The only thing he felt was a bit less than perfect was that that brat Xia Sichen wasn’t in the village, and couldn’t witness his younger sister’s betrothal being finalized with his own eyes.

Xia Wanqing felt quite emotional. Back when Huangfu Yuxuan wanted to marry Wenjin, although his father came personally to propose marriage, that Prince Liang, even with a smile on his face, still carried disdain and reluctance in his bones.

But as for Huangfu Jingchen’s parents—setting aside that his mother was herself from the Jianghu—his father, though a Vassal King in the provinces, had an extremely hearty temperament, carrying the straightforward briskness of Jianghu folk. He was nothing like that Prince Liang, whose heart and belly were full of unwillingness, yet who still put on a show of enthusiasm, and did it so clumsily it made one utterly lose their appetite.

How could that compare to the couple before him, whose smiles between brows and at the corners of their eyes were all from the heart?

And they were very loving.

Children raised by parents like this would naturally have gentle dispositions and broad hearts, without so many sinister schemes!

The family of three of Prince Cheng stayed on in Haotian Village. Compared to the Capital City, they actually preferred living in Haotian Village; here, they were free and unrestrained, and Xia Wanqing’s nature was bold and generous.

With the betrothal between Huangfu Jingchen and Xia Wenjin settled, Xia Wanqing accepted the betrothal gifts, and the two sides agreed on a date for the engagement ceremony. On that day, Haotian Village held a three-day feast; the whole village was filled with joy. Chi Huazhang and the others of Po Yuan Sect took their leave after attending the engagement banquet.

As for the wedding date, although Lu Qianxue wished for it to be as soon as possible, since they were living in the Capital City, they still had to listen to the Emperor’s opinion.

Lu Qianxue and Prince Cheng were a loving couple. She knew how difficult things could be for Prince Cheng as a son, and she would not put him and their son in a difficult position over this matter.

They had originally planned to stay in Haotian Village a few more days. Prince Cheng, though a Prince, had been leading troops to war since the age of fourteen—going deep into enemy lines to take the head of their commanding general, making a habit of plunging into tiger’s dens and such—so his own abilities were naturally formidable.

After sparring with Xia Wanqing, he was in extremely high spirits, and the two men admired each other greatly.

However, that evening, after the earlier message from Jifeng Tower about the severe drought and floods in Qingzhou, with disastrous conditions and the people wandering homeless, another message arrived.

This time it was about the court. The court had already received the news five days ago, yet still had not dispatched a Minister of Disaster Relief. It was said that the Emperor intended to assign a member of the Royal Family to take charge of the disaster-relief matters. Originally, this was a chance to line one’s pockets handsomely, but now, with the Emperor intent on establishing a Crown Prince, everyone worried that if they left the Capital City, the Emperor might settle the Crown Prince in their absence, and they would have no share in it.

So among the Princes in the Capital City, none of them wanted to go.

Prince Liang and Prince Zhuang had originally lost hope of ever becoming Crown Prince, but one was mediocre and one vicious; one only wanted to idle away every day, eating, drinking, and making merry, the other feared the world not being chaotic enough. Naturally, neither had the mind for this.

When Prince Cheng and his son heard this news, their expressions both turned somewhat grave. The information they received was from Jifeng Tower, which should have arrived almost at the same time as the message sent to the Capital City. When he had learned of it five days earlier, Prince Cheng hadn’t taken it to heart.

When a local region suffers a disaster, the Emperor will send people to provide relief, especially for a calamity this serious; it would only receive greater attention, and the Ministry of Revenue’s Silver would be prioritized for disaster relief.

At the time he only ordered some grain to be transferred over, to ease the urgent crisis.

He had thought that the officials in charge of disaster relief were already on the road, but five days later, the latest news was that they hadn’t even decided on a candidate.

It wasn’t as if disaster relief absolutely had to be managed by a Prince or Imperial Grandson, but for some reason this time the Emperor insisted on choosing one from among his sons and grandsons.

Mediocre men couldn’t handle this task; the capable ones had their eyes on that position and were unwilling to go. On top of that, Prince Cheng and his son, as well as Huangfu Yuxuan, were all not in the Capital City.

Prince Cheng said, "This matter must not be delayed any longer. We’ll spur our horses back to the Capital City and take this assignment."

Lu Qianxue said, "All right! Have Jifeng Tower gather all relevant information, and have our people purchase grain in advance, so that if the Ministry of Revenue’s Silver is delayed, we don’t end up with extra lives lost for nothing!"

Huangfu Jingchen said, "Let me go!"

Prince Cheng shook his head. "This is something I must do. We’ll return to the Capital first. I’ll accept Father’s decree and set out to oversee the disaster relief. You stay in the Capital, urge the Ministry of Revenue to release the Silver as early as possible. Also, there may be people throwing obstacles in our way in the Capital; if you remain there, you can respond flexibly."

Since they had already settled the plan, they took their leave of Xia Wanqing. After going down the mountain, Lu Qianxue went straight to Qingzhou, while Prince Cheng, his son, and Xia Wenjin spurred their horses toward the Capital City.

Knowing they were in a hurry, Xia Wanqing prepared fine steeds for them that could travel a thousand miles a day, and also prepared spare horses for switching. They returned to the Capital in just three days.

And by that time, the person in charge of disaster relief still hadn’t been decided.

When they learned that Prince Cheng had taken the initiative to enter the palace and request an imperial order to oversee disaster relief, the expressions of the various Princes were all different.

Prince Liang sneered, "Is he stupid or what? He wasn’t even in the Capital, yet rushed back just to wade into this muddy water. What’s the point of doing something so thankless?" Prince Zhuang coldly laughed, "Looks like Old Fifth has gone crazy from lack of Silver, daring to set his sights on the disaster-relief funds. If it weren’t for this king needing to stay in the Capital to watch for opportunities, how could such a good thing ever fall to him?"

When it comes to disaster relief, the Chief imperial envoy in charge will certainly be able to line his pockets; it’s only a matter of how much. Prince Zhuang felt that Prince Cheng must be going for this!

Prince Xin, Prince Lu, and Prince Li all breathed a sigh of relief. With someone volunteering, there was naturally no need for them to go. They would stay in the Capital by their father’s side, using every trick they had; perhaps the position of Crown Prince might yet fall to one of them.