Chapter 542 - 314: Even Death Is Not Enough!

Any past "grudges" between them were a moot point now. Combined with the fact that it was Liu Wu who had relayed the news of the East Market barbarian slave girl’s disappearance and death to her, and their even earlier transaction...

At this moment, Fang Hongxiu didn’t know what attitude she should adopt when facing "Liu Wu." Behind her, the Imprisonment Officers exchanged glances, somewhat flustered, and their expressions grew wary.

Chen Yi slightly tipped up his bamboo hat, revealing his handsome face. He looked at Fang Hongxiu, who was leading the group, and asked with a light chuckle, "May I have a word?"

Fang Hongxiu hesitated for a moment. After nodding, she ordered the rest of the Imprisonment Officers to continue on their way. Once they had left, she took a few steps closer and asked in a low voice, "You came looking for me specifically. Is it about that matter?"

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. "What? Did Hundred Households Fang find something?"

After taking Asutai away that day, he had indeed had someone pass a message to Fang Hongxiu, just to cause some frustration for Liu Hong. He hadn’t actually expected the Imprisonment Department to find anything useful.

Hearing this, Fang Hongxiu understood that he hadn’t caught wind of anything. She shook her head and said, "I didn’t find anything."

Chen Yi naturally didn’t believe her. He smiled and said, "If it’s about the Liu family, just hand it over to me. I promise not to implicate anyone."

He had been figuring out how to force Liu Hong to show his true colors, but lacked some necessary conditions.

Seeing that he had seen through her thoughts, Fang Hongxiu fell silent for a moment. She then unfastened the sachet she carried at her waist and handed it to him.

"I did find some things, but... exercise your own discretion."

Chen Yi looked at the sachet, then at her expression, and reached out to take it.

"I know. No matter the result, this matter has nothing to do with your Imprisonment Department."

Since Fang Hongxiu had been cautiously keeping it on her person, the contents of the sachet must be extraordinary. Chen Yi could even imagine the heavy heart she had been bearing these past few days, likely worried that leaking the information would bring fatal disaster upon her.

Fang Hongxiu nodded gently, her expression relaxing. "If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first."

Chen Yi pocketed the sachet and asked casually, "Seeing you all in such a hurry, did a major case occur?"

Fang Hongxiu glanced around. Seeing that there was no one nearby, she leaned closer and whispered a few words.

Chen Yi’s smile faded as he listened. "It’s that serious? There are actually refugees on the move?"

Fang Hongxiu nodded. "Several county cities have suffered natural disasters. Even if the Prefecture City has distributed relief grain, there are still many starving people. News arrived two days ago that tens of thousands of refugees are heading toward the Prefecture City. The faster ones have already reached Lin Village outside the city."

"Lin Village..."

Chen Yi looked toward the East City Gate and asked, "What do the Governor’s Office and the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office say?"

Although he had heard a few days ago that several counties downstream of the Chishui River had suffered floods and extremely low grain yields, given the overall harvest in Shu State this year, the government offices should have the ability to allocate grain. Now it seemed he had underestimated the Governor’s Office—or rather, Liu Hong’s viciousness.

To allow the citizens of several counties to reach the point of exchanging their children for food, causing the refugees to be displaced, all while sealing off all information...

It wasn’t hard for Chen Yi to deduce that Liu Hong must have a profound ulterior motive for doing this. However, time was pressing, and he couldn’t see through Liu Hong’s intentions right away. It couldn’t possibly be to cooperate with the Ji State Trading Company to continue driving up grain prices, could it?

Fang Hongxiu spoke frankly, "After Lord Liu learned of this, he ordered the Lord Prefect to open the granaries and distribute food. But because..."

Seeing her hesitate, Chen Yi thought of what had happened two days ago and said, his expression shifting slightly, "Because Old Marquis Xiao and General Jinghong proposed that he stabilize the grain prices?"

Fang Hongxiu nodded and said helplessly, "The Lord Prefect’s meaning is that the Prefecture City is more important."

Chen Yi frowned inwardly. Such an excuse might work for Liu Si, but for Liu Hong, the Governor, it was quite unjustifiable. Whether it was the Prefecture City or the county cities, they were all within Shu State. With such a major incident occurring, how could he not treat them equally? Once a problem arose with the disaster relief, there was no guarantee the refugees wouldn’t cause chaos.

However, Chen Yi had already guessed Liu Hong’s countermeasure—using the excuse that Old Marquis Xiao had shown up at his door to "force" him to stabilize grain prices, he would report to the Imperial Court and humbly apologize for his failure.

After pondering for a moment, he said in a deep voice, "This matter is of great consequence. Focus on pacifying them as much as possible."

Fang Hongxiu nodded. "I understand."

Seeing that Chen Yi had nothing more to say, she cupped her fists together and said, "There were many misunderstandings between us before; let us leave them in the past."

With that, without waiting for Chen Yi to speak, she turned and left.

Chen Yi watched her run off, then flipped his hand and took out the sachet. He knew clearly that the Imprisonment Department’s deployment out of the city was mostly for defense, to prevent any troublemakers among the refugees. They had no way to intervene in the disaster relief efforts.

But right now, the remaining grain in his hands was merely a drop in the bucket for tens of thousands of refugees. If this matter couldn’t be resolved in a short time, there was no telling what other backup plans Liu Hong and the others had waiting.

With this thought, Chen Yi turned and slipped into an alleyway, heading back to the West Market, as he took out the items inside the sachet to examine them. Now that he knew about this, it was impossible for him to turn a blind eye. The sooner the better; he had to make some countermeasures regardless.

Before taking more than a few steps, Chen Yi halted as he read the contents of the slips of paper in his hand. The papers contained several clues pointing directly to Zhao Shichang and others by Liu Hong’s side:

[September 1: Borrowing the Government Office’s power, Zeng Zhifeng ordered the Cao Gang to prepare several boats heading south.]

[September 3: A residence outside the East Market was rented by Zeng Zhifeng. The man has disappeared without a trace, suspected to have been abducted by the "Dragon Spear."]

[September 4: Horse bandits from Poshisu Country went to the Liu family’s estate outside the city.]

[September 9: Several suspicious individuals entered and exited the Liu Mansion. One of them is currently at Xinglin Hall...]

Chen Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly after reading. The other clues about Zeng Zhifeng were one thing, but the final note about a person from Xinglin Hall appearing at the Liu family...

When it came to suspicious individuals, Chen Yi couldn’t think of anyone else besides the members of the Five Poison Sect. His mind raced as the situations of the first, second, and third branches of the Jing State Liu Family flashed through his thoughts one by one.

Liu Jing was dead.

Liu Wen was dead.

Liu Zhaoxue was colluding with the Five Poison Sect in an attempt to control the first branch of the Jing State Liu Family...

The Five Poison Sect...

"Could it be that Liu Hong is also connected to the Five Poison Sect?" he wondered. "If that’s the case, then he truly deserves to die!"

Thinking of this, Chen Yi put away the slips of paper. His pace quickened involuntarily as he darted toward the West Market.

It didn’t take long for him to find Liu Lang and Zhang Dabao. Meeting their surprised gazes, he instructed in a serious tone, "Tonight, you two will go to the Lin family. You must finalize the trade for that one million shi of grain."

Liu Lang pinched the full beard he had just glued to his face and asked in confusion, "Why the rush? Did something happen?"

Chen Yi nodded. "A matter of life and death. Do as I say. Additionally, once you’ve confirmed the transaction time with Lin Zhenghong, go to Lin Village before dawn tomorrow and suspend the sale of grain."

"S-Suspend it?" Liu Lang was startled, nearly ripping off his fake beard. "Boss, it’s not that I disagree, but Lin Village is currently surrounded by the city’s commoners. If we really stop selling grain, I reckon those people might even start looting."

Chen Yi waved his hand and said, "The refugees have arrived."

With the sheer number of those refugees, once the Prefecture City’s citizens saw them, they probably wouldn’t have the mind to stay outside the city anymore. Naturally, it would also be impossible for them to clash with Xue Duanyun and the others.

Liu Lang was utterly confused. "Refugees? What refugees?"

"Refugees from several counties downstream of the Chishui River. Quite a few of them have already arrived at Lin Village..." Chen Yi gave a brief explanation, not forgetting to remind them, "Dabao, later on, you can use this as an excuse to make Lin Zhenghong transport the grain out of the city as quickly as possible."

Zhang Dabao and Liu Lang understood and repeatedly voiced their agreement.

"After you arrive at Lin Village, you must guard that grain well. I have a major use for it."

"Rest assured, my Lord..."

Although there wasn’t much grain left, it would at least last a day or two, leaving some room to maneuver. Once Zhang Dabao finished disguising the two of them, they bid farewell to Chen Yi and concealed their tracks as they headed toward the East Market.

Chen Yi watched their retreating backs. After a moment of thought, he fetched a brush and ink and wrote a few lines. This matter was of grave importance; he had to notify the Xiao family as soon as possible.

Well past the Hour of the Ox.

Chen Yi made a detour and completed a few tasks before returning to Spring Lotus Garden. He changed into casual clothes and went to the window, looking at the scattering of starlight that had appeared in the middle courtyard not far away.

"I hope the Old Master can come up with a countermeasure," he thought. "Otherwise, with Liu Hong’s tactics, the longer those refugees stay outside the Prefecture City, the worse the outcome will be..."