Wenyuan Pavilion.
Lou Youzhi handled government affairs as usual.
Whether it was his expression, movements, or efficiency in reviewing memorials, everything was the same as before.
However, all the colleagues were on pins and needles, and no one spoke.
Even the deputy minister Lu Zhong, who was so agile and smooth-talking, was meticulous at this moment.
The atmosphere in the entire hall was extremely tense.
Until the hour of You, the sound of scattered drums began to rang out.
Crash.
Except for Lou Youzhi, everyone stood up at the same time, and then said goodbye to Lou Youzhi one by one and left according to the seating arrangement of the cabinet.
From beginning to end, Lou Youzhi didn't even raise his eyelids and was still reviewing memorials.
But judging from the huge desk in front of him and the height of the memorials piled on the desk, it was likely that 90% of the work in Wenyuan Pavilion was done by just one person.
"Why……"
Dou Tianyuan couldn't bear it any longer and pushed the door open, "I've been watching you for two hours, and you didn't expose me."
“I don’t have the time.”
Lou Youzhi had a blank expression on his face, but his hands kept moving.
"But you've been sitting here for ten days."
Dou Tianyuan said helplessly, "I know that Lao Jiang and you were childhood friends, from the same hometown, and classmates, but he is already dead... How about I take you to see the pile of minced meat and the skull, so that you can pay tribute to him up close?"
"His death was inevitable, and it didn't come as a shock to me."
Lou Youzhi responded indifferently.
"But you didn't expect..."
Dou Tianyuan narrowed his eyes, "Your Majesty will label him a traitor, and label all the ancestors of the Jiang family as traitors!"
Snap!
Lou Youzhi finally stopped.
Because the pen in his hand broke.
"What do you want to do?"
Dou Tianyuan said coldly, "Do you know that if I hadn't discovered it in time, the fact that you secretly kept Old Jiang's household registration would have been reported to His Majesty by now!"
"I believe you can find it and suppress it."
Lou Youzhi closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Now that he's dead, his household registration has been completely cancelled. There's nothing to worry about."
"I'm certainly not worried about that."
Dou Tianyuan's expression became colder and colder. "What I'm worried about is the method you told me! The method to save Yongzhou!"
“It’s very simple.”
Lou Youzhi opened his eyes and snapped his fingers.
A memorial flew into Dou Tianyuan's hands.
"This is...Xue Rong!"
Dou Tianyuan's eyes shone, he quickly scanned the content, then frowned: "I don't see any problem."
"Do you think His Majesty will believe it?"
Lou Youzhi asked back.
"No?"
Dou Tianyuan was puzzled and read the report carefully again. "What is written here is consistent with Lao Jiang's temper. It should be the truth. It is also appropriate to ask whether to stay behind... Why do you think His Majesty doesn't believe it?"
"Except for the few years since you ascended the throne, Your Majesty has not been involved in government affairs until now."
Lou Youzhi's eyes were filled with sarcasm. "How did he detect the abnormality in Yongzhou earlier than anyone else?"
"What's the meaning?"
Dou Tianyuan's expression changed.
"It's simple. Either he has a power that none of us knows about, or..."
Lou Youzhi's eyes turned cold, "He doesn't need to go through anyone to know what happened in Yongzhou thousands of miles away."
"This... this is impossible."
Dou Tianyuan frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head, "If he had known what Lao Jiang had done, then the secret order given to me would not have been to investigate Yongzhou."
"Yes, he couldn't possibly know what Jiang Zhihong was doing, but he must know the rapid decline in Yongzhou's population."
Lou Youzhi sighed and said, "We can't tell through what channel he learned this."
"so……"
Dou Tianyuan looked unhappy. "This report can't delay the process at all?"
"Not only will it not delay the event, but it will also alert Your Majesty immediately."
Lou Youzhi affirmed, "Because the report did not hide the time of Jiang Zhihong's death, and it has been ten days since Jiang Zhihong's death. In theory, the rate of population decline in Yongzhou has begun to recover."
"But, in fact, there is none."
Dou Tianyuan added in this direction, "So... once this report is submitted, His Majesty will immediately understand that Xue Rong has rebelled!"
"Then, it won't just be the Golden Armor Pagoda that we go to."
Lou Youzhi continued.
"or."
Dou Tianyuan's eyes flickered. "Suppress this report?"
“…”
Lou Youzhi looked at Dou Tianyuan as if he were a fool. "Such a stupid idea actually came from the commander-in-chief of the Blood Robe Guard. It's simply appalling."
"……All right."
Dou Tianyuan was a little embarrassed. "What should we do? If it doesn't work, it seems we can only give up Yongzhou."
"Give up Yongzhou?"
Lou Youzhi chuckled and shook his head, "Rather than giving up, I would like to give it a try and see how important this natural disaster is to Your Majesty."
“…Are you crazy?!”
Dou Tianyuan's face changed drastically. "Old Jiang used to have such a good relationship with Your Majesty, but didn't you see what happened to him now?"
"It's because I saw it that I want to try it even more."
Lou Youzhi looked puzzled.
Dou Tianyuan was silent for a while, then asked, "What are you going to do?"
"There will be a court meeting tomorrow."
Lou Youzhi stood up and said, "I will ask to be the relief envoy of Yongzhou."
“…”
After a long silence, Dou Tianyuan left after saying a few words.
"If you die, no matter how you die, I will not avenge you."
hehe.
Lou Youzhi chuckled, put his hands behind his back, and walked out the door.
"die?"
"How can it be so easy for the most powerful official in Daqing, a traitor like Lou, to die?"
The next day there was a court meeting.
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Lou Youzhi, all officials held meetings as usual.
Everything is no different from usual.
It was not until the end of the court meeting that an official suddenly stepped out.
"Your Majesty, I, Hong Jing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, beg you to immediately select officials and dispatch supplies to Yongzhou for disaster relief!"
After all, it was a court meeting. Even if Lou Youzhi was the leader, no matter what he wanted to say, he had to make it clear that he was talking to Emperor Qing, not Lou Youzhi.
But this sentence was obviously directed directly at Emperor Qing.
Unfortunately, after a while, there was still silence behind the golden curtain.
"You should know that granaries in various places have been burned down, and the collection of food is still in progress. It is far from the level of disaster relief."
Lou Youzhi waved his hand, signaling Hong Jing to leave.
"What the Prime Minister said is wrong!"
Another person stepped out, it was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, "Since the grain collection has already begun, a portion of it must have been collected. Let's transport this portion of grain to Yongzhou first, so that the people of Yongzhou can take a breath and buy time for the subsequent grain collection."
"This is also wrong!"
The Minister of Rites stepped out and said, "Do you know that if the disparity between the number of refugees and the amount of relief food is too great, not only will it not have any relief effect, but it will also cause the order in Yongzhou to be completely disrupted?"
"Order? Hahahaha!"
The Right Deputy Imperial Censor laughed sarcastically, "It has been nearly five months since the locust plague broke out in Yongzhou. I'm afraid that the ground is now covered with bones and starving people are everywhere. How can there be any order?"
After saying this, the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief clasped his fists toward the curtain behind the dragon throne and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to provide disaster relief to Yongzhou!"
This scene has actually happened many times.
For several months, this scene has been played out almost every day at court meetings.
Every time, there has been an endless debate between "immediate disaster relief" and "raising food", and no one has the upper hand, and the stalemate has continued to this day.
So the people behind the veil didn't take it seriously at all.
However, today is different.
"What you are arguing about is just a matter of food."
Duke Anguo laughed and said, "To be honest, I have sent people to various provinces to collect donations during this period of time, and have already collected enough food. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, there will be a steady supply of food shipped to Yongzhou."
As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the hall seemed to become thicker and heavier.
This is pressure, pressure from behind the curtain.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to..."
Duke Anguo showed no fear, and slowly bowed with his old body, "Provide disaster relief to Yongzhou!"
"I second the motion!"
"I second the motion!"
“…”
Officials stood up one after another, clasped their fists and bowed, all seconding the motion.
Gradually, nearly 90% of the officials stood up.
Finally, the real purpose was revealed.
Lou Youzhi chuckled, turned around and clasped his fists: "Your Highness, I would like to ask to be the relief envoy and go to Yongzhou to provide disaster relief immediately!"
Time passes by little by little.
Finally, the pressure suddenly dissipated.
"Okay, okay, okay."
A voice that was neither happy nor angry came from behind the curtain, "How can I be so virtuous and capable that I can make all the civil and military officials work together?"
“This is truly a great blessing.”
"I, grant your permission."
…
…
The edge of Binzhou Province.
Xu Chong looked at Xue Rong not far away with an extremely solemn expression.
Xue Rong is still the same Xue Rong, but his eyes, temperament and demeanor have all changed dramatically.
"Father, mother?!"
Xue Rong sat on the ground, crying and looking around, "Where is this! Rong'er needs to go home! Rong'er doesn't want to be here!"
“…”
Xu Chong hesitated for a moment, then removed his greed for light and revealed his figure.
Xue Rong immediately stopped crying, got up from the ground, pointed at Xu Chong and said , "You lowly servant, I order you to take me home as soon as possible. If you are a little late, I will peel off your skin!"
It seems that I really forgot.
Xu Chong's heart fell to the bottom.
It was obvious that Xue Rong had his household registration revoked and had forgotten everything related to martial arts.
If nothing unexpected happened, Xue Rong should have inherited his father's noble family background and started to learn martial arts from a very young age.
That's why the current situation occurs, where memory has completely regressed to childhood.
But the problem is...
It’s been less than twenty days!
Didn’t they say that it could be delayed for at least a month?
What on earth happened in Beijing?!
"Damn you, lowly servant, can't you hear what I'm saying?"
Xue Rong walked up to Xu Chong with an arrogant attitude and raised his hand to slap him.
Xu Chong grabbed Xue Rong's wrist and said, "If that's the case, there's no point in keeping you."
The next moment, Xue Rong's head and body were separated.
After a moment, a dozen spiritual sources flew over and sank into Xu Chong's body.
"Sure enough, it's a natural disaster."
Xu Chong narrowed his eyes.
In Yongzhou, no one who died could provide him with spiritual energy.
As long as you leave Yongzhou and reach the edge of Binzhou, you will be unaffected.
This natural disaster is really weird.
Xu Chong shook his head and devoured Xue Rong with the formless clothes, creating a new illusion.
Not long after.
Xu Chong, disguised as Xue Rong, appeared in a post station a hundred miles away, wearing golden armor.
"Are you the gentleman from last time?"
The postmaster was startled and ran out to greet him. He bowed and smiled from a distance, "Excuse me, sir, do you have any letter to deliver?"
"No letter."
Xu Chong shook his head and said, "Let me find out if anything happened in the capital recently."
"The capital?"
The postmaster thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Apart from the disaster relief, nothing special has happened."
"Disaster relief?"
Xu Chong raised his eyebrows sharply, "Tell me more about it."
"Hey, it's still about the matter in Yongzhou next door."
The postmaster sighed, "Officials wrote to His Majesty every day, asking him to provide disaster relief, but the granaries in various provinces were destroyed, and the court could not raise so much food in a short time, so it kept dragging its feet. It seems that it was seven days ago that we finally gathered enough food and prepared to provide disaster relief."
“…”
Xu Chong was silent for a while.
There is definitely something fishy about this.
It is no exaggeration to say that even if the granaries in various provinces were destroyed, what would it matter?
With the royal family's background, if you really want to provide disaster relief, we can get it for you in minutes.
It's simply that they don't want to provide disaster relief.
The key point is, it has been delayed for so long, but you give up now?
After thinking for a while, Xu Chong asked again: "This matter is a bit sudden, do you know the specific situation?"
"There is some news, but I don't know if it is accurate. After all, it is all passed down by word of mouth by the postmen who come and go."
The postmaster paused and lowered his voice, "It is said that Prime Minister Lou has volunteered to be the relief envoy."
"Um?"
Xu Chong raised his eyebrows suddenly, "Lou Youzhi, are you asking to be the relief envoy?"
What's the difference between this and what Jiang Zhihong did? Aren't they both going against Emperor Qing?
"I can only make a guess about this matter...it should be true."
The postmaster confirmed again, "It is said that someone secretly sent people to various places to collect donations, gathered the grain, and then all the officials wrote a petition together."
"All officials wrote a petition together..."
Xu Chong suddenly understood.
Obviously, this is the 'other method' that Dou Tianyuan mentioned.
I have to say, it’s really tough.
Xu Chong breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Anything else?"
"Let me think about it..."
The postmaster frowned in thought.
Although the man in front of him was sent out to deliver a letter and must be a small pawn in the Golden Armor Pagoda, but after all, that is the Golden Armor Pagoda. Even if he doesn't try to curry favor with him, it's better not to offend him.
“Yes.”
The postmaster's eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice even more: "According to the postman a few days ..."
A bunch of gossip, totally devoid of any nutritional value.
Xu Chong listened for a while and then left.
Unfortunately, it was not yet dark, so they could only use Xue Rong's warhorse to travel, which was far slower than the Yin Shen.
"I wonder what's going on with the wind drum."
Xu Chong thought so.
He wasn't worried whether the people over there were still alive.
He wanted to see whether the red halo representing disaster on the refugees had diminished.
If it decreases, it means Lou Youzhi can protect these refugees.
If you can’t…
…
…
In Fenggu County.
There was a long queue in front of the porridge stall.
Everyone obeyed the orders obediently, but there were not enough people to maintain the order.
Zhao Liu's family and Li Xiangxue were also among them.
"Xiang Xue, why do I feel like you're getting whiter and whiter?"
Zhao Liu looked at Li Xiangxue with a puzzled look in his eyes, "Even the mud can't stop it..."
In the few months after fleeing to Fenggu, it can be said that Li Xiangxue did not give him any worries.
First, don’t cause trouble; second, don’t run around.
He doesn't look like a child under ten years old at all.
Especially after Jiang Zhihong started teaching martial arts, Li Xiangxue seemed to have become a completely different person.
He locked himself in a simple shed all day long and never went anywhere except to get food.
Zhao Liu almost suspected that something had happened to Li Xiangxue.
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhao, Xiangxue is fine."
Li Xiangxue gave Zhao Liu a faint smile.
All his exposed skin, including his face, neck, and wrists, was as white and crystal clear as jade.
If Xu Chong were here, he would be able to see at a glance that this was caused by not being able to suppress the strong force and allowing the strong force to flow through the body surface.
Yes.
Li Xiangxue also embarked on the path of martial arts.
And the martial arts he practiced were not any of the ones taught by Jiang Zhihong.
It is Mingyu Jin.
At the beginning, the full set of Mingyu Jin that Xu Chong exchanged was for Li Xiangxue.
Originally, Xu Chong thought that it would take at least a dozen years for Li Xiangxue to get in touch with martial arts.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhihong's Buwu awakened Li Xiangxue's memory of Mingyu Jin!
As for the realm.
The sixth level of enlightenment.
In less than two months, he had reached the sixth level of enlightenment.
Unfortunately, Li Xiangxue didn't dare tell anyone, not even that he had embarked on the path of martial arts.
Because, based on everything that happened in Canglong County at that time, little Li Xiangxue could already guess a lot of things.
For example, my father’s death was related to martial arts.
For example, Xu Chong has a secret.
Therefore, Li Xiangxue was afraid of implicating Xu Chong, so he could only pretend to be an ordinary boy.
Even though he didn't need to eat that much food, he still chose to take the same amount.
"When you grow up, you must repay Master Xu. Remember?"
Li Xiangxue's mind once again echoed with his father and mother's instructions.
"It's our turn."
Zhao Liu touched Li Xiangxue's shoulder and motioned him to come forward.
"Oh, okay."
Li Xiangxue came back to his senses.
However, just as he was about to step forward, an intense bright light suddenly covered them, blinding everyone.
After a long time, the glare finally subsided a little.
Everyone looked up in surprise and was immediately shocked.
"What is that?!"
"Am I dazzled? Why do I see... an extra sun in the sky???"
“I saw that too!”
"What's going on..."
Screams rang out one after another.
The next moment, an extremely ethereal and grand voice slowly spread over the county town.
"You don't need to panic. I am the leader of the Taiping Dao."
“——Ji Qingzhi!!!”