"Is it the Wei family?" Hua Zhi was surprised, but also not surprised. Whenever the princes fought, all officials had to take sides. There were very few who had the confidence not to take sides, and the Wei family was definitely not one of them.
Obviously, the Wei family stood with the Fourth Prince, but unfortunately Lord Wei's eyesight was not very good. He originally wanted to be the one to follow the dragon, but he was thrown out and abandoned before the storm came.
Yes, what a good shield. Everyone in the capital knows that the Hua and Wei families are at odds. Hua Zhi made the Wei family lose face at the literary forum, so the reason why the Wei family wants to make trouble for Hua Zhi is barely tenable.
But who said things would develop like this
"Stop it, let's put this matter to rest."
Chen Qing looked at the eldest girl in confusion, "The Wei family..."
"Even though Wei Jing is no longer favored by the emperor, she is still a senior official in the court. If I insist on pursuing the matter, the emperor will definitely hand over the Wei family to me once he knows who is behind this matter. This will also give an explanation to the court officials who are concerned about this matter. The court officials' stance is internal, and once they face the outside world, they will unite. If I, the daughter of a criminal, force the court officials to suffer, then even if they had a good impression of me before, it will be gone after this incident. This is an obvious trap."
Hua Zhi chuckled, "Maybe I've been too aggressive this past year, so they all thought I was brainless and didn't care about anything else just to vent my anger."
Chen Qing suddenly realized that he had not thought of this before, and admiration flashed in his eyes.
"That's the end of the matter. Anyway, everyone who needs to know knows what happened, and the purpose has been achieved."
"yes."
Hua Zhi stood up and walked a few steps while holding onto the table. "Is there any news about the wise man of the Chaoli tribe that I asked someone to investigate?"
"I'm afraid it won't be that fast. If it were that easy to find out, they wouldn't have been able to hide it from Qisuji for so many years."
That's right, Hua Zhi nodded, "Is there anything unusual in Jinyang?"
"The situation is very good. The several casinos newly opened by the Peng family are packed with customers. They are getting anxious. Zheng Xing has met with Peng Fangming several times. It is said that he has used both soft and hard tactics, but the master is not planning to agree yet."
"I plan to go to Jinyang in a few days." Seeing Chen Qing's surprised expression, Hua Zhi smiled, "Why, I can't go?"
"No, I can go, of course I can go, the master will be very happy to see you."
"Don't inform him in advance."
"Yes, I understand."
The wound was aching and a little itchy. Hua Zhi sat down again, holding the teacup and thinking for a while, and said, "Manager Chen, I want to use your manpower to do something."
"Yes, please give your orders."
"Yan Country has abundant grains, and I am very envious. I want to send a caravan to buy them. As far as I know, the two countries have trade relations."
Chen Qing nodded, "Yes, even when the two countries had conflicts before, they did not ban trade. I wonder how much grain you need to purchase so that I can decide the number of caravan members based on the quantity."
"We can harvest as much as we can. Not only rice, but also bran and wheat can be purchased in large quantities. You should think of a way to transport the goods to the capital and hide them somewhere. No one should know about it." Thinking of the tunnel warfare she had seen before, Hua Zhi smiled, "You can do more underground work like we did on my farm. As long as we make sure it is moisture-proof and waterproof, we can harvest for a year or two."
"Miss, what are you doing..."
"Just think of it as me worrying too much. It's better to be prepared." Hua Zhi glanced at Yingchun, who handed her a key. "I have a large amount of silver in a house in the east of the city. You can use it to buy some things. Then the caravan will look like a caravan."
Chen Qing took the key. He was not stupid and could see clearly what the eldest girl wanted to do. Over the past year or so, he had discovered more than once that the eldest girl would always prepare for the worst before doing anything. The most recent time was when she went to the farm this time. Although there were no clues when the incident happened, she had made all the necessary preparations in advance, which enabled her to escape danger after being trapped.
He believed what the elder girl said, that it is better to be prepared than not, after all, there is no shortage of food.
"When do you plan to leave?"
"You stay with Xiaoliu, I'll take the boat, and when we get there, Yan Xi will protect us. I'll bring Shaoyao with me, so you can rest assured."
Chen Qing disagreed, "But the master asked me to follow you."
"Xiaoliu can't make any mistakes. He started later than the other brothers and his foundation is too weak. This is the stage when we need manpower the most. I'll talk to Yan Xi. You just stay here and rest assured. You also need to be in charge of things here. I don't feel comfortable leaving it to others."
"… yes."
Five days later, Hua Zhi quietly left Beijing in a simple car, with only Shaoyao and Baoxia by her side.
The emperor knew this, and he suddenly laughed and said to Lai Fu, "He really knows how to handle the situation. He saved the fourth brother's face and caused a rift between Wei Jing and the fourth brother. He also won praise from countless people. How could Hua Yizheng, such a stubborn old man, teach such a cunning person?"
Lai Fu saw that the emperor was in a good mood and followed suit, "I'm afraid that Mr. Hua himself is also puzzled. The eldest girl's temperament is really unlike that of a Hua family member."
The emperor suddenly thought of Hua Jingyan, the man mentioned twice in Taizu's will. According to internal history records, Hua Jingyan was a person who did not play by the rules, and Hua Zhi was a bit like him.
However, what Hua Zhi did this time surprised him. Wasn't she worried that if she let the fourth brother go easily this time, there would be another time? Wasn't she afraid that others would follow suit and use her to establish their authority
As for going to Yan Xi to complain, the emperor had never thought about it. Even if Yan Xi was in Jinyang, he must be well aware of what was happening in the capital. There was no need for Hua Zhi to run so far to complain. Given Hua Zhi's temperament, she probably didn't think of letting others step forward. She was just afraid that she had dug a trap somewhere and was waiting for the fourth child to jump into it.
The emperor had no intention of reminding his son at all. After all, she would not take the fourth son's life. It would be good for him to learn a lesson. He acted so recklessly that he could not even defeat a woman, and yet he wanted to seize the throne
The palace guard outside reported, "Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince requests to see you."
"Xiao Liu? Let him in."
"yes."
Xiaoliu was carrying a basket and after greeting, he handed the basket to Lai Fu.
The emperor raised his eyebrows when he saw what was in the basket. "What do you mean?"
"The master lent me the manpower to make crispy noodles and meat jerky, and also gave me a warehouse of flour and pork, as well as several boxes of silver. The master said that as a Daqing native, he was willing to do his part for Daqing."
The emperor was silent for a long time, and Xiaoliu also lowered his head in silence. He was resentful, how could he not? One by one, all his close friends had left, leaving him alone in Beijing, and it was his father who caused this situation. When he sent his master away, only he knew how much he wanted to give up and go with him. He didn't want to be left behind, not at all.
But he still had no choice but to stay, because his master said this was his battlefield.
PS: The next chapter will start with solving the problem with Jin Yang. I have tried several chapters but none of them worked. I am almost dying from revisions. I will keep it tonight and see if I can come up with some new ideas tomorrow. The more I write, the more I am afraid of writing a mess. My hair is falling out and I am almost bald...