Noble Lady

"What does the prince know? Is there something confidential that he doesn't want me to know?" Xue Chenyu asked sincerely.

Situ Zhen did not answer in a hurry, but stood up and took two account books from the desk behind him.

"Plop." The heavy blue-covered account book fell into Xue Chenyu's arms. She looked at the huge word "account book" and was a little dazed.

"This is?"

"Miss Xue, please take a look first."

Xue Chenyu did not refuse anymore.

Turning the pages one by one, it is shocking.

After a while.

Xue Chenyu slammed the account book on the table with such force that the tea in the cup shook.

"How dare they! They actually took the people's life-saving rice, hoarded it, and sold it at exorbitant prices, pocketing all the money! What are they trying to do?"

"Miss Xue, there's no need to be angry. It's already happened. What we should consider next is how to resolve it."

"Ah."

Xue Chenyu took a deep breath and suppressed her anger a little.

"I know people are not as good as they used to be, and I also know that money can move people's hearts, but I didn't expect them to resell such a life-saving item in such a high-sounding way!"

Whether it was the grain she bought or the rice that her mother asked the business to buy on her behalf, tens of thousands of stones of it were sold at high prices by people who had connections with the business's Haicheng County branch.

I guess Dongyue also noticed something was wrong, so he rushed over to check.

I didn't expect something to happen.

If this is the case, Dongyue is likely to be in the hands of these people.

"Sir, you have taken over the government office, where is the county magistrate?"

"Good question. The county magistrate is also missing." Situ Zhen showed a hint of helplessness.

Xue Chenyu's face darkened slightly.

No, this is not right.

There is an indescribable weirdness everywhere.

She looked at the seal on the account book and saw that it was clearly the seal of the county government.

Logically speaking, even if the Haicheng County Magistrate was really corrupt and abused his power, colluding with the people from Datong Trading Company to embezzle the grain and then resold it at a high price to make a profit, he would have done it in a more covert way.

Normally, he would let his subordinates do it and would never show up in person. He was definitely not stupid enough to swagger around and put his seal on it.

If something happens, this will be the best evidence of guilt. After all, the Haicheng County Magistrate must have studied hard to get his degree, so it is impossible for him to be so stupid.

There must be something she had overlooked.

Xue Chenyu racked her brains but couldn't figure it out, so she simply put the idea aside.

"Prince, what I need most right now is to find the whereabouts of Dongyue and the others and ensure their safety."

Only by finding the person can we know what exactly happened.

"As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. This is where they have been operating for many years. It's such a big county, not too big nor too small. If they really want to hide a few people here, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find them." Situ Zhen said this in advance.

Xue Chenyu nodded, "I understand. I'm sorry to trouble you with this matter, Your Highness. I will also send someone to investigate."

Situ Zhen also nodded, and then asked about the men in black she brought back and the refugees she encountered on the road.

Xue Chenyu did not hide anything and told everything truthfully.

"I've already sent people out of the city to chase after those fleeing famine, hoping to persuade them to return. Under the current circumstances, going north will do them no good."

"As for those who ambushed and assassinated me, they will be closely linked to the current events in Haicheng. I will thoroughly interrogate them."

"Then I'll trouble you, Your Highness. If you have any results, could you please let me know?"

After Xue Chenyu finished speaking, she was afraid that the Prince of Cheng would be in trouble, so she quickly added, "Just tell me the general situation so that I have a general idea. There's no need to tell me the details. That wouldn't go against your rules and regulations, right?"

Situ Zhen suddenly stopped talking and looked at her for a long time without saying anything, but his pair of dark eyes stared at her intently.

Xue Chenyu felt very uncomfortable being stared at and slowly turned away, "...What is the prince doing?"

"No. I'll have someone investigate, and I'll let you know the results of the interrogation as soon as possible. You don't have to worry about me leaking any information. I know my limits."

"...Well, okay, I'll bother you then."

Situ Zhen had a lot to say, but all he could come up with was this: "You've been tired from the journey, rest early. We'll set up a temporary table at the county government office today to serve porridge and food. The porridge stall should be ready tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, Prince."

After the greetings, Xue Chenyu left.

Yuzhu was still standing at the door, waiting for her.

Seeing Xue Chenyu coming out, he asked quietly, "Miss, what did the prince ask you just now in there?"

"Nothing much, just some disaster relief stuff. We've been traveling for such a long time, let's take a break first, we still have a lot of things to do later."

She stopped Yuzhu's curiosity with one sentence, and then asked, "Which way are you going?"

"I've been there, and I came back specifically to wait for you. Come with me, girl."

……

In fact, Situ Zhen arrived only one hour earlier than Xue Chenyu and his group.

When they arrived, the county magistrate Yang Cang was nowhere to be found, and they searched through boxes and cabinets for a long time before they found something useful in the county government office.

After talking with Xue Chenyu, Situ Zhen had some vague guesses in his mind.

There are so many starving people in the county town, and no one knows what the situation is like in the towns and villages below.

The hundreds of people he brought with him then dispersed, taking his warrant and going to the mayors of each township and village as well as the village heads to find out the actual number of people affected and the extent of the disaster.

I can't stop working like this.

The county magistrate in the yamen ran away, but the yamen runners were still there, so they were forced to cook porridge, serve porridge, put porridge out, and do hard labor.

Hands are needed everywhere, such as fetching water, chopping wood and making fire.

There are also some villagers who have already left their homes and live dozens of miles away from the county town. Now they have nowhere to go and can only temporarily live in the government office's classroom and other empty houses that can be vacated.

Fortunately, the weather was not cold, which saved me a lot of trouble.

Of course, the work was so huge that it was definitely not enough to rely solely on the yamen runners. After all, the yamen runners also had to maintain order, so they were directly hired from the villagers who came to get porridge.

If the marriage is successful, not only will there be porridge to drink, but also white rice and white flour buns to eat.

Everyone is scrambling to do it.

While Situ Zhen was busy, Xue Chenyu was not idle either.

She washed up, changed her clothes, and then called Qiuhua and Du Jingyuan to accompany her out.

"Xue Xiaoyu, where are you going? I'm worried about the city. There are people fleeing famine everywhere. I'm afraid it's not safe."

"I have to go to Datong Commercial Bank to take a look." Xue Chenyu said, "Although they all said that Dongyue and the others didn't go to Haicheng County, I think their disappearance is closely related to Datong Commercial Bank in Haicheng County."

As she spoke, she briefly recounted what Situ Zhen had told her, without mentioning the account books. She only said that it was Situ Zhen who had deduced it from various clues.

Du Jingyuan gasped when she heard this. "If that's the case, then you shouldn't go there rashly. What if they don't let you go either?"