The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 1232

Even Xu Tian's personal guards wanted to check his temperature, saying, "Sir, are you sick? Sending these people to escort you means the food will be gone before it even arrives."

"Yes, that's certainly a possibility," Xu Tian said, unable to deny it.

That afternoon, Shen Qing heard the news and rushed to find Xu Tian.

"My lord, why is it General Wang and his men escorting this grain? Isn't that too risky?" Shen Qing said worriedly.

Xu Tian noticed that Shen Qing used the word "risk" instead of "danger" in his words, which proved that Shen Qing understood his meaning.

"What do you think of my approach?" Xu Tian asked.

Shen Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, "Having the very people who originally wanted to sabotage this batch of grain protect it, I imagine Prince Lan Ying must be feeling quite uncomfortable now."

Xu Tian nodded, agreeing with Shen Qing's statement, and said, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I want him to be unable to stop, but he'll be powerless to stop, and I also want him to experience the feelings of the common people."

Just as Shen Qing was about to say something, a guard rushed in and said, "My lord, Prince Lan Ying has arrived."

Xu Tian and Shen Qing exchanged a glance. Before they could react, they heard Lan Yingwang's rough voice from outside: "What is Lord Gao doing hiding in there? Does he not dare to see me?"

Xu Tian pointed to the curtain behind him, meaning that Shen Qing should hide inside. Shen Qing immediately understood and hid behind the curtain.

"Prince Lan Ying, I am sorry for not greeting you properly. May I ask what brings you to my humble abode?" Xu Tian showed no panic on his face. He calmly continued to brew tea without even standing up.

Lan Yingwang seemed to have gotten used to Xu Tian's rudeness, or perhaps he had more important matters to attend to, so he did not blame him.

"Xu Tian, ​​what do you mean? A small grain convoy needs so many soldiers. Isn't this extravagance and waste?" King Lan Ying didn't understand Xu Tian's meaning, so he could only try to subtly imply it from another angle.

Xu Tian understood what Prince Lan Ying meant, but he pretended not to understand and said, "Extravagance? Is Prince Lan Ying sure? Has Your Highness seen the number of those disaster victims?"

Lan Yingwang had indeed not seen the number of the disaster victims. When Xu Tian asked him this, he was stunned and said, "What does it matter how many there are? I only know that a lot of troops were used."

Xu Tian smiled coldly and said, "Then let me tell you, there are hundreds of villagers who have been forced to the brink of despair and have no choice but to exchange their own children for food, and thousands of people are suffering in dire straits."

King Lan Ying had not expected so many people, and he didn't care about them at all; they were just commoners, so what if they all died?

"Even so, aren't there too many people?" The main problem is that all of those who went were Lan Yingwang's men. Isn't Xu Tian clearly trying to toy with me?

Xu Tian shook his head and said, "Compared to the lives of ordinary people, what are these people? Let's not even talk about whether these guards are in any danger. Even if they were, so what? They are honorable."

Lan Yingwang suddenly realized that if he said anything more, Xu Tian might very well accuse him of disregarding the safety of the people.

If this gets out, it will severely damage his reputation. If it causes panic among the people near the capital, those who dislike him will definitely take advantage of the situation.