She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

However, Lian Chengmo did not possess his master's skill to hear the conversations of the people in the council hall under the tree, and he had to rely on Murong Fu to relay the messages to him.

"Tsk tsk, this old man is too impatient. He smashed a teacup as soon as he arrived. Who is he trying to scare?" Murong Fu clicked his tongue and relayed the situation to his eldest disciple.

"It's probably because the weather has been really bad these past few days," Lian Chengmo said quietly.

He was right. How could Liancheng Ruihong be so angry?

These past two days, he has not only been investigating the assassination of Prince Cheng, but also the poisoning of his own grandson. However, no matter how much he investigates, he still cannot figure out how his grandson was poisoned.

All that can be said is that everyone who appeared at the banquet that day is a suspect. He has taken advantage of the investigation to investigate many people, but there is still no evidence to prove when his grandson was poisoned or who poisoned him.

The person who poisoned them hasn't been found, and there's no clue about the mastermind behind the assassin. Liancheng Ruihong was scolded by Prince Cheng, but Tiecheng, who was investigating the case with him, got away scot-free. How could he accept that?

That was bad enough, but when he got home, he was informed of this mess. Liancheng Ruihong was furious.

"Are you trying to rebel? I've been the headmaster for over thirty years. Why should I step down and give way to someone more capable? Tell me, who should I give up my position to?" Liancheng Ruihong slammed his fist on the table, laughing in anger.

“Second Uncle, why are you so angry? It’s just that we juniors see you’re busy all day long and we feel sorry for you, so we wanted to share your burdens,” one of the teachers from the direct lineage coughed lightly and stepped forward to say.

When he opened his mouth, Liancheng Ruihong became even angrier; this was his own cousin.

"Yes, Patriarch, since the establishment of Lishan Academy, there has never been a patriarch and a headmaster who are the same person. There are many affairs in the clan, and there are also many affairs in the academy. Now, with the addition of Prince Cheng's affairs, can you manage all of this by yourself?" The teacher from the collateral branch was not so respectful. This person happened to be one of the ones whose son was killed by the direct line.

If his cousin hadn't come to visit, he wouldn't have known that his son's tragic death was orchestrated by his direct descendants. He now wishes he could tear those direct descendants to pieces.

The Liancheng family has already prioritized all resources for their direct descendants, so why are they still so intolerant of others?

"If there's no precedent, then I'll set a precedent. Whether I can handle it or not is my business."

"Among the clan's dividends, have I ever shortchanged you even a single bite? Don't think I don't know; you're just trying to seize power from me."

"Don't forget that all these years it was my brother and I who supported the entire clan. Now that my brother is gone, are you going to take advantage of us like this?"

“You want me to step down from my position as headmaster? Fine, only if I die.” Liancheng Ruihong smashed the cup again.

His words didn't bother the collateral branches, but the direct descendants blushed slightly, realizing they were indeed trying to take advantage of the situation.

But things had already come to this point, and there was no turning back, so the people sitting there still expressed their opinions.

Seventy percent of the teachers believed that the headmaster must prioritize the academy, otherwise the academy would not develop well. This is why, for thousands of years, no family head has ever served as the headmaster.

Because there are too many things to do at the academy and too many different forces at play, it is really necessary for the headmaster to be present at the academy at all times to keep things in order.

The students, on the other hand, were in a different position. Half believed that the old traditions should be followed so that they could be better nurtured, while the other half believed that the head of the family was now on good terms with King Cheng.

They might have a say in their scientific expeditions in the future, so they support Liancheng Ruihong continuing as the headmaster.

Thus, although the opposing side had a slightly larger number of members, the two sides still argued fiercely and ended up parting on bad terms, without achieving any result in the matter of changing the headmaster.

"Kid, things don't seem to be going the way you expected," Murong Fu said jokingly as he led his eldest disciple down from the tree after everyone in the council hall had left and it was already dark.

"This is just the first step. Just wait and see," Lian Chengmo said calmly.

He didn't tell his master about the revised plan he discussed with his cousin, but he felt it wouldn't be a big problem.

Sure enough, the Liancheng family was in an uproar for the next two days.

Don't be fooled by the fact that those in charge are all direct relatives; the ones doing the work are actually from the collateral branches.

Now that the Great Xia Dynasty is in disarray, the only shops in the Chengwang territory that the Liancheng family can maintain close training with are these.

But now, apart from the direct descendant manager and accountant in charge of the books, everyone else in the bookstore has stopped working. The tavern is even more speechless, with the collateral descendants who work there taking leave for various reasons and quitting.

The entire Liancheng family's businesses were at a standstill. The shopkeeper in the bookstore could still personally find books, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones to sell, but the tavern was in dire straits.

Even if the shopkeeper and accountant worked themselves to death, they still couldn't produce enough alcohol for so many people to buy.

Not to mention, the shopkeeper and the accountant also had to keep track of the accounts, which made them extremely miserable.

As news of the incident reached Liancheng Ruihong's study, he became so angry that he smashed a fine set of inkstones.

Therefore, the head of the Liancheng family, who refused to back down, sent his direct descendants to take over overnight, determined not to give these collateral branches any chance to rebel.

But these pampered young men had never done such things. Their usual tasks were to read books and recite poems, and at most, hold a poetry gathering and drink with beautiful women.

It would have been better if they hadn't come. But now that they're here, things are messed up: the purchase amounts don't match, the drinks given to customers are short-weight, the books customers want can't be found on the bookshelf, and so on.

This directly caused the shopkeepers and accountants in each shop to fall ill, and of course, this "illness" was obviously caused by someone tampering with it.

Liancheng Ruihong had no choice but to send more people to fill in, but most of his direct subordinates were arrogant and spoiled. They were good at eating, drinking and having fun, but they didn't know how to keep accounts or manage accounts. Not to mention that some of them even had crooked thoughts and stole money from the accounts.

In just seven days, the accounts of all the shops were in such a mess that they were unrecognizable. A quick calculation revealed that not a single shop was not losing money; it was simply unbelievable.

Liancheng Ruihong was busy catching the assassins and finding the mastermind, so he had no time to care about these things. As a result, when the collateral relatives secretly followed behind the纨绔 (playboys) of the direct line and flattered and helped them, they directly sidelined the shop and changed its owner, and no one noticed.

In the depths of the mountains, Banxia took advantage of the quiet of the night to sneak from her own yard into the neighboring yard and into Liancheng Mo's storeroom. She skillfully swapped one of the bags inside with the sack she had brought with her.

This is what she started doing after having that nightmare that day: every day she uses half of her supernatural power to grow food and obtain high-quality seeds, and then replaces the ones that Lian Chengmo bought.

She was gambling that, given Lian Chengmo's personality, he might not even look at these seeds, and if he didn't look, he wouldn't discover that these were different from the ones he had bought.