The more cowardly a person is, the more wild they are; I've driven the villainous minister craz

On the mountain road leading from Shijia Village to Huicheng County, Prince Chen's carriage traveled very slowly.

The mountain road to Shijia Village is treacherous, and it is already night, making travel inconvenient. For safety reasons, Mingwei instructed the driver to be extremely cautious.

Inside the carriage, only a dim candle was lit.

Prince Chen leaned against the soft pillows, looking tired.

Mingwei squatted inside the car to relax his muscles and bones, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him, saying, "Princess, you have really been too unreasonable this time. Knowing that you value Young Master Yun, you still repeatedly attacked Young Master Yun's family."

"Your Highness is still working so hard."

Prince Chen closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, then sighed, "She is young and doesn't know any better, and I have protected her too well. Perhaps she just made a mistake for a moment."

"After we return to Shengjing in a while, I will have my mother find her a virtuous and capable tutor."

Mingwei pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, "Your Highness, you're just too good-natured."

Prince Chen curled his lips into a smile.

Mingwei was a chatterbox in front of Prince Chen. After talking about Princess Tianyin, he couldn't help but mention Yunshang.

"Your Highness, why do you value Young Master Yun so much?"

The prince is always respectful and courteous to scholars, but this is the first time he has personally traveled several miles to visit someone like this.

Prince Chen slowly opened his eyes. He reached into his robes and took out a scroll. He intended to hand it to Mingwei, but after thinking about it, he decided not to.

Mingwei: "..." What does Your Highness mean by this?

Prince Chen said, "Even if I gave it to you, you wouldn't understand it."

Mingwei: "..." He knew it; the prince thought he wasn't smart enough!

Prince Chen smiled helplessly, opened the book, and sighed, "This is a strategy for governing the country that Yun Shang asked Dean Xie to pass on to me."

Mingwei was taken aback.

"He, like me, believes that the ruler depends on the country, and the country depends on the people. The people are the foundation of a country, but now the noble families of the Great Zhao have made it a habit to exploit the people. With such trampling on the people, I am truly worried that one day the country will cease to exist and the people in various places will rise up in rebellion."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The actions of the Great Zhao court are forcing the people to unleash a massive upheaval and overthrow the dynasty..."

Mingwei's expression became much more serious.

"To change the current situation in Dazhao, we must raise the status of the common people and force those powerful and wealthy to realize the importance of the people."

As Prince Chen spoke, he shook the scroll in his hand, “In this book, Yun Shang listed dozens of strategies on how to improve the status of the people and enable them to live a good life.”

The policies outlined in the document, such as prioritizing agriculture over commerce, allowing free land transactions, promoting the introduction of new crops, and encouraging land reclamation and immigration, were written in great detail. With this set of policies for governing the country, as long as he had capable subordinates, he could implement them immediately.

Yun Shang's thoughtfulness lay not only in proposing these strategies, but also in taking into account the interests of the major aristocratic families.

The powerful families are deeply rooted and numerous, and cannot be easily disturbed. Moreover, many of their scions are concerned about the fate of the nation and its people. Only by mobilizing these scions can Prince Chen's decrees be implemented more smoothly.

In local areas, where the emperor is far away, gaining the support of powerful families is far more important than gaining the support of Emperors Wen and Jing.

Prince Chen carefully put the scroll away, smiling broadly. "In short, having obtained this strategy for governing the country, my trip has not been in vain."

After hearing these words, Mingwei finally realized why the prince valued Yunshang so much.

The Great Zhao Dynasty is not lacking in talent, but a genius like Yun Shang, who is knowledgeable, ambitious, and has almost no weaknesses, is extremely rare.

If the prince has such an advisor by his side, what do the princes in Shengjing City have to fear?

Mingwei couldn't help but get a little excited.

He suggested, "Your Highness, since Young Master Yun is so important to you, why don't I send a few men to secretly protect Young Master Yun and his family?"

Prince Chen raised his eyes.

That was exactly what he had just considered.

Prince Chen agreed, "Pick a few skilled fighters and follow them from a distance, so as not to disrupt their normal lives."

Mingwei readily agreed, "Yes."

……

The Yun family arson case was ultimately closed by accident.

Because Yun Shang's status was different from that of ordinary students, this matter attracted the attention of many people. After Prince Chen found out about Cui Qixian, he did not continue the investigation.

Under questioning from the Choi family, Choi Qi-hyun revealed who had instigated him.

But Princess Tianyin, Prince Chen's cousin, is someone the small Cui family in Huicheng County cannot afford to offend.

Moreover, if this matter were to be publicized, the Cui family of Huayang might not necessarily believe that the fault did not lie with them.

To save face for the family and for Cui Qixian, the Cui family had no choice but to swallow their pride and pay a hefty sum of three thousand taels of silver as compensation.

Of the three thousand taels of silver that passed through the county government, two thousand five hundred taels eventually ended up in Yun Shang's hands.

Originally, because Yun Shang was someone that Prince Chen valued, the county government wanted to give Yun Shang the full amount of three thousand taels, but Yun Shang only took two thousand five hundred taels.

The remaining five hundred taels were given to the county government as a "donation" to help the county government benefit the people and alleviate poverty.

Prince Chen once mentioned to Magistrate Yang that he would make Huicheng County the first place to implement the decree. Magistrate Yang and the officials in the county government all understood the meaning behind this.

……

In Shijia Village, at Feng Lao's home.

Yu Wan stayed in bed for three whole days before she was allowed to get out of bed.

Although she hadn't broken any bones or muscles, walking would pull on her skin and flesh, causing the wound to reopen. Both Madam Shen and Old Master Feng were keeping a close eye on her.

As for Yun Shang, for some reason, he also stayed at home to watch over her for three days.

For the past three days, Yu Wan didn't dare to look him in the eye.

She really didn't know how to face Yun Shang.

It would be absolutely impossible for her to have no feelings for Yun Shang at all.

From Yun Shang rescuing her from Wang Wanshu and giving her all his savings, to jumping into the well to save her when the Yun family caught fire, all these events made Yu Wan clearly aware of the situation.

In her eyes, Yun Shang was no longer just a two-dimensional character.

And this guy had been hanging around in front of her for the past three days, and Yu Wan almost lost control of herself.

If she hadn't kept in mind the principle that the male lead is the female lead, she would have already made a mistake.

Fortunately, Yun Shang finally returned to the academy.

As soon as he left, Yu Wan felt that the air was much freer.

Five days later, the wounds on Yu Wan, Shen Shi, and Yun Xi had almost scabbed over. Just as Yun Shang was on his ten-day holiday, the group packed their things and prepared to move to Huicheng County.

Before leaving, the Yun family gave gifts to their close neighbors in the village, firstly to repay their kindness in fighting the fire last time, and secondly to thank the villagers for their help over the years.

Several of Shen's close aunts rushed to the village entrance to see her off, repeatedly telling her not to forget them.

Ms. Shen responded with tears in her eyes.

Yun's father, who passed away, was not from Shijia Village, but a hunter who had settled there. Years ago, he encountered a pack of wolves while hunting in the mountains. When the villagers helped find him, his body was already badly mutilated.

At that time, Yun Shang and Yun Xi were still young. When Shen was bullied by the Yun family relatives, it was the neighbors of Shijia Village who stood up for her and drove away those distant relatives with bad intentions.

Over the years, they have also provided little care for the orphans and widows.

Although Shijia Village is small and impoverished, Shen felt a lot of kindness here, and the vast majority of villagers showed goodwill.

Madam Shen knew this was related to Yun Shang's success, but good is good, and regardless of the purpose, she accepted the favor.

Now that she is about to leave the village where she has lived for nearly twenty years, she is reluctant to leave.

Once he leaves, he'll probably never come back.