DWGL _ Chapter - 08

Changes at Liu's House 

The Mantis Catches the Cicada

At the end of spring when the farmers were busy farming, the people recuperated for a whole winter, and they were all full of energy. Passing through many towns along the way, both sides of the canal are bustling with people, with a prosperous appearance.

Chu Yuan saw it in his eyes, and his heart felt a little more comfortable.

"Your Majesty." Eunuch Si Xi came forward to put on a cloak for him and said, "The next place will be Yunshui City."

Chu Yuan nodded and said nothing more, continuing to stare into the distance.

The governor of Yunshui City is called Liu Bi, a distant relative of Liu Gong's family. Although he was only a minor seventh-ranking official, there were many people in the court who were keen on this position. When the canal is opened, money will come in. Salt from the south, grain from the north, and tea and porcelain to the West all have to pass through this small Yunshui City. Compared with other poor and remote places, there are many times more opportunities.

When he found out that Chu Yuan was going to Jiangnan, Liu Bi did not worry too much. There was nothing wrong with the accounts and the government offices were all his own people, so we were all ants on the same rope. In addition, there was still a great backer of the Liu family in Wangcheng, who would not fall for a while. So early this morning, he bathed and dressed, and took his men to the pier to receive them. Many people were gathered around him, all of them excited and waiting to see the Emperor.

At noon, the ship finally approached, the bright yellow banner fluttering strongly from the mast, the imperial guards standing on either side of the ship with their swords, their blades glowing coldly in the sun, making people wary.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!” Liu Bi led the crowd to kneel down to greet him, and the people followed suit.

In a small courtyard not far away, Ye Jin was still drying his medicine, as if he had not heard the noise.

"Are you sure you don't want to see him?" Bai Laicai was tickled to death.

"You can go if you want to, I'm not holding you back." Ye Jin stood up with a small basket, "His Majesty is also a human being, he has two eyes and a nose, why should he go and kneel down to see it?"

"That's true." Bai Laicai squatted on a chair, thought for a while and then stood up again, "But I still want to go and see him, just in case I can get some money." After all, it was the Emperor.

Ye Jin regretted that he had rescued him from the mountains.

As Chu Yuan stepped off the boat, Liu Bi raised his head with a smile on his face, "Your Majesty."

There was silence all around, and some bold people peeked in and said to themselves, "Your Majesty is so handsome. The jade crown stood on his black hair, his eyebrows were as bright as stars, his nose was handsome, and his aura was magnificent and not furious, so he hurriedly bowed his head again.

"Aiqing, please stand up." Chu Yuan himself stepped forward and reached out to help him up.

Liu Bi smiled all over his face and greeted him again, "Eunuch Si Xi, General Shen."

"This Yunshui City is really bustling and prosperous." Shen Qian Fan said, "Lord Liu has really governed well."

"General Shen, you are too kind, this is my job." Liu Bi sidled out of the way, "A banquet has been prepared in the residence, please move on, Your Majesty."

In the crowd, an old man was watching the commotion with his melon seeds and stretched his neck on tiptoe, a man of goodwill. It was not until the people had dispersed that he returned to his home.

"Didn't you get the money?" Ye Jin teased him as he entered the courtyard with a downcast look on his face.

"How can the Emperor be so stingy?" Bai Laicai sat down at the stone table and said angrily, "He looks like you, doctor, and I thought he was a kind-hearted person, but he doesn't even have a bun, not to mention money."

"Who do you think looks like him?" Ye Jin's eyes were fierce.

Bai Laicai quickly said, "Me!"

Ye Jin snorted coldly, tilted his chin and went back to his bedroom.

Bai Laicai patted his chest and let out a long breath, really fierce ......

Chu Yuan did not like to make a big show, so Liu Bi naturally did not dare to make a big feast, although there were many dishes, they were all homely tastes, and the wine was also the most common Shaoxing Huang. Chu Yuan chatted with the rest of the people about the diversion of the canal but didn't ask much else. After the meeting was over, he went back to his bedroom early to rest, and he didn't even summon officials from other places.

Liu Bi was relieved, he thought he was going to check the accounts, but he didn't expect to see any mention of it.

According to the previous plan, Chu Yuan would only stay here for two days, and after the ship was fully supplied, he would continue his journey south to Qianye City. However, it was probably because he had caught a chill on the river a few days ago that he started to have a fever the day after he arrived at Yunshui City, and it took the imperial physician five days of recuperation before he finally got some energy.

"I heard that the emperor has caught a wind chill." In the courtyard, Bai Laicai pounded his elbow, "You are a doctor, should you go and recommend yourself? If you are lucky enough to be cured, you might even be able to become a royal physician in the palace."

"I'm going to be his physician?" Ye Jin slapped a scoop of silkworm sand across his face and crossed his arms, "What a nice thought!"

Bai Laicai ran outside with his head in his hands.

The doctor is trying to eat people. ......

Liu Bi was also a little panicked about this. He was not afraid that Chu Yuan would have an accident here, after all, it was just a wind chill. He panicked because he didn't know if the wind chill was true or not, and if it was true, what was the purpose behind it.

"Your Excellency has worried too much." The steward at the courthouse, named Liu Man, looked much calmer than he did, and said slowly and deliberately with his sleeves tucked in, "His Majesty is ill, so you and I should do our best to look after him, how can we think about anything else?"

Liu Bi wanted to say something but was confused as to what he was trying to say. He wanted to ask more questions but dared not, so he was very anxious and was still preoccupied until he rested at night, tossing and turning and causing his wife to complain. At dawn, when he could hardly fall asleep, he was picked up from his bed by the imperial guard when he closed his eyes.

“General Shen, what does General Shen mean?"Liu Bi was shocked.

“Come on, put this rebel into the dungeon." Shen Qian Fan ordered coldly.

Rebel? Liu Bi's face was pale, and he wanted to shout grievances, but he had already been removed from his chin and dragged all the way into the prison.

When the imperial troops surrounded the magistrate's office, some early risers saw them and wondered what was going on. When they went home and talked to their wives, they thought that Liu Bi had been arrested and imprisoned by the emperor because his crimes of corruption had been exposed in recent years. It was only in the evening that news spread that the Imperial Physician had found poison in the food served at Liu's house.

Poisoning the Emperor. ...... The people were pale at the news. How could anyone dare to act in defiance of the law, such a crime as killing the whole family?

The news reached Ye Jin's ears, and Bai Laicai stared at him cautiously: "The emperor has been poisoned, and the doctor didn't go to take a look at him?"

Ye Jin ruthlessly put down the pestle: "I don't know him well."

"There are many patients in this world, so how can a doctor know all of them?" Bai Laicai said, "He will see whoever is sick."

Ye Jin was so distracted by his noise that he went out on his own.

The courthouse had long been surrounded by an iron wall, with not only the imperial army brought by Chu Yuan, but also the garrison that Shen Qian Fan had deployed from elsewhere. When Ye Jin first heard the news, he was a bit confused, but gradually he figured it out - if he was really unprepared to be poisoned, who would have arranged for such a large number of people to be nearby, waiting to catch the traitor today?

......

Hmph!

Doctor Ye stomped his feet in anger and went to eat at the restaurant to cool off.

As a child, he pretended to be sick and bullied me, and now he is still the same.

This person is really not to be pitied.

"Your Majesty." In the courthouse study, Shen Qian Fan said, "The confession has been written, and Liu Bi has also drawn a pledge, the last general will lead his men back to Wangcheng immediately."

Chu Yuan nodded, "This is a dangerous trip, thank you, General."

"This is what I should have done." Shen Qian Fan said, "But if Xinan Wang is still in Wangcheng ......"

"He will not make things difficult for you." Chu Yuan interrupted, "If he is really insensitive, then let him come to Jiangnan to find me in person."

"Yes." Shen Qian Fan bowed his head and took orders. After leaving the study, he led dozens of men and horses and set off at night to return to Wangcheng in secret.

Liu Bi committed suicide in prison, and his family was exiled to the island of Hainan, and the new governor took up his post within ten days. The garrison replaces the original guards at the gates and scrutinises the people entering and leaving the city day after day so that not even a fly can enter or leave freely. Even a fly could not enter or leave the city freely. The atmosphere in the city was so solemn that it was boring to walk on the streets.

Ye Jin began to think about whether he should go out for a while and come back when the place had subsided.

"You can't leave, doctor." Bai Laicai pulled his package and wouldn't let go, "I watched the sky last night..."

"You still know how to read the sky?" Ye Jin interrupted with disgust.

"Of course I do." Bai Laicai nodded his head.

Ye Jin asked, "What did you see?"

Bai Laicai said, "A sheep in a wolf's den."

Ye Jin shook his head: "If you were to go to the street to have your fortune told, you would not be able to earn even half a penny." He could not even say something auspicious, what do you mean by sheep in the wolf's den?

"The emperor raided Liu Bi's house and didn't find much silver." Bai Laicai Tsk-tsk, “That's a big corrupt official, and the goose is too hairy."

“What are you trying to say?" Ye Jin frowned.

"It would be much clearer to ask Commander Zeng, the head of South East Garrison, where the silver has gone." Bai Laicai continued to eat his melon seeds.

Ye Jin stood up suddenly.

"I heard that General Shen has returned to Wangcheng." Bai Laicai said unhurriedly, "Liu Bi is dead, but who said that he was the one in charge of the magistrate's office?"

Ye Jin stomped his feet, turned and ran out of the courtyard.

In the courthouse, Lin Yong, the newly transferred magistrate, was tied up and thrown into the dungeon. The southeastern garrison had defected overnight, trapping Chu Yan in his residence without a word.

Standing in the courtyard with his arms folded, Chu Yuan looked coldly at Liu Man and Zeng Xuan, the garrison commander, in front of him.

"How dare you!" Eunuch Si Xi stepped in front of him, "Why don't you quickly back off?"

Liu Man's tone was not sinister, "Now that things have come to a head, please stay here for a while longer, and when there is news from Wangcheng, it will not be too late to go out again."

"Very well." Chu Yuan ignored him and only looked at Zeng Xuan coldly, "I have really misjudged you."

Zeng Xuan did not say a word, his face was a bit white - he was originally a small servant in the South East Garrison, but thanks to Chu Yuan's support, he was able to climb up to the position of commander. It was only when he had more power in his hands that he inevitably became greedy, which is why he was caught by Liu Bi. Chu Yuan has never been lenient in punishing corrupt officials, so he had no choice but to go along with Liu's family, but he did not expect his opponent to be so bold.

But now that he is in the boat, he has no choice but to sit down even if he is going to die.

—— ฅʕ•̫͡•ʔฅ ——ㄚ

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