Chapter 490 : Imperial Envoys (4)

Yuxi had originally planned to open the school in the tenth month, but after much deliberation — no one knew what mischief might occur with the arrival of the Imperial Envoys — she simply postponed the opening until the eleventh month. But there was one thing she could be happy about: the building for the Children Charity Home had been built.

After hearing the news, Yuxi told Yun Qing: “Please take some time off tomorrow afternoon to accompany me to see the new building for the Children Charity Home.”

Yun Qing nodded in agreement, saying, “I’ve just received word that the grain will arrive in Yu City in a few days.” But they didn’t have the money to pay for it.

Yuxi said: “Don’t we still have more than 20 boxes of gold, silver and jewellery stored in Xinping City? Then we will convert those things into silver and give them to Wu Kuo.”

Yun Qing glanced at Yuxi and argued, “The Imperial Envoys are about to arrive in Yu City. How could they let us use these properties as payment?”

Yuxi smiled a little and said, “If the Imperial Envoys don’t allow us to use those things to pay the debt of buying grains and grass, bedding and clothing, then we might as well ask the Imperial Envoys to pay the debt themselves.”

Yun Qing opened his mouth to retort, but only after a while did he manage to ask, “Isn’t that appropriate?” After offending the Song family and Grand Chancellor Yu, the funds they received were tightened and reduced repeatedly. He didn’t know if they would get any money if they even offended the Crown Prince. They couldn’t pay for the soldiers’ salaries and provisions if they didn’t get any money. Without military pay, how could the soldiers live and defend Yu City?

Yuxi glanced at Yun Qing, stood up and pointed out, “He Rui, you are guarding Yu City for the Zhou family, not for yourself.”

Yun Qing froze momentarily before asking, “What does that mean?”

A sneer appeared at the corner of Yuxi’s lips. “The Crown Prince and the Imperial Court don’t want to spend the money here. It’s just right to let all the soldiers know whether it’s worth their while to sacrifice their lives for the Imperial Court.”

Yun Qing said, ”Yuxi, Yu City cannot be in chaos. I’m not saying this for the Zhou family and the Imperial Court but for the people of the border city. Once Yu City is in chaos, it will be an opportunity for the Northern Barbarians to take advantage of, and the hundreds of thousands of people in the border city will suffer.” Border city did not only refer to Yu City but also included several surrounding cities and counties, such as Xinping City.

Yuxi explained helplessly, “What nonsense are you talking about? What I mean is that I want the Imperial Envoys to know about the plight of the soldiers and people of the border city and for the soldiers and people of the border city to know that it has not been easy for you as the chief general.”

For Yuxi, all hard work had to be rewarded, and she would not do anything without receiving something in return. In the case of Marshal Qin, she admired him but felt that his actions were unworthy of following. Marshal Qin had done so much for the people and soldiers of Yu City. Not only was he unable to reap any benefits from it, but he was also in danger of losing his reputation at any moment. If it were her, she would never do such a thankless thing. Yuxi didn’t deny that she was selfish; she didn’t have Marshal Qin’s big and broad heart. Nor did she have any grand ambitions; she just wanted her family to be able to live peacefully in this troubled world. Therefore, she would not allow Yun Qing to follow Marshal Qin’s old path. It was just that Yuxi knew very well that she could not say these words to him. If she did, they would quarrel. Yuxi wasn’t worried about the quarrel; she was worried about Yun Qing becoming estranged from her. Once there was an unbridgeable gap between them, their feelings would definitely be affected, and in time, they would be no different than strangers.

When Yun Qing heard this explanation, he said, “It doesn’t matter if I’ve been wronged. I just hope to improve the soldiers’ lives.”

Yuxi said: “Relying on the Imperial Court is not as good as solving it yourself.” The Imperial Court had long been unreliable. Otherwise, she would not have thought of letting Yun Qing gather a hundred thousand troops in the palm of his hand. In a peaceful and prosperous age, if once you were discovered to have such thoughts, you would surely die without a grave. But in today’s world, if you didn’t become more selfish and plan more for yourself, you wouldn’t know how you would die.

After all was said and done, their conversation returned to square one. Yun Qing didn’t want to talk about that topic now. “Have all the winter clothes for the Children Charity Home been prepared?” He had nothing else to ask other than this.

Yuxi replied with a smile: “I bought the cotton at the beginning of the month, and I’m already working on it!” She originally wanted to buy it from Jiangnan because it was cheaper there. It was just that a child’s size was not fixed. It wouldn’t be warm for the wearer if it didn’t fit well. Children’s clothes were different from adult clothes. They were small, to begin with, and difficult to alter. Yuxi finally decided to buy cotton in Yu City and asked some people to make winter clothes according to the children’s sizes.

The couple resumed their conversation and fell asleep.

The following morning, as soon as Yun Qing left, Tan Tuo’s letter arrived. After reading the letter, Yuxi entered the study. After a while, she suddenly stood up and muttered to herself: “How could I forget about her?” Yuxi was referring to Xu Shi. Fortunately, she had received Tan Tuo’s reminder. Otherwise, they would have been in big trouble.

Yuxi immediately called Xu Wu and instructed him, “Hurry, call the General back. He should still be on his way and has not yet arrived at the military headquarters.” They only missed him by a few minutes.

Yun Qing returned two-quarters of an hour later.

Yuxi said, ”Prefect Tan suspected that although it was publicly known that the purpose of the Imperial Envoys’ arrival this time was to check the accounts, they actually came for the Xu family’s property. If I’m not mistaken, nine times out of ten1, these people are coming for the Xu family’s money. The matter of the Xu family’s possession of huge sums of money has probably already reached the Imperial Court.” The evidence of the Xu family’s treachery in collaborating with the enemy was conclusive. Plus, the Xu family were only merchants, not meritorious officials, so there was no need to send the Imperial Envoys to investigate. Therefore, the only possibility was that the Imperial Court had learned that the Xu family possessed a huge sum of money. Now that the treasury was empty, and the Crown Prince knew that the Xu family had that much money, how could he possibly let it go?

Yun Qing was not anxious about this as he replied, “There’s nothing to worry about; the people who were involved that day won’t leak any information.” The people who participated in digging the secret room on that day were the most trusted ones of all his confidants.

Yuxi, however, shook her head, “The boxes of gold and silver are not just one or two boxes, but nearly forty boxes and all of them are so heavy that it would be impossible for news not to leak out.” She was not worried about the soldiers following Yun Qing that day; she was worried that someone with other intentions had already seen the gold and silver.

Yun Qing never thought about this problem and asked, “What should we do then?” He never expected that the Imperial Envoys weren’t here to investigate the Xu family’s case but to find their money.

Yuxi said, “It doesn’t matter if word gets out. The important thing is to hide the gold and silver well. As long as the Imperial Envoys don’t find those hidden things, we have nothing to worry about.” Speaking of which, she asked, “Who else knows the location of the hidden gold and silver?” If the imperial envoys were to find them, the consequences would be unimaginable; at worst, Yun Qing would be dismissed from office and taken back to the capital for questioning. At the very least, they would lose the troop morale.

Yun Qing replied, “It’s a very secret place. Except for me and Mr Xia, no one else knows about it.” Seeing the unconvincing look on Yuxi’s face, Yun Qing explained, “The gold and silver were deposited directly into the storeroom before. And the room where I do my errands has a secret passage that leads straight to the treasury. If you hadn’t asked me to come back, I would have stayed at the military headquarters and moved the gold and silver to another hidden place after nightfall.”

Yuxi asked, “How did you know about such a secret place?” If her guess was correct, it should be Mr Xia who told him so.

Sure enough, Yun Qing answered, “It was Mr Xia who told me. Apart from Marshal Qin, only Mr Xia knows about that secret passage.” Now, he had become another person who knew about it.

Yuxi was relieved to hear this and said, “Then there is no problem. Speaking of which, why did Marshal Qin trust Mr Xia so much with these secrets that he didn’t even tell Qin Zhao?”

Yun Qing replied, “Mr Xia was loyal to the Marshal because he had saved his life once.” It was also because of this loyalty that Marshal Qin trusted him so much that he did not hide anything from him.

Yuxi reminded him: “You’re not Marshal Qin, so it’s better to keep some things to yourself.”

In front of Yuxi, Yun Qing could not help but ask, “Yuxi, are you doubting Mr Xia?” Why else would she keep telling him not to tell Mr Xia everything? It was evident that she didn’t trust Mr Xia.

Yuxi shook her head and replied, ”I don’t doubt Mr Xia; I just think his loyalty is to Marshal Qin and not to you. Therefore, it is better to have reservations about everything. By reservations, I mean those confidential things.” There weren’t any confidential things yet, but there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be any in the future.

Seeing Yun Qing’s silence, Yuxi held Yun Qing’s hand and said, “He Rui, we are a family, while Mr Xia is just an outsider.” What she said was the root of the matter. In Yuxi’s eyes, Mr Xia had always been an outsider, not one of their people. Since he was an outsider, it was natural for them to have reservations about many things.

After hearing this statement, Yun Qing smilingly responded, “I am not a three-year-old child. How could I just tell anyone about confidential matters?” Besides Yuxi, the other person he had nothing to hide from was Uncle Huo.

Yuxi felt that Yun Qing was truly tactless and only a little better than a child. “When the Imperial Envoys come, you’ll use the excuse that you’re busy with military affairs as a reason not to see them. As long as they don’t have any evidence, they can’t do anything to you, so there’s no need to give them any face.”

Yun Qing shook his head. “It is necessary to meet them.” The Imperial Envoys represented the face of the Crown Prince. As the chief general of Yu City, it would be unreasonable for him not to meet them in person.

Yuxi thought for a moment before advising him, “Cao De is a person with a deep mind. When you meet him, try to speak as little as possible to save yourself from being affected by his skill.”

After hearing this advice, Yun Qing was a little curious and couldn’t help but ask, “From what you said, it seems that you know the Imperial Commissioner very well?”

Yuxi still cautioned him, “That person has a bad character. Just be more careful when you meet him.” Just because his wife’s family had fallen from power, he got rid of his pregnant wife by poisoning her. He was such an audacious man to the extreme. That alone showed how bad his character was. However, Yuxi had no intention of telling Yun Qing about these things. She feared he would despise Cao De if he knew about his nature. It wasn’t that Yuxi underestimated Yun Qing; it was just that Yun Qing was too incapable of hiding his emotions. Although Yun Qing often had a cold expression that made it difficult for people to read his face, his eyes could still reveal his feelings.

After hearing what Yuxi said, Yun Qing no longer took her words lightly. He nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I will be careful when I see him.”