I Can Hear Your Voice 06

Fang Zhiyi looked at her aggrieved expression, then turned to the other courtiers: "What do you all think?"

The crowd remained silent. Since the Emperor had already made his stance clear, who would dare to say anything else?

However, one person did step forward.

The Right Chancellor cupped his hands in a salute: "Your Majesty, this old minister believes it is feasible. Rather than grounding the Crown Prince to reflect on his mistakes, it would be better to let him experience the outside world more. Only then can he shoulder great responsibilities in the future."

Fang Zhiyi raised an eyebrow. He wasn't surprised. Although this old man disliked Xu Jiao and the Xu family, he was the Crown Prince's tutor. It was only natural for him to speak up for the Crown Prince now.

"Very well, then we shall proceed according to... Xu Jiao's petition." He took a sharp turn, pushing the credit onto Xu Jiao.

Xu Jiao was instantly overjoyed. She had saved her Crown Prince brother! He would definitely be moved to tears of gratitude and pledge his life to her, right?

Hearing this sentence, the Right Chancellor almost slipped and fell to his death on the spot. Fortunately, someone beside him caught him.

He glared viciously at Xu Jiao.

Not to be outdone, Xu Jiao made a funny face at him.

Fang Zhiyi continued to act as if he saw nothing.

The Crown Prince set off for disaster relief just as the plot dictated. However, an imperial decree departed along with him. The person carrying the decree traveled much faster than the Crown Prince's entourage, ensuring the decree reached Guo Hongru one step ahead of the Crown Prince.

Guo Hongru looked at the eunuch's cryptic expression, then carefully read the secret decree in his hands, his brows furrowed tightly.

What was His Majesty planning?

Whatever it was, he would just follow His Majesty's orders!

When Crown Prince Fang Jingqi arrived, the sight before him shocked him, as he had never left the capital before. Countless ragged refugees were crammed outside the city. Trembling elderly people were shoved aside, children wailed from hunger, and ferocious guards at the city gates aggressively drove away the refugees trying to enter.

"Stop!" Fang Jingqi was so furious his lungs were about to burst.

The ensuing plot played out exactly as before, with the only difference being the presence of Guo Hongru in the city. As Fang Jingqi entered the city, the first to welcome him was Guo Hongru, who hadn't even had time to straighten his clothes. Looking at this man's face full of fawning smiles, Fang Jingqi inexplicably recalled Xu Jiao's complaints and couldn't help but snort. Sister Jiao'er had said it herself: this guy was not a good person.

Guo Hongru had arrived here earlier and had already begun disaster relief efforts. However, having received the imperial decree, he immediately handed over all his authority to Fang Jingqi the moment the Crown Prince arrived.

Seeing Guo Hongru relinquish his power so readily, Fang Jingqi was a bit baffled. But since his mind was solely focused on disaster relief, he didn't pay it too much heed.

First, the embezzlement of the imperial disaster relief grain was uncovered. In a fit of rage, Fang Jingqi ran the local prefect through with his sword and ordered a thorough investigation. This drastic action left officials of all levels in the city terrified, instantly disrupting the previously prepared disaster relief procedures.

As the implicated officials were imprisoned one by one, Guo Hongru finally spoke up.

"Your Highness, if we do not commence disaster relief immediately, I fear the refugees will not be able to hold on..."

Fang Jingqi didn't want to waste breath on him. In his eyes, Guo Hongru was likely just as corrupt; once he returned to the capital, he would definitely impeach him! However, what Guo Hongru said made sense. Almost all the local officials had been arrested by his royal guards, yet the refugees were still being blocked outside the city by the garrison soldiers.

"Disaster relief? How do we provide relief?" he asked furiously.

Guo Hongru rubbed his hands together: "In this humble official's opinion, we might as well make do by boiling porridge with that stale rice mixed with chaff..."

Fang Jingqi slammed his hand on the table: "Are you even human? Is that stuff fit for human consumption?"

Startled by his sudden outburst, Guo Hongru had a faint look of pity in his eyes. He could only lower his head: "This humble official is foolish..."

Fang Jingqi paced back and forth a couple of times before suddenly remembering something.

"Pass down my order! Open the city gates and let the refugees in!"

"Your Highness, you mustn't!" Guo Hongru panicked slightly.

"Bastard! Are you the Crown Prince or am I? Are we just going to let the refugees starve to death outside? Open the gates!"

Guo Hongru secretly shook his head.

Thus, the Crown Prince left an indelible mark on the history of the Wu Dynasty.

In the twenty-eighth year of Wuyuan, tens of thousands of refugees flooded into Jizhou City. However, due to the lack of guidance, the starving refugees began to loot the grain shops. The chaos gradually escalated, dragging many of the city's residents into the turmoil as well. Jizhou's granaries were stormed by the refugees, and the hoarded grain was carried away.

The situation unfolded so rapidly that there was no time to react. All Guo Hongru could do was sigh heavily.

Fang Jingqi was utterly dumbfounded. He practically rushed out onto the streets, attempting to stop the rioting refugees. Little did he know that the red-eyed, desperate refugees couldn't care less about who he was at this point. If he hadn't been accompanied by his guards, he likely would have been trampled to death.

Looting crowds, screaming women, and crying children were everywhere.

Guo Hongru sighed: "Letting starving, desperate refugees into the city without any officials to direct and coordinate them... Alas..."

Fortunately, the chaos did not cause an overly catastrophic impact. A combat-ready army that "coincidentally" passed by noticed the anomaly in the city and swiftly moved in to control the situation.

At this point, Guo Hongru stepped forward. First, he took it upon himself to release some low-ranking officials. These petty clerks had merely distributed a few pecks of rice, yet they had also been imprisoned by the enraged Crown Prince.

Having received Lord Guo's promise, they immediately sprang into action to save their own lives. Soon, the situation in the city improved, and the refugees began receiving their rations in an orderly manner. However, Fang Jingqi now had a massive headache. He was surrounded by dozens of local grain merchants demanding an explanation. They were all honest businessmen who had previously received a government notice forbidding them from raising prices to exploit the crisis. Who could have expected the Crown Prince to allow the refugees to loot their grain?

Even worse than that, the granaries had been almost entirely emptied.

Just a few days later, someone else arrived with more disaster relief grain, finally bringing the catastrophe to a complete halt.

Back at the imperial court, the atmosphere remained eerie.

The only active thing was Xu Jiao's inner voice. She constantly roasted the various ministers. Some people had also noticed that her complaints almost entirely revolved around their appearances. She praised the handsome ones non-stop, while in her mind, not a single one of the old men was a good person.

Fortunately, the Emperor couldn't hear her.

Xu Jiao also seemed to feel that merely complaining in her head wasn't satisfying enough. However, she remembered her father's parting words—she absolutely must not cause trouble for the family—so she forcefully held herself back.

But Fang Zhiyi was just waiting for her to perform. He had deliberately sent her father away, sent the Crown Prince away, and even granted her an official position. As a result, Xu Jiao's inner thoughts became completely unbridled.

"This Junior Minister of Revenue is quite bold, actually instructing his distant nephew to smuggle salt and tea. I really want to jump out and impeach him... What should I do?"

When she once again explicitly targeted a specific person, those with quick minds began to act.

The court was already divided into numerous factions. Some realized this was an opportunity. Never mind whether this Xu Jiao was a demoness or not; as long as she could provide intelligence, that was enough!

"Your Majesty! This subject has a petition to present!" The Junior Minister of Personnel strode forward, even casting a smug glance at the Junior Minister of Revenue, Cao Wenrui. "This subject impeaches the Junior Minister of Revenue, Cao Wenrui, for indulging his relatives in smuggling salt and iron!"