Chapter 79 - It's Better to Make a Fortune Silently!

Seeing that Shen Ninghua finally appeared, people gathering at the entrance of the yamen cheered happily in a low voice. Not long after, people who were originally queuing up in front of the imperial doctors’ tables gathered at Shen Ninghua’s table.

The imperial doctors’ tables turned from overcrowded to undercrowded. They were very angry. However, they were also convinced. After these days of observation, they found that Shen Ninghua’s medical skills weren’t any inferior to theirs, and she even excelled them in many respects. In addition, although this girl’s personality was cold and tough, she did everything in a thoughtful and thorough way. The things she did made them admire her in their hearts.

Shen Ninghua wasn’t surprised. She had laid the groundwork step by step in order to spread her reputation out. This way, the next disaster relief work would be much easier. However, she could not diagnose for so many people, so she ordered the surrounding guards to persuade people to disperse.

Many people were reluctant. Some people lined up to let Shen Ninghua diagnose for them again after they had been diagnosed by imperial doctors. After confirming that the imperial doctors did not make any mistakes in the diagnosis, they embarrassedly took the medicine and left.

It was already dark when the free medical consultation came to an end. Shen Ninghua’s body had not fully recovered, so she asked Bai Ruo to bring the food back to the courtyard. After eating the food hastily, she went to bed and rested.

The free medical consultation lasted for three days. The medicinal ingredients already ran out, and the guards didn’t have enough time to go up the mountain to collect the herbs. However, the Second Prince was still unable to get hold of Xiao Jingran.

Chu Junyi came to Shen Ninghua’s room early in the morning and sat on a chair to watch her having her breakfast.

Being stared at by that gaze was really uncomfortable. Shen Ninghua finally said, “Master Mo, what are you doing here early in the morning?”

Hearing the emphasized words “Master Mo”, Chu Junyi smiled and said, “I’m here to make sure that you have your meal.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at him and lowered her head to continue eating. He didn’t want to say, but she was also not interested to ask.

Hong Ling ran in from outside and found that Chu Junyi was also there. She didn’t care at all. “Miss, someone came to look for the Second Prince overnight and said that Old General Xiao was trapped in Linjiang City. The refugees surrounded Linjiang City. Many places were in trouble and the situation was very critical.”

Shen Ninghua put down her chopsticks and said, “Master Mo, what are your plans next?”

“Muddy water is easy to fish in. Ninghua, you are a clever girl. Can’t you guess?” Jiangnan was too rich. The officials here had countless connections with the princes and important officials of the court. If he wanted to uproot them, he had to use sharp knives and heavy hammers.

“Then you must be careful. The fish in the water might be big enough to eat people.” As an emperor, Baili Qingcang himself naturally wanted to rectify the officialdom in Jiangnan. Unfortunately, the water here was too deep and drowned batches and batches of imperial envoys sent here to investigate the situation. In the end, there was nothing he could do about Jiangnan.

Chu Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua, and his eyes lit up. There were millions of women in this world, but there was no one who could be as insightful as Shen Ninghua.

“Don’t worry. I’m best at cooking fish.”

Shen Ninghua chuckled. Knowing that he was prepared, she stopped saying anything.

After Chu Junyi left, Hong Ling whispered, “Miss, that troublemaker didn’t say anything. He bit his tongue and killed himself this morning.”

Shen Ninghua was not surprised. “Well, the poison on his sleeve is definitely not an ordinary poison. Once he inhaled the poison into his lungs, it spread all over his body. In less than a moment, he would bleed out in all his seven orifices and die.”

Hong Ling had a lingering fear. “Fortunately, you were quick-witted and didn’t let that person get close.”

“This matter is not easy to investigate. Leave it for now. There’s no need to investigate. Is there any news from the capital?”

“No, the capital is very quiet.”

Shen Ninghua frowned. At this time, silence was what made people panic.

Baili Jinchuan paced back and forth in the hall with a trace of anger in his eyes. When he saw Shen Ninghua entering the door, he restrained the anger. “Ninghua, you’re not feeling well. Why don’t you have some more rest?”

Shen Ninghua shook her head. “Have you received messages from Old General Xiao?”

“I have already sent people to Linjiang City, but there are too many refugees besieging the city, so my people simply couldn’t enter the city.” Baili Jinchuan heavily sighed. “I have already reported to His Majesty. If there was no other way, I would have to send troops to crack down on the refugees.”

Shen Ninghua disagreed. “The people of Jiangnan are already in a panic state. They are only surrounding Linjiang City to find a way to survive. Sending troops is forcing them to rebel. Besides, the plague in Jiangnan is serious. If troops were sent here and got infected, then…”

Baili Jinchuan smiled bitterly. “How can I not know? But what else can I do? Linjiang City is situated in the waterway. If I want to transport the medicinal ingredients to Jiangnan, I have to go through Linjiang. If the refugees don’t disperse, the medicinal ingredients won’t be able to get in. The situation in Jiangnan will become even more critical. Right now, it’s just Ping City, and the medicinal ingredients are already insufficient, let alone other places in Jiangnan.”

Now, Ping City was temporarily stabilized, but once the medicinal ingredients ran out, this stable situation would instantly collapse.

Shen Ninghua was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Your Highness, do you dare to kill people?”

Baili Jinchuan suddenly raised his head and unconsciously clenched his fists. He looked at her eyes with unprecedented enthusiasm. “Ninghua, do you have an idea?”

‘”People are angry because they are dissatisfied. If there is still a way to survive, these honest people will not choose to take risks. As long as we eliminate the factors that make them unable to survive, they will naturally be grateful.”

“Factors that make people unable to survive?”

‘”Yes. The first is the plague. We already have a prescription for treatment. We only need to wait for the opening of Linjiang City and use the waterway to transport the medicinal ingredients. The second one is corrupted officials who abandoned the people. We have no better options than killing them to avoid further troubles.”

Baili Jinchuan’s eyes moved. “You meant killing those officials?”

“That’s right.” Shen Ninghua looked at him with her clear eyes. “Your Highness, you should know that you don’t have the right to behead officials without prior report to His Majesty. If you did so in Jiangnan, you would definitely be impeached after returning to the capital. His Majesty would also take punitive measures against you for this. Have you thought it over? Do you dare?”

Baili Jinchuan lowered his head and pondered. Beheading these corrupt officials without prior report to His Majesty was indeed an effective method, but it was also extremely risky. However, if he did not calm down the refugees now, the consequences would probably be even more serious. It was as if he was standing on a mountain ridge with cliffs on both sides. His future was uncertain whichever side he chose.

“Ninghua, if you were me, which way would you choose?”

Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “Your Highness, you are joking. How can there be so many ifs? But you are His Majesty’s son. Although the emperor does not want you to become too powerful and be able to threaten the imperial authority, he will also care about the bloodline. No matter what choice you make, your life won’t be at stake.”

“You’re right. Since I don’t have to worry about losing my life, I can take a risk. If I succeeded, I would have a good reputation. If I failed, I could still be an idle prince.”

The smile on Shen Ninghua’s lips deepened, and her bright eyes were dyed with a smile. “Since you know what to do, then you’d better act now. The sooner the refugees are relieved, the better. I am going now.”

On the second day, a piece of news spread throughout Jiangnan. The Second Prince personally sent guards to capture the Ping City Governor who abandoned the people and beheaded him publicly. He also made a heroic promise that people could tie up those officials who abandoned them for personal gains and directly behead them if their crimes were true.

Many people suspected whether the Second Prince really had the guts to do so.

On the third day, in Yi City that was close to Ping City, its governor was tied up by people and sent to Ping City. He was accused of over 20 crimes, including hoarding grains for personal gain. The Second Prince was furious, and he beheaded Yi City Governor. People applauded him with happiness.

The fourth day, the fifth day…News kept spreading. The calamity in Ping City and Yi City disappeared, and good news kept coming out. The refugees besieging the city couldn’t tolerate any more. They broke through the city gate overnight, tied up the twelve officials who had been doing nothing but bullying the people and sent them to Ping City.

The refugees didn’t expect that the Second Prince would show up with an army halfway. They were prepared to be killed. However, the Second Prince spared their lives and directly beheaded the officials they brought over.

‘”I’m sorry, my fellow people. I let these borers of the imperial court hoard grains and make a fortune out of your misery. I know that you wouldn’t besiege Linjiang City if you had a way to survive. Today, I killed these corrupt officials without reporting to His Majesty. Tomorrow, I will rush to Linjiang City and open the granary to let you all have a good feast!”

The refugees’ eyes immediately turned red. No word was better than a full stomach. They were truly too hungry…

Shen Ninghua followed Baili Jinchuan to the gate of Linjiang City. The refugees who had already received the news made way for them to enter the city without any obstruction.

Xiao Jingran had already brought people to greet them at the city gate. When he saw the Second Prince, he hurriedly saluted and said, “The sinful official greets Your Highness.”

The Second Prince took two steps forward and helped him up. “Old General Xiao, what sin do you have? Quickly, please stand up.”

“I deserve to die. Not only did I fail to relieve the disaster in Jiangnan, but I was also trapped inside the city. I truly did not have the face to see His Majesty in the capital.”

Shen Ninghua stood not far away. This was the first time she had seen Xiao Jingran since her rebirth. In her previous life, she had only seen this legendary general once. At that time, she had just helped Baili Jinze get rid of the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince. Xiao Jingran entered the Palace with his whip, and even a hundred guards could not stop him. He walked in front of her and forcefully used the whip to destroy her palace. He only uttered two words “vicious woman” before resigning and returning home. She never heard any news about him since then.

This old general had clearly killed countless people on the battlefield, but his expression was calm and peaceful, without the slightest bit of killing intent, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking about.

After Xiao Jingran was helped up, he swept his gaze and saw Shen Ninghua. His face was full of wrinkles, but his eyes carried a majestic and clear light, as if he could see through people’s hearts.

Shen Ninghua remained unmoved. A gentle breeze blew the strands of hair beside her ears. She stretched out her hand to press down the hair in an elegant way. “Greetings, Old General Xiao.”

“Greetings, Your Highness.” Xiao Jingran turned around and paid no more attention to her.

Baili Jinchuan did not tarry. After entering the city, he made some arrangements and immediately ordered to open the granary and allocate grains to the people. When the refugees saw that he really fulfilled his promise, they all knelt down and cheered. For a time, the cheering sound in Linjiang City shook the sky. Baili Jinchuan’s good reputation quickly spread in Jiangnan.

Shen Ninghua stood on the pavilion and looked down at the queue of refugees receiving rice porridge without emotions in her eyes.

Chu Junyi held the fan and sighed. “After this drama, the Second Prince’s reputation has truly spread far and wide.”

Shen Ninghua turned her head to look at him. “Didn’t you also expect this result when I gave him the suggestion? Why, did you regret it?”

“Why would I regret it? More than half of the officials in Jiangnan are gone. I’m waiting to fill the vacancies. Let the Second Prince earn the reputation. I’ll just enjoy be benefits in the dark.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and praised Chu Junyi in her heart. Being able to earn a good reputation was good. However, it was inevitable for people to be burdened with fame, and it was best to make a fortune silently.
RECENTLY UPDATES