Li Qingmu’s gaze sharpened!
He had just arrived, hadn’t even reached the Southern Territory, and there was a rebellion? Such coincidence?
"Prince, sothing’s happened, sothing big!"
"Prince, there’s a rebellion in the Southern Territory!"
Almost simultaneously, officials rushed in, their exclamations mixing with the torrential rain, creating a cacophony of noise.
"Prince, the Southern Territory has rebelled. Dazhou has only recently begun to recover, and now... this isn’t a natural disaster, this is man-made calamity!"
An official knelt on the ground, weeping aloud with a mournful expression, he glanced at Li Qingmu, then kowtowed fervently.
"Prince, natural disasters are inevitable, but man-made ones can be prevented!"
Then, other officials also kowtowed desperately, pleading for action.
Their words were truly cutting. Wasn’t this suggesting that the rebellion in the Southern Territory was because Li Qingmu had refused to bring disaster relief promptly?
They were taking the risk to advise him. If things escalated in the future, they could claim they had already risked their lives to warn the Regent King, but he ignored them.
If so, Li Qingmu would inevitably be pinned to the pillar of sha!
By then, could he continue as the Regent King?
Wouldn’t he be condemned to death by the spittle of countless people?
This crowd was truly as cunning as foxes!
Of course, not all of them; after all, Empress Dowager Li wouldn’t replace everyone with her own people, that would be too blatant.
She still needed to maintain so appearance.
A few officials remained silent but still knelt there, the ssage was clear enough, Regent King, please issue your command, let’s set off imdiately to transport the grain and suppress these rebels!
Li Qingmu swept a cold gaze over the officials on the ground. So of these people were practical officials, so were important ministers, indispensable in his position.
Speaking of which, Qi Junlian was quite adept at employing people, better than his other imperial brothers.
"You all want to set off now, is that right?"
Li Qingmu’s cold voice rang out, ethereal, as if not entirely real.
The officials gradually stopped their wailing and pleading, remaining kneeling without speaking, almost laughably. They were shouting so loudly just now, and now they are silent?
Li Qingmu stood with hands behind his back, speaking slowly, "It’s been raining heavily for consecutive days, the roads are difficult to traverse. There’re two routes ahead, one is mountainous and the other forested; the mountain path is prone to torrents, while the forest path is prone to landslides. Which one do you choose?"
Silence enveloped the surroundings.
"With the continuous rain, the soil is loose, any carelessness could trigger a disaster. If we go now, what kind of disturbance would it cause to the already fragile ground with all those large and small carts? By then, if a mountain flood breaks out, you would again question if it’s man-made or a natural disaster?"
"..."
The group was left speechless.
This Regent King had a sharp tongue, they had witnessed it before, but facing him directly, it was overwhelmingly despairing.
He spoke so logically and convincingly, it was hard to refute.
At this mont, an official from Empress Dowager Li’s faction suddenly said, "Prince, this is rely your wishful thinking; the mountain path is stable, the forest path is safe, how could there be disasters? Such things do happen, but not necessarily. Minister thinks..."
"You think I should imdiately order the start of the journey?"
Li Qingmu squinted at this official, suddenly speaking coldly.
The official inexplicably felt a chill down his spine, suppressing the unease in his heart, he said, "Yes... Minister thinks you should imdiately dispatch the grain army!"
Li Qingmu gazed into the distance at the mountains and forests, he said softly, "But I believe a mountain flood disaster is inevitable; so, do you intend to force through?"
"Please reconsider, Prince!"
The official directly skipped the question, just urging Li Qingmu to depart quickly.
Ha, is this a coup attempt?
Li Qingmu chuckled softly, turned, and said, "Since you’re so eager to transport the grain, fine, let’s split into two groups!"
"Prince?"
The official was taken aback, perhaps a bit bewildered by Li Qingmu’s proposal: splitting into two groups? How to split?
"I believe setting off now would be dangerous, but you think it’s feasible, so let’s split into two groups. Those willing to go with , stand on my left side, and those who want to set off now, stand to the right; then allocate the grain according to the headcount, how about that?"
Li Qingmu laughed while watching these restless officials, seeing the speechlessness and astonishnt in their eyes.
The official who pleaded for orders exclaid, "Prince, this... this is absurd! We are commissioned by Your Majesty for disaster relief, how could it make sense to split into two groups?"
"There is never a set rule for everything, just adapt accordingly. Why, do you not like this compromise?"
The official was montarily speechless.
Li Qingmu’s proposal was indeed decent, quite a compromise, it couldn’t be better. But it made it difficult for them to trap him.
"Not speaking?" Li Qingmu smiled slightly, "Not speaking ans agreent? Co!"
"Your Highness!"
"Imdiately check the grain and the number of accompanying troops, compile the statistics, and then allocate them to the departing officials accordingly!"
Stepping forth was a man dressed in black, his whole body encased in black armor, even his face was concealed by a helt and mask, making it impossible for anyone to discern his identity.
Xuan Xu glanced at Li Qingmu, thinking this prince was rather sly to co up with such an idea. He then looked at those loudly demanding officials, suddenly wanting to laugh.
A compromise has been made, you were clamoring to set off and transport grain just now, why not go now?
If you go, you might indeed encounter danger, and it’s also harder to lure Qi Junmu into a trap; this plan would be deed a failure. However, if you don’t go, your earlier statents would be baseless, utterly embarrassing.
Xuan Xu suddenly felt a bit of admiration for this prince, much like encountering Qi Yun in the past.
Is it true that a tiger father breeds not dog sons?
Following such an interesting master isn’t bad at all.
Xuan Xu complied, then proceeded as Li Qingmu instructed, leaving those officials in a quandary.
In the end, do they go or not?
"Prince, this matter..."
"This matter is settled then, alright, dismiss!"
Li Qingmu sat down slowly in his chair, resting one hand on the armrest and propping his head, appearing extrely casual, even a bit sinister combined with his nation-toppling handso appearance.
The officials looked at each other, speechless.
The Prince’s deanor made it clear: this is decided, whether you go or not, just don’t co back later complaining about natural or man-made disasters!
The official who knew of Empress Dowager Li’s plan, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Revenue, surnad Wang, first na Cheng, pondered for a while, exchanged a glance with his companion, then said, "We shall take our leave first!"
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