Chapter 407: Bloodstain, accidental discovery (2/2)

A smile rose to his lips. “Han Yunxi…hehe, interesting!”

One of his subordinates came over at that moment. “Master, we’ve suffered severe losses this time!” He’d spoken rightly, because Ouyang Ningruo had spent both time and resources, only to end up offending both Long Feiye and Jun Yixie. Not only did he lose to chance to seal the horse deal with Northern Li, he also had to give up a large sum of grain and silver instead. This was probably Ouyang Ningruo’s worst business deal in the history of his career.

“Don’t worry, we won’t lose that much,” Ouyang Ningruo didn’t seem to mind at all…

Spring was on the horizon as the ships sailed on the sea. The winds were fair and the waters were clear. Long Feiye’s ship was the first to reach the harbor. At the beginning of the new year, a crowd of officials had been kneeling in front of the provincial official’s estate to beg for an audience with him. There were impatient to get more grain and relieve the people in the disaster areas. However, Long Feiye had left them with the message that he wouldn’t be coming back until the 15th.

They happened to return to the estate in South Ning Prefecture exactly on the 15th. Naturally, the officials hadn’t been kneeling this entire time, but were now back to block the front doors. North Ning County’s local magistrate was the first to step forward when Long Feiye and Han Yunxi got off their carriage.

“Your Highness Duke of Qin, esteemed wangfei, you’ve finally returned. North Ning County’s grain stores are almost out. All of the disaster victims were yearning for Your Highness and esteemed wangfei’s return. Today, you’ve finally come as hoped!” He was obviously playing to the feelings of the people, but like the rest of the officials, he’d gotten smart enough to win their hearts instead of their wrath.

Just think, if all of the peasants placed their hopes in the Duke of Qin and he failed them, wouldn’t he be the one losing their trust and faith?

“Tianhui’s improved his methods,” Long Feiye muttered under his breath. Han Yunxi nearly laughed out loud. If Emperor Tianhui heard those words, he’d probably be angry enough to stomp his feet.

“Have them set their worries at rest. In five days, your lordship will let you all eat meat!” Long Feiye said coldly.

Eat meat? The crowd of officials were startled by the declaration. The Duke of Qin, is he joking? The famine had lasted for so long that there wasn’t even grain to eat, much less domesticated animals. Where was one supposed to get meat dishes?

When Emperor Tianhui got wind of the remark in his study, he actually laughed out loud. “Eat meat? Heheh, Zhen would like to see how my good little brother manages that!”

—

Five days later, Ouyang Ningruo fulfilled his promise and managed to deliver 600,000 dan of grain as well as its discounted price in silver. At the same time, three shipments of fish arrived on shore. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi didn’t personally appear, but delegated the job of handing out the fish to a few capable government officials. The husband and wife pair went off to vacation in Jiangnan’s Plum Blossom Sea instead.

The fact that anyone could get their hands on grain at a time like this was shocking enough, much less His Highness Duke of Qin’s massive haul of fish! The disaster victims really were going to have their meat! In fact, there was so much fish that the disaster victims couldn’t finish it all of it off. Even the regions bordering the famine areas got a few shares of fish. Tianning did have a thriving fishing industry, but there were limits to how much fish they could catch. Ordinary families rarely had the chance to eat such a fresh catch from the sea.

The ploughing season hadn’t arrived yet, but the task of keeping the disaster regions fed was already finished. Because relief had come in time, few people died from sickness, nor were there large outbreaks of plague. Tianning Country’s most serious famine in history thus passed smoothly without incident. Long Feiye listened to Han Yunxi’s advice and used the silver from the Cloud Realm Trade Consortium to buy large quantities of seeds, which he donated to the disaster victims. He not only won the people’s hearts, but earned a sizeable passage in the official historians’ records, his honor and rank far exceeding that of Emperor Tianhui.

Emperor Tianhui was so furious that the psychological strain made him ill; he ended up taking multiple days off from court. Meanwhile, the weather gradually grew warmer as the ice and snow began to melt. Jiangnan’s Plum Blossom Sea gradually scattered in showers of flying petals, becoming an ocean of flowers just like its namesake. The sight was so beautiful that Han Yunxi wished she could stay there forever. Long Feiye spent many days by her side. He never brought up the other issue again, nor did she mention it herself. She wasn’t sure whether she was imagining things, but she felt like Long Feiye was spending more time with her on purpose these days, as if to make up for lost time.

In the past, no matter where they went, he’d always be going out and staying away overnight. Oftentimes he was gone for two to three days in a row. This time, he hadn’t left her side ever since they settled down in the south. It really felt like they were on vacation. Most of the time, he stayed in the study reading over old books and the occasional urgent missive. On the other hand, she spent plenty of time sunbathing and mentally traversing through her detox system to research a way to save Baili Mingxiang. When night fell, she sometimes accompanied him as he read his books. On the occasions when she fell asleep in the study, she’d wake up to find herself in her room, sleeping in his arms.

Sometimes, she’d wake up in the middle of the night and run into him soaking in the hot springs. When that happened, she’d pretend she saw nothing and hurry right past. Unknown to her, he knew when she slipped away, every single time.

Sometimes, she’d scoot over when she saw him drinking tea by himself and lean against his shoulder for a chat. He still wasn’t much of a talker, but he’d always answer back.

It was the first time that Han Yunxi had ever felt so close to this man. Although their days were simple and boring, they were very comfortable. But days like these couldn’t last. Before the ploughing season arrived, Emperor Tianhui sent someone to summon Long Feiye back to the capital city…