Chapter Ninety-Seven: Hidden Meaning
As soon as Li Zhi had gone, Changsun Wuji appeared at the palace gate.
He muttered to himself, “Sent to Hongnong to serve as county magistrate? What deeper meaning could there be in that?”
“This little fellow is becoming harder and harder to read.”
To get to the bottom of it, he dispatched many spies and kept Li Zhi under the closest surveillance.
He had a premonition.
Li Zhi’s move was surely connected to the struggle against the great clans.
...
Mid-June.
The heat grew more and more oppressive.
When Li Zhi arrived in Hongnong County, he was welcomed with great warmth by the local officials.
“Your Highness, this way please! This humble official has prepared a banquet at Cloudsea Tavern, and we have been waiting only for your arrival!” The man who came out of the city to greet him was a refined-looking young official.
Judging by his appearance, he could not have been much more than twenty.
Yet he was already able to serve as a magistrate.
Indeed, he was young and accomplished.
“What is your name?” Li Zhi asked as he stepped down from the carriage and tilted his little face up.
“This humble official is Su Linhuai. The Duke of Xing is my distant maternal cousin!”
“So that’s how it is...”
Li Zhi was slightly surprised.
He had not expected that Duke of Xing, Su Dingfang, would place a distant cousin in Hongnong as magistrate. One wondered how he had managed it.
“You are the magistrate of Hongnong County?”
“Isn’t the county magistrate Your Highness? This humble official is the prefect of Hongnong Commandery!” While answering, Su Linhuai realized he was standing too high, so he hurriedly crouched down, making himself slightly shorter than Li Zhi.
A capable man.
He knew how to handle matters.
He understood etiquette.
It was only a pity that he was linked to the Su family. Li Zhi felt a trace of displeasure. “Take me to Cloudsea Tavern. I’m a little hungry...”
“Yes!”
From the palace to Hongnong County had taken only half a day. Yet Su Linhai had actually learned of his movements in advance; it was truly alarming. Could it be that the Su family had spies around Li Shimin?
At that thought, Li Zhi broke out in a cold sweat.
“The Su family... don’t cross me, or I’ll make sure you regret it!” he thought.
Now that he had come to Hongnong County, he was determined to secure absolute control. If Su Linhuai refused to obey, then out he would go.
Cloudsea Tavern.
The most luxurious restaurant in Hongnong County.
It stood at a busy intersection in the city, where traffic never stopped.
“So lively... good, very good!”
Standing at the door, Li Zhi suddenly noticed that the aroma drifting from the tavern was very much like the divine wine from the First Tavern.
“Your Highness, all the wine at Cloudsea Tavern is genuine Immortal Wine. Would you like to taste it?”
“Do you think I can drink wine?”
Li Zhi shivered.
He was barely over three years old; let alone drinking, he could still scarcely walk steadily.
“Ah... please, Your Highness! Although wine is not suitable for you, just smelling it is wonderful as well. That fragrance... it is truly rare in this world!”
Su Linhai praised the Immortal Wine until it seemed to rise to the heavens.
Little did he know...
Immortal Wine was Li Zhi’s own property!
“Let’s go inside and have a look.”
Lou Seventeen and Lou Eighteen stood guard at the entrance.
The others entered the tavern.
“Lord Su, I have come to Hongnong this time to accomplish something great. As a local official, you must support me!”
“Of course!”
Su Linhai promised, “Whatever Your Highness wishes to do, this humble official will support with all his strength!”
...
In the largest reception hall on the second floor, they enjoyed a sumptuous meal.
The eighteen Golden Blade Guards were equally unrestrained, eating until their mouths were slick with oil.
Before they left, the owner of Cloudsea Tavern presented a small gift.
When Li Zhi opened it, he found a full chest of Immortal Wine.
Its market value was estimated at ten thousand cash.
A truly generous gesture.
“Your Highness, the county yamen is just ahead. Would you like to stay there, or at my commandery residence?” Su Linhai asked.
“Then I’ll stay at the county yamen.”
Li Zhi had only just arrived and did not want to take advantage of him.
The county yamen was small, but it felt safer to live there.
“Lord Su, no need to see me any farther. Go back. If I need anything, I’ll come find you!”
“Very well... this humble official respectfully sees Your Highness off!”
When Li Zhi entered the county yamen, the first thing he did was drive out all the soldiers stationed inside.
Lou One did not understand. “Your Highness, why did you chase away all the soldiers? If they are not here, who will handle the work?”
“They were all left by the previous magistrate. I don’t trust using them.”
Li Zhi instructed Lou One to have Luo Tong bring a detachment of imperial guards over.
With imperial guards stationed here, not only would safety be guaranteed, but many matters could also be entrusted to them with confidence.
That night, Li Zhi studied the maps, account books, and household registers of Hongnong County, and obtained precise figures.
Hongnong County had one thousand dan of surplus grain, seventy thousand registered households, and a population of nearly four hundred thousand!
Those enormous numbers left Li Zhi stunned.
A mere county actually had a population of four hundred thousand people!
And these were all official records. If the itinerant population were included, the number might even double.
It was truly astonishing.
“Ding-dong... Side quest triggered by the Naughty Child System. The host must drive Su Linhuai out within ten days. Success will reward five thousand jin of hybrid rice. Failure will result in a random punishment!”
Li Zhi was studying the map intently when the system prompt suddenly rang in his mind.
“Five thousand jin of rice?”
Li Zhi cried out in shock.
His purpose in coming to Hongnong Commandery was to stockpile enough grain. Although sweet potatoes yielded astonishingly high harvests and could meet the requirement, the crop was still too single.
People could not possibly eat sweet potatoes every day.
If he had rice as a supplement, it would not only solve the problem of overly single food supplies, but also provide a crop suitable for the paddy fields in Hongnong County, sparing them from being turned into dry land.
“Good!”
Li Zhi was so delighted that he did not sleep the entire night.
He wracked his brains, thinking of ways to get rid of Su Linhuai.
The next morning, Luo Tong arrived with a detachment of imperial guards, escorting more than a dozen large carts of sweet potatoes to Hongnong.
“These are priceless treasures. They must be guarded by heavy troops! Afterward, go to the back of the county yamen and dig a huge cellar to store them. Without my orders, no one is allowed into the cellar!” Li Zhi instructed Lou One.
“Yes!”
Lou One led the convoy forward.
Wiping away his hot sweat, Luo Tong said, “Your Highness... when I came, it seemed the princess spotted me. Might she follow us here to Hongnong County as well?”
“That little devil had better not come!”
Just thinking of her gave Li Zhi a headache.
“Zhi little brother, your sister is here!”
Leaning against a carriage, Li Zhi suddenly felt a pair of soft hands cover his eyes.
“Guess who I am?”
“Do I even need to guess?”
Li Zhi broke free and looked toward Luo Tong. “I seriously doubt your alertness. She was hiding in the carriage, and you didn’t notice?”
“Ah... that was my oversight.”
Luo Tong was genuinely shocked.
How had that little devil suddenly appeared here?
He quickly remembered...
Halfway there, he had urgently stepped aside to relieve himself. Li Lizhi must have hidden in the carriage at that time. The imperial guards were afraid of Li Lizhi and dreaded her mischief, so none of them had dared to tell Luo Tong.
“Zhi little brother, aren’t you happy to see me?” Li Lizhi asked.
“I’m happy, I’m very happy indeed...”
“Hehe!”
Li Zhi rolled his eyes at her. “Since you’re here, then come along with us. But let me make things clear: from now on, you will do everything I say. Don’t go causing trouble. If you do, I’ll have the Golden Blade Guards send you straight back to the palace!”