Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Jiang Yunsui was honestly baffled. Watching them all suddenly gather around Fan He, she blurted out, “Has the little boat of friendship capsized?”

Tuantuan loved saying that.

She had remembered it.

Everyone else present: “…”

“You just stay put and be good. Don’t make a sound.”

She was ruining the mood.

Jiang Yunsui gave an obedient “oh” and shut her mouth, but the expression on her face was incredibly vivid.

‘Fight, fight!’

The smarter ones among them all understood at a glance and were speechless for a moment. This little thing really wanted to stick her nose into any bit of excitement she could.

Still, the grave atmosphere from earlier had been broken after all.

“Magistrate Fan, your information seems a little out of date. How long has it been since you last received news from the Capital?”

Fan He gave an awkward smile. “Well… I am only the magistrate of a small border town. It is true that news reaches me much more slowly.”

Ji Yan’an did not say much more. He simply handed him some information Yinyuan Pavilion had gathered from various regions.

After the New Emperor ascended the throne, in just a few short years, the taxes imposed on the common people had risen by a full twenty percent compared to before.

Disasters had broken out in many places, yet the Capital had not issued any disaster relief funds at all.

Even when funds were sent, they were skimmed off layer by layer, and in the end, barely a single coin reached the hands of the people.

The disaster relief grain was basically all sweet potatoes. Even then, there was only one meal a day, and only a little at that. As for rice, they could forget about it.

In some areas, the silver meant for repairing river channels and irrigation ditches had also been embezzled. In the imperial examinations, swapping out candidates’ exam papers had now become an open secret among the officials at the Imperial Court.

Titles and offices were sold openly. These days, the Imperial Court was filled mostly with bootlickers-people who were not only sycophantic, but venomous and rotten to the core. As for truly good officials who served the people, some had been suppressed for being too upright. Some had even been framed with groundless charges, then beheaded, exiled, or had their entire households confiscated…

The more Fan He read, the uglier his expression became.

When Song Jin saw the information about imperial examination candidates’ papers being swapped, his fingers clenched unconsciously, and a mocking look appeared on his face.

Shen Qingzhu looked no better.

“The Imperial Court of Great Liang has been rotten from the roots for a long time.”

Fan He did not doubt the authenticity of the information, because the records were extremely detailed. For instance, which officials had their households confiscated, how much disaster relief silver there had originally been, how much remained by the time it reached the disaster areas, the exact locations of the disasters, and even estimates of how many people had died.

Precisely because it was so detailed, it was all the more shocking.

“Outrageous!”

The hand Fan He used to hold the papers began trembling.

“This… this is utterly absurd. How could they do this? How could they do this…”

Ji Yan’an asked, “Magistrate Fan, do you think an Imperial Court like this still needs to be saved?”

Fan He looked at the records stating how many more consorts the Emperor had selected, how long it had been since he last attended court, what he had spent a fortune building for a favored consort, and how he had ordered his ministers to collect rare treasures from all under heaven for him.

All Fan He felt was a wave of disappointment.

Because the Previous Emperor had been fond of unusual stones and jade, countless people in their county had suffered for it.

He had thought things would improve greatly once the New Emperor ascended the throne.

But reality had dealt him a painful blow. The New Emperor was even more outrageous.

Fan He’s shoulders immediately slumped.

His eyes widened. He truly could not see even the slightest bit of hope!

Fan He was not blindly loyal, and the fact that he had been able to obtain evidence of the Li Family’s crimes showed that he had both brains and some ability.

Therefore, after thinking it over for only a short while, he looked at Ji Yan’an with firm eyes.

“Young Master, from now on, I, Fan He, will follow you!”

The corners of Ji Yan’an’s mouth lifted. “In that case, I will have to trouble Magistrate Fan for your guidance in the future.”

Naturally, he had pulled Fan He into his camp because the man was capable.

Otherwise, he would not have brought him along to search for the iron mine.

After that, the group began discussing matters related to rebellion with great enthusiasm.

Jiang Yunsui listened until her eyes went dazed.

She did not understand. She completely did not understand.
Why should she make things hard on herself?

Once Jiang Yunsui figured that out, she prepared to sneak out of the study.

But just as she reached the doorway and lifted one foot to step over the threshold, Ji Yan’an’s voice drifted over like a devil’s whisper.

“Jiang Yunsui. Come back. Go practice your calligraphy.”

Jiang Yunsui: (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)

In the end, she still couldn’t escape the fate of being punished.

As usual, the one supervising her writing was Nanshu.

She was copying Ji Yan’an’s handwriting.

Holding a tiny brush in her little hand, she frowned and wrote each stroke with utmost seriousness.

She had to look at a single character over and over again before she could finish writing it.

“Why does this character have so many strokes?!”

“Why doesn’t the one I wrote look much like it?”

Although she didn’t want to write, once she was forced to do it, she did take it very seriously. She was just especially slow.

Nanshu rolled his eyes so hard they nearly flipped over. “You wrote those few strokes like they all split up and moved out. Why do you think it doesn’t look alike?”

Jiang Yunsui said, “But if I write them together, it turns into a blur.”

That was right. A big, inky blur.

Nanshu said, “Oh, come on, don’t press so hard. Lighter. You’re about to write right through the paper.”

Jiang Yunsui snapped back in a fierce little baby voice, “Stop making noise. I’m already writing very lightly.”

On this side, the two of them were about to start arguing over writing a single character.

On the other side, Ji Yan’an and the others had more or less finished discussing how to develop Beizhen City, deal with internal threats, and win the support of the other members of the Ji Family Army, so it was almost time to adjourn.

Everyone had received their assignments. Ji Yan’an still did not have many people under him, so dealing with everything was especially hectic.

Besides, there were also matters in Liaoyang County that needed to be handled.

“Young Master, Li Yunniang has come to request an audience.”

Jiang Yunsui’s ears were very sharp. The moment she heard the name Li Yunniang, she immediately tossed the brush in her hand to Nanshu.

“I’m done writing. I’ll write the rest next time.”

Nanshu looked at the ink on his hand and angrily shook his fist in Jiang Yunsui’s direction.

“I want to go too. I miss Sister Li.”

Anyone could tell this was just an excuse to avoid writing, but Ji Yan’an did not tell her to go back and continue.

When Li Yunniang saw them, she bowed to Ji Yan’an.

“Young Master Ji, I have made up my mind. Yunniang is willing to serve at the Young Master’s command.”

Her gaze was firm. The numbness and lifelessness from before were gone.

Ji Yan’an valued the fact that she had studied, and that even while trapped, she had managed to figure out the situation inside the bandit stronghold. More than that, for the sake of revenge, she had even pretended to have lost her memory and endured by Second Leader Hu’s side for years. It showed that both her intelligence and temperament were exceptional.

She was a woman, yet she was tougher and wiser than many men.

This was exactly the kind of talent Ji Yan’an wanted.

He did not care about gender. He only valued ability.

Of course, the most important reason was that there were far too few talented people here in Mobei!

However, after Li Yunniang killed Second Leader Hu back then, she had somewhat lost the will to live. She no longer had any attachments left in this world. All these years, she had supported herself solely with the thought of revenge, and once she truly avenged herself, she no longer knew where to go from there.

That day, Ji Yan’an had pointed out a path for her, telling Li Yunniang to come work for him.

Li Yunniang had only said she would consider it.

Now, Li Yunniang had thought it through.

She wanted to try living for herself, just once.

Ji Yan’an said, “Good. Starting tomorrow, you will follow Fan He and learn from him.”

“Thank you, Young Master.”

After they finished speaking, Jiang Yunsui bounced over to Li Yunniang’s side.

“Sister Li, are you going to work by the Young Master’s side from now on too? Then we’re colleagues!”

Li Yunniang nodded slightly and stroked the little girl’s hair.

“Mm. Thank you, Suisui.”

If not for the knife Jiang Yunsui had given her, she would already be dead now.

And she was even more grateful that Jiang Yunsui had passed the message along, successfully bringing people to eliminate the bandits.