Tianliangyuan

Chapter 317 Yongzhou

New Year's Day is actually the first day of the Lunar New Year.

At the beginning of the new year, everyone greeted each other with auspicious words, and no one would rush to say anything unlucky.

When Xiaolin saw that Xu Zhaozhao and Xie Zheng had arrived late, she simply rolled her eyes in displeasure, showing great tact and not being sarcastic.

Lunch should naturally be eaten together as a family.

Because Xie Zheng had to be on duty at night, he would have his dinner alone in Jinxiu Garden, and he would have dinner 25 minutes earlier than everyone else.

This is because he has duties to perform, so no one will be dissatisfied.

Furthermore, since we had a reunion dinner together at noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year, there was naturally no need for a dinner dinner.

Since it was a family reunion dinner, all the branches of the Xie family came over.

For example, the third and fifth branches of the family, and the two branches that had originally separated and lived independently, also brought their families to come and pay their respects and wish to celebrate the New Year.

Xu Zhaozhao was actually very tired. She barely mustered the energy to talk to them in the morning, but after lunch, Xie Zheng dragged her away.

To others, Xu Zhaozhao was forcibly taken away by Xie Zheng.

But in reality, only the couple knew that Xu Zhaozhao was too tired and wanted to go back to catch up on her sleep.

This time, the two of them actually took a proper nap together and didn't fool around anymore, since Xie Zheng had to be on duty that night.

The two slept for more than an hour before waking up. Xie Zheng went to the courtyard and practiced a set of boxing moves, which made him feel much more energetic.

Xu Zhaozhao, however, was wrapped in a quilt, unwilling to wear heavy clothes or go out.

In the end, Xie Zheng pulled her out of bed and took her for a walk in the garden; otherwise, she wouldn't be hungry for dinner.

As a result, before dinner could even be served, a palace servant rushed to the Duke's mansion and specifically asked to see Xie Zheng.

Xu Zhaozhao sensed something was wrong and immediately had someone prepare some snacks, which she would give to Xie Zheng to take away in a little while.

"Why is it in such a hurry?"

"Reporting to the General, the Emperor has urgently summoned you to the palace. I still have to inform others, so I dare not linger any longer. I shall take my leave."

Urgent summons?

Xie Zheng frowned, turned around, and saw Xu Zhaozhao coming over.

"I must go to the palace immediately. His Majesty has summoned me urgently; perhaps something has happened at the border."

Xu Zhaozhao also had some doubts, so she immediately helped him change his clothes and, at the same time, slipped two bottles of medicine into his arms.

"in case."

Xie Zheng nodded, and before leaving, he gave her a light peck on the lips.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, unless it is an extremely urgent matter, His Majesty will not summon so many ministers to the palace at once.

Therefore, it must be either unusual activity at the border or a rebellion somewhere in Daxing.

Xu Zhaozhao's mind was racing; she wanted to quickly analyze the situation in order to make the necessary arrangements.

"Zisu, go to the Marquis's residence immediately and see if my father and second brother have also been summoned to the palace. Also, if possible, ask my mother if she knows what happened."

"Yes, young lady."

The fact that someone from the palace suddenly arrived was something that naturally could not be kept from the old lady.

Just as Xu Zhaozhao finished making these arrangements, the old lady sent someone to invite her.

Xu Zhaozhao had not yet received any news from Zisu, but she could not ignore the old lady for the time being, so she could only go over to reassure them.

When Xu Zhaozhao arrived at the old lady's courtyard, she discovered that several of her uncles were also there.

When Xie Xiaowei and the others saw her coming, their eyes were filled with hope, clearly unaware of what had happened.

"Grandmother, please rest assured for now. We do not yet know if something has happened at the border. I have sent someone back to the Marquis's residence to inquire. If there is any news, I will definitely come to report to you as soon as possible."

The old lady sighed, "Today is New Year's Day. If there were no urgent matter, His Majesty would not be so anxious. I am just worried that it might be Jizhou."

She didn't say the rest, but everyone present understood what she meant.

This was out of concern that if something happened in Jizhou, Xie Xiaolin might be in danger.

Thinking of the information she had received before the Lunar New Year, Xu Zhaozhao was already 70% certain.

"It shouldn't be something that happened in Jizhou. I'm more worried about a mob causing trouble."

Xie Xiaocheng and Xie Xiaowei exchanged a glance: "Why do you say that, niece-in-law?"

Xu Zhaozhao said with a worried expression: "More than a month ago, my fiefdom of Lantian County received more than ten households of disaster victims, who said they came from Yongzhou. I was quite surprised at the time, as Yongzhou is thousands of miles away. According to Uncle Yan, the group was dressed in tattered clothes and looked like beggars. They admitted that they could not survive in Yongzhou, so they headed north."

Xie Xiaowei's eyes darted around: "The Governor of Yongzhou is the Loyal King, who holds the position remotely. Yongzhou is part of Zhongzhou, so the one in charge now should be Li Yang, the Prefect of Zhongzhou."

"If a major disaster has indeed occurred in Yongzhou, why has it not been reported to higher authorities?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, but none of them dared to utter another word.

Some things, though understood in one's heart, cannot be spoken aloud.

Xu Zhaozhao narrowed her eyes: "As far as I know, the illegitimate daughter of Li Yang, the Prefect of Yongzhou, was a concubine in the Prince Zhong's mansion. It seems that she was promoted to the rank of Lady last year."

Yongzhou is just a central prefecture, and the position of Prefectural Governor is far from the capital. This official position is not high. In addition to the Prefectural Governor, there are also officials such as the Sima and the Chief Secretary in the local area to check and balance each other. Therefore, in the eyes of the Loyal King, Li Yang is indeed not a great help.

However, since the Loyal King was nominally appointed as the Governor of Yongzhou Prefecture, Li Yang was essentially the Loyal King's representative in Yongzhou.

Therefore, since something happened in Yongzhou, the Prince of Zhong cannot escape responsibility.

This time, it all depends on His Majesty's attitude and the speed of Prince Zhong's reaction.

Xu Zhaozhao vaguely remembered that such a major change did not occur in the book. It was very likely that the defeat of the Deng family directly led to this series of consequences.

Because the Deng and Jiang families provided full assistance when Yongzhou suffered a major disaster, and because Jiang Ning had helped King Zhong obtain a large amount of treasure and an iron mine in the original story, King Zhong was quite wealthy at the time.

But it is different now.

The mine that Jiang Ning had schemed to acquire now belonged to the imperial court, and all the treasures were gone. The Deng family was wiped out by Xu Zhaozhao, and the Jiang family also encountered one misfortune after another. So, how could she have the mind to care about the affairs of the Prince of Zhong?

This is the butterfly effect.

Xu Zhaozhao did not feel that it was her fault.

Because in the original book, there was a sentence that the Loyal King recalled many years later that Yongzhou had experienced a flood. At that time, thanks to Jiang Ning's help, they had a large number of weapons and manpower to suppress the rioters. Thus, without ever touching the imperial court, they nipped a disaster in the bud.

Therefore, even though the Loyal King obtained that money in the original book, he never thought of helping the disaster victims overcome their difficulties. Instead, he was focused on developing his own power and quietly killed all the rioters to avoid alarming the court and being punished by His Majesty.

This time, without the support of money and iron ore, the matter could no longer be suppressed and had reached the ears of the emperor.