Chapter 179
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Yuan Li was led by Ouyang Ting into the study, his expression blank and bewildered. Before he could process Ouyang Ting’s words, his heart started beating rapidly.
A letter…. from Chu Hechao?
Could it really be a letter written by Chu Hechao?
Was Chu Hechao… really alive?
Ouyang Ting led Yuan Li all the way to the study and asked the old servant to bring out a hidden bundle. The bundle was wrapped in coarse gray cloth, covered in dust and dry grass, so inconspicuous that it wouldn’t draw attention even if thrown on the ground.
As soon as the bundle appeared, Yuan Li’s eyes glued to it, and his feet seemed to stick to the ground.
He both hoped that it was truly something sent by Chu Hechao and feared it to be a trap set up by Chen Wang. His emotions were torn between hope and the fear of disappointment.
Ouyang Ting turned to Yuan Li and said, “Why don’t you open it and see?”
Yuan Li’s throat rolled, but he was not one to stand still for long. After taking a deep breath, he walked decisively towards the bundle and quickly opened it.
The dust shook off and fell onto the table as Yuan Li looked inside. The bundle contained two simple pieces of coarse cloth, utterly ordinary and unremarkable.
Ouyang Ting added, “When I received this bundle, I found it rather peculiar. I became even more curious when I opened it. If I hadn’t found a letter hidden among the clothes, I might have ignored it.”
Hearing this, Yuan Li picked up the clothes and indeed found a letter tucked beneath them.
Seeing the letter, Yuan Li’s movements slowed down. He could almost hear the sound of his own heart beating. He steadied his slightly trembling hands and calmly took out the letter. However, before he could read it, Ouyang Ting couldn’t wait any longer and asked eagerly, “How is it? Is it Chu Hechao’s handwriting?”
Yuan Li smiled bitterly, “Teacher, I haven’t read it yet.”
Ouyang Ting urged, “Then hurry up and read it!”
Ouyang Ting’s interruption strangely calmed Yuan Li down. He opened the envelope directly, and as soon as he saw the handwriting, he froze.
Ouyang Ting couldn’t discern much from his expression, so he was growing anxious, “Le Jun, how is it?”
Yuan Li murmured, “It’s his handwriting… Teacher, it’s really his handwriting.”
The handwriting in the envelope was powerful and energetic, with the pen strokes almost piercing through the paper. It was undoubtedly Chu Hechao’s handwriting. Yuan Li didn’t even need to read the content of the letter to recognize it.
Chu Hechao wasn’t dead.
He was still alive.
After several months of tension, Yuan Li suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over him. He was somewhat dazed and felt like he was in a dream. He gripped the letter tightly, his hand turning pale from the force, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Ouyang Ting was overjoyed and couldn’t stop smiling. He kept saying, “I knew it, I knew it! Chu Hechao is very lucky, he wouldn’t die so easily!”
He wanted to announce this good news to the world. When he saw Yuan Li’s tearful and joyful expression, Ouyang Ting’s heart warmed. He understood that Yuan Li needed some time to read the letter calmly, so he considerately left the study, saying, “This is great news, tremendous news! I’ll prepare a few more dishes tonight. Le Jun, you must drink with me!”
Once Ouyang Ting left, the study became quiet again.
Outside the window, birds chirped, perhaps celebrating the arrival of spring or busy building their nests.
Yuan Li took a while to recover from his emotions. His eyes were moist as he read the letter carefully.
The man who wrote the letter understood him well. The opening line was gentle, “Do not cry upon reading this letter, only then will my heart be at ease.”
Yuan Li forcibly restrained his tears of joy and regained his calm and resolute demeanor as Duke Wen.
It seemed that Chu Hechao was concerned about safety, as the letter didn’t contain much information. It only mentioned that he was doing well but didn’t reveal his location or what he was doing.
The rest of the letter was filled with questions about Yuan Li’s well-being, how Xuzhou and Youzhou were doing, and many inquiries about Yuan Li.
Chu Hechao asked if he had been scared, if he had cried, if he was eating and sleeping well, and if he missed him.
While reading the letter, Yuan Li nodded along and thought that Chu Hechao was truly a rascal.
At the beginning, Chu Hechao told him not to cry, but then he wrote so many things that made it hard for Yuan Li to hold back tears. His head kept nodding without stopping.
Scared, cried.
Eating well, sleeping well, missing you.
It was as if Chu Hechao knew Yuan Li’s answers in advance. He then expressed his longing for Yuan Li.
However, he couldn’t guarantee that the letter would reach his hands safely. He was afraid that others might see it, so every word on the letter was filled with restraint and suppression of Chu Hechao’s overwhelming emotions.
After reading the letter, Yuan Li’s eyes were already red.
He carefully put the letter back in its envelope and hid it away. When he walked out, he saw Ouyang Ting standing not far away.
Yuan Li smiled and said, “Teacher.”
Ouyang Ting turned around and saw Yuan Li looking radiant, as if he had transformed into a different person. That smile was so heartwarming that Ouyang Ting couldn’t help but smile too. “You can finally rest easy now.”
Yuan Li raised an eyebrow and replied, “Teacher, I want to meet the person who delivered the letter.”
The messenger had already been detained by Ouyang Ting. After a while, a thin, ordinary-looking young man in his early twenties walked in.
As soon as he saw Yuan Li, he respectfully bowed, “This subordinate, Ji Cong, pay my respects to Lord.”
Yuan Li was slightly surprised, “You’re from the Liangliao Institution?”
The young man nodded and, seeing that there was no one else around, took out another letter from his clothes, “My lord, this is another confidential letter from the Grand General, ordered to be delivered only to you. If anyone intercepts the letter, it’s better to destroy it than to let it fall into the wrong hands.”
Yuan Li’s expression turned serious as he received the letter and carefully read it.
If the previous letter was just an ordinary safety assurance letter, then this one is a completely confidential letter meant for Yuan Li’s eyes only.
In this letter, Chu Hechao clearly explained the ambush he encountered and also informed Yuan Li about his plan to change ships and head to Jiaozhou, along with the reasons for doing so.
Chu Hechao intends to borrow soldiers from Jiaozhou and attack the rear of Yangzhou, so that he and Yuan Li can coordinate their actions and jointly attack Chen Wang.
He estimated the day when Yuan Li would return from Youzhou and formally engage in war with Chen Wang. When Yuan Li confronts Chen Wang in the front, he will start his attack from the rear.
Yuan Li furrowed his brows occasionally while reading the letter.
Chu Hechao briefly mentioned his injuries in the letter, stating that he is now mostly recovered, but Yuan Li fears that Chu Hechao is only reporting the good news and hiding the worries.
Regarding the matter of borrowing soldiers, Yuan Li also doesn’t know if it was successful or not, and he wondered how Chu Hechao was faring now.
However, Chu Hechao has his own plan, just as Yuan Li has his own ideas. All they can do is trust each other and not miss the opportunity.
In addition to these matters, the letter is filled with explicit yearning, written in plain language with half-concealed feelings. Yuan Li’s face turned red, and he occasionally pretended not to care, glancing at the person from Liangliao Institute, afraid that Ji Cong might know what was written in the letter.
However, these two extra glances only led Ji Cong to misunderstand. Ji Cong felt like he was being evaluated by a high-ranking official, and he straightened up, reporting the encounter with Chu Hechao without taking a breath, as if he had practiced it hundreds of times in private.
Chu Hechao’s letter arrived in Xuzhou a month ago.
In reality, the day after Chu Hechao woke up from his severe injuries and coma, he was already preparing to write a letter to Yuan Li. But with only a few dozen remaining soldiers by his side and being adrift at sea with no channels to send the letter, it was only when he changed ships to Jiaozhou that he finally found the “Wansui Grain Store” and wrote two letters, entrusting them to the shop owner.
The “Wansui Grain Store” was a property of the Liangliao Institution, naturally managed by the personnel of the Liangliao Institution.
At that time, Chu Hechao’s life and death situation was still a secret, and the shop owner of the grain store was unaware that Yuan Li was searching for Chu Hechao in Xuzhou. However, he could tell that something was unusual about Chu Hechao and his group from their appearance, so he decisively used the store’s funds to support Chu Hechao. That night, he closed the grain store and personally delivered the letters to Xuzhou.
By that time, Chen Wang had already begun attacking Xuzhou, and the communication channels were nearly destroyed, with entry and exit of various cities restricted.
This personnel from the Liangliao Institution went through great hardships to deliver the letters a month ago, hiding them in a package and sending them to Ouyang Ting’s residence.
Before meeting Yuan Li, he didn’t dare to give the confidential letter to anyone else.
He wanted to send the information back to Youzhou, but by the time he could do so, Yuan Li had already returned. Moreover, it was even more dangerous for him after arriving in Xuzhou, as he had no way to send the letter out.
After hearing him out, Yuan Li no longer felt embarrassed. He cleared his throat, asked Lin Tian to take Ji Cong to rest, and then continued reading the letter.
Having played enough of a rogue, Chu Hechao seemed to feel that it wasn’t enough, and he sighed at the end, saying, “I am eight years older than you, and I have eight years less to accompany you. Now, with this additional day apart, it’s one less day we get to spend together. These days are precious and irreplaceable.”
Yuan Li’s heart was as calm as still water, but this sentence made him feel a tinge of bitterness.
He sighed, thinking to himself, “Let’s meet as soon as possible.”
He slowly folded the letter, his gaze turning colder, and a sharp edge appeared on his face.
Since Chu Hechao was fine, it was time to settle the accounts with Chen Wang.
Chu Ciyue was right.
Meeting earlier, even by a day, would be one less day to regret.
***
That evening, Yuan Li had the most enjoyable and relaxed meal in months at Ouyang Ting’s place.
He had such a hearty appetite that his teacher’s wife, Madam Lu, had a beaming smile on her face. She rolled up her sleeves and personally refilled the pot for these two, master and disciple.
Only Yuan Li, Ouyang Ting, and Ouyang Ting’s grandchildren were at the dining table, and others considerately stayed away, giving them a comfortable and quiet space.
With the two children accompanying him, Yuan Li was full of smiles. The children’s innocent and playful words were amusing, and they really liked their uncle Yuan Li, often hugging him and not letting go. They innocently asked where Yuan Li had been before.
Yuan Li softened his voice and said, “I went to buy candies for Yue Er and Sheng Er.”
The two children’s eyes lit up, exclaiming, “Wow!”
Suppressing his laughter, Yuan Li had a box brought over and placed it aside, saying to them, “Go ahead, the candies are in the box. As long as you can open the box, the candies inside are yours.”
The two children couldn’t sit still and rushed to the box.
The box was about the size of the two children, and they exclaimed again, hugging the box tightly.
Ouyang Ting also went over to take a look and found that the box was not locked but tied with a thin rope, and there was a piece of paper with a riddle tied to the knot.
The riddle read: “Round when drawn, square when written, it warms when there, it chills when absent – find a character.”
Ouyang Ting didn’t need to ponder; he immediately knew the answer was the character “sun.” He found it amusing and even more entertaining watching his grandchildren furrowing their brows and thinking hard. However, he walked over to Yuan Li’s side and whispered, “This box of candies is too much. Didn’t you say that eating too much white sugar is bad for teeth?”
Yuan Li winked at Ouyang Ting, “Master, just keep watching.”
After the two master and disciple finished half a pot of wine, the two children also solved the riddle. The servant untied the rope, and the two children cheered excitedly. But before they could fully enjoy their excitement, the servant brought out another slightly smaller box from the big one. The smaller box was also locked, and there was another riddle tied to the lock.
The two children were dumbfounded.
Seeing them like this, Ouyang Ting burst into laughter, and Yuan Li couldn’t help but smile. He leaned on the table with one hand, supporting his forehead as he looked over, his lips curled up, his eyes glazed with the intoxication of wine, and a faint teasing meaning on his face.
Lin Tian, who was watching Yuan Li from the side, wiped the corner of his eye and thought joyfully in his heart: “This is how our Lord should be.”
***
Twenty days later, He Lang and Guan Zhihuai led their troops to Xuzhou.
The spies Yuan Li had placed in the Liangliao Institution in Yangzhou sent a message secretly: Chen Wang has started to mobilize troops after returning to Yangzhou.
Yuan Li burned the paper message, his expression calm.
It was time to settle the score with Chen Wang.
It was also time to seize the opportunity to pacify the world.
As long as he could defeat Chen Wang, Yuan Li would have control over seven of the most important provinces in the entire realm, occupying large half of the territory. The remaining provinces would have no power to resist, and those who were wise and sensible would naturally submit to him.
From the age of eighteen to now, Yuan Li was already twenty-seven years old this year.
Nine years of effort, nine years of planning, and finally, he was about to witness the final outcome.
Yuan Li’s heart held no fear; on the contrary, it was filled with countless passions and determination for battle.
Chen Wang was the most formidable and challenging opponent Yuan Li had encountered, but he was confident that this battle would only end with his victory.
There was no other possible outcome.
Yuan Li ordered the large army to prepare and led a massive force of three hundred thousand soldiers, marching forcefully towards Yangzhou.
At the same time, he also commanded the personnel from the Liangliao Institution within Yangzhou to take action.
In Yangzhou.
After receiving the orders, the Liangliao Institution personnel quickly closed down the grain stores and emptied the warehouses of their supplies.
In recent years, the Liangliao Institution personnel had been secretly gaining control over more and more grain stores.
After the autumn harvest, they would purchase rice and grain at high prices, acting fairly, and establishing good relationships with local powerful figures and officials. As a result, the common people who had surplus grain would sell it to them, and even other grain stores would sell their surplus grain to them to earn a profit. The authorities rarely troubled them.
The significant amount of money they invested had a noticeable effect. Over the years, most of the grain stores in Yangzhou had fallen under the covert control of the Liangliao Institution. Even the common people preferred to sell their grain to grain stores under the Liangliao Institution’s name.
Not only the grain stores but also many of Yangzhou’s farmlands had been bought by the Liangliao Institution, and they no longer grew crops but instead cultivated non-edible cotton.
Most of the cotton used for the clothing and bedding of Yuan Li’s soldiers came from Yangzhou’s cotton fields. The shrewd locals noticed that when merchants from other regions came specifically to Yangzhou to buy cotton, offering higher prices for cotton than for grain, they also began to consider switching to cotton cultivation.
As more people switched to growing cotton and made money from it, the number of those buying grain from grain stores using their earnings also increased year by year.
Chen Wang was aware of this matter, but he did not pay it much attention. He was busy conquering the world, and how could he possibly think that Yuan Li was preparing to wage a trade war with him?
What a joke.
Who could have imagined that the barren and desolate North would dare to wage a trade war with the prosperous South?
At this moment, in just one night, more than half of the grain stores in Yangzhou had closed.
At first, the common people didn’t pay much attention to this, but when the grain prices kept rising, and the remaining grain stores were overcrowded with people trying to buy food, they finally realized that something was amiss.
Why haven’t those closed grain stores reopened yet?
If they don’t reopen soon, their own grain supply at home won’t be enough!
It was just the beginning of spring, and the fields had no grain. Many people had become used to buying food with currency. Yangzhou was prosperous, and they had never thought they would encounter a day when they couldn’t buy grain with money.
The common people were stunned, and so were the officials.
Grain was the lifeline of the common people. Without grain, the people of Yangzhou were suddenly filled with anxiety.
When the news reached Chen Wang’s ears, even someone as composed as him couldn’t help but slam his hand on the table in anger. “Yangzhou is a land of plenty, known for its abundance of fish and rice! How could such a place be without grain!”
His subordinate cautiously said, “Many of Yangzhou’s grain stores mysteriously closed overnight. We forced open their granaries and found not a single grain of rice… Upon further investigation, we discovered that these grain stores had been purchasing grain at high prices after the autumn harvest. The common people were used to selling their surplus grain to the grain stores and buying grain from them when their own supplies ran out. Now that the grain stores are closed, the grain prices have skyrocketed, and the people who cannot buy grain are starting to become agitated… My lord, this is likely the work of someone with malicious intent.”
“Of course! Do you need to state the obvious!”
Chen Wang’s anger was uncontrollable, and his breath became rapid. However, after reaching the peak of his rage, he calmed down, “The only person capable of secretly executing such a plan in my Yangzhou, besides Yuan Li, is no one else. He suddenly made a move; it seems he wants to go to war with me. He first withdrew the grain supply from Yangzhou, causing panic among the people, and then forced my officials to release grain, weakening our military expenses and resources. It’s a good strategy, and he’s very patient.”
If anyone thought Yuan Li hadn’t been harboring this intention for the past few years, Chen Wang wouldn’t believe it!
He was both shocked and angry. He was shocked that he didn’t discover this, and angry at himself for not discovering it.
If not for Yuan Li’s actions this time, Chen Wang wouldn’t have known that Yuan Li’s influence had infiltrated his territory…
It was like having slept peacefully for a long time, only to find a sharp dagger hidden under the bed. How could Chen Wang not feel chilled and scared?
And the issue of food shortage was even more difficult to handle.
If it were in other states, Chen Wang could simply ignore it. But these were the people in his own fief. If Chen Wang truly ignored them, he would face severe unrest and rebellion.
If he couldn’t even take care of the people in his own territory, how could he govern the entire realm?
Even if his benevolent image was a facade, he had to maintain his reputation.
This was a clever scheme, and Chen Wang knew it, but he had no choice but to play along.
He closed his eyes, his anger dissipating by half, and wearily said, “Order the officials to distribute grain.”
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