Imperial Husband Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Not long after Li Jin and the others had transported the disaster relief grain, those who were at odds with Lan Mingzhou had already received the news and were rolling up their sleeves, setting their sights on the relief grain. 

With that relief grain, they stood to make a huge profit, and they were not about to let such an opportunity slip away.

"Hahahaha, now even Heaven is helping us. This time, we must seize all this grain; we absolutely cannot let those lowly commoners waste it."

The one who said this was Zhang Zhiheng, the head of the Zhang family, one of the prominent local clans in Zhuzhou. His words were filled with absolute determination to obtain the batch of relief grain.

"Master Zhang is right. These should belong to us anyway," Chi Zhen, from another of Zhuzhou's prominent clans, nodded in agreement.

Lu Wentao, also from a prominent Zhuzhou clan, frowned in confusion. "I share the same thoughts as you two. But what should we do this time? We used that trick last time. If we use it again, there's no guarantee those lowly commoners won't do something."

The Zhang, Chi, and Lu families were not only prominent clans but also local tyrants in Zhuzhou. Apart from Lan Mingzhou, even the former county magistrate Chen Manzhou didn't dare offend them too much.

"How dare they?"

Zhang Zhiheng was the first to refuse to believe that the people of Zhuzhou would dare oppose them.

"Better safe than sorry," Lu Wentao shook his head. "Have you forgotten that time the county magistrate was forced to flee in disgrace by those lowly commoners? We must not follow in his footsteps."

Chi Zhen chuckled sinisterly. "I have an idea."

"Master Chi, please speak."

Zhang Zhiheng and Lu Wentao immediately looked at Chi Zhen.

Chi Zhen stroked his beard and smiled. "Don't we still have some moldy grain in our granaries? We can take it out to cook porridge for them. That way, those lowly commoners won't dare do anything."

Zhang Zhiheng objected. "No, that's too good for them. Even though that grain is moldy, it can still be sold for money."

"Master Zhang, you can't make fried egg without breaking egg," Lu Wentao agreed with Chi Zhen's suggestion. "Although giving away that moldy grain is a pity, we can smoothly get our hands on the high-quality relief grain sent by the court. Once we resell it properly, the money will obediently flow into our pockets."

"Hmm, that does make sense. Let's do it then."

Zhang Zhiheng thought it over, found it feasible, and immediately nodded in agreement.

Seeing Zhang Zhiheng had no objections, Chi Zhen immediately pressed the advantage. "Good. Since we've decided on a method, we should find a suitable time to go to the yamen, swap the grain, and take it out."

Lu Wentao frowned. "How about we act tonight? I'm afraid long nights invite many dreams."

[夜长梦多 (yè cháng mèng duō): lit. long night, many dreams; fig. delays or prolonged situations increase the risk of complications or unexpected problems arising].

"Agreed," Chi Zhen nodded. "But those soldiers transporting the grain are still there. We should still be cautious. I'll arrange for the old woman I sent to the yamen kitchen to add something to the water, so they sleep soundly until dawn."

Zhang Zhiheng nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. It's settled then. When the deed is done, all that grain will be ours."

Fear the Emperor's punishment?

That was out of the question. Here, they were far from the capital, tucked away in the remote mountains. The Emperor's reach seemed distant. With some clever scheming—and by pinning all the blame on Lan Mingzhou, claiming he had coerced them into it—they might not only escape consequences but even wrangle additional compensation from the court.

___

Yamen.

Lan Mingzhou directed the soldiers moving the grain inside while also personally helping with the moving.. "Alright, that's good. Just place the grain in the courtyard; no need to put it elsewhere."

"Yes, sir." The soldiers acknowledged Lan Mingzhou's order, nodded, and then withdrew.

Not long after.

"Food's here, food's here!" A constable sent by Lan Mingzhou to fetch the meals came out from the kitchen, carrying large pots of cooked food, shouting loudly.

"Alright, let's go eat first."

At Lan Mingzhou's command, the soldiers put down their tasks to go get their food.

The advisor approached Lan Mingzhou, shaking his head disapprovingly. "My lord, your health has never been great. Why must you do everything yourself?"

Lan Mingzhou smiled, not particularly concerned. "It's nothing. The yamen has no pressing matters now anyway; some activity is good for me."

"My lord, the people of Zhuzhou are all counting on you. You must take good care of your health."

The advisor still couldn't help but voice his worried reminder.

When Lan Mingzhou first arrived, he fell seriously ill. Coupled with having to handle conflicts between the Zhuzhou people and the local gentry, he was practically dragging his sick body to work. There were several times he almost didn't pull through, which was why the advisor was so concerned.

"Fine, I'll go rest. But keep a close eye on the relief grain matter, that grain is the common people's lifeline."

Lan Mingzhou put down his finished bowl, rubbed his sore shoulders, and conceded.

His health problems were left over from the torment inflicted by the Lan family matriarch, affecting his very foundation. Recovery wouldn't happen overnight.

"Yes, this humble one will definitely keep a firm watch."

The advisor nodded solemnly to Lan Mingzhou, indicating he would not let him down.

After quite a while.

Seeing the grain was finally all moved, the advisor thanked the soldiers who helped transport the relief grain inside and personally saw them out.

Tao Yichu was also a cautious person. Worried something might happen to the relief grain, before the secretary could even request it, he proactively left soldiers there to guard the grain. Hearing this, the advisor repeatedly thanked Tao Yichu.

To be honest, the advisor had the same thought, but they were soldiers. He wasn't Lan Mingzhou, so it was hard for him to bring it up. Now that Tao Yichu mentioned it first, the secretary naturally wouldn't refuse.

___

That night.

Two men dressed in black leaped onto the yamen's roof tiles and carefully made their way to the yamen's rear courtyard. "Is this the place?"

"Definitely." One of the men in black pointed downward. "Look at what's placed over there. It must be the grain. There are two people guarding it. Judging by their clothes, they should be soldiers."

"Soldiers? That's troublesome. If we're not careful and they discover us, we'll be in deep trouble."

"What are you afraid of? Didn't the master say everything has been arranged? We just wait."

"Right, right. Let's wait and see then."

No sooner said than done.

The two men in black didn't wait long before the two soldiers guarding the relief grain suddenly collapsed.

"This..."

"Let's go down quickly. It must be the masters' doing."

"Okay."

With that, the two men in black immediately jumped down.

However, they didn't go check the relief grain first. Instead, they went to check on the two soldiers, confirming they were truly unconscious, before walking over to the grain.

One man in black took the dagger in his hand and slashed a bag of grain.

High-quality grain immediately began pouring out from the opening.

The other man in black whispered, his voice tinged with greed. "Truly fine grain. You can tell it's top quality just by looking. The masters' reward for this haul will be generous indeed."

"You stay here and watch. I'll go open the back gate and have people come in to move the grain."

The man in black who slashed the bag said this and immediately headed towards the back gate.

Little did they know.

Three people were observing their every move from a blind spot.

"These people are truly bold, daring to act as soon as the relief grain arrives." Tao Yichu watched the retreating figure of the man in black, his eyes filled with coldness. "Heir Li, Seventh Prince, please allow me to go arrest them now."

Li Jin shook his head, his voice cold. "Not yet. Didn't he just say he's going to open the gate for people to come in and move the grain? We'll just wait. Besides, I've already had Yunting lying in ambush outside. No fear of them escaping."

Ying Yuan agreed. "Correct. Catching two is insignificant. Catching them all, we won't have to worry about not getting the names of those behind them."

Tao Yichu couldn't help but ask curiously, "By the way, Heir Li, how did you discover they were up to no good?"

While moving the relief grain, Tao Yichu hadn't noticed anything. It was only later when Li Jin had Zhou Yunting disguise himself as a soldier and warned Tao Yichu to be wary of the yamen's food that he managed to avoid disaster. That's when Tao Yichu realized the severity of the situation.

Li Jin shook his head, offering a half-truth. "It was partly luck. I just happened to see someone hand a packet to the old woman in the kitchen, and then saw her pour powder from that packet into the food. I thought it was strange, so I had Yunting warn you."

In reality, it wasn't a coincidence. When they entered the yamen area, Li Jin had Zhou Yunting keep an eye on the kitchen first. After all, they would also be eating. If someone wanted to deal with them, they would surely start with the food.

Sure enough, Li Jin's guess was right, someone immediately added something to the food.

Hearing this, Tao Yichu sighed in relief. "So that's how it was. It was a very close call. If we had eaten that food, we would probably be asleep just like them now."

Tao Yichu did not warn his soldiers because he wanted to avoid alerting the enemy. Also, everyone with him was a soldier. If someone wanted to target the grain, they would likely just drug the soldiers to make them sleep. Killing so many soldiers would definitely trigger a court investigation, and the culprits could not escape. Naturally, they would not be foolish enough to directly try to kill the soldiers.

Creak.

The gate was pushed open from the outside.

Soon, five brawny men, led by the man in black, walked towards the direction of the relief grain.

"It's here." The man in black who led them in looked over the five men and said arrogantly, "Remember, be careful when moving it. Your deeds of servitude are all in the masters' hands. If anything happens to this grain, the masters will definitely not spare you."

Hearing this, the five men unanimously replied in fearful tones, "Yes, this slave will go move it immediately."

The moment had come.

Li Jin signaled to Ying Yuan and Tao Yichu.

All three of them immediately moved into action.

"Who's there?!"

The leading man in black only had time to utter these words before being captured by Li Jin.

The other man in black was also subdued by Ying Yuan the moment the leader was captured. Meanwhile, Tao Yichu blocked the five brawny men, preventing them from having a chance to escape.