NFBE Chapter 390 Prince Yong was so angry he vomited blood.
Chapter 390 Prince Yong was so angry he vomited blood.
Li Hai sighed inwardly, but then he saw Yun Shang suddenly stand up.
Li Hai was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Lord Yun, where are you going?"
"My guest has arrived."
guest?
Li Hai and the other officials looked at each other with puzzled expressions. They couldn't contain their curiosity and followed them out.
The group followed Yun Shang out, and in the distance, they saw more than a dozen horses galloping towards them on the official road.
The Prince of Yong's men met these people head-on, and the latter quickly stepped aside to the side, respectfully letting the Prince of Yong's men pass first, before rushing towards the direction where Yun Shang was.
As Prince Yong looked at the people riding on horseback, a strange unease welled up in his heart.
He instinctively reined in his horse, turned his head, and stared intently at the people.
They stopped in front of Yun Shang.
The young man at the head of the group moved nimbly, dismounted first, and strode up to Yun Shang, laughing heartily: "Brother Yun, long time no see!"
Yun Shang nodded calmly to the other party, "Xie Sanlang, it's been a long time."
Xie Sanlang?
Upon hearing this address, Li Hai, who was standing beside Yun Shang, suddenly felt a jolt in his brow.
His eyes widened as he stared at the handsome and upright man opposite him. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and his face instantly showed surprise. He stammered, "You...you are Xie Xianzhi from the Xie family?!"
His tone was full of shock and disbelief.
Upon hearing this, Xie Xianzhi turned to look at Li Hai with a warm smile, "You must be Lord Li Hai. Lord Li, you must have had a long journey. My grandfather asked me to convey his regards to you."
Xie Xianzhi's grandfather was Xie Qizheng, the headmaster of Bailu Academy.
Li Lihai stared blankly at Xie Xianzhi, his gaze slowly shifting to the group of teenagers behind him.
These young men all had handsome features and extraordinary bearing. Their every move exuded the demeanor of scions of noble families, clearly indicating that they came from prestigious clans.
Li Hai finally realized something belatedly.
Prince Yong used his royal status to order officials in various counties of Huizhou to deliberately delay the process, attempting to make things difficult for Yun Shang. However, they all forgot that Yun Shang was a student of Bailu Academy.
Bailu Academy is renowned and its influence is in no way inferior to that of the Imperial College.
Most of the prominent families in Huizhou and even neighboring prefectures studied at Bailu Academy.
If he remembered correctly, Yun Shang was previously the most outstanding student at Bailu Academy, and there were even rumors that he was Xie Qizheng's last disciple...
Li Hai was still in shock when a young man behind Xie Xianzhi spurred his horse forward, dismounted, and quickly walked up to Yun Shang, his face filled with the joy of reunion: "Senior Brother Yun, Xianzhi and I received your message and immediately began to take action. We have already made arrangements according to your plan."
Yun Shang's plan was indeed to first gather and appease the refugees, and then have local officials assist in disaster relief.
But after receiving Xie Shi's letter three days ago, he decided to stop using local officials.
In the present day, most of the officials in the court of Dazhao are incompetent and lazy. The superiors set an example for the subordinates, and few of them are truly capable of serving the people. If you want to select a usable person from among them, you have to go through the trouble of picking the best bamboo shoots from the worst bamboo.
Upon learning that Prince Yong was using threats and inducements to make things difficult for him, he immediately abandoned the idea of employing these people.
If it were any other state, he might have had a headache dealing with the Prince of Yong's plan, but Huizhou was different; his classmates were everywhere here.
With just one letter, he was able to gather people together to contribute to disaster relief.
Looking at his classmates who had come at the invitation, Yun Shang's usually aloof face broke into a rare smile. "Thank you all for coming."
Yun Shang was a cold person. Although he was very talented at the academy, he rarely got close to others.
However, he was fair in his conduct, had solid knowledge, and always patiently answered his classmates' questions, which earned him high prestige in the academy.
Everyone respected him and genuinely regarded him as a close friend.
Xie Xianzhi smiled and waved his hand, "Brother Yun, what are you saying? How could we not come when you called? Besides, this is a matter of life and death for the people of Huizhou. It is our honor to do our part for our fellow villagers."
Prince Yong watched this scene from a short distance away, his face extremely gloomy.
He gripped the reins tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands, and gritted his teeth: "No wonder he looked so calm and collected, he had a backup plan!"
He underestimated Yun Shang!
Li Hai also came to his senses, and couldn't help but secretly admire Yun Shang's connections and strategic planning.
Because of Yun Shang's humble origins, these people subconsciously overlooked the fact that Yun Shang was a student of Bailu Academy.
Prince Yong has miscalculated this time.
Prince Yong wanted to leave Yun Shang without anyone to use, but the appearance of Xie Xianzhi and others solved this dilemma and completely thwarted Prince Yong's plan.
Prince Yong, seething with anger, went to suppress the rebel army and vented all his anger on them.
These rebel armies, though called "armies," were mostly ordinary people driven to desperation.
They were ragged, emaciated, and some didn't even have a decent weapon; their fighting tools were nothing more than hoes, shovels, and other tools they used for daily work.
Normally, if these people surrendered, the imperial court would punish them leniently and give them a way out.
But Prince Yong did not do so.
Filled with rage and having lost all reason, he directly turned his sword on these innocent civilians.
He brutally slaughtered all those who refused to surrender and those who laid down their weapons.
When Yun Shang learned of this, he had already temporarily pacified the rioting refugees in Huizhou.
The situation had improved, but when news of Prince Yong's massacre of the rebel army reached the refugees, it caused another wave of panic.
In the eyes of the common people, the way Prince Yong treated the rebel army was the way the imperial court treated them.
They began to suspect that the imperial court might also be waiting for them to lower their guard before wiping them out completely.
The previously stable public sentiment has begun to waver again.
A group of young people, led by Xie Xianzhi, wished they could assassinate the wicked Prince Yong.
"This Prince Yong is utterly heartless!" Xie Xianzhi, hot-tempered, slammed his fist on the table. "These rebels are just ordinary people driven to desperation by life. How can he treat them so cruelly? How can the people trust the court now!"
The others also looked solemn.
"The most urgent task now is to let the people know that Prince Yong's actions do not represent the court. We must come forward as soon as possible to clarify and appease their emotions."
“What you say makes sense. Moreover, the people who came forward for this disaster relief were not from the imperial court at all. We didn’t say anything before because we were concerned about the court’s reputation, but now it seems that the court doesn’t need us to save face at all.”
Their disaster relief efforts were conducted in the name of the imperial court, not in the name of any particular aristocratic family.
The common people still thought they were all officials of the imperial court.
Yun Shang's expression was indifferent. After pondering for a moment, he said, "We'll do as you say."
Xie Xianzhi and others went to clarify the situation to the refugees, while Yun Shang, without consulting the authorities, directly beheaded several officials in Huizhou who had taken advantage of the flood to make money.
The refugees witnessed the corrupt official being beheaded, and their initially uneasy hearts gradually calmed down.
On the other hand, when Prince Yong learned that Yun Shang had dared to act first and report later, he was so angry that he vomited a mouthful of blood.