Setting aside everything else, Zhou Qiyuan felt an intense curiosity toward the little girl in his arms at this moment. A five-year-old child actually possessed such extraordinary encounters, and her speech was remarkably clear and coherent.
Aside from his legitimate son, he had seven or eight concubine-born sons in his inner court, yet not a single one was as clever as Su Nianyuan.
His interest was thoroughly piqued, and he looked down to ask, “What is your name?”
“Su Nianyuan.”
Su Nianyuan raised her head and gave Zhou Qiyuan another brilliant, sweet smile. That smile carried complete trust, making Zhou Qiyuan feel even more pleased.
“That’s a good name. So, where do you come from?”
Lin Wenbin, who was standing nearby, immediately grew nervous, his ears perking up high.
He had worked under Zhou Qiyuan for two years. While he didn’t know him inside out, there was one thing he was certain of:
Zhou Qiyuan utterly despised Qingzhu Village.
Every single person from it.
Otherwise, during this flood, it would have been impossible for Zhou Qiyuan to ignore it completely; what he wanted was for everyone in Qingzhu Village to die.
Lin Wenbin didn’t dare imagine what would happen if Su Nianyuan said she was from Qingzhu Village. Would Zhou Qiyuan hurl the child in his arms directly to her death? He truly broke out into a cold sweat for Su Nianyuan.
Su Nianyuan raised her head to meet Zhou Qiyuan’s gaze, without the slightest hesitation or retreat, saying straightforwardly, “I come from Qingzhu Village.”
Zhou Qiyuan’s eyes flickered slightly. The people of Qingzhu Village weren’t all dead yet?
He made an indifferent “oh,” feeling very curious: “I remember that the road to Qingzhu Village was blocked off, wasn’t it? How did a little girl like you get out?”
“Godfather!” Su Nianyuan suddenly wrinkled her small brow and hummed displeasedly.
Acting furious, she pouted her lips in great unhappiness: “The Great Immortal insisted that I must come out to find you, so I had my uncle carry me over the mountain to look for you! Is Godfather not happy about it?”
She even deliberately muttered in a low voice, “I don’t know how my biological dad is doing right now, either.”
Crossing a mountain peak from Qingzhu Village to Qingmei Village indeed allowed one to get over.
When Zhou Qiyuan heard that Su Nianyuan had actually abandoned her biological father to come find him, her godfather, his mood inexplicably improved quite a bit.
Most of his suspicion toward her vanished as well. If she could truly help him rise rapidly in his career, he didn’t care whether Qingzhu Village existed or not.
“Godfather believes you. Besides the waist token and the money, is there anything else Godfather needs to do?”
Su Nianyuan tilted her small head and patted Zhou Qiyuan’s shoulder very seriously: “Nothing else is needed. Godfather just needs to stay in the manor and enjoy your fortune.”
“Alright.”
Zhou Qiyuan remained half-believing and half-doubting as he looked at Lin Wenbin, instructing, “You follow my daughter and make sure to obey her arrangements.”
Lin Wenbin let out a huge sigh of relief and immediately bowed: “Yes, My Lord.”
After handing Su Nianyuan over to Lin Wenbin, Zhou Qiyuan unfastened the token at his waist and gently instructed, “Make sure not to disappoint Godfather.”
Even though he was smiling, his eyes held a dangerous glint.
Su Nianyuan sensed his intent to kill and flashed her teeth in a smile: “Okay, Godfather.”
“Go on. Take my token and draw the funds from the accounting office.”
“Goodbye, Godfather.” Su Nianyuan played the role of an ignorant five-year-old child to perfection, even waving to Zhou Qiyuan as she left.
The moment she stepped out of the rear courtyard, the smile on Su Nianyuan’s face vanished.
Seeing the child in his arms change her expression so quickly, Lin Wenbin grew nervous and asked in a low voice, “What should we do next?”
“No rush. First, help me go collect the banknotes.”
“Oh, right, okay.”
After handing the child over to Lin Shoufeng, Lin Wenbin rushed off without stopping to take the token and withdraw the money.
Once he was gone, Lin Shoufeng asked anxiously, “What happened?”
Su Nianyuan explained her cooperation with Zhou Qiyuan in full detail. Lin Shoufeng hadn’t expected Su Nianyuan to have so many ideas, and he was even more surprised that Zhou Qiyuan had actually believed her.
“Why would he believe such an absurd story?”
Zhou Qiyuan shouldn’t be that foolish.
Su Nianyuan scoffed: “If you had a guilty conscience, you would believe it too. Besides, he’s extremely arrogant—arrogant enough to believe that even if I’m lying, he can easily kill me.”
Upon further thought, Lin Shoufeng realized that made sense.
The entire Cangwu County was Zhou Qiyuan’s absolute domain; to him, watching Su Nianyuan was no different from playing with a pet cat or dog.
Before coming over, Xiao Qi had been sent by Su Nianyuan to handle other matters, and it should have already taken effect by now.
Lin Shoufeng felt very conflicted. Although what Su Nianyuan planned to do next would benefit the entire Cangwu County, was all this credit really going to be handed over to a scum like Zhou Qiyuan?
Just thinking about it made him feel sick.
Su Nianyuan reached out to rub the space between Lin Shoufeng’s eyebrows and asked softly, “Uncle Lin, in your heart, what kind of person is the current emperor?”
Lin Shoufeng immediately glanced around. Seeing that no one was around, he pondered for a moment before answering carefully.
“Deeply suspicious.”
Just three words.
In the ten years since the new emperor ascended the throne, due to his deep suspicion, he had banished an unknown number of good officials from court. As long as an official had some reputation, if someone whispered in his ear, the new emperor would rather kill by mistake than let them go.
A flash of insight hit him, and he looked at Su Nianyuan excitedly. Could it be that the Little Village Chief intended to…?
Su Nianyuan smiled and nodded. That’s right, it’s just as you think!
The greater the fame, the deeper the emperor’s suspicion~
After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Lin Wenbin came running back, handing a stack of banknotes and the waist token to Su Nianyuan. Panting, he said, “A total of ten thousand taels, one hundred taels per note. Little Village Chief, what should we do next?”
Su Nianyuan pointed toward the gate of the county yamen, and the three of them walked outside.
As soon as they stepped out of the yamen, they could see quite a few people hurrying toward the city gate, among whom were no small number of the city’s beggars.
Lin Shoufeng raised an eyebrow: “That little beggar, Xiao Qi, is quite capable. How long has it been?”
Speak of the devil, Xiao Qi squeezed through the crowd, out of breath, and grinned: “Little Village Chief, as you instructed, I’ve already spread the news!”
“Twenty copper coins a day, hiring workers with meals included!”
Xiao Qi’s eyes shone brightly. Looking at Su Nianyuan, who was even younger than himself, his eyes were filled with respect and admiration: “Can I join too? I’m young, so I only need ten copper coins a day!”
Su Nianyuan looked down at Xiao Qi and nodded: “Yes. Let’s head to the city gate first. Registrar Lin, your grain must arrive quickly.”
Lin Wenbin was still very nervous, nodding vigorously: “I’ve already sent people to fetch it.”
During this natural disaster, the villagers in the mountains suffered, but the people in the city were not faring much better.
Especially the common folk at the bottom, and even many small merchants, who had lost their sources of income and were spending more than they earned.
All food and water in the city required money to purchase. At first, they could bear it, but as time dragged on, they too would go crazy.
Su Nianyuan had sent Xiao Qi to spread the word. Having lived in the commoner district his whole life, the word spread rapidly from one person to ten, and ten to a hundred, quickly causing a commotion.
The soldiers guarding the city gate were perplexed as to why the city had suddenly fallen into chaos.
The refugees outside the city also heard the commotion inside, and in an instant, chaos broke out among them as well.
“Let us in! We want to see the County Magistrate!”
“Give us a chance to survive!”
“Fellow villagers, to stay alive, let’s just breach the city!”
Someone among the refugees suddenly shouted. That single cry instantly brought everyone to a quiet standstill.
The city guard soldiers tightened their grip on the hilts of their sabers, swallowing hard as they met hundreds of pairs of increasingly dangerous eyes.
Things were about to go terrible!