mtl008 Chapter 600: Strange City
Chapter 600: Strange City
Murong Yuan got into the car awkwardly. Murong Cheng's icy face showed no emotion at all. He said indifferently, "I am now the son of a businessman. My name is Huang Cheng. You are my sister Huang Yuaner. You should address the little emperor uncle as Seventh Uncle or Little Uncle. Remember not to mistake my identity!"
Although Murong Yuan was a little confused, she could only nod obediently. She really didn't know how to get along with this prince.
The greed in Li Fu's eyes was obvious, which made Yu Qingli feel a little disgusted. Although she didn't like Murong Yuan, she didn't want to get into trouble here, let alone someone like Li Fu.
"Master Li, please excuse me, can we set off now?"
"That's natural!"
So under the leadership of Li Fu, three carriages rushed towards the city in a mighty manner. On the carriages, Lin Yutang had already figured out the current situation of Murong Yanhui and his group, including the miserable conditions of the people in the city. In fact, he had heard a little about it before, and even saw with his own eyes the people who were expelled from the city. He was very angry in his heart. Such disregard for human life, even if these people were cut into pieces, it would not be enough to appease the public anger!
With Li Fu's leadership, Yu Qingli and the others quickly entered the city. Unlike the desolate outside the city, the city was unexpectedly lively. The people in the city were doing what they should do. Although there were few people in the shops on both sides, there were still quite a few stores, and even the restaurants and taverns had quite a few people.
At first glance, the county town of Peixian seemed no different from other places. If it weren't for the huge mass grave outside the city, Yu Qingli and the others would not have been able to tell that this was a plague-stricken area.
Murong Yanhui frowned slightly, "Lili, what do you think?"
Yu Qingli also felt strange. Logically speaking, the city shouldn't be so bustling. Something must be wrong. "Everything here is different. I'm afraid the city officials learned about the visitor from the capital and made special arrangements."
"I think so too. Look carefully at those people. Although they are buying and selling things, they don't smile at all. It seems that they are forced to come here. Even the children playing have numbness in their eyes!"
"It seems that these officials really have good intentions. We should not waste their kindness." Yu Qingli said sarcastically.
Murong Yan smiled and said, "I will follow Lili's arrangements. After all, I will risk my life to accompany you."
Yu Qingli looked at him meaningfully with her beautiful eyes, then looked away, with a look of uneasiness on her face, and her ears were slightly red. This man always disturbed her mind with just one word, which was really her disaster!
Murong Yanhui was delighted when he saw this. He reached out and held Yu Qingli's soft hand. Their eyes met. Although neither of them spoke, their conversation was worth more than a thousand words.
The carriage moved slowly and soon stopped in front of an exquisite small courtyard. Li Fu got off the horse first, walked to the front of Yu Qingli and the others' carriage, and opened the door for them personally with a respectful and polite attitude.
Yu Qingli and the others didn't hesitate and got off the carriage directly and stood outside the courtyard.
"My dear guests, my cousin is very happy to see you. He has arranged accommodations for you. However, you are of such high status that I'm afraid it would be inappropriate for you to stay in an inn."
"Thank you very much for the arrangement, Lord Li. This courtyard is nice. Lord Li, don't worry, we will pay the silver."
Murong Yan replied with a businesslike expression, which made Li Fu despise him. "Humph! I really want you to pay me silver, and if I don't skin you alive, I guess you won't be able to leave Pei County!"
Murong Yan replied that they didn't know what Li Fu was thinking, but even if they knew, they would not be afraid. Under Li Fu's arrangement, everyone settled down in this small courtyard.
When everyone was eating, the problem arose again. The proud princess was unwilling to sit at the same table with Yu Qingli, and her words were even full of sarcasm.
"Yu Qingli, didn't you say you were going to inspect the shops? Why did you go with the little uncle on this inspection tour? It's really strange."
The provocation in Murong Yuan's eyes was obvious, but Yu Qingli didn't seem to care about what she said.
"Which road I take seems to have nothing to do with Your Highness. If you don't want to go with me, you can leave on your own. There is more than one road here, and more than one dining table here."
Yu Qingli put down the chopsticks in her hand gracefully and looked directly at Murong Yuan. When she was out, she didn't need to put on airs. She had never been a good person, let alone facing Murong Yuan, who always took the initiative to stir up trouble.
Different road non-phase plan!
Seeing this, Murong Yuan also put down her bowl and chopsticks, glared at him and said, "What do you mean? Can't I ask for my brother?"
Yu Qingli sneered, "When did it become your turn to take charge of my affairs? Not to mention you, even if the eldest prince were here, he wouldn't be able to take care of it. Besides, how much do you know about where I should check the accounts? How can you be so sure that I, Yu Qingli, don't have any property in this county?"
Murong Yuan was stunned. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Murong Yan's slightly indifferent warning, "Murong Yuan, if this meal can't stop you from eating, then you don't have to eat it!"
Murong Yanhui opened her mouth, and Murong Yuan could only curl her lips and said nothing more. Across from her, Murong Cheng frowned, vaguely annoyed. Who brought this guy here? It was simply stupid!
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Yu Qingli decided to take a walk on the street. She wanted to see with her own eyes what the county town had become.
Yu Qingli was inexplicably irritated because of Murong Yuan's previous appearance. She thought that she could be alone with Murong Yanhui at most on this trip, but things turned out to be the opposite. What made her even more depressed was that Murong Yuan's appearance seemed to remind her all the time that her current identity was the eldest prince's consort, and there could not be any inappropriate behavior between her and Murong Yanhui.
Forget it, let’s not think about these romantic matters. The most important thing right now is the people who are infected with the plague!
"Xiluo, come out for a walk with me."
Xiluo seemed to notice that Yu Qingli was in a bad mood, and did not notify Murong Yan to come back as usual. She just considerately brought a small fan to shade Yu Qingli from the sun, and followed her out of the yard.
As soon as Yu Qingli left, Murong Yanhui arrived at her room door and knocked for a long time, but no one answered. Murong Yanhui was stunned, then stopped as if she thought of something, but her face did not look very good.
"Master, it looks like the young lady and the others are out. This county town is not big, why don't we go out and look for them?"
"No need. Lili is probably going to check on the people in the county. Changkong, come with me to the county magistrate's residence. Even though he hasn't summoned us, we can't be passive, right?"
"Should we inform the prince and the others?"
Murong Yanhui thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then let the Crown Prince go with me, and Lin Yutang will stay with Murong Yuan."
Changkong understood and quickly went out to convey the order. The prince and others also cooperated. Lin Yutang was a little unhappy, but for the sake of the overall situation, he didn't say much.
Just as Yu Qingli and the others concealed their identities and quietly entered the city, Murong Feng was completely entangled by these officials from Jiangnan.
After Murong Yuan left, Lin Yutang and Murong Cheng left one after another. Murong Feng headed towards Pei County in Jiangnan alone with the accompanying guards.
As a result, Murong Feng had to take a detour halfway.
On this day, Murong Feng was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest. The carriage suddenly stopped, and then he heard a series of noises.
"Your Highness is welcome!"
Murong Feng lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw a group of black heads in front of his convoy. The people leading the group were wearing official robes of various colors. Judging from the colors of the robes, they should be the Commander-in-Chief of Jiangnan and the Governor of Jiangnan, followed by the county magistrates of various states and counties. Many people were kneeling on both sides of the road.
Murong Feng got out of the car with the help of his attendants, walked up to the officials, and said in a gentle tone: "Everyone, get up!"
With Murong Feng's order, these people dared to stand up, but they still kept their heads down, not daring to look directly at Murong Feng. Only the Jiangnan Commander and the Prefect bravely stepped forward and asked respectfully, "Your Highness, weren't the Crown Prince and the Prince of Yan also on this trip to Jiangnan? I wonder if they..."
Murong Feng raised an eyebrow, the smile on his lips not fading, but there was no smile in his eyes, "Why? Do you think that His Highness cannot represent the royal family?"
The officials present immediately felt cold sweats on their heads and bowed their heads repeatedly, saying, "We dare not. We are just worried about the safety of Your Highness, so we want to ask for clarification."
"So, that's just my petty thoughts. But don't worry, the little uncle is used to being free. Although he came with us this time, he also wanted to travel to Jiangnan. As for His Royal Highness, he must be worried about the little uncle, so he went to look for him."
Murong Feng's words made everyone understand immediately that it seemed that the relationship between the Crown Prince and the First Prince had reached the point of being incompatible. It also made people see that the Crown Prince did not seem to be very active in dealing with the plague, at least not as serious and active as the First Prince.
With just a few words, Murong Feng created an extremely positive image for himself, and tied the prince together with the fun-loving Prince of Yan. If someone with ulterior motives reported this to the emperor, the emperor would probably think that the eldest prince performed much better than the prince.
However, at this time, these officials in Jiangnan had only one thought in their minds. It turned out that the person in charge of investigating the plague this time was the eldest prince. So they just had to try their best to please this person and delay him.
Murong Feng didn't know what the officials in front of him were thinking at this time. He was just secretly glad that the prince's temporary departure gave him a good opportunity!