Transmigrated Genius: Fragile Heiress Reigns Supreme-Chapter 689 - 691: Strange Illness (Part 5)

She couldn’t understand, becoming more and more confused.

In the afternoon, Fourth Master Xiao stayed in the outer courtyard, while Han Cheng and Qian Zhong lingered in the mansion together. Xiqiu knew that the court was facing a tumultuous period, and since Fourth Master Xiao was a trusted minister of the Emperor, he must have many affairs to attend to. So, she had meals prepared and sent to the outer courtyard without disturbing him.

Xu Tianqing went to the clinic, and for three consecutive days, there was no news from Ruan Jingliu.

On the fourth day, the urgent message from Wei Hui Prefecture arrived again in the Capital. Within just five days, several counties in Wei Hui Prefecture had been astonishingly captured by the people, and communication was completely lost. There was no news from the officials in the government office, but the rebellion’s slogan was very loud: "Eliminate the evil empress, and get rid of Shen!" The actions of the Min Family in Jiangnan were also growing larger, and the impeachment memorials in the court escalated again, from impeaching political achievements to demanding punishment. Xiqiu sighed upon hearing this and said to Fourth Master Xiao, "The disaster victims are just wandering soldiers; how can they move so quickly..."

Fourth Master Xiao nodded and replied, "Wei Hui Prefecture is easy to defend and hard to attack. To attack the city would require fifty thousand soldiers to besiege it for at least three days before breaking it." He paused and continued, "The rapid expansion of the tri-city situation must have someone fanning the flames behind the scenes, offering plans and strategies!"

Xiqiu shared the same opinion. In simple words, the disaster victims were unorganized and undisciplined; their anger was merely due to their desire for a full meal and a shelter. The court had relief measures but not timely enough, and someone took advantage of the time gap between the Capital and Wei Hui Prefecture to transmit information, bringing their emotions to a peak. Then, some soldiers or generals disguised themselves as disaster victims, infiltrated, and led the irrational people to attack the government office in fury, capturing officials, causing the situation to become unmanageable.

At the right time, someone then raised a flag of justice, targeting the Shen Family with calls for changing the regime to have a basic living. Since ancient times, anyone leading a rebellion would have a loud slogan for the nation and the people, or resonate from the people’s perspective, or make beautiful promises to allure people to march towards a better world, or use superstitious powers to manipulate the populace.

However, the rebellion in Wei Hui Prefecture was of the former type, in name targeting the Shen Family, but the actual aim was self-evident.

Xiqiu, however, felt that for such an uprising to succeed, it would need to incite chaos everywhere, distract the Capital and disperse soldiers, or it wouldn’t succeed. So she instinctively wondered if other prefectures might also respond to the call from Wei Hui Prefecture and rise up in revolt?

On the following day, the Emperor appointed Han Cheng as Central Commander General, leading fifty thousand soldiers, also dispatching another fifty thousand troops from Yingtian, intending to form a surrounding momentum to cut off the support.

The situation was not significant; rice and grain in the Capital were unaffected, but tea and silk prices soared. Tong Xiyan came to share her distress, "The price of cloth and cloud brocade has increased fivefold." Silk and clothing shops were lamenting.

Before Han Cheng set out, he had a secret discussion with Fourth Master Xiao in the outer study for one night. The next day, Fourth Master Xiao personally saw him out of the city. Xiqiu watched Fourth Master Xiao’s back, feeling a slight pain in her heart. If not for her, he should have been the one going on this expedition, right?

She sighed silently but couldn’t say anything, so she could only sit up and accompany him in looking at the stream of memorials on the table.

"Fourth Master, how long does it take from the Capital to Liaodong?" Xiqiu set aside the memorial from Liaodong and looked at Fourth Master Xiao, asking.

Fourth Master Xiao paused his pen, also looking up from the pile of memorials, and replied, "A fast horse would take twenty days. Huang Da might only arrive by early February." Xiqiu nodded, then tilted her head towards Fourth Master Xiao and asked a doubt she had always had, "I don’t understand something." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Fourth Master Xiao raised an eyebrow at her, nodded, and said, "Ask!" Xiqiu thought for a moment and then asked, "Why did Fourth Master recommend Huang Da to go to Liaodong? Although General Huang is familiar with Liaodong, at the time I also thought that he was the most suitable choice, but later I realized that sending him for such a matter seems a bit of an overkill. Now with the fires in Jiangnan and Wei Hui spreading, wouldn’t having General Huang at the Emperor’s command be one more useful person?"

Fourth Master Xiao laughed, full of praise, closing the memorial in his hand. Although Xiqiu’s political sensitivity wasn’t sharp enough, she viewed problems in a meticulous manner and could always grasp the crux and key points of issues, pointing out shortcomings or flaws directly and accurately. He looked at her with a smile and replied, "This is a military secret, Madam need not know!" After a pause, he added, "Madam is so wise, why not try to guess on your own?" He finished with a profound look at her.