My Emperor Father Can Read Minds

Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Prosperous Financial Sources

Regarding the rumors about the Merit Stele, although Ninth Brother didn’t send a letter to inform him, Third Prince was still sure that it was that kid who did it. He wasn’t sure whether it was out of guilt for not saying anything or if the letter got lost on the way—Third Prince didn’t care to dwell on it. Instead of getting tangled up in this matter, he thought it would be better to figure out the specific content of these rumors.

So Third Prince sent Attendant Mo to continue gathering information from the crowd. Attendant Mo did not disappoint His Highness; within half a day, he reported everything he learned about the Merit Stele. He explained that the Merit Stele would have the names of everyone who donated money or supplies engraved on it, that the stele was erected outside the local county city, and that anyone could donate materials—with the more you donated, the bigger your name would be engraved…

“Master, I’ve asked quite a few insiders, and they all said this news seems to have come from Qian City Commandery. So… could the rumor have been spread by Ninth Highness?” Attendant Mo cautiously glanced at His Highness’s face after saying this.

Third Prince fell silent. Even his subordinate guessed that the news had been spread by that kid, Wei Yu. After a moment’s silence, Third Prince slightly frowned and sighed almost imperceptibly. “Forget it. The news coming out is actually beneficial to our disaster relief efforts, no need to clarify. Give orders to keep an eye on things; perhaps soon there will be people bringing money and supplies.”

Back when he was in the capital, Third Prince had never interacted closely with Wei Yu. A month ago, his impression of Ninth Brother was someone filial and sensible to Father Emperor, compliant and understanding towards his older brothers, very smart and knowing many things that others didn't, but lazy and disinclined to attend court. Overall, he had minor flaws but no major faults.

But now, after being suddenly outwitted by Wei Yu, Third Prince realized clearly for the first time: this Ninth Brother of his was very…restless! Secretly spreading a major matter like encouraging people to donate money and supplies to erect a Merit Stele without telling his older brother even once?! Was he planning to let him know only after everyone had brought the money and supplies?!

As it turned out, if Attendant Mo hadn’t overheard the news in the crowd, the truth might indeed have been as Third Prince feared. Because the day after Third Prince heard the news, a wealthy local personally came with silver notes to pay a visit!

“Governor, this time Huzhou suffered a sudden flood, causing many innocent people hardship. I see it, and it pains my heart! I just heard yesterday that the Governor has come for disaster relief, so I hurried over. This is a small token of goodwill for the disaster victims. Please, don’t be polite…”

Inside the disaster relief tent belonging to Third Prince, a plump wealthy man held a box and expressed his goodwill very flatteringly to the Governor seated at the place of honor. Third Prince quietly looked at the box twice, then slowly raised his hand to signal Attendant Mo to take it. “You’re kind. I will remember this act.” Seeing Attendant Mo take the box and hearing the Governor’s words, the wealthy man visibly relaxed, grinning widely with a toothless smile. “Thank you, Governor! Oh, you must be exhausted coming all this way from the capital. I already instructed my household to prepare plenty of food. Would Your Excellency like to try some? Oh, and I’ve also ordered my servants to distribute porridge to the disaster victims outside.”

Third Prince: ……

Facing the wealthy man’s eager eyes, Third Prince sighed silently but still refused. “Thank you, I’ve already eaten.”

Instantly, the wealthy man’s eyes lost their sparkle with disappointment. “Ah, I see. That was rude of me.”

Third Prince: ……

“Th-then, would Your Excellency like to, um, enjoy some more?”

Third Prince: ? Enjoy what? What are you trying to say??

In the end, the wealthy man was firmly asked to leave by Attendant Mo. After the people who came to donate left, Attendant Mo placed the box in front of Third Prince, and heard Third Prince said, “You should go out and check the situation.”

“Yes, Master.”

Once Attendant Mo left, Third Prince opened the box. Inside was a list detailing the various goods donated by the wealthy man: five thousand taels of silver, five hundred shi of millet, five hundred bolts of hemp cloth, and various medicinal herbs, etc. After reading it all, Third Prince silently closed the list. Sitting in his seat, his brow gradually furrowed.

How to describe this feeling? It felt like sudden wealth overnight—wealth pouring in from all sides. Third Prince wasn’t interested in money, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit moved by this gathering of financial resources and the prospect of receiving a large batch of free goods. All this just by borrowing some Imperial Court prestige and ordering a monument to be erected? Why hadn’t anyone thought of this way to rally rich people to donate to disaster victims before? Wei Yu really was smart.

—

While Third Prince was busy gathering money and supplies to lighten the burden on the Imperial Court, Wei Yu had already taken the food he got from Innkeeper Shen and led the main force from Wufu County to Qian City Commandery.

The disaster in Qian City Commandery was the worst from this flood. Less than ten miles into Qian City Commandery, Wei Yu saw wild grass everywhere and corpses scattered in the streets. Seeing this, he was stunned. The roadside was full of dead bodies swarming with flies and mosquitoes; the few still alive looked as if they were barely clinging to life.

The situation in this remote area was so tragic that Wei Yu wasn’t sure if it was because this was the suburbs, where displaced disaster victims starved and many died, or if this was the common condition throughout Qian City Commandery. To find out, Wei Yu had the main force find a clean place to stop first.

He ordered the few still alive to be brought in, and after two days of warm rice porridge feeding, a man woke up. At that moment, Wei Yu was crouched under a big tree drawing a human anatomy diagram with a charcoal pencil.

This kind of thing was a bit niche in these time; apart from a few doctors and forensic examiners who could accept it, Wei Yu thought others would find it hard to accept…

Suddenly, someone appeared behind the neighboring tree. “Master, someone woke up.”

Wei Yu didn’t even look up but just gave two humph sounds, signaling the person to return first. He wasn’t done drawing the small intestine yet; wait a bit longer!

As a full-fledged workaholic with maxed-out skill points, Wei Yu’s drawing was very realistic. Ding Facai, who had been sitting on the tree watching His Highness’s painting, had no desire to see it a second time—because he simply couldn’t accept that His Highness drew the human eye so large! Who on earth draws a cartoon face when drawing a human anatomy diagram…