novelraw Chapter 592 - 523
Chapter 592 - 523
For some unknown reason, the thirteen-year-old Crown Prince had an inexplicable trust in Su Jingchen.
The companions of the Crown Prince on this journey noticed that he consulted with Su Jingchen before making any decision, which made them quite critical of the Crown Prince.
Even though he was young, as a Prince, shouldn’t he have his own opinions, rather than being led around by a Salt Transport Envoy?
This Yangzhou is not Su Jingchen’s domain; above him is Second-rank Cao Yunsi, Master Zhao. The fact that the Crown Prince valued Su Jingchen more than Cao Yunsi Master Zhao made many people criticize.
In the path of officialdom, not doing wrong is better; doing less means fewer mistakes. Su Jingchen understood this well, but he could not bring himself to ignore the displaced citizens of Huainan.
Acts of taking over someone else’s role are often clumsy and thankless. When the Crown Prince came to him for advice a second time, Su Jingchen handed him the document he had written the previous night.
Su Jingchen had meticulously detailed everything from disaster relief, how to resettle refugees, prevent epidemic diseases, to addressing the possible reactive behaviors of distraught refugees.
The Crown Prince skimmed through it, stored it carefully, and after thanking Su Jingchen repeatedly, departed from Yangzhou towards Huainan with the relief supplies.
After the Huainan flood, the Huai River’s water level surged, submerging fertile lands, leaving the people homeless and displaced.
The further south they went, the more groups of refugees they encountered.
Most of these refugees were young and strong men; there were few elderly, women, and children, likely because the latter did not have the fortitude and strength to hold on until the court’s disaster relief arrived.
Huainan County is currently occupied by the rebel mob. If the Crown Prince wants to undertake post-disaster efforts, the first task is to annihilate these rebel forces.
Yes, annihilate, not persuade!
These people dared to riot and rebel; it’s a crime that implicates the nine clans. Even if they now wish to lay down arms and reform as good citizens, the court will not accept them.
As the Crown Prince set out from Fengyuan City, Jiang Lin also set off with troops from Jie City, encircling and after just two days, successfully reclaimed Huainan County from the mob, annihilating over ten thousand rebels.
Recalling Su Jingchen’s instructions, the Crown Prince ordered the burning of the rebels’ corpses to ashes.
Next, it was time to distribute the relief grain, reassure the citizens, and control the epidemic.
Everything proceeded smoothly. Three months later, when the Crown Prince returned to the Capital, he surprisingly asked for no reward, but only requested the Emperor to allow Su Jingchen to become his teacher, which left the Emperor in a slight dilemma.
Su Jingchen’s mission had not yet been completed, so he couldn’t return to the Capital temporarily. The Emperor, not wanting to reject his eldest son’s eagerness to learn, could only promise the Crown Prince that once Su Jingchen’s three-year term was up, he would be transferred back to the Capital to serve as the Princes’ teacher.
The Huainan disaster was resolved so smoothly, thanks in part to Su Jingchen’s assistance, and the Crown Prince did not hold back in praising Su Jingchen in front of the Emperor. Therefore, the Emperor’s reward soon arrived in Yangzhou.
The Emperor’s reward was quite unusual.
He appointed Su Jingchen to replace Kou Siyu in inheriting the Kou family’s title!
Su Jingchen managed to cause Madam Kou a fit of apoplexy without lifting a finger.
Madam Kou lay bedridden, her mouth and eyes askew, and upon hearing that Su Jingchen had taken the Kou family’s Death Exemption Token, she widened her eyes in disbelief and passed away.
Madam Kou died with unresolved resentment, but Kou Siyu had no means to deal with Su Jingchen.
Though he didn’t want to confront Su Jingchen, having his title seized by an illegitimate child and his grandmother angered to death by the same, left Kou Siyu no choice but to take action against Su Jingchen.