Chapter 25 The Third Visit
When Yao Youqing was renovating the back of the Prince's mansion, she wanted to use her own money, but the steward left by Wei Hong refused, saying that if the Prince found out, he would punish them and insisted on using the Prince's mansion's accounts.
Yao Youqing wanted to take the opportunity to renovate the orphanage, but the managers naturally wouldn't let her spend any money; the money would still be paid by the Prince's Mansion.
How can you leave your own name after using someone else's money? So Yao Youqing had someone say that the prince paid for the repairs, and that was absolutely right.
In other words, she didn't have any other thoughts; she simply felt that this was the way things were.
Wei Hong took a deep breath, his lips gradually pursed, and his cheeks tightened.
The little cutie shifted restlessly in Yao Youqing's arms, letting out soft whimpers.
Yao Youqing thought it was feeling unwell and wanted to take it back to get checked out, so she asked, "Your Highness, is there anything else? If not, I'll be leaving now."
Wei Hong: "...That's all."
Cui Hao had excellent hearing; even with the door closed, he could hear everything being said inside.
Seeing that Yao Youqing had gone in and then came out carrying the dog not long after, he smiled and had someone take her back. After she had gone some distance, he sighed.
He was lucky today; he just happened to run into that little white dog.
What about tomorrow? We can't exactly send him to the inner courtyard to catch dogs, can we?
...
The next day, Cui Hao, holding a bag of dried meat, did what he considered the most shameful thing he had ever done in his life: he lied to a dog.
Wei Hong didn't tell him to catch the dog or anything, but suddenly said, "What does the princess's dog like to eat? Buy it some, so that if it comes back again and there's nothing to feed it, it won't cower in the corner barking like it did yesterday."
If Cui Hao suddenly becomes concerned about what a dog likes to eat and even asks someone to buy it some, and still doesn't understand what that means, then he's not Cui Hao, he's Guo Sheng.
So Cui Hao inquired about the little cutie's favorite food, then ran out of the mansion to buy it and waited on the same path as yesterday.
But the little cutie didn't come; I guess she's learned her lesson.
Left with no other choice, Cui Hao sneaked into the inner courtyard with the dried meat, found the little cutie, and, taking advantage of its loneliness, squatted down and waved to it as he had done the day before.
The little cutie looked at him warily, even taking two steps back, no longer as easily fooled as she had been yesterday.
Cui Hao sighed and took out some dried meat.
The little cutie looked at it for a while, but ultimately decided to trust it one more time in the face of the jerky, and came running over again.
It ate a few pieces of jerky, licked its lips contentedly, and was about to leave when Cui Hao stopped feeding it. Suddenly, someone picked it up and strode away from the inner courtyard, heading towards the place from yesterday. As they walked, someone stroked the back of its neck and said, "You're beholden to someone who feeds you, little guy."
A moment later, he brought the dog to Wei Hong and said, "Your Highness, this dog really did come again. Luckily, I just bought its favorite Chen's dried meat, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to feed it."
He put the dog down first, then took out some dried meat and placed it on the table: "I will go and inform the Princess to come and take the dog."
Wei Hong didn't need to say "Let her come and get it herself" again.
Yao Youqing rushed over after receiving the news. When she saw the dried meat on Wei Hong's table, she suddenly realized, "No wonder it kept coming to Your Highness these past few days. It turns out you bought Chen's dried meat."
He gently tapped the little cutie's head and said, "I told you not to eat more, and you came to the prince to beg for food. You're such a glutton!"
Little cutie: "Awoo..."
On the third day, Cui Hao came to the backyard again with a sigh and did something even more shameful than the day before: he caught a dog.
This time, the little cutie couldn't be fooled at all. As soon as she saw him, she took off running, barking as she ran, as if she had encountered a dog trafficker who specialized in catching dogs.
But Cui Hao was able to withstand a hundred or eighty moves from Wei Hong. He was the kind of person who could catch up with Wei Hong, sneak into the Yao residence, and rescue Yao Yuzhi from his furious state. How could he not catch a dog?
The servants in the backyard vaguely heard the barking of a dog and followed the sound, but they couldn't see a single dog. They could only go elsewhere with puzzled expressions. Little Cutie, with tears in her eyes, was taken back to Wei Hong's room.
The fourth day...
"Sweetie, what's wrong with you?"
Yao Youqing looked at the little dog clinging to the door, refusing to leave the house no matter what: "You've been sneaking off on your own these past few days, why won't you go for a walk in the garden today?"
Little cutie: "Awoo..."
In the front yard, Cui Hao listened to Wei Hong pacing back and forth restlessly in the room, looked up at the sky and sighed: He wanted to switch jobs with Guo Sheng, let him come back to serve him, and go out to run errands himself.
The little dog won't go out anymore; he can't exactly go to the princess's yard to steal a dog, can he?
But the prince couldn't bring himself to go to the backyard to see the princess, and he really couldn't think of any good way to get the princess to come... or trick her into coming.
After standing there for a while, Cui Hao once again had the idea of switching jobs with Guo Sheng.
As I was thinking, I suddenly looked up.
I went out to run some errands...
He smiled and said to the person inside the door, "Your Highness, I have something to report."
...
"Wouldn't this be dangerous?"
Wei Hong frowned slightly and did not immediately agree to Cui Hao's suggestion.
“No,” Cui Hao said. “It’s just a small group of refugees who have become bandits. The reason they’ve become so powerful is simply because their leader is somewhat clever. Instead of directly robbing passersby, he lures them to his own territory, and the location is different each time. That’s why the local government hasn’t been able to find them for so long.”
"But as long as we find the den of thieves and capture the bandit leader, these people who are causing trouble in the area can be eradicated."
"Your Highness, you can disguise yourself as a wealthy merchant, pretend to be tricked by them, and then capture the bandit leader once you meet him. These people will be brought to justice on the spot."
"The reason I suggested you bring the princess is because these people are cunning and always target the elderly, weak, women, and children in their groups. If the group consists of only able-bodied young people, they are unlikely to take the bait."
"However, as long as the princess stays by your side, there will be absolutely no danger."
The floods in Huizhou caused many people to be displaced. Since Huizhou is adjacent to Shuozhou, many refugees entered Shuozhou.
Although Shuozhou was not the fiefdom of the King of Qin, it was no different from his fiefdom. Under the King of Qin's control, the area was well-governed, the government did not dare to oppress the people, and even the refugees were properly resettled without any trouble.
In contrast, the imperial court, due to the great distance between the capital and Huizhou, found that news traveled slowly. Furthermore, the Huizhou government, for the sake of its own official position, deliberately concealed the extent of the disaster and relentlessly suppressed the victims, which eventually led to a civil unrest. Even some merchants and gentry who had not been affected by the disaster were implicated, looted and vandalized by the enraged victims, and some were even killed along with their entire families.
Seeing that the imperial court's assistance was too far-fetched to meet their immediate needs, those with some assets tried every means to bring their wealth to Shuozhou to hide, hoping to return once the civil unrest had subsided.
This gave some unscrupulous refugees, who were not satisfied with the meager relief grains, an opportunity. They banded together and hid on the border of Huishuo, specifically looking for such "big fish" to target.
Cui Hao had just thought of this, so he suggested to Wei Hong that he take Yao Youqing fishing, so that those bandits who like fishing could also experience what it's like to be caught by someone else.
Actually, Wei Hong didn't need to get involved in this matter at all; it could have been handled by the locals.
But Wei Hong hasn't had anything major to do lately, so going there won't take up much time, and he can also bring the princess along. Why not?
"...She might not agree."
Wei Hong concluded.
Even if there's no danger in staying by his side, the idea of fighting bandits is still too scary for a girl.
That woman was so delicate and frail; she was terrified of blood and would cry at the sight of a roasted rabbit. How could she possibly agree to something like this?
“How would we know if we didn’t ask?” Cui Hao laughed. “I think the princess is actually quite bold; she just looks weak. Moreover, she cares about the people. If we tell her it’s for the safety of the people, she should agree.”
...
"I'm willing to go!"
When Yao Youqing found out, she did not refuse, and her eyes even lit up as if she had discovered something new and interesting.
Madam Zhou quickly intervened, saying, "Your Highness, you mustn't go! Swords and spears have no eyes; what if you get hurt?"
“It’s alright,” Yao Youqing said. “Didn’t Lord Cui say that I just need to stay by the Prince’s side?”
Wei Hong left Beijing at the age of eleven and went to the battlefield for the first time at the age of thirteen. He has experienced countless battles since then, and every one of them was more dangerous than this one. A simple bandit suppression should be nothing to him.
Since he assured her that nothing would happen, Yao Youqing believed that nothing would indeed happen; otherwise, he would never have offered to bring her along.
She completely believed Cui Hao's explanation that he had come to ask her because of the urgency of the situation and the inability to find a suitable candidate, and had no other intentions.
Madam Zhou frowned and asked, "Why does the Prince have to go personally to suppress the bandits?"
According to Cui Hao, it's not a big deal. If it's not a big deal, why not just leave it to his subordinates? Why make the long trip himself?
Cui Hao smiled and said, "Your Highness is used to doing things personally, and that is precisely why he has such a reputation in Shangchuan."
Yao Youqing nodded: "Father said that officials should personally handle all matters. Only in this way can they live up to the teachings of the sages and be relied upon by the court."
Cui Hao smiled without saying a word, and the matter was finally settled. The next morning, the group left the palace and headed towards the border of Huishuo.
...
Unlike last time, Ji Yunwan did not rush to Hucheng immediately after learning that Wei Hong had returned to the mansion. Instead, she deliberately delayed for a few days.
She wanted to bring up the incident of Yao Youqing's servant coming to deliver a message in front of Wei Hong, so that Wei Hong would know that she felt disliked by him, which was why she didn't dare to come immediately. This time, she would shamelessly visit him on behalf of her father and then leave immediately.
Only in this way could he know her grievances, and only then would he punish that arrogant princess, and then take the opportunity to appease her and keep her.
She even deliberately made her eyes red from crying beforehand in the car, but the gatekeeper said in a flippant tone, "You've come at a bad time, neither the Prince nor the Princess is here this time!"
Ji Yunwan was startled, then suddenly lifted the carriage curtain, glaring at the man with red eyes.
The gatekeeper grinned: "Gazing at me won't do any good. The prince took the princess out for a stroll and just left this morning."
As servants in the Prince's mansion, everyone knew that the Prince didn't actually need to go himself to suppress the bandits.
Now that he's gone himself, and even brought the princess along, isn't that just going out for fun?
Pan Xiang, exasperated, snapped, "You're lying! How could the Prince possibly take the Princess out for fun?"
He didn't like that princess at all!
"Why can't it be impossible?"
The gatekeeper said, "So many people saw them leave together, would I lie?"
A few people standing a little further away chimed in with smiles: "That's right, we all saw it, they left in one car."
Pan Xiang choked and couldn't speak. Ji Yunwan's fingers, which were resting on the car window, turned white at the knuckles, and her nails were almost split.
"Panxiang, let's go!"
She flung down the carriage curtain.
Pan Xiang stamped his foot, and had no choice but to have the car turn around and leave.
The gatekeeper laughed loudly and said, "Don't go! Although the Prince and Princess are not here, Madam Chu is. I can ask her if she has time to see you!"