The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Chapter 116

10/06/23 - edited

"I am not a panacea, how could I have such an effect?" Shen Yu found a comfortable position in Shang Junlin's arms as if it was second nature.

"To me, Ah Yu, you're more effective than any panacea," Shang Junlin buried his head in Shen Yu's neck, his voice slightly muffled.

"Then let me hug Your Majesty more often," Shen Yu reached back to pat the man's head, "so that His Majesty can handle state affairs with even more vigor."

Shang Junlin tightened his embrace.

"Are all the officials in Subei dispatched by His Majesty later on?" Shen Yu glanced at the documents spread out on the table.

They were sent back by Fang Jun from Subei, accompanied by reports from other officials.

Fang Jun and the officials from the capital he brought with him were stunned by the devastation they saw every time they arrived in a new place. They thought the situation was already bad enough in the first small city they passed, but the farther they went north, the more they realized that it was just the tip of the iceberg. The more they saw, the more shocking it became.

Every time they arrived in a new place, they would gather the people after distributing porridge, and do what they could to help. When the people regained their strength, they would exchange their labor for more food, and help those who had difficulty moving around.

Fang Jun's report described in detail the situation in each place they passed, and even the written description was enough to make people feel overwhelming despair.

"Some of them were promoted locally," Shang Junlin played with Shen Yu's fingers, "when Subei was lost, I almost completely replaced the upper-level officials there. There weren't many people that the court could use, so only a few were sent there, and most of them were promoted locally."

If Shang Junlin hadn't arrived in time with his troops to repel the Beimo Army when Subei was lost, it's hard to say what would have happened to Da Huan today.

The local officials were to blame for losing their territory, and Shang Junlin didn't want to hear their excuses. He directly had them executed to appease the spirits of the soldiers who died because of their negligence and to avenge the innocent civilians who died unjustly. On the day of the execution, the whole city watched, applauding and cheering.

In the midst of the bloody atmosphere, Shang Junlin had all the officials in Subei watch the execution with their own eyes. Some officials had been living in luxury for many years and had never seen such a scene before. They turned pale and dare not look at it for long.

But each of them was accompanied by two brawny soldiers, who would stop them if they tried to avoid it.

Through this opportunity, Shang Junlin also warned those who were newly promoted by him that if they couldn't defend the north, they would be punished like these people.

Shang Junlin also used this opportunity to completely separate the military and political powers of Subei. No one dared to object under brutal means, and since then, Subei has been stable for a long time.

Shang Junlin and Shen Yu talked about their past experiences: "I thought they would learn their lesson, and they did. They didn't dare to do anything openly and only resorted to secret actions. They also tried their best to prevent the news from reaching the capital."

Shen Yu said, "Human greed is insatiable. Once they get something, they want more. Over time, their greed grows and they can never be satisfied. It has been seven or eight years since those incidents happened. Time can erase many things and also change many things. The officials whom Your Majesty promoted back then may have been trustworthy, but after so many years, no one can guarantee that they haven't changed at all."

Shang Junlin said, "I understand that human hearts are fickle."

Shen Yu suggested, "Once we have found out the truth, we should handle it accordingly. Those who have contributed should be rewarded accordingly. After so many years, Your Majesty is no longer the same as before. You don't have to be constrained by others anymore. To prevent such incidents from happening again, you can specify the length of their terms and send officials to Subei. Once they have completed their service, Your Majesty can return to the capital."

There were three types of officials in Subei: the Subei Army, those transferred from the capital, and local officials. Originally, they should have balanced each other out, but according to the intelligence from the Imperial Guards, the latter two had merged. They had also infiltrated people into the Subei Army, and there was even another faction among the three.

"If we specify the length of their terms, officials sent from the capital will have less chance of standing with local officials than those in the Subei Army. They should be more interested in returning to the center of power in the capital. Therefore, they will spontaneously help the court to keep an eye on Subei to make their records look better," Shen Yu explained.

Shang Junlin thought about it and found that it was indeed a good idea.

The mobility of officials from Da Huan was not great. Unless they had outstanding abilities or connections in the court, most of them would stay in one place after being sent there. Except for places like Subei, this approach had many advantages. The more familiar and knowledgeable officials were with a certain place, the more they could manage it skillfully.

However, the most important thing now was the disaster in Subei. They could not let their guard down until the drought had been alleviated.

---

Fang Jun and the Imperial Guards were working in both light and darkness to investigate the situation in Subei.

Fang Jun led the officials northward. The more they went north, the worse the situation was. The officials who came from the capital were getting more and more silent.

They had never seen such a scene like a purgatory before. In the past, they had at most learned about major disasters through various documents, but how could words compare to the shock of seeing it with their own eyes?

The more they saw, the stronger their opinions were toward the incompetence of the officials in charge of the disaster relief in Subei. Especially after hearing more than once from the local population that if the relief workers had come earlier, maybe not so many people would have died, the anger in their hearts reached its peak.

"So many people could have been saved if only the soldiers in Subei had shared some of their military pay with them..." choked the young official speaking.

No one said a word. Anyone who witnessed this scene would be speechless.

In a dilapidated and impoverished house, the emaciated mother had no good flesh on her body. Her child was curled up in her arms, with a piece of blood and meat still in his mouth. It was clear that the mother had bitten it off her own body. She stared at her child until her death...

"If only we had come earlier, we might have been able to save this mother and child," one of the officials said after a long silence.

The strong smell of blood filled the room, but no one found it unpleasant. They only felt a stabbing pain in their hearts.

Along the way, they had seen various scenes of carnage. They thought they would become numb after seeing so much, but at this moment, they realized that no matter how many times they saw it, they could not become numb to what was in front of them.

"Can we really save Subei, Official Fang?" A young official couldn't help but ask, his face full of confusion.

"Of course, we can," Fang Jun replied firmly, "we have already saved many people along the way, and the court has also raised enough supplies. Hold on for a few more days, and they will be here soon."

Fang Jun looked at the faces of the people one by one. He knew that what they had seen and heard these days had a great impact on these officials who were not yet very old, and he also knew why they were confused because he had been in their shoes before.

"Everyone, pull yourselves together. The emperor has sent word that there are also people coming from all over to help, and the disaster funds are donated by many people in Da Huan. No one will abandon Subei!"

Subei's main city.

In the magnificent hall, young women dressed in thin dancing clothes swayed to the music, and men dressed in luxurious clothes raised their cups to celebrate.

"That Fang Jun, are we just going to let him go on like this?"

"Don't ruin the plan of the lord, he wants to see the true situation of the disaster in Subei, so let him see it. If he voluntarily joins the refugees and gets accidentally hurt, it has nothing to do with us. Xun, what do you say?"

Xun Chao calmly surveyed his surroundings and drank the wine in his cup. "Naturally, we have advised him before, but he insisted on doing things his own way. If something really happens, how can we be blamed?"

"That's right. Let's continue drinking."

After pretending to agree with them, Xun Chao returned to his own residence. Although he was not the highest-ranking official in Subei, his position was not low. Upon returning home, his steward greeted him.

"Have you been drinking, my lord?"

"Yes, Lord Kang invited me and it was difficult to decline. Many colleagues were present and the topic of refugees came up. Since ancient times, refugees have always been a difficult problem to solve."

The steward's eyes flickered with hidden light. "My lord, please freshen up first. I'll bring you a bowl of hangover soup."

Xun Chao* rubbed his forehead, feeling a little dizzy. He had deliberately spoken those words to his steward in the courtyard just now, in order to pass on the information to the Hidden Dragon guards in the Xun residence. The steward was also a disguised member of the guards, but there were other spies in the residence who were responsible for leaking information to the outside world.

In the capital city, supplies gathered from various places were being transported one by one to Subei. The capital city was the first to receive the news and the first to take action. Places further away would depart later.

In addition to physicians, young men, and women were also recruited from various places to join the relief efforts.

As the hot summer approached its end, rain fell in the capital city, cooling down the temperature.

"Has it rained in Subei yet?" Shen Yu looked out of the window at the raindrops falling.

"No," Shang Junlin frowned. "Although Subei has little rainfall, it is rare for it not to rain for several months like this year."

The issue of Subei's drought for several months had already caused discussions among the people. Severe droughts often accompany locust plagues. Subei had suffered from a locust plague in May and June. Otherwise, there would not have been a total crop failure.

"If it doesn't rain for a long time, there may be rumors."

Shen Yu spoke with insight. A few days later, rumors began to emerge from various places:

"It is said that there is a severe drought in Subei, and it is a warning from the heavens to the emperor not to act unrighteously or to break the ancestral system at will..."

It was evident that each rumor was directed at Shang Junlin's recent actions.

Xun Chao* - Fang Jun is originally written here but I think it's the author's typo so I corrected it. 

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