Chapter 426: Urgent Letter
On the afternoon of the day Hua Wuyue returned, Ma Chun divided one million plants of Black Fiery Grass into 34 portions. One portion of 100,000 plants was left in Lingnan City to delay the reopening of Fenglin Restaurant. Another three portions of 100,000 plants each were taken by 30 guards to the capital cities of the three western provinces, while the remaining 30 portions of 20,000 plants each were taken by 10 guards each to the 30 counties under those provinces.
Within less than half an hour of Ma Chun giving the orders, the guards arrived at the Lin’s Inn branches in the respective capital cities and counties. In just 15 minutes, the guards in each area arranged their routes. With two people leading eagle beasts and birds, all the guards were divided into five teams—one team stayed in the capital city or county, while the other four teams set out from the four gates in different directions to cover all the villages in those areas.
If they had to sell the plants village by village, even with eagle beasts and birds, it would be impossible to reach every village in a short time. According to the plan, each team would find the village chief upon arriving, gather about a dozen households, estimate the amount of Black Fiery Grass needed, leave the corresponding amount at a price of 2 taels and 4 qian per unit, without settling the account, and then head to the next village using a map. This way, time would be greatly saved. Moreover, with a dozen households watching over each other, there was no risk of them raising prices out of greed or simply taking the money and moving elsewhere.
As for the possibility of them refusing to pay, there was no need to worry—Lin’s Inn’s guards were selected from scoundrels, and they actually hoped such a situation would arise. After covering all the villages in their areas, they could return to collect the money slowly, with the total time taken unlikely to exceed two months.
Nearly half of the guards would not be able to practice for about two months, but Lin Dong had no choice. Given the circumstances, this was already considered a minor loss.
The capital cities and counties, on the other hand, had it much easier. One guard could set up a stall in the city, while another took turns setting up stalls at the four city gates—this would be more than enough for a month.
With 900,000 plants of Black Fiery Grass distributed, it would not only eradicate the wet worm disease in the three western provinces but also completely control it. By the time Jiang Jianxing delivered the Black Fiery Grass specified in his contract, it would be more than sufficient. If there was still a shortage, the three major pharmacies in Lingnan City could provide an even larger supply.
The three western provinces were being settled in an orderly manner, and in Lingnan City, Ma Chun was also busy. Early the next morning, he ordered flyers to be scattered from the sky in large numbers. Within just one morning, the flyers covered the entire city of Lingnan. The content of these flyers stated that anyone who decided to return to their hometown could pick up a section of Black Fiery Grass and 500 coins near Fenglin Restaurant in the city, with a daily limit of 10,000 people. Once this news spread, the people from the three western provinces who were settled in Lingnan City became extremely excited. They had originally left their homes out of necessity to avoid the wetworm disease, and now someone was offering Black Fiery Grass for free, even covering the travel costs. With their chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and vegetable gardens all taken care of by neighbors who refused to relocate, 99% of them wanted to return home. That afternoon, the tents where Black Fiery Grass and travel funds were distributed were packed tightly with crowds. The next day, more flyers were scattered from the sky, covering Lingnan City once again, and Lin’s Gymnasium and Lin’s Inn reopened. No matter how hard Liang Gufeng tried to figure out a solution, he couldn’t come up with anything for those tents. Upon learning that Lin’s Inn had reopened, he flew into a rage and rushed to the county government to see Yang Yankang right away. Yang Yankang sent people to investigate, only to find that the staff at Lin’s Inn were still in the county government, and it was unclear where they got their staff. Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Liang Gufeng sent people to spy on Lin’s Inn secretly. These staff members were far from novices—they were quick and articulate, even outperforming the staff at Fenglin Restaurant who had been investigated before. Helpless, Liang Gufeng went back to the county government. Although Yang Yankang didn’t want to create extra trouble with the reckless Lin’s Inn at this time, he still ordered an assessment and sent thousands more people from the three western provinces to be settled there. However, Liu An intercepted them halfway. The people from the three western provinces who were staying at Lin’s Inn and Lin’s Gymnasium didn’t leave at all; they just went out for a stroll together, leaving all their belongings behind. After being bribed with 10 taels of silver, the leader in charge sent someone back to the county government to report. Upon hearing this, Yang Yankang was furious. Lin’s Inn was truly too bold, repeatedly ignoring the authority of the county magistrate. Just for that alone, it was enough to shut down the inn and arrest its people.
After his anger subsided, Yang Yankang still had to recall those people. If Lin’s Inn were really shut down, it would in turn spread rumors that the officials and merchants in Lingnan City were colluding to drive up the price of Heilei Grass by deliberately suppressing Lin’s Inn, which distributed it freely. The consequences might be contained, or it could ruin his plans altogether. Yang Yankang didn’t want to take that risk. Compared to that, getting even by shutting down Lin’s Inn was far less worthwhile than holding back and focusing on securing the position of Minister of Personnel. Besides, he could deal with Lin’s Inn later anyway. Even the most powerful man in the Han Dynasty couldn’t protect a single inn in a single province from the wrath of a Minister of Personnel. “Sir, there’s an urgent message from Qiufeng Mansion.” In his study, as Yang Yankang tried to persuade himself to hold back, his secretary’s voice came from outside. When he opened the door, he saw a clerk in his thirties, looking exhausted, standing beside his secretary. “Sir, twelve sects under Qiufeng Mansion—Wenhaozong, Jianghuaizong, Xuetunzong, and others—are attempting to provoke the mansion’s authorities. The prefect sent me here urgently for help,” the clerk said, kneeling on one knee and taking down the package from his back. He took out a sealed letter with a seal stamp and held it before Yang Yankang. Yang Yankang was shocked—sects clashing with the mansion’s authorities? Such things were always serious matters; a single mistake could lead to great trouble. Usually, it was just one sect at a time, but this time there were as many as twelve. “That Liu Xiu, bastard!” Yang Yankang cursed angrily. He quickly took the letter, checked its seal and secret marks, then tore it open in a hurry. The kneeling clerk didn’t dare speak further. For a prince to be called a bastard was equivalent to committing a grave crime of rebellion. Of course, it depended on who it was. For a high-ranking official like a prefect, it was almost impossible to just let it go or even execute someone over such an insult. Not to mention cursing the crown prince in public—probably no one would really pursue it, at most just deducting some of his salary. “Damn it, this idiot!” After quickly reading the letter, Yang Yankang cursed Liu Xiu again. The letter contained little more than an explanation of the background, and that background made Yang Yankang grit his teeth in anger. The reason was surprisingly simple: it was because a murder case was uncovered, and the mastermind was a wealthy man from Qiufeng Mansion.
This wealthy family had some connections with the outer sect manager of Wen Haozong. Their family went to Wen Haozong to plead for help, but Liu Xiu, the magistrate of Qiufeng Mansion, refused them outright without any hesitation. The outer sect manager of Wen Haozong was irritable and extremely proud; he immediately attacked and injured many officials, and even Liu Xiu was badly beaten.
The next day, Liu Xiu posted notices everywhere, offering large sums of money to hire warriors as guards. Early on the fifth day, Liu Xiu, carried on a stretcher, led a large group of hired warriors to Wen Haozong to demand the return of the person they wanted. An argument ensued, and both sides started fighting. Surprisingly, the men Liu Xiu brought were highly skilled, including a master at the Eighth Level of the Mental State Phase. They captured the leader of Wen Haozong as a hostage and then boldly took away the outer sect manager. It wasn’t until everyone left the mountain that the leader of Wen Haozong was abandoned at the foot of the mountain after being given a stern lesson.
For a sect, having its leader too injured to get out of bed was an utter humiliation, especially since they were defeated by ordinary people. Ignoring whether he was a prince or not, the elders of Wen Haozong found their leader in a crack in the rocks at the foot of the mountain and immediately took most of the sect’s skilled members to Qiufeng City to demand justice. As a result, Liu Xiu was utterly defeated and seriously injured; five officials died, and more than twenty of the hired warriors were killed.
Originally, things should have ended there. Although Wen Haozong was ruthless, they still knew the rules and did not kill Liu Xiu, the magistrate. However, the warrior from the Eighth Level of the Mental State Phase whom Liu Xiu had hired before suffered a great loss and refused to give up. He gathered many friends and went back to Wen Haozong with Liu Xiu, capturing over three hundred elders and disciples of Wen Haozong in one go.
From then on, the conflict became uncontrollable. Wen Haozong sought help from two allied sects and stormed the magistrate’s office, fighting fiercely to retrieve their people. The friends of the warrior from the Eighth Level of the Mental State Phase, having suffered losses, gathered more allies and attacked Wen Haozong again. Several battles ensued, leaving countless casualties in all three sects, who then sought help from other sects. On Liu Xiu’s side, it was friends of friends of friends… In just about one and a half months, the situation escalated to the point where the magistrate’s office, along with all the unaffiliated warriors in its territory and the twelve sects of Qiufeng Mansion, became enemies, with the trend likely to draw in all sects.
In his letter, besides briefly explaining the background, Liu Xiu asked Yang Yankang to post notices everywhere, offering large sums of money to recruit unaffiliated warriors near Lingnan City for support.
Naturally, Yang Yankang would not do such a thing. In his eyes, Liu Xiu was a complete idiot.
To confront the sects is nothing but seeking death. With Tianwei Pavilion’s pressure, the sects dare not kill officials, but Tianwei Pavilion also cannot intervene unless the sects break the rules. If Tianwei Pavilion stays silent, it’s obvious whose side will win. In the end, to calm the anger of the various sects, they will undoubtedly have to execute the leading officials one by one. No matter how foolish Yang Yankang is, he’s not that stupid as to agree to confront the sects. Even if it’s just a powerless and somewhat foolish prince, or even the crown prince most likely to ascend the throne, he wouldn’t do such a thing. The consequence of doing so is only death. Offending the crown prince still leaves a sliver of hope. Without hesitation, Yang Yankang returned to his room, dipped his brush in ink, and quickly completed a palindrome filled with rebukes, curses, and orders.