After the New Emperor Ascended, He First Demoted Me to Farming - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Xie Xuan did not write back.

Instead, the prefect of Qingzhou came.

The prefect’s surname was Liang. His belly was round, and so was his smile.

He brought more than a dozen carts of gifts, saying he had come by imperial order to offer comfort to the convicted woman sent to reclaim the wasteland.

“Miss Jiang, North Ridge is bitterly cold. Though His Majesty’s decree was severe, he still keeps you in his thoughts.”

I looked at the silk and pastries piled on the carts.

“Prefect Liang, a convicted woman farming the land has no use for these.”

Prefect Liang’s smile did not change.

“Then what would you have use for, Miss?”

“The granary ledgers.”

The flesh on his face gave the slightest twitch.

“You jest, Miss.”

“I’m not very good at jesting.”

I pointed at the fields behind me.

“His Majesty told me to farm. I should at least know how much grain Qingzhou lacks so I can decide how much to plant.”

The way Prefect Liang looked at me changed.

As if he had finally confirmed that I had not come here to suffer.

I had come to make trouble.

He quickly recovered his smile.

“Though you once enjoyed His Majesty’s favor, Miss, you now hold neither rank nor office. The granary is an important place. It cannot be inspected at will.”

I nodded.

“That makes sense.”

Prefect Liang let out a breath of relief.

I turned and called for Shen Zhao.

“Bring Clerk Ma here.”

When Clerk Ma was dragged over, his leg was still lame.

Prefect Liang’s face instantly went pale.

I said, “He told me that Qingzhou’s official grain is shorted by thirty percent before it enters the granary, and then shorted by another thirty percent when it leaves. Does Your Excellency find that believable?”

Prefect Liang snapped, “Slander!”

“Then open the granary and inspect the grain.”

“You dare?”

I smiled.

“Prefect Liang, I’ve already been demoted here to farm. Guess what else I wouldn’t dare do?”

Prefect Liang flung his sleeves and left.

That night, many strangers appeared at the foot of North Ridge.

Uncle Zhou came quietly to report.

“Miss, there are grain merchants, yamen runners, and a few men who look like hired fighters from the jianghu. They’re all outside the village.”

I asked, “Are you afraid?”

Uncle Zhou looked at the Qiubai seedlings behind me.

“I am.”

“Then why come tell me?”

The old man rubbed his hands together.

“My grandson starved to death last winter.”

He said it very calmly.

“I want to know whether it was truly his fate, or whether someone took the grain that should have fed him.”

My throat tightened.

“We will know.”

The next day, Prefect Liang brought men to seal off the fields.

The reason given was that the wasteland at North Ridge was suspected of hiding military grain.

I stood on the ridge between the fields.

“Prefect Liang, the seedlings have only just sprouted. What are you sealing them for?”

Prefect Liang sneered.

“This official suspects that you are using land reclamation as a cover to collude with old military farm troops.”

“Where is the evidence?”

“Search, and we will find it.”

The yamen runners charged into the field. With the very first step, they trampled several Qiubai stalks in two.

My face darkened.

Shen Zhao had already drawn his blade.

But I held him back.

“Don’t move.”

Prefect Liang looked at me smugly.

“Miss Jiang, it’s best to know when to yield.”

I crouched down and lifted the broken seedlings upright.

Mud and water covered my hands.

Just then, the sound of hoofbeats came from the mountain road.

A troop of black-armored cavalry broke through the mist.

The man at their head reined in at the edge of the field.

He wore the uniform of an Imperial Guard commander, his features stern and cold.

Prefect Liang’s face changed dramatically.

“Commander Pei?”

Pei Yan dismounted and unfurled a bright yellow imperial edict.

“By His Majesty’s verbal decree, the wasteland of North Ridge is an imperial trial planting site. It is not to be damaged.”

Prefect Liang dropped to his knees.

Pei Yan looked at the broken seedlings in the field, his voice icy.

“Prefect Liang, what you trampled was grain.”

Sweat broke out across Prefect Liang’s forehead.

I stood to the side. Then, all at once, I noticed a cloth bag hanging from the horse behind Pei Yan.

Half of a blue cloak showed at the mouth of the bag.

Xie Xuan’s.

He had come.

Or had almost come.

Pei Yan handed me a letter.

The paper was very thin, as if it had been written in haste.

[Do not leave Qingzhou.]

[Zheng Chong has already decided to kill.]

After reading it, I tucked the letter into my sleeve.

Prefect Liang remained kneeling in the mud, still crying injustice.

I walked up to him.

“Your Excellency said just now that once we searched, we would find evidence.”

Prefect Liang looked up.

I pointed toward the carts he had brought.

“Then let’s start with your carts.”