Chapter 40: Darkness Before Dawn

minent families fell from grace, Jade Fragrance Street has become deserted.Some say the smell of blood on Jade Fragrance Street is too heavy, and others say that at night, Jade Fragrance Street is ful...Even Fei Long City, which was considered peaceful, became somewhat bustling the next morning.

All those who went out to buy groceries and rice in the morning found that they could buy much less with the same amount of money compared to yesterday.

What could buy three jin of rice this morning, can only buy two jin and six liang.

By the next day, you'd only be able to buy two kilograms.

Only one jin can be bought on the third day!

Thus, a sense of panic spread throughout Feilong City. Some people began frantically buying rice in fear that they would be able to buy even less tomorrow.

The wealthy are alright, even though rice is expensive, they can still afford it. But the poor have already started to run out of rice, and not just rice – they can't afford vegetables either.

Everyone knows that Feilong City, being on the border, cannot be self-sufficient. It relies heavily on external transport for most of its supplies, and this task falls entirely on the Jia family.

Now the food prices in Flying Dragon City have risen across the board, and it must be due to the Jia family's actions.

What was unexpected was that the Jia family also cried out for injustice this time, saying their transportation team was robbed by bandits, and almost all the goods were taken away. They have now reported to the authorities and are awaiting the official's handling.

As the government officials were unable to apprehend the criminals, the Jia family dared not leave the city for a day.

So if you want the grain prices in Feilong City to return to normal, you'll have to go to the government!

A clever feint shifted blame onto the government and Cai Ning.

"Your Highness, some of the townspeople have been incited and are gathering outside the Mayor's Mansion every day, waiting for me to bring the criminals to justice!"

Outside Fei Long City, in a humble dwelling, Cai Ning spoke with anger and frustration about the Jia family's shameless actions. He also looked at his own city lord's mansion being besieged with helplessness on his face.

Cai Ning didn't know about Zhang Liyang's full plan, so Cai Ning was also gritting his teeth against the bandits who had robbed Jia's goods.

When Cai Ning noticed the rising grain prices in Feilong City, he arrived at his manor outside the city two days earlier than planned.

First, it was to avoid the anger of the masses, and second, it was to ask Mu Yinghua for an explanation.

At first, Zhang Liyang approached him saying he could solve the problems of Feilong City. Although Zhang Liyang didn't explicitly state the conditions, Cai Ning knew that Mu Yinghua wanted fame. So during this period, Cai Ning tried his best to keep the government out of sight, allowing Mu Yinghua to earn a lot of fame.

The city lord's mansion is currently under siege. Although Cai Ning didn't explicitly say it, it's clear that this matter won't be resolved and Cai Ning will continue to reside in this manor.

Knowing what had happened, Mu Yinghua's face was still a bit pale, so she didn't dare to look at Cai Ning. She just secretly gave Zhang Liyang beside her a wink.

"Your Highness, Lord Cai, this matter is easy to handle."

"Hmm How to handle this"

Cai Ning looked curiously at Zhang Liyang, not understanding how the good solution Zhang Liyang mentioned was to be handled.

Zhang Liyang simply shook his head in response to Cai Ning's question, then turned to Mu Yinghua, "Your Highness, you might need to take action then."

"Me Oh, sure."

Seeing the master and servant communicating in riddles right before him, Cai Ning twitched his lips slightly, then simply decided not to bother with them, picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip.

Anyway, even if Feilong City really collapses in the end, the board won't be able to hit him on the head. Even if he goes before the Great Emperor of Daqian, he wouldn't be afraid.

The atmosphere of panic in Fei Long City is growing increasingly severe. The city lord's mansion, besieged for five or six days, remains closed with no one coming out to offer any explanation.

Seeing that the government remained indifferent, a cold light flashed in Jia Fengxian's eyes. The government didn't care about the lives of the people in Feilong City, let alone his Jia family. As long as his Jia family survived, even if all the people in Feilong City perished, he wouldn't care.

On the seventh day, some people had already been starving for two or three days, their bodies were weak, but the panic and hatred in their hearts grew deeper and deeper.

Until outside Flying Dragon City, a luxurious carriage entered the city escorted by three hundred elite cavalry.

The princess is here!

"The princess has come to rule over us!"

Word spread like wildfire, and soon most of the city's residents flocked to the town square.

On the high platform, looking down at the surging crowd and those still pouring in from the horizon, Mu Yinghua hurriedly asked Yuan Li to maintain order. At the same time, she stood on the platform and spoke out what Zhang Liyang had taught her.

The words are not emotionally charged, but simply express the meaning that Mu Yinghua could not bear to see the people in the city starving, so she specially took out the remaining food from her own mansion and gave it away for free to the people.

This alone caused a thunderous applause throughout the square. All the people couldn't help but kneel down and kowtow to Mu Yinghua, constantly chanting "Living Bodhisattva."

As for Mu Yinghua's act of opening the granary and releasing grain, Jia Fengxian remained unmoved. There were too many people in Feilong City, and how much grain could Mu Yinghua have left Even if she rationed her food to the maximum, it would only last for three days at most. After three days, the problem would still exist.

As long as the Jia family remains untouched, the crisis in Flying Dragon City will persist!

During those three days, awnings were erected in the square. Mu Yinghua personally went to distribute food to those impoverished people.

Witnessing the golden princess personally distributing food to them, these impoverished people were once again moved to tears of grief and joy.

With all the food for the day distributed, dusk began to fall. Mu Yinghua, who had been busy all day, wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Zhang Liyang, the grain we bought from Liangzhou City can only last for four or five days."

"My lord, please sit down." Zhang Liyang moved a chair over for Mu Yinghua and had her sit. Zhang Liyang came behind Mu Yinghua and gently kneaded her shoulders, "Your Highness, don't worry, I've already had those things liquidated."

"Five days later, Your Highness will still need to make the trip yourself."

"Well, I know." Mu Yinghua's voice was a little low, her eyes looking at the people kneeling outside, with a hint of shame in them, "Zhang Liyang, is this what we should do"

All the plans Yang Zhili had told Mu Yinghua, so naturally Mu Yinghua knew that all the reasons behind this were with her.

Knowing what Mu Yinghua was thinking, Zhang Liyang remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Your Highness, the time before dawn is often the darkest."

To free them from the sea of suffering, they must endure necessary hardship!

"Think about the kind of life these people will lead once we've gotten rid of them. It'll all be worth it!"

It seems that Mu Yinghua's heart was relieved by Zhang Liyang's explanation, a hint of a smile appeared on her face, "I just hope to get rid of them quickly and let these people who have suffered so much be freed from their misery."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, it won't be too far." face."Zuo He, you're asking for death!"Here we go!A flash of light, a soft sword darted like a snake towards Left Black. Its exposed killing intent clearly aimed for a fatal blow."You cowardly turtle...