Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Pedestrian walkways gradually appeared on the street outside the inn.

The shopkeeper sat listlessly on a long bench by the door, holding a rag in his hand, sighing as he watched the occasional acquaintances passing by on the street.

Gu Mingli and Xiao Ye exchanged a glance, then Gu Mingli turned to Xiao Ye and asked curiously.

"Shopkeeper, why is the street so gloomy so early in the morning? There's not even a single vendor shouting their wares."

The shopkeeper turned around, let out a long sigh, and looked bitter.

"You two are from out of town, you may not know that."

"Our Anyang County suffered a severe drought, and then flying insects appeared, completely destroying the crops in the fields; there was no harvest at all!"

"Rice prices are rising every day, and rice shops are getting overwhelmed with customers."

"Panic began to spread in the city, and people started hoarding food. Those who didn't have money to hoard food went to the Cui family manor in the east of the city to queue up early in the morning."

Cui Family Manor?

Gu Mingli, sensing danger, pressed further, "Is this the Cui family's estate in Lingbo?"

"Yes," the shopkeeper nodded, "Besides the Cui family of Lingbo, who else has the financial resources to release grain and acquire land?"

Xiao Ye frowned slightly. "Release grain and reclaim land?"

The shopkeeper gave a wry smile.

"I heard that during the famine years, there was a shortage of food in the north, and even the grain stores in Jizhou City didn't have much stock left."

"The Cui family has announced that they will release grain and take back the land deeds from us ordinary people."

"Well, how should I put it? It's a case of one party willing to hit and the other willing to be hit."

"But the price for exchanging land for grain was driven down so low, it was like stabbing people in the heart!"

"But if we don't sell our land in exchange for grain, we'll starve to death when the autumn harvest and winter come!"

Gu Mingli and Xiao Ye exchanged a quick glance, then Gu Mingli continued to press for answers:

"Such opportunistic looting, and the local officials just ignore it? What is the county magistrate doing?"

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper waved his hand repeatedly and sighed.

"Sir, please be careful with your words! Our Magistrate Zhao is a rare and excellent official."

"A few days ago, unable to bear seeing the people suffer, he personally led his yamen runners to the Cui family manor, intending to stop everyone from selling land for grain. Guess what happened?"

"What's wrong?"

"As a result, he was detained by the guards of the Cui family manor! The Cui family sent him to the prefectural government office overnight and informed the county magistrate that he had incited the people to rebel."

"As a result, the county magistrate was imprisoned for several days and couldn't even return to the yamen!"

The shopkeeper lowered his voice, indignant.

"Prefect Jia also issued a statement, saying that Magistrate Zhao obstructed the transactions of law-abiding citizens and incited the people to riot. However, according to the laws of Dayong, the buying and selling was voluntary and there was a valid reason!"

"Alas! Governor Jia is not wrong. After all, the imperial court has not yet determined whether Anyang has suffered a disaster, there has been no relief grain, and there has been no mention of reducing or exempting land taxes."

The shopkeeper spoke with increasing sorrow, and looked up at the sky.

"However, it must be said that the land of noble families is protected by the heavens."

"While everyone else's fields are suffering from the disaster, there isn't a single locust in their fields."

"We ordinary people don't have that kind of luck; we deserve to starve to death. Where can we go to seek justice for this?"

As they were talking, another customer entered the shop, and the shopkeeper quickly got up to greet him.

Gu Mingli exchanged a glance with Xiao Ye, leaned slightly closer, and whispered:

"Your Majesty, do you remember the field I showed you last night?"

Xiao Ye narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent.

He nodded, signaling him to continue.

Gu Mingli said seriously, "That field of crops was not blessed by God at all, but was treated with pesticides to repel locusts."

"Insect repellent?"

"Yes. This medicine doesn't kill locusts; it only emits a special odor."

"Locusts will find the smell of this pesticide repulsive. They will then avoid the areas where pesticides have been applied and instead eat the crops of ordinary farmers nearby!"

Xiao Ye's eyes instantly turned cold.

"This is tantamount to using medicine to artificially drive disaster to someone else's home; it is a man-made disaster hidden beneath the surface of a natural disaster."

"That's right."

Gu Mingli nodded.

Xiao Ye seemed to be deep in thought, and pondered in a low voice.

"If certain forces possess this exclusive drug, they could first use it to drive the locusts into ordinary farmers' fields, creating the illusion of widespread crop failure."

"Ordinary people can't survive, and grain prices are skyrocketing. Then, they take advantage of the situation to seize their own bumper harvests and buy up the most valuable land from the people at low prices..."

This is truly a perfect closed loop that devours people without spitting out the bones.

Gu Mingli frowned as well.

Although he knew from modern history that ancient powerful clans would expand their power by annexing the land of ordinary people.

But I never expected that they would use such a heinous method.

Xiao Ye's eyes were deep and unfathomable; he had already made up his mind.

He stood up and walked out of the inn.

"Walk."

Gu Mingli immediately followed, asking, "Where are we going?"

"Let's go to the Cui family manor and find out what's going on."

East of the city.

In front of a vast estate.

Hundreds of ragged people were gathered outside the gate.

They clutched the yellowed land deeds in their hands, their faces filled with despair.

Several guards dressed in gray cloth shorts held wooden sticks to maintain order.

A burly steward stood on the steps, flipping through an account book.

"Two acres of land for twenty catties of rice. Those who are willing can sign here; those who are not, get out of here."

A gaunt old man knelt down with a thud, holding up the land deed with both hands.

"Please, sir, have mercy. I have a sick grandson at home. Twenty catties of rice won't last more than a few days. Could you please add two more catties?"

The guard kicked the old man in the chest.

The old man fell to the ground and coughed up blood.

The steward snorted and stepped forward to snatch the land deed.

"You ungrateful wretch! Everyone has seen the land outside Jizhou City! The crops there are perfectly fine."

"You poor counties are the ones suffering from disaster! This place is cursed; this is divine punishment sent upon you."

"The Cui family is already showing great mercy by accepting your ill-fated land; do you still want to bargain?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Mingli immediately became angry.

This is utterly deceptive and misleading!

He took a step forward, ready to argue.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist from behind.

Gu Mingli paused and turned his head to look.

Xiao Ye's eyes were deep, and he shook his head slightly.

Gu Mingli gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger.

He understood what Xiao Ye meant.

Revealing our identities now would only alert them.

The two stepped back a few paces and blended into the crowd of onlookers.

The steward of the Cui family manor was still flipping through the account books, with a businesslike expression.

The faces of the people were filled with despair and helplessness.

Gu Mingli saw all of this and clenched his fingers into his palm.

A shadow guard approached and whispered something to Xiao Ye.

Xiao Ye grabbed Gu Mingli's wrist and led him out of the crowd.

"There's some noise behind us. The shadow guards have lured them away. Let's go around and take a look."

Gu Mingli's eyes lit up; it seemed the Shadow Guard had discovered a new clue.

The two quietly withdrew from the crowd and walked eastward along the earthen wall surrounding the manor.

The Cui family's estate was enormous.

The earthen wall stretched for half a mile, and thorns grew on top of it.

Xiao Ye said, "The shadow guards said they just saw people from the manor carrying a wine jar away from here. The remaining guards were lured away by them."

"But there's no door here!"

Gu Mingli walked along, observing the wall as he went.

He stopped when he reached the northeast corner.

There is a noticeable repair mark at the base of the wall.

The mortar was two shades lighter than the surrounding area, and the weeds in the brick joints were shorter.

He squatted down and ran his fingers along the cracks in the brickwork.

He touched a loose brick near the base of the wall.

With a gentle push, the brick dented in half an inch.

"There's a secret."