“Get out!” 

“Death to who dares to desecrate the ancestors!” 

“Get them out!”

 The angry yells were overwhelming and judging by the swarm of people as far as the eye can see, there is no way they can make their way in unless they start killing people. However, once they start killing then things will truly be out of control. 

“I will go get him!” Ning Cheng jumps up and gets ready to hop above people’s heads. 

“Wait!” Zhi Wei quickly grabs Ning Cheng as she scans the crowd with a grim expression. 

It is an option to send in exceptional fighters like Gu Nan Yi and Ning Cheng but Zhi Wei worry that like last time at the dock that there will be Chang clan’s people hiding, waiting to make their move during the chaos. Chang clan’s men might not be able to hurt Gu Nan Yi or Ning Cheng but they could easily just kill a few people to make sure this thing spins out of control. If that happens, then they can forget about taking control of South Sea, in fact, even walking out of South Sea alive might become questionable. It would seem that Ning Yi had also thought of this since he never ordered his guards to confront the crowd that has surrounded them. 

“We have to move carefully. There are too many people, this could easily get out of control.” Thinking for a moment, Zhi Wei tells Ning Cheng “Let His Highness know that we have arrived.” 

A bit reluctant, Ning Cheng rolls his eyes. Zhi Wei warns coldly “Would you believe it, if you don’t listen to me today then tomorrow you will be packing your bag for the Capital.” 

Resigned, Ning Cheng shot a flare into the sky and was immediately rewarded by another similar golden color flare that came from the direction of the crowd. Seeing something else shooting pass the crowd’s head, Zhi Wei yells “Brother Gu!”

In a lightning fast move the second Zhi Wei yelled his name, Gu Nan Yi jumped up into the air and caught the thing. 

The people just felt something shot above their head, before they could even blink to get a better look Gu Nan Yi has already returned back to Zhi Wei’s side.

The item was a gold colored round container with a piece of paper with the words “Use profit to entice” on it. 

Zhi Wei’s eyes light up. This is exactly what she was thinking. 

Turning to the village leader, Zhi Wei asks “Where is the closest government granary?” The government granaries are only open by order of the palace as it is usually used during disaster relief or to control grain prices. 

“Within 30 kilometers, there are two” Puzzled, the village leader answered “Why are you asking about them? These granaries are under strict control. They are directly under Minister Zhou’s authority and can only be open with his personal order.”

Of course they are under strict control. Recently, because of the maritime office, the nobleman and the government officials are in the middle of duking it out so Minister Zhou will naturally want to make sure the granaries are firmly in his control. In the future, if the grain prices fluctuate then his control over the granaries is what will make sure he keeps his upper hand. 

Sneering coldly, Zhi Wei waves Helian and Yao Yang Yu over “Your Highness, Master Yao!”

After listening to what Zhi Wei had to say, Helian blinks and asks “If they are stubborn, can we just off them?” (As in kill them.) 

Sneering coldly again, Zhi Wei says through gritted teeth “This time you can.” 

Once again listening to his aunty’s advice of “this you can”, Helian and Yao Yang Yu take Hilian’s eight braves along with 200 guards and split two ways each taking a granary. Helian and Yao Yang Yu made a pact that whoever got the least grain will have to put a blade of grass on their buttocks and crawl on the floor three rounds. 

Calling over Yan Huai Shi’s butler, Zhi Wei tells him “Go back to the manor immediately and get all the money you can over to the town of Pingye. You must be fast, the faster the better.” Knowing how important this is, the butler didn’t question Zhi Wei at all but took off immediately after bowing to her. 

“Village leader, go gather every person you can and get every gong you can find. Sound the gongs loudly to tell everyone it has been announced that due to the disasters and raise in food prices, the government is going to open the granaries. All elderly persons 60 and above can receive ten liters of rice, five silver coins. Citizens who work as fishermen can receive ten liters of rice and three silver coins. All workers of shipyards can receive ten liters of rice and one silver coin. This disaster relief will last for just three days and all items given will need to be signed by the person receiving them personally.” Pulling out a wad of cash, Zhi Wei hands it to the village leader “No matter what it is, as long as it will make a big sound, use it to make sure everyone hears the announcement. This money is to pay your men for their trouble. Once the crowd has disbursed then another equal amount will be given to them.” 

Holding the money, the village leader’s hands shook with excitement but still asked with hesitation “Where are the grains going to come from? There are no official orders from the top.” 

“My words are the official order.” Zhi Wei gives him a chilling smile “You can tell everyone to say that.” 

“You all.” Zhi Wei points at Ning Cheng and the remaining a hundred guards “Take off your outer robes and squeeze into the crowd. Don’t do anything. Once the crowd starts to disperse, you just need to focus on those who are unwilling to leave or whose expression looks suspicious. Gather those people up!”

“Yes sir!” 

The men scatter to obey Zhie Wi’s order, leaving her staring up at the sky thinking by the time people rushed to the granaries everything there should be prepared. Instead of forcefully disperse, it would be easier to just use enticement. Instead of wasting effort to convince or confront, they might as well wave a wad of cash from afar and get them to run off on their own. 

As for the granary, there will obviously be some trouble from the granary officials which is why Helian and Yao Yang Yu who have high status are the best ones to be sent there. 

Grabbing Gu Nan Yi, Zhi Wei found two villagers and asked for some cotton clothes. (The nobles usually wear silk or finer fabric). 

“Brother Gu.” Reminded of something, Zhi Wei says to Gu Nan Yi “Once the crowd begins to disperse, please watch from somewhere above to notify us when you see something amiss.”

Gu Nan Yi, who forever stands three steps away, close enough for her to be within his reach, munches on his walnuts nonchalantly. 

In a short time, the village leader leads ten strong young lads who have no relations to Yan clan at all, striking their gongs yelling loudly as they come close. There weren’t quite enough gongs for all of them, so some were carrying basins but it produced enough ruckus anyway to promptly suppress the crowd’s noise. 

Those at the outer rim were the first to hear the announcements and all turn around with joy in their faces. Like a wind sweeping through the crowd, from the outer rim going inward, a buzz went out wherever it touched. These people are mostly included in the list of citizens who are eligible for disaster relief. Zhi Wei knew a lot of people here are hired by Yan clan which is why she had added that particular category. Moreover, people of South Sea enjoy longevity which means a lot of people have elderlies who are older than sixty. The elderlies’ disaster relief was the most generous so their family members will for sure all go as a big group to make certain everything proceeds smoothly…which of course means that in no time, this crowd will break up. With limited time allotted and limited locations given, by the time these people slowly made their way to and back, things would’ve ended here. 

Good news always travels especially fast. Once the village leader had made his round, everyone had received the news and all had an expression of surprised joy. All the people recognized the village leader, plus no one in the right mind would dare to lie about such a thing so immediately someone shouted “Let’s go to the granary!” The shout was answered by thousands of people. The standoff has been going on for quite a while, nothing seems to be happening within the ancestry chapel and it doesn’t look like the men surrounding it are about to force their way in anytime soon thus everyone was already getting impatient so they immediately threw away the rocks and sticks immediately upon hearing the call to leave. After all, nothing trumps filling their belly…plus is not like the ancestry chapel has actually been defiled yet. 

I know you guys are probably anxious to see more scenes between our two leads, but trust me, these scenes are vital to set up some of the coolest scenes that for some reason the drama chose to change or leave out completely.

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