Rebirth of Poisoned Empress, by 颜若优雅

Chapter 28

"Currently, there isn't any movement. The war at the northwest border is becoming more tense. The marquis and his son have received the decree to manage the military rations. Perhaps the duke could intervene and give some pointers? There might be some unexpected surprised in store for you."

The Jing Family was a family that rose in power due to military achievements, but their military powers and authorities were revoked after they aided the crown prince during the previous generations' fight over the throne. The Family now held idle positions in the Imperial City. Even so, the emperor still held doubts and suspicions toward them. During his previous life, it was around this time that the emperor suddenly passed the decree to reinstate the Marquis Huaiyang, and ordered the father-son pair to manage the military rations in the northwest army.

Marquis Huaiyang father-son pair overcame surges of unfavorable factors and finally collected 100,000 dans of grain *1 dan = 100 litres or 176 pints* only to discover that mold had permeated a good portion of the rations. More than half of the 100,000 dan had gone bad. The emperor was furious and took the opportunity to pin the blame on the Marquis Huaiyang family. His crimes included charges such as deliberately harming the army, colluding with the enemy, conspiring against the crown, and disappointing the decree. Any one of the charges, even by itself, was sufficient to doom any family, regardless of how affluent it once was.

The Marquis Huaiyang father-son pair attempted to justify themselves but with an act of rage, the emperor had three generations of the Jing Family exterminated. Overnight, more than a thousand people were killed. 

In his previous life, Shen Liang followed the flow of the public opinion. Similar to them, he was oblivious to the truth and applauded the ruin of the Jing Family. It wasn't until years later that he discovered unintentionally that the matter of the military ruins was nothing more than schemes conspired by the imperial family. The purpose was to eradicate the Jing Family entirely. Shen Liang had inquired Qin Yunshen about the matter afterwards, but what he was met with was Qin Yunshen's indifference.

Since the matter was a conspiracy, then with Pei Yuanxian's intervention, there must be some trails left behind by the perpetrators. Perhaps the Marquis Huaiyang family could be saved.

"You mean there's someone with designs on the military rations?"

Marquis Huaiyang had just received the decree to manage and collect the military rations. Pei Yuanxian's eyebrows furrowed at in indecipherable degree. He was immediately able to grasp onto the key point. At the same time, he was also able to infer who the perpetrator had to be in order to have the audacity to make moves on the military rations. 

"With the duke's power, a simple investigation should reveal the audacity of the news soon enough," Shen Liang nodded his head. He had two purposes in revealing this news. 1.) he had no intention of owing Pei Yuanxian a favor and 2.) Shen Liang wanted to save the Jing Family. Under the current emperor's suspicion and hunt, even the Jing Family, an old and affluent family could even disappear and be eradicated without a trace. If the Jing Family was gone, then wouldn't his Wei Family not be far off?

Although the Wei Family wasn't one that the emperor could shake easily, Shen Liang had to take the necessary precautions as soon as possible. After all, this was one of his most meaningful intents for his rebirth. 

"This lord will send someone to look into this matter soon. As for the matter with Fu Yunxi, do you really not require this lord's aid?"

After momentarily giving it some though, Pei Yuanxian's scowl relieved itself. He sincerely wished to see what Shen Liang had planned. He wanted to see what this young boy wanted, but it was a pity that the little one was too defensive. Not cute at all.