"Brother Xiao Hu, I know you’re in a tough spot, but you must help your brother here, or else I’m finished. If Lord Yelu finds out that I’ve lost this grain, he’ll kill me for sure."
Xiao Hu frowned and thought for a while: "Lord Ah San, see if there’s any leeway. This Ahetai is my elder brother."
Ah San frowned, looking impatient, and said: "Then wait for a while. Let Yelu handle it."
"Thank you, Lord Ah San, thank you, Brother Xiao Hu."
Ahetai immediately expressed his gratitude.
After waiting for about two hours, Yelu finally arrived in haste. Seeing the torch-lit scene, Yelu said: "Who dares to steal grain from my Yelu Mansion!"
Ah San was not afraid of Yelu and directly retorted: "Heh, Yelu, such a big mouth you have. What do you mean by ’steal’? This batch of grain has been requisitioned by our Commandery Princess."
Yelu turned his head to look at Ah San, immediately furrowing his brows. How could this be? How did people from the Imperial Princess Mansion catch wind of such a secretive grain transport!
But this batch of grain is of great importance and cannot be just given away to the Imperial Princess Mansion.
Thinking this, Yelu turned to Ah San and asked: "Lord Ah San, why are you detaining my grain?"
Ah San looked at Yelu and said: "Lord Yelu, isn’t this grain the court’s?"
Yelu said: "Of course not, this grain belongs to the Yelu family and has nothing to do with the court. Moreover, this batch of grain is to be transported north to support the family, and cannot be detained."
Ah San frowned and said: "Private grain."
Yelu said: "That’s right, it’s private grain. If it were public grain, it would be one thing for the Imperial Princess Mansion to detain it, but detaining our Yelu family’s private grain is against the rules."
"Private grain, hahaha, what a good ’private grain’."
Just as Yelu was making his excuse, a voice suddenly broke it, startling Yelu. He turned to see Zhao Ya approaching with Ah Da and Ah Er.
And standing beside them was Chen Jiusi.
At this moment, he saw Chen Jiusi smiling at him. Yelu immediately realized that he had been tricked by Chen Jiusi.
Nonetheless, he feigned calmness and looked at Zhao Ya, saying: "Greetings to the Commandery Princess."
Zhao Ya looked at Yelu and said: "What was that you said earlier, these grains are your private grain?"
"Indeed, Commandery Princess, these are my Yelu family’s private grain. Please, Commandery Princess, verify this."
Zhao Ya heard this and looked at Yelu, saying: "Private grain, do you have proof?"
Yelu said: "If the Commandery Princess requires it, there are letters of correspondence as evidence."
Zhao Ya laughed and said: "Very well, since it’s private grain, theoretically, whether you wish to sell it or otherwise, it’s none of my concern. But let me ask you, Yelu, since it’s private grain, why are you using the court’s Black Cavalry for transportation? Are the Black Cavalry your private soldiers as well?"
Yelu was rendered speechless by Zhao Ya’s questioning, stammering without being able to give a clear response.
The Black Cavalry is a force for the court to suppress local areas, not a servant for personal use. This meant that Yelu could deploy them to maintain order locally, but not for his personal errands.
Of course, officially, these words mean nothing, as many officials privately misuse public resources; it can be said that everyone does it.
But doing so doesn’t make it right, and it’s not something that can withstand scrutiny. If someone above were to focus on this point as leverage, they could use it against you.
There would be no defense, as since the founding of Daqian, it has been strictly prohibited to misuse public resources or to treat the court’s soldiers as personal soldiers.
If investigated, Yelu would find himself in an inextricable situation.
And more importantly, the Commandery Princess was clearly intending to make an issue of this now.
Are you not claiming that this grain is private grain of the Yelu family?
If it’s private, then using the Black Cavalry for personal matters violates Daqian laws, punishable by dismissal at best and even posing a threat to life at worst.
So Yelu was at a loss for how to respond for a moment.
After all, there is a degree of discretionary power involved here, and it depends on how the Commandery Princess decides to act.
It was at this time that Chen Jie came over with a smile and said: "Lord Yelu, come, let’s have a word."
Yelu looked at Chen Jie with eyes full of coldness—this brat who had set him up, and now wanted a private conversation.
Yelu thought, looking at Chen Jie, and Chen Jie glanced at Yelu: "Lord, why do you look at me so?"
Yelu then pulled Chen Jie aside and said: "Was it you who set me up?"
Chen Jie said: "Lord, what rumors are you talking about?"
Yelu said: "From the start, you set a trap for me. Also, my grain transport route and related information are top secret. This information could only be leaked by someone in my inner circle. How could you just happen to be here then?"
"Zhou Chu, is Zhou Chu your spy?"
Yelu was not stupid, but quite clever. He immediately realized Chen Jie’s plot and understood that the only person who could have leaked such confidential plans must be Zhou Chu.
So Zhou Chu deliberately acted with Chen Jie to deceive him with a ruse, and thinking about this made Yelu gnash his teeth in anger. How could he have fallen for such a vile trick? It was infuriating!
However, he could only seethe in powerless fury without an outburst at this time, especially since Chen Jie’s current power was not inferior to his own.
Moreover, with the Commandery Princess nearby, he had to swallow his anger with a forced, awkward smile and said: "Chen Jiusi, hehe fine, let’s see how this unfolds."
Thinking this, Yelu said: "What else do you want to say to me?"
Chen Jie replied: "Lord Yelu, why be so angry? Things have come to this point today. You merely have two paths to choose from."