Chapter 912: What a Huge Chessboard
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Ye Hanyuan knocked on the drum, he had once said that the Marquis of Changxing had even sent troops to surround the government office and banned Ye Xiaoci’s family to cover up his crimes.
It was very difficult for Ye Hanyuan to escape from the North alone. Ye Xiaoci must have helped him.
Along the way, Ye Hanyuan had suffered many a.s.sa.s.sination attempts and persecutions. He had only arrived at the capital after narrowly escaping death, so it was impossible for Ye Xiaoci not to know.
All of this was related to the n.o.bles.
It seemed that Ye Xiaoci was already dissatisfied with the n.o.bles.
The fact that the Imperial Court had issued a national policy also gave Ye Xiaoci a headache. The government was the first to bear the brunt of accepting and settling the refugees. The interests of the government and King Yue Fei had unknowingly reached an agreement.
However, in fact, it was not a good thing for Ye Xiaoci to be related to the
court officials and va.s.sal lords.
However, Princess Shaoyi, who was a member of the Ye Clan of Linjiang and the royalist party, had become a gentle medicine for the relationship between the two sides. She had become a bridge between the government office of the state capital and the Yue Fei’s Residence.
At that time, the Empress Dowager was still in charge of the royalists. In the eyes of outsiders, everything Princess Shaoyi and King Yue Fei did was in line with the interests of the royalists and was to a.s.sist the country.
The interests of both sides were the same. The change in the current political situation caused this inevitable outcome. Everything was more logical. However, it did not mean that there was any unspeakable cooperation between the two sides.
All of this was an unspoken mutual understanding between Ye Xiaoci and King Yue Fei.
However, the subsequent changes in the court had indeed caught the royalists off guard. The most shocked was the state government office, which shared King Yue Fei’s interests.
The state government office was responsible for taking in and settling the refugees. Without the support of the n.o.bles, this matter would be very difficult to do. However, the n.o.bles were perfunctory with the “national policy.” More than a million refugees posed an extraordinary pressure and threat to the government. If anything went wrong, the government and the Yue Fei’s Residence would bear the brunt.
How could the nearly 300,000 refugees in Liancheng be properly settled so quickly?
It was because Yu Youyao had settled the n.o.ble families led by the four families of Liancheng. In the future, she would take the initiative to develop the silkworm industry in Liao Province, forcing them to fork out money and effort.
This also forced Ye Xiaoci to cut off the balance and walk towards the opposite side of the land-owning cla.s.s. Under the premise that his interests were the same as King Yue Fei’s, they reached a further cooperation.
Back then, King Li of Zhou’s death had created an inherent illusion for the land-owning cla.s.s that the government would watch coldly and not interfere in the conflict between the va.s.sal lords and n.o.bles.
In addition to the government, the Han Clan was far away in Xi’an, so the news was delayed.
After Madam Zhangs complaint, Ye Xiaoci immediately placed martial law on Xiangping. Princess Shaoyi was also present. She immediately controlled public opinion in Xiangping and diverted the attention of the Han Clan, making them focus their energy on the Bai Residence and her.
Until now, the aristocratic families had yet to realize that the situation in
Xiangping City had already changed subtly.
Therefore, from the beginning, Ye Xiaoci’s position was exactly the same as hers. From the moment she went to the government office to beat the drum and voice her grievances, the government office had already reached a consensus with her to deal with the Han Clan.
Therefore, in a sense, Ye Xiaoci was the main force to deal with the Han Clan.
That was why the case was progressing so smoothly.
There was no obstruction.
Yu Youyao recalled everything that had happened since she came to Liaodong and connected the suspicious points. Only then did she realize that Yin Huaixi had set up a big game of chess in the North. He had even unknowingly pushed her out to be a chess player, turning the vast North into a chess piece on her fingertips.
As for himself, he had become the most powerful chess piece in her hand, guiding her step by step to achieve her goal of nibbling away the power of the n.o.bles and further controlling the North. Every step he took was guided by the situation.
As a result, no one noticed.
The case of Madam Zhangs complaint lasted for half a month. Ye Xiaoci had delayed the progress of the case to cooperate with her to deal with the public opinion of the Han Clan.
Xiangping City was not made of iron. Martial law could only guard it for a while. It could only cause obstacles and delays on outside information for a period of time. If they could not achieve full martial law like the Quanzhou Prefecture, there would still be leaked news.
It seemed that at this moment, the Han Clan, which was far away in Xi’an, had already sensed that something was amiss through various information channels.
However, it was too late.
Just as public opinion was about to brew, Yin Huaixi’s chess game was completed.
When Ye Xiaoci started the trial, it was time to reap the harvest.
Yu Youyao couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “As expected, speed is important in war! ”
During the period of time when the news was sealed, they quickly and directly grasped all the relevant witnesses and physical evidence of Liu Dagen’s case in their hands, not giving the land-owning cla.s.s any chance to react.
This was the result of the efforts of the state government office, King Yue Fei, and Princess Shaoyi.
One could imagine the consequences of using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.
As a “victim”, Princess Shaoyi had previously been represented by Ye Xiaoci. The Ye family of Linjiang had charged into the battle for her, and later, there was the silent Yu Clan to protect her.
The next day, Yu Youyao got up at dawn. After washing up and putting on simple makeup, she had breakfast and asked Dong Mei to help her change into her imperial mandate dress. She was not so particular about her usual clothes and could wear them usually. Most of the time, she wore them to attend some banquets to show off her special status.
The usual clothes were also made by the Internal Affairs Department. They were divided into spring and summer outfits, and autumn and winter outfits. According to the seasons, there were long dresses and long jackets. Although there were rules for the materials used, silk, satin, and other materials could be chosen according to the rules.
Therefore, although the crown clothes of the same grade were more or less the same, there were still certain differences due to the difference in the materials used and the different t.i.tles.
When the crown clothes were worn out, one could spend money and send it to the Internal Affairs Department for it to be repaired. Every three years, one could also go to the Internal Affairs Department to apply for new clothes again and change their old clothes for new clothes. However, one had to pay for the materials needed to make the clothes.
Every year, some large families would spend a large sum of money just to repair and apply for crown clothes.
She was wearing a long red dress with real purple intertwined branches and patterns. Golden clouds and phoenixes were embroidered on it. Her head accessory was a decorated pearl jade crown. It was lighter than the emerald crown that was paired with her gown, but it still looked magnificent.
After Yu Youyao changed her clothes, she boarded the carriage and went to the government office.
At this moment, the news of Liu Dagen’s death being publicly tried in the government office had already spread throughout Xiangping and the surrounding counties, and it was still spreading.
This case was a spectacular case that caused a commotion for half a month. It also involved Princess Shaoyi and received strong public attention. The news also spread to the entire world. There were even many busybodies who had nothing to do. They specially rushed to Liaodong from all over the country to observe the development of the situation further.
When the carriage arrived at the government office, the streets near the government office were already filled with people.
For the first time, Yu Youyao realized that there were actually so many people in Xiangping City..