Chapter 11: Those Who Often Rebel Know

Yan Ning paused in her steps and looked at Li Shun, "Is he lying?"

Li Shun shook his head: "No, his ancestors were all runners, and they often took people to Lingnan, so he should have the secret recipe."

Yan Ning pressed her sword against Wang Liu's neck, "Write down the prescription now, and write another letter to the First Prince to throw him off the scent. Once we pass Cangzhou, I will let you go."

Wang."

Yan Ning lost her patience, "You can't do this and you can't do that; if you talk nonsense again, I'll send you to your grave with one strike."

Wang Liu immediately shrank back, not daring to speak.

After a good while, he said: "I can write a fake address too. When we are almost at Lingnan, I will tell you the prescription, and then you let me go."

Yan Ning felt that this would also work.

On the other side, the Eastern Palace.

The Eastern Palace looked somewhat empty; the original Yuanqi ornaments and calligraphy and paintings had either been stolen by thieves or sold off by Yan Yu.

There was no other way; the small box of gems in the storehouse and his study were also gone. He couldn't pay his subordinates, so he could only sell whatever could be sold first.

Yan Yu held a note, furious and wanting to flip the table, but then remembered that this sandalwood table was now one of the most valuable things in the entire Eastern Palace, so he slammed his fist onto the table instead.

He gritted his teeth and said: "My good elder brother actually has some ability; he actually managed to bluff Wei Huayuan. Useless trash, he could let Yan Ze run away while leading several hundred men!"

The Crown Princess at his side said gently: "Do not be anxious. They have now been demoted to commoners; we have plenty of opportunities."

Yan Yu was still burning with rage. He never expected that even though Yan Ze's family had been demoted to commoners, he still couldn't defeat him, and now he had no money to hire people to kill him.

Yan Yu took a deep breath. That thief who stole from the national treasury was infuriating; they took everything, whether valuable or not, leaving him without even brush, ink, paper, or inkstone. The set in his hand was one he had gotten from the Imperial Concubine.

Life was too difficult; he had to go find the Emperor.

Yan Yu had only heard that the national treasury had been emptied. With so much gold and treasure inside, how could they have taken everything all at once? Besides, the Emperor might have other private treasuries; it was impossible to put all his eggs in one basket.

Ignoring the Crown Princess's dissuasion, Yan Yu went straight to the Qianqing Palace.

When he arrived, the Emperor was still sighing and saying to the Eunuch at his side: "Now that the national treasury has been emptied, the ministers' salaries cannot even be paid."

Yan Yu looked closely and saw that the brush his father was using was even split.

The last shred of hope in his heart was extinguished; that thief had truly taken everything that could be carried away.

Seeing Yan Yu come over, the old Emperor sighed again.

He wanted to open his mausoleum. Over the years, he had been putting some treasures inside bit by bit, but if he took them out to use now, he wouldn't have as many things to be buried with after he died.

But now, he had no choice but to use them.

After hearing this, Yan Yu was full of disbelief: "Father, you actually want to open the mausoleum!"

The old Emperor gave a bitter smile: "I am afraid that even if the mausoleum is opened, it won't last long."

Yan Yu asked sneakily: "Father, this son heard that Eldest Brother lived extravagantly on the road to exile. Could it be that Eldest Brother hid some things?"

The Emperor immediately denied it: "Impossible, it absolutely cannot be your brother. Where would he have a place to hide them? If he has money, it is subsidized by the Empress Dowager."

The atmosphere inside the Qianqing Palace became very depressed all of a sudden.

The old Emperor couldn't help but ask: "Could it be that I did something wrong, and the Heavens sent down punishment to empty the national treasury and your private treasury?"

Aside from divine punishment, the Emperor really couldn't think of anyone who could directly take away such a huge pile of things.

Seeing his father suddenly look ten years older, Yan Yu comforted him: "How could Father have done anything wrong?"

The Emperor did not pay him any mind, but remained immersed in his own world.

He muttered to himself: "Could it be that I shouldn't have demoted Yan Ze to a commoner? Could it be that he is the next Son of Heaven recognized by the Heavens?"

Hearing this, Yan Yu pursed his lips, his hands under his wide sleeves gripping tightly.

He had to find a way to kill Yan Ze as soon as possible.

The Emperor looked at Yan Yu: "You have been doing many things behind my back."

Yan Yu immediately lowered his head, his expression unreadable.

After a good while, he said: "This son will not act recklessly in the future, and... this son will have no money in the future, so I won't be able to act recklessly."

Yan Yu kept his head low, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes; when the time comes, he would first kill Yan Ning, whom his elder brother cherished like the apple of his eye.

On the other side, Yan Ning sneezed.

"Who is talking about me?"

Yan Ning rubbed her nose and began to look at the transmigrator's guide.

This series of short videos was all about teaching strategies for transmigrating to ancient times, from the production of soap to the production of explosives and Cannons, all with detailed instructions.

Yan Ning took a look; there was even postpartum care for sows, planting methods for various vegetables, and even instructions for the Steam Engine and the Generator.

In other words, once they arrived in Lingnan, they could secretly manufacture a Generator, and arrange for Electric Lamps and electric fans when the time came.

Yan Ning clicked on one at random, and it was full of solid information.

Even more outrageous was that there was a video called "Rebellion Guide," which started with: "Friends who often rebel know that the success rate of rebelling in a prosperous age is too low."

"Rebellion also requires looking at your status and position, whether you are a commoner, a powerful official at the center, or a high-ranking local official. The paths to rebellion are also very different. A coup by a powerful official has the highest success rate. If you are in a local area, far from the center, choose a place that is easy to defend and hard to attack to develop quietly."

"..."

Yan Ning and Yan Ze watched with great interest.

Ji Lan was a bit curious and lowered her voice to ask: "Do you really want to rebel? Didn't you two say last time that you couldn't get up at five o'clock to attend the morning court?"

Yan Ze figured it out: "What of it? Those foolish emperors don't attend morning court for decades at a time. Later, I'll just change the morning court to a noon court or an evening court."

Yan Ning also nodded: "We don't have to be the Emperor, but we must definitely rebel!"

Otherwise, their whole family would have suffered in vain.

The few of them were chatting happily about rebelling when someone knocked on the carriage.

Yan Ning put away the iPad and lifted the curtain, "What is it?"

Li Shun scratched his head, "This little one is here to ask, we are almost at a small town ahead, and further ahead is Ningcheng. Should we rest in the small town or whip the horses to hurry to Ningcheng?"

Yan Ning remembered that she still needed to buy some iron blocks to upgrade the warehouse.

She said, "Let's go to Ningcheng."

Li Shun acknowledged the order, and the carriage began to speed along the imperial road; Yan Ning and the others were still unaccustomed to it and nearly vomited.

After galloping like this for about an hour, the carriage finally slowed down, and after a long while more, they entered Ningcheng just before the city gates closed.

As soon as they entered, the gates of Ningcheng were shut.

The carriage wanted to continue moving, but it was stopped by several people wearing military uniforms.

Yan Ning lifted the curtain: "Who dares to stop us?"