Chapter 147: It's Definitely Aimed at the Cheng Family Army!

Cheng Chengxuan's face was equally grave.

"It's Zhou Old General's son who's gotten into trouble—Zhou Old General is sure to be implicated as well."

Cheng Old Madam's brows knitted slightly.

"What exactly happened?"

"It's about the Disaster Relief."

Cheng Chengxuan slowly relayed the message Chu Yuan had sent.

"Zhou Old General's son, Lord Zhou, was sent by Imperial Decree to the northwest to oversee Disaster Relief, but something went wrong in the process. It triggered a riot among the refugees, and lives were lost."

"A few Imperial Officials, brandishing so-called evidence and witnesses from who knows where, impeached Lord Zhou, accusing him of embezzling the Disaster Relief silver. They claimed Lord Zhou not only failed to deliver the relief grain to the refugees, but also sent troops to violently suppress them and beat them."

"Now Lord Zhou is already on the road being escorted back to the Capital, and the Shunhe Emperor's exact words were…"

"Brought back to the Capital and beheaded."

"Bang!"

Cheng Qiuluo slammed the table heavily as she stood up.

"How could Lord Zhou possibly be that kind of person?!"

"This is a frame-up, an absolute frame-up!"

Cheng Qiuruo patted her hand.

It wasn't just Qiuluo—she herself was furious too. Lord Zhou had been their father's close friend and had always looked after them.

In her memory, Lord Zhou had always been a frugal man. His clothes, apart from his official robe, were washed until faded and the threads were pulling, yet he'd smile and say they could still be worn for two more years.

He'd even spent his own silver to buy a residence and settle the beggars in the city.

How could such a person possibly embezzle Disaster Relief silver?

Cheng Old Madam's grip on her cane tightened slightly.

"Chengxuan, what do you think?"

Cheng Chengxuan gripped the teacup in his hand so tightly his knuckles went white, and said in a low voice.

"I'm afraid the one behind this is targeting the Cheng Family Army."

Hearing this, Cheng Old Madam gave a slight nod.

When it came to the details of how Lord Zhou had been framed, Cheng Chengxuan clenched his teeth and said indignantly.

"The court said the expenses for Disaster Relief would be split half and half with the Imperial Treasury, but the news I've received is that this so-called half, by the time it reached the local relief officials, had shrunk to less than four-tenths!"

"And some Imperial Officials, unable to raise donations, set their sights on the Disaster Relief silver and grain meant for other disaster areas. Where the relief grain fell short, they either mixed sand into the rice porridge or sent heavy troops to suppress the people—those places didn't have any major incidents."

After that, his tone grew heavy.

"But in Lord Zhou's case, by the time the Disaster Relief silver reached his hands, only one-tenth was left. Unable to raise donations, he had no choice but to sell off his own property to make up the shortfall, but it still wasn't enough."

"Moreover, he had always been lenient by nature. He was unwilling to feed the refugees sand-mixed rice like the other places, nor could he bear to use force against them. The so-called dispatching of troops to suppress was nothing more than Lord Zhou himself being injured by the rioting refugees, with his guards forced to step in."

"But the injuries those refugees suffered weren't even as severe as Lord Zhou's."

"Suffering from cold and hunger, quite a few elderly and children didn't make it through."

The hall was very quiet, with only Cheng Chengxuan's voice—sometimes angry, sometimes heavy—breaking the silence.

Hearing all this, the mood of the Cheng Family was very heavy.

Cheng Qiuluo clenched her fist and slammed it hard on the table, grinding her teeth.

"Those parasites and scoundrels are simply going too far!"

She cursed outright, and for once the rest of the Cheng Family didn't say a word against her for it—because although the others hadn't spoken, in their hearts they had already cursed those Corrupt Officials hundreds and thousands of times over.

"Lord Zhou is Zhou Old General's only son. For those people to dare go this far, there must be someone backing them! Who could it be?"

Cheng Qiuluo quietly voiced her guess.

"Could it be… the Crown Prince?"

After saying that, she shook her head again.

"But didn't he previously refuse to take over the Cheng Family Army?"

Cheng Qiuyun narrowed her eyes slightly and gave a cold snort.

"He may be unwilling, but those who want him to take it over are not few—for instance, the Empress!"

Right—the Empress was a spy from the Dongxun Kingdom!

Cheng Qiuluo was so anxious she was pacing in circles.

"What do we do now? We absolutely cannot let the Cheng Family Army really fall into the Crown Prince's hands!"

"Otherwise, should we secretly hand over the information we've found to Zhou Old General?"

Cheng Chengxuan shook his head.

"Such a huge fuss has been kicked up—this matter will need some kind of resolution in the end."

"Too many people are involved behind this—important court officials, members of the imperial family have all stuck their hands in. Given the Shunhe Emperor's temperament, for a problem that could be solved by killing just a few people, he absolutely wouldn't waste the time and effort to investigate it thoroughly, nor would he want to offend more people."

Cheng Chengxuan gave a cold laugh.

In fact, even if these pieces of evidence were slapped right in the Shunhe Emperor's face, he wouldn't so much as glance at them.

Perhaps he didn't dare to look, either—only wanting to maintain the surface calm, then hypnotizing himself, pretending his Da Yin was still that peaceful and prosperous realm of perfect order.

But in the end, the only one being deceived was himself.

When all was said and done, he was simply cowardly and incompetent!

Beside her, Cheng Qiuruo lowered her eyelids, as if murmuring to herself.

"What has happened to this world? When villains hold sway, is being a good person also a mistake?"

"No!"

Cheng Qiuyun looked steadily at her.

"They're the ones in the wrong. Justice may come late, but the truth will always come to light one day."

"If it doesn't, then we'll fight for it ourselves!"

Hearing these words, the confusion in Cheng Qiuruo's eyes gave way to a light, and she gradually regained her usual spirited look. She nodded firmly, her tone resolute.

"Mm, I understand!"

Having said that, she rose and walked toward her own room.

"Grandmother, Mother, I'm going back to my room to draw up blueprints!"

No matter how angry or anxious she was here, it was useless. She had to seize the time to continue improving the Gunther gun, and the Gunpowder as well.

Justice must be upheld by absolute martial force!

Watching her slender yet resolute back, Cheng Qiuluo scratched the back of her head.

"What's gotten into my sister?"

Just now she looked like a resentful woman full of grievances, and now she's suddenly become a hot-blooded, high-spirited heroine brimming with fighting spirit.

Wang Shi gave her a helpless look, smiling and shaking her head.

Well, it's fine for the younger daughter to be like this—at least she doesn't have to guess what she's thinking about all day, and it saves some worry, doesn't it?

But very soon, she stopped thinking that way.

"Roar—"

A tiger's roar suddenly came from outside. Everyone was used to it and didn't react much.

But upon hearing this sound, Cheng Qiuluo excitedly sprang up, ran to the main hall's doorway, cupped her hands around her mouth like a trumpet, and howled back.

"Aawoo!"

The people inside hadn't been startled by the tiger's roar, but they were quite startled by her commotion.

Cheng Qiuluo hurried outside.

"Grandmother, Mother, I'm going to release the Tiger!"

Release the Tiger?

That tiger may listen to Yu'an, but it doesn't necessarily show a friendly face to others!

What if its beastly nature flares up and someone gets hurt?

Wang Shi was about to chase after her and drag her back, but Meng Shi stopped her.

"Just relax. Qiuluo gets along wonderfully well with Big Yellow and the others now—you could say they work together in perfect harmony."

As she spoke, a smile played at Meng Shi's lips.

"Who knows, she might really be able to train a Tiger squad."

Wang Shi sighed, her face troubled.

"What a crazy girl—where does she get any semblance of a proper young lady?"

Meng Shi looked at her and asked.

"Then tell me, what should a young lady be like?"

"Well..."

Wang Shi was taken aback.

Indeed, if one thought about it carefully, weren't all those notions about how a woman should be—quiet and dignified, gentle and obedient—merely defined by the world?

Meng Shi said with a faint smile.

"Follow your heart. Regardless of how other families' daughters are, the daughters of our Cheng Family should be exactly like this!"

"Um..."

Cheng Qiuyun timidly interrupted them.

"Mother, Aunt, what's more important right now is the matter of Zhou Old General's family."

After all, this concerns the Cheng Family Army.

The women all looked toward Cheng Old Madam.

"Pomo (Grandmother)."

"What do you think?"

Cheng Old Madam thought for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"The people must be saved, but even so, Zhou Old General will ultimately be forced to hand over his Military Power."

She said meaningfully.

"If a war breaks out at this time, changing commanders on the eve of battle is a great taboo in military strategy!"