Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 522 Is there something fishy?

Li Chu and others who were far away in Jinling were always worried about their wives and children in Chang'an. They were eager to return home and were racing against time to get back to their families as soon as possible.

On the day they arrived in Jinling, they rested for only half a day before returning to their work. That evening, the Jinling prefect prepared a sumptuous meal for them and warmly invited them for a few drinks.

However, Li Chu and others did not indulge in this moment of relaxation, but were concerned about the disaster. At dawn the next morning, they began to understand the local disaster situation and discuss countermeasures.

Fortunately, some of the relief supplies brought by Li Chu and others were able to temporarily alleviate some of the urgent needs. After careful consideration, Li Chu, Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi decided to divide their troops into three groups, each performing their own duties.

Li Chu was responsible for a comprehensive investigation of the actual local situation, including the extent of the disaster, the number of people affected, the losses, etc., in order to provide accurate data support for subsequent disaster relief work; Li Guangbi focused on raising funds to ensure an adequate supply of disaster relief materials; and Guo Ziyi was responsible for investigating the local military and food supplies to be prepared.

On the surface, investigating the local situation and raising funds were both for the common goal of disaster relief, but in fact, Li Chu asked Guo Ziyi to secretly investigate the military situation.

He was worried that the Jinling prefect was not a good person. If they discovered something they shouldn't during the investigation, it might cause panic and dissatisfaction in the prefect, and even make him desperate. Therefore, it was important to understand the local military situation in advance and be fully prepared so that they could handle any unexpected situation with ease.

Li Guangbi's progress was relatively smooth. After all, Jinling was once a prosperous place, with many wealthy merchants. Although it was hit by the cold, the wealthy merchants were not greatly affected. Li Guangbi asked the prefect to gather the wealthy merchants, and offered them some benefits from the Minister of Revenue. In addition, they respected the prefect, and finally donated some money and grain.

To facilitate the investigation, Li Chu recalled Feng Shengyi and sent another secret guard to guard the remaining supplies outside the city with the Dugu family soldiers. Two days later, the investigation of the disaster was almost complete.

Guo Ziyi, on the other hand, was in a bit of a pickle. Since his investigation was covert, he couldn't directly contact the person in charge of the local garrison. He could only change into his nightgown and explore the barracks late at night...

During the day, he and Li Chu investigated the local situation together, and at night they looked for opportunities to sneak into the military camp. On the third night, Guo Ziyi was almost discovered, but fortunately he ran fast and traveled light, so he did not leave any evidence.

Fortunately, Guo Ziyi's travels over the past few nights were not in vain. He had a rough idea of ​​the location of the military camp, the number of people, weapons, etc., and he could report to Li Chu.

However, when raising funds, Li Guangbi discovered something amiss. During a meeting, he reported this to Li Chu: "Your Majesty, I have discovered that these local wealthy businessmen seem to obey the orders of Governor Du."

Li Chu heard this and asked, "Oh? Why do you say that, Lord Li?"

Li Guangbi said, "I originally summoned wealthy merchants in the name of the court, but no one responded. Although a few came, none of them were willing to contribute. However, the second time, I invited local wealthy merchants in the name of the prefect, and quite a few came. When they realized it was me who invited them, they wanted to leave. Fortunately, I sent someone to invite Prefect Du. Those wealthy merchants treated him with great respect."

Li Chu said, "But this doesn't mean anything. After all, Magistrate Du is the local leader. If he does his job well, he might have gained benefits for the local wealthy businessmen. That's why they trust Magistrate Du."

Li Guangbi continued, "In fact, I thought so too, so I borrowed the name of Magistrate Du. However, at that time, they were still reluctant to donate money. But when Magistrate Du was speaking, he made eye contact with a few of them, and they changed their minds and agreed to donate money. Later, everyone expressed their willingness to donate. That's why I was surprised why they suddenly changed their minds."

After a pause, Li Guangbi continued, "Afterwards, I secretly inquired and found out that the first few people who took the lead were well-known figures in the local Chamber of Commerce."

Li Chu began to ponder upon hearing this: "Could it be that this Du Zhifu is really up to something?" He said to Li Guangbi: "It seems that this Du Zhifu might be a powerful figure."

Guo Ziyi, standing by, also said, "Your Highness, after my investigations over the past few days, I have a general understanding of the situation in the military camp. However, after hearing what Lord Li said, I suddenly remembered that the next day when I was investigating, I discovered that Magistrate Du had visited the military camp and had a long conversation with the leaders there. They seemed very familiar with each other."

Li Chu frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Could it be that this Magistrate Du really has something we haven't found out?"

However, Guo Ziyi said, "But Your Majesty, this doesn't really mean anything. After all, as the prefect, it's his responsibility to maintain good relations with the local gentry, wealthy merchants, and garrisons."

Li Chu felt something was amiss. He said, "For our own safety, I will have my secret guards investigate Lord Du's residence again. Perhaps we can discover something."

Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi looked at each other and said, "That's what your Highness is considering."

Guo Ziyi reported the situation of the military camp, and Li Guangbi handed over the information about the donations from local wealthy people and gentry to Li Chu. Li Chu asked them to leave first and instructed them: "You two don't need to continue investigating. I will send someone to handle the investigation."

The two men agreed and left the yard where Li Chu was.

When Li Chu was thinking of a countermeasure, he suddenly remembered that Dugu Jingyao could often give him some inspiration, so he picked up his pen and wrote down the situation here, called Feng Shengyi, and asked him to send the letter back to the Prince of Chu's Mansion by carrier pigeon as soon as possible.

A few days later, Dugu Xin received a letter from Dugu Jingyao. Dugu Xin was overjoyed when Xunfeng told him about the letter from Dugu Jingyao. However, when he opened the letter and saw the contents, his eyebrows couldn't help but frown. He said to Xunfeng, "Follow me to the military camp."

Xun Feng was puzzled and asked, "But what happened to the princess?"

Dugu Xin shook his head and said, "It's not Yao'er, it's Li Chu. He was sent to Jinling to provide disaster relief. Yao'er thinks Li Chu might be in danger on this trip, and Li Chu can't leave with too many soldiers to avoid arousing suspicion, so she hopes we can support Li Chu."

Xun Feng said, "But if the King of Chu is alright, wouldn't it be bad for the princess if we sent troops? Wouldn't it make His Majesty suspect we have ulterior motives?"

Hearing this, Dugu Xin also felt that he was a little anxious and needed to calm down and think about it. He smiled and said, "Xunfeng, you have indeed grown up and become much calmer. What you said makes sense. We can't send troops rashly. I have to find a way to understand the situation on Li Chu's side. However, this round trip takes a long time. If something really happens to Li Chu, I'm afraid we won't be able to provide support in time."

Xunfeng also felt that what Dugu Xin said made sense. This was a bit difficult. The two of them were entangled and began to think about how to help Li Chu and Dugu Jingyao without arousing Suzong's suspicion.