PDLP Chapter 1239 A Different World
Chapter 1239 A Different World
When Ping An returned after venting his anger, he saw His Majesty asleep in a chair. He stopped in his tracks and glanced at His Highness the Empress for instructions.
Li Yu'an knew that His Majesty had not slept, but His Majesty did indeed need rest.
Li Yu'an waved Ping An away and stood guard beside His Majesty.
Only when Liang Chongyue opened his eyes and slowly turned his neck did Li Yu'an quickly step forward and help the emperor to his feet.
Liang Chongyue: "Come with me to see the treasure vault of the governor's office."
While Liang Chongyue closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, the system thoroughly searched the entire map of Qiyang, inside and out, top to bottom.
They found all the treasure vaults of the various families in Qiyang.
The governor's office is the one located below the Xie family's main residence.
Li Yu'an had no objection to any of His Majesty's decisions.
He did whatever His Majesty said.
They followed His Majesty out of the hall that still seemed to echo with ghostly wails.
Liang Chongyue led Li Yu'an through a maze of winding paths to the gate of an inconspicuous little courtyard of the governor's office.
The courtyard gate was covered with layers of spider webs, so dense that it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.
Just as Li Yu'an was about to knock on the door, Liang Chongyue stopped him and kicked it open.
As the door was kicked open, Liang Chongyue quickly pulled Li Yu'an away to safety.
Large swaths of spiderwebs fell from the gate, and the startled spiders crawled away from Liang Chongyue's feet.
Liang Chongyue led Li Yu'an into the small courtyard.
The inside and outside are completely different. From the outside, it looks travel-worn, but once you go inside, it's a completely different scene.
Li Yu'an looked at the beautiful artificial hills and flowing water inside. He had heard the gurgling sound of flowing water on the way down with His Majesty, but he had never been able to find out where it came from.
I never expected the governor to be so bold as to build such a unique space right in the governor's office.
"The governor of Qiyang has not been changed for several years. I previously ordered the revitalization of agriculture in Jiangnan to improve the lives of the people, which allowed Zhang Duan to take advantage of the situation."
Zhang Duan should have been transferred to another post long ago.
She was always stuck with agriculture in Jiangnan. Every time she wanted to move Zhang Duan to another place, agriculture in remote areas of Jiangnan would run into problems.
This forced her to keep Zhang Duan in his current position.
This is also the biggest source of his confidence to build such a large place, which can be called a manor, directly in front of the governor's office.
Liang Chongyue led Li Yu'an into the interior of this luxurious manor.
"The governor's office wasn't originally this big; it was expanded by Zhang Duan later. What do you think?"
Li Yu'an assumed the Emperor was asking about the quality of his courtyard, so he looked around and gave a serious critique:
"He does have some unique aesthetic sense of his own."
Liang Chongyue sneered and casually pointed to a spot: "Look at that stone wall. It takes hundreds of workers a hundred days to carefully carve one piece. It's not made by ordinary craftsmen, but by the most exquisite ones."
Li Yu'an looked in the direction His Majesty was pointing. The stone wall was indeed beautifully carved, but in this unique cave, it was still unremarkable and would not attract much attention at first glance.
"Yu'an, how much of the people's hard-earned money must have been plundered to build just this little courtyard?"
Liang Chongyue reached out and touched all these exquisite and beautiful things; not a single part was not exquisite.
She had seen the file the system had sent her. The small courtyard had only been renovated for less than half a year. Zhang Duan hadn't even had a chance to move in and enjoy his new home before he was beaten to death at the governor's office.
Li Yu'an knew that now was not the time to comfort His Majesty, and that His Majesty had never wanted comfort.
Li Yu'an carefully examined every view outside the courtyard and finally concluded: "The scenery outside alone is enough to support the people of Qiyang for ten years."
He was still calculating based on the living standards of the people in the suburbs of Beijing. Qiyang is, after all, a remote place in Jiangnan. He had just arrived in Qiyang with His Majesty and did not yet know the daily lives of the people there.
We can only make a rough estimate.
From the moment Liang Chongyue entered the courtyard, she hadn't given him a friendly look: "Ten years? That's enough for the people of Qiyang to live on for more than twenty years."
The system has the most professional data and the most sophisticated instruments. She can tell the system anything she wants, and she will get the result immediately.
Twenty years is her estimate; the system's more precise data may be even more than twenty years.
When she first arrived in Qiyang, she didn't feel that the people there were suffering too much, but she could feel the poverty.
Qiyang has beautiful scenery and rare sights, but smiles are rarely seen on the faces of its people.
It's even rarer than those scenic spots.
"Let's go inside first; there's a whole different world inside."
Listening to His Majesty's emphasis, Li Yu'an didn't want Zhang Duan to hide too many treasures here.
Although a person's greed is boundless, it is so blatantly displayed before His Majesty.
Even if Zhang Duan were to die or be injured a hundred times, His Majesty would only blame himself for not thoroughly investigating the officials who led to this situation.
While the Great Xia Dynasty was thriving and developing, the people of Qiyang were living worse and worse lives year after year.
This is something His Majesty absolutely does not want to see, and absolutely will not allow.
But the door still had to be pushed open eventually, and when it was opened, there was no dazzling gold as he had imagined.
But it was worse than he had imagined.
As soon as you push open the door to the main house in that small courtyard, the wind that follows stirs up every piece of calligraphy and painting hanging inside.
He had studied these things in detail before, and he could tell which master's final work it was without even looking at the signature at the bottom of the painting or calligraphy.
"Something that isn't even in my national treasury has actually been found here."
It sounded like a joyous occasion, but there wasn't a trace of joy in His Majesty's voice.
The atmosphere around us was frighteningly gloomy; just getting close to it felt suffocating.
Li Yu'an had not seen His Majesty like this for a long time. Even when the news of Minglang raiding the thief's den reached His Majesty's ears, His Majesty simply let Minglang deal with it calmly.
In comparison, the old lair that Minglang destroyed is nothing compared to this small courtyard now.
"Zhang Duan certainly knows how to enjoy life. He sits around the stove brewing tea and admiring these rare treasures that are priceless outside. He seems like a person without desires, but he is more greedy than anyone else."
Li Yu'an followed behind His Majesty, his gaze sweeping over the paintings one by one. Some of the masters had only recently passed away.
Rumors say that some of them accidentally fell off cliffs while collecting folk songs in the mountains, but now that I think about it, that may not be the case.
"Yu'an, how much do you think these paintings are worth?"
As Li Yu'an looked up, he bumped into His Majesty turning to look at him. Li Yu'an looked around and began to appraise the value of every painting hanging in the room.
"It's worth more than gold, if not priceless."