In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 481 Investing in the Enemy

Fifteen minutes later, having filled his stomach, Zheng Qing left Manager Wang at the restaurant to settle the bill, while he, Li Qingyun, and Zheng Qiuyan went to Chen Dao's home.

Having visited Chenjia Village several times, Zheng Qiuyan led the two to Chen Dao's courtyard with ease, where they met Chen Dao, who was sunbathing in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Chen Dao lounging comfortably in a recliner, Zheng Qing couldn't help but chuckle, "Young friend, you certainly have a leisurely and carefree spirit."

Chen Dao sat up straight, not at all surprised by the arrival of Zheng Qing and his group. In fact, Chen Dao had known about Zheng Qing and his group's arrival for half an hour, which was why he was waiting for them here.

"Cheng-ge, go and bring some chairs over."

Chen Dao gave Chen Cheng a word of advice, then turned to Zheng Qing and said, "Prefect Zheng's presence is an honor to Chen Family Village."

"Ha ha!"

Zheng Qing laughed loudly and sat down at the table that Chen Cheng had brought over. He said, "The main reason I came here today is to inform you, young friend Chen, that we have news about the python blood grass and python bone grass that you asked us to inquire about."

Upon hearing this, a hint of joy flashed in Chen Dao's eyes, and he eagerly asked, "May I ask, Prefect Zheng, where did this news come from?"

Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass are medicinal materials that Chen Dao urgently needs. Hearing news about Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass, Chen Dao was naturally very excited.

"Let me tell you."

Zheng Qiuyan continued, "A few days ago, news came from the prefectural city that the Azure King possessed a large quantity of Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass, and it was rumored that any martial artist who wished to obtain Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass could go to the prefectural city to discuss the matter with him in detail."

The Azure King?

Chen Dao's eyes twitched. To be honest, he didn't want to deal with the Green King, after all, he had just killed the Green King's chief secretary. But clearly, the existence of the Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass forced Chen Dao to deal with the Green King.

"If I remember correctly..."

Li Qingyun hesitated and said, "These python blood grass and python bone grass should be medicinal herbs unique to the grasslands. How did King Qing obtain them? Could it be that King Qing is having an affair with that barbarian tribe?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qiuyan said meaningfully, "Does Magistrate Li really think that just because the imperial court strictly forbids private dealings with barbarians, there are no people in this land of nine provinces who have private dealings with barbarians?"

"Uh……"

Li Qingyun remained silent, for etiquette does not extend to commoners, and punishment does not apply to high-ranking officials.

The laws of the imperial court are taboo for commoners, but for a prince like Prince Qing, they are really nothing.

If the law could restrain the King of Qing, then there wouldn't be so many disfigured female corpses in the mass graves outside Qingzhou City.

"Although I have no evidence, I can almost conclude that the python blood grass and python bone grass in the hands of the Green King must have been obtained through trade with the barbarians."

Zheng Qiuyan said in a deep voice, "Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass only grow deep in the Cangmang Mountains and on the grasslands. Going deep into the Cangmang Mountains to obtain them is tantamount to courting death. Therefore, the only way to reliably obtain Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass is to trade with the barbarians."

"This……"

Li Qingyun opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

Who is Xia Yuanying, the Green King?

They are relatives of the emperor; strictly speaking, the entire country belongs to the Xia family.

And what about the barbarians?

The barbarians were the enemies of the Xia Kingdom, and could even be considered its number one enemy.

Xia Yuanying, as the master of the country, was making deals with his number one enemy, which was tantamount to aiding the enemy.

"Isn't the Prince of Qing afraid of being impeached by the censors?"

Li Qingyun couldn't help but ask, "To put it bluntly, King Qing's trade with the barbarians is treason. Once the censors in the capital find out, they will surely launch a large-scale impeachment. It's not impossible that King Qing will be deposed."

"Imperial Censor?"

Zheng Qing scoffed, "The censors in the capital are busy attacking their own political enemies right now, they have no time to impeach Prince Qing. Besides, even if some censors did impeach Prince Qing, it would be useless. Only His Majesty can deal with Prince Qing, and His Majesty..."

Zheng Qing paused for a moment and then said, "His Majesty has not appeared at court for two years."

"..."

Li Qingyun fell silent. Although he had long since given up hope for the Xia Kingdom's court, the fact that the emperor had not attended court for two years still left him speechless.

It's hard to imagine that an emperor, who is the ruler of the nine provinces, would not appear in court for two years and instead hand over all government affairs to the prime minister and officials of various departments. How is this any different from an emperor without any power?

"Besides informing you about the python blood grass and python bone grass, I have another matter to discuss with you, Magistrate Li, and Brother Xu."

After discussing the medicinal herbs, Zheng Qing added, "However, this matter is of great importance. Let's wait for Magistrate Xu to come tomorrow and discuss it together!"

Zheng Qing had met Xu Zhiwen once when the caravan passed through Taiping County, but Xu Zhiwen did not come with them because he had some official business to attend to. He would arrive at Chenjia Village the next day.

"Row."

Chen Dao nodded, and then said, "Prefect Zheng must have had a long journey. Why don't you have a simple meal at my place?"

"No need, we've already eaten."

Zheng Qing shook his head, and soon after, he left with Zheng Qiuyan and Li Qingyun, planning to stay at the Chencun Restaurant after settling the caravan's entourage.

After the others left, Chen Dao looked thoughtful.

Chen Dao was determined to obtain both Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass, as these two medicinal herbs were crucial for the advancement of Xiao Yuan, Fei Yu Ji, and Da Huang Er Huang.

Therefore, Chen Dao had made up his mind to go to the prefectural city.

"Cheng-ge'er".

Chen Dao said to Chen Cheng, "Make preparations. We will set off for the prefectural city in two days."

"Yes."

…………

…………

Just as Chen Dao made up his mind to go to the prefectural city, Cao Shui, who had finished making the last piece of furniture, breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead in a small courtyard less than 500 meters away from Chen Dao's home.

Cao Shui has been in Chenjia Village for nearly three months. For the first two months, he followed Liu Qiaoshou to learn a craft. Because he studied hard enough, he successfully learned some basic carpentry skills and graduated with Jiang Xiaobai. With Liu Qiaoshou's recommendation, he got a job in the Chenjia Village construction team with a monthly salary of 500 coins.

It must be said that Liu Qiaoshou is very good to her apprentices. In addition to introducing them to jobs, she also assigns some simple tasks in her furniture store to Cao Shui and others so that they can earn some extra money.

Therefore, Cao Shui and his three companions not only received wages from the construction team, but also could use their spare time after work in the afternoon to make some simple furniture and earn some extra income.

"Brother Cao".

Seeing Cao Shui stop what he was doing, Jiang Xiaobai laughed and said, "Your work is getting better and better. I think your skills are almost on par with your master's."