When Su Xiaoqi and Du Yiyi were distributing grain seeds to the people of Tongchuan County, Shen Yun was taking his examinations in the imperial academy.
Su Xiaoqi didn't mention it to him particularly afterward, and it was simply in the past.
She never expected it to be brought up again in this manner.
Su Xiaoqi sighed lightly, "It seems the Su family has hoarded too much rice; it's not just in that warehouse."
She knew Shen Yun had been keeping an eye on that warehouse, and she hadn't heard him mention the Su family dealing with that batch of moldy rice recently.
So she guessed that the moldy rice in Tongchuan County this time might have been transported from another warehouse.
Shen Yun's expression turned serious, and he didn't look right.
Su Xiaoqi blinked her peach blossom eyes and asked with her gaze.
Shen Yun was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The moldy rice was moved two days ago, distributed to the disaster victims yesterday, and the incident occurred in the afternoon."
Su Xiaoqi was shocked. Listening to Shen Yun, it meant he had known for a long time that the Su family had used the moldy rice from the warehouse on Huaishu Hutong.
It was even possible that he had intentionally allowed them to use it, otherwise, he wouldn't have been so calm.
"You, you knew, why didn't you stop it?" Su Xiaoqi couldn't help but ask.
She was too shocked to remember the words she had been telling herself all along: not to easily displease Shen Yun.
He seemed good to her now, but what if he turned on her if she accidentally angered him?
"Don't you want to deal with the Su family?" Shen Yun asked in a deep voice.
Su Xiaoqi looked up and immediately understood why Shen Yun had done this.
He wanted to deal with the Su family, but simply exposing them for storing moldy rice in the warehouse was not enough.
Because even if the matter was revealed, they could explain that they never intended to use this moldy rice and were just delaying its disposal.
This would not be enough to accuse them of using moldy rice.
But now, it was different.
The moldy rice had been taken out of the warehouse, transported to Tongchuan County, and had already been distributed to the disaster-stricken people.
In fact, after two days, many people had already eaten it.
This way, the Su family's crime would be greatly amplified.
Su Xiaoqi quickly figured out the whole story.
She felt a slight pang in her heart.
Shen Yun was, after all, Shen Yun.
While he would not actively harm innocent people to achieve his goals, he would not let them derail his plans either.
He was not a good person in the purest sense. In fact, this was Shen Yun's true nature.
Those people in Tongchuan had nothing to do with him, so he had no reason to intervene.
Of course, realistically speaking, with his current status, his intervention might not even be effective.
Su Xiaoqi sighed inwardly; she had been overthinking things.
Seeing Su Xiaoqi's troubled expression, Shen Yun knew what she was thinking without her needing to touch her. He didn't want her to misunderstand and said calmly,
"The moldy rice being moved and distributed to the people was not my intention."
What could he do? Block the warehouse door with his own body when it was being moved?
Or rush to Tongchuan County to stop the county office from distributing it?
Even if he were willing to sacrifice himself, he couldn't completely prevent it.
It would just be a futile sacrifice.
If he stopped it this time, they would do it again next time.
Shen Yun had already weighed these issues.
But the situation was different now.
There was conclusive evidence that the Su family had used the moldy rice.
Therefore, the Su family had to be made to act; without action, evidence couldn't be obtained.
Su Xiaoqi also understood somewhat.
She wasn't a pedantic person; she just couldn't bear it.
Although some of the people in Tongchuan County were not easy to get along with,
there were many ordinary people, and even many elderly, weak, women, and children among them.
If they ate the moldy rice, their bodies would inevitably feel unwell.
She didn't say anything more. Shen Yun, seeing that she seemed very concerned about those people, comforted her by saying, "The matter has been exposed, and Lord Du will surely send people to investigate. You don't need to worry."
Su Xiaoqi nodded; she understood this principle.
No matter how well she did her business, it had nothing to do with the government.
However, she could still do what she could.
She lowered her head to get writing materials and was about to pick up the ink stone to grind ink when she saw Shen Yun's slender fingers already holding the ink stone and gently grinding it in the inkstone.
Su Xiaoqi looked at him as he ground the ink, his profile clean and handsome, his features sculpted, so beautiful that she momentarily forgot what she was supposed to do.
Seeing her blankly standing at the desk with the ink on her brush without moving, Shen Yun, fearing the ink would dry, gently urged her,
"Write, didn't you want to write?"
Su Xiaoqi came to her senses, took a deep breath, and quickly began to write.
Under Shen Yun's tutelage, her calligraphy had begun to take shape.
Of course, it couldn't compare to Shen Yun's strokes, which had a certain character, but it was neat and presentable.
She lowered her head, her body slightly bowed, and stood by the desk, writing a medicinal prescription in one go.
When the ink was dry, Shen Yun took it and glanced at it, his eyes scanning quickly.
It was a medicinal prescription.
He asked, "Can this cure the ailments of the people in Tongchuan?"
The reason the moldy rice incident was exposed was that after the people of Tongchuan County ate the distributed moldy rice, some fell ill.
Some experienced abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, while others developed a fever.
Initially, the doctors in the county town didn't know the cause and were helpless.
Only later did someone discover that the reason they fell ill simultaneously was that they had all eaten the relief grain distributed by the county office.
Therefore, dealing with the Su family was important, but so was treating the people who had been harmed.
Su Xiaoqi knew Shen Yun was always smart. When he saw it was a prescription, he could naturally connect the dots. She nodded and said,
"Moldy rice cannot be eaten anymore because it has developed aflatoxins.
It is harmful to the human body and can cause poisoning, just like the people of Tongchuan County are experiencing now.
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
If too much moldy rice is consumed, the accumulation of aflatoxins in the body will increase, potentially leading to liver cancer."
Su Xiaoqi gave Shen Yun a brief explanation of the adverse effects of eating moldy rice.
It was so serious!
This was something Shen Yun had not anticipated.
After all, no matter how smart he was, studying medicine was a professional matter; laymen wouldn't understand without research.
Looking at Su Xiaoqi, he suddenly understood the anger she had felt when she first heard him allow the Su family to transport moldy rice into Tongchuan County.
In her eyes, he might have been an accomplice to the Su family.
Knowing they were transporting it to Tongchuan County for the disaster victims to eat, he had no intention of stopping it.
"If I had known the consequences were so severe, perhaps..."
Perhaps he would have found a way to make them eat less moldy rice.
But it was too late to say anything now; they could only do their best to treat them.
"The medicines listed here are not expensive. We'll go to the pharmacy later and gather some, then transport them directly to Tongchuan County."
Su Xiaoqi said dejectedly, "I'm afraid just this won't be enough; we'll have to buy out the medicines from the pharmacies in Tongchuan County."
Tongchuan County was not large, but it was still a county town, with tens of thousands of people.
Shen Yun, seeing her urgency, pressed her hand and said, "I'll make the arrangements."
Su Xiaoqi nodded. Although Shen Yun's methods were a bit extreme, he hadn't yet become completely ruthless and wouldn't disregard the lives of the ordinary people in Tongchuan County.
"If the initial symptoms are very mild, they can drink plenty of water to detoxify, and then use medication if it worsens," Su Xiaoqi said as Shen Yun left, following him out to remind him.
Su Xiaoqi didn't know how Shen Yun handled things afterward.
However, five days later, in early October, she received news from Shen Yun.
The moldy rice incident had been successfully resolved.