Chapter 197 Hiding Under the Table

Ji Cailiang couldn't help but poke her head, saying with exasperation, "Don't think about taking a vacation all the time. Now is the time to be busy. If you take a vacation, the Emperor..." will come looking for him. He knows his own limitations.

"What did Your Majesty do?" Ji Yingying took out a bag of melon seeds, poured some out, and gave them to Ji Jiaming, as if waiting for him to continue.

His expression was the same as when he was just watching melons.

"You...sigh!" Ji Cailiang had a headache. His daughter wasn't a warm and comforting daughter; she was a flawed one.

When he got home, Fang Yulan was already waiting for him in the front hall.

"I'm back."

"Yes, I'm back."

"Mom, are Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law still not awake?" Ji Yingying sat down and took out another bag of spicy strips to eat.

"Don't worry about whether your second brother and sister-in-law are awake or not. If you're hungry, go and eat first."

"No rush, no rush." ​​Ji Yingying chuckled twice, thinking to herself: [Anyway, I don't have to go to work this afternoon, so I'm not in a hurry. After I've eaten and drunk my fill, I'll go to sleep. I've been dragged into this again.]

Ji Cailiang felt a headache coming on again.

"You should do your job well from now on."

"Understood, Father."

After Ji Yingying finished a bag of spicy strips, Ji Jiayu arrived with Yan Ni. After serving tea to her parents, they presented them with a gift.

Then we started eating.

Ji Yingying had just sat down and taken a couple of bites when Eunuch Cao arrived. The moment he came in to announce his arrival, Ji Yingying immediately grabbed her bowl and crawled under the table.

Everyone looked puzzled.

What's going on?

[I knew that damn emperor wouldn't let me off the hook. I haven't even eaten yet. I hope my parents tell me I've already left. I don't even want to go this afternoon.]

Ji Cailiang helplessly flicked his sleeves; this girl was going to drive him crazy.

When Eunuch Cao entered, he didn't see Ji Yingying and hurriedly asked, "Lord Ji, where is Her Highness?"

Ji Cailiang pointed under the table, and just as Eunuch Cao looked at him in confusion, a voice came from under the table: "Don't say I'm home, don't say I'm home, I don't want to go to work."

【Host, accept your fate.】

It's too cold in winter, let's go in summer. We can go then.

The tablecloth was lifted the next second, and Ji Yingying saw Eunuch Cao peeking in.

"Hey!" Ji Yingying waved her hand with a helpless smile. She was speechless. This family wasn't on her side at all.

"Why is Your Highness under the table?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Ji Yingying emerged from under the table and asked, "Eunuch Cao, what are you doing here?"

"His Majesty has sent this old servant to fetch you."

"What the heck?"

Eunuch Cao repeated, "His Majesty sent this old servant to summon you to the palace."

"Well... I haven't finished eating yet." Ji Yingying gave an awkward laugh, inwardly cursing.

The words themselves weren't vulgar, but when put together, they were so offensive that it was unbearable to look at.

Everyone present was in a panic. Fang Yulan even slapped her on the head and yelled, "If the Emperor calls you, go! What are you dawdling about?"

“But…” Ji Yingying looked down at the delicious dishes on the table; she hadn’t even taken two bites yet.

Yanni had no choice but to say, "Little sister, go to the palace first. When you come back tonight, your second sister-in-law will cook you something delicious."

When someone started to coax her, Ji Yingying was happy and quickly asked, "Are you really going to cook something delicious for me? Aren't you going to give me cabbage?"

Recently, she's been being fed a lot and has been eating a lot of snacks. Fang Yulan is strict about dinner, making sure she only eats vegetables.

They only give us vegetarian food; they don't give us any meat at all.

"Yes, there will be something delicious tonight." Yanni knew that Fang Yulan was feeding her vegetarian food.

Naturally, I won't sabotage you.

"Okay, I'll come back early tonight."

Ji Yingying tore off a chicken leg and walked out, with Eunuch Cao quickly following behind.

"Mother, I've invited the manager of Rusu Restaurant. Let him cook for my little sister tonight."

"Ah, you really hired the manager of Rusu Zhai?" Fang Yulan didn't intend to blame her, after all, she knew what her little darling was like.

He's a mischievous and irresponsible devil, always causing trouble and being lazy!

"Yes, they've already invited them. They can cook for my little sister tonight."

"That's good, that's good. Ignore her and let's eat."

…………

Ji Yingying felt sleepy as soon as she got into the carriage. She wasn't really hungry, since she had eaten a lot and wasn't hungry at all.

"Your Highness, please don't fall asleep." Eunuch Cao glanced at her worriedly; if she really fell asleep, things would get complicated.

"No, no, I won't sleep." Ji Yingying waved her hand, then yawned again, still thinking to herself: [I thought I could take a nap, but I still got dragged into the palace.]

[Host, entering the palace is fine. There's a lot going on in the palace, lots of gossip, and it won't be difficult to follow along.]

Hehe... If that's the case, I might as well run around everywhere; there are more melons there, yellow, orange, blue, purple... whatever I want, I can have it.

You can't escape; from the current perspective, we can't escape.

【hehe……】

Upon arriving at the palace, Ji Yingying entered the imperial study, where a group of people were already gathered, indicating that something significant had occurred.

[Xiangxiang, come quick, what's wrong?]

Sigh... the national treasury is empty again.

[What? Didn't they take a lot of stuff from the house? They've already given it all away?]

[What we gave as gifts, besides you, were mostly calligraphy and paintings—useless things—nothing of any value. But, the country is so big!]

[And then it was all spent?]

"With income not even enough to cover expenses, how can we not be short of money?" Xiangxiang said with some disdain.

"But what does this have to do with me?" Ji Yingying retorted. If the national treasury has no money, ask the Ministry of Revenue. Minister He of the Ministry of Revenue is having a big headache right now.

He didn't embezzle any money; every penny was used for the benefit of the people. He even accepted bribes, but it still wasn't enough.

【It's certainly not your business, but you do know how to make money. The Emperor wants you to see how to make money. Winter isn't over yet, and it's not just Fengcheng that needs money, but Jiangnan City does too.】

I don't know how to make money; I don't even know how much money I have.

[Host, you may not know this, but your shop is really profitable.]

So, the Emperor has his eye on my shop?

I don't know, take a look.

"Your Majesty, you summoned me because you have something to say?" Ji Yingying asked hurriedly, which caught the emperor off guard and left him no time for preamble.

"The national treasury is empty; your Ministry of Works must quickly come up with a solution."

"This money is really not enough."

【Isn't that obvious? This is like supporting an entire chapel; that kind of space requires money, it's no wonder there's not enough to cover it.】

[It's the dead of winter, and it's not convenient to develop the economy. The only thing I can think of is confiscating property. After confiscating the property in the capital, I'll confiscate the property of local officials. Some of these local officials are quite wealthy.]

【Then send someone to investigate. If they find anything, confiscate their property.】

[Yeah, do you have a way to check it quickly?]

【It wasn't available before, but it is now.】 Xiangxiang smiled wickedly!