“My brother and sister-in-law are exactly the same as before, greedy and lazy. They do not work themselves, but sell their brothers to help their sons get married and to provide dowries for their daughters.”

Xie Zhaozhao frowned: This is outrageous... From now on, buying and selling law-abiding citizens should be strictly prohibited?

Xu Li thought of that dream and hesitated to speak.

Xie Zhaozhao said to Xu Li, "Tell me the truth about whatever you have to say!"

Xu Li lowered his head; that dream was something he absolutely could not tell anyone.

"Xu Li, didn't you say you'd tell me the truth your whole life?" Xie Zhaozhao said calmly. "Speak, and I'll pardon you!"

Xu Li stubbornly believed that he absolutely could not talk about that dream, even if he was pardoned.

"Your Majesty, I beg you not to conduct the pilot program near Xujia Village. The people there are untrustworthy, greedy, and despicable; they cannot implement the new policies," Xu Li said.

Xie Zhaozhao and Zhou Shaoyu were quite surprised to see Xu Li so anxiously trying to stop him.

"Xu Li, is it because you have too high expectations for your hometown?"

"No, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I just know it won't work here!"

It seems something has happened.

"Alright, I understand. Xu Li, if you have anything to say, tell me once you've thought it through." Xie Zhaozhao didn't want to pressure him. "Take Mo Yan and the others around. It's Mo Yan and Guan Yan's first time in Lizhou."

Xu Lizhong was at ease; she wasn't worried that he would do anything wrong.

They had come all the way from Daming Prefecture, and Xie Zhaozhao was exhausted. After talking for a while, she went to rest. Zhou Shaoyu tucked her in and gently closed the door.

He whispered to Nanxing, "Go and bring Xu Li here."

Not long after, Xu Li, who was about to go out for a walk with Mo Yan, was brought back by Nan Xing.

Xu Li noticed that Xie Zhaozhao was not there, and Zhou Shaoyu sat majestically in the main seat.

He immediately knelt down: "Your Majesty called me?"

Zhou Shaoyu remained silent, his eyelids drooping as he slowly read the memorial.

Xu Li knelt there, feeling extremely terrified, but he was always stubborn, so he just knelt there like an idiot unless Zhou Shaoyu asked him anything.

The room was quiet, with only him and Zhou Shaoyu inside.

After a long silence, Zhou Shaoyu put down the memorial in his hand and said coldly, "Xu Li, how does Emperor An treat you?"

"My savior's kindness is as heavy as a mountain."

"Since you already know, why are you hiding it? If it's not in her interest, how can she make a decision if you don't tell her?"

"cocoa......"

"Do you think you can stop the reform pilot program in your hometown just by saying a few words? This is a matter of national importance. How can you change your mind so easily without sufficient reasons? How can you expect the public to accept your decision?"

Xu Li was terrified, and tears streamed down his face: "But I cannot say."

"If you don't speak up, it means you're not loyal enough to Emperor An, and you don't trust her!"

Zhou Shaoyu rambled on for a while, and Xu Li felt that he was already a sinner for all eternity. If he didn't speak out, Xie Zhaozhao would be ruined and infamous for all eternity because of him tomorrow!

“I will tell you everything!” Xu Li cried, “I had a dream, and I deserve to die.”

Xu Li recounted the dream in detail.

Zhou Shaoyu had never been so shocked. He squinted and stared coldly at Xu Li. It was too unbelievable.

"Xu Li, where was I in your dream? Did I not know Emperor An?"

"Your Majesty, you were murdered by bandits while handling a salt case in Jiangnan the year of the Emperor's wedding..."

Xu Li felt he could absolutely be executed by slow slicing, so how could he have such a dream?

Emperor Chen was killed by bandits in Jiangnan, and Emperor An married Gu Chengyan but was burned to death by him and his mistress.

It's Xu Li who should be burned alive now!

Xu Li looked up at Zhou Shaoyu, and when he met Zhou Shaoyu's murderous gaze, he broke out in a cold sweat.

"I'm sorry, I deserve to die..." Xu Li was so frightened that he kowtowed desperately.

Zhou Shaoyu's tone remained indifferent as he asked many more questions before telling him to leave.

He felt doubtful and uneasy, as if some of the fog had been cleared away.

Is this a dream, or a warning from heaven? Or perhaps it's not a dream at all, but everything that actually happened?

He suddenly remembered the story of Princess Yu Rong and Guan Yingying being resurrected through a body. At the time, he thought Xie Zhaozhao was deceiving Zhou Jingrui and the Emperor Emeritus... He was determined to interrogate Princess Yu Rong thoroughly when he returned this time.

His ashes were actually used to solicit rewards?

Zhou Shaoyu felt as if his heart was being stabbed with a knife.

He actually died in Jiangnan!

Because he died in Jiangnan, Xie Zhaozhao actually married that scumbag Gu Chengyan, and was eventually burned alive by Gu Chengyan!

Xu Li said it was a dream, but the year he got engaged to Xie Zhaozhao, he did go to Jiangnan to inspect the salt industry. If it weren't for that string of beads, he would have really died at the hands of the "bandits" in Jiangnan.

He thought and thought hard, recalling how Yuanji had suddenly appeared and ruined Xie Zhaozhao and Gu Chengyan's marriage, recalling the mad words of the Living Buddha Yuanji, "Clouds return to clouds, ashes return to ashes, isn't everything alright now?" He thought about so many things...

Unfortunately, all those who harmed her are dead; otherwise, he would have tortured them with all sorts of cruel methods.

No, aren't there still people from Xujia Village who want to take her ashes as a reward and scatter them alive?

Xie Zhaozhao woke up, played with Xiao Heng'er for a while, and also met with the prefect of Lizhou. She didn't see Zhou Shaoyu all day.

I asked Nanxing and found out that Zhou Shaoyu had been "sleeping" the whole time.

Xie Zhaozhao went to his residence, and Nanxing quickly opened Zhou Shaoyu's door and lit a candle. Xie Zhaozhao saw Zhou Shaoyu sitting in a round-backed chair with dark, cold eyes.

The blackness swirling in those eyes was as thick as an impenetrable fog, as if they had fallen into demonic ways.

Xie Zhaozhao bent down to look into his eyes, and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Zhou Shaoyu looked at her, then suddenly stood up, pulled Xie Zhaozhao over, and hugged her tightly.

My whole body was ice cold and I was trembling slightly.

"How long have you been freezing? Didn't you put on another layer?" Xie Zhaozhao gently patted his back and said with a smile, "You had a nightmare too?"

"Zhaozhao, leave the pilot project to me. You take Xiaoheng'er and go observe the people's conditions, okay?"

"Great!" Isn't it better to not have to worry about it?

The next day, Zhou Shaoyu summoned Xu Li, Changming, and Bo Mu.

"Xu Li, leave the matter of finding your second and third brothers to the prefect."

Changming, you help General Xu take good care of Xu Erlang. Buy him fine clothes, feed him at the best restaurants, keep him in the best inns, and let him attend gatherings of important people. Let him do whatever he wants. If anyone asks, just say that the general wants to adopt this nephew as his son.

Remember, spend at least two thousand taels of silver within a month, so he can deeply experience the superiority of being a superior person.