Chapter 342 Pressure

Mu Junyan returned home at night and played with the children in Fulu Hall after dinner. Seeing that Gu Huan seemed to have something to say, he took her for a walk in the yard.

Gu Huan told him everything about Du Yun, "How do you think we should pass the message to the Queen?"

"Just tell them whether I'm going home or not."

Gu Huan was a little worried: "They want to know your whereabouts. Are they going to do something bad to you?"

"It's okay. I was worried that they wouldn't take action. Akabane is watching, so I'm not afraid. But you, don't leave the house."

Mu Junyan hugged her waist and said with concern: "You must be safe and sound in the next few months. You go to see Li and give her a warning, which will stimulate Qian Hengjun to take action. But, if they can't touch me, what will they do if they touch you?"

Gu Huan chuckled: "I am no longer the powerless woman I used to be. I can handle a few ordinary men."

Mu Junyan stared at her soft and boneless body and chuckled, "Is your wrist still strong enough?"

Gu Huan's face turned red at his sudden question and she punched him in the chest.

“Try it!”

Mu Junyan immediately caught it with his big palm, and took the opportunity to clench the small fist in his palm, "Well, it's amazing, very powerful."

Gu Huan knew that he was teasing her, and snorted, "You are a soldier, and a god of war, so I am naturally no match for you. If it were an ordinary man, I would be able to knock him away with one punch."

"Yeah, my little princess is amazing."

Mu Junyan laughed out loud.

Gu Huan rolled her eyes at him. If he dared to make fun of her, she would make him suffer.

As the two were talking and laughing, a dark shadow was peeping from under the gloomy rockery.

A dark figure was sitting on the eaves higher up, staring at the peeper.

Mu Junyan pulled Gu Huan into his arms and reached out to fix her hair. Gu Huan was surprised and wanted to say that there were so many servants and she should be more careful, but then she heard Mu Junyan say in a very low voice that someone was peeping.

Gu Huan immediately stopped moving and let Mu Junyan adjust her hairpin.

In the dark, Yin Tao stared at the two close friends with eyes full of jealousy.

Seeing the two people walking away, Fang quietly returned to the small courtyard.

"The prince is back today."

Yiyun glanced at her and said, "Shall we leave the house tomorrow to report the news?"

Yin Tao rolled her eyes at her: "You told the Queen after just one night back? How could you be so stupid?"

Suddenly, her eyes rolled: "I want to go out of the house tomorrow, you find an excuse to talk to the princess."

Evian hummed.

Yin Tao was a little excited about the method she suddenly thought of, and turned back to her room to sleep.

Yiyun looked at the stars in the sky outside and missed her father very much.

Daddy is the only relative she has in this world.

…

After Mu Junyan and Gu Huan took a bath, they changed into pajamas and sat on the bed.

Mu Junyan took cotton cloth and twisted her hair.

"Do you know why Qian Pingheng would definitely take action after he warned Li?"

Gu Huan was curious: "Why? I think Li is not well-received, and I don't think it will have any effect."

"The emperor has issued an imperial decree that the taxes in Luzhou, Gongzhou, Bazhou, Jinzhou, Tongzhou and Xiangzhou to the east, which were previously reduced by half, will no longer be reduced from this year onwards, and the taxes paid in half for the previous ten years must be paid in full."

"ah?"

Gu Huan turned her head in shock, her hair was pulled and hurt, and she hissed.

Mu Junyan quickly let go of her hand and rubbed her scalp: "Why are you so excited? Did it hurt?"

"No problem."

Gu Huan held her scalp that was pulled and quickly turned to face him.

"Didn't His Majesty, out of compassion for the people, order a permanent halving of taxes on these states because of the war in southern Xinjiang and the severe disasters in the past few years? Why did you go back on your word?"

"Do you think this imperial edict was issued by the emperor?"

Gu Huan's eyes widened: "Could it be the Crown Prince or the Queen?"

Mu Junyan turned her body over and continued to wring dry her hair.

"Of course, Bian Jing knows about our big move. They guessed that I wanted to use this action to force the Queen and the Crown Prince, so that they would not dare to do anything to us. But in order to consolidate the Crown Prince's position, the Queen will not sit idly by and watch us grow stronger. Rather than worrying about our strong military, she is more afraid that we will win over these states and counties, which are barriers to Bian Jing."

Gu Huan understood: "You mean, the Queen is increasing taxes to force the prefectures to beg for mercy from the Queen so that she can control them."

"Yes. There is another point. Daliang has been at war for so many years, and the treasury is empty. The prince has no money, so how can he let the Sun family reap the benefits?"

Gu Hua: "If you really want to make up for it, how much silver will it cost?"

"Take Bazhou as an example. The full tax for one year is about 500,000 taels. If the tax is paid in arrears for ten years, it will be 2.5 million taels. If it falls on each person, it will be 125 taels per person."

Gu Huan screamed, "Oh my God, a back payment of 125 taels, plus full annual tax? This is ten years of living expenses for an ordinary family. Isn't this... going to drive me to death?"

"Even if the imperial court says that the money can be repaid gradually, based on the past situation in Bazhou, ordinary people cannot afford it."

"yes."

"Several state capitals are now in a state of panic."

Gu Huan frowned. She always felt that something big was about to happen.

"When are you going to start?"

"After you give birth successfully."

Gu Huan couldn't help but turn her head when she heard that, and her hair was pulled again.

Mu Junyan looked at her speechlessly, grinning: "You have to tear off a piece of skin, right?"

Gu Huan made a bitter face and chuckled.

I had no choice but to sit up straight and let him continue wiping.

"Why do you have to wait for me to give birth? You do your work, and I give birth to my child. I have my mother in the mansion, so what are you afraid of?"

She was worried that if the war was delayed, would the states and counties under the jurisdiction of the Mu family army be trapped here?

Although Juzhou is getting better now, it has been severely damaged by decades of war. If there is another war, I am afraid that both the people and the Mu family army will suffer.

"No matter how big the matter is, it is not as important as you and the child. I will never allow anything to put you in danger again."

Gu Huan was deeply touched.

I couldn't help but touch my belly: "There are still three months left. What if something unexpected happens during this period?"

"Don't be afraid, I'll take care of everything."

Mu Junyan put down the towel, hugged her from behind, and gently pecked her face, which was rosy from the bath.

Gu Huan turned around and nestled into his arms.

"Actually, premature birth doesn't matter. Look, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan are growing up well."

"Nonsense, there must not be any chance of that happening. You and the child are everything to me."

Gu Huan felt warm and sweet in her heart.

The next day.

Gu Huan was having breakfast when Yiyun came to pay her respects and said that Yin Tao wanted to leave the house.

"Then go ahead. You can ask the bookstore to give you a suitable place to pass on the message, on the grounds that it is inconvenient to leave the house. Otherwise, if you suddenly leave the house too easily, it will arouse suspicion."

Yiyun responded: "Yes."

Yin Tao was very excited when she heard that she could leave the house.

She changed into her best dress, put on exquisite makeup, and put on her most expensive jewelry.

Yiyun looked at her: "Are you going to meet someone?"

Yin Tao said while looking at the bronze mirror with her hairpins on, "Aren't we going to meet one of our own? It's the first time we meet, so we have to be more solemn."

Yiyun was too lazy to pay attention to her: "Hurry up, you have to come back early to avoid arousing suspicion."