Chapter 72: Isn’t this done with a clear conscience?

"Miss Chu is kindhearted and timid. She probably doesn't have any demands on anyone and just wants to live a peaceful life."

This is really unscrupulous.

Several adults almost jumped up to object.

"It's such a trivial matter, but it's worth them making such a fuss for so long."

Minister Yuan really couldn't understand. Is this matter difficult to handle?

If you want to be a co-wife, then be a co-wife. If you want to be adopted, then be adopted. The most important thing is to see your own identity clearly and find your own position.

"Master Yuan thinks this is reasonable?"

The prince's eyes were dark and his voice was as cold as ice. Minister Yuan straightened his back and nodded, and the prince gave instructions to Hongye.

"Go tell the Queen Mother to issue an order to raise all the concubines in Lord Yuan's household to co-wives, and to adopt all the illegitimate sons under Madam Yuan's name."

What?

Minister Yuan was stunned.

Why is His Highness not doing his job?

In a short while, cold sweat covered his forehead.

"Your Highness...this is not allowed."

His knees went weak and he knelt before His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, waving his hand in refusal.

"Your Highness, you are meddling too much. How can I live like this in the future?"

Wouldn't this cost him his life?

There are eleven illegitimate sons and seventeen concubines in his house. He has spent a lot of effort to make everyone obey him. If it becomes a concubine and a legitimate son, where will his wife and legitimate sons put their faces? Can he still survive?

No, no, no.

This is so scary, it’s terrifying just thinking about it.

The more Minister Yuan thought about it, the more frightened he became. He kowtowed heavily, but the prince refused to give in.

"Your Highness, I was wrong."

Minister Yuan felt bitter in his mouth at this moment, and he wanted to slap himself twice. It was not until his forehead was swollen that the prince looked at him.

"Master Yuan should lead by example."

"Your Highness, Your Highness, I was wrong. As long as Your Highness is willing to revoke your order, I will obey Your Highness from now on."

The prince's long eyelashes flickered slightly. Once he said this, everyone would think that he had already defected to the Eastern Palace. It would probably not be so easy for him to please others in the future. This was not bad, so he said to Hongye who was waiting at the door.

"Go and invite Miss Chu over."

"yes."

Hongye went to the Queen's Fengqi Palace and told her what happened there. The Queen was so angry that she laughed and said coldly.

"These people hold high positions and haven't seen any setbacks in a long time. Even a stab is good for them. Dongzhu, go and persuade Jiuning. Too much rigidity can easily lead to failure. You should go and take a look."

"yes."

Dongzhu went to invite Chu Jiuning. After Chu Jiuning was given an acupuncture injection by Wuyou and took some medicine, she sat by the window, staring blankly at the scenery outside.

The whole person became quiet, but the look in his eyes was still as terrifying.

"Miss Chu."

Dongzhu brought over the ginseng soup. She looked pale, like a frightened deer in the forest, which made people feel inexplicably painful.

actually.

She felt that Miss Chu and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were really similar and were the same type of people.

"Her Majesty is worried about Miss Chu, so she asked me to bring some soup over. Hongye, who is with His Highness, has also come over and asked you to come over."

"good."

Chu Jiuning drank the soup obediently, then walked towards the East Palace with Amber.

The East Palace was silent and the atmosphere was chilly.

Chu Jiuning slowly walked into the main hall, stepped forward to greet several adults and the prince, and then stood aside.

"Please take a seat."

The prince spoke in a cold voice, and then a palace maid came forward and led Chu Jiuning to sit down.

The six ministers' faces darkened. They were all still standing, but Chu Jiuning was sitting down, and his aura was exactly the same as that of His Highness.

Minister Yuan didn't dare to speak carelessly, he just stepped forward and spoke to Chu Jiuning in a gentle voice.

"So many shops outside are closed, which makes life difficult for ordinary people. Miss Chu, why don't you order all the shops outside to open first?"

"You can open the door, but I have a condition."

Chu Jiuning looked at Minister Yuan.

"As long as Lord Yuan agrees that all of my Chu family's businesses will not have to pay taxes in the future, and I can also give you the operating rights of ten shops in the east of the city, that will be all."

"That won't do."

Minister Yuan was shocked. The Chu family's business was so big that the taxes they paid every year were a large sum of money. Without this income from the Chu family, the national treasury would be even more ruined.

As for the east of the city, that was where officials and nobles gathered. She was indeed not qualified to open a store there, but as long as he agreed, it would not be difficult.

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

Chu Jiuning stopped talking and just lowered her head to drink tea slowly.

Minister Yuan's face looked grim, but he didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that the prince would lift up all those illegitimate sons again.

But not paying taxes is really not an option. It really, really is not an option.

"I can also gradually move my business to another country, and relocating my family won't be a difficult task."

This is not false.

Two years ago, she expanded her business to neighboring countries, bribed officials there, bought land, and built houses.

If there is really no way out, go that way.

Minister Yuan really wanted to bite off his tongue. He shouldn't have said those words. Chu Jiuning was obviously targeting him.

"Miss Chu, do you think this will work?"

Minister Yuan lowered his tone.

"We'll go and ask the Emperor to let you out of the palace and stop interfering in the affairs of the Song Mansion. But you still have to pay the tax, and you have to open your business quickly. Otherwise, there are so many people waiting outside, and you can't bear to see these people get into trouble."

Hearing him talk about the people, Chu Jiuning's long eyelashes flickered.

"Then pay one-third."

It is not possible to not give Minister Yuan a severe blow. He must be taught a lesson, otherwise he will become arrogant and have evil intentions in the future.

The prince looked at him coldly.

"Pay half, and I'll find a way for you to open fifteen shops in the east of the city. How about that?"

Let her pay half first, and then when Chu Jiuning calms down, coax her to pay the rest.

"good."

Chu Jiuning nodded readily.

"Pay half the tax, and use the remaining money for charity, and the other half to support the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. I seem to remember His Highness saying that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works should be repaired and equipped with new items."

"No need, it's only a quarter, it shouldn't have any effect."

Xu Shangshu of the Ministry of Works refused without much thought. In fact, he looked down upon Chu Jiuning's behavior. As a merchant of low status, he should be humble when necessary and not be so arrogant, so he refused arrogantly.

"You're so stupid."

Minister Jiang of the Ministry of War glared at him fiercely, then turned around and said to Chu Jiuning with a smile.

"Thank you very much, Miss Chu. We are indeed a little poor, and everything is in tatters. Many things need to be repaired and added to. I will tell all my colleagues that it is because of Miss Chu that we are able to live a good life."

"Then send them all to the Ministry of War."

Minister Jiang was so happy that he almost floated with joy. He nodded heavily and then stepped forward to bow to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness, may I ask how much silver is Miss Chu's half of the tax?"

"It shouldn't be less than a million."

The prince said this lightly, and when Minister Jiang heard it, he felt so relieved that his eyes narrowed into slits and he felt very happy.

It was Minister Xu who exploded.

What?

One million taels?

As he staggered, he suddenly realized that he had lost a lot of things because of his just words. If his men knew that he had lost tens or even millions of taels of silver with just one sentence, they would beat him to death.

"Your Highness."

Minister Xu came forward and looked at Ai Ai, then at Chu Jiuning.

"Miss Chu."

Chu Jiuning shook her head.

"There's nothing I can do."

Minister Xu's face suddenly fell as if nothing had happened, and he was so angry that he almost jumped up.

"But if Master Xu is willing to help, I can move some from other places."

"I will definitely help, don't worry."

When Minister Xu heard that there was still hope, he immediately rekindled his fighting spirit and urged several other ministers to go find the emperor together.

I happened to meet the Censor Liu again, so I brought him into the matter again.

Lord Liu also saw the chaos in the capital, so he quickly wrote a memorial to curse people. He was just about to go and ask for an audience with the emperor. Now there was strength in numbers, so Lord Liu puffed out his chest and strode forward.

…

After eavesdropping for about a quarter of an hour and feeling quite satisfied, Shen Liuguang returned to the East Palace.

Report the movements of the adults one by one to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Chu Jiuning was drawing slowly. The current prince's mansion was too simple and too cold. She wanted the prince to have a warmer and more luxurious mansion so that he could live more comfortably.

Before she had finished painting one-tenth of the picture, a palace maid came over and said that Concubine Dai had asked her to bring her mother-in-law back home.

Chu Jiuning put down her pen and sighed.

"It seems that things are about to come to a conclusion. My incompetent mother-in-law is probably in a state of disrecognition and is trying her best to seek comfort from the emperor."

"If she wants to see him, let her see him."

The more you don't let them see you, the more you will miss them. Only by cutting them apart bit by bit can you see the ugliness inside.

"Then I will go to the Emperor to seek comfort."

"I'm afraid that Father can't comfort you, but I have no problem here."

After the prince finished speaking, he looked at Chu Jiuning with his blazing eyes. Chu Jiuning pursed her lips, and the two of them stood up and walked towards the emperor while talking.

When the emperor heard that Chu Jiuning wanted to see him, he became even more angry.

You are really capable.

The six ministers of state had always disagreed with each other, but today they united to plead for her, and the people in the streets were making trouble for her.

If this was a man, he would have killed him with one blow.

at the moment.

She cannot be killed, but someone must restrain her and make her obedient. If used well, she will be the most useful chess piece and can help the Great Dynasty a lot.

So they were brought in.

Far away.

Seeing the prince leading them in, the emperor snorted coldly, turned around and sat down. Chu Jiuning stepped forward and saluted, and the emperor pointed at her.

"Chu Jiuning, you are such a jerk! I just asked you to recognize a concubine and a legitimate son, but you made such a big fuss."

"Your Majesty, there is actually a better way. If Your Majesty allows me and Song Jinhuai to divorce, and lets him marry An Yinyin, then the child will naturally become the legitimate son, right?"

"Divorce?"

The emperor frowned.

"If the Emperor agrees to my divorce, I am willing to donate 20 million taels of silver to the national treasury."

Twenty million?

The eyes of the Minister of Revenue Yuan suddenly lit up, and he looked at the emperor steadily. Just nod, and everything will be fine. What's the point of talking about marital love? Isn't it better to count money?

The emperor paced back and forth, his mind indeed wavering. If he were asked to get 20 million taels, it would be very difficult, but it was easy for Chu Jiuning.

"That's not impossible."

"Just no."

When the angry voice sounded, everyone saw a white figure rushing in and speaking anxiously to the emperor.

"We can't get a divorce. I don't agree to a divorce."

The emperor hated the color white the most. He always thought it was unlucky. The Duke's wife had messy hair that covered her face. One could vaguely see that her face was yellow and her eyes were blue. The emperor was furious.

"Who are you?"

The Duke's wife hurriedly covered her face and spoke in a soft voice with tears in her eyes.

"I...I'm Susu."

Said.

She held up her fingers, which were swollen like sausages.

"Empress Dai arrested me and forced me to copy scriptures day and night. She also pricked my hand with a needle because my handwriting was not good. Your Majesty, you must seek justice for me."