Teaching her to speak: "Cousin, have you tasted what you taste like yet...?"

After Zhao'er's birthday banquet ended, Banban and Ying Zheng overheard Cong Yun talking about this matter while they were changing clothes. Ying Zheng asked, "Did Han Fei eat that candy?"

Cong Yun nodded, then shook her head. "I don't know if he ate it or not," she said hesitantly. "But he did accept the candy the guard handed him."

"That flaky candy was wrapped in two layers of red paper. It was oily and flaky, and melted in your mouth. You could also taste the sweet chestnut flavor. I think anyone who saw it would be unable to resist eating it."

"Your Majesty, Han Fei did not eat the sweet candy. Instead, he kept asking how the common people of Han were doing."

The speaker was Qin Ju, who had been flogged twenty times last time and had to recuperate for two months before returning to Ying Zheng's side.

Twenty strokes of the cane was not a light punishment. It was only because he was kind to people and had not been too harsh on his subordinates that they showed him mercy and did not strike him hard on the waist.

Even so, it took him two full months to recover from his injury before he was able to walk again.

Ying Zheng must have been aware of the situation, knowing that his subordinates hadn't gone all out and had let the matter go unpunished; otherwise, Qin Ju wouldn't have survived. He never promoted anyone back, nor did he treat him with any kindness.

Thus, Qin Ju was terrified and desperately tried to please the king again. He focused all his attention on the king and dared not have any other thoughts of his own. Even his treatment of Banban was no longer as affectionate as before.

Judging from this, Qin Ju has probably finally understood who his master is, and who his only master is.

Even if the Queen and the Crown Prince are the next rulers of Qin.

However, as long as he is still alive, he is Qin Ju's heaven, and no concealment or disobedience will be tolerated.

Qin Ju was promoted by his cousin, so it was only right that he should be promoted. If he wasn't purely loyal, how could he feel secure?

Banban cast a questioning glance at Ying Zheng at the opportune moment, "He's afraid his cousin will kill the common people of Han."

How to deal with the remnants of a destroyed country is a problem, and Banban has no suitable idea.

Ying Zheng pondered for a moment, then took the jade comb from Cong Yun and combed her hair. "In the past, when the Shu Kingdom was destroyed, King Hui ordered some Qin people to migrate to the Shu region and intermarry with them. Over the years, the Shu people were divided. After the fusion of culture and blood, the people of Shu are now completely Qin people, both in mind and body."

Banban continued, "But this plan would take hundreds of years, which is too long. In the process, the Qin people would also be scattered. If the other states were annexed by our cousin in a short time, wouldn't the original Qin people be completely scattered and dispersed among the seven states? How could we talk about the 'Qin people having a strong sense of cohesion' then?"

As far as she knew, she believed that the reason why later Qin kings could not resist the uprising was because there were no longer any original Qin people in Xianyang at that time, and those people did not consider themselves Qin people at all.

Without the support of the people, who would be willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the country?

Ying Zheng paused in his combing of her hair.

With Yun and Qin Ju bowing their heads, the palace servants could only pretend not to hear anything concerning state affairs.

"The key is how to bestow favors upon the common people of Han, so that they will be sincerely loyal to our Great Qin. Those powerful and noble people are irrelevant. If you ask me, just kill them." Banban said in an exceptionally naive yet self-righteous tone, raising his hand and placing it on the back of Ying Zheng's hand.

Ying Zheng sighed and took her hand. "I understand what my cousin is saying. It's just that since the feudal system was established, hundreds of years have passed. At first glance, the nobles of each country are just ordinary people. But after so many years of intermarriage, they can no longer be distinguished from one another."

“You think it’s just a matter of killing one person, but there may be many people from different countries behind him, and he may even be connected with the Qin people.”

"If we were to simply and decisively annihilate all the powerful and wealthy, it would likely incite the anger of the nations."

“If we don’t kill them, we can only arrest them all and make them—” Her words trailed off as she recalled the brutal forced labor of the Qin Dynasty in history. She paused for a moment, slightly bewildered, “…make them work?”

“My cousin and I have the same idea,” Ying Zheng said, lowering his eyes to glance at the reflections of the two people in the bronze mirror. “Let’s just let them be too busy to think about restoring their kingdoms for now. They’ll come up with a better plan sooner or later.”

Banban pursed her lips and pondered for a long time. "I know how to make the common people feel a sense of belonging to Qin." What could she know? She was just sharing the latter's successful experience. "Ordinary common people don't really care which country they are from. They just worry about their daily meals."

Ying Zheng: "Oh?"

Banban: "My cousin only needs to take away the land from the powerful and wealthy, along with the land deeds, and distribute them to the common people, or force the gentry to give the land to the tenants for perpetual lease. This would be a great thing for the common people, allowing them to survive. They would be sincerely grateful to the new king and actively support the Qin state. After all, only by upholding the laws of the Qin state can they truly obtain those lands."

Ying Zheng chuckled, leaning down affectionately to stroke her cheek, his voice softening considerably. "It's a good idea, but what if the common people of Qin object?"

"Why should the King of Qin treat the common people of other states favorably? Aren't the common people of our own country human beings? Don't they deserve land?"

Banban froze, about to speak again.

Ying Zheng's words gradually became sharper, "But if Qin also follows suit, how will the powerful and noble people of Qin agree? Will you still be the King of Qin? Can't you tell who is supporting you?"

"If you can't even sit securely on the throne, how can you talk about subduing the common people?"

She was completely speechless at the question, and the confidence she had finally built up was instantly shattered. She had worked so hard to study for so long, but he had easily stumped her with a casual question.

She was a little discouraged, and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Cong Yun and Qin Ju's collars were already soaked with cold sweat. Qin Ju silently retreated, gave Cong Yun a wink, and she quickly followed him out quietly.

"My cousin is very cute." Ying Zheng gently stroked her cheek to comfort her. "Don't be sad. If you had come up with a solution in a few seconds, I would be the one who would be discouraged."

He pondered these things not just for a day or two, but for years.

"However, your strategy has its merits. Just because it cannot be implemented now does not mean it cannot be implemented in the future." As a monarch, one must be born with the perspective of the powerful and wealthy, and truly go down to the practical level to consider the common people. Ying Zheng had never done so.

My cousin's words also make sense.

If you want to win the hearts of the people, you must consider what the common people want. In the past, he never considered the common people. He believed that the common people would come one generation after another, and he would always have a population that he could rule.

“Eternal tenancy…” he murmured to himself as he pondered.

The word "永佳" sounds awkward, but it's actually quite easy to understand.

Currently, the majority of land is owned by local tycoons, gentry, and powerful nobles. Ordinary commoners can only survive by renting their land, paying them some grain each month, and keeping some for themselves.

However, in order to extract more labor and money from the common people, they would take back the land every three years and make them re-lease it, and in extreme cases, they would re-lease it every year.

Those land plots are flexible; the highest bidder wins the lease.

Under such exploitation, ordinary people starve to death every year.

Perpetual tenancy means that tenants are not allowed to re-rent the land every year. Once rented out, it is forever. It is the tenant's own land, which can be passed down to their descendants. The local tyrants and gentry have no right to interfere with how the tenants dispose of the land. They simply collect rent every month or year.

From the monarch's perspective, these are all tools for governing the people, insignificant... the only difference is whether they are easy or difficult to use.

Ying Zheng snapped out of his thoughts and saw his cousin still staring at him expectantly. He patted her head and said, "Alright, what are you doing? Why are you acting like a ten-year-old?"

Even so, he still leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Shall I comfort you?"

Ying Zheng was already a fully grown adult. From Banban's perspective, he was about 1.95 meters tall, with broad shoulders like a tiger, a thick and strong waist, and a very powerful presence. Even his thighs were solid and warm. He could be described with only one sentence from head to toe: "Impressive aura, like a wolf or a tiger."

She was different. After giving birth to Zhao'er, she compared herself to others and found that she was only 1.65 meters tall and had stopped growing. Not to mention that she was petite, and sometimes when she stood behind her cousin, he couldn't even see her from behind...

The way they were positioned, and how he bent down to stroke her head... they didn't look like a married couple at all.

She was completely enveloped by his shadow falling overhead. "I wasn't upset. My cousin looked so handsome and thoughtful, I couldn't help but stare at him for a while longer."

If even someone as capable as her cousin couldn't come up with anything better, it's normal that she couldn't either. She's not one to waste time internally, so she quickly put the matter out of her mind.

"Handsome and refined." Ying Zheng couldn't help but chuckle, repeating those four words before shaking his head helplessly. "You've never praised me like that before."

"I didn't..." Banban muttered, stretching out her hands.

He bent down to let her hug him, his strong arms easily lifting her up by the waist. "Zhao'er is tired today and has already gone to sleep."

No troublemaker insisted on getting involved between the two of them, making a fuss about sleeping together.

Banban was a little embarrassed, and gently hooked her arm around his collar, "Then let's play."

When we say "play," we mean real play—playing with care and patience.

It took a full quarter of an hour before things got on track.

My cousin has never let her taste his flavor over the years.

Today, while she was using her hand, she took advantage of his intense curiosity and licked it.

He reacted very strongly, almost knocking her over... well, I mean knocking her over, not resisting or refusing her. He stared at her tongue for a long time, his blood boiling and his blood rushing.

Afterwards, Banban cursed him in her heart for being a hypocrite, but in reality, the hand on the back of her neck had actually tightened.

Her throat was uncomfortable; the feeling of something being pushed up into her throat was strange and unpleasant, but she was actually fine and not injured.

He forced her mouth open, his rough fingertips reaching into her mouth to feel around, only feeling relieved after confirming that she was indeed unharmed.

She had no way to explain herself and suspected that her cousin was doing it on purpose. How could he examine her mouth like that?

She simply pounced on him and kissed him forcefully, letting him taste his own flavor.

Who told him to treat her like that before, even asking her, "Cousin, do you know what I taste like?" She was already being lenient by not asking such a lewd question!

Because of the Crown Prince's birthday banquet yesterday, Ying Zheng had an extra day off, and he did not get up early the next morning.

Banban, unusually, stayed in his cousin's arms after waking up. He leaned against the bed and flipped through a military book in his hand, one hand on his pillow, revealing a patch of bite and suck marks on his chest and the side of his neck.

A thought popped into her head: "You're not allowed to read in bed, it'll make you nearsighted."

Just as she was thinking this, Yun relayed a message from outside the screen, "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince has gotten up and is insisting on coming in."

"..." Ying Zheng sighed speechlessly and put down the military treatise.

Has he had milk yet?

"I've already eaten it."

"Then bring him in."

It was said to be a hug, but after a while, Banban saw Congyun slowly inching his way in, holding his little hand. He was probably strong-willed and insisted on walking in by himself.

Upon seeing his mother, he couldn't wait to take off his shoes and get into bed.

Cong Yun bent down to take off his shoes, picked him up and put him on the bed before leaving.

Banban casually pulled on an undergarment, as she wasn't wearing anything yet.

Zhao'er is still young, only one year old, but he rarely sleeps with his mother. He instinctively wants to rush over and hug her.

Before he could even hug her, a man's hand pressed against his forehead, preventing him from getting closer. "Your mother isn't dressed yet, you should behave yourself."

Banban pushed him away impatiently, "Don't talk about my baby like that. Zhao'er is so pitiful. I've never breastfed him myself. I heard that children need their mother's milk to become smarter."

"You want to breastfeed now?" Ying Zheng looked at her immediately, his gaze lingering on her, his face full of displeasure. "He's smart enough already, he's even taught the parrot to swear."

"..." Banban was annoyed. "When did I—"

The medicine she drank was effective; she had long since stopped lactating. Who ate the excess? What's with the pretense of being righteous?

"Where did the parrot learn its swearing from? Don't wrong Zhao'er."

That cage hangs under the eaves outside Chengzhang Hall all day long; who does it hear the most talking about? Is that even a question?

Ying Zheng's expression didn't even change. "I cherish my ministers and never use vulgar language."

Zhao'er pointed at his father's mouth and said, "Fool."

"???" How dare you expose your father's shortcomings like that? Ying Zheng immediately grabbed his little hand, but couldn't stop his little mouth. He kept repeating to Banban, "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

"Don't corrupt your son!" Banban grabbed Ying Zheng by the neck and shook him violently. "He can't even call me 'father' or 'mother' yet, and he's already learned to swear!"

"I'll teach him carefully," Ying Zheng said, completely swayed by the ruse.

Seeing his father's discomfiture, Zhao'er chuckled, revealing a few white baby teeth.

In the following days, Ying Zheng patiently taught his son to greet people, but he either shook his head or pretended to be stupid, refusing to call him "Father." When Ying Zheng was about to lose his temper, he finally spoke up and called out in a clear voice, "Mother!"

Banban was so moved she almost cried. She hugged his little body, patted his head, and rubbed his cheeks.

Ying Zheng: "..." Okay, okay.

This kid was definitely doing it on purpose; he's so young but has a bad streak.

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Author's Note: I had something to do today, so I'm a bit late with the update. I'll definitely add more tomorrow. I'm sending out a red envelope as compensation for everyone today, muah!