Chapter 346 Ye Chutang Poisoned the Ancestor

Chen Ruoyun didn't want to marry Song Jingning right away.

After all, I have never met him, and my impression of him is based on hearsay and imagination.

She said, "Song Gongzi, give us a year. I will be your guard and confidant. We can get to know each other. If we get along well, we can get married. If not, I will leave."

After saying that, she added another sentence.

"Within this year, Mr. Song and I will only be superiors and subordinates. If we meet someone we like, we can get married on our own."

Chen Ruoyun's request was not excessive and was even reasonable.

Song Jingning nodded. "I have no objection, but it would be unfair to you to let Miss Chen be my bodyguard."

"It's not unfair. Just consider it as atonement for my parents. Besides, the work of a guard is much easier than that of a major general. Young Master Song will definitely give me a salary, right?"

She felt guilty when she thought about how her parents used physical intimacy to plot against Song Jingning.

Although Song Jingning was angry at Chen Kui and his wife's deliberate scheming, he was not too angry.

After all, no one can force him to do something he doesn't want to do.

He smiled and said, "I will give Miss Chen the same amount as the guard's monthly salary."

"Then it's settled. I'll be on duty tomorrow."

It was impossible for Chen Ruoyun to live in the Qi family forever, so she planned to rent a house near the governor's mansion today.

When Song Jingning saw Chen Ruoyun was about to leave, he quickly called her.

"Miss Chen, I have to leave tomorrow to inspect the counties and towns in Tianshan County. If you want to go with me, pack your luggage and meet at the city gate at noon tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

At this time, dinner in the kitchen was almost ready.

Song Jingning invited Chen Ruoyun to dinner, but she refused.

"My mother is going back to Linzhou City tomorrow. I want to spend more time with her. We will have a lot of time to eat together in the next year."

After saying that, she left the governor's mansion.

Song Jingning went to Ningchuyuan to invite Ye Chutang to have dinner.

Ye Chutang was lying on the chaise longue, reading the medical books that Qi Yanzhou had collected for her.

Hearing footsteps, she quickly put the book into the space and fiddled with the chessboard on the low table.

After seeing this, Song Jingning asked, "Chu'er, do you want to play a game?"

"Okay, it's been a while since I've learned your chess skills."

"You are an excellent chess player and have solved several endgames in the Poetry Pavilion. You have to give me some leniency."

"Brother, don't underestimate yourself. You have solved more endgames than I have."

The two siblings complimented each other verbally, but their hands were decisive, and the chess pieces on the board were undercurrents.

The game of chess lasted for nearly two quarters of an hour and ended with Ye Chutang winning by one piece.

Although Song Jingning lost, he was very happy.

As he put the chess pieces into the chess box, he said, "It's really fun to meet a worthy opponent in chess."

Ye Chutang also helped pick up the chess pieces, "Let's play again when we have time."

"Okay, let's go, the food is getting cold."

On the way to the kitchen, Song Jingning took the initiative to tell Chen Ruoyun about his one-year agreement.

He had not originally intended to say it, as it would not be good for Chen Ruoyun's reputation.

But Chen Ruoyun suddenly became his bodyguard, so he had to give Ye Chutang a reasonable explanation.

He thought about it and told the truth.

Of course, he did not mention what happened in Zui Xiang Fang.

He just said that Chen Ruoyun was interested in him, and he was not opposed to it, so they decided to get to know each other.

Ye Chutang knew very well that things were by no means as simple as Song Jingning said, but she did not ask any more questions.

When it comes to matters of the heart, only you know how you feel, and others have no right to interfere.

"Brother, don't settle for marriage. You must like the other person and he/she must be willing."

Song Jingning touched the top of Ye Chutang's head.

"Don't worry, I won't compromise myself when it comes to marriage."

After dinner, Ye Chutang said goodbye to Song Jingning.

"Brother, I won't see you off tomorrow morning. Have a safe journey."

"It's cold in the morning, so you don't need to see me off. I'll go see you and An'an and Lele when my brother comes back."

"Okay, there may be a late spring cold snap next, so pay more attention to the weather."

After giving a few instructions, Ye Chutang took a carriage back to the Qi family.

When we arrived at Qi Mansion, it was already dark.

The hanging lanterns sway in the wind.

The Qi family had already finished their dinner and returned to their own courtyard.

Ye Chutang returned to Tangzhou Courtyard and played with An An and Le Le for a while.

Seeing that they were sleepy, he went to the study to find Qi Yanzhou.

"A Zhou, did you give the medicine to the old man?"

Qi Yanzhou nodded to Ye Chutang.

"The ancestor has already taken the medicine. You can do whatever you want now."

Ye Chutang smiled and said, "Don't worry."

After saying that, she walked behind Qi Yanzhou, hugged his neck, and whispered sweetly in his ear.

"Are you done yet?"

Qi Yanzhou's breathing stagnated and he immediately closed the letter he had not finished reading.

Just as he was about to stand up, Ye Chutang sat on his lap and waved away the documents and letters on the table.

“Try here.”

After saying that, she raised her head and kissed Qi Yanzhou's thin lips.

Before Qi Yanzhou could react, Ye Chutang sat on the table, hooked one hand around his neck and reached the other hand flexibly into his arms.

"Atang, this table is too hard, how about..."

Ye Chutang stopped him from discussing, "Then you stay down there."

As soon as the words came out, the two switched positions.

"Let me do it tonight."

Although it’s a bit tiring, the experience is different.

Qi Yanzhou didn't care about the ups and downs, but he felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by Ye Chutang.

He raised his hand and extinguished the oil lamp, and heat waves surged in the study.

***

The next day.

Before Ye Chutang woke up, the news that Ye Jingchuan died in prison reached the Qi Mansion.

Qi Yanzhou thought that she didn't care about Ye Jingchuan's life or death, so he didn't disturb her rest.

He mentioned this matter after breakfast.

"Atang, Ye Jingchuan is dead. He died with his eyes open and was thrown into a mass grave by the jailer."

Ye Chutang had already predicted Ye Jingchuan's death.

She said nonchalantly: "He should have died a long time ago. From now on, there will be no one in the Ye family. That's good."

After saying that, she changed the subject.

"Your brother's wedding is coming up soon, do you need our help?"

"No, just mind your own business."

"Okay, if you need help, be sure to tell me. I'm going out now."

After Ye Chutang came back from Linzhou City, he would play with An An and Le Le for a while in the morning, then go out to visit the shops, and go to the academy to teach medicine in the afternoon.

Every day is busy, but fulfilling.

The reason why she wanted to go out early today was that she wanted to go to the cement factory to see if the production could be increased.

Spring is coming soon.

Once the soil thaws, rivers and canals can be dug.

The river is wide and deep, so even if water leaks around and underground, it's no big deal.

But the canal is different, it is narrow and shallow.

In addition, the north is basically sandy, so if water is diverted from the river to the fields, the water will be lost seriously.

So we have to use cement to seal the sides and bottom of the channel to prevent leakage.

As long as the water problem is solved, there will be no problem whether growing grain, cash crops or fruit trees.

When Ye Chutang arrived at the cement factory, the workers were working hard.

After all, the wages she paid were reasonable, and she paid them every ten days without delay.

In fact, if you want to increase cement production, you only need to meet two conditions.

Artificial and raw materials.

It’s easy to find artificial labor.

Now that the external threat has been resolved, we can ask Chen’s army and the garrison troops to work as workers.

But the raw materials are a bit more troublesome.

Limestone is not difficult to find, but mining and transportation are big problems.

The limestone needed to make cement today was all moved by Ye Chutang using his earth-related supernatural powers.

Not only does it cost merit points, but the quantity delivered is also limited.

So she went to the prefectural government to check the topographic map of Tianshan County.

This map is very detailed, with states, counties, towns, Gobi deserts, mountains, water sources and fields all clearly depicted.

Of course, what each place produces in abundance is also clearly marked.

Salt lakes, iron ore, copper mines, etc. are also marked.

The limestone ore that Ye Chutang wanted to see the most also had several markings.

She asked the yamen runners to get paper and pen, and quickly drew up the transportation route and method.

After finishing her work, she went to inspect the shop.

Near noon, she went to Tianxia Building and entered Sun Chu's private room.

Sun Chu is not here.

He had to go train Qi Yanzhou's troops in the morning and would not be back until after noon.

Ye Chutang ordered a table of dishes and waited for about quarter of an hour before he hurried over.

"You came to see me, why didn't you say hello in advance?"

So that he can be lazy for a day and not go to training.

Getting up early every day really costs him half his life.

Ye Chutang looked at Sun Chu, whose voice was a little hoarse, and poured him a cup of herbal tea.

"You're complaining when I ask you to work half a day. How about changing it to a full day?"

Sun Chu quickly withdrew his hand that was holding the cup and clicked his tongue twice.

"Unscrupulous and black-hearted boss!"

After joking, he picked up the herbal tea and drank it, then asked: "You never come to see me for no reason, what do you want from me?"

As he said this, he moved closer to Ye Chutang with a money-obsessed look on his face.

Ye Chutang pushed his head away and said, "As you thought, it's a good thing to make money."

"Hurry up and tell me."

"Don't worry, let's eat and talk at the same time."

"Okay, what I hate most about the ancients is that they don't talk while eating or sleeping. It's only interesting to eat and chat while drinking."

The food was served quickly and the two chatted while eating.

Ye Chutang talked about increasing cement production.

"Cement has a wide range of uses. It can be used to build city walls, dig canals, and repair roads. We must increase production."

After listening to this, Sun Chu lost interest.

"What you are talking about are all matters of people's livelihood. Who will give the money?"

It is impossible for the dog emperor to give it.

It is even more impossible to ask the provincial and county governments to bear this expense.

Because of the three years of tax exemption, the government had no source of income and the warehouses were empty.

Ye Chutang had already figured out how to make money.

“Do you know how the power bureau and the construction company can achieve win-win cooperation?”

Of course Sun Chu had heard of it and nodded.

The construction party built power facilities for the power bureau free of charge, and later made profits in two ways.

The first is that within a certain period of time, all electricity charges earned by the power facilities belong to the construction party.

The return on investment is quick, but the profit is small.

The second type is that the project party will charge a small percentage of the electricity bill for a long time.

The return on investment is slow, but the profit is high.

Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the construction party shall make the choice.

Sun Chu took a sip of his favorite peach wine and said, "Although your method is good, the people are not the construction party, how are you going to make money?"

After taking two bites of the food, Ye Chutang replied, "It's just like modern highways. If you take the road I built, you have to pay the toll. If you need water for the canal, you can use the proportion of grain harvest to offset it. As for building the city wall, you can use future taxes to offset it."

"Your idea is good, but it depends on whether it can be implemented. After all, if you give us your seeds, we should give you a portion of the harvest. The people will feel unbalanced after working so hard for so long but not getting much."

"Feeling unbalanced? It's simple, just don't ask for anything and do it yourself. There is no such thing as having everything you want in this world!"

Ye Chutang planned to use the army to manage food and water resources. Even if the people had some ulterior motives, they would not dare to do anything.

She showed Sun Chu the limestone transportation map she had drawn.

“You don’t have to be responsible for mining and transportation. You just need to find a good site and build a few more cement plants.”

After saying that, she took out a silver note worth five thousand taels.

"if"

Sun Chu didn't take it. "I'll provide the initial capital, and you can give me 5% of the profit share in the future. How about that?"

Ye Chutang knew that Sun Chu had helped her a lot, so she said generously: "I'll give you ten points, I'll give you six and you'll give me four."

"Is this true? You're suddenly being so nice to me, aren't you trying to play the long game to catch a bigger fish?"

"So, you fish, are you going to take the bait?"

"If it's profitable, of course I'll bite!"

Ye Chutang took back the banknote, took out the antidote and handed it to Sun Chu.

"This is the antidote. After you take it, you won't have to be controlled by me anymore."

Sun Chu looked at the black pill in Ye Chutang's hand suspiciously and asked, "Haven't I accumulated ten points yet?"

If he remembered correctly, there were still two points left.

"We are already in deep cooperation. Even if you are still two points short, I am not afraid that you will not agree to my request."

"What if I cheat and refuse to agree?"

"It's not difficult to poison you. I guarantee you'll be living a life worse than death."

Sun Chu pulled the corner of his lips, "You win."

After saying that, he took the antidote and swallowed it.

***

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the night before Qi Shuyan's wedding.

The old ancestor's health has not improved and he has been bedridden.

Moreover, my chest felt stuffy and painful and I couldn't sleep at night.

When Ye Chutang came to see the ancestor, she was lying on the bed, crying out in pain.

"Does it hurt? Of course it hurts."

As soon as these words came out, the old ancestor knew what Ye Chutang had done to her.

She asked Qiuhua to help her up and glared at Ye Chutang.

"What did you mean by that?"

Ye Chutang moved a round stool to the side of the bed and looked at the old ancestor with a forced smile.

"I have poisoned you, and tonight is the day the poison will take effect."

Ancestor: “…”

"You are crazy! You are an unfilial granddaughter-in-law. Aren't you afraid of being punished by God?"

"You old fool, you have been plotting against the eldest wife time and time again, trying to kill people, but you haven't been struck by lightning, so why should I be afraid? Not to mention that I just poisoned you, even if I killed you, I would be acting on behalf of heaven!"

“You…you…”

The old ancestor was so angry that he almost fainted from the heart pain before he could even say a word of curse.

Qiuhua quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Ye Chutang.

"Madam, the old ancestor did do something wrong before, but she has been punished. In order to send gifts to the young master and the young lady for the hundred-day banquet, the old ancestor and the second house had a falling out. The old ancestor is old and seriously ill. Please don't torture the old ancestor anymore and give her a way out."

The ancestor is her support and reliance, nothing can happen to her!

Ye Chutang looked at Qiu Hua who kept kowtowing and sneered.

"I can give the old ancestor a chance to live, but you have to die for her. Are you willing?"