Chapter 113

The next day was the first day of the new year, and it's unlikely that Chen Tingyu's case will be resolved on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Si Yanmo and Zhou Yanqing decided to go out for a walk to relax. They'd had too much going on these past few days.

Early in the morning, people on both sides of the street were sweeping away the traces left by firecrackers last night, while children followed adults from house to house to offer New Year's greetings, which was also a rare opportunity for them to ask for candy.

As Si Yanmo was walking, she bumped into a playful little boy. As if he knew he had done something wrong, he bowed and apologized to her, and even wished her a Happy New Year.

The two had left in such a hurry that neither of them brought any candy as a return gift. There were no vendors out doing business during the New Year, so they could only awkwardly reply and run off.

Si Yanmo said regretfully, "I should have brought some honey with me! Didn't you see how bright the child's eyes were? In the end, neither of us brought anything!"

Zhou Yanqing smiled shyly, "I bet he'll talk badly about us when he gets back!"

"If anyone's talking about this, it's definitely you. I should have run over and told him that the person who didn't give you candy was His Highness Prince Qin, and made him go back and add another charge to your fierce and ruthless act—not giving him candy!"

Seeing her playful appearance, the man simply found her extremely cute. He affectionately patted her head and pretended to be fierce, "Ah? Then I'll tell him that Princess Qin isn't a good person either, and that we two are in cahoots?"

"Who wants to be in cahoots with you? You're the one who corrupted me."

"Well, it's the same as marrying a chicken and following the chicken, marrying a dog and following the dog." Zhou Yanqing chuckled and tried to take her hand, but she dodged him with a haughty air and walked forward.

This departure had a significant impact. The two, laughing and joking, wandered into an alley, far from the previous hustle and bustle. The surroundings were visibly dilapidated, and even the doorway was just a rickety wooden plank, looking even worse than what they had seen in Sak.

Si Yanmo couldn't help but wonder, this was Jinwu City, right under the imperial city wall, even if the people here were poor, they couldn't be as poor as Sak, who was still suffering from the frost disaster.

She glanced back at Zhou Yanqing, whose expression also showed confusion.

Just then, an old woman pushed open the wooden door. Si Yanmo looked closely and felt that the woman looked very familiar. She suddenly realized that she was the old lady who had come to see her when she was telling fortunes for people at Hechunlou.

But the old woman she met back then, while not exactly elegant and luxurious, was at least well-dressed, and the fabric she wore looked quite good.

She had her aunt consulted a fortune teller, who also predicted that she was destined to enjoy a peaceful old age.

Apart from the daughter-in-law being attacked and killed by a water monster while washing clothes by the river, the family has not suffered any major calamities.

She also specifically instructed the old woman not to let her daughter-in-law go to the river again. Logically speaking, the crisis should have been resolved. Even if something had really happened, she shouldn't be in such a tattered state now, right?

She went up to the old woman and started talking to her: "Auntie, do you still remember me? I am Mo Li, He Chunlou."

The old woman seemed to have poor eyesight; after listening to her, she squinted and looked for a long time before she remembered.

"Oh, it's Master Mobu. What are you doing here?" the old woman said, her voice hoarse and barely audible.

Si Yanmo had a bad feeling. She secretly did some calculations and found that the old woman's fate had changed. She had gone from being well-off to being sickly and unlucky, and had even become involved with the royal family.

She didn't want to waste time guessing the pronouncements in her fate, so she simply asked the old woman what had happened.

The old woman hesitated, then waved her hand, advising, "It's best for the diviner not to know too much."

Si Yanmo was not that kind of person. After exchanging glances with Zhou Yanqing, she pulled the old woman aside and pressed her for details, saying, "Don't worry, Auntie, just talk to me."

Just then, the sound of firecrackers crackling and popping rang out again outside the alley. The old woman was startled, and her fingertips trembled.

Perhaps she was stimulated, or perhaps it was because no one had spoken to her for a long time, she invited the two people into the house.

The courtyard was pitifully small; it couldn't even be called a courtyard. It was just a narrow path, big enough for one person to walk through.

The room was even darker, with only a small oil lamp that made a tiny bit of light, clearly indicating that the oil had been used many times.

The old woman brought two small wooden chairs for the two of them. As soon as Si Yanmo sat down, the chair tilted and almost made her fall to the ground, but luckily Zhou Yanqing caught her with his hand.

Seeing this, she quickly replaced Si Yanmo's with a new one.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, this is really..." She didn't finish her sentence, but Si Yanmo could guess what she meant and didn't ask any further questions.

Now, what she really wanted to know was what had happened to the old woman to cause this misfortune? Could it be that altering one's fate would have a backlash?

The old woman told her that not long after she had her fortune told, she also told her daughter-in-law not to go to the river. At first, everything was fine. She heard that a water monster had really appeared by the river and even went to thank Si Yanmo.

They also ran a small business at home. Although it wasn't as big as the Si family's business, it was enough to support their family, and they were even doing much better than most people.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of this year, the Southern Emperor began to tax merchants. Merchants who were not in Jinwu City could still run away if they heard the news, but those of them had no background and no other assets, so even if they ran away, they had nowhere to go.

At first, she and her husband thought that as long as they earned less, their family could make a living, that would be fine.

But later the taxes became heavier and heavier, and even became imposed, which was even more frightening than bandit robbery.

"You say the imperial court has to levy taxes, the chamber of commerce has to pay money, and land rent is also a problem. What will we have left?" The old lady sighed.

In the dim light, Si Yanmo could almost see the tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

Her doubts also arose: "Does the Chamber of Commerce also need money?"

Although Si Yanmo doesn't know as much about the Chamber of Commerce as her older sister, she is, after all, the daughter of the charitable organization, so she knows most of the things.

She remembered her father saying that the money collected by the Chamber of Commerce was for merchants who had businesses in other places. Rather than a fee, it was more like a guarantee between everyone. If anything happened to their businesses in other places, the Chamber of Commerce would help them solve the problem.

The old woman in front of us and her family only do business in Jinwu, so why would they need to pay money?

The old woman waved her hand, "Master Mobu, you don't know this. After the imperial court started levying taxes, the court also added people to the chamber of commerce. Now it's a mess. Even the charitable halls in our Nandu don't have the authority to speak for themselves."

"Is that so?"

No wonder her parents looked so worried when she and Zhou Yanqing first returned. She had initially thought it was about Zhou Yanqing, but now she realized it was about the Chamber of Commerce.

However, the old woman's words were still different from what she remembered her destiny saying.

Leaving aside fate, even in her past life, she remembered that it was Zhou Junsong who wrote the memorial to win over the Chamber of Commerce and regulate the taxation of merchants.

Although it was somewhat radical at the beginning, it was limited to taxation and had nothing to do with anything else, nor did it simply bankrupt a single business.

Later, after investigating the local conditions, Zhou Junsong made changes to the regulations, which not only expanded the national treasury but also made the business and trade of the southerners more prosperous.

She always felt that something was amiss, that there was something involved that they didn't know.

The old woman also told her that it wasn't just their family; nowadays, merchants of all sizes were most afraid of the tax collectors from the Ministry of Revenue, who were practically bandits!

Many people, like her, can only live in tiny houses in this alley, and can't even afford to eat.

“My husband was beaten to death by them because he couldn’t pay his taxes, and they also…and…”

Si Yanmo stopped her from continuing. She had already seen in the destiny that the woman she had saved, the old woman's daughter-in-law, had died from being raped and murdered by a group of people.

Her heart felt as if it were being crushed by a heavy object, making it hard for her to breathe and unable to speak.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally managed to speak and give the old woman a sum of money.

The old woman didn't take it, but returned the money to her, saying, "Master Mobu, I know you're a good person, but I don't need it anymore..."

As she spoke, blood suddenly seeped from the corner of her mouth, and her expression turned painful.

Si Yanmo was shocked and quickly helped her up, telling Zhou Yanqing to go and call the witch doctor. Before Zhou Yanqing could even take a step, the old woman stopped her, "No need... whether she's alive or dead... it doesn't matter to me anymore..."

It turned out that the old woman had poisoned herself early in the morning, but the poison was too bitter. She had gone out earlier to use the last of her money to buy herself a piece of honey so that her departure would be sweeter.

Just as she heard the sound of firecrackers, she suddenly remembered that it was the first day of the lunar new year, and no one was out doing business, so she wouldn't get any candy...

"Today... there's still someone... to talk to... to confide in... that's enough..." Her voice grew softer and softer, her body grew heavier and heavier, and she soon stopped breathing.

Si Yanmo remained in that supporting position, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cave and sunk into icy water, unable to breathe.

Seeing her open her mouth but unable to make a sound, only tears streaming down her face, Zhou Yanqing felt heartbroken and hugged her from behind.

"Don't cry, don't cry, let's find a place to bury your grandmother, okay?"

He didn't know how to comfort him; he had seen too much of this capriciousness of fate, and was even somewhat numb to it.

But he also knew that Si Yanmo had once tried to save their family, but now she had not received any good news and had to witness a life slipping away in front of her.

He didn't speak, nor did Si Yanmo; she just kept shedding tears. After a long while, she choked out, "Why didn't we bring honey?"

After an unknown amount of time, she finally recovered somewhat and, together with Zhou Yanqing, asked the neighbors in the area if they could bury the old lady and her family together. They learned that she had no money to bury them at all.

The bodies of her husband, son, and daughter-in-law could only be wrapped in straw mats and buried in the ancestral graveyard.

She and Zhou Yanqing buried their aunt there and placed a bag of honey inside.