Su Zhi Qiu arrived at the Qin family's courtyard in a sedan chair and met the youngest daughter, Su Ru Yan.
After sitting down, he looked at his increasingly pregnant daughter and asked with concern, "Yan'er, how long has it been since you and your husband last corresponded?"
Su Ruyan wore a faint smile, but a hint of panic flashed in her eyes. "Father, why are you asking this? My husband is so busy with state affairs, how could he have time to write to me..."
“You,” Su Zhi Qiu sighed, “don’t I know your personality well enough? People used to say you were proud and arrogant, but actually, you just have a strong attachment to things and can’t let go of them…”
"After following Qin Chuan, you've been constantly compromising yourself. Sigh, everyone says the Su family is prestigious, with two daughters marrying princes, but look at your eldest sister, and then look at you now. Sigh, I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse..."
After saying that, Su Zhi Qiu sighed, which was rare for her.
The atmosphere in the main room was somewhat oppressive.
After a moment of silence, Su Zhi Qiu continued:
“My son-in-law wants to implement new policies and tax reforms, but that has nothing to do with me. As a minor local prefect, such national affairs are beyond my control.”
"As a father, I'm just worried... worried..."
Su Ruyan looked at her father with a worried expression. "Father, what are you worried about?"
Su Zhi Qiu covered his face with his lapel and sighed softly, "I worry that now that he has power, one day he will tire of you and divorce you!"
"No, it won't..."
Su Ruyan spoke softly, her eyes glistening, "My husband is not that kind of person. He is the best person in the world and would never do such a thing."
Su Zhi Qiu stared blankly at her youngest daughter, as if she didn't recognize her at all for that moment.
After a moment's thought, she said, "Yan'er, since you trust him so much, why don't you write him a letter? That way, he'll think of you more often."
Su Ruyan's eyes lit up, and she nodded: "Father is right! Since he's busy and forgot to write to me, I should write to him more often... Ping'er!"
As she spoke, she called Ping'er to prepare writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, intending to write a letter to Qin Chuan...
Seeing his daughter's posture, Su Zhiqi quickly took out a letter he had written beforehand from his pocket and handed it to Su Ruyan, saying, "Yan'er, do your father a favor and put this letter in with your son-in-law."
Su Ruyan took the letter, read it for a while, and understood that it was an article outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the new policy. She immediately frowned, revealing a troubled expression: "Father, my husband has his reasons for doing things, so why did you have to write this..."
“Yan’er, you know that my reputation among my colleagues is very important. If I don’t do this, they will hate me…” Su Zhi Qiu said with a conflicted expression.
"Father, you're being foolish. You can't do this. You'll put my husband in a difficult position..." Su Ruyan frowned and advised with a troubled expression.
Su Zhi Qiu stood up, sighed, and said, "Father knows he shouldn't do this, but this is all he can do. How helpless things are in this world. I only have one year left in my term in Jiangzhou. I'm about to retire, and I want to leave a good reputation."
"Father, you're really confused. What reputation, what good name? My husband isn't a treacherous minister. Your words are really hurting me..." Su Ruyan's face suddenly turned cold.
Su Zhi Qiu shook her head, "That's not what your father meant..."
Su Ruyan: "Then what do you mean?"
Upon hearing this, Su Zhi Qiu paused for a moment before saying, "Father has his reasons. Please help me this time. As long as the letter is sent, I will have an explanation to my colleagues..."
Su Ruyan said unhappily, "Father, why don't you send it separately yourself?"
Su Zhi Qiu was taken aback for a moment before saying, "If Father sends a letter to his son-in-law, and others see it, won't they think that his son-in-law is trying to abuse his power to promote me? I can't do anything to betray my son-in-law..."
"But you're doing it right now..."
Seeing his daughter glaring at him resentfully, Su Zhi Qiu coughed and said, "This is the most perfect way for your father to do it. You send the letter and have your son-in-law reply, just saying that this is a policy that benefits the country and the people. Your father can show the reply to his colleagues, and then your father will be able to save face, won't he?"
Su Ruyan: "Father, you..."
I thought to myself, "Fine, I'll only do this stupid thing once, and there can't be a next time..."
...
Su Ruyan sent the letter to Qin Chuan on the same day, and Qin Chuan received it three days later.
Two-thirds of the straight road from the capital to Jiangzhou has been completed. What used to take four or five days now only takes three days, and if it is fully completed, it will only take two days.
Once the straight road is completed, the land route will be faster than the water route.
After receiving the letter from Su Ruyan, Qin Chuan couldn't wait to return to his room in the Prince of Yan's mansion and begin reading it...
But when he opened the envelope, he was immediately surprised. How could there be two letters?
Upon closer inspection, he realized that one letter was sent to him by his father-in-law, Su Zhiqi, while the other was a handwritten letter from Su Ruyan.
He first read his father-in-law Su Zhiqi's letter, which was an article outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the new policies, especially the new fiscal system. His father-in-law truthfully reflected the evaluations of the prefectural officials on the new tax system in the article, reminding him that this would affect the interests of many officials and gentry, and that he should act with caution.
As for his own attitude, he seems to neither oppose nor approve.
Looking at what his father-in-law had written, Qin Chuan was at a loss, unsure how to reply...
As he picked up the letter written by Su Ruyan and read it, his eyes began to blur with tears...
It turns out that she had been missing him so much all this time...
The thought of having had so many sexual encounters with my older sister made me feel really bad for her.
But when he saw in her letter that she had decided on a name for the child, he immediately continued reading...
Su Ruyan wrote: "...I consulted the oracle. If it is a boy, he should be named 'Hui'; if it is a girl, she should be named 'Hui'. Both names have auspicious meanings..."
Upon seeing this, Qin Chuan couldn't sit still any longer!
The son is named Qin Hui?
Is the daughter's name Qin Hui?
My son... is named Qin Hui?
Thinking of this, he immediately found some stationery and wrote the first sentence: "My wife, our son must not be named Qin Hui, he was a great traitor in history..."
He put down his pen at this point, breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then continued reading the rest of Su Ruyan's letter...
Su Ruyan then explained why her father would write such a letter and use her to send it.
Su Zhi Qiu was originally a person who valued his reputation very much. He was teased by his colleagues and wanted to save face in front of them, but he was also afraid of having a bad influence on Qin Chuan, so he chose this method.
Reading the letter, Qin Chuan was quite shocked. Ru Yan hadn't given his father-in-law any face at all, exposing all his little schemes...
After thinking about it, he decided to write a few words in reply to his father-in-law so that his father-in-law would save face.
However, he did not simply say that it was a good policy that benefited the country and the people, as Su Zhiqi had instructed.
Instead, it says: "If it benefits the country, I will risk my life; how could I avoid it because of personal fortune or misfortune..."
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