Zhang Mingzhu naturally wouldn't let the Handong King continue doing such a thing. Pointing at Qi Zhiqing, who was trembling in the corner, she said, "Alright, since the prince said he loves me the most, then you must let this woman leave the palace. I won't allow the prince to have another woman, especially if this woman is even half as beautiful as me. The prince is truly so hungry that he's bringing anyone into the palace."
King Handong glanced at Qi Zhiqing. Although Qi Zhiqing was also beautiful, compared with Zhang Mingzhu, Qi Zhiqing was like a white rose, fresh and elegant, exuding a faint fragrance, while Zhang Mingzhu was like a peony, truly a beauty of national beauty and unparalleled in beauty.
He originally wanted to coax Zhang Mingzhu back and keep this beautiful young woman in the mansion so that he could have fun with her in the future.
But now that Zhang Mingzhu said this, even though this beautiful young woman had a pretty face, compared to Mingzhu, she was indeed not as gorgeous as Mingzhu. He preferred gorgeous looks.
Never mind, after all, she is not as pretty as Mingzhu. As long as Mingzhu is willing to treat him well, it doesn't matter if he sends this little woman away.
Seeing Zhang Mingzhu still fuming, the Handong King went over and hugged her, coaxing her, "Alright, alright, Mingzhu, don't be angry. I'll send this little woman away. From now on, whatever Mingzhu says will be my fate. As long as Mingzhu is willing to be nice to me, I'll keep Mingzhu as the only one in my palace besides the princess. Are you willing?"
Zhang Mingzhu was of course unwilling, but she also didn't want him to continue to harm other women. However, she still sneered with a stern face and said, "Your Highness, wait until you can really control yourself. As long as Your Highness can control himself and doesn't look for other women in the future, I will also treat you well."
"All is up to you." King Handong said, calling the guards outside and asking them to send Qi Zhiqing to the back door of the palace.
Qi Zhiqing was hiding in the corner. She thought she could not escape this time, but she did not expect a girl to suddenly rush in and save her.
She knew that this girl should be Chongming Gong's granddaughter, Mingzhu.
She was a few years older than Zhang Mingzhu. They knew each other in childhood and had met many times at banquets in the capital. Zhang Mingzhu was indeed like a dazzling pearl, but such a dazzling pearl had fallen into such a situation.
Of course she knew that Zhang Mingzhu was just saying these words on purpose to provoke King Handong so that he could save her.
Before being sent away by the guards, Qi Zhiqing turned around and looked gratefully at Zhang Mingzhu who was standing under the corridor.
When the guards sent her to the back door, Qi Zhiqing had already tidied her clothes and hair. Without lingering for a moment, she trotted back to the Taifu Mansion.
When they returned to the Taifu Mansion, only the Taifu's wife was at home, and the Taifu and Qi Zhiqing's husband were outside looking for her.
The two maids and the coachman collapsed nearby. When they regained consciousness, they were terrified to find their daughter was nowhere to be found. They hurried back to the Tutor's Mansion to report to the head of the family. The Tutor, his wife, and his son-in-law were all terrified. The two men immediately sent everyone in the mansion out to look for the girl. They didn't care about reputation, as they knew life was the most important thing. So even if everyone in the mansion was mobilized and outsiders knew about it, they didn't care, as long as they could find the girl alive.
But they didn't know who abducted Qi Zhiqing.
The Grand Tutor and the son-in-law were a little worried that it was the work of Prince Handong. They had already gone to Prince Handong's mansion. They went through the main gate. Qi Zhiqing was just being escorted out from the back door by the guards and did not run into them.
When Madam Taifu saw her daughter, she burst into tears. Qi Zhiqing also hugged her mother and cried bitterly. Then, trembling all over, she told Madam Taifu about what had happened today.
"Mom, luckily Miss Zhang Si saved me. If Miss Zhang Si hadn't come over suddenly, I would have been defiled and killed."
The wife of the Grand Tutor also came from a famous family. At this moment, she couldn't help but hug her daughter and scold the King of Handong, saying that he was worse than pigs and dogs. She scolded the Fu family for having a pair of rotten-hearted siblings, and said that the world would be ruined by them sooner or later.
Qi Zhiqing was worried that her mother would say something bad, so she covered her mother's mouth.
Mrs. Taifu knew that now was not the time to cry, so she called the maid in the house to go outside to look for the master and son-in-law.
Besides, this matter certainly cannot be let go like this.
When the Grand Tutor and the son-in-law came back, they listened to Qi Zhiqing's story about how the King of Handong was abducted and how she was rescued by Zhang Mingzhu. She was not seriously injured.
The two grown men's eyes turned red. Qi Zhiqing's husband even hugged her and burst into tears. "Zhiqing, even if something happens, you can't commit suicide. As long as you are alive, it's fine. As long as you are alive, my father, my mother, and I will come to save you. As long as you are alive, it's fine."
Qi Zhiqing also burst into tears.
Taifu Qi was also unwilling to let King Handong go like this.
A few days later, he went to find the girls who had been harmed by King Handong in recent years and asked them to write a confession and hand it to him.
Some girls were willing to write and hoped that King Handong would be punished, but some girls were afraid that their reputation would be ruined, so they were naturally unwilling to do so. The Taifu did not force them. Among them, there were more than ten girls who agreed to write confessions, and among them naturally there was also the confession of his own daughter.
Although Qi Zhiqing did not suffer any actual harm, she was unwilling to let King Handong go and allow him to continue to harm other girls in the future. Miss Zhang Si was willing to do this to save her, so she could not be a coward.
Even if the world knew about it, misunderstood her as innocent, and spread rumors about her, she didn't care. She just wanted to avenge these murdered girls and also avenge Miss Zhang Si. If King Handong could be overthrown, maybe Miss Zhang Si could also be rescued.
Tutor Qi took the collected confessions and went back to the Mountain Resort. Unexpectedly, after reading them, the Queen Mother asked if there was any other evidence besides the confessions to prove that the King of Handong had defiled them.
Of course there were. Those girls who were defiled all remembered the characteristics of King Handong and even wrote down the birthmark on his back.
But the Queen Mother said it was just a birthmark, and all the servants who served Prince Handong knew that he had such a birthmark. Even if Prince Handong really had something with them, how could they say that he forced them? Wasn't it normal love between a man and a woman, and they did it voluntarily?
At this moment, Master Qi's heart completely turned cold.
He knew that even in the face of these confessions and evidence, the Queen Mother would not punish King Handong.
In fact, he also knew that the new emperor was a mediocre person, and the empress dowager was in control of most of the government affairs on weekdays. The empress dowager had a heart for power and no means to govern a country. She came to this position just for pleasure. Judging from some of the government affairs handled by the empress dowager, Taifu Qi felt that she was cruel. It was hard to say whether the late emperor was poisoned to death by the eldest prince or by the empress dowager Fu. He had also taught the eldest prince and knew what kind of person he was, but without evidence, he could not determine who was responsible. Now he saw clearly that the late emperor's accident was probably caused by the empress dowager.
Even though Cheng had doubted the Queen Mother before, he was also worried about the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty. He was worried about what would happen to the people if he left, so he continued to stay in the court and serve as an official.
But at this moment, Master Qi no longer wanted to persist, and he alone could not change anything.
After he returned, the empress dowager gave him a lot of rewards, but Tutor Qi just looked at these rewards indifferently.
The wife of the Grand Tutor also scolded the Queen Mother and the Prince of Handong.
At the end of summer, the empress dowager, the new emperor and a group of ministers returned to the capital from the Summer Palace.
On the first day of court, Taifu Qi resigned from his post in front of all the civil and military officials, saying that he was old and wanted to resign and return to the countryside to retire.
The Grand Tutor was indeed in his fifties and had two sons, but they were not serving as officials in the capital. Instead, they were working as county magistrates outside to gain experience.
Qi Zhiqing's affairs had spread throughout the capital, so the civil and military officials in the court also knew why Master Zhang wanted to resign.
Some people felt sorry for Taifu Qi and were dissatisfied with the actions of Prince Handong and the Queen Mother. It was just that the Queen Mother was ruthless and they had seen some of her methods. Although the Queen Mother did not openly punish some of the ministers who made great trouble, several of the most powerful courtiers who advised the Queen Mother and Emperor Sheng Yuan in the court had gotten into trouble.
It's called advice, but in fact it's almost like scolding, and the words are rather harsh, but it also hopes that the Queen Mother can think more about the people of the world.
These people died of illness one after another. It was really a coincidence that one of them died of heart failure while attending court.
So at this moment, many people did not dare to speak up for Master Zhang. Only the Censor and several other officials kept advising Emperor Sheng Yuan to punish King Handong.
The new emperor pretended not to hear anything. When he saw that the Taifu was resigning, he tried to persuade him to stay. Finally, seeing that the Taifu was determined, he agreed.
After Taifu Qi returned to the Taifu Mansion, he began to have people pack up their belongings and prepare to return home.
As for the servants in the Taifu Mansion, their indentures were returned to them, and they were given some silver and sent out to start their own businesses.
Before the Grand Tutor left the capital with his family, Zhang Mingzhu learned about it and tried to contact Qi Zhiqing and asked her to meet him in a private room in Jixiang Tower.
Zhang Mingzhu could leave the palace on weekdays. She had been forced by the Queen Mother to marry the Prince of Handong by an imperial edict. Even if she ran back to her parents' home, it would be of no use unless the Prince of Handong died or gave her a letter of divorce. Otherwise, nothing would work. If she really ran away, she was worried that the Prince of Handong and the Queen Mother would make things difficult for her family.
Qi Zhiqing met with Zhang Mingzhu.
She thanked Zhang Mingzhu.
In recent days, many people in the capital have known about her story. Ordinary people may not have heard much about it, but the dignitaries and royal families in the capital must have known about it. She said that she was not defiled by the King of Handong, but how could the girls who were abducted to the palace by the King of Handong come out with a clean record? Everyone didn't believe it, but no one said anything bad, they just felt very sympathetic towards her.
Qi Zhiqing didn't care much anymore, as if it was really no big deal. Just like what her husband said, even if her body was really defiled and not innocent, why should she die? It was King Handong who should die, not her.
Zhang Mingzhu waved her hand, her expression still a little cold. She said, "I have a letter. Madam Qi, please give it to your father. He will know after reading it."
Qi Zhiqing took the letter and nodded. Zhang Mingzhu didn't plan to sit for long and prepared to leave.
Qi Zhiqing hesitated for a moment, looked at Zhang Mingzhu's back and said, "Madam Zhang, there is hope only if you are alive." She could see that Zhang Mingzhu was lifeless.
Zhang Mingzhu paused. Of course she knew, but so what? Her life was already like this. Even if Prince Shu ascended the throne and Prince Handong died, what difference would it make from her previous life?
Zhang Mingzhu left.
Qi Zhiqing also brought the letter back to the Taifu Mansion and handed it to her father, "Dad, this is a letter from the fourth daughter of the Zhang family, asking me to give it to you."
When Taifu Qi took the letter, opened it, and saw the contents, his expression became solemn.
In this letter, Zhang Mingzhu told him that if he had any other ideas, he could go find King Shu.
The Grand Tutor did have some ideas, but the time was not right yet.
Last year, there was a drought in Zhongzhou. Although Emperor Sheng Yuan and the Empress Dowager dragged their feet at first, they finally provided disaster relief. Now the people's lives are relatively stable. If they really revolt, the world will be in chaos. He is unwilling to take this step unless he has no other choice.
But he felt that if the Queen Mother continued to act, the world would still be in chaos. It was only a matter of time, so perhaps some preparations could be made in advance.
However, he always thought that Prince Shu was living an ordinary life in the border town, and that Prince Shu was in poor health and could not handle such a heavy responsibility. Now it seems that this is not the case, is it?
How did Zhang Mingzhu know this? Not only that, but what shocked Imperial Tutor Qi even more was that Zhang Mingzhu even told her directly in the letter that Prince Shu had the imperial edict that had appointed the eldest prince as the crown prince, but the Empress Dowager had poisoned the late emperor before the edict was announced to the world.
Could it be that such a secret matter was discovered by the Chongming Public Security Bureau?
That's right, Duke Chongming's most beloved granddaughter was snatched away. He is a person who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. He will definitely not let the Queen Mother and Prince Handong go easily. That's why he had other ideas and traced Prince Shu and these things, right?
In this case, after he leaves with his family, he should contact King Shu first and then make plans.
Zhang Mingzhu knew the Taifu's character and knew that he was dedicated to the people and was a good official.
Although nothing happened to Qi Zhiqing in this life, the Grand Tutor still resigned from his post. I wonder if there will be an uprising after the Grand Tutor leaves.
If they revolt, the family of Taifu Fu will not have a good ending in the end. It is better for them to assist Prince Shu. Prince Shu has the imperial edict in his hand, which gives him the legitimate right to attack the evil queen and the tyrant emperor.
As for whether or not to expose some of her own secrets, she didn't really care. What was the point of living her life over again?
When Prince Shu returns, she plans to continue living in a nunnery with the princess for the rest of her life.
…
In the Marquis Dechang's Mansion, Xu Qinhui was waiting for Qi Zhiqing to be defiled by the King of Handong, waiting for Grand Tutor Qi to retire and return home, waiting for Grand Tutor Qi to revolt.
But in mid-May, the day Qi Zhiqing had the accident, she had thought that she would receive news of Qi Zhiqing's death the next day. However, the next day, her father told her that the King of Handong had abducted the Taifu's youngest daughter who had married and returned to her parents' home and brought her back to the palace, but finally released her.
Xu Qinhui was stunned.
She didn't understand why even Qi Zhiqing was different from her previous life and survived, even though she had been abducted to the Handong Palace. Could it be that she just wanted to survive, even if it meant humiliation?
Fortunately, Taifu Qi returned home with his entire family and left the capital.
Xu Qinhui always felt that many things were different from what happened in her previous life.
She also began to get anxious, not knowing whether she should go looking for Prince Shu, and whether Prince Shu would ever be able to return to the capital in this lifetime.
…
The weather was getting colder and autumn had arrived. Xu Qinyu invited an embroiderer from the city to come to Xu's house to make some winter clothes for her family.
In addition, the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the fields are about to mature. This is what the people in the southwest are most concerned about. They always go to the government office to ask when the crops in the fields can be dug up.
The prefect also attached great importance to potatoes and sweet potatoes, and asked officers and soldiers who knew how to grow them to go to the fields to watch over them every day.
Just when they were about to start digging in a day or two, a secret letter suddenly came from the capital city at full speed. After reading it, Governor Zhu's face suddenly turned dark.
The Queen Mother said that because of the disaster relief, the treasury was empty, so this year's grain tax would be directly reduced to 5%, and the same was true for commercial tax. She asked the prefect to post a notice to implement it.
The original tax on grain was 3% of the total, which was already quite heavy. After paying the tax, the remaining grain was just enough to provide for basic needs.
Some tenants, because they rented the land, had to pay the grain tax to the court and then the rent. The remaining grain was better, but they could barely get by. Those with many children could not even afford a full meal, and every meal was just watery. Now they directly took 50% of the land out of ten, and after paying some rent, the remaining grain was probably not enough to eat even if they had to drink water every day...
The prefect was so angry that he scolded the empress dowager and Emperor Sheng Yuan, saying that they were truly incompetent and unjust.
But he had to carry it out. When the notice was posted, all the people were stunned, and some even burst into tears. "They're taking half of the grain tax. How are we ordinary people supposed to survive? Are you trying to force us to death? Damn God, you wicked God! You might as well just strike us dead with a bolt of lightning."
"That's right. We still rent the land. After paying taxes and rent, we can't even afford food and clothing. What's the point of living like this?"
"And I don't know how the new crops will turn out. If they don't turn out well, we'll be completely wiped out."
Many people had tears in their eyes, but that was an edict from the emperor, and they couldn't resist even if they wanted to.
All businesses also received notices.
Xu Qinyu also knew that commercial tax was actually lighter than grain tax. She used to pay 20%, but now she has to pay 50% directly.
This means that the restaurant’s monthly profit has been reduced by almost half.
Xu Qinyu felt a little distressed. The restaurant now makes a stable profit of 60,000 to 70,000 taels of silver per month. Now she has to pay a 50% tax, which means only about 40,000 taels of silver will be left. In fact, it is not bad. That's because her restaurant is considered to be high-end, and the food and other services there are not cheap. However, some small restaurants and vendors sell cheaply, and paying a 50% tax is already very high, making it difficult to support her family.
Xu Qinyu did not expect that Emperor Shengyuan and the Empress Dowager would say that the treasury was empty after providing disaster relief. Suddenly, the taxes on the family were still so heavy, which would really force many people to death.
Fortunately, half of the land in the southwest is planted with potatoes and sweet potatoes this year, otherwise we might not be able to have enough food and clothing.
The crops in the fields have not been harvested yet, and the people in the southwest are still unaware of it and are very panicked.
But the people in the southwest still have grain and potatoes. The harvest this year is good. Even if they pay such heavy taxes, the remaining food should be enough for them to eat. But what should the people in other states do if they don’t grow high-yield potatoes and sweet potatoes?
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but sigh. Throughout history, the rulers of many dynasties had increased taxes, which was the first step in forcing the people to rebel.
I don’t know what will happen next.
Even if the national treasury was empty, it was not because of disaster relief, but because those in power were greedy for pleasure and built luxurious palaces, which led to the empty treasury.
They indulged in pleasure without restraint and used the money of the national treasury. Even if the tax rate was only 50%, the additional taxes received would be quickly consumed. What would happen then?
Moreover, the national treasury is so empty, and if there is any natural disaster or man-made disaster, ordinary people can only wait for death.
Xu Qinyu didn't know what to do in the future. No matter what, she didn't want war to happen. War would make people's lives miserable, and there would be countless deaths and injuries.
Two days later, the crops in the fields could finally be dug.
But many people still didn't have many smiles on their faces. They were all worried about taxes. They started digging potatoes and sweet potatoes in the fields, waiting to dig out the first one. Looking at the series of grains below, they were a little stunned.
Each of those potatoes was the size of an adult man's fist, but some were very small. The sweet potatoes were also about the same size, but they were long and thin strips. Some sweet potatoes could grow to one or two pounds and were particularly large. When baskets of potatoes and sweet potatoes were dug out, the people were stunned.
According to a rough estimate, the harvest per acre of land is indeed about 3,000 kilograms.
It was not until they saw the baskets of grain that the people in the southwest realized that the governor would really not lie to them, and they finally smiled.
The prefect also posted a notice to inform everyone about the availability of these two kinds of grain.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes can indeed be used as staple foods, but they are too monotonous. You can also eat other grains on weekdays. You can cook them into porridge with beans, steam them into bean rice, or cook and steam them separately as staple foods. You can even use them to make dishes. Some simple recipes are also mentioned.
Xu Qinyu had three hundred acres of land. In addition to the grain tax, she also received a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes from her tenants. She did not sell them all but transported them all to the restaurant, adding many new dishes to the restaurant.
Potato breakfast pancakes, as well as spicy and sour potato shreds, salt and pepper potato cubes, minced meat and mashed potatoes, stewed potatoes with pork ribs and other dishes.
As for sweet potatoes, there are many ways to cook them, such as candied sweet potatoes and sweet potato glutinous rice cakes. Sweet potatoes are a sweet food, and all the sweet ones can be made into various desserts. In a short period of time, Xu Ji Restaurant had many more dishes and desserts.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes taste good and are fresh, so many customers order them.
The tomatoes, peppers and onions planted by some ordinary people have also gradually matured, and Xu Qinyu harvested a lot of them.
Now that autumn has arrived, restaurants and hotels have started serving hot pots. In addition to the unique mutton hot pot, there are of course tomato hot pot and spicy hot pot. The spicy hot pot does not have beef tallow and is less fragrant, but the soup base made by Xu Qinyu using large bones, plus spicy flavor, various spices and lard, tastes great.
The spiciness of chili pepper is much hotter and more positive than that of dogwood. Even if it is slightly spicy, dogwood is much spicier.
But once you have eaten it, almost no one will not love this spicy hot pot and tomato hot pot.
The tomato hotpot base cooked by Xu Qinyu is also very rich. When eating tomato hotpot, you can drink the soup first and then blanch the vegetables.
You can cut some water celery into pieces and add some diced meat made by Qinyu. Pour the boiled tomato soup into a bowl with chopped celery and diced meat, and finally sprinkle some chopped green onion. This way, you will have a bowl of tomato soup. The soup is thick, sweet and sour, which is appetizing. It also has the crispness and sweetness of celery, and the rich aroma of diced meat when chewed. It has a very rich taste.
Most people find it difficult to choose between the two soup bases, so they order a combination of the two.
Therefore, even though taxes increased, Xu Ji's business was not greatly affected.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
