"The Fuji family is really generous!" Huang Quan sighed, "Do they really think the land is their private property? They just give it away as a gift?"
Feng Yuheng did not have much resistance to this, but smiled and said: "This is a good thing! We don't need to do anything, the Teng family has already done the work of attracting investment, and has successfully brought in customers. Now not only are there people doing business, but there are also people buying things. There are people and goods, how great. Mr. Qian, that place has been very lively in the past six months, right?"
Qian Fengshou nodded, "Indeed, because the conditions offered by the Teng family are so tempting, many people are heading for that fiefdom. I went there once at the beginning of the year. Now there are many shops in Ji'an County, and the number of residents has more than doubled compared to before."
Feng Yuheng sighed again: "It's great! We don't even have to do the land reclamation."
Qian Fengshou was a little worried. "My lord, please don't underestimate the Teng family. Since the generation of our great ancestor, the Teng family has been the governor of Ji'an County. This position is hereditary. After many generations of management, the Teng family now has a lot of power in Ji'an County and even in the entire Yuntian Prefecture. It can be said that it is deeply rooted and almost no one can shake it. Even the prefect of Yuntian Prefecture has to give them some face. All this is because the Teng family has nearly a thousand private soldiers! These private soldiers usually live and train in the fiefdom to protect the Teng family for generations."
"Nearly a thousand private soldiers?" Feng Yuheng frowned, extremely puzzled. "The fiefdom has the right to station private soldiers, but that is only for the fiefdom owner. Does the Teng family have this right?"
"Of course not, but because Ji'an County has not been awarded for several generations, the power of the Teng family has grown little by little. After you were named a princess and given this fief, the Teng family did make plans, but later they heard that the recipient was just... a little girl, so they didn't take it to heart." Qian Fengshou was very helpless, "Is the princess coming here to take back the fief this time? I think it's not an easy task, and we have to go through a lot of negotiations with the Teng family!"
Feng Yuheng held his chin in his hand and thought for a long time. He finally had some ideas in his mind, so he decided not to stay in the yamen for long. He said goodbye to Qian Fengshou and returned to the three-story courtyard, using the excuse that he needed to rest after a long journey.
The soldiers she brought back set up camp around the courtyard. Qian Fengshou also worked hard to dismiss all the residents in the courtyard in a short time and vacate the houses for the soldiers. The housekeeper said to her: "Don't worry, Princess, the people are all willing. We in Yuzhou have heard of your name for a long time. When they heard that you came to Yuzhou, the people were very happy. Especially when they heard that you came to Yuzhou to take back Ji'an County, the people were more willing to cooperate. Besides, the adults also provided them with a temporary place to stay and booked several inns. Don't worry, Princess."
"Oh?" Feng Yuheng asked the housekeeper as he walked into the yard, "Why are the people so happy when they hear that I want to take back Ji'an County? Does who manages Ji'an County have an impact on the people of Yuzhou?"
"Oh! Princess, you don't know, the impact is huge!" The housekeeper looked bitter, "The Teng family has lived in Ji'an County in recent years, but their sphere of influence has spread throughout the entire Yuzhou. It's no exaggeration to say that almost 60% of the shops in Yuzhou City are owned by their family. Not only do they buy cheap and sell high, but they are also extremely unfair to the people. Sometimes when people buy a pound of pork belly, they force them to cut two pounds. They can't not buy the extra pound. If you don't have money, you will be beaten. The people have suffered a lot." As he spoke, he directed Feng Yuheng to the inner courtyard, and then said: "Our Lord Qian also managed it, but he was slapped by the Teng family and his face was swollen for seven days. It was useless to report it to Yuntian Mansion."
"So, the Fuji family is so overbearing that they are about to anger everyone?"
"That's right!" The house was not big, and after a few steps, they arrived at the corridor of the third courtyard. The housekeeper couldn't go any further inside, so he stopped here and told Feng Yuheng, "There are servants waiting inside. If the princess has anything to say, just tell her. I'll be waiting in the outer courtyard."
Feng Yuheng nodded and led a group of people into the yard.
Because there were so many people and it was just a temporary residence, there weren't too many rules and arrangements. She arranged for Wang Lin and his group to live in the first and second courtyards, with two or three people in one room. In the third courtyard, in addition to her, Xiangrong, Wangchuan, Huangquan, and Shancha, there were four other female doctors from Baicaotang. She and Xiangrong slept in one room, and Wangchuan would arrange for the others to sleep in one room, so two people could still be arranged.
There were servants in the yard who had already prepared a bathtub and heated water, waiting for Feng Yuheng and the others to come back and serve them in bathing. After everyone had packed up, food was delivered from the front yard. It was not until the evening of that day that everyone was finally full and refreshed. Everyone in the front yard was resting. In the third courtyard, Xiangrong could no longer hold on and went to bed first. Only Feng Yuheng and Wangchuan Huangquan were still relatively energetic. The three of them sat outside drinking tea and talked about the Teng family in the fiefdom of Ji'an County.
"But I will go over to check it out tonight?" Wang Chuan suggested, "I will go with you. Miss, have a good rest today and make plans tomorrow."
But Feng Yuheng was not someone who could rest. She was naturally more energetic than others, and she had also taken a light nap in the carriage. Plus, she had something on her mind, so it was strange that she could sleep at night. She made a decision on the spot: "Let's go together tonight, just as a night tour of Ji'an County." After saying that, she looked at Huang Quan's aggrieved eyes and said generously: "Huang Quan, let's go too! We will set off at midnight, and rest for a while now."
Visiting Ji'an County at night, it was really a visit. Just after midnight, Feng Yuheng got up under Xiangrong's resentment. Xiangrong rubbed her eyes and said helplessly: "If I knew kung fu, I would definitely go with my second sister." After that, she fell asleep again.
Feng Yuheng smiled bitterly. After all, he was still a child. At the age of thirteen, he was still sleepy. No matter how precocious he was, he couldn't hide the boundaries of his age.
She changed her clothes and did not wear black, but chose a dark blue long skirt to wear. She took two maids and Ban with her, and the four of them hurried out of the yard and headed towards Ji'an County.
Ji'an County is just outside Yuzhou, and you can get there by crossing a small road. Strictly speaking, the road is less than three miles. When they arrived, it was dark, and the ancients slept soundly. In ancient times, there was no entertainment, nor electricity. At night, lighting was either candlelight or moonlight. Tonight, it was cloudy, with no stars or moon. The entire Ji'an County was like a dark cage, standing there squarely, giving people a sense of oppression.
Ban Zou whispered, "The Fuji family deserves to be killed for turning a good place into this."
"What's wrong?" Huang Quan raised his eyebrows. "I think it's better this way. It will make things easier for us."
Wangchuan also had his own opinion. He jumped onto the roof and said, "The Teng family put all their profitable businesses in Yuzhou. This place is just a big bedroom. Plus, there are nearly a thousand private soldiers stationed here. It's not surprising that there is a lot of hostility."
"Look, there are quite a few shops on the main street." Feng Yuheng pointed to a street in front and said, "These should be the merchants that Teng Ping brought in, right? Haha, land for free? Where can the Teng family give out the land deed? Every inch of land in Ji'an County belongs to this princess, and the unified contract for all the land is in this princess's hands. But it's good, these people built houses for us for free, and it will save us a lot of trouble when we move in in the future." She looked at both sides of the street while talking, and after a while, she pointed to one of the two-story shops and asked a few people: "Look, from the outside, does the layout of this shop look like Baicaotang in Beijing? If the shops on both sides can be connected, the area should not be much different from Baicaotang in Beijing."
Ban nodded, "That's right, why don't we just stay here!"
"Okay!" Feng Yuheng agreed very happily, as if all the shops on this street had been taken into her pocket, without any politeness. She really didn't need to be polite. Most of the merchants invited in by the Teng family in this way wanted to take advantage. Everyone wanted to take advantage, and she wanted to take the biggest share.
Several people were walking on the street, and they had to keep an eye out for patrolling private soldiers from time to time. However, they didn't expect that after walking two streets, they finally saw a team of soldiers holding lanterns at the door of a private house. However, they were not on night patrol, but standing at the door of the house, as if they were guarding the gate.
A few people took a look and couldn't help wondering. The so-called residential area was just a small courtyard with three tiled houses inside. It looked quite shabby. They didn't understand why there was any point in guarding such a place?
Feng Yuheng signaled the three of them to use Qinggong to go in and take a look. Only then did they realize that there was something else going on inside the house. There were three tiled houses. An old lady was sleeping in one of them, and a young wife was in another. In the young wife's room, a man in brocade clothes was sitting by the bed. The man was short, thick and fat, and he looked fair, but one eye was bigger than the other, and he was obviously disabled. At this moment, he was smiling at the young wife with an obscene look on his face, scaring her so much that she kept shrinking back into the bed.
But the more she avoided the man, the happier she laughed, and she laughed as she said, "You hide, this young master just likes this tune, the more you hide, the happier I am. I say, Su'e! It's OK between the two of us, it's not the first time, why are you shy?"
Feng Yuheng, who was lying on the wall, rolled her eyes when she heard this. Could it be adultery? That was nothing to watch.
Unexpectedly, the young wife started to cry softly, begging: "Please let me go. Last time you took my body by force. I shouldn't be alive anymore. But you threatened me that if I died, my husband who worked in the county governor's mansion would also die. And you won't let my mother-in-law go either. What do you want me to do?" The young wife lowered her voice very low, obviously because she was afraid of disturbing the mother-in-law next door. But she didn't know that the old lady had been drugged long ago and it was impossible for her to wake up.
The man in brocade clothes smiled and said, "It's good that you know. Just be obedient and let me have fun. As long as you are obedient, I guarantee that no one in the county governor's mansion will dare to bully your man. You also know that I am the nephew of County Governor Teng, and he treats me better than his own son." As he spoke, his claws had already stretched out. The young wife had nowhere to hide, and her family was threatened, so they could only watch him grab her underwear and pretend to pull it down.
Before she could take off her clothes, the man in brocade clothes suddenly closed his eyes and fell on her. At first, she thought he was impatient and rushed over, but after waiting for a while, she found that it was not the case at all. The man fell in front of her as if he was dead, without any movement. While she was wondering, she also felt dizzy and fainted...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
