The Sinful Woman's Golden Branch: The Jade-Faced Yama is Actually Me (Chapter Twenty-Seven...)
Princess Consort of Nankang: ...
Crown Prince of Nankang: ...
"You mean the emperor wants to pass the throne to Yongning? How is that possible!"
"Giving her a fiefdom is already doing her a favor. Should we give her the entire country? No one in the court would agree to that!"
Princess Yuzhen sneered, drew her sword, and casually admired it: "Who knows? I thought all mothers in the world were like you, treating their sons like treasures and their daughters like weeds."
"You've known for a long time how much the Empress Dowager dotes on your aunt. Even if she really passes the throne to her daughter, so what?"
"If we're talking about treason, what could be more treasonous than a woman becoming emperor? The Empress Dowager has been emperor for so many years, and you're still using the same old methods that ordinary people use to fight over inheritance to describe her."
Princess Consort of Nankang: ...
Prince of Nankang: ...
"What brilliant idea does Your Highness have?"
Princess Yuzhen sheathed her sword and sneered, "What does this have to do with me? You fought for the throne but won't give it to me. Why should I help you plot?"
"It would be great to see your aunt take the throne from you. Just thinking about how you'll cry makes me want to laugh, haha."
"What did you say!" Princess Nankang was furious at her disobedient daughter.
But her daughter has always had some quirks.
He dressed and acted like a man every day, and even took many concubines in his house, expecting them to serve him as if he were a prince, and addressing her as "Prince".
Princess Nankang already disliked her, and seeing her so insane made her even more disliked.
When she finally managed to speak a human word, it was so cold and heartless. Princess Nankang wished she had never been born!
Seeing her mother so angry, the Second Princess felt she had accomplished her mission. She chuckled and turned to leave without looking back.
The eldest princess couldn't stand it anymore and tried to stop her, but her mother stopped her, saying, "You can't worry about her, she can go to hell!"
Princess Zhaoming was always timid and cowardly. When her mother scolded her, she dared not move.
It was the Prince of Nankang who chased after her, grabbed his second sister's shoulder, and said helplessly, "Second sister, we're all family, why be so tense? If Mother says a few words to you, just go along with her."
"No wonder she's picking on you for arguing with your mother like that."
Ji Feiyan stopped abruptly, turned around and drew her sword, pointing the tip directly at his Adam's apple, a half-smile on her face: "You want to be the emperor?"
The Prince of Nankang was forced to stop by the sword. He immediately spread his hands in surrender and pleaded, "Second Sister, why do you say that? Even if we are plotting this, it is all for Father to become Emperor."
"After Father dies, will he pass the throne to my eldest sister?"
Crown Prince of Nankang: ...
Will it be sent to me?
Crown Prince of Nankang: ...
The second princess's two questions were very sharp and pointed directly at him.
The Crown Prince of Nankang was displeased, but being a shrewd and diplomatic man, he wouldn't show his displeasure directly. Instead, he smiled and said:
"Second sister, it's up to our parents to decide what's going on. As their children, we should just follow their arrangements. Why should we interfere?"
"Haha!" Ji Feiyan drew her sword. "Then I'll just kill you, and I'll guarantee that our parents' things will be split in half between me and my eldest sister!"
"You might not dare to argue with me, but you can't say the same for me!"
The Crown Prince of Nankang hurriedly dodged, and with a "clang," his hatband broke, causing his crown to become crooked.
Looking at the broken hatband, he realized that Ji Feiyan had actually hit him in the neck, and he couldn't help but shout angrily, "Are you crazy!"
"Hahaha!" Ji Feiyan laughed loudly.
She had always disliked the third brother for taking all the benefits while putting on airs. It was quite amusing to expose his hypocrisy!
He gripped the sword back in his hand and sneered, "What's the rush? I was just trying to scare you."
"It's one thing to fawn over your mother, but do you really think I don't know who you are? If you dare to get close to me again, I'll kill you!"
Looking at the broken crown ribbon, the Crown Prince of Nankang was filled with rage. He decided to stop pretending and threw off the crown, coldly saying, "Then what remarkable insights do you have?"
Ji Feiyan still gave the same cold laugh: "What profound insights could I possibly have? I'm just reminding you that when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. Don't be foolish enough to think of yourselves as either the snipe or the clam."
"The Ji and Li families have been vying for power for ten years, always operating under the very nose of the Empress Dowager."
"But Auntie just came back and already has control of the Imperial Guards."
Crown Prince of Nankang: ...
How could he not know that?
After Li Wenyuan delivered his speech on "establishing kinship and merit," the court was thrown into chaos. Then, without a word, he tacitly approved Ji Siyin's control of the Imperial Guard.
In ancient times, if the imperial palace had no imperial guards, people outside would rebel; if it had imperial guards, people inside would rebel.
This double-edged sword has always been strictly controlled, divided into several large camps, with frequent rotations of troops. The camps are not allowed to communicate with each other, and no one may move without authorization. The troops are also frequently replaced and reorganized to prevent any possibility of someone rebelling at the slightest provocation.
When Ji Siyin left the capital, he transferred 500 Imperial Guards from each of the major camps, and brought them back to the capital in the same number.
As for why we don't use the original version, most of the genders have changed, so how can it be the original version?
Someone immediately submitted a memorial on this point, but Li Wenyuan was too lazy to care. So what if it changed? As long as the quantity was the same, that was fine. What era are we in now? Why bother with such trivial matters!
But the problem wasn't just about numbers. After Li Wenyuan took back these 500 Imperial Guards, she didn't disperse them, but instead settled them in the Beijingmen camp, which was closest to the imperial city.
These imperial guards were taken away by Ji Siyin for ten years. If you say she couldn't mobilize them on her own, no one would believe it.
Such a conspicuous private army, so openly and brazenly stationed in the heart of the capital, especially at this particular time, who wouldn't be terrified?
I understand Li Wenyuan's feelings now that she doesn't trust anyone but her daughter, but what if the princess has rebellious intentions?
Most dynasties wouldn't consider the possibility of a princess rebelling, but they were different because their emperor was a woman!
The Crown Prince of Nankang already had this concern, and after hearing his sister's words, he pondered it even more deeply.
He was deep in thought, but Ji Feiyan had already turned and left. He couldn't help but ask, "Where are you going?"
Ji Feiyan turned around and grinned: "Of course I'm going to see my aunt to thank her for gifting me the sword."
Ji Siyin told her two nieces to wait for her, saying she would give them a big gift, and she did.
Inquiring about her niece's preferences, Ji Siyin learned that Princess Zhaoming was introverted by nature and enjoyed playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework. So Ji Siyin gifted her a set of study supplies.
The second princess, Yu Zhen, was lively and fond of riding, archery, and martial arts, so Ji Siyin gave her a cold, gleaming iron sword.
Pulling the sword halfway out, revealing its cold gleam, Ji Feiyan looked at her reflection in the blade and smiled.
"I'll give my aunt a big gift in return on the third day of next month, which is her birthday!"
...
Ji Siyin's birthday is indeed coming up.
In the past, her birthday celebrations were always grand and lively, but now things are different, and naturally even more people want to celebrate with her.
Ji Feiyan arrived at the princess's residence overjoyed and greeted Ji Siyin with a sweet smile: "Aunt, Feiyan is here again!"
Ji Siyin was playing chess and admiring the fish with Ye Xiqing, who had recovered from her illness, when she saw her and raised an eyebrow: "Ah, you're here again. Do you really think the Princess's Mansion is your second home?"
Ji Feiyan chuckled, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, and sat down between the two.
Why can't your home be my home?
When her niece arrived, Ji Siyin naturally had to treat her well. Under the pretext of instructing her niece in martial arts, Ji Siyin pinned Ji Feiyan down on the battlefield and beat her mercilessly.
She was not idle while in Dengzhou. She took charge of both the army and the navy, suppressing both local and sea bandits, and honed her skills through countless trials.
Although Ji Feiyan was young, Ji Siyin was in her prime. The little tricks that the noble ladies in the capital had learned were like kittens and puppies to be easily defeated by Ji Siyin.
Without any hesitation, he shoved his niece's head to the ground, laughing nonchalantly, "Give in now?"
Ji Feiyan: ...
She had never given in before, but this was the first time she had experienced being completely powerless and pinned to the ground.
She tried to struggle, but every joint that could move was pinned behind her back by Ji Siyin.
Realizing she couldn't win the struggle, she had no choice but to submit, gritting her teeth and smiling slightly, "Auntie is really amazing, your niece knows she was wrong."
"hehe."
Brushing the dirt off her body, Ji Siyin did it with ease, barely getting any on her. She then had a maid give Ji Feiyan a towel and some clean water before returning to continue playing chess.
He was furious when he got back and found the chessboard had been taken away.
"I'm about to win, so you'd better take it!"
Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "Doesn't the princess have other important matters to attend to?"
"Put it back!"
"I have a bad memory, I can't remember, I can't remember."
"I'll set it up myself!"
Ji Siyin angrily set up the chessboard, while Ye Xiqing shook her head and smiled, thinking, "Really, she's so calculating."
Ji Feiyan spent a long time emptying the sand from her ears. Looking at Ji Siyin, who seemed unaffected, and Ye Xiqing, who was calmly smiling, she felt even angrier.
He sat back down and smiled, "I heard that even if Miss Guan, a genius, were to be born, she would still lose to her aunt in the game of chess?"
In response to the princess's question, Ye Xiqing nodded kindly: "Of course, the princess is skilled in both literature and martial arts. Not only is her martial arts outstanding, but her chess skills are also amazing. I am completely no match for her."
Behind his back, he was thinking: "System, play me a game. As an AI, you can't be so clueless about this, can you?"
System: Get out!
Ji Siyin didn't know what Ye Xiqing was talking to the system, but hearing Ye Xiqing praise her for being both scholarly and martial, she stopped restoring the chessboard, put away the chess pieces, and smiled:
"That's right, your aunt is both scholarly and martial, unlike you, who has made yourself neither woman nor man, and hasn't learned any skills. You've really disgraced us women!"
Ji Feiyan: ...
Her foolish aunt is so lucky that she thinks she's invincible. Underestimating her will only lead to disaster!
She looked at Ji Siyin with a smile and said, "Auntie is really amazing! You must always be this amazing!"
"Haha, you have such a sweet tongue."
...
After seeing Ji Feiyan off, Ji Siyin sneered, "Just like her mother, the whole family is all smiles on the surface, but behind your back they'd love to stab you in the back several times."
"Then why did His Highness allow her to enter the residence?"
"Ah, I'd rather not see anyone else, she's a bit better."
Returning to the capital felt like returning to a primitive world; many people there, whether women or men, were infuriating.
Ji Siyin now understands the pain Ye Xiqing felt when she was teaching her. Facing a head filled with patriarchal indoctrination, she really couldn't breathe!
However, she is no longer the naive young woman she once was, and she has her own way of handling things.
When he didn't want to play chess anymore, he took the list of his property from Yunniang.
Yunniang was the person Li Wenyuan sent to manage the princess's residence on her behalf after she left, and now she has been given the position directly to her.
As Ye Xiqing had said when she left the capital, the princess's estate had acquired much more property over the years than her mother, the Empress, had initially refused to give it to her.
In ancient times, once the initial capital accumulation was completed, it was easy to accumulate interest on interest.
Although the princes did not have fiefdoms, they did have estates.
With extra money and grain, one can exchange it for land. The more land one has, the more one produces. The money earned can be used to buy more fertile land. This not only allows one to control the most important food resource, but also enables one to hire many tenant farmers to cultivate the land and control human resources.
Once they have control over the grain and labor forces, they can use force to consolidate land, making all fertile land their own and all prosperous shops their property, thus creating a cycle and dominating the world.
In fact, the original princess's residence followed the same path. As the princess favored by the empress, Ji Siyin was entitled to a fief of four thousand households. In terms of wealth, no one could surpass her, and in terms of power, no one could compare to her.
She doesn't need to do anything special; her subordinates who work for her will automatically help her acquire land and profit from it.
In the past, Ji Siyin herself would spend a lot of money to enjoy herself. The Princess's mansion was spending money like water every day. She would not care where the money came from if she needed a large amount of income.
But things are different now. After taking control of Dengzhou, she realized that money, once it reaches a certain point, is just a medium of exchange. Only when it can be transformed into power can it truly last. And where does power come from?
Contrary to what many people might think, power actually comes from the grassroots level.
Ji Siyin glanced at the total number of fields and people under her name and then instructed Yunniang: "Send people to clean up the house. Any evil servants who bully the people by taking advantage of the Princess's power should be handed over to the government and punished according to their crimes."
"The remaining servants will have their old debts wiped out and be released from their contracts."
“I will recruit farmers for my fertile lands again. The farmers will be mainly mothers, counted by daughters, including young girls.”
"After the land was divided among the households, each farmer kept enough for their own family's food and taxes, while all other produce had to be given to the princess's household."
"Five years later, the cultivated land will automatically belong to the farmer."
"Those who previously cultivated the land for the Princess's residence will be given priority for citizenship. Those who are insufficient will be recruited from outside. However, the rule of allocating land based on women will not be changed, understand?"
After hearing the princess's words, Yunniang was shocked. How could the princess be so willing to do that?
What's there to be reluctant about? She owns a whole state.
If she really has a stroke of great luck, she could even possess the entire world.
She has the wealth of an entire state to offer herself up for fame; anyone else who wants to learn, feel free to go and learn!
...
The public was instantly in an uproar.
Don't ask why, after deducting food for ourselves, all the produce is given to the princess's residence, and can even be used to gain fame.
The other tenants were really bad at their job. Sometimes they were so ruthless that they wouldn't even leave the tenants any food, forcing them to sell themselves into slavery. When they couldn't even be slaves anymore, they would run away and become vagrants.
According to the princess's residence, if you farm for the princess for five years, you can turn the land into your own private property. If you farm for someone else for five years, you can buy a piece of land!
Because of this, the people initially didn't believe it, thinking it was true or false and warning them not to plant it, but in the end they changed their minds!
The female slaves who had been released from the princess's residence immediately appeared at the recruitment point to testify: Of course it's true, our household registration certificates have all been released!
That is to say, due to the restrictions of the laws in the capital, land could not be directly distributed, but the princess could directly distribute land to the people in Dengzhou!
In the past, due to the vast distances and the difficulty of information flow, ordinary people had a vague impression of Dengzhou. They probably only knew about Princess Yongning's romantic affairs through plays. But was the princess really such a generous person?
Driven by profit, the tenants immediately tried every means to sign up. However, the quota was based on women, which was difficult for some. Everyone had their own struggles. As ordinary people, who would be willing to spend a lot of food to support someone else's family who was destined to be sent to someone else's door?
Families with many daughters were overjoyed and quickly went to register them.
Families consisting entirely of men looked at each other in bewilderment and immediately considered bringing in a few wives.
The families who are raising daughters-in-law aren't stupid; they already wanted a bride price, so naturally they're asking for even more now.
Those who couldn't find wives would try to snatch baby girls. In the past, because women didn't have separate births, many babies were abandoned. To prevent excessive killing of girls and leave men without wives or children, the government built orphanages to raise orphaned girls. Now, they've all become hot commodities.
But as long as there is a market, prices will be inflated, and the price of baby girls has also gone up.
Watching the comical scene outside the window of people scrambling for the baby girl and rushing to register her birth, the Prince of Nankang smiled and said, "Auntie is truly remarkable. She has only been in the capital for a few days, yet she is already so popular with the people."
The male protagonist, Pei Yu, emerged from behind him, his gaze deep and thoughtful, also looking out the window.
"If he truly possesses profound knowledge, then his schemes must be quite ambitious."
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