"In the palace." Seeing that he couldn't remember, Li Chengyun gave him two words as a hint.
"In the palace? You mean the day of the Dowager Empress's funeral—"
Song Yi's eyes lit up. "On the day of the Dowager Consort's funeral, the Empress and Consort Gao had the guards and maids in the Imperial Garden transferred away, and sent their trusted confidants to wait there, intending to lure the young mistress to a secluded place and defile her. It was only because we intervened that we were able to break the deadlock..."
"Could this be the favor the young master owes us? But wouldn't this expose his spies in the palace? And he also knows that we've been in contact with the young mistress."
Song Yi was utterly shocked; he never imagined that Pei Yanzhi's reach would extend so far.
However, after thinking about it, I understood. After all, Marquis Wenyuan was in charge of the Imperial Guards. As the heir apparent favored by the old Marquis, Pei Yanzhi couldn't possibly be without spies in the Imperial Guards.
It can be said that if they hadn't intervened, the Empress and Consort Gao would not have succeeded.
Thinking about all this, he rubbed his hands together more excitedly, "Your Highness, since the Crown Prince already knows that we saved the Young Mistress, and has given us such a generous gift, does this mean that the Crown Prince—"
"Quite the opposite!"
“He’s reminding me to stay away from his people.” Holding the note in his hand, Li Chengyun’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “But what can I do? I’m a rebellious person by nature. The more others don’t want me to do something, the more I want to do it.”
"...What do you want to do?"
Seeing the regretful and hesitant look on Song Yi's face, Li Chengyun sneered, "Cousin, when did you become so soft-hearted?"
"...I...I just feel that she is innocent too."
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to her. At least for the sake of money, maintaining an army is very expensive."
Hearing this, Song Yi immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Li Chengyun continued, "How is Liu Yunyan doing lately? Pei Yanzhi is quite the romantic, with a charming cousin who is naturally alluring, and he's still thinking about his legal wife."
"He wants everything; he's so greedy."
"Your Highness, things are going very smoothly with Miss Liu. She can now come and go as she pleases in the Prince's courtyard, and even the study, which is off-limits to others, is open to her. The servants in the Marquis's mansion are gossiping about her, and even the reclusive Old Madam Pei has heard some rumors. The Old Madam has always valued the young mistress, and she may not be willing to let Miss Liu into the household."
Li Chengyun smiled coldly, "Then let her figure it out herself. If she can't get in the door, she can die!"
His cold gaze chilled Song Yi to the bone.
"It's so cold!"
In mid-November, the weather was already unbearably cold before it even got dark.
Jiang Shuwan is sensitive to the cold, and she went straight back inside as soon as she came back from outside.
Halfway there, she discovered that the cleaning ladies in the mansion had been replaced.
“Miss, it was the old lady who changed it. I heard from Chang Mama that these old women do nothing but mutter frivolous things all day long.”
Jiang Shuwan nodded. She roughly knew what Qingxing meant by "indecent things." After all, apart from Liu Yunyan going in and out of Pei Yanzhi's courtyard every day, there was nothing else to talk about at the Marquis's residence these past few days.
"Miss, the old lady is helping you."
Jiang Shuwan didn't speak. She didn't have time to think about anything. She was too busy. First, the Northern Fragrant Dew had been transported over and put on the shelves for sale. Various advertising and marketing methods were indispensable. Although Song Yi helped her, she still spent a lot of energy.
In addition, because Pei Yanzhi was in charge of commercial tax matters, she has recently been ostracized by the Beijing Chamber of Commerce.
After all, the increased taxes would harm the interests of these merchants. However, because Pei Yanzhi had killed many corrupt officials, these merchants dared not do anything to her out of fear of her power.
However, the end of the year is approaching, and the election for the president of the Beijing Circle Association will begin soon. If she doesn't concede some benefits, she fears these people won't be willing to vote for her.
Today, she discussed with Brother Nai about giving the distribution rights of the glass to these merchants, regardless of whether they were from the capital or from other places.
Since we're all making money anyway, let's give them a little something too.
As for the fragrant dew, since it was a more sought-after item than glass at the moment, she kept it all. The fragrant dew, paired with glass bottles, sold very well, and tributes were also sent to the old emperor. Eunuch Su said that the emperor was very pleased.
Jiang Shuwan was relieved. In these turbulent times, Pei Yanzhi's early entry into the court meant that bloodshed and chaos were to come ahead of schedule, so she naturally needed to have more leverage.
In addition, her social connections in the elite circles are also thanks to Pei Yanzhi, who emptied half of the Ministry of Revenue and offended everyone in the court, which is why no one in the capital invited her to any banquets during this period.
Otherwise, with so many things on her plate, even if someone invited her, she wouldn't be able to get away for a while, and those noblewomen would criticize her.
"Miss, you should rest. You've been too tired these past few days."
Qingxing helped Jiang Shuwan into the room and made her sit down. A little maid stood behind her and massaged her shoulders.
Meanwhile, Pei Yanzhi was still extremely busy. After a few days of relaxation, the new commercial tax law was released at the end of the month.
Posters were displayed everywhere to clarify the correct law.
Jiang Shuwan specially asked Qingxing to tear off a piece of paper and unfold it. Upon closer inspection, she found that each line was exactly the same as in her previous life.
In his previous life, Pei Yanzhi implemented commercial law at the age of twenty-five.
This time, it happened four years earlier than expected, and it was exactly the same. This can only mean that he had ideas about commercial taxes in his previous life, but he was forced to wait until he was twenty-five years old to put them into practice.
To possess such skill at such a young age is truly unparalleled in the world.
No wonder, in the end the fourth prince would...
Moreover, does someone as capable as Pei Yanzhi really need to spend half a year catching that groom?
Could it be that he already caught the coachman?
Biting her lip tightly, Jiang Shuwan was momentarily flustered. She realized that some things might not be what she thought.
"Miss, the young master has arrived."
Why is he here?
“You forgot, the young master met you at the door when he was on duty today. He said he didn’t get to eat the braised duck last time and wanted to come over to eat it today.”
As Qingxing spoke, she began to urge the maids and servants to serve the dishes. Right in the center of the dinner table was the braised duck that Pei Yanzhi had ordered.
Staring blankly at Pei Yanzhi as he walked in, he was dressed in a moon-white, slightly worn casual robe, and his hair was down, tied with a blue ribbon. He looked much more approachable and easy to get along with than when he wore his official robes.
She also noticed that his health had improved considerably, and his lips no longer had that unhealthy bluish-white hue.
He's just like a normal person now, except his lips are a lighter color, which makes him look even more indifferent and ruthless.
His eyes were calm and undisturbed, as still and unfathomable as water.
Like a deep pool.
But this same person was standing at the door, smiling at her.
When he smiled, his indifferent eyes transformed into affectionate ones.
"Why don't you light a brazier? Aren't you always afraid of the cold?"
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