mtl008 Chapter 177 This Concubine Gives You Another 5 Days
Chapter 177 This Concubine Gives You Another 5 Days
On the other hand, Ji Ruyun met Qiu Yao soon after arriving at the teahouse.
The last time Qiuyao saw Ji Ruyun was at the birthday party of the wife of Duke Chengguo. At that time, Ji Ruyun was thin and wore an ill-fitting dress. She was so thin that she seemed as if she could be blown down by a gust of wind at any time. She looked pale and weak.
Now, it has been only a few days since she married into the Prime Minister's Mansion. Now, Ji Ruyun has a rosy complexion, bright eyes, and is dressed in gorgeous clothes and pearls. She is like a well-nourished flower, blooming with her unique charm.
"It seems that the fruits in my mansion are really nourishing. You have only been married to my eldest brother for a few days, and when we met today, I was a little afraid to recognize you."
"I think my elder brother is very good to you, don't you think so, my dear sister-in-law?"
Qiu Yao emphasized the last word "sister-in-law", as if it was mixed with some kind of irony.
Ji Ruyun lowered her head and timidly bowed to Qiuyao. "Greetings, Concubine. The life I have today is all thanks to your kindness. I dare not call you 'sister-in-law'."
Ji Ruyun was used to being cautious. Qiuyao held the key to her affairs, so she didn't dare to show any disrespect to her.
Seeing her like this, Qiuyao felt a little better. Then, she told her the purpose of coming here today.
"How is the matter that I instructed you to do earlier going? When will you be able to take control of the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
Ji Ruyun's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately replied, "I dare not lie to the eldest lady. It is really the Madam who asked me to learn some housekeeping and accounting from the second lady first. After a while, she can hand over the household affairs to me."
"After a while? How long will it take?" Qiu Yao was very dissatisfied with Ji Ruyun's progress.
"It's just a simple housekeeper's job, what's the difficulty? If I had known you were so foolish, I would have given Xiang He to my eldest brother instead of choosing you!"
It was just Qiuyao's unintentional remark, but it made Ji Ruyun and Xianghe stunned at the same time!
However, the former was unwilling and forbearing in his heart, and felt embarrassed by being scolded by Qiu Yao, who was also a woman.
The latter was secretly delighted, but also felt a mixture of fear.
Qiuyao's words, like a seed, slowly took root in Xianghe's heart, and seemed to be about to break through the ground.
"It's my fault. When I get back home, I'll find a way to convince my mother and get the housekeeper's rights as soon as possible."
Facing Qiuyao's attack, Ji Ruyun would not make too many explanations, because she knew that the superiors only cared about the outcome of things and whether it was beneficial to themselves.
Just like before in Ji Bohou's mansion, his father and stepmother never asked about any grievances he had suffered, but only cared about whether he got the results he wanted.
Ji Ruyun's attitude pleased Qiu Yao very much.
What we want is someone who is submissive and easy to control.
"I will give you five days. If things still don't work out, then you don't have to sit on the position of the Prime Minister's Young Lady."
Finally, Qiuyao said something coldly and left the teahouse with the help of her maid.
Inside the room, Ji Ruyun's palms were covered in cold sweat due to nervousness.
I originally thought that after getting out of the hell of Ji Bohou's Mansion and marrying Qiu Shaoheng, life would be better. But I didn't expect that Qiu Yao, a married sister-in-law, would actually covet the property and money of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Ji Ruyun was a little conflicted. She was worried that if Qiu Shaoheng knew about this, the couple would also become estranged and their life would be miserable.
With hearts full of sorrow, Ji Ruyun and Xianghe left the teahouse.
Little did they know that after they left, a figure also flew past the window in the next room and headed straight towards the palace.
This person is a master beside Gu Li. He is not only good at kung fu but also good at disguise.
He had just overheard the entire conversation between Qiuyao and Ji Ruyun in the room next to the teahouse. This time, as he arrived in front of the carriage, he told Qiu Ning everything he had heard, word for word.
"She really wants the Xiangfu's property."
In the carriage, Qiu Ning spoke out his suspicions without reservation. His eyes darkened.
Qiuyao was a woman in the harem, so even if she had to manage the palace and run things, she wouldn't be short of money. And as far as she knew, Prince Yong was also very generous to Qiuyao and didn't skimp on her food and expenses.
This time, he was eager to have Ji Ruyun take charge of the housekeeping power of the Prime Minister's Mansion, most likely for Prince Yong.
As a prince, King Yong wanted so much money. She couldn't think of any other reason for it except recruiting soldiers and building up his strength.
"Uncle Gu, please report this matter to the Emperor. Please be sure to keep an eye on Prince Yong."
Seeing that Qiu Ning immediately thought of the key to the problem, Gu Li looked at her with some approval.
He nodded and instructed, "Your Majesty will make the final decision on this matter. Just protect yourself. To be on the safe side, don't tell anyone else. Do you understand?"
Qiu Ning nodded and replied, "I know. Uncle Gu, you should be more careful too."
Qiu Ning had long known that Prince Yong looked gentle and harmless on the surface, but in fact he was very good at bewitching people. Otherwise, even someone as self-righteous as Qiu Yao would not have been bewitched by him.
"Don't worry, I know what to do."
……
As for Prince Yong, maintaining troops, storing food, and smelting weapons all require a large amount of silver. Due to the fall of the Guo family, many aristocratic families stopped cooperating in order to avoid the limelight temporarily. Gradually, some of the soldiers under Prince Yong became dissatisfied and started to cause trouble.
In order to raise money as quickly as possible to appease the soldiers, the staff suggested that they simply come up with excuses and find ways to embezzle the property of some merchants. This was the fastest and most effective way to raise money.
The servants quickly drew up a list of families that were engaged in business and had no backing, including the Ge family.
In a short period of time, all the industries run by the Ge family suffered a major blow. For example, people under Prince Yong manipulated the debt crisis, fabricated false cases, bribed thugs to pretend to be victims, filed lawsuits against shops run by the Ge family, and then managed to make the Ge family lose the case during the trial, ordered them to pay huge fines, and so on.
In just a few days, similar situations occurred in the Ge family's industries in various places. After some inquiries, Ge Wanjin learned that these people had received instructions from their superiors, and the government and yamen had to obey orders.
When the Ge family was in turmoil, the Wan family soon suffered a similar situation.
Because Ge Wanjin had previously donated half of his property to Wan Zilang, in order to save trouble, Wan Zilang kept most of the servants and work styles unchanged, and was only responsible for regularly counting the accounts.
Therefore, to many outsiders, it seemed as if these businesses were still run by the Ge family, and therefore they were inevitably attacked by the Yongwang faction.
After Wan Zilang learned the news, he quickly ordered an investigation and found out that the mastermind behind this incident was a confidant of Prince Yong's party named Luo Yuan, who was a member of the Ministry of Revenue and was responsible for the management of local taxes.
He originally wanted to tell the imperial concubine in the palace about this news, but thinking that the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics, he was worried that it would bring trouble to the imperial concubine and the sixth prince. After thinking about it, Wan Zilang decided to ask Qiu Ning for help.