Liu's daughter cried hysterically for almost half a stick of incense, and almost died from crying several times. If the guard next to her hadn't interrupted her several times in time to give her a chance to relax, She will most likely push it over, and when the time comes, she will have to trouble Jin Miaomiao to rescue her.
Ms. Liu cried so much that her eyes swelled up. Her eyes were not big in the first place, but now there was only a slit left.
Although she was tired both physically and mentally, this time she seemed to want to vent all the grievances, guilt, fear and unwillingness she had accumulated for decades. She completely ignored the people next to her and cried happily and unscrupulously.
After Liu's daughter finished crying, it took her a long time to recover. Although she realized her gaffe, she didn't have any strong fluctuations. She felt that after she vented her anger, the stone that had been weighing on her heart for many years was finally removed. At this moment, she felt relaxed.
In the past few decades, due to various reasons and taking care of various people's emotions, she gradually lost herself. She didn't know who she was or what kind of feelings she should have. She didn't even know who she was. It doesn't really exist in this world.
For the sake of her natal family, her husband's family, and the people who care about her, she hid her true self, suppressed her true emotions in her heart, and accumulated them bit by bit to where she is now. Other things were fine, but every time she encountered people and things related to her youth, she had no other choice but to escape or deny. It seemed that only by doing so could she numb herself, deceive herself, and let herself go. Forget about the best time in your life that you have ever experienced.
But when she dreamed about it at midnight, and occasionally thought about the past, she felt a little dazed. She had been lying to herself for too long. She was not sure whether what happened between her and His Highness Prince Ning really happened or was just a figment of her imagination. .
However, now that she could finally vent it out, she felt the very real pain in her heart.
"I'm sorry, I'm so rude!" Ms. Liu's voice was hoarse from crying for too long. She took a few sips of the drink the guard handed over, which slightly relieved her discomfort, but she was still very uncomfortable. She paused. After a moment, she continued, "Since you can't hide no matter how you hide, then you won't hide." She looked at the head of the Luan family, "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you this before. I was actually worried that you would know it later. I won’t be happy, and I’m worried that you will be implicated by me because of this.”
"It's not a case of being implicated, but it's true that I'm unhappy. Even now that I know it, I'm not very happy." The head of the Luan family looked at his wife, "Do you like His Highness Prince Ning now?"
"No!" Ms. Liu shook her head gently, "It's gone now. I'm just a little sorry to mention him."
"Oh!" The head of the Luan family thought for a while, "In other words, I really liked His Highness Prince Ning back then, right?"
"Master, you also grew up in Xijing City, and you know very well about that time. All the little girls in Xijing City liked him, and no one was an exception." Liu's daughter sighed heavily, and gently He smiled and said, "Yes, I did like him. I used to like him just to join in the fun. Later, I became Princess Zhun Ning. I have been in contact with him for a while. He is indeed a good person. His Royal Highness Prince Ning is the youngest brother of the late emperor. He is very good-looking, very polite, and his knowledge is outstanding. Except for being a little weak in body, everything else can be perfect. It is natural for such a person to be liked by little girls, right? After His Highness Prince Ning, Xijing City There are also many young and beautiful young masters, but compared with His Highness Prince Ning, they pale in comparison."
"Is he so powerful?" Xue Ruitian touched his chin, "When he was young, was he so arrogant?"
"It's not ostentation, it's all spontaneous." The head of the Luan family thought about the days when he was a child in Xijing City, chuckled, and said, "What I remember is that His Highness Prince Ning is indeed the most popular young lady in Xijing City. My favorite object, if I remember correctly, every time His Highness Prince Ning goes out, the streets of Xijing City are very lively. The ladies in the city dress up every time and go out. People who don’t know are still... They thought they were going to attend some banquet. Every time His Highness Prince Ning passed by, those ladies would gather together on both sides of the road, just to take a look at him." Recalling the scene of His Highness Prince Ning going out, he couldn't help but He shook his head, but the wound on his body was affected. He couldn't help grinning in pain. After a while, he said, "Thinking about the grand occasion at that time, it is still fresh in my memory. Even if His Majesty the Emperor is on a tour today , I’m afraid there won’t be such a grand occasion.” He looked at Liu’s daughter, “So, Madam, is one of them? She also went to the street to join in the fun?”
"I don't go all the time. I go once or twice occasionally to accompany my little sisters. Master knows that I don't like to join in the fun. I won't go if I can't help it. I go once in a while, but that's it. Because the little sister had to wait for a long time, she had to agree." Liu's daughter sighed and said, "It's just that since I was selected as Princess Ning, the little sisters around me stopped walking with me."
"Why?" Hongye held her chin and listened carefully to Liu's daughter's story. When she heard this, she couldn't help but ask, "You are set, shouldn't I get closer to you? Really? If I get close to you, I might have a chance to see His Highness Prince Ning. Even if I can’t become the princess, it’s good to get close to her, isn’t it?”
"This general thinks clearly, but ordinary girls don't think so. Their jealousy is very powerful. Even if they are close friends for many years, if they say they are jealous of you, they will become jealous of you, and even bully you in a group. You, this is no joke. Later, when His Highness Prince Ning and I broke off the engagement and married into the Luan family, they visited us frequently, saying they were here to congratulate us, but just to watch a joke. Fortunately, the master and I got married not long ago. Then I left Xijing City. If I stay there for a long time, I’m afraid they will make more jokes.”
"Why?"
"As the two adults said just now, they think they are better looking than me and have a better family background than me, but they are not willing to be compared to me."
"Oh, then there is no other way." Hongye spread his hands, "This is fate. If they want to blame, they can only blame their own family for not getting on the Queen Mother's ship and not being favored by the Queen Mother."
"I would never admit what the adults said before. When I was young, I felt that I was no worse than anyone else, and it was my ability that won the favor of the Empress Dowager. Now that I think about it, it was really too naive. No matter it is I, my master, or the Luan and Liu families are all in this game of chess played by the Empress Dowager, and we are all just pawns."
"Of course, since you two boarded the Queen Mother's ship, you have been her pawns. When she was alive, she could give you shelter, but now that she has passed away, the shelter has completely disappeared. Again, the same sentence , your master family trusts the Queen Mother, but they may not trust you."
"I don't know this, and I don't want to know. I have already lived to this age and have been a chess piece all my life, so I don't care about this anymore." Ms. Liu coughed twice more, drank two more sips of water, and thanked her. The guard who delivered the water continued, "The reason why I say this is because no matter how hard I try to deceive myself, I can't deceive myself. Since I can't deceive myself, I might as well say it to make myself happy." She sighed softly, "When did my father be deceived?" I’m not sure who tied the Queen Mother to the ship, but for a while, my father mentioned His Highness Prince Ning significantly more often. Thinking about it now, it seems that it was from that time on that I slowly started to talk about His Highness Prince Ning. Beginning to fall in love."
"What did you say?"
"I just praise him. I praise him for being very good and all kinds of good people. Although His Highness Prince Ning is not very old, he sees the problems very sharply and is very insightful. However, occasionally he seems to be more radical and not stable enough, but If you give it time to practice well, you will be a wise king in the future." Liu's daughter smiled lightly, "What my father said was not prudent enough, it should be that he would run out to play every now and then, which is not the case with His Majesty today. Very similar."
"Speaking of which, if those things had not happened, His Highness Prince Ning could indeed have become a wise king."
"Master Luan also admires His Highness Prince Ning?"
"No, no!" The head of the Luan family shook his head slightly, smiled, and said, "It should be admiration. He and I are similar in age. While he was already involved in important affairs in the court, I was not very familiar with the matter of being the head of the family, so I was in a hurry. , very worried. At that time, there were a lot of things at home, and my eldest brother was bedridden all year round. All the things were on me, and the pressure was very high. But in comparison, His Highness Prince Ning had already gone to the court to discuss politics at that time. The suggestions or ideas put forward are very beneficial to the people's livelihood." He looked at Liu's daughter and then at other people, "Actually, I occasionally met His Highness Prince Ning on the street, and even once, we We also chatted for a while.”
"Master, you...never mentioned it."
"Madam, everyone has secrets in their hearts." The head of the Luan family looked at Liu's daughter, smiled reassuringly, and said, "You don't want to tell me about His Highness Prince Ning because you are worried that I will be jealous. You're afraid that I'll have some bad thoughts towards you, but there's actually no need for it. It's natural for a person like that to be lovable. I only talked to him once and I felt that this person was worth it."
"His Royal Highness Prince Ning will be very happy to know that you speak so highly of him." Shen Cha chuckled, "Praise from an opponent is the highest praise. If he can conquer his opponent, he will have no regrets in his life."
"What have you been talking about?"
"Let's talk about what kind of business we do, how the profits are, whether the business tax is high, etc., and whether we have any troubles in our daily life."
"Is this what he asked?"
"Well!" The head of the Luan family couldn't help but smile when he saw everyone looking at him in surprise, "Why are they all so surprised? He is not old and has not been in the court for a long time, but he has a vague sense of a wise king. His reputation didn’t come out of thin air. He likes to hang out in the marketplace, but he just wants to understand the lives of the people, so that when he goes to court, he can speak truthfully. "
"This is quite the style of His Highness Prince Ning."
"Yes!" The head of the Luan family smiled, "Seriously speaking, we businessmen should really thank His Highness Prince Ning."
"Why?"
"The taxes and fees paid by shops now are actually set by His Highness Prince Ning."
"Is that so?" Jin Miaomiao turned to look at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha and Xue Ruitian, and saw that the three of them were also confused, "I have no idea at all!"
"Because you are not businessmen, it is normal for you not to care about this." The head of the Luan family smiled and explained to several generals, "He once made a statement, saying that although the profits of merchants are very high, the imperial court levies The taxes are also very high, and both large and small businesses are subject to the same standards, which is very unreasonable."
"This..." Xue Ruitian thought for a while, "I think I have really heard that His Highness Prince Ning visited most of the shops and merchants in Xijing City before finalizing a policy. He said that doing so is very unfriendly to small traders. , will put a lot of pressure on them. The court should abolish the current way of collecting commercial taxes, set a standard, and judge it according to the income of the merchants and whether they have fixed shops. Moreover, the judgment should be made once every year to avoid There has been tax evasion.”
"Yes, this is what His Highness Prince Ning and I were talking about." The head of the Luan family smiled, "I just complained casually at the time, but I didn't expect His Highness Prince Ning to take it to heart. Putting aside our respective positions, , he is indeed a very capable person.”
"Then it was settled later?"
"Yes!" The head of the Luan family nodded, "And it's a little more detailed than previously thought. There are two broad categories, one for those with fixed shops, and the other for traveling merchants. For example, we have Those in fixed shops are divided into five levels, which are determined according to the level of annual income. The other category is vending merchants. I don’t know how they are divided, but after asking around a little, I found that they pay more than before. The taxes and fees are 70% to 80% lower.”
"This is a good thing!" Xue Ruitian nodded, "If we pay separately, the pressure on each of us will be less."
"Yes, if a large store like us wants to pay a little less tax, then when setting prices, you can't do whatever you want, you have to think carefully. For example, those who like to ask for high prices will probably be less , I have become honest." The head of the Luan family sighed softly, glanced at the Liu daughter who had been silent for a long time, and said, "It is natural that my wife will like and fall in love with such a person who wholeheartedly cares for the people. I feel sorry. If I were a woman, I would be the same as you."
When Liu's daughter heard what Master Luan said, she didn't say anything and just smiled bitterly.
