It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 663: Discussing Right and Wrong in the Backyard

"No." Liu Yao disagreed, "It's too dangerous!"

"It's okay." Yang Xianrong laughed, "General, don't be like this. Look, my sister-in-law went to the battlefield when she was pregnant, and I was just playing with a cannon in the backyard."

"No." Liu Yao still disagreed, his face looking very bad.

Liu Cheng knelt on the ground and did not dare to stand up, lowering his head and not daring to speak. He was well-informed now, knowing that Liu Yao's prayer for rain today was fruitless, and the scene was sparse and very ugly. He had thought that while Liu Yao was not at home, he would say a few words to Yang Xianrong and leave Chang'an, but he still met her and happened to make him unhappy.

"What happened today?" Yang Xianrong was careful and soon found that Liu Yao was in a bad mood. She grabbed Liu Yao with her backhand and asked Yang Ruoxi to hold Xiao Futian over to pat Liu Yao's head. Xiao Futian was babbling something and drooling a lot. As a result, Liu Yao's face turned black again and he refused to hold him at all.

Yang Xianrong smiled happily, with a little starlight in her eyes, "General, why bother to be angry with the children. Okay, Liu Cheng, take your brothers and sisters out to eat some cakes. Don't leave today, have a good meal at home. Your second aunt is preparing a meal, and there is your favorite gourd chicken."

"Okay!" Liu Cheng immediately became happy after hearing this. He stood up, took the drooling little Futian from Yang Ruoxi, then took Yang Ruoxi's little hand and ran out happily.

Looking at the backs of the three children, Yang Xianrong sighed, "In the blink of an eye, the children have grown up a lot. Back then, Liu Cheng was still a stubborn child, but now he has to shoulder important responsibilities."

"He should be allowed to go and gain some experience. The members of the Shaoying Group cannot always stay in Chang'an City. I have also transferred out those in the Imperial City and let them all go out for some experience." Liu Yao still took Yang Xianrong back to the house, and let her sit down slowly, and considerately put a cushion at the back of her waist.

"So, this time Liu Cheng took people to Xiangyang for a purpose?" Yang Xianrong sat down steadily and poured some water for Liu Yao. "Don't worry, it's boiled and then cooled. Shen Po prepares these for me every day, saying that the weather is too hot and I should drink more water."

"Yeah." Liu Yao nodded and drank the water in the cup. The cup was too small, not even enough to moisten his throat. So, he simply raised the kettle and drank a few big gulps, which relieved some of the heat and the stuffiness brought by the rain-praying ceremony.

Before Yang Xianrong could ask again, he had already told her what had happened in the past few days, "Whether it rains or not is not a matter of praying for rain, but of God. Your second brother has already said that this kind of rain-praying ceremony is a complete waste of time and money. If you use that time, you might as well dig a few more wells."

When he mentioned his second brother, Yang Xianrong laughed again. He had complained to her more than once that he was very uncomfortable in the military camp because Liu Yao was strict in disciplining the army. They had to go out for drills before dawn and report to him all the time, which made him spend a long time in the toilet. He was always very nervous, fearing that Liu Yao would do something again.

"Don't listen to my second brother's nonsense. We still have to pray for rain. We don't do it for God, but for the people and the officials. Of course, there are also the wealthy businessmen. Do you think they don't care? There may be many of their spies in the rain-praying ceremony. If it rains, it's fine. If it doesn't rain, they are just waiting to see the general make a fool of himself."

"So that's why I didn't want to take this job in the first place." Liu Yao became angrier and angrier the more he thought about it.

"Let's not talk about the past, let's just talk about this moment." Yang Xianrong said softly, "It's obvious that Jin Zhun set a trap for you. Going to the wealthy merchants to collect grain will definitely cut off their way to wealth, and they will collectively resist and hate you. If you don't deliver the grain, he will definitely report you to the emperor. Because now the army in your hands is already the most powerful in the Han Dynasty, and they are afraid of you."

"I was thinking, if it really doesn't work, I will have the soldiers harvest the land in the south of the city in two days and send the harvested grain to Chang'an City for distribution..." "Oh, absolutely not." Yang Xianrong stopped him immediately, "It's absolutely not okay to give it away for free, it will mess up the current prices... It's true that everything is very expensive now, but it can't be free. It can be sold at a slightly higher price than before, but it can't be free."

"Why?" Liu Yao was puzzled.

"Today there is no food, the general will give it away for free. If there is no food in the future, the general will still give it away for free. But the food in the general's hands is to supply the soldiers going to war, not to the people. Then, one day, when the general stops giving out food for free, some people will say: Why are you pretending to be generous? You can't do it anymore, right? You are just pretending to be a good person to gain fame and reputation." Yang Xianrong sighed, "It's not that I don't understand the suffering of the people, but if you do this today, you won't be able to do it in the future, and it will bring trouble to yourself."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Liu Yao nodded, "But why do you want a high price?"

"Let the people who buy rice know that this rice did not appear out of thin air, but was saved by the soldiers from their own rations, so it is naturally more expensive." Yang Xianrong took Liu Yao's kettle and wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. "General, you cherish your reputation, but you should also know that even if you do ninety-nine good things, no one may remember them, but as long as you do one bad thing, others will hate you for a lifetime. So, why not haggle over every penny from the beginning? It's okay. In your current position, no one dares to say anything. Just like you strictly discipline the army, you see that although the second brother and the others talk a lot, they still try to abide by the various regulations and dare not slack off. After a while, who doesn't praise your strict military discipline?"

A smile appeared on Liu Yao's face. "Third sister is still good at talking. I like to listen to her."

"General~~" Yang Xianrong deliberately dragged out the ending tone, "This is not just talking, this is telling the truth."

"Yes, yes, yes." Liu Yao's smile became even bigger. "So, I like to talk to Third Sister and analyze the current situation."

"Those involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly." Yang Xianrong took Liu Yao's hand and said, "Let's go eat with the children first. We can talk about it later. Let me think about this matter."

"Yeah. Third sister is the best." Liu Yao's mouth also became sweet, and he wanted to come over and kiss her little face.

But just by chance, Liu Cheng trotted into the house, stopped awkwardly in time, coughed heavily several times, and then said, "The meal is ready, father and mother can go and eat now."

"Got it." Liu Yao could only stop himself from leaning forward in time and frowned slightly.

"Well..." Liu Yao took small steps back, "There's one more thing..."

"Speak." Liu Yao snorted.

"The kitchen is on fire...the gourd chicken is burnt...there is no water to put it out now..." Liu Cheng stuttered.