Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1635 A virtuous queen!
Feeling An Miaoyi's complicated gaze, Ye Mingsheng smiled self-deprecatingly and said:
"Miao Yi, I know you privately say that I'm shabby and petty, but I don't blame you at all. After all, asking the queen to pay for the expansion of the palace and mortgage the house to buy bonds to support the treasury is not a good thing to say!"

"But it is true that the court is in trouble now. At such a critical moment, I hope to get your help!"

An Miaoyi, who was originally full of resentment, heard Ye Mingsheng say this, and looked at Ye Mingsheng's seemingly sincere expression. The resentment and contempt in her heart also dissipated a lot. She hesitated for a moment and did not say what she wanted to say.

After being silent for about half a cup of tea, An Miaoyi spoke again:
"Fifty thousand taels of silver! This is all the silver I have!"

"Miaoyi, all I did was for our family, for you and Jingren!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, An Miaoyi's anger rose again. She glanced at Ye Mingsheng and said:

"For me and Jingren? Your Majesty, you are really kind-hearted!"

Listening to An Miaoyi's weird tone, Ye Mingsheng continued to persuade:

"Miaoyi, we are husband and wife, you should understand my thoughts!"

"Your Majesty, if the court is really that short of money, then the best way is to increase taxes and add back the taxes that were exempted in Jingchu, Huainan, Yunbing, Guanzhong, Chuanshu, Yongliang and other places!"

"In this way, the court's financial situation will be alleviated immediately. Your Majesty will no longer need to let the Dadongsheng Bank issue bonds, and you don't need to pretend to be poor in front of me..."

Hearing An Miaoyi say this, Ye Mingsheng was silent for a while, and after a long time he sighed slightly and said:
"Miaoyi, I have thought about this, but the tax reduction ZC from the imperial court was distributed several months ago, and those provincial secretaries also formulated development plans based on this!"

Before Ye Mingsheng could finish his words, An Miaoyi spoke again:
"I understand that your Majesty's words are golden. If you take back what you have said, wouldn't it be a breach of trust and a laughing stock in the world?"

Seeing An Miaoyi saying sour and weird things again, Ye Mingsheng shook his head and said:
"Miaoyi, Jingren is already ten years old, and you and I have been married for more than ten years. Do you think I, Ye, am a person who puts personal interests above public interests and disregards worldly affairs for the sake of my own face?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, An Miaoyi turned her head away with some disdain, but did not refute.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng continued:
"Miaoyi, the reason why I didn't cancel the tax reduction and exemption policy for Sichuan, Guanzhong, Huainan and other places is because those provincial governors and merchants have made plans based on this policy. If I change my mind now, it will inevitably disrupt the provincial governor's plan, and those merchants may lose all their money, which will greatly damage the process of economic recovery!"

"To do this is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I won't do this unless it is absolutely necessary..."

"Humph! Your Majesty, you don't want to kill the goose that lays the eggs, so you're sharpening your knife to attack the pigs and sheep?"

"Miaoyi, you are the queen. I think you would like to see the prosperity and stability of Daqian!"

"Your Majesty, what will you do if I don't want you to?"

"Miaoyi! I hope to get your understanding and support!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, An Miaoyi also got the answer from the response. She immediately turned over in anger and wanted to turn her back to Ye Mingsheng.

But perhaps it was because she moved too hastily, or maybe she bumped into something, causing the affected area on her left ankle to hurt again. An Miaoyi couldn't help but let out a soft cry. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng gently stroked his wife's affected area and asked with concern?

"Miaoyi, what's wrong with you?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's concern, An Miaoyi did not appreciate it at all and said directly:
"I'm fine! Don't worry about it! Go to sleep!"

Seeing that An Miaoyi was a little angry, Ye Mingsheng was a little helpless, but he still opened his mouth and warned:

"Tomorrow you will summon Zeng Yang's wife Ma. Zeng Yang died in the General Coordination Office. Those imperial censors have been making trouble. You should comfort Ma and give her some rewards!"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's instructions, An Miaoyi, with her back to her husband, closed her eyes as if she didn't hear it and seemed like she was really asleep!
Ye Mingsheng also shook his head and lay down, but perhaps because he had too many worries, Ye Mingsheng suffered from insomnia.

In the past, Ye Mingsheng’s solution to insomnia was to fight. He used fighting to make his body tired so as to fall asleep. Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng looked at An Miaoyi beside him, but when he thought of An Miaoyi’s problem, Ye Mingsheng gave up this idea and closed his eyes again to prepare to fall asleep!

After tossing and turning for an unknown amount of time, Ye Mingsheng gradually fell asleep. The next morning, while he was still asleep, he heard a familiar voice.

“Dad, wake up! Wake up…”

At the urging of this familiar voice, Ye Mingsheng slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing that came into his sight was Jingren's little face.

Ye Mingsheng, who had not yet fully woken up, rubbed his eyes and said:

"Jingren, stop making trouble and let Dad sleep for a while!"

"Dad, it's six quarters past midnight!"

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise:
"Jingren, what time is it now?"

"Dad, look at the sky outside. It's already six quarters past noon!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng looked outside and saw that the sun was already high in the sky.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng knew that he had gotten up late. Although he was still a little sleepy, he still got up from the bed and said:
"Bring me the clothes!"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's words, the palace maids and nannies immediately took action and began to change Ye Mingsheng's clothes.

While changing his clothes, Ye Mingsheng asked the palace maids:
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier? You should know that I have to get up at 7:00 p.m., so why didn't you wake me up at 6:00 p.m.?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's questioning, several palace maids looked embarrassed, but no one spoke.

At this time, Jingren began to speak:
"Dad, my mother said you didn't sleep well last night, so she told the palace maids not to call you!"

Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly when he heard this, and then asked:
"Where is your mother?"

"Let's eat! This morning we have millet porridge, steamed buns, and some side dishes. Dad, do you want to join us?"

At this time, Ye Mingsheng also put on his clothes, took a wet towel from the hand of a palace maid and wiped his face. The Daqian Emperor, who felt more energetic, waved his hand and said:
"Forget it, you and your mother should have a good meal! I'll go to the imperial study to eat!"

"Jingren, study hard. Dad will come to check your academic performance in a few days. Play less and stop thinking about playing all the time!"

"Yes! Dad, I will study hard!"

Ye Mingsheng, who was about to be late for work, gave Jingren a few words of advice and then hurried to the imperial study.

After bidding farewell to his father, Jingren returned to his mother's side. At this time, An Miaoyi had also finished her breakfast, and when she saw Jingren coming over, she asked:

"Is your father gone?"

"Yeah! My dad went to the imperial study!"

"What did your father say?"

"My dad didn't say anything, he just asked where I was. I told him I was eating, and he didn't say anything either, then he left in a hurry!"

"Okay! Jingren, go study! I'll test you on the text tonight!"

"Ok!"

After watching Jingren go back to his room to study, An Miaoyi pondered for a while, then looked at Qiqige beside him and said:

"How much cash do I have now?"

Qiqige thought for a moment and said:
"About 137,000 taels of silver!"

An Miaoyi was silent for a while after hearing this and said:

"Keep the 7,000 taels of silver, and send the remaining 130,000 taels of silver to Da Dong Sheng Bank and tell them that I bought Da Dong Sheng's bonds!"

Qiqige was a little surprised when he heard this and said:
"My lady, what happened?"

"What else could it be? His Majesty is sharpening his knife to kill pigs and sheep!"

"My lady, I understand! I'll do it right away!"

"Also, I want to see Zengyang's wife Ma to enter the palace today!"

"Yes!"

Under An Miaoyi's order, Ma quickly entered the palace.

As soon as she saw An Miaoyi, Ma fell to her knees in front of her and cried loudly:
"My queen, you have to make the decision for our Lao Zeng. Our Lao Zeng died tragically..."

Seeing Ma crying, An Miaoyi felt a headache. If it wasn't for Ye Mingsheng's arrangement, she really didn't want to see Ma. An Miaoyi always felt that she had seen too many of these resentful women, and she would soon become one of them.

Although she thought so in her heart, An Miaoyi still began to comfort Ma in a familiar way. She first helped Ma up by herself, then asked the nanny beside her to bring a chair for Ma, and then began to comfort her.

Ma also began to tell the story. She first emphasized to An Miaoyi that her husband Zeng Yang was a loyal and good man of Daqian. He had always been loyal to the emperor, honest and dedicated, and never dared to do anything to deceive the emperor!

Listening to Ma's words, although An Miaoyi kept nodding in agreement on the surface, she was sneering in her heart!

Others may not know, but she has investigated Zeng Yang. Although An Miaoyi may not say everything about Zeng Yang, she knows a lot about him. So An Miaoyi admires this Ma a little. How can she say without blushing that Zeng Yang is honest and never dares to do anything illegal!

After bragging to An Miaoyi about how great her husband Zeng Yang was, Ma changed the subject and told An Miaoyi about Zeng Yang's experience.

From Ma's story, An Miaoyi also knew that Zeng Yang was stripped naked and forced to drink and eat sex in the prison of the Coordination Office. Even after he left, his body was examined by the Coordination Office.

An Miaoyi was also a little surprised by this. Qiqige had told her that Zeng Yang had suffered inhuman abuse in prison, but An Miaoyi had never expected that the Coordination Office would abuse Zeng Yang like this. No wonder those people in the Censorate were so angry!
After all, Zeng Yang was tortured so badly after entering the Coordination Office, so the other censors of the Censorate could be the next victims...

After telling all this, Ma knelt down again and cried, asking An Miaoyi to make the decision for her and give justice to her husband Zeng Yang. She also said that if An Miaoyi did not agree to her, she would not get up and would kneel and die in front of An Miaoyi!

Even though she thought in her heart that it was none of her business whether Zeng Yang lived or died, in order to maintain her image as a wise and generous queen, An Miaoyi continued to act, saying that the court would definitely punish the murderer severely and give Zeng Yang an explanation to let Ma feel at ease, and that the court would never let Zeng Yang die in vain!
Because An Miaoyi was very good at acting in the past and her image as a virtuous queen in the court was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, Ma also trusted An Miaoyi very much. Therefore, after getting An Miaoyi's promise, she seemed to feel much more at ease.

After comforting Ma for a few more words, Ma was about to say goodbye and leave, and An Miaoyi personally escorted her out of the yard.

After Ma walked away, An Miaoyi quickly concealed the concern on her face and quickly returned to the room.

At the same time, Qiqige returned to An Miaoyi and said:
"My queen has good news!"

"What good news?"

"Manager Ren has come up with a good idea for you. You can buy bonds worth 150,000 taels of silver without spending a single tael of silver!"

"You can buy bonds worth 150,000 taels of silver without spending a single tael? Qiqige, are you talking nonsense?"

"Your Majesty, it's true! Manager Ren has thought of a good idea for you..."

An Miaoyi also became interested when she heard this and said:

"What's a good idea?"

"A good idea is that after you buy the bonds, you can mortgage them. This way, the silver will go back to you after a round, and you will have completed His Majesty's mission!"

An Miaoyi asked hesitantly after hearing this:
“Can bonds still be used as collateral?”

"Manager Ren said it's no problem. As long as it's something valuable, it can be mortgaged. The bonds of Dadongsheng Bank can also be mortgaged!"

"Who should I pledge the bonds to?"

"Manager Ren said that he would arrange for a merchant to take over the business. He will make sure that there will be no problems and no one will know about it. He will also sell the bonds with the highest interest rate to you, and then make the bond mortgage loan interest-free. This way, not only can you get your money back immediately, but you can also earn thousands of taels of interest every year!"

Listening to Qiqige's story, An Miaoyi was also deeply surprised. Ye Mingsheng seemed to be very humble last night, but An Miaoyi, who had slept with Ye Mingsheng for more than ten years, knew that the more Ye Mingsheng acted like this, the less likely he would let her go easily!

If I were not decent, Ye Mingsheng would definitely help me to be decent!
So even though she was very reluctant today, An Miaoyi had to hand over the 130,000 taels of silver that she had saved with great difficulty!

An Miaoyi had already prepared herself to lose the 130,000 taels of silver, but when she heard what Qiqige said, she immediately felt a sense of joy as if she had recovered what she had lost. As for the interest of thousands of taels of silver every year, An Miaoyi didn't care at all!
A thousand taels of silver might be a lot for others, but with her status, she could get it by doing anything!

Thinking of this, An Miaoyi instructed Qiqige:

"Tell Ren Hai that this matter is done, and the interest will be rewarded to him..."