I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 20 A way to survive
Bidan Courtyard.

Tang Zhao was like a porcelain doll, being helped by Nanny Song, Chunfeng and the other three to bathe and wash herself. After having a satisfying breakfast, she leaned on the chaise longue and waited for someone.

Xia Mo sent red dates, wolfberry and yam soup, "I made a pot of it, young lady, drink it slowly."

Outside the courtyard, Bai Cheng and the others looked at the empty cauldron while holding their bowls, and said with sorrowful faces, "I can clearly smell the aroma of red date and yam soup."

Zhao Hui's usually expressionless face became even more expressionless, "I'm afraid Miss Xia Mo is not going to be our part."

Chaoyi sniffed and swallowed secretly.

As soon as Gu Ci entered the yard, he saw the drooling faces of these starving ghosts. He immediately frowned, "What are you standing there for? Don't you have to do anything?"

Everyone immediately scattered like birds flying away and fish scattering.

When Gu Ci stepped into the main courtyard, he saw the man who had caused the bloody storm drinking soup leisurely, and the years were peaceful.

"Xia Mo, serve your husband a bowl of soup," Tang Zhao ordered.

Xia Mo served a bowl of soup on the low table, without any yam or red date residue.

Gu Ci glanced at the maids who were submissive on the surface and wanted to rush up and bite him a few times and said, "Everyone, step back. I have something to say to your master."

Chunfeng and his three companions did not move.

Gu Ci frowned. Whether in the army or in the palace, he had never seen anyone who ignored his orders.

"Why, didn't you hear?"

His tone was calm and majestic, and Chunfeng and the other three were trembling with fear, but they held back and did not move.

"Go away," seeing that the man was really angry, Tang Zhao quickly sent him out.

She was sure that Gu Ci and Prince Xuan's Mansion dared not and could not touch her, but it was easy to touch the maidservants around her.

"Yes," Chunfeng and his four companions filed out and closed the door.

"I am protecting my master," Gu Ci snorted coldly, his eyes unkind, "but my master is too suicidal, I'm afraid I can't protect him."

"I feel the same way," Tang Zhao retorted, "My husband is clearly inhumane yet he insists on performing the rituals of marriage. He's made such a fool of himself that he has to trouble Madam Li to clean up the mess. It's a pity that such explosive news can't be easily concealed."

Gu Ci's face was cold, "Do you think anyone would believe your lies?"

"My dear husband, have you ever heard of this saying? There are no rumors in this world. Rumors only appear when too many people spread them." Tang Zhao looked at the man's waist. "The beauty has aged, and the hero is not able to act. What a pity!"

Gu Ci was simply baffled. Where on earth did this woman come from? She was a wild goose. She would not stop talking. Although the people of Dayu were much more open-minded than those of the previous dynasty, they were not to this extent, right?
Or has he been in the military camp for too long and is no longer aware of the developments and changes in the outside world?

Never mind. None of this matters. Gu Ci closed his eyes. "I came to see you today because I wanted to..." The words "open and honest" circled around his lips, but he swallowed them back. "I wanted to explain to you what happened this morning."

"It's not that I don't want to sleep with you, I just suddenly remembered something important to take care of."

Tang Zhao smiled and said, I don’t believe you at all.

"The war in the southwest has ended, and your father will be returning to the capital soon," Gu Ci reminded, "You have brought disgrace upon the Duke of Wei's mansion. Be careful, your father will come back and teach you a lesson."

Tang Zhao originally wanted to hear some nonsense he was talking about, but he didn't expect to hear such important news.

"When will you return to Beijing?"

"The southwest is a thousand miles away from Luoyang, and the army's marching speed is slow. I'm afraid it will take until May of next year."

"My husband is right. Father's journey back to the capital was treacherous. I'm nervous and worried, so it's really not appropriate for me to consummate our marriage," Tang Zhao agreed with Gu Ci's nonsense. "Then we can wait until Duke Wei returns to the capital," Gu Ci suggested. "During this time, you and I will sleep in separate beds. You sleep on the top, and I'll sleep below."

Okay, Tang Zhao nodded.

"Also, please let me know first what you are going to do," Gu Ci said angrily. No matter whether it was a donation or saying that he was not capable, he had to be mentally prepared!

Oh, Tang Zhao winked.

"If you need my help, just tell me." Seeing that the man was honest, Gu Ci didn't mind giving him a sweet treat.

Hmm! Tang Zhao got off the chaise longue, walked to the stove, opened the lid of the pottery jar, scooped out a spoonful of yam and red dates, and put it in the bowl next to Gu Ci.

The two sat opposite each other drinking soup, tacitly putting what happened in the morning behind their minds and never mentioning it again.

Since the master had reconciled, the servants naturally shook hands and made peace. Xia Mo resumed the habit of cooking soup for everyone in the Bitan Courtyard.

Bai Cheng, Zhao Hui and others held their soup bowls with tears in their eyes.

Things were peaceful in the Bidan Courtyard for two days before someone started making trouble again.

The cause was still those shops and farms.

As the disaster relief work proceeded in an orderly manner, the Luoyang city gates resumed normal traffic, and merchants from all over Dayu flocked to Luoyang to compete for the dowry donated by Tang Zhao.

As the auctions for land and shops came to an end one after another, the new owners would naturally kick out all the original managers and shop assistants and replace them with their own trusted associates.

Thirty-seven shops and tens of thousands of acres of land have turned hundreds of slaves and family members of the Duke of Wei's mansion, who used to be fat and strong, into homeless people, worse off than disaster victims. Who can accept this?
An's confidant and the steward of Tang Zhao's dowry, An Guanshi, was filled with hatred and became bolder than ever. He secretly gathered most of the shopkeepers and heads of the farm, and with An's tacit approval, went to Prince Xuan's palace to make trouble.

"Please help me, Miss! We can't survive any longer!"

Chunfeng shouted angrily, "Shut up! The one before you is the Princess Zhaoshan, personally appointed by His Majesty. How dare you mess with the hierarchy?"

Although women in Dayu had a lower status than men, the exception was the imperial clan. To highlight the nobility of imperial clan women, Dayu law stipulated that all women who were canonized were given titles, even after marriage.

Although Tang Zhao was not a daughter of the royal family, she had the title of a daughter of the royal family and was also subject to the same rules.

Whenever Manager An thought about how Tang Zhao got the title, he felt so angry that his heart was bleeding. However, the county lord was far more noble than someone like him who sold himself into slavery, so he could only swallow his anger and wait for the future.

"Please save me, Madam County Lord!"

"Please save us, Lady County Lord. We haven't eaten for three days." The ragged old people and children knelt behind and wailed.

"Let them be quiet," Tang Zhao said softly while standing under the eaves.

"Yes," the black-clad guards stepped forward and punched and kicked the middle-aged men who were howling the loudest.

After dealing with seven or eight people who were pretending to cry, you could hear a pin drop in the Bidan Courtyard.

"It's not that I don't want to save you. This county lady is willing to save even the disaster victims who have no relatives or friends. What's more, you have worked hard to raise money for this county lady and my biological mother for so many years. Even if you have no merits, you have worked hard."

Tang Zhao glanced at everyone. Except for a few people who looked at her with tears in their eyes, everyone else lowered their heads and shrank their bodies, not daring to look at her.

"But it's ultimately not legitimate. Although you are nominally my dowry, your marriage deeds are not in my hands. Tell me, why should I save you?"

When she got married, she only asked An for the indentures of Nanny Song and Chunfeng and the other three. What did the others have to do with her!
"This, the County Lady," Manager An was also in a dilemma. If this matter were to get out, the stepmother's already shabby reputation would be even worse.

"Please, Madam County Lord, show us a way to survive!"

(End of this chapter)