I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 23
Finally, Qiuyu returned to Prince Xuan's mansion with all the dowry servants.

Her eyes were red and she said guiltily, "Miss, I didn't do my job well. I am useless."

Tang Zhao looked at Chunfeng picking up the body contract and comforted him, "It's already good. Our Qiuyu dared to directly confront that old witch An. She is already very powerful."

Qiuyu burst into laughter and said, "Miss, you are coaxing me again."

Then he asked worriedly, "What about those people in the yard?"

The girl had just been driven away in the morning, and she was sent back in the afternoon, which made Qiuyu annoyed.

"I'll do it," Tang Zhao turned around and asked, "Have you chosen yet?"

"It has been divided according to the lady's instructions," Chunfeng replied.

"Let's go," Tang Zhao said as he walked out the door leisurely. "Everyone, nice to see you again."

Manager An knew he had been abandoned by the An family and had no way to make a living, so he was unwilling to humble himself and asked, "How will the county lord punish us?"

"Punishment?" Tang Zhao smiled. "You are quite self-aware," she said regretfully. "You are a talented person, but it's a pity that you followed the wrong master."

Manager An thought the same. He had worked diligently for the An family for twenty years and even if he raised a dog, he would always have some feelings for it. He thought that he would be destitute and bullied after returning to the Duke's Mansion, but he never expected that the An family would send him back to the County Lord!

This is asking him to die!
He was unwilling to give in and kept kowtowing, "County Lady, Miss, if you spare my life, I will be loyal to you and obey you like a dog. I will bite whoever you tell me to bite."

As long as he can survive, he must avenge today's revenge!
Tang Zhao ignored him and said loudly, "This county lady knows that as slaves, you have no control over your own affairs. Your master has the power to decide your life and death. This county lady sympathizes with you and has pity on you."

"Don't worry, I won't kill everyone."

Someone below sobbed.

"But some people, relying on the power of the stepmother and the Duke of Wei's mansion, act tyrannically, bullying men and women and committing all kinds of evil!" Tang Zhao glanced at the people in the courtyard. "The stepmother dares to employ such servants, but this county lady doesn't dare!"

Some people were already trembling and staggering.

Tang Zhao sat in the corridor and said, "Read!"

"Qian Zheng, the owner of the grain shop, hoarded goods at exorbitant prices during the snowstorm in Luoyang, disregarding the lives of the victims and the common people. His crimes are extremely heinous."

"Sun Yi, the village head of Min County, ran rampant in the village, bullying men and women. During his time in charge, he insulted and abused as many as eighteen women, causing eight people to hang themselves or jump into wells. He also forced farmers to pay over a thousand kilograms of extra grain. His crimes are heinous!"

"Zheng Qi, the owner of the silver shop, used the shop's name to secretly open a casino, enticing people to gamble. He also violently collected debts, causing hundreds of families to be ruined. His crimes are heinous!"

"Li Qing, the owner of the cosmetics shop, embezzled money from the counter and secretly lent it out at high interest rates, causing hundreds of people to be burdened with high-interest loans. His crimes are heinous!"

. . .

Every time someone was called, the black-clad guards guarding the yard would cover their mouths and drag them away.

Those who have done all kinds of evil are terrified, petty thieves are trembling with fear, and innocent people are overjoyed.

By the time Dongmei finished reading, most of the people in the yard had already left.

"Don't worry, this county lady doesn't like to use private punishment. All the above people will be sent to the Luoyang government office and tried by the Luoyang prefect!" Tang Zhao waved his hand, and Chunfeng handed the evidence in his hand to the commander of the guards.

"As for the rest of you," Tang Zhao pondered, "I will set you free. From today on, you will be good citizens. From now on, your life, death, wealth, and poverty will be in your own hands. But I also want to warn you: those who do evil will eventually perish!"

After saying that, he turned around and went back inside without hesitation.

"Everyone, stop kneeling and let's go," Qiuyu rolled her eyes at what a bunch of blockheads.

The rest of the people followed in a daze, and were driven into the government office to have their slave status cancelled. It was not until they left the Luoyang government office that they felt as if possessed by a spirit, "We, we are really good citizens now?"

When they sold themselves into slavery, they dreamed of regaining their status as good citizens. However, the Duke's Mansion was so powerful that there was only one way for slaves to leave the mansion, and that was to be thrown into a mass grave after death.

They had never expected that the Lady Princess would actually release them from public office and not even ask them to pay back the money they had paid for selling their bodies! The joy of a new life, the longing for a better future, made them burst into tears of excitement. They knelt down and kowtowed dozens of times in gratitude to the carriage of Prince Xuan's mansion that had already departed.

Qiuyu sat in the car and watched from afar, and the resentment she felt towards these people in her heart completely dissipated.

They are all poor people.

No one is as lucky as them, to have a good master right away.

In the Bidan Courtyard, because there were more than twenty people, Nanny Li and Nanny Song rearranged the staff and were busy until dark.

"Thank you very much, elder sister," said Nanny Song.

"What's there to thank me for? I'm doing this for my master," Li Ma sighed. "The County Lady is truly resourceful. Her tactics today, like killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, combined force and softness with kindness and severity, are truly admirable."

Nanny Song laughed heartily.

In the study, after listening to the guard's report, Gu Ci was also very curious: Why would such a scheming person be trapped in Zhuangzi for ten years?
Never mind, it has nothing to do with him anyway. Gu Ci continued to deal with the new official business that arrived today.

[Ding! Save the cannon fodder male supporting system. The host punishes evil and promotes good, promoting positive energy. Reward health points 10, the current health points total 74]

Tang Zhao was sleeping soundly. He turned over and smacked his lips. It seemed that he had to do more good deeds in the future.

Gu Ci was busy until midnight and returned to the inner room in the dark.

He walked slowly to the mat covered with three layers of thick quilt, took off his coat and prepared to lie down.

"Husband!"

"!" Gu Ci's heart was pounding. He looked carefully and saw that the person was still asleep.

He crawled into the quilt and felt warm. He fumbled around in the quilt for a while and found three hot water bottles.

Except for Chaohui and Chaoyi, Gu Ci didn't like anyone else entering and leaving his room at will. However, Chaohui and Chaoyi, two grown men, had never been so delicate as to put a hot water bottle in his bed to warm it.

Gu Ci turned his head to look at the bed. The woman was sleeping as obediently as a kitten, completely devoid of the aggressiveness that had angered him this morning.

"Husband," the woman muttered, "the soup is heating on the stove."

"Don't forget to drink."

Gu Ci was stunned and turned around to see that there was indeed a soup bowl on the stove in the inner room, with a red charcoal fire underneath.

She left soup for him.

Gu Ci's heart skipped a beat, and he tossed and turned for an hour. He stood up with a dark face, walked to the stove, picked up the bowl of soup, drank it all in one gulp, lay back on the quilt, and fell asleep after a while.

The next day, Gu Ci woke up at dawn. He folded the quilt neatly and left the inner room quietly.

Tang Zhao rarely saw Gu Ci during breakfast and looked at him several times.

Gu Ci whispered, "Did you add medicinal herbs to the soup?"

"I added sour jujube kernels," Tang Zhao blinked. "Isn't it tasty?"

Chinese jujube seeds have the effect of calming the mind and soothing the nerves. Gu Ci breathed a sigh of relief. No wonder he fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow after drinking the soup. It turned out that it was because of the medicinal ingredients.

Seeing that the person was still looking at him with his head tilted, Gu Ci lowered his eyes and said, "It's okay."

Tang Zhao was relieved. She said that with Xia Mo's craftsmanship and her guidance, nothing she made would taste bad!

(End of this chapter)