Chaos of Ming 1628

Wang Er had scraggly beard and an embarrassed expression.

Their eyes met, and he chuckled, bowing his head in shame: "Lord Sun... let me explain..."

Sun Qing's heart skipped a beat, as if something had fallen heavily to the ground. She turned her head, desperately wanting to avoid seeing Wang Er's face.

Yes, Wang Da and Wang Er followed Shen Junru around, but only Wang Er's figure was close to Shen Junru's.

If you didn't get close and look closely, it would be really hard to tell the difference between the two people with their large costumes covering them.

"But she's not feeling well, so she can't go through this process?" Sun Qing's voice was hoarse.

"Lord Sun, that's not it." Wang Er's expression was a little stiff as he cautiously said, "Lord Sun, Miss said she doesn't want to write, so she asked me to pass on a message to you."

"Speak!" Sun Qing's voice was somewhat weak.

"Ahem!" Wang Er cleared his throat, mimicking Shen Junru's tone: "I've thought about what you said for a long time. You're right, I'm still young. I'll marry you when I grow up."

"You're wrong. I'm married now, so I'm myself. But I don't want to be myself anymore. I still want to be the person who listens to you."

"Getting married isn't fun, and I'm not happy if I get married. So, today, we're not getting married."

After Wang Er finished speaking, he shrank his neck.

These words are absurd, naive, ridiculous, and even irresponsible.

"Hehe," Sun Qing chuckled.

Wang Er felt a chill run down his spine from laughing and quickly shrank into a corner, pleading, "Sir, please don't act rashly!"

"Miss may be a little willful, but... but she's so badly injured. Please forgive her this time because of her injuries, and we'll bring her back once she's healed."

"No need." Sun Qing smiled with relief, looking at the red veil in her hand, her voice hoarse: "This is the real her, isn't it?"

"I thought that giving her freedom was what she needed. But I overlooked what she herself wanted."

Everyone has their own beliefs. Sun Qing thought that Shen Junru was living in various shackles and that he would definitely free her in the future. However, he overlooked the fact that protection was a belief that had been instilled in her from the moment she was born.

Unsure if Sun Qing was still angry, Wang Er tentatively asked, "Sir, should I leave tonight, or stay?"

Sun Qing glanced at him disdainfully: "Get lost!"

"Hehe, yes!" Wang Er breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relief at surviving a disaster, and quickly ran outside.

The new house was empty.

Only Sun Qing was inside.

She sat quietly in the chair, placed the bridal veil on the table, and let out a bitter laugh.

In another room, Yang Qingqing's pearl crown and golden phoenix robe swayed in layers, and her gold-embroidered phoenix robe shimmered with light. All the utensils and clothing were extremely luxurious, almost like a royal wedding.

From head to toe, all the decorations were colorful phoenixes and auspicious clouds, but not a single dragon pattern could be found. This was the only difference between her and a princess's dress.

Such treatment demonstrates that Wei Zhongxian gave her ample respect.

It was already past midnight, but Sun Qing had not yet arrived.

Yang Qingqing pulled down the red veil, and the nanny beside her hurriedly exclaimed, "Miss, quickly put it back on, this is bad luck!"

"What's the point of me waiting here if he doesn't come?" Yang Qingqing's voice was a little cold.

The old woman felt sorry for her: "Miss is so pampered in the capital, when has she ever suffered such injustice?"

"Things are different now." Yang Qingqing's tone was cold, and there was no trace of sadness on her face. She seemed to understand clearly: "My ancestor sent me here to marry into this family because he was keeping an eye on everything in Weihai."

"This may not be a bad thing. At least there isn't much affection between us. If something happens, it won't cause us much sadness or grief."

Yang Qingqing is stunningly beautiful today, but unfortunately no one appreciates her beauty.

Seeing her young mistress in such a state, it would be a lie to say she felt no pity. But what good was feeling sorry for her?

He could only sigh and not linger any longer.

The candles burned all night long. Sadly, the wax dripped and fell, leaving only an empty room for the lonely soul.

It was over in one night.

The next morning, the front hall was already in complete chaos.

Sun Qing had slept fully clothed last night. Upon hearing the noise, he immediately washed up, changed his clothes, and donned his official robes.

I hurried to the front hall.

Dozens of grain merchants from Hejian Prefecture, large and small, stood together below the hall, dressed in fine clothes and with indignant expressions.

Merchants are known for their amicable dealings and are extremely respectful to government officials. However, upon assuming power, Sun Qing immediately seized the grain merchants' produce and executed two of them.

Although they were lowly merchants, the people's livelihood and the nation could not do without them.

They all came together today, each brimming with confidence and their gazes were menacing.

Confident in their control of the city's grain supply, they joined forces to submit a petition and gather a crowd to pressure the government, certain that the current prefect would not dare to truly threaten the livelihoods of merchants across the land.

Many people were taken aback when they saw Sun Qing. The young man before them was far too young, not even seventeen.

If it weren't for Sun Qing's reputation and his ruthless actions yesterday, he really wouldn't have taken him seriously.

The fact that they can still come here politely to reason with us is not because they are causing trouble. Firstly, Sun Qing is, after all, the prefect, and secondly, yesterday's wedding was a grand affair.

This stemmed from their fear of Wei Zhongxian.

If Sun Qing hadn't indiscriminately slaughtered grain merchants, they wouldn't have dared to band together and come here.

Sun Qing arrived and sat in a grand chair. His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he surveyed the people below, his gaze somewhat languid, as if he were weary of dealing with them.

Those at the top remained silent, but those at the bottom were becoming restless.

The leading old grain merchant stepped forward half a step: "Lord Sun, the grain we merchants store is all our own hard-earned capital and legal private property. We have never owed the government anything, nor have we ever violated the law."

"The government is now arbitrarily confiscating our grain and storing it in the public granary, and distributing it to displaced people. This is an act of seizing commercial property and oppressing scholars and merchants."

"We request that Your Excellency return all stored grain immediately."

Sun Qing leaned back, her fingers lightly tapping on the armrest. A faint smile remained on her face.

He didn't react to what these people were saying, but simply listened quietly.

The grain merchant's words were like hitting a cotton ball. Gritting his teeth, anger surged within him: "Sir, please return it as soon as possible."

"We have the receipts for the original pure grain."

"Receipts?" Sun Qing's lips curled into a smile as he stared down at them. "When did I ever give you any receipts?"

This group of people were all accomplices of Wang Fengyuan. They knew that the common people were doing well while the merchants were suffering.

Sun Qing's arrival in Hejian Prefecture threatened to cut off their livelihood, so naturally they had to fight back. However, their attempt to steal a chicken backfired spectacularly; to teach Sun Qing a lesson, all the grain merchants had already stockpiled all their grain in their granaries.

Now that the snow disaster has struck, it is precisely the time when food is most scarce, and also the time for them to make a fortune.

Yesterday, Sun Qing said he would distribute grain, and he did so. How much money did those beggars eat from them?

If things continue like this, how can we save our food supply?

Sun Qing denied it, but they didn't panic. They immediately took out the receipt from their pockets: "Sir, this is a receipt written by Lord Wang himself."

"Below is Lord Wang's signature and the official seal."

The other grain merchants also fled, holding up their receipts as if it were their right: "Lord Sun, give them back to us."

Sun Qing chuckled, "Who is Lord Wang? I don't know him!"

"Or do you not know my last name? Should I reintroduce myself?"

Sun Qing's tone remained consistently casual, as if nothing that happened was of any concern to him.

"Sir, are you trying to renege on your promise?" The grain merchant finally realized what was happening, his face turning ashen. "Don't blame us for being disrespectful if you do this."

"If we can't get the grain back, we'll be bankrupt. If you don't want us to live, we'll have no choice but to seal up our granaries and sell everything, ensuring that not a single grain of rice flows into the Hejian region!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of grain merchants echoed his sentiments, their voices surging and their momentum fierce.

No matter how capable Sun Qing is, what good is it if he has Wei Zhongxian as his backer?

They were convinced that the government could not function without merchants and grain routes. If the grain merchants went on strike, grain prices in Hejian would skyrocket and displaced people would riot. In the end, the only one who would lose his position and take the blame would be the prefect.

The entire hall of yamen runners stood solemnly, the atmosphere extremely tense.

Sun Qing, seated high in the courtroom, remained calm and composed, showing neither anger nor concession.

He leaned slightly forward, his gaze sweeping over the arrogant grain merchants below: "You have gathered here today to storm the government office, using your grain supply to coerce me. Your confidence stems from nothing more than three things."

"Firstly, you monopolize the rice in Hejian, thinking that by closing the granaries and shutting down the market, you can force the prefectural city to run out of grain and force this official to bow down."

"Secondly, you consider your private property sacred, hoard grain during famine years and speculate on prices, and no one can stop you, thus you have the upper hand in terms of reason and morality."

"Thirdly, you band together as one group of merchants, so the government is hesitant to punish you in the slightest."