Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Before Liu Siyue and the others had left after finishing their meal, Qingye returned.

"Qingye, what's the situation in town?"

"Like farmers in villages, merchants in towns also face several additional taxes. In addition to the commercial tax they used to pay, they also have to pay business tax and shop land use tax."

This commercial tax is a fixed monthly payment. It's a business tax, and supposedly they'll check the shop's accounts and collect 2% of that. There's also a shop land use tax, levied based on the size of the shop, with a standard charge of 2 taels of silver per shop.

Liu Siyue and Madam Feng were shocked when they heard this. The court was really trying to kill them. "Just you wait and see, if this continues, things will definitely get out of hand."

What was the village chief's reaction upon hearing this?

"She was frowning and sighing. He got off at the village entrance, and I saw that he was heading in the direction of the clan chief's house."

"Qingye, I'm going to the county town with Qingwu now. You stay home and take good care of the family."

"Yes, Miss."

Liu Siyue and Qingwu arrived in the county town. "Miss, should we go back to the mansion first, or go to the county government office to find the magistrate's wife?"

"Let's go back to the house first, then go out and inquire around in the town to see what rumors are circulating."

The two returned to their house, put down the oxcart, disguised themselves, and went out into the street.

As soon as the two went out onto the street, they heard everyone discussing taxes. They leaned closer to listen, but there was nothing useful to hear, so they went to a teahouse instead.

The teahouse was crowded, and the storyteller was still telling his story with great enthusiasm, but few people were listening attentively. Everyone was gathered in twos and threes, whispering among themselves, "Have you heard? This time, the collection of taxes is being handled by County Magistrate Guo. Even if the County Magistrate wanted to intervene, he was powerless. The Prefect not only issued an imperial decree but also wrote his own letter, specifically appointing County Magistrate Guo to oversee this matter."

Why did the prefect assign this task to County Magistrate Guo? Collecting taxes is a lucrative post; of course, he wouldn't let the profits go to outsiders.

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'keeping the good stuff in the family'?"

"Don't you understand? County Magistrate Guo has a relationship with the Prefect. I'm not afraid to tell you, County Magistrate Guo's sister is the Prefect's favorite concubine."

How do you know so much?

"Who am I? I'm a know-it-all!"

"I have another piece of news for you, but you must keep it a secret, or you'll get into trouble."

"Just tell me already, stop keeping me in suspense."

"I heard that other prefectures collect taxes according to the normal rates of previous years, but only Dongping Prefecture is using these pretexts to exploit the people."

"What!"

The know-it-all quickly covered the man's mouth, "Shh... calm down, calm down."

Liu Siyue listened to all the sounds of the people around her, and the two left after sitting for a while.

"Miss, shall we go visit the magistrate's wife now?"

"I'm not going."

"Qingwu, go and find out the details about the county magistrate. Once you have the information, don't act rashly, and come back immediately."

"Understood, Miss."

As Liu Siyue walked back, she analyzed the situation. It seemed that the prefect's decision to have County Magistrate Guo take charge of collecting taxes was a deliberate leak by County Magistrate Su Yimin. His purpose was clear: to absolve himself of any responsibility and prevent the people from harboring any resentment towards him.

He would use the excuse that his rank was higher than others to suppress others, and that he was willing but unable to do so. He would use the fact that he was only a seventh-rank county magistrate and that his words carried little weight to express his helplessness.

His reputation as a good official who wholeheartedly serves the people must not be ruined, and his image must not be destroyed. Su Yimin is also a person with only a hollow reputation, who has no talent to break the deadlock when faced with difficulties.

In times of peace and prosperity, Su Yimin might have been a good official, but back then, anyone with a brain could have been a good official.

But now, he only knows how to protect himself and lacks the courage to stand up for the people. He is not decisive enough in dealing with matters, and whether to cooperate in the future remains to be seen.

Once home, he began to plot. It seemed that the prefect was using this opportunity to amass wealth; he would reap the benefits, while his cronies would simply drink the soup.

Back in her room, she closed the door and went into her space. She organized what she had heard, wrote it down on paper, and once the ink was dry, she took it to the photocopier and began making a large number of copies.

She immediately made hundreds of copies, and that night she and Qingwu distributed the flyers.

Guo Changfeng was never a good person and should have died long ago. What I did was to rid the people of a scourge and to give the prefect a warning: if he doesn't stop, he'll be next.

When Qingwu returned from gathering information outside, it was already completely dark.

"Qingwu, how's it going? Have you found out everything?"

"We found out that Guo Changfeng also lives on East Street, three alleys away from our house. His family lives in that alley."

In Guo Changfeng's household, there were a total of seven people: his wife, concubines, and mistresses. His legal wife, Madam Lu, had two sons and one daughter, while he had three sons and six daughters born out of wedlock.

The mansion had 18 large granaries and three warehouses built, each guarded by dedicated personnel.

He kept many servants and guards in his mansion, and there were people patrolling day and night.

"Qingwu, I want to kill Guo Changfeng without him knowing. Are you confident you can do it?"

"Don't worry, Miss, I'll handle this perfectly, and they definitely won't be able to trace it back to us."

"Could you take me inside?"

"Okay, but I'm worried it might be dangerous for you to go in. It's better if you stay home and wait for my message."

"No, I just want to go in and take a look."

Qingwu knew her young mistress was very stubborn, and she couldn't persuade her. Sigh! What could she do? She was her young mistress; if she didn't spoil her, who would?

At midnight, the two changed into their night clothes and quietly went out.

Qingwu led her to the outside of a courtyard wall of the Guo residence. Qingwu carried Liu Siyue under her arm and lightly leaped onto the high wall. The two of them crouched down on the top of the wall to observe. When they found no one, they immediately came down and headed straight for the inner courtyard.

The front yard was heavily guarded, and the inner courtyard was staffed with maids and servants, except for two gatekeepers.

Guo Changfeng has seven women, and no one knows where he will sleep tonight.

Qingwu made a gesture, and the two of them searched together. Liu Siyue wanted to search alone, but Qingwu disagreed, saying that she was not good at martial arts and she was afraid that something might happen to her.

Helpless, Liu Siyue had no choice but to search courtyard by courtyard with the other two. After checking all the side courtyards, they found that Guo Changfeng was not there, so he could only stay in the main courtyard tonight.

The two arrived at the main courtyard. Qingwu unlatched the door, and there were two maids living in the outer room. She knocked them unconscious.

Liu Siyue followed Qingwu, feeling particularly excited. The two arrived at the bedside and could vaguely see two people lying on the bed through the gauze curtain.

Without thinking twice, Qingwu knocked the two unconscious first.

Liu Siyue took out a flashlight and shone it on the bed. She wanted to see what Guo Changfeng looked like.

The beam of light shone on his face. He wasn't bad-looking, but his heart was too black. This Lady Lu was still a great beauty. I'm sorry, you'll be a widow now.

Liu Siyue dared not look at the bloody scene of the Ga people. Before leaving the bed, she looked around the room for any hidden mechanisms or secret rooms. She touched around and actually found a mechanism hidden under a painting.

She pressed the button, and the cabinet leaning against the wall moved away instantly.

She took a flashlight and went downstairs. Seeing that there were boxes everywhere, she ignored them and put them all into her spatial storage.

With a light dance, she snapped Guo Changfeng's neck and broke his limbs, giving him a powerful shock.

After she finished her business, she didn't see Liu Siyue. She was worried that Liu Siyue had left early and something might have happened to her. Suddenly, a sliver of light shone through, and then Liu Siyue walked out of the dark room.

Without saying a word, the two quickly left. "Qingwu, take me to see the granary and warehouse."

"Miss, what's so interesting about that? We can't take it with us even if we see it."

"Please take me to see it!"