How could my childhood sweetheart be the current empress?

"Hmm? Ma'am, what's wrong with you?"

"It's okay. I did say that before. Children say things without restraint. Don't take them seriously."

Yan Jixue quickly explained that she didn't want to share a man with her sister.

"Of course I don't take it seriously."

Xu Chengling paused for a moment, then continued:

"Even if your sister wanted to get married, I wouldn't dare marry this tigress...hiss!"

Before he could finish his words, he gasped.

At some point the lady placed her delicate hands on the soft flesh on his waist and twisted and pinched it harshly.

Yan Jixue was so angry. Who do you think is the tigress?

Xu Chengling grinned and shouted to his wife:

"Lady, be gentle."

Seeing Xu Chengling's facial features all squeezed together, Yan Jixue quickly let go of his hand and asked with concern:

"Husband, are you okay? I couldn't help it..."

"It's okay, just a small problem."

Xu Chengling shook his head. His wife was holding back on her strength and didn't want to hurt him.

However, he should refrain from saying bad things about the empress in front of her sister. If the empress finds out, he would probably lose ten heads.

Xu Chengling took a deep breath, looked at his wife's pretty face, and said softly:

"Ma'am, stop making trouble and ask you something serious."

"Bah, it was obviously you who was not serious first."

Yan Jixue rolled her eyes at him. This bad husband always made her lose her composure.

Pinching someone's soft flesh is something only a little girl likes to do. How could she do this...

It must be this bad guy's fault. Only because of being with him did I become like this.

Yan Jixue said with conviction in her heart.

"My lady, you are His Majesty's biological sister and should be very familiar with His Majesty. How do you think His Majesty would deal with these disaster victims in the Western Regions?"

Xu Chengling asked,

Yan Jixue couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, wondering how she would handle this matter if it were her.

Looking back over the past few years, she began to carry out vigorous reforms in Dayan after she ascended the throne, defending the borders and centralizing power. In just a few years, she accumulated strong national strength for Dayan.

It can be said that although she is not the greatest emperor in history, she is definitely worthy of being called a wise ruler.

"If it were your majesty, she would care deeply about people's livelihood and treat everyone equally. Naturally, she would not ignore the disaster victims. Her majesty would order officials to settle these disaster victims and distribute relief grain to them to solve their food and clothing problems."

Yan Jixue said in a deep voice, expressing her thoughts.

"Well, then what?"

"What then?"

"If the famine doesn't end in one or two years, will the geese have to feed these victims for one or two years? Can the central granary feed so many victims?"

"I'm afraid not……"

Yan Jixue shook her head. She only thought of short-term solutions, which only treated the symptoms but not the root cause.

Xu Chengling continued:

"The original intention of distributing relief grain to disaster victims is correct, but Your Majesty, have you ever thought about one problem? If the disaster victims can get relief grain without working, it will easily breed a group of lazy people. Continuing disaster relief will continue to consume the grain of the national treasury, and the income will not be enough to cover the expenditure."

"Secondly, local authorities may withhold relief grain from disaster victims. If a large number of disaster victims gather together, they may even form a force to resist and revolt."

Xu Chengling explained the pros and cons of this. Since ancient times, many dynasties were eventually overthrown by peasant uprisings. These are bloody lessons.

In fact, Yan Jixue was very clear about the issues he mentioned.

But it is easier said than done. Dayan’s territory is so vast, and famine occurs every year, so the food problem has never been solved fundamentally.

At this time, Xu Chengling no longer kept the secret and told us his solution.

That is work-for-relief, where local agencies provide jobs and disaster victims work in exchange for relief food.

This not only solves the problem of supporting lazy people, but also obtains a large amount of free labor.

"Work-for-relief, why have I never thought of that..."

After listening to Xu Chengling's talk about work-for-relief, Yan Jixue couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Building a canal has always been an important national policy of the Dayan Dynasty, but this project is extremely costly and labor-intensive and has not been progressing quickly.

The issue of disaster victims has always been a headache for her, but if she follows Xu Chengling's method and resettles the victims in the canal area, the victims can build the canal in exchange for relief grain.

This solves two of the geese's most difficult problems at the same time.

After hearing his remarks, Yan Jixue realized that what she had done was far from good enough.

At this time, Xu Chengling spread his hands and said:

"That's why I said that the Empress is really too weak."

"..."

This time, Yan Jixue was speechless, and she found that she was indeed a bit dishonest.

At the same time, she also developed a strong interest in the man in front of her.

With his talent and ambition, it would be great if I could use him.

Just as Yan Jixue was thinking this, Xu Chengling suddenly put his hand on her shoulder, looked at her seriously and said:

"The Empress is such a loser, why don't we all rebel against her together!"

"???"

This traitor! Yan Jixue's face turned pale with anger.

Chapter 37 Madam, Please Choose One

At this moment, Yan Jixue just wanted to kick him off the bed.

But her royal upbringing made her hold back. She had to stay calm and not lose her composure again.

Take a deep breath and calm down first...

As an empress, Yan Jixue has received very strict training and she can manage her facial expressions correctly in any occasion.

But in front of this man, she always lost her composure and did not behave like an empress at all.

Looking at Xu Chengling with a smile on his face, Yan Jixue couldn't help but clench her teeth, trying hard to restrain the urge to kick him off the bed.

I will tolerate you one last time!

"Husband, can I ask you something?"

Yan Jixue forced a smile and asked as she looked at the man who was only a few feet away from her.

There was something that she had always cared about, but she had never had the chance to do it.

"Well, ask it, ma'am."

Seeing her husband nod, Yan Jixue took the opportunity to express the doubts in her heart.

"Husband, what happened when you returned home today?"

She saw that Xu Chengling's personal maid was injured, and wondered if she had been attacked.

You know, ever since she became the empress, she has encountered many sneak attacks from hostile forces and has been in danger several times.

Of course, Yan Jixue is no pushover to become the empress.

She used their own tactics to retaliate against them, secretly eliminating several forces that opposed her.

Seeing his wife asking about it, Xu Chengling did not hide anything and told her about the attack.

If it weren't for Tongxin's selfless rescue, he might have met with an accident.

Of course, this debt must be repaid. After injuring his little maid, this matter will not end like this.

But at the same time, this incident also made Xu Chengling realize that he must learn some self-defense skills.

At least at the critical moment, he can't hold Tongxin back like he did this time.

Xu Chengling's expression became somewhat serious. He looked at his wife and said in a deep voice:

"It's not the first time someone has tried to harm me, and it won't be the last."

"Husband, who do you think wants to harm you?"

Yan Jixue continued to ask. She had a vague guess as to who it was, but she couldn't be sure.

She wanted to see what Xu Chengling thought.

"From the current situation, the person who wants to get rid of me the most is undoubtedly Your Majesty."

Xu Chengling said without hesitation.

Hearing his answer, Yan Jixue couldn't help but sigh. Among these people, His Majesty is actually the least likely one.

If you ask why, the current Majesty is not her, but Ling'er.

And Ling'er is Xu Chengling's real wife, how could she bear to attack her lover?

Therefore, the mastermind behind this could only be someone else.

"Besides Your Majesty, could it be other parties in the court?"

Yan Jixue tried to guide Xu Chengling to think in other directions.

She knew Ling'er's personality. This girl was very protective of her children and would never send anyone to attack Xu Chengling.

"Madam, do you think His Majesty is not the mastermind behind this?"

Xu Chengling couldn't help but ask, my lady is His Majesty's sister, she should be the one who knows His Majesty best.

Yan Jixue thought for a moment, came up with an idea, and explained to him:

"My husband, think about it. You are married to His Majesty's sister. If His Majesty attacks you and his sister finds out, won't she hate His Majesty for the rest of her life?"

After saying that, a bitter smile appeared on Yan Jixue's lips. What she said was actually about herself.

If she really wanted to take action against Xu Chengling, just as she said now, Ling'er would hate her sister for the rest of her life.

Xu Chengling thought about it and felt that what his wife said made sense.

And his wife was on his side, so how could he not be happy? His wife really loved him.

So he couldn't help but gently hug the lady in his arms, feeling very happy that he could marry such a good lady.

"My dear, you are so good to me, how can I not love you?"

Xu Chengling spoke gently in her ear, and his big hands began to become restless again.

These sweet words made Yan Jixue feel goosebumps all over her body.

Ugh, so corny!

She couldn't help but give Xu Chengling a blank look and gently moved his restless big hand away.

I really thought she was Ling'er, so easy to fool.

"My lady, what you said makes sense, but if it's not His Majesty, then it can only be the Prince's Party, or the Prince's Party."

Xu Chengling thought for a moment and said, he paused, then continued his analysis:

"Among the princes, the most ambitious prince is naturally Prince Jing, who holds 400,000 soldiers. But Prince Jing is not a scheming person. If he is just pretending, then Prince Jing is extremely cunning and even more difficult to deal with."

"So, I think the most likely ones should be the prince's party. The late emperor appointed a prince, but in the end it was your majesty who inherited the throne. The prime minister was appointed by the late emperor as a minister of reverence and assistance to support the empress's ascension to the throne. Naturally, he is the one the prince's party wants to eliminate the most."

At this point, Xu Chengling couldn't help but secretly curse the old emperor as a fox.

At that time, the old emperor appointed the prime minister as the minister of state and assistant because he wanted to use the powerful prime minister as a shield for the empress and to contain other parties in the court.