Chapter 524: The Women Settle in the Capital (Part 4)
In Jia Cong's letter, he did not specify how to deal with Jia Rui, but simply mentioned the matter of Wang Xifeng.
Who is Jia Zhong? Jia Cong is his master, Wang Xifeng is his woman, and also his master. If the master humiliates the servant, he will die. Even Jia Rui dares to have feelings for Wang Xifeng, so should he still give him some dignity?
The fact that he was able to keep his body intact was because he was a member of the Jia family's branch.
After burning the letter directly in the brazier, Jia Zhong made some plans and called two of his trusted confidants to give them some secret instructions.
Inside the palace, Emperor Longxing and the retired emperor had just finished reading the military report sent by Jia Cong!
"Although the methods are a bit weak, it's not a big deal!" The retired emperor said with satisfaction, "Their marching, deployment, and combat skills are not inferior to those of the older generation."
Emperor Longxing laughed at the side, and kept repeating in his heart, "My own son, this is my own son!"
After coming out of the Daming Palace, Emperor Longxing headed excitedly towards the Fengzao Palace.
"Why is Your Majesty so happy today?" The Queen asked suspiciously when she saw Emperor Longxing coming suddenly.
Emperor Longxing dismissed the other female officials, retaining only Zhou Gui and Yuanchun. He then addressed the Empress, "Our son has sent over military reports. The entire area north of Chengdu Prefecture has ceased fighting, and the tribes of Southern Xinjiang have been pushed back to Jiading Prefecture! If we achieve a decisive victory in Jiading Prefecture in the spring of next year, our Daqian troops will be able to cross the Dadu River and enter Southern Xinjiang directly!"
He took the teacup offered by Yuanchun and drank it contentedly. "This kid has won a series of victories, and the various prefectures in Shenjing City are also loyal to the emperor. How can I not be happy?"
Seeing the happy face of Emperor Longxing, the queen secretly complained to her son in her heart. This child didn't know that his mother was worried about him. If he could deliver the military report, why couldn't he send her a letter?
Seeing Emperor Longxing so proud, the Empress spoke softly, "Your Majesty, is it possible that those girls didn't even consider loyalty to the Emperor, but were simply worried that the situation in the capital would affect Xiao He'er's military campaigns? If that's the case, then Your Majesty is benefiting from Xiao He'er's influence..."
Emperor Longxing was stunned when he heard this, and instantly felt that the fragrant tea in his hand was not tasty anymore...
Although it was already the twelfth lunar month and all the governments had already begun preparing for the New Year, the women obviously had no interest in the upcoming festival, and the important matters in their hands were still proceeding in an orderly manner.
On this day, all the girls gathered in the East Mansion again. After Daiyu and Baochai sat down at the first seat in Ningzheng Hall, they asked about the recent situation.
Originally, the deadlock between them and the Cao Gang was not easy to break, and it was already difficult to maintain it, but a recent sudden situation brought new changes to the situation.
In addition to battling the Cao Gang and even grain merchants in Shenjing , the women were also actively mobilizing grain from Jiangnan, hoping to completely resolve Shenjing's grain price problem. Jiangnan was the only place with such a large supply of grain. Lin Ruhai had served in Yangzhou for many years and naturally had some connections there. Furthermore, his family had branches in Jinling. Although they didn't understand why Shenjing was sending the message to purchase grain, they naturally helped since it didn't cost them money.
Including the sisters Muring and Muyu, even though they were already married, they were still the eldest daughters of the Zhen family. They hid it from the clan but used the Zhen family's influence in Jiangnan to purchase a large amount of grain.
At this time, the Kong family from Shandong suddenly came to their door and said that they were willing to sell them a large amount of grain at a low price, and the price was even a few cents lower than two taels.
Baochai and Daiyu had doubts about the Kong family's motives, but just when they were hesitant, the Empress sent a message that put their minds at ease. Although they didn't know how the Empress had instructed the Kong family, it was definitely a great help to the women.
With the Kong family's reputation and influence among the gentry, it was easy to gather some grain.
As a result, money was spent from Wang Xifeng like water, and the amount of grain in their hands also increased rapidly.
"Sister-in-law, Yuanyang, Third Sister, Keqing, I asked you to calculate the amount of grain and rice we have now. Do you have any results?"
Tanchun stood up and said, "Sister Lin, I've calculated it. During this period, all our shops have sold 400,000 dan of grain. Based on normal losses, at least 200,000 dan should have been purchased and stored by the people. There are still 300,000 dan in reserve across all the shops and in the granaries outside the city. And we've already paid for 900,000 dan of grain being shipped from various places!"
"That means we have 1.4 million dan of grain!" Daiyu nodded.
"Sister Feng, how are our expenses during this period?" Daiyu asked again.
Although Fengjie was also sitting upright, she hardly listened to what others said and was thinking about other things.
Just the night before yesterday, Jia Rui went out to drink and came back to the back street, where he fell into a well and died. His body was not found until yesterday.
There was no doubt that this was done by that enemy! However, no one knew what means that enemy had used or who had done it.
Wang Xifeng was not afraid, and even felt a little happy in her heart. The enemy had lost a life for her, and this feeling of being protected made her feel a little light-hearted.
For the first time, she realized that with a man like this supporting her, why should she be a hero among the rouge pile? Isn't it also a different feeling to be a little woman who is pampered and loved?
"What are you thinking about, Feng Lazi?" Yu Shi slapped her in the face.
"Ah? What did they say?" Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, Wang Xifeng's face was stunned.
Daiyu smiled and said, "Sister Feng, what good thing have you thought of? Tell us about it."
Wang Xifeng waved her hands randomly and said, "It's because I was distracted by the trivial matters in the mansion. Although I haven't been to the back street, I don't want to miss anything and let our mansion lose its etiquette, so I just had some random thoughts."
Originally, such a matter would naturally require Wang Xifeng's help. However, thinking of Jia Rui made her uncomfortable. It was already a matter of conscience for her not to spit at him, so why did she want her help? So, she found an excuse and sent Xiaohong to take care of it.
Daiyu and others knew that Wang Xifeng was always busy, so they didn't think much about it and asked again.
Wang Xifeng had been a housekeeper for many years. Although she did not have the accounts on hand, when she heard Daiyu's question, she directly reported all the income, expenditure, losses, etc. in an orderly manner.
