Chapter 578: A Face Full of Expectations
Zhao Yulin knew that this old witch was here to cause trouble, and said with a smile: Mother-in-law, you can speak frankly. Let's close the door and talk it out today. How should we do it?
He nodded at Zuo Liangchen.
Liangchen understood immediately and bowed to everyone, then stepped back and closed the door to the living room.
Old Mrs. Xie said happily: "That's great, let's talk it over as a family. Zhao Feiyan, please tell me first, when will you return power to the government?"
She is already pregnant and still shamelessly shows up in public. How can this be disgraceful?
When Zhao Yulin saw Zhao Feiyan's lips trembling, his face changed immediately. He immediately reached out to hold the young girl's slender hand and yelled at Old Lady Xie: Shut up, how can you say such things, are you looking for death?
It’s easy to die if you want to. There is a well in the middle of the yard. You can just jump in by yourself so I don’t have to ask for help.
When Mrs. Xie didn't obey Zhao Yulin, she got furious. She was so angry that she was shaking all over and couldn't speak. The two old maids beside her immediately went to support her, rubbing her back and pressing her philtrum, shouting: What a sin, what a sin, how could the Queen Mother meet such a vicious grandson-in-law?
Zhao Yulin shouted at the guards outside: Slap your face, how dare you insult me, drag them out and slap them. Immediately, guards rushed in and grabbed the two old ladies and dragged them out. A large group of strong guards rushed in fully armed.
He refused to give up and said with gritted teeth: This old woman humiliated the King of Feiyan and her words were too vicious. She deserves to be put to death. Tell Zuo Liangchen to drag Old Lady Xie out and throw her into the well.
Guards immediately came up and dragged Old Lady Xie out.
When the emperor saw that Zhao Yulin was serious, he quickly said: My dear son-in-law, please show mercy and don't be disrespectful to your elders .
Zhao Yulin said angrily that he didn't have such an elder. This woman had sent people to Shu several times to assassinate him. If he hadn't been lucky, he would have been killed by this old witch long ago. Without this elder, he would have been dragged out and thrown into the well.
He took Zhao Feiyan in his arms, pointed at the Queen Mother and asked the Emperor: This person is not our father's biological mother, why do we need to protect her? When did this vicious woman recognize Feiyan as her granddaughter?
He insults Feiyan by calling her a bitch all the time . He has such a vicious conscience. Why does he still want to acknowledge this marriage?
We don’t recognize it.
He wanted the newspapers of the New Song Dynasty to publicize the various evil deeds of the Queen Mother of the previous dynasty who conspired to assassinate Commander Zhao, and the crimes of ostracizing and suppressing the Shenwei Army. He also wanted the Censorate to publicly try this vicious woman and execute this old witch to prevent future troubles.
After saying that, Zhao Yulin helped Fei Yan up and left.
However, two old maids crawled over to stop him, begging him to let the Queen Mother go. The Queen and the Imperial Concubine also came to their senses from their stunned state, stepped forward to stop them and asked them to sit down and talk properly. These people all knew that the Queen Mother had done many evil things in Lin'an that were harmful to the world. If they were exposed to the whole world, the Queen Mother's days would be over.
Zhao Yulin asked the guards to pull up the two old maids and told them that kneeling was not a practice in the Shenwei Army and that the New Song Kingdom had abolished it long ago, and that a young man like him could not bear it.
Everyone should live with their head held high, instead of kneeling down and being unable to stand up straight, not being able to distinguish right from wrong and living in a muddle-headed way.
He asked the guards to move the Empress Dowager's chair aside, leaving Old Lady Xie slumped on the ground, and pulled Feiyan over to sit with the Emperor and Empress to talk.
This situation was a deliberate act by Zhao Yulin. He did not really want to beat up the old maid, nor did he really want to kill the old empress dowager.
It is to let them see Zhao Yulin's determination to punish the Queen Mother.
He asked the Emperor as if the Queen Mother did not exist: When Daddy sat on the dragon throne in the Lin'an court, was he really in charge of state affairs?
Or am I being played around like a puppet by this woman?
If this vicious woman had not condoned the peace and surrender factions in the court to disrupt the government, leading to treacherous ministers in power and the decline of the country, would Lin'an have fallen and my father had been captured and imprisoned?
All the evil deeds were done by this vicious woman, and her sins cannot be erased even if she is cut into pieces.
After this person came back, he was still stubborn and refused to repent. Instead of working hard, he plotted a restoration and regained power to wreak havoc on the New Song Dynasty. Don't blame me for not observing traditional etiquette and caring about blood ties.
He turned and shouted to Zuo Liangchen: Find a cart to take this vicious woman to the Chengdu prison, and let her experience the joy of eating prison food with rats all day long.
Liangchen immediately said "Yes" and went out to do his job.
The Queen was anxious when she saw that Zhao Yulin was really going to put the Queen Mother in jail, and quickly told Zuo Liangchen to stop. She turned around and said with a smile, "My dear son-in-law, don't be anxious. The Queen Mother was confused for a moment and didn't think clearly. She said something that hurt Feiyan. It's really wrong. Our Feiyan is magnanimous and doesn't care. Let the Queen Mother stay in Huaxi. With me and Er Niang taking care of her, she will be fine."
Two old maids were also begging for mercy.
Zhao Yulin snorted twice and said: This vicious woman should be allowed to express her stance.
The emperor said calmly: My dear son-in-law, please let the empress dowager go for now. She is old and her brain is not working well. She can't come to the point of being confused for the time being.
Zhao Yulin pretended to hesitate, then nodded and said: I never intended to do it for real. If I really wanted to kill someone, if anyone heard me being so long-winded, I would just let her bleed to death within five steps.
He said to the nervous Xie Wuhui behind him: This man is obsessed with his mind and refuses to repent in his attempt to restore the monarchy. His conscience is extremely bad and he must be punished. Inform the Ministry of Rites that the support for next month will be reduced to ten strings of money, which is enough to match the expenses of a small deacon in a prefecture or county.
Only then did Xie Wuhui calm himself down and immediately agreed with “Yes, yes.”
He hugged Zhao Feiyan tightly again and said: It's a rare opportunity for us to come to Huaxi, and we need to rest and prepare for the birth of the baby when we go back. How about inviting daddy and two aunts to have a drink at Chaihuo Chicken today?
Zhao Feiyan was already confused by what Old Lady Xie and him said, so she just nodded in agreement.
The emperor still had a lot to say, and seeing that he hadn't invited Old Lady Xie, it was convenient for him to talk, so he agreed immediately. The group then went out and walked towards the bamboo forest firewood chicken.
In the fields, rapeseed seedlings are growing vigorously, covering the whole land with a thick dark green carpet. The roadside trees scattered in the distance and near make the whole village very beautiful and harmonious.
Seeing that everyone was silent, the queen smiled and broke the deadlock. She pointed to the village shaded by green trees and said, "Huaxi is beautiful and the people in Huaxi are wealthy. I heard that our family spent a lot of money."
Zhao Feiyan was closest to the queen and said with a smile: "Auntie, have you met Jing'er and the others? The girl has made a lot of money in half a year and will be able to get her money back soon."
The emperor then asked: How much money would it cost if all the villages in the country did this?
Zhao Yulin said: It is impossible to build all the villages in the country like this, but we must find ways to make the lives of ordinary people better and better.
The emperor paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, nodded repeatedly, looked around with great interest, and soon arrived at the bamboo forest firewood chicken.
When Wu Jing saw them coming, she flew over happily like a little bird, calling out "Grandpa" and "Grandma", then turned around and took Zhao Feiyan's hand to help her mother Feiyan sit down.
Zhao Feiyan was delighted and proudly told the emperor that Wu Jing was her eldest daughter and the head manager here.
There were quite a few diners in the Firewood Chicken Restaurant, and when Zhao Yulin's guards came in, all the empty tables were immediately filled up.
The imperial concubine asked in annoyance: "The guards also have to sit together to eat, how can this be allowed? Isn't this against the rules? Beggar's chicken is very expensive, how much money will this cost?"
Zhao Feiyan said with a laugh: We are all brothers of Yulin'er, so of course we have to eat together. Wu Jing, Shang Wugufeng, I'll treat you today, and let Zhidi's mother's office pay the bill.
Wu Jing replied happily: Okay.
Feiyan said happily to his father: The court of the new Song Dynasty is different from Lin'an under the rule of his father. Officials are paid according to the new regulations of the Ministry of Personnel, which saves more than ten times the money. There are no hereditary princes who eat and drink for free, and the burden on the court is much lighter.
The emperor nodded continuously while drinking and said approvingly: I heard that the tax revenue of New Song Dynasty exceeds 100 million, which means the country is peaceful and the people are prosperous.
Zhao Yulin said disdainfully: The national tax revenue is almost 300 million, and we are still far from achieving peace and prosperity for the country.
The imperial concubine asked in surprise: "What?" The tax is almost 300 million, which is 30 million strings of money. Feiyan can do whatever she wants, it's enough to spend.
Zhao Feiyan boasted that she had never worried about money as the queen, and that Brother Yulin had taught Sister Ma Ling many tricks to make money, so we have money to spend.
Zhao Yulin immediately rolled his eyes at this cheating woman and said that it was her sister Ma Ling who was worried about money. Even though all the problems were solved by her, no one thanked her.
After Zhao Feiyan relaxed, she started to act like a spoiled brat again. She said in front of her father that she didn't want to work anymore and it was too tiring. She wanted to go to Yibin to take care of her baby.
Zhao Yulin quickly picked up a piece of chicken for her and told her to eat the food.
The old emperor was very envious of the young couple in front of him. He said with a smile that he wanted to go to Jiading for a walk and take a look. He heard that a railway was being built there and that a train would be opened in the future. He wanted to go and see what kind of magical train was that could pull hundreds of thousands of kilograms of coal.
Zhao Feiyan said with a smile that father should just tell the Ministry of Rites where he wanted to go. Brother Yulin said that our father is an official of the previous dynasty, and the treatment he receives when he goes out cannot be lower than that of the elders of Taijian Hall. Someone will take care of everything for father.
The emperor was delighted to hear his daughter say this. At least, he, the deposed emperor, was still equivalent to the Taijian of the New Song Dynasty and had treatment.
Zhao Yulin said: If Dad can't stay idle, he can be a specially appointed historian researcher of our New Song Dynasty, specializing in compiling history. It will be a great contribution to compile the history of our Song Dynasty into a book in its original form, which will be recorded in history forever.
The emperor was excited after hearing this. He usually liked writing and painting, and the history of the Song Dynasty was all in his mind, so it was natural for him to do it with ease.
The imperial concubine was a little unhappy. This was obviously to arrange things for the emperor. The official was the emperor, how could a son-in-law find things for the emperor?
The Queen thought differently. Her daughter died early, and she raised Concubine Jia's daughter herself. She has always been brooding over the fact that she was not able to release the Northern Barbarians this time.
The queen asked Zhao Yulin softly: My dear son-in-law, can you negotiate with the northern barbarians and bring our Lan'er back?
Everyone fell silent.
The Emperor and the Empress were the first to raise this issue . The Emperor and the Empress looked at Zhao Yulin expectantly, anxiously awaiting his reply.
The imperial concubine even covered her face and sobbed.
