The rural doctor bought a husband who was very treacherous

Chapter 240 Emperor Jing’s Plan

A few days later, Su Tang was finally about to leave Dahe Village.

She exchanged two people who had grown potatoes and sweet potatoes in the space to help the village grow these two crops.

And she promised that she would harvest all the harvest in the village in the future.

Because of Su Tang's presence in Dahe Village, Governor Hu exempted the entire Dahe Village from taxes. In his opinion, Dahe Village was no different from Su Tang's territory.

Although Emperor Jing did not grant Su Tang any fiefdom, it was such a small village, and if Su Tang asked for it, Emperor Jing would definitely not refuse.

So Magistrate Hu made some good friends in advance and exempted the villagers from all taxes.

When the villagers heard that because of Su sugar, the village would no longer have to collect taxes, and that no matter how many crops they planted, the money from the sales would be theirs, they all went to the valley to express their gratitude.

Even the ruffians in the village and the families who had some minor conflicts with Zhao Youtian's family before, became obedient.

After all, no matter how unruly they were, they were not unforgivable bandits. Su Tang also distributed high-yield crop seeds to them, and they could be exempted from taxes thanks to Su Tang.

With such good fortune and wealth coming from nowhere, who would be so foolish as to bring bad luck to Zhao Youtian's family?

The atmosphere in the entire Dahe Village gradually improved. For a time, several surrounding villages were envious after hearing about the situation in Dahe Village.

Many people began to look for matchmakers to go to Dahe Village to propose marriage. Some even found the village chief Liu and wanted to move their entire family to Dahe Village.

Prefect Hu had thought of this a long time ago, and he had set up a government office in Dahe Village to specifically help Village Chief Liu manage the village.

However, the purpose of management is not to facilitate the relocation of people from other villages to Dahe Village, but to prevent people from other villages from moving to Dahe Village privately.

Of course, all this happened after Su Tang left Dahe Village.

After returning to Kyoto, Su Tang and Qi Lingheng were recruited into the palace by Emperor Jingdi as soon as they arrived in Beijing.

At this time, Emperor Jing, who was sitting on the throne, looked a little serious.

After Su Tang and Qi Lingheng entered the hall, Eunuch Fu went out on his own accord and asked the imperial guards outside to close the door of the hall.

"Father, this..." Su Tang asked in surprise.

Fortunately, her hearing was good and there were only a few shallow breathing sounds in the hall, which should be the secret guards of Emperor Jing.

The imperial guards and eunuchs standing outside the hall were taken away from the imperial study by Eunuch Fu.

"I have already sent people to investigate the place you investigated in Yangzhou where iron ore was illegally mined and weapons were forged."

Emperor Jing seemed to think of something that made him angry. He paused for a while before continuing, "Those weapons were eventually sent to Prince Li's fiefdom."

With a snap, Emperor Jing actually crushed the teacup in his hand.

Emperor Jing had never thought that Prince Li, who had always been honest, was actually the best at hiding things.

Perhaps he was blinded by victory. There is no family affection in the royal family.

Now that I think about it, I was so stupid to let Prince Li leave the capital.

"It was actually sent to King Li!" Qi Lingheng said in pretended surprise.

"Yeah, even you didn't expect that my honest and docile little brother would have so many weapons."

Regardless of the purpose, privately casting weapons is a capital crime of rebellion.

Princes who left the capital could have some private soldiers in their territories, but the number of private soldiers was limited, and the weapons used by the private soldiers were all recorded in a book and issued to them with the approval of Emperor Jing.

Qi Lingheng did not respond to what Emperor Jing had just said, but lowered his eyes and looked down.

"In a few days, the palace will hold a summer banquet, and Prince Li and his family will come to Kyoto then." Emperor Jing glanced at Qi Lingheng who did not respond, then looked at Su Tang and said.

"Prince Li is going back to Kyoto?"

"Well, the Qi family army will be needed to help deploy outside the city." Emperor Jing looked at Qi Lingheng again.

"Yes, I will follow your majesty's arrangements."

Emperor Jing received an accurate reply and nodded with satisfaction. Just as he was about to ask Su Tang what she had done after returning to Dahe Village, he heard Concubine Li's voice outside the imperial study.

"Eunuch Fu, why are you standing outside the palace? Has this displeased His Majesty?"

"Empress Li, I just went to help Emperor Jing find something, and I just came back."

"I recently got some golden bird's nests and made a bowl for Your Majesty to nourish your body."

"Empress Li is thoughtful, but His Majesty must be dealing with important matters now. Please give the bird's nest to this old servant, and I will deliver it to His Majesty later." Eunuch Fu gave a wink to the people following him, and a young eunuch immediately came out and wanted to take the food box carried by the maid beside Concubine Li.

"No need for that. I haven't seen Your Majesty for some time. I want to talk to Your Majesty about the preparations for the summer banquet." Concubine Li waved her hand to stop him, and the eunuch immediately stopped and looked at Eunuch Fu.

"But over there, Your Majesty..." Eunuch Fu moved a little and blocked Concubine Li's way.

The smile on Concubine Li's face faded. She glanced at Eunuch Fu with a haughty look, "Why, I can't even see His Majesty?"

Eunuch Fu didn't say anything, he just stopped Concubine Li and stood there motionless.

Suddenly, there was a sound of something heavy hitting the palace door in the imperial study, followed by the sound of porcelain pieces falling to the ground.

"Bastard!" Emperor Jing's furious voice was also rang out.

Concubine Li's face suddenly turned pale, and she felt a chill on her back even in the hot summer.

At this time, the entire imperial study was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The imperial guards, eunuchs, and palace maids outside the palace immediately knelt on the ground.

In the imperial study, Su Tang and Qi Lingheng glanced at each other quickly.

"Then I'll trouble Eunuch Fu to deliver the bird's nest to His Majesty." After Concubine Li said this, she turned around and walked out without waiting for the palace maid to hand the food box to Eunuch Fu.

The little palace maid holding the food box behind her immediately stood up, handed the food box to the little eunuch, and trotted to catch up with Concubine Li who was leaving.

Seeing Concubine Li and her entourage leaving and disappearing from sight, Eunuch Fu made a gesture to the young eunuch beside him. The young eunuch understood and left with the food box, but in another direction.

"Okay, everyone get up." Eunuch Fu rolled his eyes in the direction where Concubine Li left and said to the people kneeling nearby.

Those people stood up silently and resumed what they were supposed to do.

In the imperial study, Emperor Jing's face returned to an expressionless look, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

After a brief silence, Emperor Jing said, "Well, you just returned to the capital, and you must be tired from the journey. Go back and rest first, and don't leave the capital for the time being."

Su Tang and Qi Lingheng agreed, stood up, bowed to Emperor Jing, and left.

Prince Qi's Mansion.

Su Tang sat in front of the dressing table, while Chunmei and Xiamei helped her take off the complicated hair accessories on her head.

Su Tang looked at Chunmei in the bronze mirror and said, "I'll send a message to my second brother. If he is able to come to the Prince Qi's mansion later, I brought some game from Dahe Village. I'll ask the chef in the mansion to make some folk delicacies for the second prince to taste."

"Yes, I'll go there myself later." Chunmei agreed.

The two of them quickly helped Su Tang take off all her hair accessories, let Su Tang's long hair fall behind her, and Xia Mei took the opportunity to massage Su Tang's shoulders.

"No need. You've been traveling all these days and it's been hard. Go and rest first."

"Yes." Chunmei and Xiamei agreed and left.

"Concubine Li's brother is the governor of Suzhou. He cannot escape responsibility for something like this that happened in the area under his jurisdiction. I guess that's why my father is angry with Concubine Li today." Su Tang stood up, and her soft thin skirt slowly fell down, the hem swaying gently as she walked.

Su Tang walked to Qi Lingheng and took a look at the words Qi Lingheng was writing on the desk. Qi Lingheng was actually writing a letter to his subordinates.

Qi Lingheng did not hide anything from her, and Su Tang was very satisfied with Qi Lingheng's performance.

Qi Lingheng felt Su Tang approaching, paused his writing, turned his head and looked at Su Tang.

"Brother Li Fei has been secretly escorted back to Kyoto by His Majesty. I believe that after Prince Li and his family enter Kyoto, their family will be able to reunite in an orderly manner."

"Well, Father probably hasn't found out about that yet."

It is estimated that if Emperor Jing knew that the third prince was not his child, he would definitely not spare the lives of Concubine Li and the third prince.

"How do you know? Your Majesty doesn't know yet." Qi Lingheng suddenly put down his pen, placed it on the pen holder, stood up and looked at Su Tang.

"Ah!" Su Tang opened her mouth in surprise.

How could her cheap father be so tolerant?

"I heard that the Third Prince has been seriously ill recently and has been confined to the Third Prince's Mansion for several days."

Qi Lingheng rolled up the newly written letter and called Qi Feng, "Hand this letter to father in person."

"Yes." Qi Feng agreed, turned around and left quickly.

"I have an appointment with my second brother to come over in the evening. Do you want to meet him together?" After seeing Qi Feng leave, Su Tang turned to Qi Lingheng and asked.

"Okay."

Qi Lingheng did not have a deep impression of the Second Prince. In these two lives, the Second Prince had been living in seclusion before he met Su Tang. After all, all the imperial doctors had determined that he would not live past the age of twenty.

Therefore, the Second Prince, who had no intention of competing for the throne, was like a transparent person, and only occasionally someone would mention him at some special events.

But there are only a few people in Kyoto who have actually seen the second prince.

In this life, Su Tang recognized the Second Prince and changed his short-lived fate, but the Second Prince seemed to be still the same as in his previous life. He rarely showed up in public and had little contact with the court officials.

She still locks herself up in the Second Prince's mansion every day, giving people the impression that she is cold and has no intention of competing for that position.

But Qi Lingheng knew that none of the princes were simple-minded.

The second prince did not fight for the throne before because his body could not bear the heavy responsibility of competing for the throne, but now he is in good health.

If he continues to be so low-key, there is only one possibility, that is, the second prince has already begun to make plans in secret.

I just don’t know which court officials and forces have been won over by the second prince.

Qi Lingheng did not send anyone to investigate this secretly.

First, the second prince is Su Tang’s elder brother.

Once he extends his hand to the Second Prince, it will inevitably affect the relationship between the Second Prince and Su Tang.

Second, it seems that Su Tang is not a burden to the second prince, but rather a help in his efforts to win over forces in the court.

After all, the cannons that Qi Lingheng obtained a few days ago caused quite a stir in the court.

Even neighboring countries sent letters seeking peace. The second prince probably wanted to use this opportunity to strengthen his relationship with court officials.

Su Tang suddenly saw Qi Lingheng staring at her in a daze, so she moved closer and asked, "Why are you still in a daze?"

"I'm thinking about the Second Prince. Do you want to help him win that position?"

In any case, Su Tang and the Second Prince are siblings from the same mother. Even if they did not grow up together, the blood relationship is there. Besides, Su Tang is a woman. Now the help Su Tang provides to him is far greater than the threat.

"Yeah, I can't go up by myself." Su Tang said with her hands spread out.

"Well, that position seems good, but there are endless memorials to review every day, and there are many relationships in the court to balance. Besides, there has never been a woman who has been an emperor since ancient times." Qi Lingheng glanced at Su Tang after he finished speaking, and seeing that she looked calm, he continued, "I am not discriminating against women, but most men think that women can only stay at home to take care of their husbands and children. It will take time to change their minds."

In Su Tang's space, Qi Lingheng learned a lot of modern knowledge, which inevitably exposed him to many modern concepts of gender equality.

At first, he was also puzzled, but when he saw that women did many things better than men and handled problems more carefully and meticulously, his deep-rooted ideas changed.

Not to mention the distant future, Su Tang's current knowledge and ability to deal with problems are a hundred times stronger than many men.

"Well, it's okay. I still have this kind of broad mind. Besides, what you said is also in line with the reality of this era. If you want to achieve the concept of gender equality like in my world, it is definitely not possible now."

"I feel relieved now that my wife said that." Qi Lingheng smiled and took Su Tang's hand, placing it in his palm. His large palm wrapped around Su Tang's small hand and held it tightly. "I must have done something good in my previous life, so God couldn't bear to see me alone again in this life, so he sent my wife to my side."

Later that evening, before it got dark, the Second Prince arrived at Prince Qi's mansion.

The second prince came in a grand manner.

In his position, there are some things that cannot be done in secret.

Besides, he came from his brother-in-law's house, and Su Tang was also at home. The two siblings hadn't seen each other for a long time, so it was understandable that Su Tang invited him to come over for a get-together and a meal.

"Second brother came early today."

The Second Prince was led by Chunmei to the flower hall in the inner courtyard, where Su Tang had already been waiting.

Seeing the Second Prince entering the yard from afar, Su Tang and Qi Lingheng went to the yard to greet him.

"I heard that you brought some game. Recently, Aunt Zhao has been scolding me and not letting me eat anything too greasy. My mouth has no taste at all." The second prince replied with a hearty smile.