Sun Bu's face turned cold. He knew all about Zelan Alley, where every single woman there was...
He suppressed the intense hatred for the Ji army surging in his chest, and said softly, "If the two of you head back to rest right now, I can take care of you for the rest of your lives."
Sun Xi shook her head. "No, the work we are doing now is not tiring at all. Besides, the Jingyang Army saved us, it's only right that we do our part to help."
"That's right," Sun Yuan chimed in, nodding vigorously and straightening her back. "The two of us can earn four jin of grain a day!"
This was something they had never dared to even dream of in the past, a feat that even strong, able-bodied men could not pull off. Now that they had achieved it themselves, how could she not feel overjoyed and proud?
A wave of bittersweet sadness welled up in Sun Bu's heart, followed by a faint surge of pride. All of this was brought to the common people by their Lord.
He gently patted the top of Sun Yuan's head. "A-Yuan is really amazing."
Sun Yuan broke into a wide grin, eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at the uniform he was wearing. "Big brother, are you a soldier in the Jingyang Army now?"
Sun Bu nodded. "Yes."
Liu An said with a laugh, "Your big brother is even a company commander now!"
Sun Yuan was about to say more when Sun Xi quickly pulled at her sleeve. "That's enough, Abu. You have your patrol duties to attend to. Come see us when you have free time."
Sun Yuan only then remembered that her big brother was in the middle of his patrol shift, and did not want to hold him back from his official responsibilities. She nodded hurriedly. "Go on then, big brother."
Inside the city, at the county government office.
Qiu Liao asked, "My Lord, what do you plan to do with the Han women and eunuchs from Ji Duoyan's residence?"
Jiang Jin lifted her head to look at him. "Treat them the same as ordinary common people. Handle them exactly as the rules dictate."
"Whether they are eunuchs or former favored concubines of Ji Duoyan, once we confirm they have committed no crimes, they should be treated the same as everyone else. They are all my people, and they can choose to do whatever they wish, including serving in the government as officials."
Qiu Liao nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Lord."
He understood what she meant. She was worried that these people would be discriminated against and treated unfairly just because of their special identities.
Jiang Jin hummed in acknowledgement, and continued, "As for the few people who voluntarily gave us the location of the secret tunnel earlier, give them appropriate rewards."
Qiu Liao answered, "It shall be done."
He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "The others are easy to handle, but the eunuchs are a special case. If any of them are willing, why not let them learn the proper court rules under Lord Dong's guidance?"
He brought this up specifically because he believed their Lord would ascend the throne as emperor sooner or later, and right now there was only Dong Si, a single eunuch, by her side to attend to her daily needs, which was far from enough.
What was more, Dong Si was now in charge of their Lord's financial power, and he would hardly have time to wait upon her personally in the future.
After thorough screening, among all the eunuchs in Ji Duoyan's residence, besides those who had completely degenerated into Ji Duoyan's vicious lackeys, quite a few of them were innocent and untainted.
Several of them had even been lying low, waiting for a chance to rebel, just like the man who had voluntarily led them through the secret passages that day.
He thought that after proper training by Dong Si, these people could be assigned to serve by their Lord's side.
Jiang Jin thought for a while before saying, "You can handle this as you see fit. The only non-negotiable condition is that they must be absolutely loyal."
She would never order any man to be castrated to become her eunuch, and she would definitely abolish this cruel system in the future.
But for those who were already eunuchs through no fault of their own, she was willing to accept them. After all, many of these men could not even bear to face their own maimed bodies, let alone step outside and face the malicious gossip and stares of strangers.
Qiu Liao knew this well. "Rest assured, Lord. We will conduct strict reviews and background checks on all of them, and Lord Dong will help us assess their characters too."
Dong Si had an exceptionally sharp eye for judging people.
As the two of them were talking, Dongzhi hurried in. "My Lord, someone from the Ji army is here and requests an audience. He says he has important matters to discuss."
Jiang Jin frowned. "Did he say what it's about?"
Dongzhi replied, "He says he hopes we will treat their clansmen well."
Qiu Liao let out a cold snort. "How dare they have the audacity to make such a request!"
Among all the barbarian tribes that had invaded the Yan Kingdom, he hated the Ji army the most. The Northwest Army had the most frequent encounters with the Ji army, and General Chu was killed by their hands.
Jiang Jin waved her hand. "Fine. Tell them the price is ten strings of cash per person, per day, all included as a package deal."
Outside the city, Chi Nai picked at his ear, thinking he had misheard. "How much did you say?"
To be honest, he did not want to come to negotiate at all. Shi Ju had just finished discussing the issue of the corpses, and was so infuriated that he refused to come no matter what, so the task fell to him.
Yao Ji repeated, "Ten strings of cash per person, per day."
Chi Nai felt the exact same urge to spit blood that Shi Ju had experienced earlier. "You might as well rob us outright!"
Yao Ji spread his hands. "We are a nation of etiquette, how could we possibly rob anyone? This is a clearly marked, fair price."
Nan Wen let out a cold huff. "Exactly. Take it or leave it."
Chi Nai was so angry that his head spun. After a long while, he said, "Then I will go back and draw up a list, and we will prepare food according to the names on the list."
Yao Ji shook his head. "No, that won't work. We only provide a unified service. You take all of them, or none of them."
Chi Nai thought he had misheard again. "You... don't go too far!"
There were more than 20,000 Ji tribespeople trapped in the city. At that rate, the total cost would come to over 200,000 taels of silver a day. No one could possibly afford such an expense.
What was more, most of their money and supplies had been stored in Wenxia City, and all of that had been seized by the Jingyang Army. They barely had any cash on hand at all.
Yao Ji sneered. "Since you have no money, there is nothing more to discuss."
Chi Nai felt his dizziness worsen, and he turned his horse around and left immediately. He was certain that if he said one more word, he would actually spit blood.
After receiving the report, Bian Huai was so enraged that he smashed his fist on the table. "Jingyang Army, you are going too far!"
Shi Ju sighed. "I just hope General Bitu and his troops can arrive as soon as possible. Otherwise... alas."
Bao Yi gritted his teeth. "They are doing this purely to get revenge, for the way we mistreated Chu Qing and the others in the past."
In the Daqing Commandery, at the Yu family's residence.
Yu Wen had already drunk five cups of tea, but he still felt restless and uneasy. "Has my uncle not returned yet?"
The servant bowed his head and replied respectfully, "Not yet, young master."
Yu Wen drank another cup of water, and after a while he was so desperate to relieve himself that he had to ask a servant to lead him to the latrine.
When he came back, he finally saw his uncle. He hurried forward to bow. "Greetings, uncle."
Yu Huixuan hummed in acknowledgement, and took a seat at the main chair. "Why were you in such a hurry to find me?"
Yu Wen's face looked grim. "Uncle, the prefect has already arrested and taken down the Tang and Liu families. Next, it will probably be our turn."
He had united several minor aristocratic families in Daqing Commandery, and each of them had donated roughly 10 percent of their farmland to the government.
But the higher-ups were still not satisfied. They said they wanted to purchase all the land in their possession.
Land was the very foundation of their families. How could they possibly give all of it away?
What was more, the price the government offered was extremely low, far below the actual value of the land.
So they had politely declined the offer. At the time, the prefect had not said a word, and they had thought the matter was settled.
But just two days later, the Tang and Liu families were found guilty of murdering dozens of innocent civilians. The heads of the two families and more than a dozen key people involved in the murders were sentenced to immediate execution. The rest of their family members were sent to work in the mines, and all their family property was seized by the government.
Yu Wen knew perfectly well that this was a deliberate warning to the other aristocratic families, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys.
Yu Huixuan said helplessly, "I told you before, the family just needs to follow the policies set by the higher-ups."
"Uncle, that land was earned through generations of hard work by our ancestors!" Yu Wen said emotionally. "If we give all our land away, how can we ever face our ancestors in the afterlife?"
Yu Huixuan massaged his temples. "Then what do you propose to do?"
What did he propose to do? Yu Wen's face darkened. Of course he wanted to keep the land, it was the very root of the Yu family.
Yu Huixuan looked at him, his voice laced with utter weariness. "Even the general had no choice but to bide his time and hand over his military power. What do you think you can possibly do?"
Did he not want to protect the family's land? Of course he did.
But during these past few days, the more he worked alongside the Princess's people, the more he realized that the Princess would never allow the old privileged aristocratic families to continue existing.
Yu Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Are we just going to let her exploit our lands like this? As the saying goes, when the water is too clear, no fish will stay; when a person is too unforgiving, no companions will stand by. She acts so perversely and against all reason—doesn't she fear that others will turn against her?"
