Hearing Xi Qingyue’s harsh words, Nightshadow was so terrified that he repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy. “Commandery Princess, I’ve confessed everything. I wasn’t the one who killed your mother, either! Please, Commandery Princess, just give me a quick death.”
He slammed his head against the ground, trembling with fear and regretting ever coming to Xin’an City.
Xi Qingyue tossed a sheet of paper and a brush in front of him and said coldly, “Write down everything you just told me. Include everyone who was involved in abducting Bai Ruoshu, everyone connected to the matter, when Consort Bai learned of it, and everything about Prince Kang sending people to Willow Village to kill. Make it all clear. Do not leave out a single detail.”
“Yes, Commandery Princess. I’ll write it now.”
Nightshadow hurriedly picked up the brush, crouched on the ground, and began writing obediently. His movements were surprisingly quick.
Once he finished, Xi Qingyue looked over the pages filled with writing and nodded in satisfaction.
She certainly did not need such evidence to take revenge, but whenever she could obtain something useful along the way, she always kept it. It took up no space, after all.
Xi Qingyue did not kill Nightshadow immediately. Instead, she struck him unconscious with a slap and tossed him into the stable in her personal space.
Xi Weilan’s little face was full of confusion. “Sister, will he run wild in there? Why didn’t you just kill him?”
Xi Qingyue smiled and patted her on the head. “Don’t worry. He can only move around near the stable; he can’t go anywhere else. He’ll be killed sooner or later anyway, so I’ll keep him around to work for now. He’s still useful.”
He was only going to live a little longer. Letting him do hard labor in her space was simply making good use of him.
She kept Nightshadow alive but killed the surviving member of Guangling Pavilion.
She had originally planned to keep him alive so she could expose the Ninth Prince’s hypocritical nature, but the Ninth Prince had been too eager to bring about his own downfall and had not given her the chance. There was no longer any reason to keep the man alive.
After returning to the courtyard, Xi Qingyue handed the confession to Mu Jin. “Make a clean copy of everything written here and have someone deliver it to the residence of the Minister of Personnel in the capital.”
Mu Jin glanced at the pages and froze. “Commandery Princess, will the Bai family believe it when they see this?”
“Whether they believe it is up to them. If they believe it and decide to avenge their daughter, Prince Kang’s forces in the capital will suffer losses. If they refuse to believe it—or simply do not want to believe it—and still intend to support Prince Kang’s bid for the throne, then the Bai family need not remain alive. Their own daughter was plotted against so terribly, yet they can pretend not to know and continue siding with her enemies. Keeping people like that in the imperial court would only bring disaster.”
Xi Qingyue was merely sending them a letter. What they chose to do after receiving it was entirely up to the Bai family. The contents were written in great detail, and if they wished to investigate, they could easily verify whether it was true.
Anything that could cause trouble for Prince Kang was something Xi Qingyue was happy to do. It would also conveniently help Lu Qianning resolve a few problems.
After hearing her words, Mu Jin immediately had ink and paper prepared, intending to write the copy herself.
Mu Jin had been extremely busy lately. Not only did she have to arrange refunds for the excess taxes the city’s residents had previously paid, she also had to keep people watching the movements of several prominent clans and recruit new staff for the county office.
Xi Qingyue glanced at her and suddenly thought of the scholar she had met at the restaurant. She gave Mu Jin a faint smile. “Mu Jin, you don’t have to handle everything yourself. There certainly aren’t any shortages of scholars in the city. As long as the salary is high enough, plenty of people will be eager to work.”
Mu Jin smiled. “The copying of this letter is confidential, Commandery Princess. It’s best that I handle it personally so as few people as possible know about it. As for the county office staff, I’ve already begun selecting candidates. I’ll need you to make the final decision later.”
Xi Qingyue nodded. “All right, do as you see fit. And don’t focus only on scholars. Pay attention to craftsmen, physicians, and other people with specialized talents as well. Oh, right—I’m planning to build an academy in the city. Men and women alike will be allowed to attend. Which location do you think would be best?”
Mu Jin was momentarily stunned. “Women will be allowed to attend too? Finding a suitable location won’t be difficult, but apart from the daughters of noble families, ordinary people generally won’t send their daughters to school. They won’t be willing to spend money on it, either.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll discuss it after it’s built.”
Xi Qingyue felt that now that the city belonged to her, it should naturally be run according to her standards.
Building an academy was necessary. She could cultivate talented people there, and as for admitting women, she believed there would certainly be women willing to study.
As the county office returned the excess taxes the residents had paid, many of the city’s shops gradually began lowering their prices.
No one was foolish. The merchants had previously been charging high prices because they had been forced to make up for their losses. Now that the taxes had returned to normal, continuing to sell at inflated prices would be difficult to justify.
Many people’s consciences would not allow them to do so, but the major clans took entirely different approaches.
The Song family was already in turmoil because Song Linzhi had been keeping Madam Mei outside. His wife was also from a prominent clan, and before their marriage, he had promised never to take a concubine.
Song Linzhi had married Miss Xie of the Fusheng City Xie family, and that marriage was what had secured his position as family head. Now that he had broken his promise, his wife was furious and had quarreled with him several times.
Whenever Song Linzhi suffered at home, he transferred all his anger onto Xi Qingyue, convinced that she was the true culprit behind everything.
Most importantly, the Song family had no intention of lowering its prices. Its cloth shops, grain stores, and other businesses in the city continued selling their goods at inflated rates.
The Qiao and Pei families were doing the same. The three families had agreed to maintain their original high prices.
Only the Qi and Ouyang families restored the prices in their shops to what they had been before the increases. They even warned the younger members of their clans to keep a low profile when going out, forbidding them from acting arrogantly or causing trouble.
Xi Qingyue merely smiled faintly. “It’s fine. Let them sell at those prices. If they can find buyers, that’s their ability. Let them enjoy themselves for a few more days first.”
Not only did she act as though nothing had happened, she also ordered people to thoroughly clean and renovate the Shifang Teahouse.
She had the Bearded Man, the five men who had come with Lu Jinshuang to find her, and several guards take over the teahouse. She even began selling her watermelons and other fruit there.
The Bearded Man, Qi Xin, was so grateful that tears nearly filled his eyes. Pounding his chest, he promised, “Don’t worry, Commandery Princess. I’ll work hard. The teahouse will definitely thrive.”
He was so excited that he could not sleep the entire night.
After arriving at the Shifang Teahouse, Qi Xin was even happier than if he had just married a wife.
The few younger brothers beside him were all grinning from ear to ear. Dazhuang was especially excited. “Big Brother, we really made the right choice coming here. The Commandery Princess is such a good person—and so is the Princess. We finally won’t have to live a wandering life anymore.”
Qi Xin sighed with emotion. “That’s right. The Commandery Princess gave us work and even pays us every month. You all have to work hard. Don’t even think about slacking off.”
When Song Linzhi heard that the teahouse had opened, he sneered disdainfully. “Hmph, that little girl actually thinks she can run a teahouse. How childish. Someone died in that teahouse. Only fools would go there for tea.”
The steward beside him chuckled and echoed, “Exactly, Family Head. Everyone knows someone died in the Shifang Teahouse. Even if they changed its name, no one would go there. It’s far too ominous.”
