Queen Mother, she just wants to lie down

Ruan Qing, who was far away in Qingsha, knew nothing about this.

After the cases of He, Chen, Xu and Zheng were handled, it was already mid-June.

Mid-June is the hottest time of the year.

Ruan Qing left the capital in disguise with the intention of traveling around, so he would not travel in such hot weather.

She planned to stay in Qingsha until August before leaving for Jiangnan.

Qingsha is a first-class county that has been prosperous for a hundred years. The county town has a well-developed business and provides exquisite food, clothing, housing and transportation. There is no need to worry about living uncomfortably.

It’s a good opportunity to open the third women’s association during this period of time.

June 23rd, in a quiet house behind Shangyang Inn.

Ruan Qing was half lying on a recliner under the grape trellis, reading a sketchbook with great interest.

Liang Fan was fanning her, and Jiang Xiaoyu was standing behind her, massaging her back, and occasionally feeding her a small piece of cut watermelon from the tray on the low table next to her.

Jiang Yuan sat opposite her, holding a book in one hand and eating a watermelon in the other.

"Xiaoyu, stop hitting me and sit over there to eat some watermelon."

Ruan Qing, whose eyes were sore from reading, looked up and saw that the tip of the little girl's nose was sweating, but she was still massaging his shoulders and back. Finally, he felt guilty and said something.

"Ma'am, I'm not tired." The little girl shook her head.

"Well, you don't have to wait on me all the time if you stay with me.

When you have time, learn some Kung Fu from Queqi and Jiang Yuan, and read more books.

Your father is so good at kung fu, you as his daughter can't bring shame to his reputation, right?

Reading more books will broaden your horizons, and with more knowledge you will be less likely to be deceived."

Ruan Qing tilted his head to look at the beads of sweat on the tip of the little girl's nose, and couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch her face.

"Madam is right. I will study hard and practice martial arts. When I grow up, I will be like Queqi or Sister Zhaoping.

Either I can be your female officer in the Women's Association, or I can be your bodyguard." The little girl pursed her lips and said.

"Xiao Yu, there are many capable people around the lady. You have to work hard if you want to stay with her." Jiang Yuan couldn't help but teased when he heard the voice.

"I will try my best." The little girl looked determined.

"Haha, Xiaoyu, you are very brave. I believe you can do it." Ruan Qing laughed when he heard it.

As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps were heard from the other side of the door.

Then Zhao Ping's voice came over: "It's so hot, so hot, the weather in Qingsha is much hotter than in the capital."

"Come over here and eat some watermelon and drink some cold tea to cool off." Ruan Qing sat up from the recliner and waved to the people coming in from outside.

The environment in Qingsha is good, and she wants to open the third women's association here. In the past two days, Zhaoping and Queqi have been looking for a suitable store outside every day.

"Aunt, look who's here." Zhaoping walked quickly to the grape trellis and pointed at the plain-looking man who was walking with Queqi.

"Sun An, why are you here?" Ruan Qing's eyes fell on him and he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Jiang Xiaoyu looked at the sweaty people, turned and went into the house to get them sweat-wiping towels and tea cups.

There are two benches under the grape trellis, and there are cut watermelon and a teapot on the table.

Zhaoping and Queqi are not people who follow the rules, and they are away from home, so naturally they will not pay so much attention to formalities.

The two of them sat down on the bench, and one of them took a piece of watermelon to eat.

Just as Sun An was about to speak, Ruan Qing said, "Eat two pieces of watermelon and drink some tea first, and take a break before talking. Xiaoyu went in to get the teacup."

Sun An was indeed thirsty, so he picked up a piece of watermelon and started eating it.

After a while, Jiang Xiaoyu came out with a tray.

There was a large plate of sliced ​​watermelon on the tray, as well as three dry face towels and three tea cups.

"Xiaoyu is so good." Zhaoping put the melon rind in his hand on the table, took a towel from Xiaoyu's tray to wipe his hands, and then gently pinched her cheek.

Sun An ate two pieces of watermelon and drank two cups of herbal tea. After the heat in his body had almost dissipated, he continued what Ruan Qing had said before, "Your Majesty sent me here."

"But what happened in the capital?" Ruan Qing's face suddenly became serious when he heard it.

"It's nothing serious, just some rumors that are unfavorable to you." Sun An shook his head.

"What rumors?"

“Not long after the news of several wealthy families in Qingsha County having their property confiscated reached the capital, a rumor spread outside.

It is said that since you left Beijing, you have confiscated property wherever you go, and you are a veritable empress dowager who confiscates property.

It is said that the gentry and prominent families everywhere are in a state of panic, not knowing when it will be their turn.

Many people in the capital are openly or secretly urging His Majesty to call you back." Sun An glanced at Ruan Qing and continued.

"This is sheer nonsense. What do you mean Madam is the Queen Mother who confiscates property? She confiscates everything she goes to?

We walked from the capital to Qingsha, which was nearly a thousand miles, but we only raided four or five houses.

No, we raided four and a half houses." Ruan Qingshang didn't react, but Queqi was already angry.

"It's seven families." Zhao Ping corrected in a low voice.

"Nonsense, where did the seven families come from?" Queqi glared at her.

"The Feng family counts as half, the Chen family counts as half, plus the He, Zheng, and Xu families, and the prefect Zhang of Fu'an.

In addition, Hu Jiahe was involved in the opium poppy case..." Zhao Ping said.

"Even if...even if they raided seven houses, so what? Aren't they responsible for this consequence and deserve it?

Besides, the companies involved in the opium poppy case were all under the charge of Lord Lin, and only four were handled by the Empress Dowager.

For what they have done, it is not an exaggeration to confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan.

The lady only confiscated their property and punished those who should be punished, without implicating any innocent people. This was considered a pardon outside the law.

How dare those people talk nonsense there?" Queqi said angrily.

"Your Majesty and Minister Lin also said the same thing. Someone criticized you at the Grand Court Meeting, but Minister Lin refuted him thoroughly.

There is also Lord Xiao, the Minister of Rites, who personally wrote an article about the confiscation of your property.

The article lists all the reasons and consequences of your property being confiscated.

At the same time, it is listed that none of the confiscated money and grain was squandered by you and Your Majesty. All of it was used to provide relief to disaster victims, provide food and wages to soldiers on the border, and repair various water conservancy and river channels.

This article has been sung and circulated in major teahouses and bookstores, and the people are applauding your deeds..."

"Wait, Lord Xiao, the Minister of Rites? Which Lord Xiao?" Zhao Ping couldn't help but interrupt and ask when he heard this.

"The former Grand Secretary, Lord Xiao Hu, was persuaded by Grand Princess Ronghua and finally came out to serve as the Minister of Rites." Sun An replied.

"Xiao Hu is finally willing to join the Six Ministries. He is a man of great talent, but he has been hiding in the Honghua Pavilion to edit books all these years and has refused to take up any position. It seems that Ronghua is capable." Ruan Qing laughed when he heard this.

"Well, Lord Xiao is indeed capable. It has been less than two months since he took over as the Minister of Rites, but the atmosphere in the Ministry of Rites has improved a lot.

However, after his article came out, although it received a very good response from the public, there were still many people among the aristocratic families who complained about it.

Lord Lin and His Majesty both felt that there was a mastermind behind the incident, so they sent their subordinates out..." Sun An continued.

"Your ability to gather information is truly unmatched. Well, the weather has been hot recently, so I plan to stay in Qingsha for more than a month and wait until the weather cools down before continuing south.

During this time, let's see if we can catch the person behind the scenes causing trouble.

By the way, when you came out, what was the reaction of Concubine Zheng Shu in the palace? "

After hearing the whole story, Ruan Qing did not respond immediately. Instead, he gently stroked his chin with his hand and spoke after a moment.