Wealth and glory seek stability

Dead people.

This thought occupied my mind in an instant.

This was the first time she had seen a murder.

Gao Yunhuai rode his horse closer, and the distance of three hundred steps seemed as long as a century.

Liu Wu held a knife with his uninjured arm and put it against Jian Xi's neck.

There was still blood on the knife. Gao Yunhuai frowned and said, "Put down the blade." Liu Wu ignored him.

Jian Xi's breathing was rapid, her mind full of the image of a dead person lying on the ground. She no longer cared that Liu Wu's hand would have cut her neck if it had been a little heavier.

The sound of horses neighing was heard.

Shen Nanxing arrived with a group of soldiers.

From a distance, I saw Liu Wu holding the knife to Jian Xi's neck.

He said sternly, "Stop it!"

When Liu Wu saw Shen Nanxing coming, he put down the knife without hesitation.

Every strike of Yin Jiu was fatal. Everyone counted and found that except for those who were seriously injured and unable to move, three people were dead, and the rest were more or less injured.

Shen Nanxing and Gao Yunhuai arrived in front of Jian Xi almost at the same time.

"Xi'er! Are you okay? Ah Qing sent me the news and I was so worried. Fortunately, my station is not far from East City."

Shen Nanxing's hands were shaking. Seeing Jian Xi's clothes intact and her long hair draped behind her head, he felt fortunate. He endured it again and again, and finally hugged Jian Xi in his arms.

Only when I felt the warmth of the person in my arms did I slowly come back to my senses.

He was really afraid! He was afraid that Jian Xi would disappear like his parents.

The two siblings have finally come this far.

Almost!

Jian Xi was almost kidnapped.

Gao Yunhuai stood behind them, watching the two being intimate, and felt sad.

If possible... he also wanted to hug her, but he couldn't, he could only watch silently.

It doesn't matter, as long as she is safe, he told himself.

In the end, Jian Xi couldn't stand it anymore and patted Shen Nanxing on the back.

"Brother, please let me go. I can't breathe."

Didn’t you see that Gao Yunhuai’s resentful eyes were almost solidified?

But even if Shen Nanxing knew about it, it wouldn't matter. The relationship between him and Jian Xi couldn't be compared with Gao Yunhuai who suddenly intervened.

Gao Yunhuai finally got a chance to speak, and said in a gentle and graceful voice, "General Shen, we should not stay here for long. I'm afraid there are still accomplices here. Let's go back to the city and discuss it later."

Shen Nanxing nodded without refuting Gao Yunhuai, "Okay."

Jane Xi's veil was gone, and she pulled off her sleeves to cover her face.

Riding on Shen Nanxing's horse, Shen Nanxing led the horse himself, and Gao Yunhuai followed silently behind the two of them.

When the war drum sounded on the top floor of the East City Gate, the people waiting outside the city knew that something had gone wrong. The leader Yin Wu asked the others to wait while he went into the city in disguise to gather information.

When I went in, I saw bloodstains left by the battle at the city gate, but no trace of Yin Jiu.

Yin Wu had an unclear expression, knowing that his plan was probably completely exposed, so he turned around and went directly to Taiping Pavilion to report to Zhang Cen'er.

General Shen’s Mansion.

Jian Xi survived the disaster and sat in the chair in the middle, with Shen Nanxing and Gao Yunhuai on either side.

She simply recounted the entire story of how she was kidnapped, without hiding anything, including the fact that she speculated that it was Zhang Cen'er who was behind it.

Shen Nanxing was furious and slammed the armrest of the mahogany chair hard, breaking it.

"Asshole! You are so bold that you even set your sights on my sister, Shen Nanxing. You and Ying'er went out to burn incense, and she must have been very worried, so she sent someone to deliver a letter to me. If I hadn't happened to have something to do near the East City Gate, it would have been disastrous if that bastard had succeeded."

Jian Xi drank a sip of tea. She didn't know if it was the aftereffect of the drug, but she felt that her mouth had no taste. She wanted to drink a lot of water to quench her thirst. "Yes, I thought about the woman's voice for a long time, and it seemed to be the voice of Yin Ping, the maid beside Zhang Cen'er. But I really don't know, is there anything about me that is worth their consideration?"

After listening to this, Gao Yunhuai felt suffocated. He had already figured out the whole story, and it was precisely because he knew it that he felt even more suffocated.

"You underestimate yourself too much. Fengyu's business has already been established in the capital and Jiangnan area. The grain in your granary is probably more than the grain stored in Taicang. The Xuanwu Dynasty is in a turbulent time and grain is in short supply. The envoys of the Xuanwu Dynasty came here to ask Your Majesty to allocate some grain and wheat seeds."

Gao Yunhuai fumbled with the white jade ring in his hand, calculating all the reasons in his mind, looking for useful information.

Jian Xi was a little surprised, "No way? There are so few grains in Taicang?"

It's not that she was surprised. It's only been a few years and her business empire has not yet been fully expanded. Taicang is in charge of taxes in various places. Could it be that the Xuanyuan Dynasty, as big as it is, doesn't have that much food?

Shen Nanxing was dumbfounded. He had no doubt about Gao Yunhuai's words, but he was surprised by Jian Xi. He only knew that Jian Xi's business was doing well and there were considerable dividends every year, but he didn't expect that Jian Xi had this skill.

Gao Yunhuai looked at Jian Xi's surprised expression and chuckled. Like pine and bamboo reflecting the sun, he was a businessman and he knew Jian Xi's background very well.

Jian Xi has never known how to hide, and anyone who is interested will find out if they investigate carefully.

He turned and looked at Shen Nanxing calmly, "General Shen should know how much grain is stored in Taicang. It is not easy for the army to supply food and grass on time and as needed during the wars in the past few years. The new quarter's grain reserves must be kept for distribution of salaries and disaster relief. The northwest is suffering from drought. Your Majesty exempted taxes for two years, but the court still owes money there."

This was the first time Jian Xi heard about the court affairs. She only felt fresh and even forgot about the pain in her body. She was busy asking, "Why? Can you still owe the court money?"

Shen Nanxing didn't know what was going on and looked at Gao Yunhuai.

Gao Yunhuai brushed his sleeves and told the story slowly, "This was when Your Majesty was still a prince. In order to gain the support of ministers, he opened the door to convenience, allowing officials to withdraw money from the treasury. They only needed to write an IOU to solve their urgent needs. At that time, he gained a lot of supporters. At that time, Taizu was already in his old age. In addition, Your Majesty had a money-making tool like Concubine Shu by his side. Papermaking, printing, glass and other products were sold to various dynasties, making a lot of money, and finally he won the throne."

To be disrespectful, if it weren't for Lou Muran, it's hard to know who would have held the throne in the end. But it's enough to just keep this in your heart.

Jian Xi suddenly realized, "I was wondering! If some officials borrowed money because of deficits during their tenure, do they have to pay it back in the end?"

Wouldn't that be borrowing money in one's own name to run court affairs?

This routine seems familiar. Who came up with this idea?

Gao Yunhuai showed admiration. He had only mentioned the tip of the iceberg, but Jian Xi was able to draw inferences immediately.

"Yes, if the interest is compounded like this, you will end up working for others. You will work hard all your life, but in the end you will not be able to pay back the debts, and your power will be taken back. Decades of immersion in the imperial examination system will be wasted."

Seeing Jian Xi's thoughtful expression, Gao Yunhuai added, "All of this was Lou Muran's idea. So when she committed a crime and fell from power, all the officials who were in debt because of this matter fought hard and asked Your Majesty to banish Concubine Shu to the cold palace. Even the censor who died by hitting his head against the pillar was a poor scholar with no family background and owed tens of thousands of taels of silver."