At the beginning, I was a rich female prisoner

Governor Yang looked at the kneeling County Magistrate Tang and asked, "Where did you get these tax books?"

"It was on Magistrate Yu's desk. I thought it was the tax book of Wangshan County." County Magistrate Tang knelt down and begged for mercy: "Master Yu, I was wrong. Please forgive me for all the hard work I have done for you these days."

"County Magistrate Tang, you work under me. I have nothing to hide from you, but you even made mistakes in the taxation of my Wangshan County. I thought you were a competent county magistrate, but now I see that you are nothing special." Yu Tinghai said coldly.

"County Magistrate Tang, you are so brave that you dare to undermine your own county magistrate. This is the end of your career as county magistrate. Does Wu Tongzhou know where this tax book comes from?" After saying this, he slammed the gavel and looked at Wu Tongzhou.

"I don't know?" Wu Tongzhou replied.

"Just now I heard you swear that it was the tax book of Wangshan County, but now you don't know it anymore?" Prefect Yang said angrily, "I know exactly how many things you have done under my nose over the years. Without you, a fellow prefect, helping the Wu family behind the scenes, how could the Wu family be so bold? Take this year's taxes for example. Your Shangyang County is a big county with more than 200,000 acres of fertile farmland and tea fields. How much tax did Shangyang County pay? Why are the records in the two tax books different? Are you trying to fool me?"

"Governor Yang, I have a question for you. Don't you have two crops of rice in Nanling County this year? Why is it that the tax on the second crop of rice in Shangyang County, which is next to Wangshan County, is the lowest? The emperor is also very concerned about this issue." Hu Man asked. In fact, the emperor only mentioned this question in front of him when he looked at the tax books of various places.

"That's because there are many tea plantations in Shangyang County," Wu Tongzhou replied.

"What about the tea tax? The tea tax is more than the grain tax." Hu Man asked.

Wu Tongzhou was speechless when he heard this. He had been pretending to obey Governor Yang for years.

"Let me answer for Lord Wu Tongzhou!" Yu Linshan stood up and said, "After I came to Nanling County, I started investigating the Wu family. The Wu family has 50,000 acres of tea gardens and 20,000 acres of fertile land. 20,000 acres of them are rented out to tenants every year, but the taxes are paid by the tenants. This year's second crop of rice was planted by small households, but the Wu family was jealous and said that the second crop of rice would belong to the Wu family. Some tenants stopped irrigating and fertilizing the fertile land, which led to the low yield of the second crop of rice in Shangyang County. And I don't need to tell you how these tea fields came about! Just ask Wu Jincai and County Magistrate Ge outside the hall and you will know."

"I have to say that this was all forced upon me by my Wu family. They bribed me to issue documents to trick the villagers of Qiujiazhuang and Zhangjiawan into signing the land purchase documents. I never thought that so many people from these two villages would be forced to become bandits. I really didn't know that Wu Jincai was so cruel." Magistrate Ge said.

When Yu Yunxin heard this, she realized it was no wonder that the people in Shangyang County lived such a hard life and were reluctant to even buy a ten-cent piece of rice cake. And those bandits in Huyue Village were all pitiful people too.

When Governor Yang heard this, he summoned Wu Jincai, but Wu Jincai cried as soon as he came in, "Sir, please avenge my son. My son was killed for no reason in Nanling County. Please do something for my son!"

Upon hearing this, Governor Yang slammed the gavel and said, "I am not asking about your son. I am asking you why your Wu family has 20,000 acres of good farmland and has not paid taxes for the second crop of rice this year."

Wu Jincai, who had lost all reason because his beloved son had died, said, "Hasn't the second crop of rice already been paid by the tenants?"

"Who collected the grain?" asked Governor Yang.

"It was collected by our Wu family. Sir, please avenge my son. I will take any amount of money you want. Is ten thousand taels enough?" Wu Jincai continued.

Yang Taishou slammed the gavel and said, "Why are you Wu family so greedy? You must have done too many bad things and this is God's retribution for you!"

When Wu Jincai heard the word "retribution", he smiled and said, "I have money, I will spend money to find the murderer. I only have this one son, how could he die like this?" After saying that, he started crying in front of the lobby.

"Second brother, wake up." Wu Jinke rushed to Wu Jincai and slapped him loudly.

"Hurry up and stop these two brothers." Yang Taishou slammed the gavel and said, "Wu Jinke, you broke the law knowingly and even disrespected the court. Someone, hold them down for me."

After Governor Yang finished speaking, the four yamen runners standing nearby quickly arrested the two men and made them kneel on the ground.

"Your Excellency the Prefect, Magistrate Ge from Shangyang County is here." The constable of the government office walked out of the hall and reported.

"Bring him up." said Governor Yang.

"Your humble servant greets the governor." Magistrate Ge came in and knew what was going on as soon as he saw the scene, so he knelt down and said.

"Okay, take a look at these tax books to see if they are from Shangyang County." After saying this, Governor Yang motioned to Magistrate Ge to take the tax books on the table.

After reading it, Magistrate Ge's hands trembled as he immediately knelt down and said, "I know I was wrong. It was Wu Jinke. He is from Tongzhou and there is nothing I can do. I am just a county magistrate. The Wu family is the overlord of Shangyang County. Sir, please forgive me for having an 80-year-old mother and a crying baby."

"Okay, come and detain Wu Jincai, Wu Jinke, and Magistrate Ge. I will investigate the Wu family thoroughly." Yang said, slamming the table, "I will investigate how much tax the Wu family has underpaid over the years."

Seeing the three of them being taken away, Taishou Yang came down from the courtroom and asked, "Eunuch Hu and Eunuch Yang, how are you?"

"It's OK, but we must investigate the tax issue thoroughly. If we can find out the tax evasion of the Wu family, we can bring it to the emperor when we return to the capital." Hu Man nodded and said, "In recent years, there has been no tax revenue in Nanling County. All subsidies are taken from the national treasury. It is very difficult for the emperor to do this!"

"I understand." Governor Yang immediately understood what Eunuch Hu meant.

"Princess Xingguo, you cook well. The Queen even asked me to thank you for the recipe you sent. By the way, do you have any new recipes?" Eunuch Zhang came to Yu Yunxin and asked anxiously.

"Yes! Let's do this. Come back to the tea garden with me later and I'll let Eunuch Zhang taste the delicious food I made." Yu Yunxin replied.

"Okay! Then I'd better obey your command respectfully." Eunuch Zhang clapped his hands and cheered.

"This time, Governor Yang, I also checked the tea tax of the Wu family and the gentry in Shangyang County, but I missed a lot. The Wu family collected the most," said Yu Tinghai.

"Don't worry, Lord Yu, I will investigate it thoroughly." said Governor Yang.

After everyone left the hall, two yamen runners came in from the main gate carrying a corpse.

When Governor Yang saw this, he immediately walked up to them and scolded them, "Why did you bring the dead body here? Didn't you see the two eunuchs were here? It would be unlucky if we bumped into them."

Hu Man immediately stopped him and said, "Tai Shou Yang, since a murder occurred outside the government office, we must investigate. By the way, is this man the nephew of Wu Jinke from Tongzhou?"

"That's right, sir?" the two yamen runners replied.

Hu Man walked forward, lifted the white cloth, and looked at the arrow stuck in his head. He immediately asked with horror: "A sharp arrow shot from a hundred paces?"

"Is Eunuch Hu's archery skill of shooting an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away the unique archery skill of Duke Li?" Yu Tinghai asked after taking a look at the corpse.

"Yes! There are only five people in my Dacheng who can have such archery skills?" Hu Man looked around the corpse and asked, "Who did the Wu family offend?"

"Eunuch Hu, I have investigated the Wu family. Not only have they offended the bandits in Huyue Village, they have also offended many peddlers. The residents in the town and village are all avoiding them." Yu Linshan said.

"Grandmaster Yang, it's going to be hard to find the murderer of yours! I only knew that there were only five people in Dacheng who could shoot an arrow through a target at a hundred paces. One was Duke Li, another was the fifth prince, Prince Yu, who had become a fool, and another was a guard of Duke Li, whose name I didn't know. Then there was the palace guard Yin Shihong, who went to Xiliang to protect Princess Yuqin, who was to marry into the royal family, but disappeared with the princess in Xizhou. Another one was Duke Li's grandson, Li Lumo, the former General of the Cavalry, who unfortunately died on the battlefield in Xiliang. So there could be only one murderer, and it could be Duke Li's guard." Hu Man said.

"If we investigate, it will stir up a lot of trouble, right?" Governor Yang shook his head and said, "This Wu family is really something. They think that having Tongzhou can protect the Wu family forever. These family members of his are causing trouble everywhere and offending people who are difficult to investigate."

"Forget about the case of the corpse of Governor Yang. It's difficult to investigate if we don't want to. If we want to investigate, we should investigate the taxes evaded by the Wu family!" After saying this, Eunuch Zhang lifted the curtain of the carriage for Yu Yunxin and let her get on his luxurious carriage.

Soon the three carriages arrived at the tea garden in Huashan Village, where there were mountains, water, and endless farmland. There were ponds on the farmland and a pasture with more than a hundred white and yellow cattle on it.

"Not bad! The scenery here is beautiful. It will be even more pleasant in spring. You, girl, really know how to find a place." Hu Man said after getting off the carriage.

Mr. Zhang also sighed, "Xin girl, all of this is yours. Where is that place and why is there such a good smell?" He pointed to the wine workshop and popcorn workshop not far away.

"That's the wine workshop and popcorn workshop I built. Two fathers-in-law, please go in and take a rest first. I'll have someone bring some food up for you to try." After saying this, Yu Yunxin looked back at Qiu Yingying, signaling her to serve the two of them the best wine and the most fragrant popcorn.

After the two entered the house, Chunyu served them tea. Yu Tinghai, who followed them, did not expect that his daughter would build the tea garden so well so quickly. This is a large courtyard with brick and tile houses. In the middle of the courtyard, there is a spacious area with six swing stands and several potted plants. They are now on the highest corner tower in the courtyard, which is four stories high. From here, you can see the whole picture of the tea garden with a wide view.

Several women dressed as village ladies brought various kinds of popcorn to the table.

Hu Man looked at the popcorns in various shapes on the plate and asked, "What are these? They smell so good!" Then he couldn't help but pick up a round corn popcorn and tasted it. The crispy aroma immediately stimulated his taste buds.

Eunuch Zhang at the side started eating without asking, and the room was suddenly filled with the sound of eating popcorn.

These are popcorns, all made from the largest corn kernels, and also from wheat, corn, rice cakes, sesame seeds, peanuts, melon seeds, walnuts, hawthorn, coix seeds, raisins and dried fruits.

"The dishes made by Eunuch Zhang and the Queen's palace were all given to me by you, Princess. The Emperor and the Queen both praised your dishes highly. Your popcorns have stunned me even more. You are really an amazing woman." Hu Man said.

"Mr. Hu, you are too kind. It's just that we have a bumper harvest this year, so these little things are just snacks," Yu Yunxin replied.

"Yes, these pastries have a unique taste, different from what I ate in the palace. Only the princess can make unique delicacies." Hu Man praised while eating.

"Oh, there's something I forgot to tell you!" Eunuch Zhang said, "Two people came with the reward this time. They are Master Yu's concubine Wang and the second young lady. They have been jealous of the reward from the emperor for a long time. This time they came directly to Wangshan County, saying that they wanted to give the princess and Master Yu a surprise."

Yu Yun was choking on this while drinking tea. He coughed a few times and said, "It's a surprise. Aren't they doing well in the capital? Did they follow me here after seeing the emperor's reward?"

"The emperor personally gave a lot of rewards this time. There are 100,000 taels of gold alone!" said Hu Man.

One hundred thousand taels of gold. Yu Yunxin was excited when she heard it. This would make her rich. She could work less for many years!

"There are also various jewels and jades. The emperor is very happy this time. He said that the princess's second crop of rice and composting method will benefit the people of the world, so he will reward more. Several agriculture officials from the Ministry of Revenue will also come this time. They will see your composting method to see if it can increase the spring grain yield next year." Eunuch Zhang continued.

"My two fathers-in-law, I will cook a few dishes for you. You can have some tea and popcorn first." Yu Yunxin said happily and left the corner tower.

She came to the wine workshop and popcorn workshop, and drew more than 20 women from the wine workshop to help them kill chickens and sheep. The kitchen was busy immediately. Roast suckling pig, roast whole lamb, fried chicken, beer duck, drunken chicken were all served. She was not afraid of wasting these dishes. After all, there were many people in the tea garden, and the brothers in the Tiger Leap Village outside could also eat them. Therefore, all the workers who worked for her had a share. Who asked the emperor to reward so many good things? She also congratulated herself in advance.

The dinner to entertain the two eunuchs was very sumptuous. Yu Yunxin also took out the seafood that Granny Hu had given her. Today, she made all kinds of delicious dishes specially for the two fathers-in-law.

The two eunuchs didn't drink much in the palace because they had to take care of their master, but this time when they came to Wangshan County, they began to indulge themselves. Looking at all kinds of fine wines and delicacies, Eunuch Zhang ran to the kitchen to make a special roast duck for Yu Yunxin after getting drunk. Yu Yunxin admired Eunuch Zhang's cooking skills very much. Yu Tinghai, who was accompanying them for drinking, also couldn't put down the sauce-flavored wine from the wine workshop. He also got drunk after the last few drinks. This was also because Yu Yunxin was a strong drinker and Yu Linshan was taking care of her.

She thought that if she gave all the recipes of modern cuisine to Eunuch Zhang, she believed that Eunuch Zhang's cooking skills would surpass hers. She was not a great chef in modern times, just a foodie who knew how to eat, and she was not very good at cooking. Take this time's roast duck as a good example. Eunuch Zhang not only roasted it crispy and delicious.

Another thing is that the sauces prepared by Eunuch Zhang are much better than those made by Yu Yunxin, so she decided to give Eunuch Zhang more recipes so that he could cook more delicious dishes after returning to the palace. He is really a chef who has been delayed by eunuchs.