Chapter 447 Tong Lin Is A Lingering Worry

The imperial princes were all going mad with accumulating wealth as the grand wedding approached. After all, wealth was necessary for manpower and resources on the path of power struggles. Causing the Fifth Prince to spend some money in advance, while it might not achieve much, would at least annoy him for a while. As for the Tong family. Regardless of whether the Fifth Prince took the dowry or not, the Tong family would still consider Gu Peilan to be insatiably greedy. With no blood relation, there was no true affection to speak of, and now with mutual disgust, Ji Zizhao was very eager to see how long the Tong family could tolerate Gu Peilan. Once she lost the Tong family's support, even if Ji Renran truly married the Fifth Prince, Gu Peilan alone would not be able to stir up much trouble in the Ji family. Su Dan Novel Network. However, Ji Zizhao found it difficult to discuss such matters with her third sister, so she paused and added, "If the Tong family really takes out the dowry, it means the remarried First Madam will take over the household management from Grandmother. Then, like the other aunts, she will have to contribute money to the household with her dowry. Why shouldn't we be happy about that?" Ji Ziyan nodded, saying it made sense, but she was worried... "What if the remarried First Madam has other plans?" Ji Ziyan shuddered at the memory of the First Madam setting off fireworks by the moat last time. Fortunately, her eldest sister had managed the palace, otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable. Ji Zizhao smiled and said, "Currently, the remarried First Madam's family is all crowded into one courtyard, which must be quite cramped. It would be better to tidy up a few guest courtyards and separate them." Ji Ziyan immediately understood, "With larger courtyards, more staff will naturally be needed. In this way, if I place a few people in the remarried First Madam's courtyard, she probably won't notice." She had been slow-witted, failing to consider such a solution. As long as she had her people with the remarried First Madam, she wouldn't have to worry about her causing trouble behind her back. Thinking of the people she would send to monitor the remarried First Madam, Ji Ziyan decided they had to be smart, reliable, and inconspicuous. After bidding farewell to her eldest sister, she returned to her courtyard and busied herself with instructing Shu Huan to select some maids from the slave market. In the Zhao courtyard, Nanny He had already ordered hot water to be prepared. Seeing her young lady enter, Shui Ling quickly came forward to help her bathe. After washing up and changing clothes, Jian Qiu had also prepared the bedding. Once her young lady lay on the bed, everyone quietly withdrew. It was Shui Ling's turn to be on night duty. Jian Qiu gave Nanny He a few instructions and then returned to her own room to rest. Shui Ling was leaning against a pillar outside the door, lost in thought, when she smelled an aroma. Turning around, she saw Fu Bao approaching with two steaming hot flatbreads. "I just bought them outside, they're still hot," Fu Bao said with a grin, handing the flatbreads over. Shui Ling's small face flushed, and she shyly hesitated to reach out. Seeing this, Fu Bao quickly stuffed the flatbreads into Shui Ling's arms and then ran off as if nothing had happened. Shui Ling waited until Fu Bao was far away before looking at the flatbreads in her arms and smiling secretly. This scene was witnessed by Qing Zhu in the courtyard. Lian Ju, who should have been resting in her room, came out upon hearing the commotion. However, both of them remained silent as they watched the scene unfold not far away. After Fu Bao's departure, Lian Ju returned to her room to sleep, and Qing Zhu continued to guard the courtyard. Their young lady practiced martial arts, so such a commotion would naturally not escape her ears. Since the young lady did not intervene, they naturally would not say anything either. Ji Zizhao, who was indeed lying on her bed, had heard everything. And Ji Zizhao, who inherently believed in freedom in love, of course, would not come forward to stop anything. It was rare to see mutual affection, and they were both people close to her, so she was only happy. In this world, all marriages were linked to interests. Otherwise, she would not have misunderstood the Fourth Prince. Thinking of the Fourth Prince, she was reminded of Jiang Guangcheng's words today. Lying on her bed, Ji Zizhao tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She decided to light a lamp and sit at her desk to write a letter. She originally intended to clarify things with the Fourth Prince, but no matter how she wrote, it felt inappropriate. She wrote, burned, burned, wrote... In the end, she was unable to send the letter. Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince had been busy all night. Scouts reported that the Xirong had completely sealed off Tonglin, and the civilians inside the city were forced to wear Xirong attire. This caused panic in other cities of Yulin. Tonglin's closure meant suffering for the civilians. Many civilians in the neighboring cities wished to see their relatives in Tonglin, but it became a fantasy. If Tonglin were to become Xirong territory in the future, wouldn't the people in the city be completely separated from their relatives? The civilians in the neighboring cities protested and cried, standing before the city gates every day, begging the court to send troops for support. Local officials, fearing the situation would escalate, dared not forcefully suppress the protesting civilians and were helpless. In the imperial court, Emperor Xiaochang's face was extremely grim. The civil and military officials were all silent. Everyone knew that as long as Tonglin's crisis was not resolved, the court would not have peace. However, deciding who should be sent to Tonglin was a problem. Just as everyone was at a loss, Old General Zhong entered the palace to see the Emperor and volunteered to take up the banner of recapturing Tonglin. Everyone was relieved to hear this news. Only the Minister of Revenue cried. Repairing Luoyi back then had already cost a lot of money, and now Tonglin was in trouble again just as they had recovered... Your Majesty, is it easy for me to be the Minister of Revenue? I receive a salary from the court, but I worry more than a mother raising a litter of cubs. In my opinion, I'd rather not be the Minister of Revenue. In the imperial study, the Minister of Revenue wept uncontrollably. Emperor Xiaochang's face, which had just cleared a bit of gloom, was again filled with lightning and thunder. Empress Zhong, upon learning of this, immediately ordered all expenses in the harem to be reduced to support the Tonglin campaign. Consort Xi, upon hearing this, was so angry that she threw the watermelon in her hand to the ground. "Damn Empress, she always loves to show off." But despite her inner curses, she had to grudgingly accept the Empress's frugality. Consort Xi was now just waiting for the princes' grand wedding to properly annoy the Empress. However, the frugality in the harem did not free up much money, and coupled with the Minister of Revenue tightly squeezing the entire Ministry of Revenue like a soft cloth, not much military pay was squeezed out for Old General Zhong. For this reason, Emperor Xiaochang's face was gloomy every day. In order to allow Old General Zhong to proceed to Tonglin as soon as possible, the Mid-Autumn Festival imperial banquet was perfunctory this year. The good news was that the Fourth Sister finally arrived at the imperial city after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Ji Zizhao, as promised, handed over the free medicinal herbs to Jiang Guangcheng, who then delivered them to the army. The army was greatly relieved to hear of the free medicinal herbs. For the court now, every penny counted, and it was best not to spend money if possible. Han Jingyu, upon hearing this, specifically sought out Jiang Guangcheng and learned that the medicinal herbs came from Luoyi County. Han Jingyu immediately understood that this was the work of the eldest daughter of the Ji family. Since it was a good deed, it should not be done quietly. The next morning, Han Jingyu had Ji Zixiu use his waist token to report this matter to the Ministry of Revenue.