novelones Chapter 201
Chapter 201
Jiang Hua soon started to worry about it.
He cupped his hands and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Song Anning is a very scheming person with many tricks. The reason why we got married in the first place was only because of her planning. It was not my intention, so Since the divorce, we have had no contact."
Emperor Duanming frowned.
"You said she is flirtatious and scheming?"
Jiang Hua sighed and admitted helplessly, "Yes."
The emperor asked: "Is there any specific example?"
Jiang Hua thought for a while and said, "There was a bandit named Su Zian outside Jizhou City. He was the largest bandit leader within a hundred miles. In order to defraud the Jiang family of money, Song Anning colluded with the bandit. The two of them It's not clear. She even stayed out at night several times. In addition, Su Zian seemed to have worked in the Embroidery Department. Song Anning had a close relationship with Mr. Pei of the Embroidery Department. Did she say that she had a relationship with Wei Chen? I don’t know. As for being cunning and scheming, haha... Now that Wei Chen has reconciled with her, it’s hard to say slanderous words again, but she, Song Anning, should be the main contributor to the reason why the Jiang family fell to that point."
The emperor was taken aback.
I roughly understand what Jiang Hua means.
His face became more and more ugly.
Although Pei Qingyan was not his son, he was treated by him as his own son. He was pitiful because he lost his parents when he was a child, so he kept him by his side. All the riding and archery education was taught to him by the emperor himself. It can be said that he was better than Pei Qingyan. The emperor's biological son is still favored.
But just like that, he would actually fall in love with a folk woman with poor character?
Simply ridiculous!
Emperor Duanming took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Fuquan, go and draw up an imperial edict. Tell Yan'er that there are important matters in the capital and ask Yan'er to return to the capital quickly. When you come back, come directly to the palace to see me."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Two days later.
Pei Qingyan received the order from the emperor.
Without too much doubt, he packed up his things and prepared to leave.
However, the Song family also had business to do in the capital, but Song Hexing had something to do and was tripped up, so he couldn't go for the time being. Shen Jiao had a storm recently and was recuperating at home. Song Helan had to take care of the business in the shop, so he left temporarily. However, Song Anning volunteered to go to the capital to negotiate the deal on her father's behalf.
Song Hexing hesitated.
"Ning'er, you are a daughter's family after all..."
"What's wrong with my daughter's family? Isn't my mother also a woman? Do you think my mother has suffered losses in business over the years?"
Shen Jiao glanced at Song Hexing.
"When Ning'er is older, it's time to go out and see the world. Only when you see more of the world can you know how good people are, and your horizons will be much broader. In the future, whether you are supporting yourself or choosing a husband, your considerations will be different."
As she spoke, she lovingly trimmed Song Anning's hair.
"We, Ning'er, are already smart, but we were deceived by the Jiang family because we were raised in a boudoir since childhood and lacked some knowledge. If we gain more knowledge, we will definitely not lose to men whether we are merchants or housekeepers in the future."
Song Anning narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"Thank you, mother, I know mother is the best."
Having agreed, Song Anning set off with Pei Qingyan that afternoon.
The reason why they agreed to her going to the capital was actually that Song Hexing and Shen Jiao also had selfish motives.
They were not stupid. It was not that they failed to see Pei Qingyan's affection for Song Anning. Song Anning must have feelings for Pei Qingyan, but due to the restraint of her daughter's family, she did not say it out loud.
Therefore, since they want to go to Beijing together, they agree to it.
How they will develop in the future depends entirely on the two young people.
After the matter was settled, Song Anning set off with Pei Qingyan.
The journey from Qingzhou to Beijing is not long.
If you plan on it carefully, you can arrive in two days.
However, Song Anning never expected that there would be such a big obstacle along the way.
After leaving the city, I saw civilians lying or sitting everywhere on the roadside. They were starving and dying. Everyone's face was filled with numb expressions.
It is obviously the time when new grass turns green in spring, but the entire earth has turned into a withered yellow patch, and all the green plants have been eaten. Some people are holding a handful of yellow soil of unknown origin and swallowing it in their mouths. They obviously She was very thin, but her belly was so swollen that it looked scary.
Song Anning frowned.
She did not ask Pei Qingyan what happened to these people.
Because she is not a woman from the inner court who knows nothing.
As early as in her previous life, she had heard that when war broke out, many people had no fixed homes and no farmland, so they could only become refugees. If the court wanted to go to war, it would have to increase taxes. The people could not afford the taxes, and they had to go out. If you can't afford the corvee, you have no choice but to travel far away.
If they had nothing to drink, they would drink river water; if they had nothing to eat, they would eat wild vegetables and tree roots.
When all the roots of the wild vegetables and trees are eaten, the only food left is Guanyin soil, or... humans.
Song Anning closed her eyes.
Try not to pay attention to what is happening on the side of the road.
Dongqing couldn't stand it, and whispered: "Miss, they are so pitiful."
In fact, there is a lot of dry food on the carriage.
There are also many clothes to keep out the cold.
Dongqing wanted to share the dry food with them, but Song Anning stopped her.
"If you don't want us to be blocked here and divided up by these people, then try to put away your sympathy. A mouthful of rice or a bowl of water will not save their lives, it will only kill ourselves."
Holly was stunned.
Pei Qingyan was also sitting in the carriage.
He explained: "These people have been hungry for a long time. Seeing our gorgeous carriages with guards, they dare not easily come forward to grab food. But if we go down to distribute food, they will be like wild animals smelling blood." , swarms of swarms of swarms, not to mention the food on the carriage, we will all be treated as dishmen, do you know what a dishman is?"
Holly's face turned slightly pale.
Although she had never heard of Cai Ren, she could imagine it just based on the name.
Poria cocos said: "But it's like eating Yizi?"
"Correct."
Pei Qingyan frowned and said in a deep voice: "Actually, this situation is not just around Qingzhou, but also in other counties, especially the farther north it is, the more serious it is. The imperial court is already distributing grain to alleviate the disaster, but it is a drop in the bucket. Water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearer.”
Song Anning looked at him, "Is there no other way to suppress the disaster?"
Pei Qingyan shook his head.
"The treasury is empty and there is no other solution."
Song Anning pursed her lips.
Strictly speaking, the current emperor is not actually a coward.
If this was a prosperous time, he should be able to be a successful king.
However, the previous two emperors had committed too many sins, the people's resentment was deep, the court was dark, and it was difficult to recover. Even if the Da Luo gods were alive, they would not be able to save the people from dire straits.
Song Anning sighed.
"The reason why I am going to Beijing on behalf of my father now is to collect grain. Since there is grain in the north to be sold to Qingzhou, why should we provide food for disaster relief? This is really unreasonable."
Pei Qingyan raised the corners of his lips indifferently.
"You are right. If there is really no food, there will be no food to sell. So the facts prove that it is not that there is no food, but that all the food is in the hands of wealthy families. They occupy fertile land and have a large number of tenant farmers. , got all the benefits, and snatched into their hands one by one those things that should have belonged to the common people. Even if troubled times come, they have their own private soldiers and strong men, so why should they be afraid of troubled times? Even if the weather changes, they are still If the newly appointed emperor wants to govern the world well, he still has to rely on the noble families, so they are the most fearless and the most greedy."