Liu's daughter cried hysterically for almost half a stick of incense, and almost died from crying several times. If the guard next to her hadn't interrupted her several times in time, giving her a chance to relax.

She will most likely push it over, and when the time comes, Jin Miaomiao will have to be troubled to rescue her.

Liu's daughter cried so much that her eyes swelled up. Her eyes were not big in the first place, but now there was only a crack left.

Although she was exhausted both physically and mentally, this time she seemed to want to vent all the grievances, guilt, fear and unwillingness she had accumulated for decades. She completely ignored the people next to her and cried happily and unscrupulously.

After Liu's daughter finished crying, it took her a long time to calm down. Although she realized her gaffe, she didn't have any strong fluctuations. She felt that after she vented her anger, the stone that had been weighing on her heart for many years was finally removed.

Yes, at this moment, I feel relaxed.

In the past few decades, due to various reasons and taking care of various people's emotions, she gradually lost herself. She didn't know who she was or what kind of feelings she should have. She didn't even know who she was.

It doesn't really exist in this world.

For the sake of her natal family, her husband's family, and the people who care about her, she hid her true self, suppressed her true emotions in her heart, and accumulated them bit by bit to where she is now. Other things are still there.

Okay, but every time she encounters people and things related to her childhood, she has no other choice but to escape or deny. It seems that only by doing this can she numb herself, deceive herself, and make herself forget what she has experienced.

The best time in my life.

But when she dreamed about it in the middle of the night and occasionally thought about the past, she felt a little dazed. She had been lying to herself for too long. She was not sure whether what happened between her and His Highness Prince Ning really happened or was just a figment of her imagination.

.

However, now that she could finally vent it out, she felt the very real pain in her heart.

"I'm sorry, I'm so rude!" Liu's daughter's voice was hoarse from crying for too long. She drank a few sips of something the guard handed over, which slightly relieved her discomfort, but she was still very uncomfortable. She paused.

After a moment, she continued, "Since you can't hide no matter how you hide, then you won't hide." She looked at the head of the Luan family, "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you this before. I was actually worried that you would know it later.

You will be unhappy, and I am also worried that you will be implicated by me."

"It's not that it's implicated, but it's true that I'm unhappy. Even now that I know it, I'm not very happy." The head of the Luan family looked at his wife, "Do you like His Highness Prince Ning now?"

"No!" Mrs. Liu shook her head gently, "It's gone now. I'm just a little sorry to mention him."

"Oh!" The head of the Luan family thought for a while, "In other words, I really liked His Highness Prince Ning back then, right?"

"Master, you also grew up in Xijing City, and you know very well about that time that all the little girls in Xijing City liked him, and no one was an exception." Liu's daughter sighed heavily, and gently

He smiled and said, "Yes, I did like him. I used to like him just for fun. Later, I became Princess Zhun Ning and got to know him for a while. He is indeed a good person. His Royal Highness Prince Ning is the youngest brother of the late emperor.

He is very good-looking, very polite, and his knowledge is outstanding. Except for being a little weak in body, everything else can be perfect. It is natural for such a person to be liked by little girls, right? After His Highness Prince Ning, Xijing City

There have also been many young and beautiful young masters, but compared with His Highness Prince Ning, they pale in comparison."

"Is he so powerful?" Xue Ruitian touched his chin, "When he was young, was he so arrogant?"

"It's not ostentation, it's all spontaneous." The head of the Luan family thought about the days when he was a child in Xijing City, chuckled, and said, "What I remember is that His Highness Prince Ning is indeed the most popular young lady in Xijing City.

My favorite object, if I remember correctly, every time His Highness Prince Ning goes out, the streets of Xijing City are very lively. The ladies in the city dress up every time and go out. People who don’t know are still...

I thought they were going to attend some banquet. Every time His Highness Prince Ning passed by, those ladies would gather together on both sides of the road, just to take a look at him." Recalling the scene of His Highness Prince Ning going out, he couldn't help but

He shook his head, but the wound on his body was affected, and he couldn't help grinning in pain. After a while, he said, "Thinking about the grand occasion at that time, it is still fresh in my memory. Even if His Majesty the Emperor is on a tour today

, I'm afraid there is no such grand occasion." He looked at Liu's daughter, "So, Madam, is one of them? She also went to the street to join in the fun?"

"I don't go all the time. I go there once or twice occasionally. I accompany my little sisters. Master knows that I don't like to join in the fun. I won't go if I can't help it. I go there once in a while, but that's it.

Because the little sisters had to wait for a long time, I had to agree." Ms. Liu sighed and said, "It's just that since I was selected as Princess Ning, the little sisters around me stopped walking with me."

"Why?" Hongye held her chin and listened carefully to Liu's daughter's story. When she heard this, she couldn't help but ask, "You are set, shouldn't I get closer to you?

? If I get close to you, I might have a chance to see His Highness Prince Ning. Even if I can’t become the princess, it’s good to get close to her, isn’t it?”

"This general has a clear mind, but ordinary girls don't think so. Their jealousy is very powerful. Even if they are close friends for many years, if they say they are jealous of you, they will become jealous of you, and even bully you in a group.

You, this is no joke. Later, when His Highness Prince Ning and I broke off the engagement and married into the Luan family, they visited us frequently, saying they were here to congratulate us, but just to watch a joke. Fortunately, I got married not long ago.

Then I left Xijing City. If I stayed there for a long time, I'm afraid they would make more jokes."

"Why?"

"As the two adults said just now, they think they are better looking than me and have a better family background than me, but they are not reconciled to being outdone by me."

"Oh, then there is no other way." Hongye spread his hands, "This is fate. If they want to blame, they can only blame their own family for not getting on the Queen Mother's ship and not being favored by the Queen Mother."

"I would never admit what the adults said before. When I was young, I felt that I was no worse than anyone else, and it was my ability that won the favor of the Empress Dowager. Now that I think about it, it is really too naive. No matter it is

I, my master, or the Luan and Liu families are all in this game of chess played by the Empress Dowager, and we are all just pawns."

"Of course, since you two boarded the Empress Dowager's ship, you have been her pawns. When she was alive, she could give you shelter, but now that she has passed away, the shelter has completely disappeared. Again, the same sentence

, your master family trusts the Queen Mother, but they may not trust you."

"I don't know this, and I don't want to know. I have lived to this age and have been a chess piece all my life, so I don't care about this anymore." Mrs. Liu coughed twice more, drank two more sips of water, and thanked her.

The guard who delivered the water continued, "The reason why I say this is because no matter how hard I try to deceive myself, I can't deceive myself. Since I can't deceive myself, I might as well say it to make myself happy." She sighed softly, "When did my father be deceived?"

I’m not sure who was tied to the ship of the Queen Mother, but for a while, my father mentioned His Highness Prince Ning significantly more often. Thinking about it now, it seems that it was from that time that I slowly started to talk about His Highness Prince Ning.

Beginning to fall in love."

"What did you say?"

"I just praise him. I praise him for being very good and all kinds of good people. Although His Highness Prince Ning is not very old, he sees the problems very sharply and is very insightful. However, occasionally he seems to be more radical and not stable enough, but

If you give it time to practice hard, you will be a wise king in the future." Liu's daughter smiled lightly, "My father said it was not steady enough, it should be that he would run out to play every now and then, which is different from His Majesty today.

Very similar."

"Speaking of which, if those things had not happened, His Highness Prince Ning would indeed have become a wise king."

"The head of the Luan family also admires His Highness Prince Ning?"

"No, no!" The head of the Luan family shook his head slightly, smiled, and said, "It should be admiration. He and I are similar in age. While he was already involved in important affairs in the court, I was not very familiar with the matter of being in charge of the family, so I was in a hurry.

, I was very anxious. At that time, there were a lot of things at home, and my eldest brother was bedridden all year round. All the things were on me, and the pressure was very high. But in comparison, His Highness Prince Ning had already gone to the court to discuss politics at that time.

The suggestions or ideas put forward are very beneficial to people's livelihood." He looked at Liu's daughter and then at other people, "Actually, I occasionally meet His Highness Prince Ning on the street, and even once, we

We also chatted for a while."

"Master, you...never mentioned it."

"Madam, everyone has secrets in their hearts." The head of the Luan family looked at Liu's daughter, smiled reassuringly, and said, "You don't want to tell me about His Highness Prince Ning because you are worried that I will be jealous.

You are afraid that I will have some bad thoughts towards you, but in fact there is no need at all. It is natural for a person like that to be lovable. I only talked to him once and I felt that this person is worth it."

"His Royal Highness Prince Ning will be very happy to know that you speak so highly of him." Shen Cha chuckled, "Praise from an opponent is the highest praise. If he can conquer his opponent, he will have no regrets in his life."

"What have you been talking about?"

"Let's talk about what kind of business we do, how the profits are, whether the business tax is high, etc., and whether we have any troubles in our daily life."

"Is this what he asked?"

"Well!" The head of the Luan family couldn't help but smile when he saw everyone looking at him in surprise, "Why are they all so surprised? He is not very old and has not been in the court for a long time, but he has a vague sense of a wise king.

His reputation did not come out of thin air. He likes to hang out in the market, but he just wants to understand the lives of the people and make sure that when he goes to court, he can speak truthfully."

"This is quite the style of His Highness Prince Ning."

"Yes!" The head of the Luan family smiled, "Seriously speaking, we businessmen should really thank His Highness Prince Ning."

"Why?"

"The taxes and fees paid by shops now are actually set by His Highness Prince Ning."

"Is that so?" Jin Miaomiao turned to look at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha and Xue Ruitian. When he saw the three of them, they also looked at a loss, "I have no idea at all!"

"Because you are not businessmen, it is normal for you not to care about this." The head of the Luan family smiled and explained to several generals, "He once made a statement, saying that although the profits of merchants are very high, the imperial court levies The taxes are also very high, and both large and small businesses are subject to the same standards, which is very unreasonable."

"This..." Xue Ruitian thought for a while, "I think I have really heard that His Highness Prince Ning visited most of the shops and merchants in Xijing City before finalizing a policy. He said that doing so is very unfriendly to small traders. , will put a lot of pressure on them. The court should abolish the current method of collecting commercial taxes and set a standard based on the income of the merchants and whether they have a fixed shop. Moreover, it should be judged once a year to avoid There has been tax evasion."

"Yes, this is what I was talking about with His Highness Prince Ning." The head of the Luan family smiled, "I just complained casually at the time, but I didn't expect His Highness Prince Ning to take it to heart. Putting aside our respective positions, , he is indeed a very capable person.”

"Then it was settled later?"

"Yes!" The head of the Luan family nodded, "And it's a little more detailed than previously thought. There are two broad categories, one for those with fixed shops, and one for traveling merchants. For example, we have Those in fixed shops are divided into five levels, which are determined according to the level of annual income. The other category is vending merchants. I don’t know how they are divided, but after asking around a little, I found that they pay more than before. The taxes and fees are 70 to 80% lower.”

"This is a good thing!" Xue Ruitian nodded, "If we pay separately, the pressure on each of us will be less."

"Yes, if a large store like us wants to pay a little less tax, then we can't just do whatever we want when setting prices, we have to think carefully. For example, those who like to ask for high prices will probably reduce the amount. , I have become honest." The head of the Luan family sighed softly, glanced at Liu's daughter who had been silent for a long time, and said, "It is natural that my wife will like and fall in love with such a person who wholeheartedly considers the people. I feel sorry. If I were a woman, I would be the same as you."
Chapter completed!