Ma Liangji didn't say anything after knowing what happened today. He just personally selected a nun who taught the rules and sent her to the backyard. He would never let Ma Qiuling out until she was taught the right rules.
Even if such a petite and willful little lady marries into a good family, she will be a disaster. Then she will cause enmity between the Ma family and her husband's family.
Mrs. Ren didn't dare to plead for mercy. Her daughter was banned from Adachi rules, so she couldn't eat the food she felt so distressed about. She was so petty that the people in the kitchen refused to deliver food to Feng Yuxian and her sister. This happened to be caught by Ma Liangji who was expressing condolences to her nephew. Now it was better.
, angered Ma Liangji, and Ren was banned.
When Jiang Miao and Shen Yanqing came over the next day, they didn't see Ren's mother and daughter. Only Ma Liangji and Ma Jingming, their father and son, received them.
"My daughter offended the princess. I should have come to apologize in person, but instead I bothered the princess and Master Shen to make an extra trip."
Ma Liangji kept his attitude very low. He was originally from the emperor's faction, so he respected Jiang Miao even more.
"It's okay, it's just a little girl's quarrel. I don't take it to heart. I came to see Magistrate Ma today for other reasons."
"Oh? Ma is willing to hear the details."
Ma Liangji invited the two of them to sit down and handed over the tea himself. He had been prepared to be questioned by Jiang Miaoxing, but he didn't expect that she didn't take Ma Qiuling's troubles to heart at all.
Jiang Miao glanced at Shen Yanqing, who nodded slightly and then spoke in a deep voice.
"Ziyan has traveled throughout Yangzhou City in the past two days and saw that the water level in the river has risen sharply. The crops in the fields are flooded, which may affect the harvest."
Ma Liangji knew that Shen Yanqing went south just for spring planting. It was not surprising that he would care about the people's harvest. Moreover, Ma Liangji had always been concerned about the rain. When he heard Shen Yanqing's words, he first praised him.
"Master Shen is indeed a good official who cares about the people and loves them like his own son. Mr. Ma is ashamed."
"Lord Ma, you are very complimentary. The food harvest is of fundamental concern to the people. Since we are serving as officials in the court, we naturally have to keep the interests of the people at heart."
"Master Shen is right, we should pay attention to the autumn harvest soon." Ma Liangji paused and continued.
"It's just that there has always been more rain in the summer in the south of the Yangtze River. Although the rain lasted for a long time this year, the rainfall has dropped compared with previous years. The rain has stopped today. When the water level goes down in a few days, the water in the crop fields will be drained out.
"
He had been the magistrate of Yangzhou for more than ten years. He did not know everything about the situation in Jiangnan, but he did know a few things. Therefore, although he paid attention to what Shen Yanqing said, he was not too panicked.
But Shen Yanqing's frown never relaxed after hearing this. He felt that Ma Liangji's idea was too optimistic.
"After a severe drought, there will be floods. There were droughts in the past two years, and this year it rains non-stop, and the weather has no tendency to clear up. Ziyan is worried that there will be floods."
Because he was busy with spring planting, he read a lot of agricultural books and dabbled in astronomical phenomena. Compared with previous years, there was not much rain in the south of the Yangtze River. However, due to the severe drought in the north two years ago, Shen Yanqing had to pay attention to it.
.
Now the Great Yan Dynasty has been suffering from illness for a long time. As the south is a large granary, if it is also hit by disaster this year, the people of the Great Yan Dynasty will definitely not be able to recover within three years.
"Is it really going to be a disaster?"
Ma Liangji was dubious, but Shen Yanqing had just rebuilt Zhenjiang Mansion last year. He had experience in disaster relief and had stayed in the Ministry of Household Affairs for another year, so Ma Liangji subconsciously believed him.
Not to mention that if there is a disaster and the people are destroyed and displaced, the first person the emperor will blame will be him, the prefect of Yangzhou!
"It's better to believe that it exists than to believe that it doesn't exist. Mr. Ma should make preparations in advance."
"Okay!" Ma Liangji nodded in agreement, "Master Shen still needs help with flood control."
"good."
Ma Liangji and Shen Yanqing went to the study to discuss flood control. Jiang Miao did not want to interfere with these official affairs, so she followed the maid of Ma's house to the inner courtyard to find Feng Yuxian.
Ma's Mansion is a courtyard with four entrances. Feng Yuxian and her sister live in the west courtyard. The location is quiet, and you can hear the sound of gurgling water when you get closer.
She was taking inventory of the Feng family's property in the corridor. The tea on the table had been refilled several times and was still steaming. The tea leaves inside were curled and she couldn't tell which one was greener than the leaves in the courtyard.
"Guess who I am?"
Jiang Miao stretched out her index finger and shouted at the little maid, then walked behind Feng Yuxian from the side and covered her eyes.
"Miaoya..." Feng Yuxian couldn't help but smile when she heard the familiar voice, "Why are you here?"
"My husband and I have something to do with Magistrate Ma, so I just happened to come over to see you."
Jiang Miao sat down next to her, took the hot tea from the little maid and took a sip.
"Looking for uncle? But what did aunt and cousin do?"
Feng Yuxian didn't know their identities yet, so her intuition was that Ren and Ma Qiuling were making things difficult for her again.
"No, your aunt and cousin can't touch me for official matters."
Her eyebrows were carefree, and although Feng Yuxian didn't know what she was capable of, she was inexplicably confident in her.
"That's good."
Knowing that Jiang Miao was not in trouble, she felt calmer and the sadness between her brows disappeared.
"If you don't talk about this, how are you living these days?"
"It's good. My uncle is kind and treats me and Yutang well. After Qiu, Yutang can go to the academy. He has been smart since he was a child. If he can get a good name, my parents will be relieved."
No matter how rich the Feng family was, they were still at the bottom of the family. Feng Yuxian hoped that her younger brother would pass the examination and become an official in the court, so that she could avenge her parents.
"I will definitely do it." Jiang Miao shook her hand, and Feng Yuxian wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and smiled at her.
"It's my fault that my eye sockets are too shallow for you to see the joke."
"It's a pleasure to watch a beautiful woman cry. If I weren't afraid that your tears would dry up, I would have let you cry a little longer."
Jiang Miao was teasing her, and as expected, Feng Yuxian burst into laughter and gave her a gentle blow with her pink fist, "You, you are so smooth-talking and not serious."
The two played around for a while, and when they calmed down to drink tea, Jiang Miao noticed the account book on the stone table.
In the past, Feng's father and Feng Wu were in charge of these matters. Now that Feng's father has passed away and several old people from the Feng family have betrayed their master and been imprisoned, these businesses have been handed over to Feng Yuxian.
She had never been exposed to business before, but now it was difficult for her to read. She spent a long time flipping through the ledger without finishing it.
"This number is wrong. The cost was 2,000 taels of silver and the selling price was 3,000. Excluding labor costs, there was still a profit. However, he recorded a loss of 1,500 taels. The reason for the loss was vague. No matter how you look at it, there is something fishy.
"
Feng Yuxian was enlightened by her suggestion, but she said that the account could not be reconciled for a long time. It turned out that the account book was false from the beginning.
Feng Yuxian was shaking with anger. If Jiang Miao hadn't been here today, she might still have been kept in the dark.
