The people kneeling trembled, and those who were unclear might have thought they were cold.
After a long while, Zhao Jiaqi said, "Rise, and be seated."
Fang Mingjiang and the prefect stood up and sat on chairs to the side. Xiao Bingzheng only dared to sit on the edge of his stool, his posture as straight as a stone statue.
The governor, leading Pan Yuexin, remained kneeling on the ground, begging for forgiveness. "This humble minister has failed to teach his daughter properly. I beg the Empress to punish me!"
"Why should I punish you? Your beloved daughter insulted, slandered, and mocked Madam Fang, who is also my close friend Song Lan. If you have anything to say, take it up with her." Zhao Jiaqi directly steered the conversation back to Song Lan.
It wasn't that her husband had attracted trouble, nor was she being insulted. This matter was best handled by the parties involved themselves.
Zhao Jiaqi helped Chunfen leave. She had said what needed to be said, and almost everything that shouldn't have been said. In short, her people were not to be slandered by just anyone.
After the Empress was respectfully sent off, the prefect Xiao Bingzheng breathed a long sigh of relief.
Study.
Fan Zehao pulled his wife onto his lap and smiled, looking at her. "I never knew my wife was so eager. It seems you're a pure and innocent type!"
Zhao Jiaqi was slightly stunned, then quickly realized that Sixi had leaked her words to him.
At that moment, she smiled sweetly and shook her head, saying, "No, I am your wife!"
This statement pleased Fan Zehao greatly. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
The two sat in the study for a long time, looking at some of the memorials that the Prime Minister had sent, which he deemed important. After a while, her eyes were almost strained.
They were all trivial matters. It was either this young master beat that young master, or that young master scratched this young master's face.
Otherwise, it was ministers and their sons keeping concubines outside. Reporting one case was one thing, but several were reported.
These memorials gave Fan Zehao a headache, and he sighed continuously.
"These are all petty matters. Even ordinary people's children who get into fights don't need to cry to their parents for help. These noble young masters are like babies who haven't been weaned."
Some were actually not taking his words seriously. He had explicitly forbidden concubines, stating that anyone taking a concubine had to pay a hundred thousand taels of silver. But these people found loopholes, keeping mistresses instead of concubines, thinking they could escape punishment this way?
"Husband, if you ask me, these people are really idle. Why not give them fifty lashes each and send them to the military camp? Let that girl Yumeng train them to understand what masculinity is. It'll be a New Year's gift for her!"
Fan Zehao's eyes lit up at his wife's suggestion. This was a good idea, and the child would surely like it.
Didn't they like to fight?
Perfect. His daughter was also hot-tempered and loved to fight. Why not send her to the military camp to enjoy the process of fighting every day?
Well, it could also give Yumeng a taste of the feeling her parents had every time they dealt with her fights, wishing they could strangle her to death. Would she still cause trouble in the future?
Without a word, he wrote down the solution. Then, he casually tossed the memorial about keeping mistresses to her. "I think we can't not let them keep mistresses. It's not urgent to deal with these memorials for another month, is it?"
Zhao Jiaqi looked at his faintly smiling face, her mouth almost reaching her ears. He didn't seem to be taking it as lightly as he said.
"Whatever you say. It doesn't matter if we deal with it in two months!" Not fully understanding her husband's intentions, and fearing being proven wrong about his little sly plan, she decided to go along with him.
He chuckled, tightening his left arm around her waist, and said with a smile, "After the New Year, we'll conduct a unified inspection of those in the capital who keep mistresses. If any are found, each mistress will incur a fine of two hundred thousand taels. If a household keeps more than two mistresses, the tax will be doubled. If they keep five or more, including five, they will be directly sent to the inner city to work as laborers for free for one year. If any of them forcibly take civilian women as mistresses, they will be sentenced to five to ten years of hard labor. If we don't deal with them severely this time, they'll really think I'm a sick cat!"
So ruthless. If he let it slide now, wouldn't those people think he didn't care about this matter at all? They'd test him, thinking he wouldn't intervene, and the capital would be overrun with mistresses!
Her husband was not only planning to fleece them but also to kill two birds with one stone. Perhaps this would once again enrich the national treasury.
"I think it's a good plan. This method of yours is excellent. I believe no one will dare to keep mistresses after this!"
Even if there were, they would be few. An unscheduled inspection like this, perhaps every year, the Yun Kingdom could rely on these lustful men to sustain the nation.
Immediately, he summoned the chief executive and ordered him to take a team back to the capital to discreetly investigate who was keeping mistresses. Evidence and witnesses were crucial. This time, they would be caught off guard.
As the approved memorials returned to the capital and reached the Prime Minister, seeing that the noble young masters were sent to the military camp and that the little princess was to train them, Song Xin's face couldn't help but twitch.
Without a word, he immediately threw the two troublemaking young masters into the Jingjiao Grand Barracks and handed them over to Princess Yumeng for management.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, the snowflakes in the sky grew heavier, falling every few days.
The weather was so cold that one wanted to lie in bed every day.
Whether Zhao Jiaqi's eyes were deceiving her or it was her imagination, ever since the governor's daughter had caused trouble, Fang Mingjiang seemed like a changed man.
Every day after handling official business, he would hover around Song Lan, acting like a devoted admirer. After Chunfen explained it to her, she learned that ever since that incident, Fang Mingjiang had been sleeping on the floor and had not dared to touch the bedside of the bed. He was constantly coaxing his wife, wanting to sleep in the bed.
Zhao Jiaqi grinned and said, "See? If a woman isn't ruthless, her position isn't stable. This is how it should be!"
Chunfen covered her mouth and giggled. If Master Fang heard his wife say this, he would probably be so angry he'd pass out.
She remembered a saying: a fool sleeps on a warm kang, all thanks to strong vitality.
But that fool was at least a young fool. Now, her husband went hunting in the mountains every day, catching both large and small prey, and bringing them home. In this cold weather, he still ran out every day.
He would be out all day, and the dried meat at home would be enough to eat until next New Year's.
Besides, he wasn't an eighteen-year-old young man, yet he was still showing off every day, not knowing what the cold was.
Roasting by the fire, looking out the window, the sky was already darkening. Why hadn't he returned yet?
As she was thinking, she saw a shadow flash across the yard. If it wasn't him, who could it be?
Turning her head, she saw the thick cotton curtain being lifted. Before he even entered, she heard him shout, "Wife, look what I caught! Come and see!"
"What good thing have you caught to make you so anxious... Ah, it's a sable!"