Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 439: Chapter 439 The Worst Thing in a Relationship is no Response_1

The maid had been feigning fear before, screaming and shouting pretentiously, but now that she was truly going to be beaten, she hadn’t even been struck by a board yet when she began to cry out of fear.

But of what use were tears?

The King of Eternal Victory was coming to watch, even as the Imperial Consort’s personal Serverfly, those in the Punishment Yard dared not beat her lightly. They struck her hard and fast, making the maid scream for her parents and cry to the heavens and earth to no avail.

An Jing and Xiao Changyi had taken a walk together to the Punishment Yard, yet they did not actually enter it, and instead walked around it, taking another route back to Fenghua Palace.

Consort Yu, upon learning that An Jing and Xiao Changyi hadn’t actually entered the Punishment Yard and that her personal Serverfly had been beaten to within an inch of her life, was even more furious, grinding her teeth with greater intensity.

Indeed, upon hearing the news, she even smashed the teacup in her hand.

”Curse you, King of Eternal Victory... Curse you, Changsheng Princess...” Consort Yu gritted her teeth, her face twisted with rage.

Seeing Consort Yu like this, the Pingjun Princess shrank back too scared to speak.

...

Upon returning to Fenghua Palace, An Jing sat before the table, enjoying the hawthorn cake Xiao Changyi had someone prepare for her.

Her husband truly cherished her, making whatever she wished to eat available in various forms. She was indeed so blessed.

However, the hawthorn cake wasn’t as sour as she had imagined, so after eating a few pieces, An Jing stopped and instead reached for the plate of sour plums on the table, stuffing them into her mouth one by one.

Xiao Changyi sat beside An Jing, leisurely sipping his tea while watching her eat.

With a slight convergence of his cool gaze, he took the initiative to say, ”The old man called me to the Imperial Study Room to discuss—”

Before Xiao Changyi could finish, An Jing interrupted with a chuckle, ”My husband, there are some things you actually don’t have to tell me.”

Xiao Changyi gently grasped one of her hands, ”But I want to tell you.” He paused, ”You tell me everything, and I also want to share everything with you.”

An Jing was first taken aback and then felt so sweet inside that she couldn’t help smiling, ”Then go ahead.” Emotional matters fear the lack of response the most. Her husband responding to her, and her being able to respond to her husband, was truly wonderful, better than she could have asked for.

”Mm,” Xiao Changyi nodded, then said, ”This year, there have been quite a few disasters, and the national treasury has frequently disbursed silver and grain for relief efforts. Now, there is not much grain and silver left in the treasury, and the officials all advocate for increasing taxes, particularly the commercial and agricultural taxes. While the old man and Chengyu had no objections to increasing commercial taxes, they are both against raising agricultural taxes. However, with the shortfall in the treasury, they were at a loss and sought my counsel.”

An Jing frowned and said, ”The Emperor and Chengyu know the suffering of the people. Xiyun has kept the increase of agricultural taxes quite stable, almost without changes. The agricultural tax levied is actually already high. After paying the taxes on their farmlands, the people can barely make ends meet. If taxes are increased further, it will certainly lead to public suffering.”

”That’s true,” Xiao Changyi agreed, nodding.

An Jing fell silent for a moment before asking, ”My husband, what was the outcome of your discussions?”

Xiao Changyi replied, ”I opposed the increase in agricultural taxes, so the old man and Chengyu temporarily abandoned the idea of raising them. But if the increased commercial taxes don’t ensure a sufficient amount of grain and silver in the treasury, it is inevitable that agricultural taxes will be increased in the future.”

With a plum in her mouth, An Jing thought for a moment before saying, ”If the Emperor could swallow his pride and ask those wealthy individuals for help, there would actually be no need to increase either commercial or agricultural taxes.”

With so many wealthy merchants and nobles, if the Emperor of Xiyun asked each one for a bit of contribution, the national treasury would surely be more than sufficient.