The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Qian Da came back at this time and sneaked in from the backyard.

When Xia Mianwan saw Qian Da coming back, he asked the others to go to Huayangyuan first.

"Have you found out clearly?" After everyone else left, Xia Mianwan took Qian Da to the front hall.

Qian Da bowed and said, "Young Madam, you guessed correctly. The people who incited the people to make trouble outside this time were indeed people from the Qiu Mansion and the General's Mansion, and there were also a few thugs from the former Haichen Gang mixed in. Among the grain merchants who took the lead in raising prices, the owners behind the two largest grain stores were the Pingyang Marquis Mansion and the Xu Guogong Mansion."

"Do it by force?" Xia Mianwan was really a little surprised. Because of that banquet, she had a conflict with her former mother-in-law before, and deliberately put the matter of tying the Xuguo Mansion, Qiu Mansion, General Mansion and Pingyang Marquis Mansion together in the open. But she didn't expect that this time they were not afraid at all and came openly.

"Ah?" Qian Da didn't understand what Xia Mianwan meant.

Xia Mianwan waved her hand, indicating that it was not important, and asked Qian Da to continue.

Qian Dayu continued, "These four companies did add fuel to the fire, but the grain merchants are really despicable. I went to check and found that some of the people have been out of food for two or three days."

"How much has the price of grain increased now?" Xia Mianwan asked.

"It has more than tripled." Qian Dadao.

Xia Mianwan sneered, "Disregarding the lives of the people is indeed something Zheng Xiaoyun would do. Even if General Zheng was once a god of war, he would not be able to face the Zheng family ancestors a hundred years later if he gave birth to such a son."

Qian sighed. General Zheng was a very important figure and had once been the object of admiration for their group. However, after what happened in Yanzhou, when they mentioned General Zheng, they could not help but think of General Zheng Jr.

General Zheng is not very capable, but he has a bad temper, and most importantly, he has a bad character.

Before meeting his own young lady, Qian Da only thought that the young lady was a pitiful, miserable woman, and that Young General Zheng was a piece of shit.

But after meeting his own young lady, Qian Da realized that Young General Zheng was not only a good-for-nothing, but also blind and heartless.

"Young Madam, what should we do next?" Qian Da asked.

"Wait a little longer." Xia Mianwan said.

Qian Da said with some embarrassment: "Young Madam, I'm afraid those people outside won't leave in a short time. If we wait, I don't know how long we will have to wait. It's cold now. If someone freezes to death at the gate of our house, I'm afraid it will affect your reputation."

"I won't freeze to death in a short time. I'm still waiting for one more person." Xia Mianwan said.

"Who are you waiting for?" Qian Da asked in confusion.

"Xiao Wu, I asked my aunt to go back to Yanzhou early just to prepare for today. I expected that after these families suffered setbacks in Yubei, they would vent their anger on us. I asked Xiao Wu and my cousin's husband to send a batch of food to the capital, and the time should be almost here." Xia Mianwan said.

Qian Da didn't expect that his young mistress would even think of this. He was dumbfounded and asked, "Young mistress, you could have predicted this?"

Qian Da's expression was so funny that Xia Mianwan couldn't help laughing out loud, "You can't guess. Didn't your parents always ask you to read more books? If you read more books and history books, you will naturally be able to deduce it."

"Madam, what do you think about the journey by water or by land? I'll go and wait for you," Qian Da asked.

Xia Mianwan thought it would be better for Qian Da to wait there, so that Xiao Wu wouldn't be confused. "It should be a land route to a water route, and the end point must be land. You go to the South City Gate and wait."

"Yes!"

……

Zheng family.

Zheng Tingyan is in the study with Zheng Xiaoqi at this moment.

"Are you telling the truth?" Zheng Tingyan asked.

Zheng Xiaoqi nodded helplessly, "Yes... Father, my eldest brother is really behind this. And I found out something."

"What's the matter?"

"Brother should have joined forces with the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, Xu Guogong Mansion and Qiu Mansion." Zheng Xiaoqi said.

Zheng Tingyan was stunned, and looked at Zheng Xiaoqi in surprise, "Does your elder brother want to... seize the throne?"

Zheng Xiaoqi smiled helplessly and said, "Theoretically speaking, the emperor is in his prime, and the crown prince Xiaoze is kind-hearted, brave and resourceful, and is deeply loved by the emperor. There should be no dispute between the prince and the crown prince. But there are always people who are unwilling to give in and want to compete."

Zheng Tingyan was furious at first, but now he could only sigh, "I don't know why your elder brother... has come to this."

"Maybe one wrong step will lead to all the wrong steps." Zheng Xiaoqi said.

"how you said that?"

Zheng Xiaoqi said seriously this time: "Father, my brother was wrong at the beginning. Madam Pei is resourceful and always wants to be ahead of others. It was wrong for my brother to marry another woman when he already had a wife. Since he had done something shameless, he still cared about his reputation and was not decisive enough. Madam Pei found out his weakness and held him hostage.

Since you no longer want Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er, you should live a good life with your current sister-in-law.

But the eldest brother just refused to believe it and felt that he had gained power, so he wanted to provoke Madam Pei again.

If everything had been done openly and honestly, then there would have been no problem. However, the eldest brother used all kinds of small tricks to annoy others and gave the Zheng family the opportunity to be taken advantage of.

Father, you had already decided to give up on him, why did you soften your heart now?

If Madam Pei knows about what happened in Yanzhou, then everyone else will know about it.

This time, no matter whether the eldest brother himself wanted to unite with those companies or was held hostage by someone and had some leverage over him, he had no choice but to unite with those companies, and the result is irreversible.

Father, my elder brother has already entered this muddy water, and there is no turning back."

Zheng Tingyan looked at Zheng Xiaoqi and asked, "Xiaoqi, you always speak your mind. What do you want to say?"

"Father, now that things have come to this, it's impossible to keep a low profile. Seizing the throne is a heinous crime that will result in the extermination of nine generations of the clan. A general's success is built on the bones of thousands of men. You either reach the pinnacle of power or your family is confiscated and your clan is exterminated. Father, my eldest brother is dead, and we have no choice." Zheng Xiaoqi said stiffly.

Zheng Tingyan never expected that Zheng Xiaoqi would say such outrageous words, and angrily shouted: "How could you have such an idea!"

Zheng Xiaoqi smiled bitterly, "Father, am I the one who has this idea now? It's my elder brother! My elder brother not only thought about it, but also did it, and dragged the Zheng family into it. If you are really wise, you should have separated the family when he colluded with the Japanese pirates. Since you didn't dare to make up your mind at that time for various reasons, it's too late to be soft-hearted now!"

Zheng Tingyan staggered back a step. He had been loyal to the army and served his country all his life, but when did it come to this...

Zheng Xiaoqi sighed and said, "Father, since the matter has been settled, we have to fight to the death."

Zheng Tingyan seemed to have aged several years at this moment. "So..." Zheng Tingyan looked at Zheng Xiaoqi tiredly, "Are you on your brother's side?"

Zheng Xiaoqi shook his head, "Father, I am not on my eldest brother's side, I am on the side of the Zheng family."

Zheng Tingyan sat down silently and sighed.

Zheng Xiaoqi advised: "Father, I know you are loyal, and I am not asking you to be disloyal now. I am just changing your loyalty to a different master."

Zheng Tingyan said solemnly: "The Sixth Prince is still a young boy. No one knows what his character will be like in the future. This is a big gamble. What if he becomes a tyrant in the future?"

Zheng Xiaoqi asked, "Father, will the prince never change? It's all a big gamble. The bigger the stakes, the higher the reward after winning."

"You are gambling with the destiny of the Great Chen Kingdom!" Zheng Tingyan felt that his youngest son was so unreasonable and was extremely angry.

Zheng Xiaoqi said: "Yes, father, what we are betting on is the fate of the country!"

Zheng Tingyan lowered his hands dejectedly. Lian Po was old and he could no longer manage this family...