Surprise! I emptied the emperor's private treasury before exile

The village chief suddenly slapped his thigh and remembered what he had forgotten.

However, if such an embarrassing thing were to be told, wouldn't it make people laugh? Where is the dignity of the village chief? But if he didn't tell her, would the old woman misunderstand him?

Helpless, the village chief could only stammer and change the subject: "Wife, look. What is this?"

"What a fine purse!" Women and men always focus on different things. The village chief's wife was attracted by the purse in the village chief's hand at first sight. She snatched it away. "Let me see it."

After taking it, he realized something was wrong. "Old man, could it be in here?"

The village chief nodded and said, "Copper coins, exactly one hundred copper coins."

"I've made a fortune..." The village chief's wife's reaction to seeing so many copper coins was no less than that of the village chief. But the village chief was afraid of showing off his wealth, so he quickly covered his wife's mouth. "Old woman, keep your voice down."

The village chief's wife nodded quickly, signaling the village chief to take his hand away.

The village chief then let go of Chu Ci's hand and told him the purpose of Chu Ci's visit and his own plan. "Later, go tell the eldest brother to go to the Fan family to guard. The second brother will go over during dinner. In short, we must make sure that there is always someone watching the Fan family."

"Okay, I'll go find the boss and ask him to go over there immediately." The village chief's wife is also a person of action. She will not tolerate the copper money she has earned flying away because of poor performance.

On the other side, Mo Yan looked at Chu Ci along the way, wanting to say something but stopping himself several times.

Finally, Chu Ci couldn't bear it any longer. "Just say whatever you want to say. You know, I hate to keep things to myself."

"Young Madam, why bother the village chief with such a small matter as guarding the bricks and tiles? Minglu, Mingxin and others can do it very well." The money saved can be used for other things. Mo Yan really couldn't understand it.

Chu Ci smiled, but did not mention that the village chief was more suitable as a local boss than Minglu and Mingxin. He just explained lightly: "However, the Fan family will live in Jingtian Village in the future! One hundred copper coins are just small money, but as long as the village chief wants to live a good life, he will protect the Fan family wholeheartedly in the future."

"As long as we protect the Fan family, it doesn't matter who he is?" Mo Yan was a little nervous, but still asked.

Chu Ci was puzzled. It stands to reason that Mo Yan and the village chief had just met for the first time, so why would he be so hostile to him? So he asked solemnly: "Mo Yan, what is your basis for judging that the village chief has a bad character?"

Cai Wei, who was standing by, thought Chu Ci was angry, and hurriedly explained, "It wasn't Brother Mo Yan, it was me. I saw them drown a living baby in the river. If they were going to give birth to a child but not raise it, why did they give birth to that poor child?"

As she spoke, Caiwei actually started to sob.

Chu Ci saw that Cai Wei was really sad, and hugged her in his arms. Cai Wei cried even harder, "He was so young, how could they have the heart to do that to him."

Caiwei grew up in a refugee village, so she was not ignorant of the ups and downs of life. But after following Chu Ci, she had no worries about food and clothing every day, and the ladies of the Fan family were all gentle and kind. She thought she had moved away from the past.

She never expected that what happened in the past would reappear before her eyes so suddenly, and she finally could no longer suppress her emotions.

Chu Ci also felt uncomfortable, but she was calmer. "Caiwei, have you ever thought about the reason behind this?"

With Chu Ci's comfort, Cai Wei's mood gradually eased. After hearing this, she finally stopped crying, raised her head, and answered with a choked voice: "It's nothing more than favoring boys over girls, or is the child sick and you're afraid you can't raise him?"

Chu Ci shook his head slightly.

In her previous life, she had only read in the literature that people in the exile area would drown or abandon their newborn babies in order to avoid the head tax. Unexpectedly, a few days later, someone around her actually witnessed such a tragedy with their own eyes.

There may be more in the future, Chu Ci sighed in his heart. "Caiwei, this is Yazhou."

Although Caiwei didn't understand, Chuci had no intention of explaining. Seeing that Chuci was no longer in a good mood and looked tired, she immediately realized that they were the ones who caused the trouble.

I never dared to speak casually again along the way.

When they got back to the inn, Chu Ci locked himself in the room. The two had no choice but to quietly find Fan Jingrui and tell him everything. "Sir, it's all our fault for talking too much, otherwise the young lady wouldn't be so sad."

Fan Jingrui was a pure ancient man. Although he felt uncomfortable when he heard this, he was more dissatisfied with Mo Yan and Cai Wei. "You are talking too much. Go to your room and kneel for an hour."

"Yes." Mo Yan and Cai Wei did not dare to have any objection.

After Mo Yan and Cai Wei left, Fan Jingrui went to find his elder sister Fan Qianxi. He remembered that Chu Ci once joked that the way to cure a bad mood is very simple, just eat some sweets and let the sweetness penetrate into your heart.

Fan Jingrui decided to do the same.

It was rare that his younger brother knew how to coax his wife, so Fan Qianxi naturally gave his full support. But in just 20 minutes, Fan Jingrui knocked on Chu Ci's door with a plate of exquisitely shaped steamed cakes.

"Please come in——" Chu Ci's tone was still weak.

Fan Jingrui pushed the door open and sat down on a stool not far from the bed. Fang said, "Didn't you say that when you're in a bad mood, you should eat some sweets and let the sweetness seep into your heart. This is made by my elder sister especially for you. Would you like to try it?"

Steamed cake, I just mentioned it twice before. I didn't expect my elder sister to actually make it. Chu Ci's heart warmed slightly, and he scooped a spoonful into his mouth. "So sweet!"

"If you like it, eat more." Fan Jingrui advised when he saw that the dessert was really effective.

Chu Ci did not eat any more. "In fact, I have been mentally prepared. Yazhou is short of resources. There are spring taxes, autumn taxes, land taxes, and even the previous county magistrate added a head tax. In the end, less than one-tenth of the land goes to farmers. In this era, people do not have any contraceptive measures..."

Chu Ci kept talking, seemingly trying to excuse those people, but Fan Jingrui understood that Chu Ci was still mourning for that young life.

"My wife was kind and compassionate, but the dead are gone. Instead of dwelling on the sadness of the past, we should cherish the present, do more good deeds, and bring a little warmth and hope to those who are still suffering."

Chu Ci shook his head slightly. Even though Fan Jingrui was completely in line with her wishes and was very tolerant of her, Chu Ci still felt that something was missing. The estrangement of thousands of years really could not be eliminated overnight.

Leave? But where can I go?

Chu Ci had never realized so clearly that he was like an isolated island in this era.