Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Concubine Jing was the late emperor's concubine and a member of the royal family.

Yu Shizhang was an earl of a different surname and a meritorious official in the imperial court.

In terms of etiquette and status, the status of the Concubine Dowager is much higher than that of an earl of a different surname. When Yu Shizhang met the Concubine Dowager Jing, he had to perform great etiquette, while the Concubine Dowager Jing only had to nod.

But when it comes to real power, the situation is different.

Although Concubine Jing is a member of the royal family, neither she nor Prince Cheng'an has real power.

After all, she and her son were just tools for the emperor to "demonstrate filial piety and stabilize the royal family."

If they develop ambitions and disrupt the government, not only will the emperor no longer give them face, but even his own ministers will be able to step on them at will.

Such as right now.

"I don't know how Shen Zheng and I have offended Prince Cheng'an!" Concubine Jing was angry, and Yu Shizhang was even angrier than her. "I have worked for the Great Zhou and the court for decades, and even if I haven't made any contributions, I have worked hard! Shen Zheng had been in the officialdom for less than two years when she suffered such a disaster and almost died. She was unable to serve her country!"

"Your Highness, I just want to ask you, Prince Cheng'an's life is life, but aren't the lives of me and Shen Zheng also life? Your Majesty is kind and considerate, and out of consideration for the late emperor and our brotherly love, you only stripped Prince Cheng'an of his princely title. Aren't you satisfied?"

Being questioned in this way by the court officials, Concubine Jing felt completely humiliated.

Right now, it seems that the only thing that can help her turn the situation around is this "life of the concubine".

"It's you and Cheng'an...I'm sorry, Your Majesty, and the late emperor!"

Her face was filled with grief. After a wail, she forced herself to stand up and ran towards the main pillar in the hall.

"Toffee Queen!"

Eunuch Hong exclaimed in surprise, but did not move a muscle. He only stared at the emperor, waiting for his orders.

Shen Zheng curled her fingers and inexplicably recalled a research paper she had read in her previous life - "On the Possibility and Practicality of Death from Hitting Pillars".

The literature points out that in order to kill oneself by hitting a pillar, the three key elements of "time, place and people" are indispensable.

First, choose a hard brick or jade pillar to hit;

Second, it is necessary to accurately strike the most fragile temporal bone and skull base;

The third and most important point is that the person who hits the pillar must go all out, hit it hard with the determination to "die", and cannot be stopped by external forces.

Combining the above three points, Shen Zheng believed that the possibility of Concubine Jing dying by hitting the pillar at this time was zero.

analyse as below:

First, what she was about to hit was a wooden pillar wrapped in silk.

Second, her rushing posture was wrong, and she couldn't hit the temporal bone or the skull base at all. The human forehead is very hard, and if she kept going like that, she might have dented the wooden pillar instead.

Third, and most importantly – no one pulled her back, but she herself hesitated and didn’t “go all out” at all.

Summary: Concubine Jing did not want to die, she just performed the act of hitting the pillar to put pressure on the emperor with her life in order to achieve her goal.

In fact, it is easy to analyze the truth by looking through the phenomenon to the essence.

"Your Highness, if anything happens to you, no one will plead for Prince Cheng'an." Shen Zheng said calmly, looking at the Dowager Concubine Jing who was hugging the pillar.

When Concubine Jing heard these words, they sounded like a complete sarcasm.

But she really didn't dare to die.

She turned to look at the emperor, the horror in her eyes nowhere to hide - not only did the emperor not send anyone to stop her, but he could watch her die coldly...

What does this mean?

This shows that the emperor really doesn’t care about her and Cheng’an’s lives!

This means that the emperor doesn’t care about the things left behind by the previous emperor!

A chill rose from the soles of her feet, like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue, wrapping around her and making her tremble all over and her breathing difficult.

"His Majesty......."

"After being stripped of his title, my fifth brother moved to a villa outside the palace and lived with the Dowager Consort. This was a way of showing his filial piety." The emperor interrupted her mercilessly.

"Half of the property confiscated from the palace will be sent to the Yongning Marquis's Mansion, and the other half will be allocated to the Tongan County Government. As for Jingyun Manor, which was owned by the Concubine Dowager, it will be considered a personal apology to Shen Qing, to compensate her for the shock she suffered during the assassination."

"Jing, Jingyun Manor..."

Concubine Jing's voice broke and all the color drained from her face.

Long before she entered the palace, she had wondered whether the emperor had already noticed the incident at Jingyun Manor. Otherwise, why would he ignore the late emperor's wishes and insist on stripping Cheng'an of his title?

At this moment, the emperor's words completely cleared up her confusion.

He really had known about Jingyun Manor's affairs for a long time...

In this case, even if she really bumped into the palace pillar today and broke her head and bled, he would never let Cheng An go.

"Send the Concubine back." The Emperor stopped looking at her and summoned the attendants from the other garden to place her under house arrest. "The Concubine is emotionally distressed. Rest well in the other garden for six months. When you are well again, I will personally visit you."

The servants filed in, seemingly to help her, but in fact they lifted her up directly.

She knew there was no turning back, so she kowtowed and thanked him: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. I will take my leave."

After the farce ended, the emperor leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and sighed, "Yu Qing and Shen Qing, please go to the Imperial Garden first. The Queen and I will follow."

Shen Zheng's mind was full of "What on earth is there in Jingyun Manor?" Upon hearing this, she followed Yu Shizhang and stood up to take her leave.

After leaving the warm room and finding no one around, she could no longer contain herself and asked, "Master, what exactly is Jingyun Manor, under the name of the Concubine Dowager, doing? Is it related to Prince Cheng'an?"

Yu Shizhang's face was solemn, and he lowered his voice. "Jingyun Manor...is located at the junction of Yanzhou and Shangjing. It has beautiful scenery, with thousands of acres of fertile farmland and vast forests. On weekdays, the grain and mountain products produced by the manor are also sent to major merchants in Beijing for sale. It looks no different from the property of an ordinary noble..."

Before Shen Zheng could speak, he continued, "The problem lies in... Although Jingyun Manor is located in a remote area, it is close to the salt road, so I guess..."

Shen Zheng was startled and raised her sleeve to cover her mouth: "Is it contraband salt?!"

No matter if they are royal nobles or common people, as long as they touch illegal salt, they will be considered as treason!

That is a serious crime of decapitation!

but......

Shen Zheng couldn't understand why His Majesty only stripped him of his princely title? He didn't mention the assassination attempt, but simply said he was involved in salt smuggling. And yet His Majesty spared his life?

This is very wrong.

"I don't understand this either." Thinking about the situation in the palace just now, Yu Shizhang was slightly worried: "Your Majesty... seems to be worried about something. Perhaps this matter is related to the late emperor."

Something to do with a guy who's been dead for over twenty years?

Shen Zheng calculated the days.

At that time, she probably had just learned to walk.

The story behind this is so profound that even Yu Shizhang couldn't guess it, let alone her.

"If you can't figure it out, then forget about it." As they were about to reach the entrance to the Imperial Garden, Yu Shizhang comforted her, "Since His Majesty has given you Jingyun Manor, he won't leave any loose ends. All you have to do is wait for the deed to be delivered."

Shen Zheng sighed silently.

Having said that, she couldn't help but think about it when such a big potato suddenly came into her hands for no apparent reason.

I don’t know what the emperor wants to do.