I became a concubine in the palace and cured my master's hidden disease.

Lin Yan walked quickly to Zhao Yuan's study. Her steps were so fast that it seemed as if something was chasing her from behind.

"why?"

"Why?" Zhao Yuan had just picked up the official document and hadn't had time to take a look at it when he saw Lin Yan rushing in with red eyes, obviously having just cried.

"Why did the prince want to arrest Li Yiyuan?" Lin Yan asked, her voice trembling slightly, like a fallen leaf in the wind.

"Who is Li Yiyuan?" Zhao Yuan asked with a frown.

When asked this question, Lin Yan paused for a moment, a hint of hesitation flashed across her face, and then she became firm again: "Li Yiyuan is just an ordinary traveling merchant!"

"Oh! Why would I arrest an ordinary traveling merchant? How do you know him?" Zhao Yuan continued to ask.

"There were many dangers along the way. He saved me at all costs several times. That's why I got to know him!" Lin Yan thought of the difficulties and dangers they had experienced together, and a trace of gratitude and nostalgia flashed in her eyes.

"Oh! The young man who was talking and laughing with you on the boat, could he be Li Yiyuan?" There was a hint of suspicion and jealousy in Zhao Yuan's voice.

"It's just a normal communication. You're not making up anything!" Lin Yan glared at him and said dissatisfiedly.

"Of course not. But how do you know I caught him?" Zhao Yuan's face turned serious, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"This..." Lin Yan took out the letter in her hand. Her hands were shaking slightly, as if the letter weighed a thousand pounds.

Xiang Ling, who was standing aside, was speechless. Fortunately, she had made preparations in advance, otherwise she would have died.

Zhao Yuan took the letter and secretly marveled at how quickly the news was transmitted. He looked at Lin Yan and asked, "Who gave it to you?"

Lin Yan frowned slightly, not wanting to involve Xiang Ling, and said, "Why do you care who gave it to me? Just tell me whether you arrested anyone or not."

Zhao Yuan nodded and admitted, "We did catch a few people reselling beef yesterday, but..."

However, before Zhao Yuan could finish, Lin Yan started talking like a machine gun: "It's hard for a peddler to survive, and you guys arrested him for no reason? He just bought and sold a few pounds of beef privately, didn't he?"

Zhao Yuan looked a little unhappy and said, "Do you know that in our country, cattle cannot be slaughtered privately?"

Lin Yan was stunned. She had never thought about this question. In modern society, beef can be bought at the market anytime and anywhere. Didn't people in ancient times eat beef? She asked in confusion, "Isn't it for eating meat?"

Zhao Yuan frowned and shook his head, "You know that farming the land depends on them, how can you kill them privately? Each one is a valuable asset of our country."

"If that's the case, we can punish them by asking them to raise more cows to compensate for their mistake this time, rather than barbarically sending them to a cold and bitter place. Your one-size-fits-all approach will only block economic development. Only by changing the punishment measures can we increase the revenue of the national treasury." Lin Yan analyzed seriously.

Zhao Yuan fell into deep thought after hearing this. He thought that what Lin Yan said made sense, but he did not tell her the truth. Instead, he thought for a moment and replied, "Well, you have some truth. However, this matter is more complicated and not as simple as it seems. But considering that he saved you before, I will let him go this time and punish him by asking him to raise three cows and return them to the government office. I will deal with other matters when we return to the capital."

This was already a very good result. When Lin Yan heard this, she felt relieved and showed gratitude on her face. She quickly bowed to Zhao Yuan and said, "Thank you, sir."

"The treasury is currently empty. How can we increase fiscal revenue? I want to hear your advice." Zhao Yuan changed the subject and asked. He found that he could always find inspiration to solve some difficult problems from Lin Yan's paintings.

Lin Yan lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know much about the rest, but when I was running a store in Beijing, I found that there were too many tax items for merchants. This forced merchants to keep raising the prices of their goods, and as a result, only rich people could afford them.

How can ordinary people spend money when they can't even get enough to eat? Without consumption, materials cannot circulate normally, and the handicrafts in their hands are just handicrafts and cannot be turned into money. Without money, they naturally have no consumption ability. In this way, the profit margin of merchants will become very narrow, and even if the state imposes heavy taxes on them, the tax revenue received will still be small. There is a saying called increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. I wonder if we can try to make some changes in the source of taxation?"

"These are just some of my superficial opinions, for reference only?" Lin Yan added.

Zhao Yuan fell into deep thought, and it took him a while to react. He saw Lin Yan still staring at him eagerly. "What else?"

Lin Yan whispered, "I want to go to Xiao Fugui's house. If it weren't for them, I would have been an underwater ghost. So, I want to go see them before I leave."

"Someone come here!" Zhao Yuan thought it was feasible and shouted loudly, and the servant pushed the door open.

Zhao Yuan ordered, "Take five hundred taels of silver and follow Master Lin."

Lin Yan said excitedly: "Thank you"

Xiao Fugui's family was indeed short of money. With this money, Xiao Fugui could go to the academy to study. With his talent, he would have a good chance of passing the imperial examination. She was about to bow and thank Zhao Yuan again.

"Okay, Xiangling, serve Master Lin well. If anything happens to Master Lin, you will be the one to be held responsible. Go early and come back early." Zhao Yuan said.

Xiang Ling was ordered to stay no closer than three feet from Lin Yan, and two guards with swords followed behind her.

Lin Yan pouted. Zhao Yuan thought too highly of her. Was she such an ignorant person? The conversation she overheard last night alerted her. She would never choose to run away before some issues were clarified.

Return to Weijiazhuang

The first person to discover them was Aunt Wei, who was wandering around Weijiazhuang all day. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had seen it wrong.

"Old man, come and take a look. Is the woman walking towards this side the bitch named Lin?"

Uncle Wei squinted his eyes and looked at her for a while, then said, "She looks quite similar, but she seems to be more beautiful than before."

Aunt Wei pinched her old man hard after hearing this. "You idiot, don't you see how she's dressed and dressed? And her temperament, there's no such person in our small place. It's over, haven't we offended someone we shouldn't have offended?"

"Who knows? I told you a long time ago that beautiful women should not be messed with, but you insisted on doing so. Now look what's happened. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first." After saying that, Uncle Wei walked along the wall and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Asshole!" Aunt Wei cursed and did not dare to stay in the street any longer. She turned around and ran home. After returning to her yard, she quickly closed the door and put the bolt on it. Then she ran to the window and stared outside nervously. She did not dare to breathe, for fear that her breathing would be too loud and attract Lin Yan's attention.

Lin Yan watched Aunt Wei's series of actions from afar, just smiled with disdain, and did not think of pursuing the matter.

Little Fugui was playing on the street. He saw Lin Yan from a distance, left his friends behind, ran back to the yard and shouted excitedly, "Grandpa, Sister Lin is back! Sister Lin is back! She brought a lot of people with her. This time we are no longer afraid of being bullied."

Grandpa Fugui, who was busy in the yard, ran out immediately. My heart was beating fast. I knew that Lin Yan was born into a noble family, but I didn't expect such a noble person to be so powerful. Wearing gold and silver can only mean that she is born into a rich family, but with guards carrying swords behind her, this is not an ordinary rich family. Only officials can have such a family, and it is not just an ordinary official family. Maybe it is the legendary royal family.

Little Fugui didn't know what was going on, but he excitedly jumped up and down to run to greet Lin Yan.

"Don't come near!" The guard with a sword took a big step and blocked Xiao Fugui like a mountain.

Little Fugui was startled and stood there in a daze, not daring to move forward. He timidly called out, "Sister Lin! Are they all bad people? Are they going to bully you?"

"Back off." Lin Yan shouted, took a big step forward, pulled the obviously frightened Xiao Fugui, bent down and gently touched Xiao Fugui's head. "It's okay, they won't bully me, nor you."