In danger, he traveled through time to save her, and the black-bellied prince doted on her

"Yes, master." Cha Heng looked up at the soapberry tree hanging in the rain. The clusters of petals looked like the three heavy snowfalls that bullied Mu Jinan.

He would scrape off their flesh piece by piece and drain their filthy blood drop by drop.

Five days later, at the Zhuozhou Governor's Mansion, several servants were cleaning up the fallen petals in front of the Observatory.

Zhou Sili was sitting in front of the table in the house, counting beads on an abacus. He had been here for some time as he came to check accounts and collect taxes.

Zhou Sili wanted Sheng Panzhu to give him some silver so that he could use the money to do business when the world was in chaos and warlords were fighting for power.

Zhou Sili had been hinting at Sheng Panzhu for many days, but the old fox Sheng Panzhu just treated him to delicious food and drinks.

Look, Sheng Panzhu was staring at Zhou Sili's abacus beads and at the boiling tea.

He specially added ginseng and cordyceps to Mengshan tea to nourish Zhou Sili's body, and also placed the best bird's nest on the table.

Zhou Sili simply looked down upon these small favors. He dialed the second bead faster and faster, meaning, don't play dumb, give me the money quickly!

Sheng Panzhu grabbed Zhou Sili's fingers. He had never seen such an insatiable and shameless person.

The fact that Emperor Hui appointed Xie Chengzhang and Xie Shaoqin as governors also made Sheng Panzhu feel a sense of crisis.

Sheng Panzhu has no children, but no one wants to die hastily when they are in glory! People who have not fulfilled their wishes do not want to die in the hands of villains!

Sheng Panzhu had a half-angry look on his face. When Zhou Sili frowned at him, he immediately adjusted his expression and smiled like he was coaxing a child:

"Master Zhou, if the upper two beads continue to be allocated like this, all the national taxes for the five years of Dasheng will be allocated. How can Zhuozhou have so much tax revenue?"

Emperor Hui, who was far away in Sheng'an, could not see this blatant slander and corruption.

Even if Emperor Hui could see, he would close his eyes and pretend to be blind.

Emperor Hui just wanted all the taxes owed by Zhuozhou. If Sheng Panzhu could pay the maritime trade taxes in advance, he would be more than happy to do so.

Zhou Sili deliberately raised his eyelids and pretended to be sleepy: "Oh, really?"

He hasn't stopped moving the beads in his hand yet. Who doesn't have a thick skin because he has been in the court?

He kept wasting time like this. The longer it took, the more likely it was that Emperor Hui would issue an imperial decree if he couldn't get the money.

Perhaps it was good news that Zhou Sili could be appointed as the governor, and then all the tax revenues in Zhuozhou would be in his pocket.

Sheng Panzhu guessed Zhou Sili's plan, and he was indeed worried that Emperor Hui would demote him.

Sheng Panzhu was willing to compromise. While pouring tea for Zhou Sili, he held Zhou Sili's fingers tightly.

Sheng Panzhu got straight to the point: "Lord Zhou, Queen Zhang must be concerned about your future."

"You are not from the same clan as Zhou Shenmao of Yanzhou and Zhou Mu of Suiting. You are alone and weak in Sheng'an. If you want to save your life and become a rich man, you might as well listen to my advice!"

Zhou Sili was not completely unconcerned. The people were talking about his forced taxation in Sheng'an, and he didn't know when Emperor Hui would punish him for the sake of his own reputation.

Strangely enough, the Sheng family is not among the prosperous big families in the world today, but Sheng Panzhu's official position is stable enough.

Zhou Sili was just waiting for someone to help him out of this predicament. He left Sheng'an and didn't want to go back at all, but he was afraid that Emperor Hui would issue an imperial decree to kill him.

Zhou Sili knew that Sheng Panzhu, who could still be an official with ease despite defaulting on taxes, would definitely have a way.

He let go of the two beads, put away his usual dissolute appearance, and sat with his back straight: "Please speak, sir."

Sheng Panzhu looked at Zhou Sili who suddenly became serious. Did he always pretend to be arrogant, rude, stupid and ignorant before?

We have been tormenting him these days, and the extra 90 million taels of tax silver are all waiting for him to come up with ideas?

Both of them were afraid that the other would report to Emperor Hui quietly, so they had been enemies for a long time.

It would be safer now to open the skylight and jump into the gutter together to discuss shameful deeds!

Sheng Panzhu took a sip of tea before speaking: "For the sake of our official positions, tax silver must be sent to Sheng'an. However, what kind of money is sent and when it is sent to Sheng'an depends on when Prince Xi stirs up chaos in the world."

Zhou Sili was not too surprised by Sheng Panzhu's proposal. He had thought about taking risks before, but he was not sure about Sheng Panzhu's thoughts before.

Zhou Sili scooped up some cordyceps with a small spoon and took a bite. He said, "When Prince Xi sends troops to Sheng'an, we can fish in troubled waters and get the money back. But how much silver will Lord Sheng give me?"

Sheng Panzhu held up three fingers: "Three hundred thousand taels."

Zhou Sili felt that Sheng Panzhu was treating beggars badly, and he was not happy: "Zhuozhou owes taxes, and the account book shows more than this amount, and we haven't seen the real account yet?"

The cunning fox and the dog-eat-dog game have created a ring in the spring breeze where no one can deceive anyone.

Both sides were afraid that if they fought for too long, their efforts would be in vain, but at the same time they were unwilling to make any concessions.

Zhou Sili had met many merchants when he was collecting taxes in Sheng'an, and he knew that they were all hypocritical liars, some real and some fake.

If Sheng Panzhu didn't take out the seemingly real account book to fool him, he would look down on Sheng Panzhu who had been in the officialdom for so long.

Sheng Panzhu was in a daze for a moment. He had looked down on Zhou Sili before, but now it seemed that they could work together. He said, "One million taels."

Zhou Sili felt that one million taels was not a lot, but any more would make all his efforts over the past few days go to waste.

He knew that he was getting something for nothing, so he shouldn't be ungrateful in someone else's territory.

Being greedy is a trap that leads to failure. Zhou Sili chose to stop at the right time: "Deal, then how do we get King Xi to start a war?"

Sheng Panzhu looked at Zhou Sili's happy expression and finally felt relieved.

Sheng Panzhu stroked his sparse beard with one hand: "Prince Xi has troops in his hands, but he is reluctant to go to war. In addition to waiting for military pay and food, he is also worried about one thing."

"Weren't the hundreds of orphans raised by the Prince of Jin captured by His Majesty and taken to Ziming Palace? The Prince of Xi cares most about the people. This is her weak spot and also the reason why she has a legitimate reason to act."

A subtle emotion flashed across Zhou Sili's smiling face. It was true that he was greedy for money and it was true that he beat the strong man to death, but he felt a little reluctant to attack so many children.

Zhou Sili chewed ginseng, his cheeks round: "We can kill our opponents, we can kill King Xi, but the child is too young, let's find another way to force King Xi to rebel."

He spoke in a sensible way, which made Sheng Panzhu feel that the tea was not eaten by the dog.

Don’t they know that what they are doing is not human?

Seeing that Zhou Sili disagreed, Sheng Panzhu had no choice but to come up with the second plan: "Then create a conflict, so that she and Your Majesty will be incompatible. If she doesn't rebel, she will die immediately!"

Zhou Sili's forehead tensed. He glanced at the account book and said, "Why don't we give the money to Prince Xi and then report to His Majesty that it was Prince Xi who stole the tax silver from Zhuozhou."

Sheng Panzhu shook his head. What do you mean almost?

His eyes were dark. "Don't worry. When King Chen reaches the north, the world will be in chaos!"

"I want to see how His Royal Highness Prince Jin will protect Mu Jinan this time?!"