Princess Promotion

Lin'er looked at the purse that had shriveled up a little, turned back to the bed and picked up the box that she kept in her hand day and night.

She consoled herself that this deal was not a loss. It would be dangerous for her to be alone with a large sum of money. It was just three more mouths to feed. Lin'er generously thought that she could afford it.

The next morning, Lin'er took her three beautiful guards to purchase supplies for the journey.

Lin'er had no experience of traveling far before, so she didn't even prepare any dry food for the journey. Her three beautiful bodyguards were even more single, and each of them rode a horse and took a change of clothes with them as they set off.

After eating up all the dry food during those days on the road, fortunately Li San knew how to hunt and Xiao Er knew how to prepare and roast the prey. Although Xiao Er was good at cooking, no one could stand eating barbecue every day.

Although Lin'er paid for the purchase, it was still an honor to be able to bring three beautiful guards with her when making purchases.

Passing by a clothing store, she thought how impressive it would be if the three of them wore the same outfit and stood in a row behind her!

Once she had this idea, she couldn't stop. She was a rich person, so let's go!

Lin'er excitedly pulled Xiao Liu into the clothing store. After thinking about it, she realized that she was buying clothes for the three of them after all, so she should come in and let the store owner check their stature.

The three of them were of similar build, with Xiao Er being a little thinner, but this difference was not a big deal, so Lin'er asked two of them to watch over the purchased supplies outside.

I took Bai Da into the clothing store. I have to say that as long as you have a pretty face, you will feel that the clothes you wear are made of special materials and have good styles!

Lin'er suddenly realized the joy her father took in buying clothes and jewelry for those aunts.

Happy spending money!

Just when Lin'er was dizzy from choosing, she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

Lin'er asked Xiao Liu to go out and ask Li San and the others what happened.

A short while later, Xiao Liu rushed in and whispered in Lin'er's ear, "Miss, something bad has happened. Li San and Xiao Er got into an argument over saving a woman who sold herself to bury her father."

Lin'er's first reaction when she heard it was that she had to watch this kind of hero-saving-beauty scene from the front row.

They walked quickly through the market. Lin'er saw the crowd of onlookers, heard the quarrels, and the helpless crying of the woman.

Li San and Xiao Er were confronting several rude men, and the situation was about to break out.

Lin'er squeezed into the crowd and found a random bystander to explain what had happened.

It turned out that the woman's father died of illness and her family had no money for burial, so she had to sell herself here to bury her father.

Seeing that she was alone and helpless, several big men wanted to take advantage of her and kidnap her to be their concubine, but they were caught by Li San and Xiao Er, so a quarrel broke out.

After Lin'er heard this, she was familiar with the plot. Later, Li Hui and Xiao Er would use a few moves to beat these people until they cried for their parents, thus achieving the scene of a hero saving a beautiful girl.

At this time, a man who looked like a young man with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks came behind the big men. The young man didn't even look at Li San and Xiao Er.

Instead, he teased the girl, "Xiao Yun, why are you so persistent? No one in Hua'an City dares to go against me, Liu."

As he spoke, Master Liu pointed at Li San and Xiao Er and said, "Are you really expecting these two rookies to make the decision for you?"

A surge of anger surged in Xiao Er's heart: "Don't you feel ashamed for doing this? She's already pitiful enough, and you still want to take advantage of her misfortune."

Li San also stepped forward to join in, "As far as I know, the county magistrate of Hua'an City is surnamed Feng. The servant behind you also has the word Feng embroidered on his clothes. You said your surname is Liu, and how dare a servant like you kidnap a woman in broad daylight?"

Lin'er was so excited that she cursed back at these shameless hooligans, and then taught them a lesson.

Then Lin'er saw a few strong men coming out from behind Mr. Liu...

An hour later, Lin'er and Bai Da were watching two people hanging in the teahouse, with only a single piece of wood supporting their bodies, barely keeping their balance, like a golden rooster standing on one leg.

Lin'er took a sip of tea, looked at Bai Da who was eating melon seeds across from her, and asked, "What should we do?"

Bai Da spat out the melon seed shells and said, "What else can I do? I'll just go quietly and put the person down when there are fewer people around."

Lin Er looked at the guards below and said worriedly, "But there are people guarding here. As soon as we rescue them, that Liu guy will find out and close the city gates, and we'll all be killed."

Bai Da: "It definitely can't be us who release it. We have to find another way."

Lin'er: "What way?"

Bai Da: "I heard that the courtesan in Tianxiang Pavilion is Mr. Liu's mistress. If we bribe her to say a few nice words, maybe we can save these two guys."

Lin'er: "So this is what you found out when you took my twenty taels of silver and went to the brothel?"

Bai Dayi said righteously, "Brothels are a mixed bag, and are the fastest place to get information. Miss, please don't let your imagination run wild."

Lin'er held her forehead and asked weakly, "How much silver do you want?"

Bai Da: "Not much, just one hundred taels of silver."

Lin'er almost screamed. He wanted one hundred taels of silver just for saying a word. Why didn't he just rob it?

Lin Er suppressed her anger and asked, "What's going on with that girl Xiao Yun who sold herself?"

Bai Da sighed, "It's really pitiful. Miss Xiaoyun's mother died young, and she has been dependent on her father ever since. Years of taxation have caused Miss Xiaoyun's father to borrow a lot of money."

"When the time came to pay the debt, the man surnamed Liu wanted Xiaoyun's father to sell Xiaoyun to a brothel to repay the debt."

"Xiaoyun's father refused to do anything, but in the end, he was beaten and lost his temper. Xiaoyun had no choice but to sell herself to bury her father. It was better than being sold to a brothel by that Liu guy."

Lin'er asked with some confusion, "I heard that when His Majesty first ascended the throne, he reduced the land tax. Even Xiaoyun's family's one and a half acres of land doesn't have much tax, and it's not a famine now. How come they owe so much silver?"

Bai Da snorted coldly and said, "Because in addition to the land tax, there are also floating taxes, extortion taxes, and laughter taxes!"

Lin'er was shocked and said, "I've heard of this floating tax and discount thing. They say that due to transportation losses, the taxes collected are often less than the actual amount. And what is this laughing tax?"

Bai Da: "This floating tax and extortion scheme tells the people below that there are losses, so they have to pay more taxes. And to the higher authorities, they tell them that there are losses in transportation, so the taxes paid will be less than the actual amount. Then the extra money can be put into their own pockets openly."

"As for this smile tax, it means that the people living and working in Hua'an City should smile when they see the county magistrate, so they have to pay silver."

Lin'er was shocked and amazed. How thick-skinned must this man be to think that everyone would laugh at him. Does he think he is silver?

Lin Er generously pulled out two 100-liang silver notes and said, "Take them and redeem Miss Xiaoyun as well."

As long as it can be solved with money, it is not a problem for her. It seems that she is the hero.

Bai Da shook his head and said, "Miss Xiaoyun's ransom requires one thousand taels of silver."

Lin'er instantly became listless, and looked at the two people outside swaying in the wind like dried salted fish. It turned out that these two people were so cheap!