The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

The regent was also very angry at this time, but he was angry at the disobedient Tatars and the ministers who advised him to give up the throne.

"They're all a bunch of idiots. I agreed to everything. All they had to do was send cavalry to scare the little emperor. Then I would turn the tide and win the hearts of the people. Those ministers would voluntarily beg me to ascend the throne. But now it's turned out like this. Damn it!"

The Regent threw the porcelain cup to the ground, and the eunuch who was hunched over beside him immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The Tatars have sent a letter saying that they will retreat back to the border if you send them 10,000 catties of grain and 10,000 pieces of cloth every year.

As for those ministers, they are all cowards. When the young emperor wanted to stay behind to guard the city, those ministers followed us. Now that they have been humiliated, they deliberately pretend to be loyal to the emperor, but they are just afraid of being scolded.

As long as you ascend the throne directly, they will still pay homage to you."

The staff beside him leaned over and spoke, with a look of disdain for those ministers on their faces.

"But now the little emperor's body is with He Yue. This He Yue is really not an ordinary person. His family is really beating the old and the young, and there is no end to it.

He also said that he wanted to bury the little emperor. The initiative was entirely his. If I wanted to ascend the throne, I didn't have a good reason."

Thinking of He Yue, he also felt a headache. He had deliberately reported himself missing and people really thought he had died on the battlefield.

But later he actually ran away with Yong'an, which put him in a passive position now. He is now burying the little emperor with great fanfare. Could it be that Yong'an has hidden in the northwest?

If he could have gotten rid of Yong'an earlier, the current situation wouldn't have happened. By then, he would be the only one left in the royal family. Who else would there be besides him?

"Since ancient times, the throne has always belonged to men. Who can tell the authenticity of that so-called will?

In my opinion, Your Majesty could easily accuse him of deliberately forging the imperial edict and sentence him to death. At the same time, you could issue a warrant for the arrest of Princess Yong'an, accusing her of attempting to confuse the royal bloodline by using her body as a woman. If Your Majesty does not want the throne to fall to someone else, this matter can be easily resolved."

When the regent heard this, he immediately thought it was a great idea. This way, he would still be the legitimate heir to the throne, and those ministers would no longer dare to object.

"Okay, that's right. Let's do this. You draft an imperial decree to put down the arrogance of He Yue and Yong An."

The staff immediately got to work on this matter.

He called the general next to him and said, "Go to He Yue's place. If you see Yong'an show up, get rid of him immediately."

"Your Highness, another minister is here to ask for an audience." Just as the Regent was feeling proud of his arrangements, the eunuch came running to report.

"No, no, let them figure out how to negotiate with the Tatars!"

When the officials who were asking for a meeting at the door heard that the Regent would not see them, they all looked worried. They thought they had followed the wrong person.

"My Lords, the Prince has asked you to discuss peace negotiations with the Tatars. Now that you all know the conditions for the Tatars to withdraw beyond the border, the Regent has given you three days to come up with a solution that satisfies the Tatars while minimizing their demands."

"Negotiations, what's there to discuss? The Tatars' demands are completely unreasonable. I don't think this should be discussed.

We have the Northwest Army, the Southeast Army, and the Southwest Army. If we dispatch some of their troops here, we can drive the Tatars away. Why should we spend money?"

"That's right. The Tatars are greedy and have killed so many people in Daqi. They also want us to hand over our grain. Although we are civil officials, we also have integrity. How will our descendants talk about us?"

"Is General He's claim that the Regent is colluding with the Tatars true? Why did the Regent agree to such an outrageous request?"

"Prince Regent, if you don't give me an explanation today, I will hit my head against the pillar and die to prove my loyalty. The Emperor sacrificed his life for his country, and the officials of Daqi will never compromise!"

There was a stir on the Regent's side, and an old Taoist priest also appeared in Xishan Village on the other side.

Nowadays, every village is wary of the appearance of strangers. This old Taoist came from the mountains and was discovered as soon as he arrived in the village.

"Hey, where are you from, old Taoist priest? Do you have a household registration pass? Where are you going and what are you going to do?"

When the old men in Xishan Village saw him holding a wine gourd, they immediately asked.

"I came from where I came from, and I'm going to where I'm going. As for what I'm going to do, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm just going to wander around, taking the world as my home."

The old Taoist twisted his body from side to side and spoke in a unsteady manner.

The old men wanted to pull him to see the patriarch, but he refused to move and just sat there.

"I won't leave, old Taoist. I smell the aroma of wine here, so I came to ask for a pot of wine."

He burped, still reeking of alcohol, and everyone fanned him in disgust, still looking at him.

"Quickly go find the clan leader and see if this old Taoist is really drunk or just pretending to be drunk, and has tricked his way into our Xishan Village by eating and drinking for free, hey."

When the clan leader heard that an old Taoist priest had arrived, he took it very seriously. He walked over with his men and a hoe and saw an old Taoist priest sitting on the ground.

He was wearing thin clothes, but he didn't feel cold at all. He sat cross-legged on the ground, sniffing all the time. As if he smelled something, he immediately jumped up, as light as a swallow, not looking like an old man at all.

"I don't know what purpose this Taoist priest has in visiting Xishan Village. Chongshui County now requires all strangers to have a guarantor before they can stay, and they must also report to the government. Taoist priest, please don't make things difficult for us and cooperate."

"If you tell me who is brewing this wine, I will cooperate, okay?

This wine smells so good! It's a good wine, a better wine than I've ever tasted. If I could drink it, it would be worth it even if I died immediately." The old Taoist continued to sniff, cooperating nonchalantly.

"Then tell me first, where are you from, what is your name, do you have a certificate of ordination, where are you going, and have you committed any crime?"

"Certificate of Ordination, this thing was issued many years ago, I don't know if it is still there. I looked for it, oh, I found it, it's been decades, if you want to see it, then go ahead and take a look." He was now thinking about drinking, and took out a certificate of ordination from the shabby shoulder bag in front of him nonchalantly.

The clan leader looked at his certificate of ordination, which showed his name as Zhang Fuzhi and the name of the Taoist temple he was in, Baiyun Temple. It was also stamped with a red deed from the government. This certificate of ordination was proof of identity for Taoists and also proof that they did not have to pay labor service or taxes.

"Now that you have all seen it, you should tell me where this aroma of wine comes from. Let this old Taoist go and ask for some wine." He gently took the certificate of ordination from the patriarch's hand, put it away, and walked towards the direction of the aroma of wine.

"Manliang, you take him to see the boss, I will go to the government office to report." Seeing that he was going towards Lu Linlang's house, the clan leader called Lu Manliang to follow him, and he harnessed the carriage to go to the county town.

Lu Linlang was checking the brewed wine at home. Guan Ling also took some time out to check it with Lu Linlang. She was planning to purify the wine and make it into alcohol to send to General He in the northwest, so Guan Ling came along.

"Miss, the third young master of the clan leader's family is here. He said a Taoist priest came and smelled the wine here and wanted to ask for some."

"Master, where did this Taoist come from?" Lu Linlang heard Xing'er talking. A Taoist suddenly appeared in the village, but as far as she knew, there was only one Taoist temple in Chongshui County, and there were basically no Taoists there.