Chapter 8

Jiang Lingyu brought Mu Sheng back to the prince’s mansion. Seeing the two brothers hugging each other, crying and laughing, she couldn’t help but reveal a knowing smile.

She also invited the imperial physician to examine the two. Fortunately, although both were injured, their vital organs were unharmed.

Especially for Mu Sheng, although he needed a considerable period of recovery, thanks to the imperial physician’s excellent medical skills, as long as he recuperated well, he wouldn’t have any lasting health issues.

Hearing this result, Jiang Lingyu also felt relieved.

Of course, Jiang Lingyu also took the opportunity to check her own neck. There wasn’t much wrong, just applying some medicine and bandaging would suffice.

After treating the injuries of the three, Jiang Lingyu personally arranged rooms and caretakers for the two. By then, it was already late at night.

Only then did she feel at ease to return to her room for a sound sleep.

Jiang Lingyu was truly exhausted. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she entered dreamland.

As the owner of the prince’s mansion, Jiang Lingyu could naturally sleep however she wanted, but tonight was destined not to be friendly to everyone.

In the torture chamber of the prince’s mansion, a man in black clothes was hung high. A whip soaked in salt water and chili was mercilessly striking his body, leaving his entire person already beaten and bruised.

This scene was like a silent play. The torturer didn’t speak, and the man in black clothes also gritted his teeth without making a sound.

The only sounds in the entire torture chamber were the muffled impacts of the leather whip hitting flesh and the slight trembling of the black-clothed man’s eyelashes over his fox-like eyes.

It was unknown how long these sounds would continue.

Jiang Lingyu slept until late in the morning, waking up with an empty stomach.

Only after eating a comfortable meal did she feel alive again.

Jiang Lingyu, after all, was experiencing a new life in this world, so she naturally paid great attention to her body. She again invited the imperial physician for a wellness check, and only after confirming her body was fine did she feel at ease.

After Jiang Lingyu was properly groomed, she stood in front of the mirror.

The mirror reflected a somewhat childish young woman, with cat-like eyes that seemed both lazy and noble, but upon closer inspection, one would find them clear and exceptionally lively.

Her lips were naturally red, and with a slight smile, she exuded a sense of overlooking the world.

No wonder she was herself from another world. She had a face similar to her previous life, but more exquisite, grand, and more dignified.

To have such a appearance at just fourteen years old, she was quite looking forward to what she would look like when she grew up.

Thinking of this, Jiang Lingyu revealed a satisfied smile.

Little Shunzi was afraid that his master might be upset about yesterday’s incident with the Male Empress Huo, so seeing her smile now, he tentatively asked:

“What has made the master so happy?”

Jiang Lingyu looked at the brilliant sunlight outside, took a deep breath of fresh air, and smiled:

“Being alive!”

Little Shunzi: “???”

Little Shunzi scurried behind Jiang Lingyu and asked, “Prince, where are you going? Don’t you want to rest a bit more?”

“To the study.”

In the past, when Jiang Lingyu wanted to invest in a company, she liked to look at the accounts first, then go for an on-site inspection. It was no exception in this world.

When Jiang Lingyu first started looking at the accounts of her fief, she was quite satisfied.

Although Guiqian wasn’t the most fertile place nor had the largest population, it was stable.

Due to its location, it had four distinct seasons, and historical records showed no large-scale droughts, floods, or other natural disasters.

Therefore, although the land wasn’t considered very fertile, the crops grown by the common people were enough for self-sufficiency with a slight surplus.

Guiqian was right on a traffic hub, allowing Jiang Lingyu, as a royal prince, to collect a fair amount of passage fees.

But Guiqian was surrounded by mountains, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Plus, it wasn’t too far from the border, and with her cheap mother repeatedly kowtowing to foreign tribes, this already not-too-far distance was getting closer and closer.

If a war were to break out, this place would easily be involved.

From the perspective of a fief, Guiqian wasn’t a good place, but Jiang Lingyu was already satisfied.

It didn’t matter if the starting point wasn’t good; she could always change it.

However, Jiang Lingyu’s thoughts hadn’t progressed much when her face darkened as she looked at the expenditures.

Jiang Lingyu knew that since Male Empress Huo married in, the original owner had let him manage the household. She also knew that Male Empress Huo was quite extravagant in his spending, but she never imagined it would be to this extent.

Soon, an attendant who managed affairs for the Male Empress was brought in.

Jiang Lingyu asked in a low voice, “What are the monthly routine expenses of the prince’s mansion?”

The manager bowed and answered, “Generally six to seven hundred taels of silver, and for major festivals like the New Year, it might go up to one or two thousand taels.”

“So Male Empress Huo alone spends over ten thousand taels a month, and in some months even reaches thirty or forty thousand?”

Was this supporting one person or an entire army?!

The manager was startled, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and carefully replied, “Male Empress Huo requires the best in food, clothing, and necessities. Even for fruit, he has to specially source from various regions. Moreover, Male Empress Huo previously learned from others to collect calligraphy, paintings, and antiques.”

“Have these antiques and artworks appreciated in value now?”

“…No.”

Jiang Lingyu frowned slightly and continued to ask, “Maintained their original price?”

Little Shunzi hesitated for a moment before saying, “…Not that either. Many of the antiques and artworks bought by Male Empress Huo are fake. He thinks that by looking at and buying more, he’ll eventually buy genuine ones someday.”

“What, are you telling me he spent several hundred thousand taels to buy a bunch of fakes and still wants to continue buying?! Is he a pig? If he can’t choose himself, couldn’t he have called in experts to choose for him? What kind of people have the guts to dare to deceive him, and repeatedly at that?!”

“…Those antique dealers were all recommended to Male Empress Huo by Miss Huo.”

“Huo Bujue again! Then what about these sudden expenses of over a hundred thousand taels every month?”

Seeing Jiang Lingyu’s expression, the manager dared not conceal anything and hurriedly explained, “Those are all donations Male Empress Huo made to Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries.”

Donating several hundred thousand taels?!

Hearing this, even with Jiang Lingyu’s broad-mindedness, she almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Actually, if Jiang Lingyu were an ordinary person, she would quite like temples and such places.

People always have some things they can’t accomplish, and although they know that praying to gods and Buddhas may not necessarily grant their wishes, for ordinary people, it provides some spiritual comfort to ask.

But as a ruler, the thinking was completely different.

Although the spread of Buddhism could educate the common people, making them obediently endure hardships and do good deeds in this life for happiness in the next life.

The obedience of the people was certainly beneficial for governance, but too much of a good thing can be bad.

These monks did not engage in farming or contribute to the country, but instead went around begging for alms.

How were they any different from beggars?

Perhaps the only difference was that beggars might not be willing, but monks were.

If the conditions for monks became too good, causing people to emulate them en masse, and everyone became monks, who would serve the country in the future?

Now that Male Empress Huo had suddenly poured so much money into this, encouraging this trend, it would only make the development of agriculture and commerce in Guiqian more difficult.

It should be noted that even the annual ancestral worship of the Feng Xi country only cost a few tens of thousands of taels of silver, yet this Huo Zhengfu had spent the equivalent of ten years’ worth of Feng Xi’s ancestral worship expenses in just two short years.

No wonder the number of temples in Guiqian suddenly increased so much in such a short time; it turns out they were all locusts drawn by the scent of blood.

It’s fortunate that she was in a place like Guiqian where news didn’t travel fast, otherwise, who knows how many memorials would have been submitted against her.

Jiang Lingyu then pointed to several entries of over a hundred thousand taels and asked coldly, “Then what about these sums?”

The manager glanced at Little Shunzi and finally gritted his teeth and said, “Those are the funds you agreed for the Male Empress to build palaces and summer retreats, which the Male Empress has already allocated for construction.”

Little Shunzi added, “All these silver taels were given by Male Empress Huo to Miss Huo, and all the construction of palaces and retreats are fully managed by Miss Huo.”

Huo Bujue again?!

Had she encountered a sister-supporting fanatic, a family treasure man??

In other words, in the two years since the original owner married Male Empress Huo, they had spent nearly two million taels of silver in total.

Was this supporting an ancestor?

No, even the Jiang family’s ancestors weren’t this expensive.

Looking at her empty private treasury, and the accounts showing that she actually owed others four hundred thousand taels, Jiang Lingyu’s face turned grim.

The manager had long since knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Jiang Lingyu said coldly, “Since Male Empress Huo is so fond of temples, then for the next year, he shall focus on worshipping Buddha and eat only vegetarian food.

Since he’s sincerely worshipping Buddha, he won’t need to manage the household anymore. From now on, he’ll only receive a monthly allowance of one hundred taels.”

Although a monthly allowance of one hundred taels sounds little, this money would be enough for an ordinary family to spend for ten years. Even for a top-tier family like the prince’s mansion, the monthly routine expenses were only six to seven hundred taels.

However, this was clearly not enough for Jiang Lingyu. She continued:

“From now on, being a monk in my fief will be heavily taxed, and donations will also become part of the tax revenue. Building temples requires application, and each temple’s cost must not exceed one thousand taels. As for the rest, Little Shunzi, go find those advisors to discuss… In short, all the money Male Empress Huo donated to temples must be recovered within three years!”

“As for those so-called antiques, they actually dared to deceive me! I’ve looked at the laws of Feng Xi country, whether it’s deceiving a prince or fraud, there’s always a law that suits them. First, control the people involved to prevent them from running away. If they’re sensible, they’ll return the money to me, take their broken trinkets, and leave after receiving thirty lashes.

If they’re not sensible, then directly behead them and confiscate their property. In short, whether they want money or life is up to them to choose.

As for those palaces and summer retreats, stop all of them and settle all the accounts that need to be settled.” After a pause, Jiang Lingyu continued:

“These construction accounts don’t match the market prices. Go and investigate thoroughly. Who dares to embezzle from me? Recover all the money. Those who should be imprisoned, imprison them; those who should be beaten, beat them.”

Little Shunzi asked, “These accounts are mostly two years old. If we find the people but some of the money has been spent and can’t be fully recovered, what then?”

Jiang Lingyu revealed an exceptionally kind smile and said:

“Then it’s death by a thousand cuts.”