Chapter 134: More Unjust Than Dou E

In the ancestral hall, Jiang Jiaojiao was so hungry that she felt dizzy. She drooled as she looked at the offerings on the altar.

Caiyan didn't come to deliver food today, and the maid from the eldest lady's room came over to count the offerings.

"The eldest lady has said that if there is one offering missing from the altar, Madam Jiang will be beaten with a board."

The maid's words were still ringing in her ears.

Jiang Jiaojiao collapsed on the futon weakly, and cursed Wei Mingzhou, the unfaithful man, a hundred times in her heart.

He was always sweet-talking, but when something really happened, he would disappear, not to mention going to the eldest lady to plead for her and say a fair word.

What did the queen's death have to do with her?

What did the emperor's death have to do with her?

The old lady's bedridden state was also her fault.

Jiang Jiaojiao wanted to cry but had no tears. She felt that she was more wronged than Dou E.

She was unwilling and powerless. If she had known this would happen, she would have tied her hair up and become a nun rather than enter the prime minister's mansion to be this useless maid.

I didn't expect that after careful selection, I and my mother chose a broken ship that was about to sink.

Jiang Jiaojiao felt sadder and sadder, and her tears could not stop flowing.

No, she would not accept her fate. It would be better to die than to suffer such grievances for a lifetime. She couldn't do it. This was not the result she wanted.

"Madam Jiang, you can see a layer of incense ash on the table in the ancestral hall. The ancestors of the Wei family were all very particular people when they were alive. The eldest lady asked you to wipe it once to show your piety."

When Jiang Jiaojiao was thinking about how to escape from the current predicament, the voice of the maid came from outside the door.

She turned her head and saw the maid in the eldest lady's courtyard carrying a bucket of water and placing it at the door of the ancestral hall, and a rag flew towards her.

"You..."

Jiang Jiaojiao finally swallowed the curse and quickly reached out to grab the flying rag.

"Why, don't you want to do it? I'll go and reply to the eldest lady and tell her that Madam Jiang is a princess and can't do this dirty work."

The maid's mouth curled slightly, and there was a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.

The maids in the mansion all knew that she had changed from a legitimate daughter to a concubine's daughter, and they ridiculed her in a veiled way.

"Fuck, when did I say I would not do it?" Jiang Jiaojiao did not dare to disobey the eldest lady's wishes, and said silently.

Now she is really not as good as the maid in the eldest lady's room. Anyone in this mansion can step on her.

"Hmph! Aunt Jiang has worked hard. Remember to light the incense after wiping the dust. The eldest lady will come to check later. Don't think of being lazy!" The maid snorted coldly, threw a bunch of words in a yin and yang tone, and strode away arrogantly.

Jiang Jiaojiao wanted to curse her mother. She asked her to wipe the dust and then light the incense. When the wind blew, another layer of incense ash would fall on the table.

How could this mother punish her?

It was obviously a way to torture her.

People under the eaves have to bow their heads. Jiang Jiaojiao had no choice.

The water in the bucket was just drawn from the well. Seeing the maid walking away, Jiang Jiaojiao lifted the bucket with all her strength, not caring whether her hands were clean or not, and drank the water in big gulps.

There was no one else in the ancestral hall. She cursed the Wei family in a low voice while rolling up her sleeves to sweep the dust.

In the main courtyard.

The eldest lady dismissed the servants and closed the door, "Master, I heard that most of the ministers have entered the palace to pay homage to the new emperor, even Du Zhong and Wu Taiwei, two old foxes, have entered the palace. Is it really okay for you not to go?"

Madam Wei didn't know that the real university scholar was actually the first person to enter the palace to meet the new emperor.

Prime Minister Wei pursed his lips tightly, the ravines left by the years were crisscrossed on his face, and a pair of eyes that had been immersed in officialdom for many years flashed a trace of calculation.

With thick eyebrows raised slightly, he said with a dignified aura: "Hmph! A yellow-haired boy, who has just arrived, I want to see how he can control the court and sit firmly on the throne?"

The eldest lady saw that her husband was confident, and her worried look gradually disappeared.

"What the master means is..."

Prime Minister Wei raised his chin, "What do you know as a woman? I have sent someone to the palace to ask for sick leave. If Xiao Jingzhao knows the current situation and sends an imperial doctor to the mansion, or sends someone to send condolences to the mansion, it will not be too late for me to go to the palace."

"Yes, we just lost our beloved daughter, and he has seized the country. He should compensate us politely. The officials who follow the master are all in important positions. Without the support of the master, he will definitely not be able to move forward."

After hearing what Prime Minister Wei said, the eldest lady seemed to have opened up her Ren and Du meridians, and she immediately figured out the connection.

Prime Minister Wei's wishful thinking was going well. He secretly sent a message to his colleagues, reported all the problems that had accumulated in the previous dynasty, and asked people to hoard grain privately to raise the grain price.

For a while, the people in the capital were immersed in the joy of welcoming the new emperor, while the court was undercurrent, and the court officials frequently met in private.

The Ministry of Works was busy repairing the burned Qianqing Palace.

The treasury was short of money, and the food and wages of the frontier military camps had not been paid for half a year.

The grain price soared overnight, and the people affected by the disaster were even worse off.

Xiao Jingzhao looked at the memorials sent to the imperial study like snowflakes.

Each one was a problem that needed money to solve.

The enthronement ceremony was also being prepared intensively, and the three departments and five temples were short of money.

Xiao Jingzhao responded calmly and carefully reviewed the memorials one by one.

The number of problems left over from the previous dynasty was so many that it was astonishing.

The size of the hole was beyond Xiao Jingzhao's estimation and preparation.

He wrote off the extravagant expenses in the palace.

He released more than half of the hundreds of singing girls in the Jiaosifang.

Most of them were women from official families who were implicated in family crimes in the past.

Xiao Jingzhao pardoned the whole country in advance, removed their slave status, and let them choose where to go.

Some women returned to their hometowns, some returned to their old houses to wait for their relatives who had returned after the amnesty, and some of those who stayed behind were unwilling to leave the palace.

Other women lost their families and left the palace with the rewards they had received over the years to do small business.

Xiao Jingzhao quickly placed his people in various offices with the force of thunder.

All the Jinyiwei were replaced by soldiers trained by him personally, and the remaining soldiers were all placed in the Western Suburbs Camp.

"Your Majesty, please take a break. I will read the memorials, and Your Majesty will be responsible for reviewing them." Xiang Song saw Xiao Jingzhao raise his hand and pinch his eyebrows tiredly, so he suggested.

Xiao Jingzhao put down his hand and nodded slightly, half-closing his eyes and waiting for Xiang Song to read the memorial.

Xiang Song picked up the memorial in front of him and glanced at it. His face froze, and he quickly put it down and replaced it with another one.

After several times, Xiao Jingzhao half-closed his eyes and asked in confusion: "What? Don't you recognize me?"

"No, no, Your Majesty, look, these, how come they are all petitions to resign and return home to spend their old age, are they really that old?"

Xiang Song looked embarrassed and didn't know how to read on.

He didn't resign earlier or later, but he handed in the petition as soon as the new emperor came as if he had discussed it. Is this to show off his power to the new emperor?

Xiao Jingzhao hooked his thin lips and shouted to the outside: "Send the Dali Temple Minister to see you."

"Yes, my lord."

The guards outside only heard his voice but didn't see him.

Xiang Song was confused and didn't understand what the emperor was up to.

While he was stunned, the petition in front of him was taken away by the emperor.

"It's just right to open up the source of the flow, and that will satisfy their wishes."

"Then why did the emperor summon the Dali Temple Minister to see him?"

"Shouldn't you check it before resigning? The clear ones will be clear, and the turbid ones will be turbid." Xiao Jingzhao raised his sword eyebrows slightly, without any worry of being surrounded by enemies.