binnovel Chapter 369
Chapter 369
"Your Majesty, this old servant will go fetch it right away," Eunuch Liu said hurriedly upon hearing this."Mm, a hundred years, it should be about time, right?" Zhu Jingchen thought to himself. If they truly didn't have to pay tribute anymore, how many commoners could he save with that silver?
Why should the people of the Qinling Kingdom benefit so easily?
It didn't take long for Eunuch Liu to walk back in, carefully holding the indemnity treaty.
"Your Majesty, this is the treaty signed with the Qinling Kingdom back then." Eunuch Liu carefully placed the silk scroll on the desk.
Zhu Jingchen sat down and quickly unrolled the silk, carefully reading the treaty signed by the founding emperor.
Over the years, he had never stopped sending tributes to the Qinling Kingdom. First, their Lannuo Kingdom was indeed not as powerful as Qinling.
Second, he feared that if the Qinling Kingdom actually attacked, they would be unable to fend them off.
All these years, he had never even considered that the hundred-year agreement might have already expired.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jingchen hurriedly checked the date written on it.
After a careful calculation, he realized that a hundred years had long since passed.
"Hmph, the hundred-year term has long passed." After calculating, Zhu Jingchen slammed his hand on the table in anger. The hundred-year agreement had expired ages ago, yet the Qinling Kingdom still demanded tributes from them every year without fail, asking for more each time.
"Your Majesty, should we still send the tribute then?" Eunuch Liu asked cautiously.
"Go summon Ye Qingyan to the palace," Zhu Jingchen said with a dark and displeased expression.
"Also, call for Grand Preceptor Cheng, Grand Tutor Wei, Prince An, and Tang Xiuyong." Zhu Jingchen figured that this matter needed to be discussed with his ministers.
After all, if they suddenly stopped sending tributes, the Qinling Kingdom would definitely send envoys to demand them.
They needed to come up with a countermeasure.
Meanwhile, Zhang Zifu was kicked out of the residence without gaining any advantage at all, leaving her feeling extremely disgruntled.
"Hmph, that Li family really comes from a merchant background. They have no manners whatsoever; truly petty and unrefined." Zhang Zifu slapped the table in displeasure.
"Sister, what has made you so angry?" Zhang Yanchu had just returned from outside and saw his sister looking furious.
"Brother, you're finally back." Seeing Zhang Yanchu return, Zhang Zifu quickly put on a smile and went up to pull his arm. After all, she was counting on her older brother to bring her glory; he was the second-place winner in the imperial examination.
In the capital, so many young ladies from noble families wanted to marry him.
However, she looked down on those women. It would be wonderful if her brother could marry Miss Cheng.
After all, Miss Cheng was the Empress's biological sister. With Miss Cheng as her sister-in-law, what kind of man could she not marry?
She wouldn't have to lower herself to flatter those country bumpkins next door anymore.
"What's wrong? Who angered our Xiaofu?" Zhang Yanchu asked with a smile, looking at his sister. Anyone who knew him well would know that he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, hiding behind a smile.
At this moment, he was probably already thinking of ways to punish whoever had offended her.
"Brother, did you see the Second Miss Cheng today? I'm fine. As long as things go well between you and the Second Miss Cheng, suffering a little grievance is nothing to me." Zhang Zifu thought to herself that as long as her brother successfully hooked a big fish like Cheng Qingli, her chance for revenge would naturally come.
"Don't worry, sister. Once I marry the Second Miss Cheng, I won't let anyone who bullied us get away with it." Zhang Yanchu was very satisfied with his sister's tactfulness. He was also scheming in his heart; as long as he could marry Cheng Qingli, he would be able to skyrocket in his career, rather than waiting endlessly for a notice from the Ministry of Personnel like he was now.
He was the second-place scholar, yet he had to watch as the top scorer who was better than him had long received a post. Even the third-place scholar who was worse than him, and some regular graduates, had been assigned positions.
Yet he alone was left without a placement.
"Brother, has your appointment letter still not arrived?" Zhang Zifu looked at her older brother, feeling a bit of resentment. Although her brother had placed second this time, his appointment was taking forever. She couldn't help but think he was being too incompetent.
"The Ministry of Personnel said they are arranging it and will assign me when there's a suitable position," Zhang Yanchu said somewhat uncomfortably.
In truth, the Ministry of Personnel was intentionally leaving him hanging. After all, when they initially arranged for him to be a county magistrate in another province, he had refused.
He felt that as the second-place scholar, how could he settle for being a lowly ninth-grade official?
Because of this, the officials at the Ministry of Personnel simply told him to wait for news.
They never mentioned letting him enter the Hanlin Academy or taking up a post in any other government office.
"Brother, back then, in order for you to study well, our family spent almost all of our silver," Zhang Zifu said, looking somewhat troubled.
In her heart, she was thinking: In the past, everything was prioritized for your studies. Now that so much time has passed, it's time for you to go out and earn some silver.
"Little sister, what do you mean by that? For my studies, I spent the money left by our parents." Zhang Yanchu darkened his face, thinking that he must have spoiled this sister too much for her to dare speak to him like this.
Girls her age in other families would have been married off long ago. His sister was still lazing around at home, and she actually had the nerve to complain about him not earning money?
It seemed it was time to find a matchmaker and marry her off. That way, he could exchange her for some silver, and when he went to propose to the Cheng family, he wouldn't look too shabby.
The Wen Family Residence
"Miss, did you know? Someone has moved in next door," Wen Xiu's maid, Qiuyue, walked in and said with an excited expression.
"It's normal for people to move in," Wen Xiu said unhurriedly, keeping her eyes on the book in her hands.
She had no interest in this. After all, when Zhang Zifu came to visit her previously, she had really disliked her.
The way that Miss Zhang chattered on and the things she said had truly been an eye-opener for her.
She had never imagined that a person could be so utterly shameless to such a degree.
Therefore, up until now, she couldn't muster even the slightest bit of interest in neighbors.
After all, dealing with Zhang Zifu's occasional harassment had already made her feel endlessly annoyed.
She had a cool and aloof temperament and disliked people who chattered incessantly.
"Miss, you don't know what I just saw! I saw that person get kicked out by the neighbors next door." At this point, Qiuyue couldn't help but cover her mouth and snicker.
"Are you sure you didn't see wrongly?" Wen Xiu finally looked up at Qiuyue.
One must know, Zhang Zifu probably took advantage of the fact that the noble ladies of the capital wouldn't act as shamelessly as she did.
In both her words and actions, she was completely brazen.
The first time, she had smoothly taken one of Wen Xiu's hairpins. The second time, she had asked for a bracelet.
Out of politeness, Wen Xiu hadn't found it easy to refuse.
However, after that, she never wanted her to visit again. Every time Zhang Zifu came by, she had her servants say she wasn't home.
Fortunately, in the Wen family, aside from her older brother, she was the only master.