Reborn Before My Husband Ascends the Throne

Chapter 56

Everyone's faces changed.

Master Ke forced a smile and said, "Sir, you jest. In recent years, the people of Deng Prefecture have lived in peace and prosperity, with favorable weather for crops and no disasters of droughts, floods, insects or plagues. I believe sir does not lack military provisions, but merely jokes with us."

Ye Suijin raised her eyebrows and asked, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Master Ke froze.

Master Li coughed and slowly said, "Sir has travelled a long way to shepherd the people on behalf of the Emperor. You must be exhausted from the strains of war. Let us show our gratitude. How about this - we will all try our best to contribute and present sir with two thousand stones of provisions to aid the military. What does sir think?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

There is a saying - ask for a sky-high price first, then bargain down to something reasonable. This woman from Deng Prefecture was too arrogant, demanding ten thousand stones right off the bat. Fortunately there was Master Li, let's see how much they can haggle down to in the end.

They knew that with the new powers taking control of Biyang city, it would be impossible to not contribute anything. In their view, the key now was how much they could bargain down to.

But before the thought even flashed across their minds, a teacup came crashing down, shattering to dust!

"Am I some dancing girl?" Ye Suijin stood up, "Guards! Take these people away! Notify their families - when the ten thousand stones of provisions are prepared, they will be released!"

The guards in green and black descended on them like wolves and tigers.

The people were incredulous, some struggling, some cursing.

Finally, Master Li's expression changed: "Miss Ye! Think this through clearly! We people of Biyang are generations of good citizens. Even the old prefects never gave us such poor treatment! Miss Ye, you've just arrived and are already behaving so unreasonably, oppressing us with force, bringing calamity to this place. When His Majesty in the capital hears of this, how will you explain yourself to him?"

Third Son Ye couldn't help but glance skyward.

Explain what? The Emperor in the capital didn't even know Ye Suijin had already extended her reach to Tang Prefecture.

Master Li and the others had been fooled by Ye Suijin's fake seal.

Because of that fake seal, they had already accepted in their hearts that Ye Suijin held an official position. They thought since the Emperor had granted Tang Prefecture to her, she ought to govern it well and give the Emperor a good explanation.

In theory, the officials appointed by the Emperor rarely engage in mass slaughter.

The proper approach would be to engage, coexist and cohabit with the local powers, that was the meaning behind the Emperor sending officials to govern the regions.

This was the path every person holding an officially sanctioned position from the court would eventually take.

The weaker ones might even be suppressed and marginalized by the local powers, it was not impossible. It just depended on whether the east wind or west wind was stronger.

Ye Suijin was a young woman, leading a bunch of green troops without a hint of hair on their lips. At a glance, there didn't seem to be even two among them who had reached adulthood.

They did not look upon her favorably from the start.

And she was too arrogant, showing no regard for anyone, so Master Li chose not to cooperate, hoping she would suffer a setback and learn how to get along with them local powers after smashing headfirst into a wall and bleeding.

Who knew this person acted as if she had never set foot in officialdom, not following the rules at all.

At the slightest disagreement, she flipped the table!

They really did not know that the only reason Ye Suijin specifically obtained an official position from Great Jin was for the sake of convenience in taking action, and to avoid becoming Great Jin's enemy for the time being.

But from beginning to end, she never truly intended to pledge loyalty to the Jin Emperor.

That was the pitfall.

Even more pitiful was that this young woman who had just established her forces carried within her a soul that had spent half its life conquering battlefields and the other half navigating court politics.

To her, human lives could just be numbers on an official document.

She had seen grander spectacles, crossed deeper pits, kicked harder iron plates, and fallen harder falls.

She laughed: "Governing Biyang well is the best explanation to His Majesty. You are but a commoner, do not meddle in court affairs. Think about how much provisions your family can prepare first."

"The grand prison is still there, right?" She ordered, "Take them away!"

"Send the news to their families."

The common folk of Biyang watched the Green Standard Army enter the city, watched their masters dressed in finery welcome the new arriving young miss and young generals into the prefect's residence...then not emerge again.

Then they saw the retainers of each household running around in panic.

The commoners couldn't help but buzz in discussion, doubtful and uncertain.

More and more Green Standard Army troops swiftly took over the city defenses at great speed. They also began patrolling the major avenues, and the commoners could hear the steady footsteps through their windows. Peering through the cracks of their doors, they could see the tall, upright figures of the Green Standard Army passing by.

Fortunately, these troops only patrolled the streets and did not trespass into people's houses or harass shops. Their military discipline seemed extremely strict.

The commoners had also heard they were the regular troops of the court, and after observing for a while, began to believe it somewhat.

Within the prefect's residence, the people did not settle down to enjoy the comforts of the residence. On the contrary, the servants left behind in the residence by the Biyang families were all chased out. The guards took over the residence.

Just like when they were on the march, everyone remained vigilant without relaxing one bit. "What's next?" Third Son Ye asked.

Ye Suijin glanced up: "Wait and see what other moves they have. We'll counter them all, then clean up thoroughly."

As a foundation, Deng Prefecture was too small. Combining Deng and Tang Prefectures into one was more fitting.

Ye Suijin had too many things to do, the foundations had to be stable. Deng and Tang Prefectures had to be thoroughly cleansed, no individuals, clans or powers could be allowed to become destabilizing factors.

Ye Suijin never intended to peacefully coexist with the wealthy households of Biyang right from the start.

The fact that they had maintained control for so many years without an official administration showed how deeply rooted they were. If you followed their rules to struggle against them, you would be falling into the pit they dug.

Many people often took a whole lifetime before they could understand this principle, only realizing what was going on when looking back.

Fortunately, compared to others Ye Suijin had an extra lifetime's worth.

Her younger self would definitely have been led astray by these people. No, she had already been led astray in the past, although not in Biyang, the circumstances were similar.

How did she deal with it back then? She and her elders thought the same, pondering how to maneuver against these people.

To hell with maneuvering!

This was why when Ye Suijin emerged this time, she preferred to bring her sworn brothers and as few elders as possible, especially the likes of Fourth Uncle Ye who liked to take charge and call the shots.

Their age meant they were deeply constrained by the ways of the world. Yet their status was not high enough to see through all pretense and grasp the essence.

But seated on the phoenix throne, the people Ye Suijin faced were the elites of the world.

Later in the inner palace, she kept pondering why these people were so determined to force her withdrawal? Were women really so intolerable in the outer court? If so, why did they tolerate her previously?

Eventually she realized that it was not that they couldn't tolerate her, it was that they feared her.

They feared her holding power, feared her commanding troops. So they used the rules of the world to tightly trap her.

Once you saw through all this, you would deeply detest these rules.

"The true principle of the world is that one can subdue ten with might," Ye Suijin said.

"Fortunately, there are no powers in Deng and Tang Prefectures capable of suppressing us. We are the strongest in both prefectures."

"Since this is so, do not fall into the rules set by others. Third brother, you should understand this point well."

Everyone looked towards Third Son Ye.

Their eldest brother was different now compared to before. The places of Fangcheng and Nanyang had changed him.

Fangcheng was a battle of attack, killing was a given. But when the news of him massacring people in Nanyang came back, it surprised his brothers somewhat.

When he returned, he was a completely different person.

"That's right, can't be led astray," Third Son Ye said heavily.

Before he left for Nanyang, his father had instructed him about human relationships and the ways of the world at great length. He listened earnestly, learned and memorized, thinking it would be useful.

Yet Ye Suijin simply told him: "Just don't forget, you have a blade in your hand."

At first, he followed his father's teachings.

Later, he realized it was useless. He would only be toyed to death in those rules.

So he drew his blade.

What rules? We are the rules.

What principles? We will decide.

"Should we impose a curfew?" He asked.

"No need," Ye Suijin smiled, "Let them meet up."

Local powers often had hidden connections that outsiders would not expect, best to let them reveal all their moves.

"Don't hinder prison visits either," she said. "The decision makers are all the old fellows, let their families come see them, come ask questions."

Fifth Son reported: "There are still many people locked up in the prison!"

"Huh?" Tenth Son asked. "How can there be prisoners?"

Weren't there no officials? Logically there should be no litigation or imprisonment.

"Taxes, corvée labor." Someone said.

Everyone turned back to look. It was Duan Jin speaking.

He said, "Can't escape these two things."

Li Laoye didn't look like someone who would help the common people adjudicate cases and resolve disputes. They must have offended the interests of their group to be locked up.

What else could it be, if not these two things?

Ye Suijin and Third Son Ye both nodded.

"Trouble," Third Son Ye frowned.

Because he had been to Nanyang, he knew that for a city as big as Biyang, without the previous documents, population registers, city defense maps and so on, starting everything from scratch would really waste manpower, resources and time.

"Of course the stuff exists, just depends whose hands they're in," Ye Suijin said. "Let them jump around first, let me see what cards they have."

The surrounding forces of Biyang had been mostly cleaned up. Without their covert support to these bandits, Biyang City's defenses were reduced to each family's own retainers.

Biyang was presenting a strange state.

The commoners were very quiet, trying their best to stay indoors if they didn't need to go out, with doors shut tight in broad daylight.

The gentry households had their gates wide open, with people coming and going busily, hurrying along to pass messages.

"Second Young Master! Second Young Master!"

At the Li manor, someone came hurriedly into the main hall. In the main hall, there were not only Li Laoye's sons, but also the Ke family brothers and some others.

The messenger reported: "I asked, they don't forbid visits."

Several people stood up at once, about to say "In that case, let's go..."

But hesitated, afraid that like the family patriarchs they too would be detained.

The middle-aged man addressed as "Second Young Master" was Li Laoye's second son. Li Laoye's eldest son had gone with him today to welcome the new prefectural governor, and they had both been detained.

Everyone looked towards Li Er.

Li Er pondered for a while, then called out, "Younger brother, go take a look at Father and Eldest Brother for me."

He added: "Tell everyone, don't jump in yourselves, need to have someone managing affairs at home. Don't go in person."

The new prefect didn't play by the rules, so they couldn't act according to convention either.

Naturally, the jail was filled with curses.

The old masters were all furious.

They were all major households of Biyang, rooted here for at least a hundred years. They had seen off and welcomed countless officials, never encountering such disregard for propriety.

How could someone just flip the table without even giving them a chance to haggle!

Li Laoye sat cross-legged deep inside the cell, eyes closed and meditating, not participating in everyone's curses.

He was pondering how this could happen, why the woman didn't follow the playbook.

He had different playbooks for different types of officials, he could even go through a whole set of combo moves, but...

In the end, he was stumped.

He could only attribute it to: a woman.

Just then, someone came to visit them in the jail.

There was his third son, and other families' sons and brothers too. Very good, they knew to leave someone managing affairs at home, quite astute.

Everyone gathered around to listen to Li San's report of the situation outside—

"Though no curfew's been announced, the streets are full of patrolling soldiers."

"But they haven't harassed the commoners, very disciplined."

"The commoners even dare to open their windows and watch now. Everything in the city remains normal."

"In that case," Li Laoye said, "then let's make it not normal."

"Tell everyone, this is my idea. Let's join hands—"

He looked up.

"General strike."