Chapter 161 Yun Fang's Heartbeat
Chapter 161: Yun Fang's Heart is Moved

"Even if our Lord Ye has seen the world, it is hard to say that he is not attracted to you. As long as you are a little bolder, won't you be able to become the future wife of a thousand households?"

"Of course, considering our Lord Qianhu's future, it's a little difficult for you to be his wife, but being a concubine is not a big problem! Think about it yourself, do you want to marry a farmer and stay in the mountains for the rest of your life, or find a man like Lord Qianhu and live a happy life in Yingtian Prefecture?"

Yunfang was a country girl after all, and she was immediately moved when she heard the words.

What's more, Ye Xuan had already left an indelible impression in her heart last night.

If it's really as Yao Guang said, it seems pretty good...

"But Lord Qianhu is so young, promising and handsome. I'm afraid he already has a wife. Even if he doesn't have a wife, he always has many people he likes. Could...could he like me?" Yun Fang said hesitantly, her face getting redder the more she spoke.

Seeing that Yunfang was persuaded, Yao Guang was secretly happy and said hurriedly: "Why don't you like it? Think about forty-five taels of silver. It's a huge sum of money. Can ordinary people give it just by saying it?"

Seeing Yunfang's thoughtful expression, Yao Guang added fuel to the fire: "If this doesn't interest you, who would believe it if you tell others?"

This sentence completely convinced Yunfang, and after thinking about it, it seemed to be true.

However, the two of them never thought that forty-five taels of silver was a huge sum of money in the eyes of farmers like them, and it was even a sum that they could not save in a lifetime.

But for a fifth-rank official like Ye Xuan, even if he only relied on his salary, it would only take about half a year.

What's more, because he had made several great contributions, his family still had several thousand taels of silver that Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded to Ye Xuan that he had not spent.

Forty-five taels is really not a big deal for Ye Xuan.

However, even though she had been persuaded by Yao Guang, Yun Fang was a girl after all, and if Ye Xuan didn't ask her about this, she couldn't wash herself and lie on Ye Xuan's bed.

Yao Guang had already made arrangements for this.

"Well, it's a pity for a woman like you to farm anyway. Our Captain Ye is new here and has no servants around him. I, Old Yao, will show some favoritism and recruit you into the mansion to serve Captain Ye as a maid."

"Don't feel wronged. Not only do I get paid every month as a servant, I can support you two siblings first. And I stay with you every day. There will always be a day when you will fall in love with me, don't you think?"

Yun Fang blushed completely this time, her head almost bowed to the ground, but a moment later she heard an inaudible voice, "It's all up to Lord Yao to arrange."

Yao Guang was so excited that he almost jumped up. He was worrying about how to please the new official after taking office, and now this opportunity has come.

And there was one thing Yao Guang did not lie about, that is, Yao Guang sincerely thought that Ye Xuan was interested in Yun Fang.

After all, forty-five taels of silver is not a lot, but it is not a little either.

One is young and beautiful, and the other is hot-tempered. It is normal that there is some interest between them.

…………

In the next few days, Ye Xuan either stayed in the official residence to read the account documents, or inspected the imperial estate.

But on the next day, Yao Guang actually brought Yun Fang into the official residence, and claimed that this was the maid he had found for Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan did not think much about it. After all, when he was in Yingtian Prefecture, he was used to being served by Chunfeng and Xiayu. He was a little uncomfortable when he arrived at Beishan Royal Manor. It was just what Yao Guang wanted to find Yunfang to serve him.

What puzzled Ye Xuan was that Yunfang was a little too dedicated. Basically, Yunfang followed him wherever he went.

Sometimes Ye Xuan needed to ride a horse to inspect the manor, and Yun Fang would follow him. Ye Xuan couldn't bear to ride a horse by himself and watch Yun Fang panting behind him, so sometimes he would invite Yun Fang to ride a horse with him.

Every time this happened, Yunfang always showed a very shy yet extremely expectant expression, which made Ye Xuan confused.

After four or five days, Ye Xuan had a deeper understanding of Beishan Imperial Manor.

So on the morning of the sixth day, a notice suddenly appeared outside the official residence.

There were not many literate farmers, so Ye Xuan specially arranged a clerk to stand next to the notice board, and whenever farmers gathered, he would read out the contents of the notice aloud.

These clerks of Beishan Imperial Farm had basically been working here since the beginning of the farm, so they were quite familiar with the farmers in the farm. Soon, some people asked about the clerk.

"Master Wang, what does this notice say?"

"Yes, yes, could it be that our new captain is going to increase the rent again?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd suddenly became uneasy.

Many people began to complain that the original land rent and taxes had already made them overwhelmed, and if the rent was increased again, they would starve to death.

Seeing that the people were showing signs of gradually rioting, Wang Sanquan, the clerk on duty, did not dare to wait any longer and immediately reprimanded the group of people who were shouting the loudest in the crowd.

"What nonsense are you talking about! I tell you, meeting our captain is a blessing you have earned in eight lifetimes!"

When the people heard this, they felt that the rent was not going to be increased, and many of them calmed down immediately. They stared at Wang Sanquan, waiting for him to continue.

"Then what's going on, Master Wang? Please tell me now!"

"Yeah, we're really worried!"

Wang Sanquan pointed at the words on the notice and began to explain them word by word.

"It's actually quite simple. The notice said that after a few days of in-depth understanding, the Thousand Household Master deeply felt that the people of our Beishan Imperial Manor had a hard time. As the parent official of our Imperial Manor, the Thousand Household Master was determined to lead everyone to live a good life on behalf of the Emperor!"

When these words were spoken, the people did not feel anything. After all, Li Guodong had said a lot of nice words at the beginning, but the rent was increasing more and more every year.

However, Wang Sanquan's next words made the people completely uneasy.

"In order to achieve the goal of common prosperity and building a moderately prosperous society, the following announcement is hereby made: First, the rent imposed by the former criminal official Li Guodong and all kinds of outdated rules such as ice and fire tributes, as well as all kinds of donations made up of various names are abolished!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was shocked!

Someone said in disbelief: "Master Wang, what you said is true. Are all those tributes and military contributions unnecessary?"

"Master Wang, does the captain mean that he will no longer collect 30% of the rent?"

"This... turns out to be only 10% of the rent, could it be?"

Looking at the shocked and ecstatic expressions of the people, Wang Sanquan felt happy from the bottom of his heart for the first time.

(End of this chapter)