The first thing Ye Cizhun did after returning to the court was to take advantage of the Haizhou case to start the reform of equalizing the loss. As Ye Qinyu said, the imperial court had full authority to recover the transportation and trade business of in-kind tribute taxes, and even the purchase and transportation of grain and grass for the border garrison were also the responsibility of the equalization agency.

As soon as the reform edict was issued, all the "imperial merchants" who were dependent on the imperial court suffered a great setback, and their business was almost cut in half. The Wu family in Haizhou fell from the "two Huai grain kings" in their heyday to ordinary grain merchants, and their net worth shrank by more than eighty percent.

Fortunately, the Xue family has completed the route adjustment, and the entire inland river transportation scheduling is all deployed according to the market demand in various places, and the open sea transportation is not affected by the reform, so the Xue family's fleet is still busy, and the status of Dingtai and the largest shipping company in Daye Country is not shaken at all.

In the blink of an eye, it has come late autumn, and the investigation of the case of Haizhou officialdom intercepting tribute tax nests has come to an end, and the entire Haizhou officialdom has been nearly purged. After the two major officials of Haizhou took office, they changed the habit of entertaining all major merchants, squires, and celebrities in previous sessions, and simply issued a government decree announcing that they had finished their duties.

The wind direction in Haizhou seems to have changed somewhat.

Because of Su Qi's crime, the Su family has been raided, Su Qi, as well as a group of relatives and children, have been imprisoned, and Su Yuming was spared because she had married into the Xue family. But during the period when Su Qi was detained, Su Yuming did not shy away from suspicion, and ran to Haizhou Prison twice in three days, sending food and clothing to the Su family, and also paying for the prison to help the whole family, so the Su family did not suffer too much.

Su Yuming didn't shy away from suspicion, but Xue Huijin didn't want her feathers to be damaged, so she simply moved out of Ruiheju directly, and she was a stranger to Su Yuming. Rumors have spread throughout the Xue family, all saying that Young Master Xue has already written a letter of resignation, as long as Master Su is convicted, Su Yuming will instantly become the abandoned wife of the Xue family.

Su Yuming didn't care at all, after Xue Huijin moved out of Ruiheju, she became more comfortable, occasionally with a smile on her face, and she didn't care about the rumors of the Xue family.

On an autumn day, Su Yuming finally waited for the judgment of Dali Temple on Su Qi's case, all the property of the Su family was confiscated into the official, and all the men over the age of 15 of the Su family were exiled to Danyang Mansion on the outlying island of Jingnan Province, and the men and their female dependents under the age of 15 were able to stay in their original places and be acquitted. The Su family's land and property have all been confiscated into the official, Su Yuming sold her dowry jewelry and bought a small house for the orphans and widows of the Su family, which can be regarded as having tiles to cover their heads and accommodate themselves. In order to solve the income problem of the Su family, she ran around again, contacted the silk and embroidery village where she had business dealings before, and gave some manual work to the Su family's daughters.

Su Qi was able to survive because someone helped him steal the dragon and turn the phoenix, and found someone to take the blame for him. The evidence obtained by Dali Temple and Taifu Temple shows that Su Qi is not the initiator, and the merchant who resold the royal cloth and silk in Luo'an, the eastern capital, is the one who was just blinded, he always thought that this batch of imperial tribute was sent to the court of Changxing in the western capital and Luo'an in the eastern capital, and he did not expect that it was intercepted by the middlemen of Luo'an for his own use. Although this result is a bit unexpected, it doesn't matter whether others believe it or not, the key is that Emperor Hongyuan believes it.

The reason why Emperor Hongyuan accepted the results of the interrogations of Dali Temple and Taifu Temple was that in addition to the fact that the case-handling personnel led by Ye Cizhun strongly proved his innocence, there was also an important reason, that is, King Jing, who was the Zhongshu Order, actually echoed Ye Cizhun's conclusion, which was very different from the attitude that he often questioned Dali Temple before. Moreover, the case of the Haizhou government government privately intercepting the tribute tax has already caused a storm in the city, and there are not a few businessmen involved in the case, and if more are implicated, I am afraid that the people's will will be unstable. In the right time, place and environment, Su Qi picked up a life.

In the blink of an eye, Su Qi's father and son were about to set off, Xue Chunyue first arranged the escorts, persuaded them to take the sea road, and then sent a team of experienced shipwrights to Danyang on the same ship, so as to avoid the hardships and dangers of the land route. Haizhou to Danyang, in this season is the downwind direction of the ocean current, Su Qi and his son should be able to suffer a lot less.

After this case, Su Qi has looked down on life and death, only asking for the safety of the family, hoping that Su Yuming can be safe and smooth, and at the same time he blames himself for finding such a family affair for his daughter, if it weren't for Xue Huijin and the Wu family's efforts, he would not be confused for a while, so that the royal tribute produced by the Su family would flow into the market.

Before leaving, he deliberately entrusted Su Yuming to Xue Chunyue, if he can return to Haizhou alive one day, he will be a cow and a horse in return, if he unfortunately buries the corpse in Danyang, the next life will also repay his great kindness.

Watching her white-haired father drift away overnight after being imprisoned, Su Yuming cried bitterly in Haizhou Port......

After the dust settled on the Su family's case, Xue Huijin moved back to Ruiheju, but the rumors of discord between the eldest young master and the young master of the Xue family did not subside, but intensified. According to Rui and the people who served him, the eldest young lady was very resistant to sharing a room with the eldest young master, and the eldest young master once used force, while the young lady fought to the death, and broke up unhappily many times.

These rumors are true or false, everyone was skeptical, but since the bruises on Su Yuming's body gradually increased to the point that it was difficult to cover up, everyone finally believed it.

But Xue Chenggui has no time to take care of the disputes of the younger generations, because Mrs. Xue's condition has worsened again, and according to the doctor, I am afraid that she will not be able to survive this winter.

Xue Chunyue, Ye Qinyu and the two sisters took turns to serve the sick, the female dependents were fine, there was nothing big in themselves, and there were maids to help them, but Xue Chunyue was burned at both ends of the boat company's house, and he was simply exhausted. Su Yuming saw that the big house was too busy, so she also came over to help, while Aunt Ma and Xue Huijin watched coldly and sneered at Su Yuming.

On the eve of the winter solstice, Mrs. Xue did not survive and died, leaving only one last wish before her death, that is, she hoped that Xue Chunyue and Ye Qinyu would have a child as soon as possible, and then she would come to see her with the child. Xue Chunyue also wanted to find some excuses for Ye Qinyu, but Ye Qinyu agreed, promising that she would have a grandson soon......

In the eyes of outsiders, Mrs. Xue can be said to be smiling Jiuquan, because she left peacefully in Xue Chenggui's arms. When she died, she held Xue Chenggui's hand very abnormally tightly, as if she was reluctant to give up, and everyone felt strange, because Mrs. Xue seemed to have not been so attached to Master Xue for a long time.

But Xue Chunyue stubbornly believed that she left with a lifetime of sadness and grievances, but in the end, she didn't want to be serious with the pillow person who had been with her for decades.

Mrs. Xue's death made Xue Chenggui deeply shocked, and he had no intention of taking care of his deceased wife's funeral, which made the Xue family deeply surprised, although Master Xue and Mrs. Xue respected each other like guests, it was difficult to afford the word "love", especially the younger generation, I am afraid that they had never even seen the scene of the two walking hand in hand, and they all thought that Master Xue only loved Aunt Ma.

Xue Chenggui was absent from grief, and Xue Chunyue couldn't, so he had to take on the burden of mourning for his mother.

After cheering up and dealing with his mother's funeral, Xue Chunyue was drunk again after many years, Ye Qinyu looked at him in pain, and his heart was also very uncomfortable.

Xue Chunyue was very well-behaved after getting drunk, which was very different from the previous style of being serious and aggressive, Ye Qinyu soaked a hot towel to wipe his face, he did not struggle, and was at the mercy of Ye Qinyu.

Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and looked at her.

Ye Qinyu stopped his movements and rubbed his face gently with his other hand, "What's wrong?" ”

"Qinyu, do you know, you were given to me by your mother, the last gift......"

"Huh?"

Xue Chunyue struggled up, half lying on the bed, holding her hand, and continued, "You have been in the Xue family for more than half a year, and you should know that my father's favorite is not my mother, but Aunt Ma'......."

Ye Qinyu nodded, "But my father still respects my mother very much, there is no shortage of reputation, status, and power. ”

Xue Chunyue snorted coldly, "My mother has never wanted these." ”

"I know that's not what my mother wants, it's just ...... Let's talk about comfort. ”

"If my mother doesn't marry him, even if it's just a pawn who really loves her, and only has porridge and side dishes every day, at least someone knows that she is hot and cold, and she will be happy and stable for the rest of her life......"

Hearing him say this, Ye Qinyu suddenly became curious about the past of Master Xue and Mrs. Xue, and wanted to know more things, "That...... Dad and Mom, how did they get together? ”

"My grandfather, you know, has been an official in the court since Jinshi and the first time, and my father spent a long time in Changxing. Although my grandfather was appointed to run the treasury, he was an out-and-out scholar, and he always hoped that my father would inherit his ambition and rule the country and the world, heh...... So I helped him find a woman from a scholarly family to wife, that is, my mother. After my mother got married, my grandfather also began to explore the equalization of the equalization, my father was not in politics, but smelled the business opportunities of the equalization system, so he left the mother who had just given birth to the eldest sister, returned to Haizhou to inherit the family's business, and borrowed the average loss business to dig the first pot of gold, and then borrowed the grandfather's east wind, the Xue family became the leader in Haizhou's business. ”

"And then?" Ye Qinyu had actually guessed the ending, but he hoped for a twist.

Xue Chunyue smiled bitterly and shook his head, "He met Miss Ma in Haizhou, and then he fell in love, anyway, he soon married her as a second room...... Aunt Ma is a small family of Jasper who is a merchant in Haizhou, she has not had so many rules and constraints since she was a child, and her personality is lively, gentle and considerate, and she admires and respects my father. When they were together, my father enjoyed an unparalleled comfort and exhilaration, which my mother, who had been disciplined and self-disciplined since childhood......"

Xue Chunyue's eyes were already red, and he closed them in pain......

Ye Qinyu felt a sense of distress, and she rubbed his cheeks, wanting to give him some comfort.

"My brother is the same age as my second sister, only a month younger than my second sister, so you should know how eager my father is for Aunt Ma's love...... My mother saw all these things in her eyes and felt pain in her heart...... I don't think I would have come to this world if it weren't for my grandfather's special desire to have a so-called son-in-law in the main room. ”