No one would be pleased if they were suspected of being petty-minded, let alone an emperor.

  If it were someone else, they would have lost their temper long ago, but Lin Qingwan was a girl, and still a young-looking girl at that. No matter how capable the other person seemed, she was still a weak woman.

  After tolerating for a long time, there will be even greater anger. If even Lin Qingyan, a little girl like her, thinks that this emperor cannot tolerate Zhong Ruyi, how will others think?

  Who dares to be so bold as to conceal and not report on the battle of Hongzhou? And also block the news from Hongzhou?

  Almost instantly, several candidates flashed through his mind, and his face grew increasingly darker with anger.

  He looked at Lin Qingwan and said, "This matter is of great importance, it cannot be decided with just one official document and one letter, so this matter cannot be spread out, wait for me to investigate and then say."

  Lin Qingyan immediately said: "I obey the order, but Your Majesty, if a war breaks out in Hongzhou, I'm afraid that food and fodder will be insufficient. Before I came, I had already discussed with Zhou Cishi of Suzhou to prepare food and fodder there, only..."

  Lin Qingyan's face showed some difficulty.

  The emperor didn't even need to think before he could finish her unfinished words, just as he had just ordered the reduction of taxes in various places. This year, due to the wind and rain being relatively harmonious, coupled with the conquest of a large area of Southern Han territory, he also celebrated his birthday, and Jiangnan, which was originally a heavy tax district in the imperial court, was also included in the list of reductions.

  Not only have poor households been exempted from some taxes, but even rich households have had their taxes reduced. Surely it's not possible to add military taxes at this time?

  His intention to reduce taxes is like farting, and I'm afraid the people of the world will laugh at him.

  If he didn't collect military taxes and didn't restore the old tax system, he really couldn't come up with that much grain and fodder for the time being. After all, it was only summer harvest now, and the local taxes were limited. Not to mention that the summer taxes wouldn't start until next month, by the time the taxes were collected and transported to Hongzhou, the Huanghua vegetables would have gone bad.

  As for the national treasury, the foundation left by Lin Jiang three years ago was used up during the southern expedition last year. The money and silver in the national treasury now are just a little left over from the autumn harvest relief to disaster victims and stabilizing grain prices last year. Not to mention military supplies, even the officials' salaries are not enough.

  He also pointed out that Xia Shang gave salaries to his subordinates.

  The emperor became worried, as if he had become poor again.

  Lin Qingwan saw his expression and knew that her guess was not wrong, the national treasury really had no money. She sighed and bowed her head, saying: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. This year, my minister's and my niece's fiefdoms have a good harvest, I am willing to take them out temporarily to support Hongzhou."

  Not even the emperor, but the empress and the elder princess who were always standing by and watching from the sidelines were staring at her in astonishment.

  Lin Qingwan's face was filled with shame, and she said in a low voice: "I am ashamed, I previously offended Your Majesty..."

  The emperor and empress smiled wryly, after all, she was still a little girl, just a misunderstanding made her so uneasy in her heart, and yet she even took out an entire summer harvest to make amends.

  The emperor shook his head, just about to refuse, when the eldest princess who had been staring at Lin Qingwan all along smiled and said: "Father, since sister has a kind heart, why don't you just accept her good intentions? If you feel uneasy in your heart, then just pamper her more in the future."

  Yuán Huá gōng zhǔ sì xiào fēi xiào de kàn le Lín Qīng Yuàn yī yǎn, chōng huáng dì tiáo pí de jiǎ yǎn dào: "tā yě shì nínú ér bù shì, nǚ ér wèi fù qīn fēn dān zuì zhèng cháng bù guò le."

  Lin Qingwan and Lin Yuhuan secretly let out a sigh of relief, they could feel Princess Yuanhua staring at them, due to their sensitivity to women's gazes, Lin Qingwan and Lin Yuhuan had already sensitively felt Princess Yuanhua's suspicion towards them.

  The emperor glared at Princess Yuanhua with a hint of displeasure, but indeed had some feelings stirred up. Lin Qingyu had grain, and he could compensate her in other ways.

  She will be very happy too.

  The emperor fell silent for a moment, glanced at Lin Qingyu kneeling beside Lin Yuhong, and nodded slightly. "Your niece has also come of age, I presume?"

  Lin Qingwan replied in a low voice, "Yes."

  The emperor nodded and didn't say anything else, but both sides knew that this was equivalent to accepting Lin Qingwan's kindness.

  The matter of grain and fodder was settled, so the Emperor hastened to investigate the situation in Hongzhou. He didn't want to stay for long, so after chatting with Lin Qingyu for a while, he stood up and left.

  It's not certain whether Hongzhou has really started a war, even if he is 80% sure in his heart, but before there is conclusive evidence, he doesn't want to make a final judgment.

  The emperor left, and Princess Yuanhua looked at her mother, seeing that her expression had eased slightly. Although the expression on her face was still very calm, she knew that she was no longer so angry. She stood up and said, "Mother, I'll take my sister and County Master Lin to stroll in the Imperial Garden."

  "The queen nodded and said, 'Go ahead, take good care of your sister. The county master is still young, don't scare the child.'"

  Princess Yuanhua smiled and nodded, Lin Qingwen led Lin Yuhong to bow and retreat. When they reached the garden, Princess Yuanhua turned around and said with a smile, "The Empress Dowager said you and your niece are timid, but I think you both have great courage."

  The queen clearly said that Lin Yuheng was young, but Yuan Hua princess misinterpreted it as them being timid, Lin Qingwen's heart skipped a beat, and she could only respond with confusion.

  Lin Qingwan looked at him with a bewildered expression, while Princess Yuanhua smiled as she gazed at Lin's hair: "Sister, your hairstyle today is quite good. You look younger than your actual age, not like someone who has been widowed for three years, but rather like a newlywed young woman, except that your clothes are simpler."

  "If sister likes it, I'll have our household maid teach your mansion's maid later?"

  Yuán Huá gōng zhǔ kàn zhe tā xià de liǎn sè wēi bái, rán hòu wēi wēi yī xiào dào: "hǎo a."

  Translation:

  The princess Yuan Hua looked at her pale face and smiled slightly, saying: "Good."

  Yuán Huá gōng zhǔ qǐ shēn xiào dào: "Wǒ kàn mèi mèi liǎn sè bù hǎo, shì bu shì yào xiū xī yī xià?"

  Translation:

  Yuán Huá princess stood up and smiled: "I see that my sister's complexion is not good, do you need to rest for a while?"

  Lin Qingwan nodded in agreement, "Perhaps it's because we've been rushing on the road for the past few days, Your Highness please excuse me, I'll go rest for a while."

  Yuán Huá gōng zhǔ jiù shēn shǒu zhāo lái yī gè gōng nǚ, fēn fù dào: "Sòng jùn zhǔ qù cè diàn xiū xí."

  Translation:

  The princess Yuán Huá beckoned a palace maid to come over and instructed her, "Send the young lady to rest in the side hall."

  Lin Qingwan reached out and held Lin Yuhong's hand, smiling: "Yuhong, hold onto your aunt."

  Lin Yuhong hastily supported her, and the two of them bowed slightly to Princess Yuanhua before retreating.

  Arriving at the side hall, Lin Qingwan thanked the palace maid and gave her a purse before supporting Lin Yuhong's hand to lie down on the couch.

  Lin Yuhong said in a low voice to the palace maid: "Thank you for your hard work, sister. My aunt doesn't like outsiders by her side when she's resting."

  After saying that, he stuffed another purse into her hand.

  The palace maid smiled slightly and said: "That slave is waiting outside, you can just call out if you need anything."

  After the palace maid left, Lin Yubin carefully looked at Lin Qingwan, "Aunt?"

  Lin Qingwan opened her eyes and saw that she looked worried, so she reached out to pat her hand and comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, she doesn't have any malicious intentions."

  Otherwise it would have been said in the Queen's Chamber.

  "So Auntie was really on purpose?" Lin Yuhbin asked, looking at her aunt's new hairstyle today.

  Lin Qingwan smiled slightly and didn't answer, but Lin Yuhong already understood. She asked in puzzlement, "Auntie, why do you have to do this? If something happens to Auntie Zhong, just say it straightforwardly, why provoke him?"