Yi Xin as a concubine

Chapter 139 Ling Niang pleads guilty

Ever since the naming incident, Xin Baoer clearly felt that the boy had become much closer to her. He would sneak over to her from time to time, under the pretext of asking for advice.

The child worked harder and harder, and as a parent, he was naturally happy. However, the child's foundation was still too weak. After catching a cold, he was always listless. It was not until Xin Baoer sent someone to secretly get the Xin family's doctor to prescribe medicine for him that he recovered.

From that day on, there was another little kid among those who got up early to exercise. He could keep the frail Xin Baoer company. The two of them, big and small, chased each other and neither of them would give in, which saved the cold-faced instructor Wei Yu a lot of trouble.

In addition to exercising every day, Xin Baoer also detained Lancao and Zhao Xian, and taught them the simplified Chinese and Arabic numerals learned in later generations.

Together, the three of them worked out a simple and convenient accounting method based on what Xin Baoer had learned in later life, while also ensuring that others could not understand it.

More than half a month passed in such a busy yet peaceful manner, of course this is relative to Xin Baoer and others.

Chu Xingchen was not so lucky. The closer it got to the end of the year, the more things happened in the north. The Qiang State kept invading, the people were short of food and clothing, and the army's weapons and equipment, especially food and fodder, all needed to be dealt with urgently.

In addition to what was happening outside, the struggles in the palace were also becoming more and more intense. I heard that the emperor had a serious illness some time ago, which made the originally secret struggle gradually become clear.

In this situation where the throne could change hands at any time, the generals who were originally loyal to the throne finally began to waver, and either actively or passively contacted the masters they thought might take the throne.

However, these generals have been accustomed to being the only ones in power for many years. Even if they decide to submit to a certain force, they are still unruly and difficult to tame, causing constant friction.

According to intelligence from all sources, a new round of fighting will occur across the country at the beginning of next year, just to fight for the limited resources available in the country.

There will be another tragedy of devastation and widespread misery!

In order to protect the North from being invaded after the beginning of the year, Chu Xingchen had left the mansion for several days. Due to the urgency of the matter, he only had time to say a few words to Xin Baoer, left Wangchuan to her to use, and then left.

Knowing that the house was not safe, Xin Baoer acted decisively and brought in a man who looked similar to Chu Xingchen from the Qin family's secret guard camp to impersonate him. She also acted out a play with Sheng'er and successfully dispelled the temptation of some people.

But as time went on, it still didn't make sense that the male host hadn't shown up for so long. She sent Wang Chuan out to inquire several times, but no news came back. Just as Xin Baoer was getting anxious, an uninvited guest came to the house.

"My young master, Ling Niang is here to apologize."

Looking at the woman who came uninvited and entered her room through the secret passage, Xin Baoer's eyes were expressionless, but a ball of anger gathered in her heart. She asked with a smile, "Are you sure you are here to ask for forgiveness, not to force the emperor to abdicate?"

"Ling Niang wouldn't dare!" The woman knelt on one knee with her head lowered, but she couldn't hide her stubbornness.

Xin Baoer laughed angrily, took a deep breath, and asked coldly: "Tell me, what crime do you want to ask for?"

"He kept the power in his hands without handing it over, and took the initiative to assassinate Ning Ze without authorization. He failed and lost more than half of his power." Ling Niang had no expression on her face. She said in a formulaic manner and continued to remain silent.

Xin Baoer: "Is your father involved?"

When Ling Niang heard this, her indifferent expression changed slightly, and her emotions became unstable for a moment, but she said, "It has nothing to do with my father."

"Nothing to do with it? What a great irrelevant statement. Does he not know that you have a group of people under your control, or does he not know where the large sum of money withdrawn from the account every year goes, or as the person in charge of the remaining power of the Lin family, he does not even know the movements of his subordinates?"

Xin Baoer asked three questions in a row, each one sharper than the last. Ling Niang's eyes gradually became flustered and she even felt a little difficult to breathe, but her body was still kneeling straight, with a sense of neither humble nor arrogant.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be your father who helped you out, and it was he who asked you to come to me, right?" Xin Baoer said affirmatively.

"As the saying goes, 'If a son is not well-educated, it is the fault of his father.' Moreover, he is not only your father, but also a leader. If he protects and condones his subordinates' mistakes, how do you think I should punish him?"

Lingniang's back finally bent, the blood drained from her face in an instant, her lips trembled, and she was speechless.

"But I am a man of my words. If someone disobeys my orders or acts on his own, I will give him three chances. But he will be punished. Are you willing to accept the punishment?" Xin Baoer said in a cold voice.

Ling Niang: "I am willing to accept the punishment."

"Just admit it." Xin Baoer smiled strangely, "Ayu, you go there in person, and give Steward Lin and his daughter twenty lashes each. No one else is allowed to take your place."

"Young master." Ling Niang was shocked.

"Mother Ling, you are older than me and know better than me what the world is like now. Although the thief Ning is hateful, it is not the time for him to die. If he is alive, the border troops will not rebel, and we will have time to make plans. Compared with avenging my family, I would rather not be a slave of a conquered country."

Xin Baoer's resounding words "slave of a conquered nation" frightened Ling Niang so much that she fell to the ground, her eyes dull, and she dared not say another word.

"As a leader, every decision your father makes affects the life and death of everyone. He deserves more punishment than you."

"Take him away!" Xin Baoer waved at Wei Yu and gave him a meaningful look.

Wei Yu nodded almost imperceptibly, pulled the man up with one hand, and disappeared from the tunnel entrance in a few seconds.

"The New Year is coming soon, and we need to make arrangements as soon as possible. We should also leave after the New Year. It will be difficult to leave later."

He rolled over on the bed in annoyance and finally had to get up with a sigh. There was no other way. There was a fake Second Master at home. It was a headache!

"Miss, that Xu Yingxue is really like the 'indestructible cockroach' you mentioned. She just got better from her illness and she sneaked back to the main courtyard again. I think she is still determined to do something evil. I really hope that the Second Master will punish her more severely this time, and it would be best if she stays in bed for a year or so."

Lancao muttered to herself as she replaced Xin Baoer's cup of tea with hot water. Before the tea was placed on the table, Xin Baoer had already run away.

"It seems that the girl's exercise this month was not in vain. She runs so fast. I have to make some delicious food for her to replenish her energy. She is so tired and thin." Lancao chased after her, shaking her head, thinking to herself.

"Guard Wangchuan, please be flexible. I will go in and serve some soup and apologize to the Second Master for my previous mistakes. I promise not to disturb the Second Master or the young master from studying."

The artificial sound of the clappers gave Xin Baoer goosebumps. If you knew she was here to seduce the master, you would have thought she was here to seduce the guards. It was really disgusting.

"Girl, what are you looking at? Why don't you go in?"

Xin Baoer was just thinking about how to chase the person away without appearing to be deliberate, when Lancao also arrived and pushed the door open without caring about anything and walked in.

"Lan~" Before the word "Cao" came out, I saw Lan Cao, who had walked in, rolling up his sleeves, as if he was ready to do a big job at any time.

"You bastard, I'll beat you to death for stealing the soup. I sacrificed my sleep and carefully stewed the soup for the whole morning. It's for my daughter's health. Give it back to me."

"You are just a servant, what nonsense are you talking about? You are so uneducated. I cooked this for you myself."

Frightened by Lancao's loud voice, Xu Yingxue, who was already weak, stumbled and almost threw the soup bowl in her hand. After she came to her senses, she made a cowardly accusation.

"You, you stew the soup by yourself, aren't you afraid of being laughed at? Can you tell the difference between onions, ginger and garlic? Give it back to me." Lancao stepped forward and exerted force with her hand, and the soup bowl returned steadily to her hand.

"I'd rather feed it to the dogs than give it to someone like you as a favor. There might be something dirty in things you've touched." He said, pouring the soup out in front of everyone without hesitation.

"You~you you you." Xu Yingxue pointed at the arrogant Lancao with trembling hands. She closed her eyes and fell backwards suddenly. She was so angry that she fainted.

Xin Baoer and Wangchuan were both stunned and silently gave Lancao a thumbs up.

"Well done!"

Wangchuan picked the man up and threw him back to the next yard without any mercy.

He deliberately shouted in a hoarse voice: "If you continue to harass the Second Master, I will sell you out, you ignorant fool."