Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan-Part Two

C240. The Affairs in the Ancient Stone Estate (2)

Gu Tingye gave a wry smile and said, "We only have a few days to practice those soldiers. It's not like we know some magic tricks. His Majesty is well aware of the exact details." Even so, it was still important to put up a front since this was the first time the new emperor came to review the troops.

"In that case, you can be relaxed for a while?" Minglan peeled a loquat for him while asking that with a smile.

While Gu Tingye was eating the sweet fruit, he saw Minglan's fingers that were as white as the coconut milk moving flexibly in those golden loquats. He even felt that maybe her fingers were as sweet as the fruit. Then he only stared at her quietly.

"What happened in the Estate?"

Minglan raised her head to look at Gu Tingye with her face bulged and said in an apologetic tone, "I have wanted to tell you after you finish your work."

"Tell me." The man pinched her cheek and said gently, "Tell me how serious it is."

Minglan bit her lips and finally told everything she had seen and heard during these days to him. While Gu Tingye was listening to her, his face turned gloomier. At last, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and thumped on the table angrily. All the loquats on the table jumped due to his thump.

Minglan opened her arms right away to hold the fruits together. Then she looked out of the door. Luckily, Xie Ang had already led a group of people to surround the room. Otherwise, she would still be afraid that she might be overheard.

"... Only after Meng and others reported all those things to me did I make up my mind. I am really furious." Minglan put the loquats back into the small basket which had been knitted with white jade bamboo while saying, "Not only are the rents here twenty to thirty percent higher than in the other imperial estates, but Wu Guang always orders the tenants to do private work for him. He asks for money from the tenants and orders them to work at every festival. Also, he's good at finding excuses to increase the rents. Those landlords have even taken advantage of their power to rape the tenants' wives and daughters. They are animals! Wu Guang is just a steward, how dare he do so many evil things! I, cannot tolerate this guy!"

"I even got scared when I heard those things." Minglan put the last fruit into the basket and said with a sympathetic look, "In the coldest days of the year, the whole family of the tenants didn't have any firewood and could only keep out the cold with a few pieces of clothes. Some of the tenants' children died from coldness. Some of the elders in their family died of hunger because the rents were so high and they wanted to save the food for their families. Even so, the men and the women in those families had to work in the farm every day."

They had to work when they coughed blood, or when they got chilblains all over their feet, or when their children cried bitterly in their rooms because they were cold and hungry... It was not that those tenants didn't want to fight back. However, Wu Guang got support from the officials and also had those ferocious landlords as his hatchet men. Those tenants were kept on a short leash and didn't know how to find an imperial censor to sue those evil stewards and landlords. After their revolts had been suppressed for a few times, they were bullied even more fiercely.

Minglan's eyes were moist. She couldn't imagine those scenes. Right now, she felt herself burning with anger. She had never hated someone so much ever since she transmigrated to the ancient times. Those women who were engaged in the schemes and intrigues might have their own difficulties due to the social system. However, a person like Wu Guang was just a lunatic! Minglan really wanted to execute all those stewards and landlords by shooting! One by one!

The look on Gu Tingye's face also turned gloomy and scary. He said to Minglan, "I have heard of some of those things before, but I don't remember why I haven't made time to deal with those bastards. The reason why I left more guys to you is that I want you to punish those people! Just tie them up and send them to the Ya Men(Chinese authorities government)."