Chapter 278

Hearing this.

Qi Tai could not help but sigh and say

"Sigh, Lord Huang, say no more, I understand, I understand everything. Let's hurry back to the mansion. If we're late, the family will worry."

Huang Zicheng looked at Qi Tai with grief and asked

"Family?"

"Do we even still have a family?"

"Now you and I can't even afford to take a concubine. Can such a thing still be called a family?!"

A man does not shed tears lightly; he has simply not yet reached the point of heartbreak.

Huang Zicheng had barely finished speaking.

The surrounding officials all fell into a heavy silence….

157, Wucheng Military and Horse Office: This is gods fighting!

Outside Chengtian Sect.

Gazing at the distant Bank of Currency, where people still came and went in an endless stream.

In the eyes of the group of officials.

A fire seemed to burn in every gaze.

Qi Tai looked at the Huang Zicheng before him and asked

"Lord Huang, let's not think about that for now. You should hurry and find a medical hall to get that bandaged up."

Huang Zicheng gritted his teeth and growled low

"Su Qiao… you've brought ruin upon our families!"

"You and I studied the sages' books in bitter toil, only to end up owing that Su Qiao thirty years' worth of money!"

"Sages! Open your eyes!"

"……"

Huang Zicheng, slumped on the ground, wailed to the heavens.

Only Qi Tai, his gaze Solemn, looked at Huang Zicheng and said

"Lord Huang, this official has a plan that may rid the imperial court of this great scourge!"

Huang Zicheng shook his head and sighed

"It's useless. Who knows what kind of bewitching soup this Su Qiao has fed Your Majesty."

"Earlier, Su Qiao beat Prince Zhu Yunwen half to death, and Your Majesty still did nothing to him, did he?"

Hearing this.

A cold, sinister look inevitably surfaced on Qi Tai's face.

"This time, whether Su Qiao lives or dies may no longer be up to Your Majesty."

Huang Zicheng looked at Qi Tai in confusion and asked

"What does Lord Qi mean by that?"

Qi Tai snorted coldly

"Have you heard? Recently, this Su Qiao has already been lending money to common folk to do business."

"That is why so many brick kilns and boat yards have suddenly sprung up on the outskirts of Jin Ling lately."

Huang Zicheng asked in confusion

"And so?"

"These common folk have borrowed so much money from Su Qiao. Does Lord Huang really think every one of them will be able to repay it?"

"When the day comes that these common folk can no longer repay Su Qiao's money—"

"Knowing Su Qiao's temperament, how do you think Su Qiao will deal with them?"

"Once lives are forced out, every commoner in Jin Ling who borrowed notes from the Treasury Note Office will be swept up in a raging tide of fury."

"When that day comes, Your Majesty will have no choice but to kill Su Qiao to appease the people's wrath!"

Huang Zicheng was stunned by these words.

A look of utter disbelief instantly surfaced in his eyes.

"This… can this really work?"

Qi Tai slowly rose to his feet, hands clasped behind his back, and said unhurriedly

"Not work? Why wouldn't it work?"

"Lord Huang, just wait for good news from Qi."

"A few days ago, Qi already ordered the family to send three thousand taels of Bai Yin over for emergencies."

"I refuse to believe that in the prefecture where my Lishui Qi clan has lived for generations, I should still have to fear this Su Qiao!"

"Lord Huang, take care. Qi still has matters at home. Farewell!"

With that, Qi Tai rose on his own and, under the gaze of the assembled officials, cupped his fist in salute to Huang Zicheng.

Then he rose.

And strode with great, vigorous steps toward the direction of the city gates.

One hour later.

Qi Tai, exhausted like a dead dog.

At last struggled his way back to his own home.

Gangyijin Sect.

Qi Tai immediately noticed clearly that the number of servants in the house had dropped considerably.

Those who remain now are all the people I originally brought from my hometown in Li Shui.

Qi Tai gritted his teeth, looked at the crowd before him, and let out a long sigh, saying,

"The strong wind knows the sturdy grass; turmoil reveals the loyal minister. Qi will not forget any of you!"

"Did you receive the silver from our hometown in Li Shui?"

Qi Tai panted heavily, looking at the old steward before him.

He saw the old steward looking at Qi Tai with a troubled expression.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally let out a long sigh and said,

"My lord, the Old Master can only produce fifteen hundred taels of silver from his side; the Old Master asks you to use it sparingly..."

Looking at the fifteen hundred taels of silver before him, Qi Tai immediately lost his composure.

"Fifteen hundred taels of silver!"

"How much silver have I sent home over these years?"

"My Qi family possesses three thousand mu of fertile fields; can we not even produce a mere three thousand taels of silver?"

The old Guan looked at Qi Tai with a troubled expression and said in a low voice,

"Master, this truly cannot be blamed on the Old Master; currently, there are hardly any tenant farmers left on the estate to till the fields."

"The Old Master is of such an advanced age, yet just a few days ago he went down to the fields himself to plow two ridges."

Qi Tai's expression froze.

He looked at the old steward with a puzzled expression and asked,

"Where are the people?"

"They all came to Jin Ling to move bricks."

Qi Tai:...

Farming the land for a year, working oneself to death, earns only how much money?

Even if one cannot afford a house in Jin Ling, taking this silver back home in the future to buy a few mu of land to farm and harvest oneself would be better than farming for you landlords!

Ever since the great demolition and construction began in Jin Ling.

The land rent throughout Ying Tian Prefecture dropped instantly.

If a landlord is even slightly careless.

If their words are even a bit impolite.

Their own tenant farmers will run away completely.

Three thousand mu of land; even if the entire Qi family, young and old, swung their hoes until sparks flew, they could not plow it all!

Qi Tai's expression gradually grew gloomy.