Chapter 177: Sweating Buckets, Aren't You?

The moon hangs above the storied buildings; the night is cool as water.

After the young couple finished their bout of passion, Xu Ruoxi was drenched in fragrant sweat, her hair disheveled, lying in her husband's arms like a little kitten.

Thinking of what happened during the day, she always felt it was strange.

The Empress Dowager was indeed kind, but she was kind to a fault.

She chatted with her about domestic trifles and, in the end, even presented a poem by the Eunuch for her to bring back.

"What is it, troubled?" Zhang Yunxiu asked, hooking his arm around his lovely wife's damp, fair back.

Xu Ruoxi came back to her senses; she lifted her head, stared into her husband's eyes, and gathered the courage to ask: "Husband, I feel, I feel the Empress Dowager seems to like the Eunuch..."

Before she could finish, Zhang Yunxiu covered her lips with his hand and warned her fiercely: "This is not something to be said lightly, no one can hear this, understand? Otherwise, our family will face a catastrophe."

Xu Ruoxi blinked her large eyes, which served as her response.

Only then did Zhang Yunxiu let her go, and he muttered to himself: "The Empress Dowager is also a woman, but this is the Imperial Palace of Great Ming, not the Imperial Palace of Great Qin. The Empress Dowager is upright and elegant, and her conduct is decorous; naturally, she would not do anything out of line."

"Husband," Xu Ruoxi called out softly.

"What is it?"

"The Empress Dowager said you are not allowed to bully me."

"Oh, then tell me, where have I bullied you?"

"Not yet." Xu Ruoxi smiled triumphantly, then suddenly muttered, "But it's hard to say in the future; if I grow old and lose my looks, becoming a withered old hag, you will surely go looking for young women."

Zhang Yunxiu shook his head, unable to help but sigh inwardly.

This girl has so many thoughts; she just married over, and she is already thinking about the future. By her logic, everyone will die in the end, so should we not live in the present? Seeing her husband silent, Xu Ruoxi lightly stuck out her fragrant tongue, exhaled a scent of orchids, and hummed: "A mother is honored by her son; if Husband is willing to give Ruoxi a son, Ruoxi will not go to the Empress Dowager to complain about you."

"That... that, I suddenly remembered I have some official business to attend to; you sleep first, no need to wait for me." Zhang Yunxiu was sweating profusely, struggling to get up.

Xu Ruoxi, not knowing where she found the strength, threw her arms around Zhang Yunxiu's neck.

Their bodies pressed together.

Heat billowed from the woman's damp body; because she had sweated so much, the fragrance on her body gushed out even more intensely.

"Husband... could it be that you are afraid?" Xu Ruoxi said, intentionally striking an extremely seductive pose.

A few days ago, she was still a conservative woman who would blush even from a small kiss.

After these few days of intimacy, this girl appeared obedient and pure on the surface, but in private, she had developed a hint of allure.

Now that this allure had appeared.

Zhang Yunxiu almost lost his composure.

Thinking that this 'public grain' not only had to be paid here, but the debt to Zheng Xi'er could not be neglected either.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the restlessness in his heart, reached out to steady Xu Ruoxi's head, and said sternly: "You must be considerate of me; I am truly exhausted today. Another day, another day..."

Xu Ruoxi was already in this state; how could she be willing to stop?

Simply, she took the opportunity to burrow into Zhang Yunxiu's arms, her pair of jade hands sliding down from his chest.

They swept rapidly across his lower abdomen.

Then Zhang Yunxiu's body shuddered, his eyes turning blood-red, his breathing heavy like an ox.

Damn it, if I die, I die! Early the next morning, Zhang Yunxiu walked out of the room, leaning against the wall.

After a simple wash and breakfast, Zhang Yunxiu hurried to find Han San. Han San received him in the office; after the formalities were over, he led Zhang Yunxiu to the bedroom behind the office to rest.

Because the previous Northern Suppressing Faction commander had retired, Han San had successfully taken over the Northern Suppressing Faction.

According to the official system, this was only a military official of the lower fourth rank, with the Commander of the Assistant Rank, Commander of the Same Rank, and the Commander-in-Chief above him.

But in terms of power, the commander of the Northern Suppressing Faction was second only to the Commander-in-Chief.

For no other reason than that these two commanders not only directly managed the Embroidered Uniform Guard office.

But they also had the right to meet the Emperor. As soon as Han San took office, he renovated this office and added a small partition for resting.

Once the two were seated, Han San noticed Zhang Yunxiu's bloodshot eyes and pale lips; it was clear he was "overworked."

His brain spun rapidly, and suddenly thinking of something, he smiled and said: "Young Master, do you still remember that Zhao Zhenren from Longhu Mountain?"

"That swindler who sells virility medicine?" Zhang Yunxiu asked.

"He's not a swindler; it really is effective." Han San shook his head and boasted, "Ever since I took the Solidifying the Root and Cultivating the Origin medicine, I have felt full of energy every day, and my wives and concubines have all been asking me to take on a few more women."

Listening to Han San's boasting, Zhang Yunxiu felt tempted.

Just as he was about to ask for advice, he suddenly remembered the real business he came for, so he stiffened his face and scolded: "You are a commander of a faction now; why do you spend your days not doing your job properly and only thinking about these lewd and sordid things? What kind of behavior is that?"

"Young Master is right to teach me, Young Master is right to teach me." Han San nodded repeatedly to admit his mistake.

"Enough, we'll talk about the medicine later." Zhang Yunxiu casually brushed the matter aside and asked about the real business: "I ask you, how is the housing renovation in the West City coming along?"

So that was what he came for.

Han San felt relieved; he first nodded, then explained methodically: "The first batch of houses has already been built, and it can accommodate over two thousand households in total."

"It was built entirely according to the blueprints you provided."

As he spoke, Han San stood up, walked to the storage cabinet on the left, and pulled out one of the blueprints.

He unfolded it to look.

He saw that the buildings were five stories high, with tall buildings on all four sides—east, west, south, and north—and a large open space in the middle.

"Not bad, just build it like this."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded and brought up the second matter.

The second matter concerned moving a portion of the commoners from Beijing to Tianjin.

This had two benefits: first, Beijing would be less crowded, allowing it to better fulfill its functions as the capital and share the pressure it bore. Second, Tianjin's Geography was special, and it was located in the north.

Its prosperity was of particular significance to the capital.

After listening, Han San scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: "Young Master, you know, these old Beijingers with their Beijing accents care most about 'face.' In the past, they prided themselves on being law-abiding subjects under the Emperor's feet."

"Psychologically, they felt superior; in their eyes, in this Great Ming, there is only the capital and then 'other places'."

"You are unwilling to leave?" Zhang Yunxiu interrupted.

"Yes."

"What if I give more money? If I reduce or exempt taxes, are you still unwilling to leave?"

Hearing this, Han San did not speak; he was also a native of the capital.

To be honest, even he himself was unwilling to leave Beijing, so urging others to leave now was somewhat difficult to do.

"Ten thousand people." Seeing him silent, Zhang Yunxiu directly brought out a hard target.

"What?"

"Within this year, move ten thousand people from the capital to Tianjin. Remember, they must be people with skills. After they go to Tianjin, all taxes will be exempted for two years. If they lack money to do business, we can even lend it to them."

This was something that could be tried.

Han San calculated for a moment in his heart, nodded in agreement, and then suddenly said respectfully: "By the way, Young Master, taking advantage of the chaos a few days ago, I let Sun Xiang go. Following your instructions, I dispatched a fleet to let him go to Malacca to do business."

"Mm, I am at ease with how you handle things." Zhang Yunxiu smiled.

Han San repeatedly claimed he dared not, and continued to say pleasant things to Zhang Yunxiu.

Thinking about urging the completion of the task, Zhang Yunxiu stood up and left. Han San saw him to the door and lowered his voice: "Where should I send that medicine?"

"Go find me another residence, and tell the two ladies that I have important matters to handle these days, so I will not be returning."

(End of this chapter)