Qiao'er just nodded shyly and closed her eyes, when she heard the door of the study "creak" and was pushed open. Liu Xin turned his head to look, but saw a familiar figure slowly walking in, and said with a sinking face: "Who told you that I would arrange a separate courtyard for her?" ”

It turned out that Ma Yun got up at night and called Qiao'er twice, but no one answered. She had to get up by herself, only to find that Qiao'er was no longer in the room, and she couldn't help but be suspicious. Ma Yun came outside the courtyard, but heard a few maids whispering there. Ma Yun tiptoed over, only to hear one of them say: "If it weren't for Qiao'er, this girl would have been able to do this today." ”

The other said hatefully, "Yes, the old man has all said that." ”

Another regretful: "Isn't it, Qiao'er hasn't come out for so long, we worked hard for a long time, but we made a wedding dress for her." ”

Ma Yun saw that their topic was on Liu Xin, and shouted: "In the middle of the night, don't go to sleep, what are you muttering here!" ”

When several maids saw Madame, they hurriedly knelt down and poured out all the scenes just now, and Ma Yun hurried to the study.

Liu Xin was startled when she saw someone coming, and hurriedly asked, "Wife, why are you here?" ”

Ma Yun said coldly: "I'll come to see what good things you have done." ”

Qiao'er didn't have any clothes, and was hesitating to get up, hearing this, where could she continue to lie down, Gu Lulu rolled off the bed, knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, trembling and said: "Madame, spare your life, the maid will never dare in the future." ”

Liu Xin was just about to help her say a few good words, but Ma Yun had already preemptively said: "Okay, get up, put on your clothes and go back to your room to sleep, if it freezes, some people will be reluctant." ”

Qiao'er was already ashamed of herself, put on her clothes tremblingly, and didn't care about her hair being scattered, so she said a blessing and hurriedly ran out of the door.

Liu Xin said with a grimace: "Wife, don't be so fierce, she is still a child." ”

Ma Yun didn't give him a good face, and said like a cannon: "Knowing that she is a child, are you embarrassed?" Hmph, when you were asked to eat, you pretended to push her for her young age, but now you are secretly eating. What is this place? This is the study! Is this the place to do such a thing? ”

Liu Xin was suddenly speechless by her, and muttered: "Okay, okay, wife, don't be angry, be careful of the fetal gas." I must not take the next example, and I will not take the next example. ”

Ma Yun said angrily: "Okay, I didn't stop you from touching women, but you are now the head of the family, and you must also have the appearance of the head of the family, what kind of system do you become in the study?" I know those maids are the ones who have flirted with you, but you are not responsible? Also, how can you casually agree to give her a private courtyard, you are in charge of the outside affairs, but the inside of the house will listen to me. There are no rules, there is no circle, I said let her be a roommate, she is a roommate, do you still want to be a wife and a concubine? ”

Liu Xin smiled wryly: "Wife, you don't have to be so feudal." ”

Ma Yun said: "This is not feudal!" She is different from Bian Yu and Zhu Qian, Bian Yu and Zhu Qian were only borrowed to live in our house, not slaves and maids in the family. Now there are 100 people in the family, which of these maids doesn't want to turn over and be the master, you gave Qiao'er the identity today, and tomorrow there will be ten Qiao'er to fight this idea, and then I'm afraid that it will not be enough to build two more state pastoral mansions. You can touch these maids at home, but the rules can't be broken. ”

Liu Xin said sneeringly: "Am I so?" ”

Ma Yun looked at him with an aggrieved look, angry and funny, and said: "I think it's about the same, and I have to fight with Liu Hong's faint gentleman." Alright, I won't tell you, you go on keeping watch for your night. I'll go see Qiao'er, I just said a few words to her, don't think about it for a while, and you will blame me again when the time comes. ”

Liu Xin knew that she was a knife-mouthed tofu heart, and when she heard her say this, she knew that she was not really angry, so she put her heart at ease, slammed it to the ground, and said loudly: "Congratulations to my husband and wife!" ”

Ma Yun finally showed a smile on her face, and said coquettishly: "Poor mouth! ”

When Ma Yun returned to the back house, Qiao'er really didn't sleep, and was kneeling in front of Ma Yun's door. Ma Yun still likes Qiao'er in her heart, although she is illiterate, she is diligent and never talks much, Ma Yun has not spoken to her in such a stern tone as she did today. Seeing Qiao'er kneeling on the ground, still looking frightened, Ma Yun couldn't help but feel a little distressed, walked over and pulled her up from the ground and brought her into the room.

I don't know what Ma Yun said to Qiao'er inside, but after a while, I saw Qiao'er come out of the room, although there were still tears on her face, she clearly changed her happy look. Qiao'er was really frightened just now, walked back to the back house from the study, and knelt here for a long time, not feeling anything unusual about her body at all, and now she was relaxed, and she only took two steps before she exhaled "ah" in pain, and then limped back to her room.

Liu Xin continued to keep vigil in the study, and he didn't read any of the words on the bamboo slips. He wasn't worried that Ma Yun would be embarrassed, but what Ma Yun just said kept repeating in his mind. Ma Yun is different from Bian Yu and Zhu Qian, she is a woman who came from another world with her, she can let her man mess around, there are only two possibilities, either she loves this man to the extreme, or she is completely desperate for this man. From the smile she had just looked back at and smiled, Liu Xin was sure that she should belong to the first situation.

Since she has allowed herself to mess around, why did she play that play just now? Propriety! Liu Xin suddenly understood that Ma Yun was reminding him not to get carried away. She should set up rules at home, and Liu Xin should also pay attention to her image, especially if he is a person who wants to do big things, indulge in sex in a place like the study to deal with official business, if it spreads, it will definitely have a bad impact. Liu Xin couldn't help laughing, this Ma Yun, who has something to say but refuses to say it clearly, has to test my IQ here.

Liu Xin has indeed been a little too relaxed recently, since he came back from Changsha, he has hardly done anything, he has eaten and been idle. As the saying goes, a large group of warblers and warblers dangled in front of him all day long, and it was really difficult for him not to think about it. However, there should be a degree to everything. Liu Xin vaguely remembered that when Liu Biao first arrived in Xiangyang in history, the situation was even more difficult than him. Liu Biao came to Jingzhou almost alone, but it didn't take long for him to successfully control the military and political power in Jingzhou, which shows that this person still has some ability, but he didn't want to forge ahead, and gave the great country to Cao Ye in vain. Liu Xin secretly warned himself that if he wanted to achieve great things, he must not relax at any time, and it was time to rein in.

The east is gradually whitening, the first rays of sunshine of the new year appear on the horizon, and the front of the state pastoral mansion is already full of traffic. Liu Xin had already announced that he would not accept gifts during the festival this year, and he spoke in Xiangyang, so naturally no one dared to disobey him. But New Year's greetings are traditional etiquette, always inevitable, in order to save everyone's trouble, Liu Xin put forward the concept of group worship. So, at three o'clock in the morning, the officials and squires who lived in Xiangyang City and the squires of the scholar clan who felt that they were qualified came to the state pastoral mansion on time according to the agreement. Xu Huang, Zhang He, Kuai Yue, and Han opera, who returned to Xiangyang City for the Spring Festival, are also among them.

The huge front hall was already packed, "Congratulations! Congratulations! "Happy New Year! Happy New Year! The sound came out one after another. Liu Xin, who had not slept all night, was still in good spirits at this time, he and everyone gave up their hands in turn, the greetings were over, and he returned to the first station, and issued the first order of the new year on the morning of the first day of the new year.

Liu Xin looked at everyone and said loudly with a spring breeze on his face: "Everyone, to tell you a good news, I have decided that from today onwards, the commercial taxes of the four counties of Xiangyang, Nanyang, Nanxiang and Nanjun will be reduced to half of the original amount, just like Changsha. ”

As soon as his words fell, the audience was in an uproar, and everyone was talking, except for the frustrated professor who was in charge of Jingzhou's financial affairs, his face was embarrassed, and everyone's faces were filled with indescribable joy. Although commerce in the Eastern Han Dynasty was very developed, the burden of commercial taxes was not easy. Today, those who can come to the state pastor's mansion to pay New Year's greetings to Liu Xin are all local figures, who do not have three or five shops at home, and the halving of the commercial tax is definitely a great benefit for them.

As soon as this news was announced, this morning's group meeting suddenly became even more jubilant, and the squires of the scholar clan who had come to pay their respects symbolically ate some pastries and fruits, and then they got up one after another to say goodbye, anxious to tell their relatives and friends about this great news.

When there were a few people left in the hall that Liu Xin could trust, he finally couldn't help it, got up and said: "Lord, the commercial tax is halved, and next year's income will be a big less, how can this gap be filled." ”

Liu Xin looked at the worried frustration, and secretly praised that he was really a righteous man who was loyal to the Lord, and he couldn't bear to be worried, so he patiently explained: "Don't worry, Mr. Gonghe, the halving is only the tax rate, and it doesn't mean how much the tax will be reduced next year. ”

Kuai Liang is a resolute supporter of Liu Xin's tax reduction policy, their Kuai family has a lot of shops in various places, and they are also one of the direct beneficiaries, but they are a little worried that Liu Xin will change his mind, so he quickly got up and persuaded: "Gong He, since the lord has decided like this, he naturally has his deep meaning, I just need to wait and see what happens." ”

Frustrated he shook his head helplessly, sat down again, and did not speak.

Liu Xin waved his hand at Kuai Liang, motioned for him to sit down as well, and said, "I'll announce the second thing of the year." From today onwards, Han Opera will be appointed as Nanyang Taishou, and Xiang Lang will be appointed as Nanxiang Taishou. Gongmei, Junyi, after the Spring Festival, you will do a good job of handing over matters as soon as possible. The institute is being changed to be held by Kong Wen. In the future, they will only be responsible for managing local affairs, and of course, they can also mobilize local troops. But the regular army was no longer under the command of the Taishou. ”

This order came so suddenly that there was no warning beforehand, and everyone present looked at each other and could not speak. Xu Huang and Zhang He stood up together, wanting to speak and stopping.