Stinky Bandit, I’m Pregnant! - Chapter 20:

Chapter 20: The Empress Is Not Ugly

Although the empress didn’t want to speak to Gu Fei, she still followed him onto the busy street.

There were crowds everywhere, people coming and going. From their conversations, the empress learned that many of them were merchants from other places, and she even heard accents from the capital, Dadu. Her heart felt conflicted. Why did so many people know about this county, yet she, the empress, knew nothing about it? It was utterly absurd.

“Hey… Since your city is so prosperous, isn’t there anyone managing you, like the Qingzhou Prefecture that governs this region?”

This was the first time she took the initiative to speak since that incident. Gu Fei smiled slightly upon hearing her words. It was a sign that their relationship was slowly thawing.

He smiled and said, “Qingzhou’s Wu Yingxiong? I give him 100,000 taels of silver every year. You think he’d still bother managing us?”

Hearing this, the empress clenched her hidden fingers tightly in her sleeves, her nails almost piercing her palm. Thinking of Wu Yingxiong’s usually flattering and respectful face, her heart burned with rage. “So it turns out all of you have been lying to me! Good one, Wu Yingxiong!”

In the Northern Heng Empire, there were a total of nine prefectures with a combined population of 5.5 million: Yunzhou, Qingzhou, Lanzhou, Yuezhou, Haizhou, Meizhou, Ganzhou, Xiaozhou, and Xiazhou. The imperial capital Yunzhou was the largest, with a population of 1 million, followed by Qingzhou with around 600,000.

The more the empress thought about it, the angrier she became, and her expression turned ugly. Gu Fei looked at her and asked, “What’s wrong? Why does your face look so pale? Are you not feeling well? If that’s the case, we should head back.”

The empress’s face flushed and her heart trembled slightly. She could tell that Gu Fei was genuinely concerned about her.

“No, I’m just furious at those damn corrupt officials!”

Gu Fei frowned hard at her words, thinking, this isn’t even your territory, why are you so angry?

He laughed, “Giving 100,000 taels a year isn’t that much. Look at what we’ve built—a city where people can live and work in peace. That’s totally worth it.”

“Hmph, you and Wu Yingxiong are in cahoots. You spent 100,000 taels to avoid massive taxes, leaving the imperial treasury empty and the people of the nation suffering in hardship.”

Gu Fei felt annoyed hearing that. He asked, “And just who am I supposed to pay taxes to? Will it even end up in the empress’s hands? Besides, this money is earned day and night by tens of thousands of people in Shangyuan City. Why should I hand it over to benefit those corrupt officials?”

He added, “Not to mention, our Shangyuan County isn’t even officially part of the imperial system. Why should we pay anything? Isn’t it better to keep it for ourselves?”

If everyone thought like you, would the Northern Heng Empire still be a nation? The empress’s composure was beginning to crack.

This bastard was full of rebellious thoughts, even worse than traitors. Truly infuriating.

Suppressing her anger, she turned and asked, “Don’t you want to make Shangyuan County officially recognized?”

Gu Fei chuckled, “I do… and I don’t!”

“Why not?” The empress looked at him coldly.

“I do because it would be convenient for the people. I don’t because we still need to develop. Once we’re officially acknowledged by the imperial court, all sorts of petty troubles will follow. You know, the empress isn’t exactly good at governing. If we become a sweet piece of meat, even if the empress doesn’t watch us, others surely will.”

Xiao Lingshuang’s expression darkened as she listened to Gu Fei slandering her. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, “You’ve never even met the empress, how can you be so sure she’s bad at ruling? What if she’s completely different from what you think?”

“Maybe it’s not that she lacks ability,” she continued, “maybe it’s just that the people beneath her are out of control, defying her orders. The things they do might not be what the empress wants at all.”

Gu Fei snickered, “That still comes down to incompetence. You’re working awfully hard to defend her. Are you really that close with the empress? Then tell me, is the empress old and ugly?”

“Gu Fei, if you dare say she’s old and ugly again, I’ll fight you! I’m telling you, the empress is neither old nor ugly—she’s very beautiful!”

Gu Fei’s eyes lit up. “Oh… really? What does she look like? Is she married?”

Xiao Lingshuang’s face flushed. “Shut up! What kind of question is that? Just don’t speak ill of the empress again!”

“Fine, fine… I won’t,” Gu Fei said, looking at Xiao Lingshuang, who was on the verge of flipping out. He gave up teasing her.

Then Gu Fei leaned in and said quietly, “Since you’re so close with the empress, could you maybe ask her to officially recognize Shangyuan County? Just an official identity, nothing more. I’ll give the empress 200,000 taels of silver every year. And I’ll give you 10,000 taels as a thank-you.”

The empress was stunned. This scoundrel actually dared to have such thoughts, even attempting to bribe her. For a moment, she almost laughed in disbelief.

Gu Fei said, “Come on, with the relationship we have now, you can’t just stand by and not help, right?”

The empress stared at him, grinding her teeth. “Fine, I’ll think about it. But you must ensure I’m safely sent to Dadu. Otherwise, forget it.”

Right now, all she wanted was to return to Dadu as soon as possible. No matter what Gu Fei said, she would agree for now. Here, he called the shots. Once back at the palace, she would be in charge.

The empress also noticed something terrifying—most people on the street recognized this bastard Gu Fei. Whether they were passersby or vendors, they greeted him with cheerful smiles and calls of, “Greetings, Lord Gu!”

Some vendors even offered him food they had made, letting him taste it and asking for his opinion.

In less than one kilometer, both Gu Fei and the empress were stuffed from all the snacks.

Seeing her standing next to Gu Fei, the kind-hearted and simple townsfolk naturally misunderstood. After all, Gu Fei was rarely seen with women. The only exception was Ye Anlan, who walked silently beside him with a sword in her arms.

Ye Anlan’s cold and distant aura made people instinctively stay away.

Some bold commoners even smiled and asked, “My lord, this beautiful young lady—is she your sweetheart?”

Gu Fei just smiled without answering, and if he really couldn’t avoid it, he’d say, “You guess!”

Watching him interact with the ordinary people made the empress feel a bit envious. She couldn’t help but think that this guy really did treat the people well.

Just then, a commotion broke out ahead.

The empress saw several patrol officers dragging a raggedly dressed man away. Gu Fei called out, “What’s going on?”