Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 430 Song Hongtao's Joy (5500 words)

"Sir, it's time to take your medicine."

Her voice was soft and sweet, like a tiny feather that tugged at the heartstrings. If it had been a month ago, Song Hongtao might have felt a ticklish sensation in his heart, and even though she had just given birth, he would still have pinned her down and tormented her fiercely.

It was Lin Xiangwan.

A woman who wasn't particularly beautiful.

But in Song Hongtao's eyes, this woman possessed an irresistible charm that made him deeply fall for her. She was always so understanding, and everything she did and said struck a chord with Song Hongtao.

Once upon a time, Song Hongtao believed that this was the only true love of his life.

But now, upon hearing Lin Xiangwan's voice again, Song Hongtao's eyes suddenly widened, his gaze filled with an intense, unyielding fear. He desperately tried to control his body, but no matter what commands he gave himself in his mind, his limbs remained motionless, only his nose and mouth emitted labored, frantic breaths.

That night, he killed his only biological son, Song Lu, with his own hands, enduring the most cruel and desperate shock in the world, and then his cerebral blood vessels ruptured and he became paralyzed.

A ruptured blood vessel in the brain is also known as a hemorrhagic stroke.

With a mortality rate as high as 30% to 40%, it is the type of stroke with the highest disability and mortality rates.

Even if they are saved, they will suffer from extremely serious sequelae, such as paralysis, aphasia, drowsiness, coma, incontinence, and disordered consciousness.

Song Hongtao is lucky.

Perhaps because the amount of bleeding was not too much, Song Hongtao actually survived without undergoing too much careful treatment. Apart from being unable to move or speak while lying in bed, he did not have many sequelae.

He was not drowsy, not unconscious, and had no impairment of consciousness; on the contrary, his mind and consciousness were clearer than ever before.

He could clearly feel his limbs, but he couldn't control them.

He could hear the voices of others but could not answer them; he could feel their touch; he could smell the aroma of food; he could open his eyes and continue to look at the world.

But for Song Hongtao, these days may be the real despair.

He was panting, his lips making a gurgling sound. Hearing the footsteps getting closer, he knew that the wicked woman was here again.

His eyes moved slowly and stiffly within their sockets. In the corner of his eye, a figure slowly approached. It was still a petite figure, still wearing a pure white dress, clean and innocent. In her hand, she held a porcelain bowl, steaming from it. Even before she arrived, Song Hongtao seemed to have already smelled the bitter, fishy odor emanating from the bowl.

Song Hongtao's eyes first showed resentment and hatred, then quickly turned into a terrified plea. He couldn't speak, he could only use his eyes to beg Lin Xiangwan to let him go.

At this point, Song Hongtao was probably somewhat pitiful.

Although Lin Xiangwan had a smile on her face, her eyes were filled with a chilling coldness. Now she knew fear and regret?

Do you want to let him go on your own?
Then who should let go of her deceased husband, father, father-in-law, and mother-in-law?

The Ninth Young Master often said that people always have to pay the price for what they do.

She pinched Song Hongtao's chin with her delicate hand, forcibly pried open his mouth, and then poured the scalding medicine down his throat.

grunt.

grunt.

grunt.

The sound was like bubbles.

Driven by instinct, Song Hongtao's throat began to move involuntarily, and a bitter, fishy, ​​and indescribable taste spread in his mouth.

It was so hot, it burned my throat, and Song Hongtao even felt like the flesh inside his throat was about to be cooked.

Only after drinking the entire bowl of medicine did Lin Xiangwan release Song Hongtao, her face filled with a relaxed, contented, and joyful smile.
"Don't worry, Master." Lin Xiangwan's voice was still as soft and sweet as ever. "I won't let you die so easily."

"The physician said that you are in good health. Apart from a slight kidney deficiency, there is really nothing else wrong with you. The wound on your waist is also healing well. Although you can't move while lying down, as long as you don't lack food and drink, it is possible for you to live for another three to five years."

Hearing this, Song Hongtao showed no joy whatsoever; instead, his face was filled with despair. Three to five years? Every day was unbearable torture; if this continued for three to five years, he would truly go insane.

"Don't worry, I didn't poison you." Lin Xiangwan smiled, as if she were talking to herself, or as if she were confiding something to Song Hongtao. Then her face showed some hesitation. In fact, Lin Xiangwan herself was not entirely sure whether she had been poisoned or not.

Song Hongtao was, after all, a Duke.

With so many eyes watching, it wouldn't be good not to prepare the medicine.

Lin Xiangwan still wanted her son to inherit the title of Duke and didn't want to be accused of murdering her husband, so she still had to put on a show.

Those precious medicinal herbs couldn't actually be boiled and given to Song Hongtao to drink; that would be a complete waste. So Lin Xiangwan would mostly pull out a few weeds here, dig up a handful of tree roots there, and pluck a few leaves. She would also add some strange things to the medicine pot, such as cockroaches, flies, caterpillars, rat tails, copper wire snakes, and caterpillars.

They prepared different dishes every day, and it's unknown whether the resulting concoction could cure Song Hongtao's paralysis, but it's unlikely to kill him.

Lin Xiangwan was, after all, a woman, and didn't really like those bloody scenes. So, feeding Song Hongtao medicine three times a day became her greatest pleasure.

"By the way, sir, do you know that I've been feeding you medicine every day these past few days? The people of Ningping County all praise me as a rare and wonderful wife. Even though my husband has suffered misfortune, I haven't abandoned him. They all say I'm a pitiful person, but also a good one."

"I'd rather you didn't take care of me..." Song Hongtao roared in his heart, his wide eyes filled with hatred, his lips twitching desperately, but his tongue wouldn't obey him, and he couldn't utter a word, only making a panting sound.

"My good reputation has even reached the imperial court."

"Emperor Ninghe also issued an edict, bestowing upon me the title of Eighth-Rank Lady. Although it is the lowest-ranking title, it still makes me a noble."

Squeak.

Upon hearing this, Song Hongtao felt a tightness and pain in his chest, and something welled up in his mouth, seemingly the medicine he had just swallowed, mixed with some scarlet blood.

Poisonous woman, poisonous woman!
noble?

Are you worthy?
The intense resentment was almost tangible, and coupled with bloodshot eyes, it would probably send chills down the spine of anyone who saw it.

Lin Xiangwan didn't mind. She picked up a handkerchief and carefully wiped the stains from Song Hongtao's lips, chin, and chest. Her movements were gentle and careful. Anyone who saw her like this would probably think she was a virtuous wife and loving mother.

Along with the imperial edict conferring the title of Lady, there was also an imperial decree conferring the title of Heir Apparent upon Song Qi.

"My son has been named heir apparent. Aren't you happy?"

Cuckoo!
A series of indescribable sounds came from his throat, and streams of dark red liquid kept gushing from Song Hongtao's mouth.

The title of Duke.

That title was earned by the Song family's ancestors through countless battles on the battlefield.

And so this bastard of that wicked woman got off easy.

He was unwilling to accept it, so unwilling!
After his death, how could he possibly face the ancestors of the Song family?

His eyes were fixed on Lin Xiangwan, his lips trembling violently, and the resentment in his eyes seemed to materialize, as if he wanted to tear Lin Xiangwan to pieces.

All that remained in his mind was an unprecedented sense of regret.

He regretted it; he shouldn't have taken Mei Yingxue away.

He regretted not having killed Song Yan and Yang Miaoqing sooner; perhaps none of this would have happened.

He regretted it. How could he have been so blind to have fallen for that bitch Lin Xiangwan?
Deep regret gnawed at Song Hongtao's consciousness like a malignant tumor, bringing him unbearable torment that drove him almost mad.

Ignoring Song Hongtao's resentful gaze, Lin Xiangwan suddenly seemed to remember something and gently clapped her hands: "Oh, right, I have some good news for you."

"I heard that the Ninth Young Master is getting married again soon. This time it's a concubine, but the woman seems to be a very important figure in the Chu Kingdom."

"Is Ninth Young Master going to have more descendants for the Song family? Aren't you happy?"

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. Song Hongtao started spitting out liquid again, which was getting redder and redder, as if it had turned into pure blood.

Seeing that Song Hongtao's face was getting paler and paler, Lin Xiangwan quickly shut her mouth.

After all, she wanted Song Hongtao to live a good life so that he could watch the Ninth Young Master ascend to that supreme position and watch Song Qi inherit the title of Duke. If he died now, it would truly take away a lot of the fun.

After yawning, Lin Xiangwan lazily left the room.

The courtyard was quiet, yet tinged with a slight eeriness.

With guards on night watch, a closer look reveals that almost all the guards of the Duke of Song's mansion are unfamiliar faces. They stand upright, exuding a fierce aura. They wear thick cotton-padded clothes, which make them appear bulky at first glance. However, if you remove the cotton-padded clothes, you will find that they are all wearing dark and hard armor underneath.

They were all elite soldiers selected from the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces.

Lin Xiangwan understood that from now on, she would probably live under Song Yan's control forever, but Lin Xiangwan had no complaints. As long as she could get revenge, everything else was a bonus. Moreover, as long as she could continue to demonstrate her value, the Ninth Young Master would not let her down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Song Hongtao stared intently at Lin Xiangwan's back, his eyes almost bursting open. His eyes were filled with hatred and resentment... How could he let Lin Xiangwan, that venomous woman, get away with such a miserable end?

How can we let that bastard Song Yan get away with this?

They're all going to die, they're all going to die, they're all going to die!

From his trembling lips, one could almost hear a silent roar.

Even Song Hongtao himself didn't notice that his left pinky finger trembled almost imperceptibly.

In the backyard, a house was brightly lit, and shadowy figures could be seen on the paper windows.

Pushing open the door, one sees three people inside. One is a small, hunched old man with white hair and beard, who is Steward Wang and should be considered the only remaining elderly person in the Duke's mansion.

The other two, one in his thirties and the other in his twenties, were Lin Xiangdong and Lin Xiangnan.

Butler Wang slowly puffed on his pipe, making smacking sounds as the smoke curled and dissipated in the small room. Even when he saw Lin Xiangwan enter, he didn't get up, but simply nodded as a greeting.

Lin Xiangdong and Lin Xiangnan stood up: "Little sister."

Lin Xiangwan smiled and, after taking her seat, looked at Steward Wang. She didn't like the smell of cigarettes on Steward Wang, but she didn't say anything. After all, she was nominally the mistress of the Duke's Mansion, but Lin Xiangwan knew very well who was in charge of the Duke's Mansion now.

In Song Yan's mind, Butler Wang was probably more trustworthy than she was.

"Butler Wang, what arrangements have been made for the Ninth Young Master?" Lin Xiangwan's voice broke the silence.

Steward Wang took a deep drag on his cigarette before nodding: "That's right, the Ninth Young Master hopes that the Duke's Mansion will set up a merchant caravan."

"What kind of business will you do? How large will it be? Will the caravan mainly do business domestically or internationally?" As expected of a merchant's daughter, the questions she asked at the outset were all extremely important.

"Salt." Butler Wang grinned, took a small jar from his sleeve, and placed it on the table. Opening the lid, the contents were as white as snow and as fine as sand. At first glance, it was difficult to associate this substance with table salt.

The three exchanged a glance, all seeing the surprise in each other's eyes. They simultaneously reached out, gently pinched a little from the jar, and placed it on their tongues. The pure saltiness made their expressions even more astonished.

The salt currently used in Ningguo is generally divided into two types: coarse salt and green salt.

Coarse salt is made by boiling and drying seawater, salt well water, and salt pond water. It has large grains, a dark color, and a bitter taste, and is mostly used by ordinary people.

Qingyan, on the other hand, is produced in salt lakes in the southwest and northwest. It is naturally bluish-gray and has a purer taste compared to coarse salt.

Because the areas where Qingyan salt is produced are mostly occupied by foreign tribes, Qingyan salt in the Central Plains relies entirely on smuggling by merchants, making it extremely expensive. Only the wealthy and powerful can afford to buy and consume it.

Just like the salt used in the Duke's mansion is green salt, which costs several times or even ten times more than coarse salt. But even though it is expensive green salt, its bitterness is only slightly weaker than that of coarse salt. It is far less pure than the snow salt in front of us, and it is not as fine as sand, which is pleasing to the eye.

For the privileged class, they don't care about the price of snow salt at all. What they want is the sense of superiority that others don't have, and they want to enjoy themselves... Almost instantly, Lin Xiangwan saw the terrifying profits involved. It's easy to imagine that once this snow salt appears on the market, it will be an unimaginable impact on all salt merchants.

At the same time, I couldn't help but be secretly shocked.

It was known that the Ninth Young Master was skilled in physics. White sugar and tea were both made by the Ninth Young Master and sold extremely well in the market. The Cui and Fang families made a fortune from these two products.

I never expected that the Ninth Young Master would even be able to manufacture snow salt now.

Why did most dynasties throughout history monopolize salt and iron?

On the one hand, there is the need for national security. Salt and iron are both strategic materials. Monopoly can prevent strategic materials from flowing out into hostile forces, maintain the country's military strength, and ensure that military needs are not affected by the civilian market during wartime.

On the other hand, while nominally stabilizing prices, officials mostly claimed that monopolies could prevent the disruption of the market by smuggled salt and iron and maintain the stability of people's livelihoods, but the actual effect remains to be seen.

Of course, the most important point was the accumulation of wealth. The salt and iron monopoly was practically the key to wealth in any dynasty, and the most important economic pillar of the imperial court.

Throughout history, in any powerful dynasty, the power to produce and sell salt and iron was firmly in the hands of the emperor, or at least controlled by the court. Even now, the four kingdoms of the Central Plains—Liang, Zhao, and Chu—have all tightly held onto their salt and iron monopolies. Only Ning Kingdom produced an emperor named Renzong, who actually relinquished the salt and iron monopolies, and even boasted to the civil officials and scholars about giving back to the people.

"This jar of snow salt was left to me by the young master before he left last time. However, the Duke's mansion has been very busy these days, with too many issues to deal with, so it has been delayed." Butler Wang pursed his lips and said slowly, his voice sounding a little hoarse. Perhaps it was from smoking too much tobacco, as he coughed lightly twice. "The young master's idea is that the tea and sugar have been given to the Fang and Cui families, and we can handle the snow salt ourselves. Aunt Lin will be in charge of it. Whoever is chosen will be entirely up to Aunt Lin. As long as the goods can be sold and the money can be recovered, that's fine."

Gudong.

Lin Xiangwan couldn't help but swallow hard, her face flushing red. The profit margin for salt was much higher than that for tea or sugar.

"As for the caravan, it doesn't need to be too big in the early stages. As long as it can maintain sales in Ningguo, that's fine. The caravan's guards can be selected from the best soldiers in the anti-Japanese guerrilla force."

"The silver earned will be sent to Pingyang. Of course, we won't let Aunt Lin work for nothing. Aunt Lin can take 10% of the profits."

Lin Xiangwan took a deep breath, desperately suppressing the agitation in her heart: "Young Master Jiu is kind and righteous. Please ask Steward Wang to write to Young Master Jiu that I will make preparations for the caravan as soon as possible. As for the profits, 10% is really too much. Leaving 1 or 12% will be enough for my family's expenses."

Butler Wang smiled. Lin Xiangwan was quite clever, much better than her two older brothers. She knew that the profit was too great. Even if it was only 10%, it was still a huge amount far exceeding the Duke's mansion's silver reserves... Silver was good, but one had to have the appetite to digest it.

Two out of one hundred.

It seems like I'm earning less money, but I don't have to be so conspicuous anymore, and at the same time, I can still get on Song Yan's good side.

As the saying goes, "An army marches on its stomach."

Is the young master already making preparations?

"As the young master knows, the snow salt business involves a great deal of people and is bound to have various disputes. We will have to trouble Aunt Lin with this matter. If there are any problems that cannot be handled, the young master will take action." After taking another puff of his pipe, Steward Wang continued, "At the same time, the caravan also needs to do some spies. Aunt Lin can decide the appropriate level of activity in this regard. The main focus should be on making money."

Butler Wang's eyelids drooped, and no one could see the sinister glint that flashed deep within his eyes... Those who do great things cannot do without money.

Young Master should have around ten million taels of silver now. It sounds like a lot, but it's far from enough to support a storm that sweeps across Ningguo and even the entire Central Plains. At this time, the profits that salt can bring are particularly important.

"Young Master has high hopes for Concubine Lin, so don't let him down."

"If this matter is accomplished, the Ninth Young Master will grant you a lifetime of wealth and honor."

"There is another matter. The Ninth Young Master also wants the Duke's Mansion to arrange some people to go to the many coastal counties of Ningguo to keep a close eye on the movements of the Japanese pirates."

Lin Xiangwan seemed to have recovered from the huge shock, her expression had returned to calm, and she frowned slightly: "Why does the young master pay special attention to the Japanese pirates? It seems that he particularly hates them."

"Who knows?" Butler Wang shrugged. "Perhaps it's because the Japanese pirates are a race that's inherently repulsive. Even I feel disgusted when I see those little dwarfs."

In the small room, four people... to be precise, it was Butler Wang and Lin Xiangwan talking, while Lin Xiangdong and Lin Xiangnan were only allowed to listen from the sidelines, without having the opportunity to interrupt.

Outside Song Hongtao's bedroom, dozens of soldiers in black armor stood guard.

No one noticed that a pair of eyes were silently watching Song Hongtao's room from the darkness.

Those eyes were as red as blood.

Deep in his eyes, there was an almost uncontrollable madness!

(End of this chapter)