Chapter 242: Tax Grain

When née Sun saw that Qin Yining didn’t immediately come up to her, she glanced at the palace servants behind her daughter and understood that now wasn’t a good time. She could only squeeze out a smile. “The emperor personally gave orders to arrange for Xuan Su Temple, so it must be good a place for worship.”

It wouldn’t be long before the entire world knew of the emperor respecting the people’s will. The citizens would be immensely comforted then and speak even more highly of the emperor, and place even greater stock with the divinity of Xuan Su Temple.

But when née Sun recalled Qin Huaiyuan’s analysis at home — how the emperor was not only using this matter to greatly bolster his reputation, but also confining Qin Yining to a gilded cage nearby for easy access anytime, she felt again that her daughter was just suffering too much.

Qin Yining gave orders to Xingyu and Bixue at this time. “My maids are here with my things. They can stay and serve me in the future. All of you can go back to the palace now.”

Xingyu, Bixue, Little Ning, and Little Yang looked incredulously back at the girl. They’d never heard of anyone dismissing servants that the emperor had sent himself!

“In response to Master Xuan Su, the emperor means for us to serve you.”

A cold smile blossomed on Qin Yining’s lips. “The emperor wishes for me to be a layman Taoist, but what will it look like if I have palace servants at my beck and call? My family has sent people to keep me company, so I no longer require your service. I need to meditate and seek enlightenment here, so I really don’t need that many serving me. If you’re afraid of the emperor finding fault with you, you can tell him that it was my idea.”

She was already forced to be here; it would be too much of a hardship if she had to use outsiders instead of her own people.