Relief?
Impossible for Pei Changying to feel relieved.
Without guessing, Gu Sang could imagine Pei Changying, currently occupying the throne in the golden grand hall, would be foaming at the mouth in fury.
The last time he caused Consort Zhao to jump off a building was a thorn in Pei Changying's heart.
At the moment, he must be furiously swearing, demanding Consort Zhao's death.
Consort Li, who's currently off duty, started shedding uncontrollable tears the moment she saw Consort Zhao's face at the gate of Xuyang Palace.
"Consort Zhao”
"Is it you? Have you finally escaped from this ruthless imperial city?”
"It's great."
Sadly, I will never be able to escape this cage in my lifetime!
Even death seems a luxury to me.
The current emperor is becoming more and more depraved, torturing her not only physically but mentally every night.
She was isolated, ridiculed by the eunuchs and court ladies, and occasionally locked in a deep dungeon, filled with fear, despair, and breakdown.
Just as she was about to go mad, he would let her out and repeat the torture.
Consort Li's greatest wish in life is to personally witness the emperor, the dog, lose his kingdom, to see him die!
Only then can she be relieved of the torment she's endured in her lifetime.
Gu Sang and Cheng Yuanyuan affectionately call this gentle and skillful woman Xiao Jiu.
Xiao Jiu started early in the morning, hustling with a table full of dishes, waiting for them to arrive.
Every dish looks like it has been meticulously prepared by a imperial chef - they are masterpieces of artistry.
Gu Sang gifted Xiao Jiu with a polite gift and shyly said,
"You made a lot of trouble for you today, many dishes like this must have been hard work.”
“These dishes are so elegant that they could be on television.”
Xiao Jiu graciously accepted the gift, neither refusing nor feeling embarrassed.
She grinned, "You can eat to your heart's content, no guilt required.”
“I'm a food blogger, studying and cooking food is my hobby, and it's never a burden. Even if you hadn't come, I would still have made these complex and expensive dishes.”
"I'm glad you could come. You can help me finish these dishes, or it'd be a waste if I was the only one to eat."
As Gu Sang sat down, Xiao Jiu politely asked,
“I want to shoot some videos, do you mind?”
"If you don't want to appear, I can edit it out later."
Listening to Xiao Jiu, Gu Sang's voice softened unconsciously.
"I don't mind."
Xiao Jiu didn't shoot the whole meal, just close-ups of each dish before they started eating.
During the meal, Gusan learned that Xiao Jiu planned to shoot videos in the afternoon, making lake salt, well salt, and sea salt, refine them, and then summarize for the viewers which salt tastes better.
Gu Sang expressed strong interest and wanted to learn.
Xiao Jiu naturally welcomed her, and Cheng Yuanyuan was also curious about how salt was made.
After lunch, the three of them drove to the beach to collect salt. Gu Sang humblely asked about the purpose of each tool in Xiao Jiu's trunk, and Xiao Jiu carefully explained.
In the grand hall above, the entire court was at a loss.
If they remember correctly, Gu Sang's live broadcast can be viewed by people in more than a dozen cities.
Making salt privately is a crime punishable by public execution.
And in the later generations, are the commoners allowed to make salt privately?
Pei Changying's eyes moved away from Xiao Jiu, his lips trembling with anger, "Gu Sang! What's your intention today? The harlot, Zhao Ni, has died, so why did you find a woman who looks so much like her for a live broadcast?"
"The matter has passed, do you still want to stir up a city-wide sensation?"
"Moreover, you told the common people how to make salt publicly. What is your plan?"
"You've been in the palace for so long. You clearly know that making salt privately is illegal."
"You're leading the citizens to commit crimes!"
Gu Sang sneered, "Don't put everything on me. The common people are busy with their livelihoods every day, and have no time to collect and make salt."
"If the official salt provided by the court was cheaper, there wouldn't be a need for the commoners to go to such lengths."
"Moreover, if the salt production increased, it would benefit the entire country."
"Pei Changying, is your brain filled with dung? Instead of learning how to make finer, tastier sea salt, you worry about people making salt?"
While listening to Gu Sang insult their emperor, the citizens shock combined with surprise, with many gritting their teeth and batting their shoulders, trying their best to suppress their laughter.
They must hold it in, they can't laugh!
They would never dare to dream about what it feels like to insult a high and mighty emperor.
Yet, Gu Sang, she arrived with a bang, even comparing the emperor to excrement?
Wencheng.
People watched the red figure standing at the forefront, and a wave of gratitude surged in their hearts.
Princess Chang is truly the best!
Every time Gu Sang broadcasts live, Princess Chang never forbids them to watch, even this secret of making salt, Princess Chang did not let the soldiers drive them away.
Upon hearing Gu Sang scold the Emperor, although they did not hear the Emperor speak, they could guess how angry and defiant he was about it.
Officials always want to control every profitable business tightly, leaving the poor people with no way out.
But Princess Chang, she's so generous...
Gu Sang said, "So this is a salt grain? It's hard to believe that a cheap and common bag of salt requires so many steps to produce."
"You're truly exceptional."
Throughout the whole process, Xiao Jiu was busy with the task while Gu Sang helped fetch tools.
Xiao Jiu, due to the live broadcast, was very detailed in the salt-making process that even ancient people could understand it.
After watching the sea salt, lake salt, well salt production process, as well as how to further refine coarse salt to better suit the human taste.
Pei Changying immediately issued a decree allowing those who lived by the sea to collect and make salt for the state to purchase.
Although Gu Sang broadcasted the salt-making process to the people, Pei Changying quickly issued an order to prevent people from going to the sea to harvest salt.
As a result of the production of sea and lake salt, those living by the seaside gained an additional income.
But that is a story for another time.
In the Plague City, the Princess didn't stop the commoners from making well salt privately. However, for safety reasons, she decreed that the salt produced and sold privately by the public had to be inspected by the government before being sold.
In addition, the government would take ten percent of the earnings from the salt sold by the public.
Initially, there was indeed quite a stir throughout the Plague City about salt harvesting and production, but when they realized that they were working non-stop for a while only to produce enough salt for less than a month, they lost heart and gave up.
