Chapter 222: The Only One and the One Among the Others

“You don’t know that, my father?”

Now that Liu She was very concerned about her, Jiang Pengji thought that nothing that happened around her could be hidden from him.

Liu She shook his head. Since Jiang Pengji let Xu Ke convey her attitude to him, he stopped keeping his watchful eye on her. He had never expected his beloved daughter to have sent Meng Liang to hell already. Did that need to be done so soon?

“My father, you could be omniscient or omnipotent. How could you know everything?” Liu She only felt an ache in his head. Since Meng Liang had been killed and what was done was done irreversibly, he’d better think about how to tackle that nest. “You used Meng Liang’s death to draw Meng Hun in… According to your temperament, the benefit you gained would be more than that. Are you going to blackmail the Meng’s?”

Blackmail? Hey, that’s harsh, but it’s an above board request.

Jiang Pengji informed her father of part of her plan, which resulted in her father’s angry, yet helpless, stare.

“Didn’t I give the bill to you? If you still lack money, you could withdraw more money from the accountant…” Liu She said with a little bit of tolerance. “You are the only child of our family. All of my things will be yours one day… Why do you have to separate things so clearly from me?” To put it into a decent way, his daughter was capable of doing things. To put it in an ugly way, his daughter was aloof to him, which was the situation he wanted to see the least.

Jiang Pengji was silent for a while. If it was in the past, she would have never cared to explain such an issue. But now she felt it a bit improper.

“You misunderstood me, my father. I never meant to separate things from you, I just don’t want to get involved in royal families,” Jiang Pengji said after a moment of hesitation. However, she was responded to with the shock in her father’s eyes this time. She added, “Building things up from nothing will make the latter division easier.”

Xu Ke, Meng Hun, and Qiguan Rang all shared one thing in common: a low social status!

That was not because she couldn’t draw in those of high social status. In fact, she was able to recruit talent of high social status simply from the halo of her father. All she would have to do is raise up the flag of “Liu She’s son.” It was the so-called family advantage.

But why wasn’t she doing that? Because she didn’t want to. If she did that, she would be passive later.

Jiang Pengji’s goal was apparent. To achieve that goal, she needed to develop a series of plans.

Concerning the current general mood of society, she decisively gave up the more convenient road of taking advantage of her family.

That indeed would bring her a lot of benefits at the starting phase, but what about the middle and ending stages?

She wanted to cultivate her own troop and talents instead of appointing those who thought they were full of nobility and a good bloodline. Superficially, those royal families were showing off their surnames, bloodlines, and loyalty. However, in fact, they would give up all their pride, dignity, and steadfastness on special occasions for the benefit of their clan and own interests.

They were like poisons wrapped in sugar coats. The initial sweet taste would fade away once the sugar coat melted. Poison was the only thing left. They looked tempting, yet they were lethal to swallow.

The way she wanted to take would inevitably touch the most deadly interests of the family––education!

Why were royal families royal families?

Because they had money in their hands and grain in their granary. They monopolized education, made it a privilege of a small number of people, and indirectly monopolized the dynasty… Every talented person came from the royal families, one generation after another… After many generations, the officials of the regime would be bonded through bloodlines and marriages. When those people united, would there be any place for the emperor to have a say?

How could the emperor do anything to them? Nope, they didn’t mind firing the emperor.

Jiang Pengji had been fed up with the ignorant era. If she went out and met 100 people, 99 of them would be illiterate.

In addition to education and knowledge, another thing that was monopolized was land. Were the farmers in Dongqing not working hard? No, they were very hardworking; Jiang Pengji was very sure about that. They went out for work before daybreak and got back home with their hoes at sunset.

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They worked from morning to evening but had no grain left at the end of the year.

If natural disasters happened, unfortunately, they couldn’t eat a full meal all year round. Many people died of starvation.

The wild, full of dead, starved bodies, was a horrible scene in the novel! It was hell!

However, why didn’t they have enough clothes to wear or enough food to eat if they were so diligent?

Was that because of the barren land or the ruthless tax exploitation?

The System criticized her for barely going out. But in fact, she tried to understand the era from books and the living conditions of the farmers as much as possible… The more she realized, the more she found herself resolute about the road she would take.

That road was very long, but she would try her best to plan and improve.

Apparently, on the road she planned, royal family powers wouldn’t be allowed to intervene at the starting phase. If they were to intervene, the development of the middle and later period would be more constrained.

She wanted to promote education so that all children, regardless of their status, could read. Would the royal families be willing to let her? She wanted to reform the land system so that all the hardworking people got the reward they deserved. Would the royal families be willing to let her?

All of her thoughts would move the most critical lifeblood of others. How could they not exhaust all their efforts to oppose her?!

At that time, would the royal families listen to her––or would she listen to the royal families? As the child of a royal family, her thoughts went against the will of her ancestors. She was a total weirdo!

“Why?” After a long time, Liu She uttered the word between his trembling lips.

Jiang Pengji asked plainly, “Is there any difference between the only one and the one among the others?”

She was very clear that Liu She had the mental preparation for this reality because of her mother’s influence.

In that regard, Liu She was fully supportive of her to go and take that road. Therefore, she wanted to be honest with her father.

“The only one… the one among the others…” Liu She was smart and instantly understood what she was referring to.

What is “the only one?” It was the only one in history. What is “the one among the others?” It was one of the others alike. Jiang Pengji’s words had given an obvious hint.

She wanted to step on the interests of the royal families, to promote education, to reform the land system, and to enlighten the people… For the people of royal families, which were a small part of all people, she was indeed hateful. But for all the people of the current and future eras, she might be the only one who had ever taken such a real such leap in history. The latecomers couldn’t hold a candle to her!

Jiang Pengji abruptly smiled and said with confidence, “If you think I’m unfilial, it’s not too late to do anything to me.”

She was still but a fledgling. If Liu She wanted to deal with her, would she be able to resist? Of course, if Liu Yu wanted to keep her around, he had that ability.

Liu Yu was stunned, and the shock in his heart all turned into helplessness all. “You know that I will not hurt you. If you have any fear of me, how could you say that to me?”

She was quite sure that her father wouldn’t oppose her. She dared to speak to him openly and honestly.

“As a father, nothing can be more important than your mother, you, and your two brothers.”

Besides, even if the power of the royal families could be weakened, who else would harm the Liu’s that would be the noble families one day? Liu She was a wise man. The whole thing seemed tricky, but it would only win him favor.