vrcanaries Chapter 183 Yixiu 52
Chapter 183 Yixiu 52
After drinking a cup of ginseng soup, An's mother felt warm all over.
"Mother brought you some food this time. It was originally sealed, but it was inspected when entering the palace, so it can no longer be released."
Mother An was a little uneasy when she spoke. The guard's stunned expression and tone made her realize that the things she brought were somewhat indecent.
She gave away a lot of money along the way to the palace, which made her feel very distressed.
An Lingrong was worried that her mother would be neglected, so she sent someone to pick her up, but the arrangements along the way could not be concealed.
"Is it pickled radish? Mom, please let me try it. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but the ones made in the imperial kitchen don't taste like that."
An Lingrong's surprised reaction dispelled her mother's anxiety. Her daughter was still her daughter.
"You can't eat that now. I'll give it to you during dinner, otherwise you'll feel uncomfortable."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
"Mom, how are your eyes? Is the doctor's medicine effective? Is my dad still the same as before when he was at home? Tell me the truth and don't make me worry."
Holding her daughter's fair and tender hand, An's mother felt very relieved.
This is very good. It can give my daughter an opportunity to live a life without worries about food and clothing, without having to worry about food and clothing.
Her embroidery was not wasted, nor was it a bargain for that bastard.
"My eyesight is much better now. I don't do anything on weekdays, so it's not a problem."
"You sent so many things, and specifically mentioned that they were all for me. You also asked people to hire a doctor and buy maids. He dared not bully me again."
"As for those concubines... you specially asked someone to find Huazhi who knows some martial arts. With her around, no one dares to do anything. At most, they'll just say a few sarcastic words."
An Lingrong listened carefully, secretly wondering if there was anything she had not done well.
"Your father lived peacefully for a while after he was demoted last time, but he forgot everything afterwards. He only remembered that you could rescue him. Now that I'm out, he's still thinking about you helping him get promoted."
"Son, don't listen to him. Take care of yourself."
When talking about her heartless husband, An's mother became angry and could not help but tap the table with her fingers in anger.
It’s not enough for this guy to ruin his own life, he wants to drag his daughter into this as well. He’s dreaming!
An Lingrong held her chin and stared at her mother without blinking, pushing the tea over to her at the right time with a faint smile on her lips.
She had never seen such a lively mother. In her memory, her mother always spoke so gently, was always working, and her eyes showed unconcealable fatigue and misery.
She is completely different from now. When talking about her father, her face is filled with pride and confidence that she herself has never noticed.
And this confidence was given to my mother by myself.
Realizing this, fireworks exploded in An Lingrong's heart. She would work harder to give her mother a better life.
Listening to her mother talking about her father's cautious flattery, An Lingrong suddenly felt that she had been really stupid.
The man who made her afraid was no different.
Xia Dongchun came to see An Lingrong as usual, but this time she brought a lot of gifts.
Mother An was a little surprised to see such a noble person dressed in jewels and precious stones. She was quite worldly-wise.
The jewels on the Queen's head are not as gorgeous as this one, is it possible?
"Hello, Madam An. I am Xia Dongchun, the Concubine Xia who lives over there. I am Lingrong's best sister in the palace." After saying this, Xia Dongchun raised her chin towards An Lingrong.
An Lingrong smiled and agreed, "Mother, we have been together since entering the palace and have a very good relationship. Sister Xia is a very straightforward person and takes good care of me."
Only then did An's mother relax, and before she could finish her ceremony, Xia Dongchun helped her up.
She didn't know much about the rules, so naturally she didn't think Xia Dongchun's words were rude, and the two of them got along surprisingly well.
"Mrs. Xia must have used Zhangzhou satin for this dress. The hibiscus embroidery is really beautiful. The stamens are so vividly embroidered."
"Mrs. An has good taste!"
Xia Dongchun's eyes suddenly lit up. She had been in front of An Lingrong many times and heard a lot of praise, but nothing was more convincing than what An's mother said.
She talked to An's mother about clothes embroidery for a long time. She didn't understand it, but she knew which one cost more money.
When talking about this, An's mother was not at all shy and even gave Xia Dongchun some common sense.
Which ones are no longer popular in Jiangnan, which embroidery method looks more regular, if you want to seek authenticity and make the random needle embroidery unique, which embroidery thread makes the jewels more lustrous.
Xia Dongchun was stunned when he heard this.
The two of them were chatting animatedly, and An Lingrong, who was watching from the side, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
It was a long time before the two stopped.
Xia Dongchun laid out all the gifts she had prepared. "Mrs. An, these are your gifts. Sister An is pregnant, so I won't bother you any more."
"I'll come and chat with you another day."
Without waiting for An's mother to speak, Xia Dongchun gave An Lingrong a very perfunctory greeting and walked out.
"Just keep it safe, mother. Don't worry about anything else. We have a really good relationship."
Mother An nodded continuously with tears in her eyes. She could certainly see that the two of them got along very well.
After entering the palace, Mrs. Fucha was mainly responsible for comforting her daughter. She was very polite to An Lingrong and An's mother who lived in the Yanx Palace with her. Her daughter's pregnancy was taken very seriously by the Fucha family and no mistakes could be made.
After the Lantern Festival, Shen Meizhuang also finished her confinement, and the emperor specially ordered her to move to Yonghe Palace.
This place was once the Queen Mother's residence, which shows how much importance she attached to it.
Not long after, An Lingrong and Fu Cha Yixin gave birth to two princesses, Yu'an and Yongning.
This made the emperor very disappointed, as none of the three newborn babies was a prince.
After all, she was his own child, so he still liked her and did not ignore the princess.
Considering that there were two more children in the Yanxi Palace, the Queen decided to move An Lingrong and Xia Dongchun to the Jingyang Palace.
The East Six Palaces suddenly became lively.
Shen Meizhuang and Zhen Huan came to see An Lingrong that day, and they saw the slide on the open space at a glance.
Everyone knew that if nothing unexpected happened, they would live in Jingyang Palace for a long time in the future.
An Lingrong was also aware of this, so she made the arrangements more carefully.
"Sister, you are really in a good mood. Yu'an is still young, but you have prepared some toys for him."
Shen Meizhuang had naturally seen this thing before. It was originally a toy for the cat slaves in Jingren Palace, but the two princesses loved it very much.
Now he has both Chuxiu Palace and Yiku Palace, which are all his mother's love, and the emperor doesn't mind it.
It wasn't placed in front of the main hall, so just let them be.
An Lingrong was picking flowers in the courtyard. Seeing the two people coming in, she put down the branches she was holding and went to greet them. "Sister, you always laugh at me. Look at how wide it is. There's no room for children to play."
Zhen Huan took a closer look and saw that it seemed to be a little wider. "Then what is this?"
Before An Lingrong could answer, a mooing sound was heard at the palace gate.
A "little pig" walked in leisurely, holding a big bamboo shoot in its mouth.
It skillfully circled around the three of them, then climbed up the slide and started playing.
Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang were stunned by this action. They hadn't seen Tuanzi for a long time and they didn't know that the bear could walk freely in the palace.
An Lingrong pulled the two of them to sit down, "Tuanzi is getting bigger. If you stay in one place for too long, you'll get bored."
"The Empress specifically allowed Tuanzi to roam freely in the West Six Palaces. The Yanxi Palace is close to here, so let him move around as well."
"It's not surprising that Sister Mei doesn't know. Don't look at Tuanzi's size, he's not very courageous."
"It was Xia Changzai who lured it here little by little with a basket of apples. The rest of the place hasn't been explored yet."
The two of them were amazed and said, "Everything has a spirit. Tuanzi and Mo Ying are both like this. They never hurt anyone, and even when they lose their temper, they don't direct it at people."
"Yes, no wonder the Queen likes it so much. It's really pitiful to be confined to this place for so long."
Shen Meizhuang turned her head to look at Tuanzi, not sure whether she was talking about it or herself.
An Lingrong stuffed the flower branch on the table into the two people's hands and said, "Let it play by itself. Come and help me, sisters."
"Why did you pick so many cherry blossoms? What's the use of them?"
"This cherry tree was blooming so lushly that it blocked some of the sunlight, so I had the branches at the bottom cut off."
"Wash the cherry blossoms and candy them. When it's hot, take them out and make tea. It can calm the mind and strengthen the spleen, and it can also make the skin white and smooth..."
Zhen Huan picked a cherry blossom and sniffed it gently. The elegant fragrance lingered around her, making her look forward to the flower tea in An Lingrong's mouth.
"Such a good thing, we need to be rewarded for helping you today."
"Don't worry, sister. I'll send it to you when it's done."
"Then Sister Mei and I won't be polite to you!"
The spring sun was warm and the temperature was just right, so the three of them simply sat under a tree and chatted.
When it comes to their daughter, they have endless topics to talk about. No one thinks that having a princess is a big deal, she is still their baby.
Taking the petals washed by Baojuan, Zhen Huan imitated An Lingrong and put them into the porcelain vase layer by layer, one layer of petals and one layer of sugar. If it were a glass bottle, one would wonder how beautiful it would be.
"My sister is really good at making things. My sister Mei and I have taken advantage of them."
"Sister, you're joking. The Empress has closed the palace to chant sutras and pray for the victims, and we don't even have to pay our respects. We have to find something to do to pass the time."
"The Emperor is in a bad mood, I dare not go up and join in the fun."
An Lingrong knew that the Queen's prayer for blessings was just an excuse. She had just fallen ill in the winter and had been confined to the palace for a few days. She simply didn't want to get up and was too lazy to move.
The emperor hoped that the queen would not interfere in the affairs, so it was natural for the palace power to be dispersed.
Zhen Huan sighed softly, "It's only been a few years since the Emperor ascended the throne, and the epidemic just ended. This year, the Haihe River basin has been hit by heavy rains, causing floods."
"I heard that the seventy-two counties in Bazhou and Baoding were severely affected by the disaster, and the emperor was busy summoning his ministers to discuss river management strategies. He was inevitably a little irritated."
"It's strange that it's not the rainy season yet it's raining so heavily."
An Lingrong had also seen disaster victims when she was young, and when she thought of this, she couldn't help but sigh at the ruthlessness of natural disasters.
"The Empress has already ordered all palaces to cut unnecessary expenses and opened a porridge stall outside the capital. This is at least part of our sisters' efforts to show their appreciation."
Yixiu did things in the name of the queens of various palaces, and the porridge stall was also funded by the money donated by them. This was secondary, as the food from the farms under their names provided the bulk of the cost.
She always believed that whoever contributed would gain fame, and she would never do anything like using other people's money to enhance the emperor's reputation.
The victims also knew that the porridge was given by the ladies in the palace.
With this precedent, women from various families in the capital also began to take action.
Whether it was to please the superiors or for the sake of reputation, the porridge stalls of all sizes did relieve the pressure on the Ministry of Households, giving them ample time to think of countermeasures.
As for whether the Ministry of Revenue should be under unified management, if you have the ability, you can come to the harem to find out.
If an emperor had a family, he would have to worry about this person winning people's hearts, but since every concubine has a title, it doesn't matter.
With Yixiu's hint, Chaogui left the palace openly under the pretext of looking after the porridge shed.
She didn't understand why the Queen wanted to use this disaster to spread her reputation as much as possible, but she knew that the Queen would not harm her.
With a large amount of food and manpower, Chao Gui quickly exchanged them for a large amount of labor, and those shelved industries soon took shape.
Princess Chaogui's reputation became more and more famous.
Hongli realized that something was wrong. Such a huge investment could almost exhaust Chaogui's efforts over the years. He was worried that something big had happened.
After pondering for a while, he quietly left the Old Summer Palace and hurried to look for Chao Gui.
"Aunt? Why are you doing this? The surrounding grain merchants are already very dissatisfied. I heard that several of them are considering taking risks."
Chao Gui looked at the account book with a disdainful sneer and asked someone to prepare some food.
"All they can do is incite refugees to grab food. They want to get something for nothing and think I should donate it to them for free."
"Or they might try to scare me by using the names of some noble family or prince behind me. Or they might even have someone burn down my granary and rob me of my food along the way. That's it."
"Let them come. With this evidence, who knows who will be the unlucky one."
Chao Gui downplayed it. She had experienced all of this before, and it wasn't the first time she had to confront the local tyrants.
It just depends on who is more capable.
"aunt?"
If you want to contribute to disaster relief, there are more gentle ways that are just as effective, but they will take longer.
What's more, this move will also cause dissatisfaction among court officials, which is really not worth the cost.
Hongli didn't understand what difficult problem Chaogui had encountered.
"Look, look how disgusting these people are. They don't care about anything for money."
Hongli silently took the thing Chaogui handed over. It contained evidence of collusion between officials and businessmen in various places. No wonder these wealthy families were able to hoard so much grain.
"As you walked along the road, you should have seen it. How is it compared to what you imagined?"
"The people were displaced, the flooded waters were littered with corpses, it was a horrific sight." Hongli's voice was low, his fingers holding the evidence turned white, and his voice was full of powerlessness.
What you learn from books is always shallow. Only today did he realize how ridiculous his previous imaginations were.
There were no houses left within a hundred miles, and countless men, women, old and young were crushed to death.
There was a flood throughout Shandong, and there was a severe famine in the spring and summer of the following year. People ate each other, and an epidemic followed.
The Pingyang earthquake affected 28 counties and cities, killing over 52,600 people.
……
The book summarizes the deaths of tens of thousands of people in just a few sentences. Corruption taking advantage of the disaster seems to have become a consensus and cannot be stopped.