Work overtime

Chapter 767

This day is the best time to turn hostility into friendship, to enhance the relationship between the emperor and his subjects, and to strengthen the communication between the harem concubines and the emperor. After all, many people only see the emperor a few times a year, let alone sleep with him.

He had already told Lichun in the morning that the first thing the five little ones should do after getting up was to go to their mother's bedroom, kneel down and express gratitude, and wish her a speedy recovery.

Just now I heard that the five little ones showed their magical powers and presented their favorite things to their mother to thank her for giving birth to them. The little princess even lay on the quilt, holding on to it for a long time and refused to leave, saying that she wanted to stay with her mother for a while longer.

Li Beichen sat in front of Jiang Yuebai's couch, stroking her hand, looking at Jiang Yuebai's pale face, and smiled hard, "How do you feel today? Did Xia Zhi and the others tell you the good news?"

Jiang Yuebai smiled, "You mean to make Ji'er the crown prince? They told me. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your regard for Ji'er."

"Are you happy?" Li Beichen asked gently, "Are you hungry? How about I give you a bowl of sweet porridge?"

"Of course I'm happy." Jiang Yuebai's voice became very old, as if she was already the empress dowager.

In fact, she looked ten years older in just over a month. Not only did her face change, but she also had white hair on her head and light wrinkles around her eyes.

Li Beichen asked Yuan Jianzheng, and he said that after Jiang Yuebai borrowed her life, time might not flow at a uniform speed for her, but might be faster and slower. Jiang Yuebai's rapid aging in a short period of time might be due to this reason.

He asked Jiang Yuebai how she felt about being sick. She said she couldn't explain it, but she felt short of breath, couldn't catch her breath, had no strength in her body, and didn't want to eat.

Jiang Yuebai had already eaten two Tiandi Changshou Pills. He just hoped that they were not fake or inferior products, or health products that claimed to have supernatural effects.

She hadn't had time to leave the confinement period, tame a wild horse, or walk out of the Novice Village. The basic function of the system is to search for information, issue rewards, and communicate with the system's AI.

The part-time job system said that it was no longer willing to work, and it was like a human eating shit. The system actually made such a metaphor, so even if it was a system, it would be exploited in various ways when it went out.

Li Beichen kissed the back of Jiang Yuebai's hand, "This is what I promised you, and I also promised Jing'er."

"Yeah. Any good news today?"

"Yes, I have."

Li Beichen began to tell Jiang Yuebai about several heavyweight talents introduced by foreign envoys, the agreement to introduce cannons and cannon engineers from Portugal, and the feat of "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" to be launched after the beginning of the year. However, the team leader was Han Ziqian, plus a few capable and trusted eunuchs.

Talking about the northern border, the Ming army won more battles than they lost, and talking about the multiple strategies for dealing with the Tatars and the Oirat that were repeatedly discussed by the Executive Yuan.

High-yield rice, high-yield wheat, high-yield corn, high-yield sorghum, high-yield potatoes, and high-yield sweet potatoes are widely planted across the country. With the help of local farmers, the people sent by the Ministry of Agriculture found the legendary male sterile plants after two years. Artificial pollination cultivation experiments are already being carried out.

The Jilong were basically self-sufficient and could import daily necessities from other places through trade. The central government needed to provide them with medicines and firearms. They had successfully fought back three large-scale raids by Japanese pirates, causing heavy losses to the enemy. Soldiers intermarried with local aborigines, and ethnic integration was further strengthened. The aborigines also joined the new agricultural production and even joined the Ming army.

He said that he had organized a team in the Life Engineering Department to study hydroelectric power generation using electromagnetic principles. Although it is difficult, as long as you take the first step, you will always move forward little by little, and you will reach your destination even if it is far away.

Han Ziqian brought back news that Jiang Xue found out she was pregnant again in October. Li Beihong's two Mongolian concubines were also pregnant. The large temple in the central part of the Inner Mongolia grassland was half built. It should be almost completed by this time next year, and completely completed the year after.

Li Beichen also talked about many other aspects. "In short, there are a lot of good news. You have contributed to all of this. You should get better soon."

But he found that Jiang Yuebai had fallen asleep without him knowing.

He held Jiang Yuebai's hands with both of his own, stroked the ring on her hand, and burst into tears, "Jiaojiao, I can't live without you."

Jiang Yuebai opened her eyes, turned her head to the side, and saw Li Beichen who was covering his face and crying softly, and closed her eyes again.

She knew that Li Beichen definitely didn't want her to see her so vulnerable.

After he calmed down, Jiang Yuebai suddenly opened his eyes slowly and said in surprise, "Why are you still sitting here? Why don't you take a rest?"

Li Beichen sniffed and controlled his emotions, "Okay. I'll go wash up and come back."

"What's wrong with you? Are you crying?" Jiang Yuebai asked jokingly.

Li Beichen smiled and said, "It's cold, I'm a little frozen. It's okay."

"Let the kitchen cook some ginger soup." Jiang Yuebai's voice was weak but gentle. She couldn't help but put her hand on her chest because she felt pain there, a piercing pain.

Entering the twelfth lunar month, it will soon be the New Year. It is another New Year's Eve. The palace banquet is still led by Concubine Lu. This year, Jiang Yuebai, as the queen, should have attended the dinner, but because of her weak body, she couldn't come, so she didn't attend. Nian Zhaoyi didn't come either. She stayed with Jiang Yuebai in Kunning Palace.

Li Beichen sat with Concubine Jin Hui on one side and Concubine Hua on the other. All three of them were a little absent-minded.

Concubine Jin Hui was busy feeding the one-year-old fourth princess. The fourth princess didn't want to eat, but Concubine Jin Hui forced her to eat and didn't let her run around.

The fourth princess looked at her brothers and sisters with great curiosity. Her mother didn't let her play with others, saying that someone might harm her and release a snake to bite her. But she wanted to play in Kunning Palace, and she heard that there were many fun things there. She couldn't understand why everyone went to Kunning Palace to play, but they released a snake to bite her.

Hua Fei, on the other hand, had a cold face and watched the singing and dancing performance below with boredom. She was too lazy to even eat the dishes. She was thinking about whether the Empress had eaten dinner today, whether Nian Zhaoyi had hidden the Empress's white hair so that no one could see it, and whether she had added a little more osmanthus honey to coax the Empress to drink an extra bowl of nourishing porridge.

Li Beichen had a gloomy face, as if he was attending a memorial service with singing and dancing. However, the queen was not dead yet. Since the emperor had such an expression, no one dared to laugh.

The atmosphere was dull.

Except for the table of children. At the table of children, the prominent one was leading other children to cook dark dishes, mixing all kinds of food together, or dipping them in strange sauces. All kinds of food looked delicious, but they were having a lot of fun. The eldest prince tried his best to persuade the third prince not to mess around with his younger brothers and sisters and play such a dangerous game. The third prince retorted, how could it be dangerous? It was not poisonous. The second prince watched with a bit of curiosity.

The fourth prince was having a lot of fun playing with his brother, the Concealer. The eldest princess smeared food on the fourth prince's face. Seeing the eldest princess bullying her younger brother, Concealer immediately fought back. The eldest princess called her younger sister for help. The younger sister held the spoon with a confused look on her face and drank the soup slowly.

Just when her sister was about to lose, her voice as sweet as a silver bell rang out, "Father, they are bullying my sister."

Then the elder sister was successfully rescued, but the Third Prince had already smeared a layer of lard on her face, making her look very embarrassed. The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were taken aside to be educated. The Third Prince twisted his neck, pointed at the eldest princess, and said in a rough voice, "She was the first to do it!"

The third princess was only one year old. She watched her brothers and sisters fight excitedly. She slapped the table and laughed. Her mother, Concubine Lu, was busy directing the whole scene and had no time to take care of her. She just played with her brothers and sisters. Empress Xuan, who was taking care of her, fed her food from time to time, and her eyes were always on the emperor who was drinking alone.

Jiang Yuebai's fifth princess and Rui Zhaoyi's sixth princess did not come and were both in Kunning Palace at this time.

In Kunning Palace.

Nian Zhaoyi held the Sixth Princess in her arms and showed it to Jiang Yuebai. The Sixth Princess was only two months old. She had thick eyebrows and a high nose bridge like the emperor, and big eyes and a round face like Rui Zhaoyi. She was as delicate as a jade. It was obvious that she would be a beauty with a strong complexion when she grew up. When she cried because she was hungry, it sounded like she was singing, not noisy at all.

The fifth princess is six months old. She smiles whenever she sees people. She is not afraid of strangers and does not like to cry. When she smiles, there is a round dimple on her left cheek. Her laughter is very crisp and pleasant, the kind that makes you smile knowingly when you hear it.

She would look at her sister curiously, hold her sister's hand, pull her clothes, and kiss her sister on the cheek under the guidance of her mother.

Jiang Yuebai saw the two children being so affectionate and smiled with some emotion.

Nian Zhaoyi said to Jiang Yuebai, "Your Majesty, you need to be more open-minded. Everyone has their own destiny. Tomorrow is the New Year, and everything starts anew."

"But the storybook hasn't been finished yet. I want to see a happy ending." Jiang Yuebai said dimly, and for some reason, another tear rolled down from the corner of her eye.

"Is that so? You are sad because you haven't finished writing the storybook. Then can I finish it?" Nian Zhaoyi asked tentatively.

Jiang Yuebai shook his head and smiled faintly, "Let's not write it. It's also good to say that it's not finished yet. Thinking of my sister, I will let it go. How can I not let it go? I still have six children."

But the book written by Rui Fei is so interesting. It takes such an interesting soul. Not everyone can write a good novel. It still requires something called "talent". Even if there is an outline, it won't work, let alone Rui Fei, who has no outline and can write well by sheer imagination.

Some people are gone, and they are gone forever. No one can replace them.

Jiang Yuebai said this, but her heart was still hurting. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Thinking of this, she started coughing again, and this time she coughed up blood. Nian Zhaoyi was so scared that she wanted to call the imperial physician, but Jiang Yuebai stopped her.

"Let them enjoy the New Year for a while. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Li Beichen returned to Kunning Palace, feeling cold and drunk. He stood at the door to dispel the cold air before entering the house. He asked Xia Zhi, who lowered his voice and said that the Queen had coughed up blood again today.

Li Beichen frowned. Now when he heard about coughing up blood, he would think of Gu poison. But after he rolled the eggs, he found that it was not related to Gu poison. It might be pure pneumonia or bronchitis.

He asked Xia Zhi to bring the cough and lung-moisturizing medicine prescribed by the Imperial Hospital, and he fed it to Jiang Yuebai.

The medicine was very bitter, but Jiang Yuebai didn't feel it. She just picked it up and drank it in one gulp, just like drinking wine in the past.

Li Beichen looked very distressed.

But he drank a bowl himself, because he was also coughing and had a headache. Without Jiang Yuebai's massage, he felt more pain than before, the kind of pain that made him feel like he was going to explode.

Two patients were lying together, holding hands. You coughed, I coughed, one after another.

In the darkness, Li Beichen sighed, "It feels like we are all going to die."

"Will the country be in chaos?" Jiang Yuebai's first reaction.

"I drafted a secret decree and arranged eight ministers to advise him. It shouldn't happen. But it's hard to say. The child is too young. No matter who becomes the emperor, he will be a puppet."

"Then let's try our best not to die," Jiang Yuebai said with a wry smile.

Li Beichen held her hand tightly, "Okay. I won't die. Wife, happy Year of the Pig."

"Happy Year of the Pig." Jiang Yuebai coughed violently again, coughing up bright red blood. "Do you think I have tuberculosis? But I haven't seen anyone else infected. In theory, Chinese medicine is very effective in treating pneumonia."

"That won't work if you don't sleep all day. If you lose sleep, your immune system won't be able to keep up. You should take the vitamins provided by the system. You need to get enough sleep to be fine."

"But I just can't sleep. Counting sheep is no use." Jiang Yuebai said dimly.

"Then I'll help you sleep." Li Beichen said as he reached his hand down, "Be obedient and relax. Don't blame yourself for feeling happy."

"You'll cough to death."

"If I'm going to die, at least I'll be happy."

“This is just a temporary solution.”

"Let go of your rationality and indulge yourself. Just like now. People who are sober will suffer more than others."