Work overtime

Chapter 786

Now he could even eat with the emperor's uncle and mingle with the children of the Beijing noble families. She thought he had a bright future. Moreover, the emperor's uncle was a great cook and raised his son to be fat and strong, full of energy.

He got a job by KOing the evil forces, which is even luckier than dog shit.

It’s not perfect without a wife.

But among the three people in Taorui Palace, Concubine Lu never gave birth to a child in her life, and Concubine Xuan finally got pregnant but the child died of illness. She had a son to rely on, so she was completely a winner in life.

Concubine Yu was so bold that she asked the Empress Dowager's best friend and her sworn sister, Concubine Lu, to accompany her. She spoke frankly to the Empress Dowager about Xiaoliu's marriage, hoping that the Emperor would grant the marriage directly to prevent the brat from getting out of hand.

The Queen Mother did not give a clear answer, but only said to tell the Emperor to see which girl is suitable.

A few days later, the emperor announced that the Sixth Prince Li Chengxi would be named King of the Northwest and would marry him the daughter of King Pingzhong, the leader of another large tribe of the Khoshut tribe, and would choose an auspicious day for the wedding.

Although Concubine Yu Tai wanted her son to marry a woman from the Central Plains so that she could have a say, the emperor had already issued his decree, and the emperor had married a Mongolian girl, so even if she had any objections, she could only keep them to herself.

Concubine Lu comforted her, saying that this was a good thing as the language barrier could help avoid conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

The daughter-in-law was the sister of Concubine Jing, so Concubine Yu went to ask Concubine Jing what her sister's personality was like, which made Concubine Jing burst into tears.

When she left the grassland, her sister was less than one year old, still a babbling baby in her arms. Before she knew it, she hadn't been home for fourteen years.

Faced with Concubine Jing's collapse and crying, Concubine Yu was at a loss, but Concubine Lu had a high emotional intelligence and said that Xiaoliu had a cheerful personality and no schemes since she was a child, and would definitely treat her sister well. And since she married in the capital, she would definitely bring her to the palace to meet the Queen Mother, and then Concubine Jing would be able to see her relatives.

This made Concubine Jing burst into laughter and she began to think about what gift to give to her sister who was about to come to the capital.

But the subsequent imperial edict made everyone lose their composure and burst into tears.

The sixth son was so good at managing the security of Dongcheng that the emperor sent him directly to the location of the Khoshut tribe to take over as the governor of Anxi Protectorate and the top leader of the former Wakhar region. The former governor of the Protectorate, Sun Shangli, retired and returned to his hometown, and was named Marquis of Wu'an.

Jiang Yuebai specifically asked the emperor for grace to allow Concubine Yu to accompany the Sixth Prince to the residence.

When Concubine Yu heard that she would have a chance to leave this cage in this lifetime, her face was filled with tears and she kowtowed to Jiang Yuebai many times in gratitude.

The fact that Concubine Yu could follow her son out of the palace made the concubines of ethnic minorities who married there very envious. That was the Mongolian grassland, where they could ride horses freely, the sky and the earth were huge, and the grassland was infinitely vast. It was their hometown that they could never return to.

Before leaving, Yu Tai Guipin had several drinks with her sisters in the harem. She had a good alcohol tolerance and a generous drinking style, quite like the daughter of a general. She drank too much to get drunk, but she got drunk. Maybe she just wanted to cry with her sisters and get drunk.

In June of the 13th year of Taixing, the Sixth Prince brought his mother, Concubine Yu Taigui, to the Anxi Protectorate to take up his post.

Jiang Yuebai, Concubine Lu, Concubine An, Concubine Jing, and Concubine He waved goodbye on the city wall, all in tears.

The Mongolian concubines asked Yu Tai Guipin to bring letters and gifts to their families. Although the tribes were not close to each other, they could still reach each other by horseback. Unlike this imperial city, it was like a cage that you could never leave.

Jiang Yuebai suddenly asked Concubine An, "Concubine An, how old are you?"

Concubine An, "I am thirty-two."

Concubine Jing, "I am thirty."

and the Concubine Dowager, "I am thirty-one."

Concubine Lu, "It seems that I am still the oldest, I am thirty-five."

Jiang Yuebai laughed out loud, "How could that be? Of course I'm the oldest, thirty-six."

"How is this possible?" everyone exclaimed.

Then I thought about it. The emperor was already 19, so how could the empress dowager be 30?

But why did the Queen Mother look so young? Although she was not as exaggerated as fifteen or sixteen years old, she looked like she was in her early twenties. Her hair was black and shiny, with almost no white hair, and her face was white and delicate without a single wrinkle.

Unlike the other concubines present, who all had white hair on their heads and fine lines at the corners of their eyes.

The Queen Mother had obviously given birth to more children than them and had worked harder. Why did she look so much younger than them? They thought to themselves that maybe the Queen Mother ate bird's nest as a meal.

Of course, in addition to twenty years of daily physical exercise, the skin care products and internal health care products produced by the system also contribute greatly.

Jiang Yuebai sighed as he looked at the soldiers busy walking under the city wall and the people queuing up to enter the city.

"It's been twenty years since the late emperor passed away."

Everyone has wasted twenty years in the harem.

She began to think about taking the concubines out for a trip, visiting her hometown of Suzhou, and inspecting the dredged Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou.

But after returning to the palace, she felt heartache when she thought of her two sons who had grown wings and flew away and never came back.

Only then did I understand the meaning of the ancient poem: A loving mother sews clothes for her son. A mother worries when her son travels thousands of miles away.

The third child has been abroad for five years and has not returned home.

The bastard Lao Si is clearly in the country, but he hasn't been home for three years.

The emperor treated the fourth child as his confidant and arranged him to be his eyes and nose to inspect various places. But this child was just like his third brother. After leaving the palace, he swam into the sea like a fish and never returned for three years.

He never came back. He didn’t come back during Chinese New Year, Qingming Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival. He didn’t come back on his mother’s birthday. He didn’t come back on his father’s or his brother’s birthdays.

The main point is that it is gone and will never come back.

Jiang Yuebai felt the power of his genes, otherwise why would he love freedom so outrageously.

Of course he dared not reply to his brother the emperor's letter.

Not only did he write back to report his whereabouts, he also sent back a lot of data and information required by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Personnel, as well as seeds, soil and other things for the Ministry of Agriculture to study.

The reports sent in from various places were just a few pages at first, but later they became longer and longer. The emperor copied these reports to the six ministries, and they became the freshest and most detailed first-hand information.

There were also bullies, gentry, and corrupt officials who wanted to assassinate him. However, the emperor sent a considerable number of elite soldiers and secret guards to protect him, and they worked in reverse to catch a group of bad guys. Minor cases were handed over to the local government for justice, while major cases were escorted to the capital for further investigation.

The Fourth Prince felt that he was being used as bait by his eldest brother to catch turtles.

He even uncovered a large-scale den of trafficking women and children, contacted the local governor to send them back home, and made the people happy. It was said that a young girl said that her parents had died and she was homeless, and she wanted to marry the Fourth Prince.

The fourth prince acted chivalrously and acted as a matchmaker, marrying her to the son of the local county magistrate as his legal wife. When he took out the emperor's gold medal, the local county magistrate was reluctant but was forced to obey.

He also wrote to ask if the secret guards could be asked to leave when visiting brothels, as the tension of being watched made him impotent. He also said that the journey was so tiring, more tiring than working in the capital, and that in addition to the salary, he should be given more travel allowances, high temperature allowances, boat allowances, and homesickness allowances, so that he could have more money to spend.

But his brother the emperor wrote back to him, asking him to return to Beijing to receive promotion and get married. However, he said that he would rather continue research and investigation outside, and that remaining single was more suitable for him.

Last month he wrote that he had recently traveled to Xiamen, Fujian. That was a place full of miasma and pirates. The key point was that it was too far from the capital. How long would it take to get back to the capital at this stop-and-go pace?

Even if there were elite soldiers and secret guards sent by the emperor to protect him, what if he got sick due to the unfamiliar climate? What if he was poisoned?
worry!

Jiang Yuebai read every letter over and over again. His son had no intention of finding a partner. It was either various investigation records, or this was fun, that was interesting, that was delicious, that was super cheap, or there were so many beauties.

There are so many beauties, bring one back.

All his brothers have started families, but he is still drifting around. How shameful!
As a result, they crossed the strait and ran to Jilong. After taking an inspection, they decided not to go home!
He wants to get married right where he is.

The person he fell in love with turned out to be Meng Xiao, the concubine's daughter born after Duke Anguo went to Jilong.

He wrote a thick report in great detail, introducing the achievements of the chicken cage over the years, and full of praise for his father-in-law, Duke Anguo. In order to provide additional evidence, he also drew many schematic diagrams. It was so exquisite and accurate that it could be printed directly. It was different from previous reports, and it was obvious that he had spent a lot of effort.

He begged the emperor to grant him a marriage and sent someone to give him more gifts. He wanted to build a big house for his wife to live in and have lots of children.

He also attached a portrait of his beloved.

He also wrote a line of small words on the back, "Is my wife very beautiful? Don't be too envious of me."

The meticulous painting that he had spent so much energy and effort to practice finally had some practical use and became a weapon to pursue his wife.

The girl in the portrait has an oval face, clear eyes, thick eyebrows, and a peaceful and serene expression.

"Mother, do you think this painting looks like a person?" Li Chengji looked at the woman in the painting and turned to ask his mother.

"Like who?"

"It looks like mother," Li Chengji told Liang Xiaobao naturally, "Show mother the painting I found in the Qinzheng Palace."

Liang Xiaobao respectfully spread out a scroll, pressed it with a paperweight, and then slowly unfolded it.

I saw a young girl looking at the moon.

The painting is not finished because the blank space is stained with a large ink stain.

When placed together with the portraits of the four princesses, the calm and indifferent expressions and temperaments are indeed very similar.

Jiang Yuebai hadn't shed tears for a long time, but now her eyes became moist when she saw this portrait.

She stroked the scroll on the table, "Xiaobao, when was this painting drawn?"

Liang Xiaobao was about to speak when he remembered the oath he had made several years ago. He shook his head blankly and said that he had never seen this painting.

This was painted in June of the third year of Jingchang, when Li Beichen was suffering from poison and missed Jiang Yuebai but dared not see her.

The painting shows them walking together in a bamboo forest. He plays music for Jiang Yuebai on the bamboo with a hairpin, and sees her cool and tranquil appearance from high in the sky.

Looking at the bamboo forest created by splashed ink, Jiang Yuebai guessed the scene in the painting.

I asked myself, Jiuru, do you now look at the moon almost every night like I do?
Jiang Yuebai suggested, "Why not just follow the fourth brother? Let him lead the troops to guard the chicken coop. After all, it's more reassuring to have our own people guarding the chicken coop."

"it is good."

The emperor then issued an edict to change the fief of the fourth prince from Liaodong to Jilong Island, and to change the title of King of Liao to King of Ryukyu, and to appoint him as the Protector General of Penghu Protectorate. He was granted a marriage with Meng Xiao, the daughter of Meng Xin, Duke of Anguo, and the wedding was completed on an auspicious day.

The Nurgan Commandery was changed to the Far East Protectorate, with Duke Anguo Mengxin as protector and Earl Beining Mao Yuliang as deputy protector. They set off that day.

On June 29, the 13th year of Taixing, Jiang Yuebai's niece Hui Guipin gave birth to the second prince. Both mother and child were safe. The prince weighed 7.4 jin, cried loudly, and was very healthy. The emperor promoted her to Hui Wanyi. The emperor gave her the name Li Hongliang.

This is a bit embarrassing.

Although the emperor still doted on the queen on a daily basis and only occasionally favored other concubines, the concubines still had healthy princes before the queen.

This year, Concubine Xie gave birth to the third prince on November 21, and named him Li Hongqing, and was promoted to Concubine Xie De;
In addition, three concubines were pregnant, and their due dates were in the 14th year of Jingchang.

In November of that year, the emperor's concubine, Concubine Meng, died of grief. Concubine Meng, whom she often visited, was also infected and her old illness flared up, and she also died a few days later.

Jiang Yuebai didn't ask about the real cause of death. It was probably what he guessed. She didn't have a saintly heart. Sooner or later, you will have to pay for what you did. If you do something to hurt others, you must be prepared to bear the consequences.

The emperor was deeply saddened and took Meng Bingjie, the legitimate daughter of Meng Qing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, as his concubine, and initially named her Meng Wanyi.

In the twelfth month of that year, the queen was found to be pregnant again. On the ninth day of the twelfth month, a concubine of a low rank gave birth to the third princess, who was given the name Li Zhihua and was arranged by the emperor to be raised by the queen to keep the eldest princess company.

In the same month, Concubine Xuan died. Of the three sisters who had sworn brotherhood in Taorui Palace, Concubine Yu went to the Mongolian steppes, Concubine Xuan went to heaven, and Concubine Lu stayed alone in the palace.

Concubine Lu was so sad that she suddenly fell ill, even though she was usually full of energy.

Before we knew it, it was New Year’s Eve.

Nowadays, the New Year’s Eve family dinner has become a table for the concubines, a table for the emperor and princes, a table for the princesses, and a table for the children.

The younger generations were all present, and the concubines were no longer the little girls they were back then. They would no longer get drunk and sing, dance, and play the piano, and they could not play with the young people. They were in their own world, and the young people were in their own world.

Concubine Lu was bedridden and was afraid of spreading her illness to others, so she stayed alone in her room.

The concubines buried their heads in the food, said a few words of congratulations without any smoke, and then returned to Ci'an Palace to set up another table.

To be honest, it would be impossible without Concubine Lu to take care of it. The New Year's Eve family banquet in previous years was always good. In the first three years after the Mongolian Queen married, Concubine Lu helped to take care of it. Starting last year, Jiang Yuebai handed it over to the Queen to arrange and no longer interfered in these palace affairs.

I don’t know whether everyone is used to Concubine Lu’s arrangement or Concubine Lu has figured out everyone’s preferences. In short, the dishes arranged by Concubine Lu are extremely in line with everyone’s taste, and what’s more rare is that they also meet everyone’s aesthetic taste.

Without Concubine Lu on the scene to greet people and liven up the atmosphere, the New Year would not feel like the New Year.

Such a comparison makes one miss the era of Concubine Lu.

People in groups of three or four couldn't help but whisper, "I miss the original taste so much."

Hearing that it was the Queen who worked so hard to arrange this while she was pregnant, the concubines immediately felt that they could not let her down, and ate a lot to show their support.