After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 884 Fatigue
Haijiao soon felt relieved about some of Concubine Xu's words and actions.

In fact, he was neither a member of the royal family nor a high-ranking official. What kind of person would the future empress dowager be? What did it have to do with him? Unless he was sent to the inner court by the Jinyiwei as a guard, he might never see the future empress dowager in his life. Even if his sister was going to marry Jin Jiashu in the future, he would at most be summoned by the empress dowager once or twice as a family member. Since he knew in his previous life what the empress would do in the future, why should he worry about it? Anyway, he knew very well that she would not do anything to harm the people, nor would she interfere in the government as the mother of the new monarch, and it would not affect him at all. He didn't need to care about other things.

Thinking of this, Hai Jiao also gave his sister some advice: "If Imperial Concubine Xu is dissatisfied with you in the future and wants to make things difficult for you, you can persuade Xiao Jin to be exiled. As long as they pass the imperial examination, they will be exiled to the local areas and serve as officials close to the people for a few years before they can have a chance to join the cabinet in the future. You are persuading him to be exiled, which is the right thing to do, and no one can find fault with you. But once he is exiled, and you follow him to take up the post, then the Empress Dowager will be far away, and no one will be able to look down on you anymore."

Haitang laughed. "It's a good idea, but when I keep Brother Jin away from his family, I am also away from my family. It's not worth it. I think you are more important. As long as I can stay in the same city with you and see you often, it's not a big deal if the queen occasionally gives me a cold look. I can also advise Brother Jin that if he wants to take the right path of imperial examinations and be respected like Tao Ge Lao, and no one will say anything about his status as a relative, then it's better for him to come to the palace less often. He is not a very close relative or elder. He has someone to take care of him at home, and he has no worries about food and clothing. He has a lot of homework. Why should he go to the palace all the time and let people gossip about him?"

Haijiao laughed out loud: "Yes, yes, that's right. Xiao Jin's ambition is to take the imperial examination. You are doing this for his own good. No one can say you are wrong."

The brother and sister smiled at each other, but someone approached the moon gate. Haitang had better hearing, so she stood up and looked. Haijiao also heard the footsteps and turned around to see that it was Mother Li who came back.

Mother Li smiled and reminded them: "The master and mistress just asked where the young master is. Let the young master and the young lady go to bed early and don't chat too late. If there is anything, get up early tomorrow to talk about it. It's the same."

Haitang hadn't had enough fun yet, she still had a lot to ask her brother. But Haijiao looked at the sky and felt that it was indeed getting late. He had already told his sister the important news, and it wouldn't be too late to talk about the rest tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Anyway, his sister couldn't do anything after knowing the news, it just made her feel more at ease, it didn't matter whether she knew it a day earlier or a day later.

He stood up and said, "Sister, you have been traveling all day, you should wash up and rest early. I have to go back to the government office tomorrow and will be back for dinner. We can talk then."

Haitang reluctantly saw her brother off and returned to her room.

Xiangcao had already made the bed, opened the trunk and wardrobe, and put the seasonal clothes in. The twenty or so pots of flowers and plants she brought from Chang'an were also delivered and placed on the wooden shelf under the window sill. However, the bookcase had not been tidied up yet. The floor was filled with large boxes of books. Only the desk had been cleared and Haitang's usual writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone were placed on it.

Haitang stood in front of the desk, feeling that the tabletop was not big enough, so she had to make do with it. She turned around and saw Xiangcao sweating profusely. She remembered that she had done nothing tonight, only chatting with her brother, leaving Xiangcao to work alone. She felt bad and said hurriedly, "Xiangcao, let's leave it at that for tonight, and we'll continue to clean up tomorrow. You're sweating, go wash up quickly and go to bed early."

Xiangcao responded and brought over an extra candlestick: "Miss, do you still want to read and write tonight? Why not forget it and go to bed early. You can make up your homework tomorrow, it's the same thing." She had been with Haitang for less than a few months, so she naturally knew that the amount of homework every day was just a piece of cake for Haitang, and doubling it wouldn't take much effort.

Haitang waved her hand, indicating that she knew what was going on, and let her leave.

After closing the door, Haitang looked back at the room and couldn't help grinning. It was really nice to live alone. Having an extra maid made things more convenient, but it also cost her a lot of private space. Now she let Xiangcao live in the side room next door, and she had her own room again, where she could do whatever she wanted.

Instead of reading or writing, she walked to the window sill and examined the shelf of small potted plants.

In order to facilitate transportation, she trimmed the flowers and plants she had to take with her into small potted plants, stored them in special wooden troughs, and transported them all the way to the capital by carriage. She took good care of them on the way, but a few pots of flowers and plants did not survive and withered halfway, so they had to be disposed of. Now, the only potted plants she successfully brought to her new home are this shelf, but fortunately the pot of Tianxin Begonia is safe and sound, and even bloomed.

She took care of it more carefully, and now that she had some free time, she immediately took it off the shelf and placed it under the windowsill so that the entire plant could be illuminated by the moonlight. She then poured a little water on it, not too much or too little, and it had to be clean enough. Finally, she poured the nutrient solution she had prepared on the soil in the pot, being careful not to touch the plant itself. Only then was she done.

The weather in the capital was already quite cold, but it was still some time before the snow fell. If everything went well, she should be able to harvest the first batch of Tianxin Begonia fruits before the snow fell, right?
Haitang washed her hands, tidied herself up briefly, and went to bed to rest. Although her body did not feel tired from the journey due to her inner strength, she could not get rid of her mental fatigue. She had to rest her spirit to be in the best condition to welcome the upcoming life in Beijing.

Silent all night.

When Haitang got up the next morning, before Xiangcao could move, Mother Li brought her warm water and a towel and helped her wash up.

Haitang was a little surprised: "Where's Vanilla?"

Mother Li said embarrassedly, "Don't be offended, young lady. Xiangcao was tired earlier, and she is still sleeping now. No matter how I call her, she won't wake up." Not to mention Xiangcao, Shiliu was also sleeping soundly. She got up and made such a big noise, but Shiliu didn't even turn over. After she took care of the girl on behalf of her daughter, she had to go back to wake her up.

Haitang smiled and said, "It's okay, let Xiangcao sleep, she worked hard yesterday. I don't have anything to do here, if you want to be busy, just go ahead and do it, you don't have to wait on me here. You are not a member of my family, these chores should not be done by you."

Mother Li said embarrassedly: "Since I live in the girl's courtyard, how could I see that the girl has no one to take care of her?" Since her daughter couldn't get up, she helped with the work, and the girl would not blame her daughter.

Haitang quickly finished washing up, asked Mother Li to take away the basin and towel, went back to the bedroom to change into casual clothes, and then went to the main backyard.

Entering the main room, it was quiet. Grandma Ma was still asleep, but Grandfather Hai Xiya was awake, dressed and walking out. When he saw her enter, he raised his finger to make a "hush" gesture and whispered, "Your grandma is tired, let her sleep, let's go to the front to have breakfast, I have to report to the Ministry of Revenue in a while, so as to avoid more trouble at night."