First Concubine

Chapter 52 Retribution (2)

Shui Linglong took a breath of cold air, pressed her eyebrows, and said: "I have two bolts of floral satin over there, and asked Aunt Feng to make you two sets of spring clothes. It's not like Xiao Dezi scratched your clothes last time. ?”

"Chun Shang..." Shui Lingqing pursed her lips, opened her watery eyes and said, "Aunt Feng may not be free recently! Let Sister Qiaoer do the same thing." She didn't pay attention to Xiao Dezi at all!

Aunt Feng is not pregnant, and she is not hosting the reception. Where does the saying "no time" come from? Shui Linglong narrowed her quiet eyes and said, "What is Aunt Feng busy with?"

Shui Lingqing shook her head: "I don't know, she is always alone in the room. I looked at her several times, but she refused and asked me to go find the third sister." But she liked the eldest sister more.

"Don't talk about them anymore, you eat." Shui Linglong likes to eat licking soup, but she likes to drink bitter tea. The table full of sweet pastries and honey tea are all made according to Shui Lingqing's preference. Shui Lingqing first He picked out a piece of each pastry and put it on an empty plate, and then began to eat happily. From time to time, he stuffed a piece into Shui Linglong's mouth. Shui Linglong ate it very cooperatively, looking at Shui Lingqing's cute face with joy. Shui Linglong sighed secretly, that's all, just stay simple like this, as long as I live, I will never let you suffer!

Shui Lingqing must have almost eaten. Shui Linglong wiped her hands and looked at Zhifan and the others: "You guys bring the cakes and honey tea down to use. You should be hungry after standing for a long time. There is still some time before lunch. There are no outsiders here, so you don’t have to be restricted.”

“Thank you, Miss!” Ye Mao, Zhi Fan and Qiaoer thanked them happily, picked up the cakes and honey tea, sat down on the bench beside them, and started eating happily. Ye Mao eats a lot, Qiao'er rarely eats such good food, and Zhi Fan doesn't even take a few bites, but sticks to them.

Ye Mao probably felt that he had eaten too much. He smiled innocently, poured a cup of honey tea and handed it to Zhi Fan: "Drink tea."

Zhi Fan took it with a smile, but gave it to Qiao'er: "I borrow flowers to offer to Buddha, Ye Mao, don't mind."

Qiaoer immediately had a good impression of Zhifan. The eldest lady brought Zhifan with her into the palace. It can be seen that Zhifan is the most capable maid beside the eldest lady. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Who doesn't know that the eldest lady is now the most talkative in the palace? Talkable? Qiaoer took it with both hands and said with a smile: "Thank you, sister Zhifan."

Not far away, Liu Lu saw Zhi Fan and the others sitting in the pavilion chatting and laughing. Tears instantly filled her eyes. If she had not been obsessed with the young master, she should be the one accompanying the young lady to the palace this time, right? If she hadn't left Reika-yuan, she would be the only one who could eat and drink well now and not have to worry about it, right? The second-class maid who used to be inferior to her in everything has now become the right-hand man of the eldest lady. One is brave and the other is resourceful. In fact, she has both, but she has no choice but to choose the wrong path and ends up being demoted to a rough maid!

Zhi Fanou looked back and saw Liu Lu standing in the shadow of the tree, crying in embarrassment. She frowned slightly. She was the one who wanted to leave in the first place. The eldest lady was kind and fulfilled her wish. She lived the same good or bad life as the eldest lady. It’s irrelevant. Zhi Fan turned around and started chatting with Qiao'er and Ye Mao, but for some reason, he always felt anxious and panicked. After struggling for a moment, he got up and walked to Shui Linglong, pointed at Liu Lu, and whispered: " Miss, over there.”

Liu Lu found out that Zhi Fan was talking about her to Shui Linglong. She turned pale with fright, turned around, and ran away regardless of the pain on her butt!

How can she face the eldest lady? Not only the eldest lady, but also Zhifan, Ye Mao and everyone in Lingxiangyuan would laugh at her: Look, the willows are green, people go to higher places and water flows to lower places. Zayuan is really a good place!

Shui Linglong remained calm, as if she didn't see the willow green, and didn't seem to care about the hints from the branches. She just held Shui Lingqing's hand and took one stitch: "Does the embroidery like this have enough colors?"

Shui Lingqing's eyes lit up and she said with a smile, "Yes! Sister, how come you know everything?"

Zhi Fan looked at Liu Lu’s hastily escaping figure, but did not dare to say another word. The eldest lady looks kind and kind on the surface, but in reality she is hot-tempered and cold-blooded. Why would she bother to displease the eldest lady because of a disloyal maid?

But last night, after Shui Linglong handed over the paper written by Shui Chenxiang to Yunli, Yunli asked the emperor to seal down Ruixue Villa and captured the owner Yue Bin. However, Yue Bin was extremely cunning and bit off the underside of his tongue without waiting for Yunli to interrogate him. The poison sac hanged itself. Yunli did not find the pamphlet that Shui Linglong mentioned to Yunli.

On the carriage back to the Prince's Mansion, Yun Li frowned slightly, thoughtfully.

Xun Feng coughed a few times, and Yun Juanyun asked happily: "What are you worried about, Your Highness?"

Yun Li casually flipped through the account books of Ruixue Villa: "I always feel that the mastermind behind the scenes is not Yue Bin, and I always feel that the raid on the village went too smoothly this time. Countless jewelry and money were seized, but there was no useful information!" This... no normal! Four years of collusion with the palace concubine left no political traces!

Xun Feng cleverly guided Yun Li's thoughts: "Jewelry is very good. The country is at a time when it needs money. In my opinion, this trip to Ruixue Villa solves an urgent need."

Yun Li looked at Xun Feng in confusion: "The national treasury is not empty. There is no war or disaster in the country. How can we use money?"

Xun Feng let his eyes go, as if staring at the hanging flower bead curtain, but there was no focus when he looked closely: "This year there will be heavy snow in winter and heavy rain in spring. When summer comes, there will probably be an unprecedented flood disaster in the south."

Yunli was silent. Qin Tianjian did predict that there would be continuous heavy rains in the next two months. Not only the south, but also the east would suffer extraordinary impacts. In order to avoid people panic, his father suppressed this information and did not Rumors, including Xun Feng, have never been revealed. But he didn't find it strange at all that Xun Feng would say this. Xun Feng's ability to predict the weather was three points better than that of Qin Tianjian.

A faint smile appeared on Xun Feng's handsome face, as if there was no trace of it: "Compared with the temperate south, the Kashgar Qing people in the west have been experiencing drought for several consecutive years, and many villages have had no harvest. If the imperial court had not exempted them from twenty If the chief of the Kashgar Qing tribe had not opened a warehouse to provide food relief, they would have started a riot, and according to my night stargazing, the drought will continue for at least three to five years. "

 Three...to five years?

“Two years later, the imperial court will begin to tax the Kashgar Qing people.” Yun Li’s eyes trembled, realizing the seriousness of the problem.

Xun Feng coughed a few more times: "Yes, exempting the Kashgar Qing people from taxes for twenty years was a temporary measure, but it was not the best policy. If a person is used to living a comfortable life, you suddenly ask him to tighten his belt. Naturally, he has some resentment. If this natural disaster is not dealt with in time, it will give them an opportunity to vent their resentment. On the contrary, if they are saved from disaster, they will feel that paying taxes is worth it. "

Yunli's eyes were no longer gentle: "Are you sure it will be at least three to five years?"

Xun Feng nodded without smiling, but with a natural curve on the corner of his mouth: "I'm sure." He has his own studio and research base, so it is not a problem to speculate on the direction of climate. Of course, he can only interpret these as...astrology!

Yun Li pinched his brows with two fingers, and his tone gradually became darker: "Relying on donations from the imperial court alone will treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Seven or eight consecutive years of drought are enough to destroy a place. If the Kashgar Qing people turn to Mobei, which borders it, , the situation is not optimistic.”

Xun Feng raised the back of his hand and rubbed his forehead: "I think that Mobei and the Kashgar Qing people do not have the conditions for mutual benefit for the time being. What Mobei needs are winter supplies and advanced technology, as well as agricultural technology suitable for the grassland. The Qing people in Kashgar have limited production conditions and low living standards. Their main sources of income are iron ore, gold mines, and fruits. They cannot give Mobei what they want. Similarly, Mobei has many grasslands and lakes, but large rivers. There is no water flow, so the water source that the Kashgar Qing people want cannot be given, cough cough cough..." After talking a little too much, he coughed for a while before he regained his composure, "Since the Kashgar Qing people surrendered to the imperial court, the imperial court has successively sent Several batches of talented scholars settled in Kashgar Qing, and not only opened schools, but also generously taught the top ceramic crafts, textile crafts and papermaking technologies of the Great Zhou Dynasty. In a few years, Kashgar Qing had as advanced a civilization as the Great Zhou Dynasty. When we no longer have to worry about water sources, the possibility of Kashgar becoming independent again... becomes greater!”

Yun Li's sore throat slipped and he said, "What you said makes sense. When my father named Zhuge Liuyun, the heir of the Kashgar Qing clan, as the King of Zhenbei and invited him to the capital, his original intention was to keep a hostage in his hands. But in recent years, Zhuge Liufeng's power has gradually grown, and the influence of King Zhenbei in the Kashgar Qing tribe has gradually weakened. If Zhuge Liufeng becomes rebellious..." He removed King Zhenbei in his words, and privately In her heart, she didn't want Shui Linglong to marry into a family that might plot rebellion.

Prince, Prince, love is the last thing an emperor needs. You are setting yourself on fire! A smile with indistinguishable meaning appeared in Xun Feng's eyes: "So, Your Highness must find a way to solve this problem once and for all."

Yunli looked sideways: "What method?"

Xun Feng spread out the map of the Great Zhou Dynasty and pointed all the way with his slender jade-like fingers: "Kashgar Qing is short of water and there are floods in the south. It is better to dig channels to bring water from the south into Kashgar Qing and build two or three large towers along the way. Dam, this will kill two birds with one stone. If Kashgar Qing keeps its peace, the Great Zhou Dynasty will naturally relieve it from droughts for generations. If it has other intentions, it will flood it in one fell swoop by opening the floodgates!"

Yun Li frowned, what should the innocent people do...

Xun Feng knew Yunli so well, he knew him better than he knew himself. He smiled faintly: "I once heard a story about an antelope accidentally bumping into a lion. Before turning around and running away, the antelope would try its best to make a high jump. The action of jumping high may seem unnecessary, but in fact it shows the strength of each jump to the lion, so as to tell the lion, "Stop working, you can't catch up with my speed."

Yun Li seemed to have an epiphany: "I will discuss this matter with my father. If your plan is adopted, the money from Ruixue Villa will really come at the right time."

A delicate, cold face appeared in his mind, and Xun Feng smiled meaningfully: "Of course...it's timely."

Yunli patted Xun Feng on the shoulder and sighed with regret: "When will I be well again?"

Xun Feng twitched the corners of his lips bitterly: "It won't be a problem if the weather gets warmer."

It was approaching lunch time, and Shui Linglong returned to Lingxiang Courtyard with Zhi Fan and Ye Mao. Not long after she sat down, she heard A Si and A Ji discussing whether to put jasmine or winter jasmine in the first row of flowers on the backyard porch. There was a lot of noise.

 “The winter jasmine is more festive, so it’s better to put the jasmine flowers in the air!”

“The Spring Festival flowers are festive, but it’s a pity that the temperament does not suit our lady! Our lady is pure and pure, and Jasmine is the most suitable for her!”

“The pear blossoms are also white, and the lilies of the valley are also white. Our yard is so plain!”

 “That’s what the eldest lady also likes!”

Asi and Aji exchanged words with each other, arguing over trivial matters, but if you listen closely, you will find that their quarrel was fake, and that it was true that they attracted the master's attention. Mother Zhong has a gentle personality and never speaks harshly; Zhi Fan is cautious and does not offend anyone easily; Ye Mao is honest and honest, but lacks the ability to distinguish right from wrong. This makes the maids become increasingly bold and loud. Shui Linglong suddenly thought of Liu Lu. When Liu Lu was in Lingxiang Courtyard, she tortured all the maids below to death. No one had the chance to come to her to express her love, and it was impossible for her to make a scene in the courtyard. .

Shui Linglong smiled and asked Xiang Zhifan: "Ah Si and Ah Ji are quarreling so fiercely, how do you think I should punish them?"

Zhi Fan was stunned for a moment and said, "The two little maids should be sincere, but they used the wrong method. Just ask Mother Zhong to teach them a lesson later."

Shui Linglong looked at Ye Mao again: "Do you think so too? No need to hit the board?"

If it were Liu Lu, Liu Lu would say: "Hmph! Those two **** who want to die should be slapped and sold to a brothel! Let other people have a memory, and they will be beaten to death if they dare to make mistakes again. Keep!"

Ye Mao scratched his head and replied honestly: "Well... their skin is tender and they are easily injured when playing with boards, unlike slaves who are rough-skinned and thick-bodied!"

Shui Linglong's eyes turned cold, now it's better, all the maids are hugging each other! Not a bad thing, but definitely not a good thing either! It's all solid underneath, so there's no need to deceive the master?

In Changle Xuan, Qin Fangyi watched Shui Lingxi use some snacks, and patiently accompanied her for a while to embroider the undergarment she wore on the wedding day. It was not until Shi Qing walked into the room with her head bowed that Qin Fangyi smiled at her daughter and said: "You are tired today. Go back and rest. I won't let you eat at noon. Don't eat too much. You won't look good if you are fat."

"Huh? Oh!" Shui Lingxi touched her pointed chin. It seemed that she... could be thinner!

After Shui Lingxi left, Qin Fangyi's smile faded: "How was it? Did you find anything?"

Shiqing answered truthfully: "No, the young master's house is clean, not even a fly!"

  Nonsense! It's cold now, where did the flies come from? ! Qin Fangyi gave Shi Qing a look: "Is there really nothing unusual? Think about it again!"

Shiqing tried hard to recall the whole process, and said thoughtfully: "Although the young master rested in the house for two quarters of an hour before allowing the slave to go in and clean, the slave carefully checked the windows and door panels, unless it was small items such as gold and silver jewelry. Otherwise, even a porcelain bottle will not come out! Madam, what do you want this slave to find? "

"Nothing!" Qin Fangyi snorted coldly, but she was thinking about the words "rested for two quarters of an hour" in her heart. Then she didn't know what she thought of, and her eyes narrowed, "When you went in, the window was open. ?”

The poem is unclear and authentic: "The inner window is open, but the outer window is nailed shut!"

So, he delayed just to let the smell dissipate, so he was in the room just now... Qin Fangyi's hand suddenly clenched into a fist, Shui Minyu! How could you?

Qin Fangyi slammed the tea cup at her hand to the ground: "Go and tell the young master! If he doesn't favor the maid tonight, I will make the decision for him tomorrow to settle the marriage!"

"Huh?" The poem is so shocking, the lady seems to be... forcing the young master to favor the maid? Could it be that the eldest young master has never touched Liu Lu and the others? The master has slept with all the maids of Changlexuan. How come the young master has not inherited any of the master's prowess? Or should we say that the eldest young master is clean and well-behaved, has an elegant character, and does not hang out with maids before marriage?

If her son had no need in this regard, how could she force him to sleep with the maids? But he would rather...that way than sleep with the maid!

Thinking of this, Qin Fangyi became furious! What kind of evil has she done! I actually gave birth to such a son! If word gets out, you won’t laugh out loud?

"Madam! Madam!" Mother Zhao hurriedly opened the curtain and came in, holding a greeting card in her hand. When she saw the broken porcelain and tea stains on the ground, her temples jumped suddenly, and her face became more solemn!

 That matter... should we talk about it... or should we not talk about it? Forget it, the whispers of the driver women may not count. Maybe she misunderstood. His Royal Highness should not do such a thing!

Qin Fangyi took a few deep breaths, leaned heavily on the back of the chair, neatly and poetically collected the broken porcelain on the ground, and bowed to exit. Qin Fangyi calmed down a little, and still panted slightly: "Why are you so flustered? Zhang?"

Zhao's mother swallowed her saliva and said hesitantly: "There was a message from the Yao family, saying that a birthday party was being held for the third princess in the middle of the month, and they wanted to invite people in the house to join in the fun."

Qin Fangyi raised her eyebrows arbitrarily, as if she didn't want to do anything else: "Why is the third princess's birthday party held at the Yao family? Wasn't it held in the palace in previous years?"

“I don’t know much about this slave.” Mother Zhao lowered her head and presented a golden greeting card with both hands. Even the card was made of gold foil paper. The Yao family is really not ordinary rich!

Qin Fangyi read the post over and over, with a trace of envy flashing in her eyes. When her daughter became the queen, the Shangshu Mansion would also be so grand. She said slowly: "I am busy with official duties, so I probably won't be able to go. Minyu and Minhui are busy." I guess it’s hard to spare time for a class reunion, so I’ll take some ladies with me. You can pack up some pieces of fabric from the warehouse and send them to Miss Third and Miss Fifth, and ask the tailor to hurry up and make two sets of spring clothes. After all, she is the Crown Princess’s younger sister, and it is also the Crown Princess’s dignity that is lost if she is poorly dressed.”

Zhao’s mother thought for a while and said, “Missy’s place…”

 (End of this chapter)