C57 (1/2)
Zhu Yijun unfurled the portrait, ”How many palace maid s did the Palace Manager send to serve the empress?”
”They went to a total of four great palace maid s, two eunuchs and a head aunt to serve the Empress.” Zhang Cheng replied, ”The rest of the Palace Manager s are still in the process of training. We'll wait for the Empress to return to the palace before we head back to Kunning Palace to serve them.”
”The four palace maid s are too few.” Zhu Yijun said as he frowned, he took a glance at the drawing, and as there was nothing abnormal, he called for people to roll it up, ”Go and take a few more, just in case those two little girls who are not worth much also come and show off.”
”Xi Tao followed the Empress when she was at Chuxiu Palace, and left the palace together with her. Palace Manager originally thought that the Empress might want to bring a few girls who had been used to using their body since childhood into the palace. I will speak with Palace Manager Cui immediately and ask Palace Manager to choose two more palace maid s to send over. ” Zhang Cheng said.
”The two portraits the Empress sent should not be to show off to His Majesty. According to my knowledge, these two portraits were given to the Empress by Madam Marquis Wu Qing.” Zhang Cheng said.
”Madam Marquis Wu Qing?” Zhu Yijun did not understand, but then he shook his head suddenly, ”This Queen Mother would not agree right?”
”I don't know about that. In any case, since the Marquis Wu Qing's wife sent it over, the Queen took it. He is currently learning the palace rules from the manager's aunt.” Zhang Cheng said.
”What does' I ask 'mean?” Zhu Yijun wrote on the ground. You should still send two palace maid s over to it, send them at the same time. ”
Zhang Cheng brought along His Majesty's doubts as well as two palace maid s. Wang Rong then put his letters to the side, ”Send more people, I can't even stay in this small courtyard anymore. How about this, Aunt Mei, you choose two of our current palace maid s to follow Inner Attendant Zhang back to the palace. I don't need that many people to serve me right now. ”
Hearing this, Mei Dong was troubled. He was unable to tell if the Empress was making things difficult for her or testing her. She composed herself and thought for a moment. ”Then, Xing'er and Cyan Orchid can go back to the palace.”
”Just do as Aunt Mei says.” Wang Rong said, ”Let the two of them pack their things, Inner Attendant Zhang, please wait for a moment.” Thus, she brought out a pen and paper. After Wang Rong He finished reading, she wrote a reply and Wuyou took the box over and placed the letter into the box, then returned the box back to its original position.
Xi Tao was more familiar with Wang Rong, and when came to serve her, she took a step back, and Dong Zhi told her, ”We can forget about what happened later, the Empress won't trust us right from the start. You served the Empress while she was at the Chuxiu Palace, how can you avoid the two little girls now?
”All of this is for the Empress's comfort. What's the meaning of giving us face?” Xi Tao did not care about all these. Her talent was dull, if she did not meet the Empress, even in her dreams she would not think that there would come a day where she would serve the Empress. She still needed to learn a lot of things. If there was someone who could serve the Empress and make her feel comfortable, then it would be because her skills were inferior, so how could she still envy others?
Wang Ronghe wrote a few lines, then crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it away. Always writing like this to dispel all doubts, it was a bit boring, and there were some things that could only be understood and not told. If she wrote down that sending a portrait to His Majesty meant 'Look, this is the concubine your grandmother prepared for you, would you be satisfied with that?' She didn't know what His Majesty would do, but if she had to send the little girl back, she would feel embarrassed.
Thus, after thinking for a moment, he said, ”I have a new one by Lu Bo, and it was brought back by Inner Servant Zhang for His Majesty to read.”
”His Majesty is already past the age of playing Lu Bo. It would be nice if he could give it to King Lu.” ”Yes, ma'am,” Zhang said with a smile.
”Then let His Majesty call King Lu over to play together. My Lu Bo is different from the ones on the market. It's fun to play with.” Wang Rong He said, ”Let me write down the rules first.”
Zhang Cheng went to the empress's house and sent two palace maids back to fetch two palace maids, Lu Bo, a set of ivory chess jade plates, farmers, merchants, and scholars, three characters, rolling dice and walking, every pit had its meaning, it was possible to get rich as well as get rich, but on the way he threw them into the prison and even stopped to play for a while. There were a lot of prisons. Farmers did not pay taxes or have disputes with their neighbors. Businessmen robbed the city of its prices. If a scholar became an official, then he would be corrupted and take bribes. The final winner of the game was naturally the player who reached the end point first and became a first rank player.
When they heard that their royal brother was looking for them, they eagerly came over. After they heard that their royal brother was looking for them, they couldn't help but pout their mouths and say, ”Rei An is at such an unreasonable age, why did royal brother call her here?”
”Even royal brother didn't leave you behind when you were that young.” Zhu Yijun laughed and said, ”The Queen sent over a little thing for us to have fun with. She said that she wanted us to play with her, but this thing needs to be played by three people, so we called Rei An over.”
As the youngest daughter of the Empress Dowager Li, Rei An's mother was now the empress dowager, and her brother was the emperor. She was a noble princess who could walk unhindered in the palace, and the Empress Dowager Li was very strict with the emperor, while King Lu was already very relaxed.
”Big brother Emperor.” Rei An was only nine years old, and was still a little girl. The golden pearl held onto her bag as she wore a big red jacket and skirt, and there was a long lock on her chest.
Zhu Yijun weighed her, ”Has Rei An been getting heavier recently?”
”Big Brother Emperor, the wet nurse said I'm growing, not getting fat.” Rei An pouted.
Zhu Yijun remembered that Wang Rong He had also said something like that before, and laughed: ”That's right, there is someone fourteen or fifteen years old that is still growing, shouldn't we, Rei An, have a body instead?”
The Tian siblings were gathered together to share their kinship. The usual scene of them dispersing with just a few words was now filled with interest as they sat around a plate of Lu Bo.
Rei An held onto the merchant's chess piece, but her luck was bad. It was not easy for her to throw a sieve and she was already completely imprisoned. She stopped playing for a lap, and this repeated action made her pout so small that it could be hung with oil bottles. This merchant is too difficult. ”
Businessmen are hard, that's right.” ”Businessmen take advantage of opportunities,” Zhu said. ”Money comes easily. If a man has money, it will inflate his luxury and ruin the social culture. If the country wants to stay in power for a long time, it will have to do business lightly.
”But merchants are also citizens of the heavens. They work diligently and diligently every day. They also contribute the same amount of taxes to the country, so why should they treat them differently?” Rei An was not convinced.
Zhu Yijun was a little stumped. He had a stomach full of ideas that could be said to be important to light farmers, but did he want to say this to his sister?
”Aiyo, your luck isn't good. If you don't believe me, I will trade with you. You take peasant chess, the country is more about farming, and I can guarantee that you will be sent to prison in two or three steps. This isn't a human problem, it's your problem.” King Lu said leisurely.