~ THE EMPEROR AND THE GRAND PRINCESS SECRET VISIT ~
Half an hour later, a carriage drove out of the imperial palace and stopped at Luoxia Street. Two people dressed in ordinary clothes, with an extraordinary bearing, walked out of the carriage. They were the Emperor and the Grand Princess Yi De.
“In the past few years, I haven’t had the chance to go out like this. It’s because Imperial Elder Sister’s idea.”
The Grand Princess Yi De smiled. “Everyone says that people should stand too high and watch too far. But sometimes, if you standing too high, people’s eyes are easily obscured by floating clouds. It’s better to walk out and take a closer look.”
She understood the suspicion in the Emperor’s heart. After all, for an ordinary woman who could lead the entire Capital forward was truly shocking, but she also believed in the Emperor’s perspective. For The Emperor to reach his current level, he definitely would not ruin a great opportunity because of suspicion.
After walking a short distance, they saw a tea stall on the corner of the street. The man selling tea was a lame old man. Many people were sitting at the tea stall, and some guests saw that the old man was too busy, so they picked up a bowl by himself and went forward to pour tea. His voice was so loud: “Hey Uncle Xu, how come today’s tea is so much better than usual?”
The lame old man turned around with a simple smile. “How come the tea become better? It was because you’re in a good mood. Even if I were to bring you a bowl of cold water, you would think that it’s warm and sweet.” Someone at the side mocked loudly, “Isn’t it so? Old Li’s daughter-in-law is well-known for her dexterity and skill in embroidery. Now she has the chance to get the embroidery needle technique taught by Ni Yun Fang. She will definitely be chosen in the future and will get five taels of silver a month. Even if she’s not chosen by Ni Yun Fang, there are still be many embroidery shops fighting for more people. In the future, Old Li will no longer have to worry about food and drinks.”
The middle-aged man who addressed as Old Li laughed out loud, “To say that The Emperor was a wise man, allowing Miss Mu to teach people embroidery needle technique. I now have to kowtow in the direction of the Palace every day when I come out. May the Emperor live long liveand bless our people for thousands of years!”
“Isn’t that right? For the past two days, someone has been burning incense in front of the gates of Ni Yun Fang in order to get some of the spiritual energy within it to pay tribute to the Imperial Decree.”
“Unfortunately, the Palace gates are heavily guarded. Otherwise there would have been people coming to burn incense in front of the Palace gates.”
“I also heard that someone wanted to send something to the Emperor, but the Emperor is the son of dragon and lives in the Imperial Palace. The water he drank was all nectar and jadeite, so whatever we sent over, the Emperor would definitely not be used to it.”
“Who said that the Emperor also eat grain and mixed grain? Didn’t the Eemperor always have to plow the fields in the spring before? Maybe he eats what he grow himself?”
The more they spoke, the more biased their speech became, and the conversation get worse. Some people said that the grain planted by the Emperor in the spring must have been golden in color and that the ears of wheat planted there were all over a foot long. Some people even said that the Emperor used a golden plow to cultivate the lands and used a qilin beast to pull the plow. He planted wheat and sprouted the same day, grew seedlings the next day, smoked the plow for three days, and harvested in five days...
The Grand Princess Yi De, who was listening at the side, couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s actually the first time I heard that the Emperor actually used the qilin beast to pull a plow....”
The Emperor also felt that the situation was expressly interesting, so he pulled Grand Princess Yi De to a nearby chair and sat down.
The few men who had been talking animatedly, upon seeing the extraordinary bearing of the Emperor and the Grand Princess Yi De, could not help but say in a weak voice, “My Lord, my Lady, did we disturb the two of you?”
The Emperor shook his head and smiled. “We came to visit relatives in the Capital, so we don’t know much about the affairs of the Capital. Hearing your interesting words, we sat down to listen.”
“Have you just arrived?”
“Yes, I’ve only been in the Capital for two days.”
“That’s truly a pity. If you had come a few days earlier, you would have seen the grand opening of Ni Yun Fang. That Rainbow Fairy was truly fascinating, and her dancing style is truly stunning.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
The lame old man carefully cleaned the bowl and brought two bowls of hot tea over. “Please have some tea.”
The Emperor nodded. Seeing the old man’s nervous expression, he could not help but ask, “The old man’s legs are inconvenient. Why is he still out to set up the tea stand?”
The old man smiled in a notably simple and honest manner. “It’s just that I’m a little lame when walking, but it’s not too much of a problem.” Just as they were talking, a water wheel came to bring the water. The old man’s smile became even more brilliant as he quickly went up to greet them. His legs were inconvenient, so Bu Xian Luo arranged for people to bring water and firewood to him. It was really the extreme of goodness!
Seeing that the old man had gone to fetch the water, the man on the side said to the Emperor in a low voice, “Old man Xu’s life is miserable. His family has been gone for many years. His daughter has been married away and gone during childbirth. His son’s health also is not good, and he is now bedridden. In the past, he made a living by collecting firewood. In the winter, the road was slippery, so he broke his legs when he went up the mountain. I thought that he doesn’t have any hopes anymore. Fortunately, he met the kind-hearted Miss Mu. She started Bu Xian Luo and set up a lot of tea stalls. When she heard about Old Xu’s matter, she took the initiative to ask him to guard the stalls. Now he has no worries about his life.”
“Miss Mu is kind-hearted.”
“Yes, the Emperor is really wise. I heard that Your Majesty rewarded Miss Mu for this matter. It’s really wise!”
“That’s true. The signboards for Ni Yun Fang and the Bu Xian Luo were given to her by the Emperor. Your Majesty used the Dragon Eye, so he must have known that Miss Mu’s kindness early. That’s why he gave her the signboards and asked her to set up Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Luo everywhere to help more people.”
“Have you heard that there is an increase in wages at the wharf? Thus, the worker can earn around 20 cents a day now.”
“Didn’t it just rise a few days ago? Why did it increase again now?”
“Isn’t this because Bu Xian Luo establishment? A lot of tea merchants came, and I heard that there are also specialize in shipping water. In any case, there are too many boats coming and going, so the long-term workers on the wharf aren’t enough. Isn’t this just increase the wages?”
“That’s great!”
“That’s right, that’s great....”
People said it one by one and finally summed up the word great. After saying that, they actually felt sad in their hearts, especially Old Man Xu, who nodded sympathetically after hearing those words, “People have to be a bit reckless when they’re still alive. We pa.s.sed each day before, but we felt that we were living a tough life. Yet, at this moment, I feel much more alive and happy despite being exhausted. This is truly great....”
“Isn’t that so? Right now, I am just hoping that Ni Yun Fang teaches embroidery needle technique soon, and Bu Xian Luo open a few more places. I heard that when Miss Mu was in Jingling City, the smell of Laba’s porridge was so fragrant that it could make people swallow their tongues. I wonder if Miss Mu would hold Laba’s porridge again this year?”
“It shouldn’t be this year. Miss Mu has just started the Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Luo, so she needs to spend quite a bit of silver. Although these two industries are big, it’s not easy to earn silver. A few days ago, someone came and went through Ni Yun Fang and saw Miss Mu embroidering things with an embroidery frame.
She sat there motionless for over a few hours. It’s said that even her fingers were swollen....”
“Aiyo, Miss Mu is hasn’t reached coming of age, isn’t she? It’s not easy to reach like that at young age.”
“That’s right, she’s not even as old as my daughter, and her life is not as peaceful as mine. She was almost beaten to death by Viper Lady before. Fortunately, Lord Shen went there in time.”
“This year’s New Year is quite good. We can also learn to collect a little food from each family, just like in Jingling City. At that time, we can have Miss Mu give us some pointers and boil them into a delicious Laba’s porridge. It’s just a lively picture that the people in the Capital drink porridge together. When I think about it, I feel warm in my heart.”
Listened to the chatter of the people around him, the Emperor’s eyebrows creased. Only when the Grand Princess Yi De reminded him that he put down the tea money and leave the tea stall, continuing to walk forward. However, his thoughts were extremely complicated.