Chapter 898 On the Road to Exile, Part 26

After returning to the palace, Yan Jie'er and Zheng Ge'er immediately ran to the Empress's palace. "Mother, look, Aunt Ning bought us gifts. Oh, and my brother also brought you some food. Please try it while it's hot."

Mu Yuan smiled gently, "It looks like you're having a lot of fun."

"Not just happy, I'm super happy!"

Mu Yuan was amused by her daughter's reaction. Yan'er was a little shy, and this was the first time she had expressed her feelings so actively since returning to the capital.

Chu Zheng placed the food he had brought back from the county princess's residence on the table. "Mother, eat quickly."

The head palace maid stepped forward, "Your Highness, the food brought from outside is best..."

Mu Yuan waved her hand, "It's alright, it was sent by Princess Fushan, there won't be any problems."

The head maid was also afraid of incurring her mistress's displeasure. Since she had already given a warning, her mistress wouldn't be able to blame her if she wanted to, so she withdrew as well.

Having been the mistress of a large family for so long, Mu Yuan was extremely skilled at winning people's hearts. If the palace maids around her couldn't be loyal to her, then she might as well not live.

“When our Chu family was exiled, the county princess saved our family more than once. If she wanted to harm me, I would have been reduced to ashes long ago.”

In this world, besides my family, the person I trust most is Princess Fushan.

"I'm telling you this today specifically because I consider you all one of my own. From now on, when Fushan comes to the palace, you must treat her with utmost respect. She is a very, very good person."

The head palace maid bowed in agreement, her expression less serious.

The Empress is a kind-hearted and grateful person. It's reassuring to follow such a master, without worrying about being ruthlessly abandoned by her at any time.

"Mom, try it quickly, it won't taste good when it gets cold."

A young palace maid went to fetch tableware, but Chu Zheng directly told his mother to eat with her hands. The Empress couldn't refuse him and finally ate some herself. "Hmm, it's sweet and sour. Did the County Princess make this especially for you children?"

Chu Zheng glanced at the food on the table several times, wanting to eat it, but it was for his mother. "Yes, Aunt Ning bought us so many good things. I'll go out again next time I have a day off!"

Mu Yuan saw her son's expression clearly, gave him one chicken leg, and gave the other to her daughter.

"Eat."

The mother and her two children had just finished eating when the Emperor arrived.

Yan Jie'er pulled her younger brother to pay their respects to their father and then withdrew.

Father Emperor wouldn't come to Mother Empress's place unless there was something important to discuss; they couldn't disturb their parents' serious conversation.

Chu Haoxuan did indeed have something to do.

This morning at court, some ministers, disregarding the ongoing war on the western front, insisted that the Emperor select a concubine. Naturally, he did not agree, and came over in the evening to discuss this matter.

Mu Yuan disagreed, saying, "Your Majesty, I am the only one in the entire harem now. We should indeed select some young ladies to enter the palace, otherwise people who don't know the situation might think I'm jealous."

Moreover, I am old, and there are bound to be times when I am no longer able to serve Your Majesty with the same level of care and energy. Young people are different; they are certainly more considerate than I am.”

"Do you really agree to my selecting candidates?"

Chu Haoxuan could hardly believe it; Mu Yuan had actually agreed to let him participate in the talent show?

What did Mu Yuan disagree with?

Chu Haoxuan had taken concubines before, but those three concubines had no children and had been sold before. Chu Haoxuan would never want a woman who had been touched by someone else, and he didn't even ask her about it.

After she returned to the capital, she redeemed the three women, gave them some travel money, and allowed them to leave the capital. After all, they had served a man, and if they had given birth to a child or two, they would now be at least concubines.

It wasn't that she didn't want to give more; it was just that she didn't have much money on hand. She couldn't get her dowry back, and the national treasury was empty. She was poor.

“I agree, but the situation at the front is critical right now, and a large-scale selection would be too expensive. How about we hold a small selection in the capital this year? If any family has a daughter who wants to enter the palace, they can submit a petition and we can start by selecting from families of officials of the fourth rank or above.”

Chu Haoxuan held his wife's hand. "Yuan'er, it is my blessing to have married you."

Mu Yuan was almost fooled by the deep affection on his face. He called her his wife, and a wife is equal to another, meaning they should be equals.

In his previous life, he only regarded her as a stain, a piece of trash that could be discarded at any time. If he wanted to discard her, he would have taken her life!

"Your Majesty, it is my good fortune that I am so fortunate. I never thought that one day I could become the mother of a nation. All of this is thanks to my husband."

"From now on, I will certainly manage the harem well for you, raise your children, treat them all as my own, and nurture them into successful individuals!"

To be honest, Chu Haoxuan didn't believe it!

What wife would willingly accept her husband having another woman, let alone claim she would treat his children as her own? That's even more impossible.

After all, he also had two younger brothers, and he had never liked them.

However, the expression in the Empress's eyes was too sincere. Perhaps, there really are women who would be foolish enough to work tirelessly and selflessly for their husbands.

The draft was finalized in less than two days.

Soon, portraits of the women from the fourth-rank official's family were sent to the palace. Mu Yuan didn't recognize almost any of these women, since in her previous life in her dream, Chu Haoxuan became emperor three years later.

Three years later, these young women had long since married and had children.

Of course, there are exceptions, so apart from that exception, she selected nineteen people.

After making the selections, the list was presented to the emperor, who was then allowed to choose for himself.

The final words I heard were: "The Empress can arrange it as she sees fit."

As a result, all twenty daughters of officials entered the palace in less than half a month.

Although it's a small selection, some procedures are still necessary, such as the medical examination.

Another example is learning rules and regulations.

These people can officially serve the emperor in bed about two months later.

During these three months, Chu Yu insisted on taking on the task of suppressing bandits, specifically the bandits of Zhangzi Mountain.

The reason was quite good: during their exile, the Chu family almost all died in Zhangzishan, and he wanted to wipe out everyone in Zhangzishan.

He led two thousand elite troops with him, and captured Zhangzishan in a single battle. However, he stayed there for five more days before returning to the capital with the more than three hundred bandits he had captured.

The emperor was overjoyed and immediately summoned his son.

Chu Yu reported what he had found out to the Emperor, half-truths and half-lies.

"My son found a full 100,000 taels of official silver in the bandits' den, and it was very likely one of the batches that had been lost in the previous dynasty. Naturally, we had to interrogate them thoroughly, but we couldn't get anything out of them."

None of the bandits in the mountain stronghold knew the origin of the government silver, but they did discover something else: their leader, Ye Dehai, had been bribed to abduct convicts; their target was the Empress Dowager.

Chu Haoxuan was furious. "Have you found out who did it?"

"Never! At the time, only two people knew about this: Ye Dehai and his advisor Mao Hui."

Unfortunately, Mao Hui only knew that someone had sent a visiting card to the mountain that day. The person covered his eyes completely, only revealing one eye. After he left, Ye Dehai told him that he had taken on a big job: to rob a convict who would be passing by the next day, and that the main target was the Empress Dowager.

The deposit they gave was 100,000 taels of silver.