Has the Emperor changed his mind and wants to keep a few beauties?
Eunuch Ma hurriedly turned around, grinning obsequiously, "Your Majesty, there are five beauties in total, each with a different appearance, including one woman from the Western Regions. This servant will summon them all in now so Your Majesty can personally inspect and choose one."
"Who said I wanted to keep them!"
Eunuch Ma: "This...this servant has misunderstood."
Xiao Jingzhao suppressed his anger and ordered, "Pass on my imperial decree that the collateral branches of the Song family must leave the capital immediately tomorrow. Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!"
Xiao Jingzhao had already made it very clear when he met with them.
These were all collateral branches of the Song family, several generations removed, who had neither rendered any service to the court nor committed any wrongdoing. Considering their support, Xiao Jingzhao instructed the Court of State Ceremonial to receive them according to protocol.
Unexpectedly, after he refused their request, they secretly sent beautiful women to win him over.
If it weren't for his grandfather's friendship with Emperor Renzong, he wouldn't even have given the Song family's collateral branches the respect they currently enjoy.
This time, a branch of the Song family came to the capital, hoping that the emperor would grant them permission to continue inheriting their princely titles.
Xiao Jingzhao resolutely refused, only acknowledging the old prince's title, and the court would not allocate any additional fiefdom to the prince.
Without the emperor's decree, the descendants of princes were no different from commoners.
If anyone dares to recruit soldiers, the imperial court will surely send troops to suppress them.
The next morning, heavy snow began to fall.
A group of people braved the wind and snow and left the capital.
Inside the Honglu Temple, people gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves.
"They're really courting death. If they hadn't angered the Emperor, they wouldn't have had to set off in the heavy snow."
"Exactly, they're enjoying good wine and meat at the inn, what kind of trouble could they possibly cause?"
"If the Emperor doesn't show his power, they'll think he's easy to bully and they're overestimating themselves."
"Hmph! Serves you right."
Nangong Zeyue arrived last and, hearing everyone's discussion, asked curiously, "What happened?"
A colleague curled his lip and said, "What could have happened? It's just that the prince is still unwilling to give up and wants the title to be hereditary. Last night, he sent all the beauties he brought with him to the palace to please the emperor."
"He really gave it to me?" Nangong Zeyue stared in astonishment.
I made a joke, but I didn't expect that person to actually believe it.
"They really did send them, a full five beauties with big breasts and big hips! Fine wine is like poison that burns through the intestines, and beauties are like steel knives that scrape the bones. Sending five at once, even if the emperor were made of iron, he couldn't resist. What do you think these people are up to?"
The speaker was a man who looked to be about forty years old. I heard that he had served as the Director of the Imperial Household Department when he was young, and now he was the Registrar of the Court of State Ceremonies.
"What do you mean by 'really sent it'? How did you know he was going to send it?" The registrar snapped out of his daze and stared intently at Nangong Zeyue.
Nangong Zeyue shrugged. "I overheard a bit when I was taking him back to the post station. I thought it was a joke, but I didn't expect they would actually do something like sending beauties to the Emperor."
Nangong Zeyue cleaned herself up completely with just one sentence.
Everyone in the inn knew that those beauties were dancers.
They drank and made merry with several princes at the post station, singing and dancing.
Whether she is still a virgin or not is unknown.
They really think the emperor is young and doesn't care about food.
"Since there's nothing else, everyone can leave now." Nangong Zeyue turned and left.
"Hey! Young Master Nangong, please wait. If there's nothing else, you can stay and learn something else."
The person in charge called him to a stop, so Nangong Zeyue had no choice but to turn around and walk back with a disgusted expression.
...
Jiang Shuyue drank an extra cup of wine last night. She put Xue'er into her spatial storage, but slept in her bedroom herself.
When she woke up in the morning, she had another illusion, as if a faint, cool bamboo fragrance lingered in the tent.
When she sat up and examined it carefully, the fragrance seemed to vanish into thin air.
Seeing her get up, Qiuju came over and said, "Miss, it snowed heavily last night, even more than last time."
Jiang Shuyue smoothed her hair. "The academy will definitely be closed today. I'll ask Gao Mu to go to the Su residence later and bring Su Nan and Sui Sui back to stay for a few days."
"Miss, you know without me having to tell you. Gao Mu has already gone, and Cang Yun has also gone to the clinic. If there is nothing urgent at the clinic, Miss, please rest for another day."
"Okay, I'll listen to you. It's snowing heavily outside, and there shouldn't be many people on the streets. After a heavy snowfall, there will be more cases of colds and flu, so it's fine for me to do some preparations at home."
...
On a street not far from the entrance of Sujia Alley in the north of the city, a barbecue stall stands against the wall.
The cloth that had just been set up was quickly blown down by the strong wind, and several people wearing cotton-padded coats and headscarves with only their eyes showing were scrambling around in the wind and snow.
"Quick, the tarpaulin for the shed has been blown away by the wind!" A woman dusted the snow off her shoulders and shouted to the tall man beside her.
The man dropped what he was holding and chased after the wind.
Just as they were about to reach their destination, a gust of wind swept by, carrying the cloth into the air where it vanished without a trace.
"Miss Caiyan, I'm afraid you won't be able to set up your stall today. The wind is so strong that the charcoal fire can't even get going," said the man squatting by the wall, holding up another piece of cloth.
A short man opposite the man chimed in, "That's right. Look at this awful weather today, there's not a soul on the streets. Even if we make some barbecue, nobody will buy it."
Caiyan glanced at Zhao Wu, who was walking back dejectedly, and then at the palm-thick layer of snow on the barbecue grill.
She told the two men she had hired, "I can't make that decision myself. I have to go back and report to the young mistress."
"Miss Caiyan, please have mercy and go tell the young mistress that we really can't work in this weather."
The man's voice trembled; in fact, his head was throbbing from the cold wind. To earn two taels of silver a month, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it.
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