Chapter 107 You Don’t Believe My Secret
The second day of the first lunar month in the second year of Qi'an.
There was a banquet in the palace. Gu Youan felt that this year's banquet was much more lively than last year's. She was also particularly satisfied with the respectful look of the civil and military officials kneeling down to her on the steps.
Gu Youan once again realized that power does not differentiate between men and women.
Feeling the gazes of the people around her, Gu Youan turned her head. Zhou Qi was looking at her. He knew everything about her.
"Everyone, please stand up!"
Going one step further, Gu Youan is very satisfied with her this year and will surely be even more satisfied next year.
Compared to her satisfaction, he seemed not so satisfied. He knew that she had a secret. During this year, he also knew that she and Yuan had a secret, and neither of them told him.
Well, my father-in-law and mother-in-law should have an idea of this.
So, among the people close to her, he was the only one who didn't know.
To be honest, he was a little unhappy.
It would have been fine if she hadn't told anyone, but she chose to tell that kid Yuan. Where did that put her husband?
"Father?"
A Yuan came forward to offer tea. He had already walked over, but his father was still in a daze, so he called out again.
Zhou Qi snorted softly, raised his wine glass and clinked it with his son's teacup, and said deliberately, "All the nobles are drinking wine, and you're drinking tea? Tsk, little brats are little brats."
A Yuan: "..." Why did his father go crazy today for no reason?
Gu Youan smiled dignifiedly. With the banquet table in front of him, he was not afraid of being seen. Her hand had already pinched his arm. She said with a smile: "Why should a child drink alcohol? If he drinks too much and damages his brain, you will cry."
Zhou Qi picked up the wine glass and took a sip comfortably: "Queen, Yuan is still young, you will have to rely on me in the future."
A Yuan: "..." Forget it, father sometimes gets dizzy, please forgive him.
Yuan turned and left.
Zhou Qi grabbed her hand and begged for mercy in a low voice: "It's swollen."
Prince Yu and several members of the royal family came to toast, and Gu Youan let him go.
Zhou Qi smiled and raised his glass, saying to Prince Yu, "The Crown Prince is young and doesn't drink. Please stop messing around with him. I'll have a drink with you."
"Your Highness and I pay our respects to the Emperor and Empress!"
“I dare not!”
Anyone who had seen Zhou Qi rush into Luoyang with a knife in hand, the more Zhou Qi smiled at them, the more timid royal family members dared not act rashly. They responded casually, toasted, and quickly retreated.
The prince started the conversation, and members of the royal family also toasted. The officials below also stood up and started walking around, toasting each other, wishing each other a happy new year, and praising other children for being well-behaved and lovely. In a moment, the palace banquet became lively.
At this time, the streets outside the imperial city were filled with the sound of firecrackers and the smell of fireworks. The crackling sounds made people sigh for the peace and prosperity of the country.
Gu Youan felt that the people around him were always looking at him. She was smiling and talking to Princess Yu while pinching him secretly. What happened?
The Emperor's love for the Empress is clear to all! This is the feeling of everyone present.
The Empress was young and beautiful, and the Emperor was so fond of her that their daughter wouldn't have much of a future in the palace. It was better to forget about it. Rather than sending their daughter to the palace and offending the Empress, it would be better to choose a scholar of good character as her son-in-law. The Emperor and Empress appreciated capable young men, so supporting their son-in-law was an opportunity.
The adults exchanged glances privately, which the children couldn't understand, but they would ask directly. Ayang ran to Ayuan and whispered, "Why does uncle want to see auntie in a while?"
Yuan told him not to ask, "Are you full? Do you want more?"
Ayang rubbed his stomach and said, "Let's not eat anymore. My brother said that we should go to the street to enjoy the lanterns after leaving the palace. There are so many delicious foods on the street. I want to try them."
During the Spring Festival last year, Luoyang City was almost destroyed by various armies, and there was no festive atmosphere during the New Year. It seemed that what was lacking last year was made up this year. Starting from the New Year's Eve, colorful lanterns were displayed in Luoyang City. The rich families displayed lanterns in a spectacular manner, and the common people also joined in the fun and broadened their horizons.
A Yuan looked up at his father, the emperor, and his mother, the empress. He whispered to his cousin, "I'll go out of the palace with you guys later. I'll sleep with you and A Xing tonight."
"No, grandma said that you can't come to our house often in the future. There are bad people there."
"How bad can it be? If I were assassinated in Luoyang City, what would happen to me?"
During this year, Yuan has made a lot of progress by following his father and mother. He has only a vague understanding of many political affairs, but his mother has taught him carefully, and he still has a clear idea of what he can and cannot do.
Another half hour passed and the palace banquet was about to end. A Yuan went to tell his father, the emperor and his mother that he wanted to go to Gu's house to play tonight and return to the palace tomorrow morning.
Gu Youan didn't object. She said, "Tell Ah Xing and Ah Yang to go ahead. You come with us back to Qi'an Palace to change your clothes. The Queen Mother will have someone escort you to the Gu family."
A Yuan nodded. He knew that all the officials were rushing to leave the palace, and it would be too conspicuous for him to leave with A Xing and the others.
Gently touching his son's face, Gu Youan turned his head and glared at Zhou Qi: "Can you still walk?"
Zhou Qi still looked calm and intelligent, but Gu Youan knew that he was drunk, and very drunk.
In all the years since they got married, he has rarely gotten drunk. I wonder what happened to him today.
Zhou Qi stood up, took her wrist with his hot hand, and called her tenderly, "An An."
Gu Youan let him pull him: "Stop making trouble and come back with me."
The family of three returned to Qi'an Hall. After a while, the side door of Qi'an Hall opened, and A Yuan, who had changed his clothes, left the palace with a group of guards.
"Empress, the prince has left."
"knew."
Xiaoyue stood outside the door for a while. When she didn't hear the master talking in the room, she waved her hand and left with the palace maids and eunuchs.
In the room, Gu Youan was unable to move her arm because Zhou Qi was holding her arm. After she finally pulled her arm out from under his waist, he pinched her shoulders and pressed her into his arms, holding her tightly, as if he was afraid that she would leave.
She sighed, gave up struggling, and lay softly on his chest: "Is it too heavy?"
He insisted on looking at her, raising his head and stiffening his neck. After a while he said, "My neck is sore."
Gu Youan couldn't help laughing and patted his shoulder in a complaining tone: "Then lie down."
He obediently lay down, holding her on one side, and she lay beside him. They shared the same pillow and could hear each other's breathing.
"Gu Youan, you don't believe me."
"Um?"
"I give you whatever you want, but you still don't believe me."
Gu Youan didn't understand at first, but after hearing his aggrieved question, she understood what he meant.
She knew that there were some things she couldn't lie to him about, and she had no intention of lying to him, but there were some things that were really hard to tell him.
Wait a little longer, maybe when they reach the end of their lives, she will tell him everything without any psychological burden.
So what if she didn't tell him? She felt she had done nothing wrong to him.
She understood but didn't want to answer, she just sighed: "You are drunk, go to sleep."
She refused to speak, and he did not ask any further questions. It seemed as if she was really drunk and talking nonsense, and after a while she fell asleep.
A night passed, and when she woke up the next day, Zhou Qi was not there. Xiaoyue came in to wait on him and said, "The emperor rode out of the city early this morning to go hunting. He said he would bring back some pheasants for you to make soup with."
Gu Youan stretched lazily and smiled. It would be good to go out and run more often, which would make him feel more relaxed.
The New Year festival in Luoyang is lively from the Little New Year before the New Year to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The New Year festival in Songjiang City is not so lively. The idle people go to the cloth workshops in the eastern suburbs to do odd jobs to earn some money to supplement their family income.
In addition to the cloth shop in the eastern suburbs, a pharmacy was built at the foot of the North Mountain this year. This pharmacy is managed by the Da Zhou State-owned Medicinal Materials Bureau. It is mainly used to transport medicinal materials from Songjiang City and produce commonly used pills. The pharmacy's business is very prosperous, and it only stops for two days during the entire New Year: New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month.
This pharmacy is managed by Uncle Du. The pharmacy does not stop working during the first month of the year, and he has to stay there. It is the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, according to the custom of his hometown, Yizhou Prefecture, people have to eat glutinous rice balls. Du Qing has some free time today, so he specially brought him a bowl of glutinous rice balls in a lunch box from home.
Du Qing smiled as he entered the room and said, "You're too busy. It's not even the first month of the year yet, and I see your pharmacy's warehouse is already full of pills."
Uncle Du, with half his hair turning white, smiled and said, "We have to hurry. The navy just needs to finish a batch of medicine, and Shopkeeper Han needs another batch to be sent to the grasslands. If we don't hurry, won't we run out of stock?"
Du Qing opened the food box, took out the glutinous rice balls, and placed them on the table. He asked, "Didn't Manager Han stop caring about the pharmacy? Why are you asking for pills again?"
"He doesn't manage the pharmacy. The current general manager of our pharmacy is Hu Changpu. Manager Han asked for the pills from Duoli."
"That kid from the Black Hawk tribe?"
"That's him! He's doing business on the grassland and also passing on information for us. If it weren't for this identity, Shopkeeper Han wouldn't have come to ask for the pills on his behalf."
"Don't worry. Those who are hostile to us will either be destroyed or driven away. Even if we sell the pills to those grassland tribes, nothing will go wrong."
Du Qing has been working at the military medical clinic in Songjiang City for many years. He used to train military doctors for Prince Qi's Mansion, and now he trains military doctors for the Great Zhou Dynasty. He gets news on the grassland very quickly.
Uncle Du slowly finished his glutinous rice balls, wiped his mouth and said, "You can't just sell them blindly. Have you forgotten what the Empress said? We have a limited supply of good medicinal herbs in Songjiang City. We need to use them sparingly."
Speaking of the Empress, Second Uncle Du couldn't help but mention it a little more: "Du Qing, we're old now, so it's fine for us to stay in Songjiang City. But the younger children of the Du family should be sent out to explore the world, whether it's studying, martial arts, or doing business. We can't let them stay at home and become useless."
Du Qing was very busy at the military medical clinic and didn't care much about the clan's affairs. When he heard Uncle Du say this, his face suddenly turned cold: "Did someone's kid get into trouble?"
"Don't worry, with a bunch of old men like us watching over them, what trouble can they possibly cause? They're just trying to avoid us and interact with those grandchildren of the Duan family."
Uncle Du said quietly, "Our family is different from the Duan family. The most powerful queen in the Great Zhou Dynasty so far has half of our Du family's blood."
The Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince were very close to the Du family. If nothing unexpected happened, the next two or three generations of the Du family would be blessed with good fortune. But even with a good fortune, one must know how to cherish it. If the Du family had a few grandchildren like the Duan family, not to mention the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince, he would be displeased.
Speaking of the Duan family, Du Qing said, "Master Duan was in good spirits two years ago, but he fell ill last autumn and aged suddenly. He no longer has the energy to take care of the little things at home, which is why his grandsons pretend to obey him but actually disobey him."
"The children of wealthy families are difficult to discipline. If they're not taught well when they're young, it'll be even harder to teach them back when they grow up." Second Uncle Du glanced at Du Qing and said, "I know you don't like to meddle in other people's business. In the past, it was fine if I stepped in, but now it's different. You're the Empress's uncle, and one word from you is far more effective than a hundred from me."
Du Qing knew the importance of this matter: "Our Du family can produce mediocre and incompetent children and grandchildren, but we will never have a prodigal son."
Uncle Du was satisfied, that was exactly what he meant.
At the end of April, the ice in Songjiang City thawed, and the pills sent to the Southern Navy had been loaded onto ships and shipped away. Manager Han brought a caravan of more than 200 carts to the pharmacy to transport the medicine.
Second Uncle Du pointed to seven or eight children of the Du family and showed them to Manager Han. They were all in their teens or twenties.
"They have no talent for education, nor can they endure the hardships of martial arts training. Fortunately, they know a little about pharmacology and are good at talking. I'll leave them to you. Please take care of them. I'll be content if they can make a living by trading."
Shopkeeper Han looked at the Du family's children and said, "The Du family's children and grandchildren are always hungry. You're worrying too much."
Uncle Du shook his head: "Food given by others is not as delicious as food earned by one's own hands."
Shopkeeper Han laughed loudly and said, "Don't worry, because of the relationship between our two families, the Du family's children are my nephews. I will definitely teach them well."
Du Qing, who was standing by, said to the others, "Why don't you thank Shopkeeper Han quickly?"
Several young men from the Du family hurriedly saluted Manager Han with a smile, and said that if there was any work in the future, they could just ask him to do it, as they followed the caravan just to help.
No matter whether it was taught by their families or the children's own ideas, as members of the Du family, they were willing to endure this hardship and could say such words, which made Manager Han look at them with respect.
Manager Han was not polite and asked them to help as he was moving the medicine box.
Shopkeeper Han ordered several young people from the Du family to work, and no one, whether it was Uncle Du Er or Du Qing, or even the families of these children, said anything sympathetic.
When Manager Han saw this, he knew that the Du family had really made up their minds, so he didn't say anything extra to persuade them.
Duoli was still waiting, so Manager Han did not stay long. He set off with the caravan in the afternoon and walked towards the western grassland for half a month before he met Duoli's caravan in the westernmost border town.
It had been almost a year since we last met, and Duoli's caravan had doubled in size, with many more people. When Duoli saw Manager Han, he said, "A few days ago, a caravan from Ningxia headed west."
Shopkeeper Han was surprised: "A caravan dares to travel west so soon?"
Duoli nodded quickly and asked anxiously, "Aren't they afraid of being robbed and killed on the way?"
The border town where they are now is already the westernmost part of the grassland. It was not the actual controlled territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty before. It was only last year that it was taken over by the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the Great Zhou Dynasty’s garrison came here.
Going further west from here is someone else's territory. Going west from here is life or death. Risking your life in business is not something you can do.
Shopkeeper Han also admired the caravans that crossed the border and headed west. He said, "Although the journey west is difficult, as I told you, once you cross the desert, there are fertile land and grasslands to the west. There is definitely a lot of money to be made by trading there."
"Manager Han, I also want to go to the west to take a look."
"Now?"
Duoli shook his head: "Next year, I have to go back to the grasslands in the east to explain to my family and make preparations before going."
Shopkeeper Han smiled and said, "That's fine."
The goods promised to Duoli were delivered, and Shopkeeper Han was about to go back. Before leaving, Shopkeeper Han told Duoli: "We will be a family from now on. Don't treat yourself as an outsider. If you need anything, go buy it yourself, without going through me."
"Manager Han, you won't come to the grassland anymore?"
"I guess he hasn't come in recent years."
"Where are you going to do business?"
Shopkeeper Han climbed onto the carriage and laughed, "I'm going south, to the sea!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
