Chapter 678 Promoted to Third Rank, Lady Sui
"...I will be promoted to a third-rank lady, and will be granted a residence in the capital and a number of servants. Lady Sui can move in at any time..."
Cheng Wanwan kowtowed to express her gratitude.
"Your Majesty, I obey! Long live the Emperor!"
The status of a third-rank court lady is vastly different from that of a fourth, fifth, or sixth-rank official. She has essentially entered the ranks of the capital's nobility. Therefore, the emperor bestowed upon her a mansion in the capital, which means that she has been brought into the capital's territory. Her power has been established, which is a blessing from heaven.
"Congratulations, Sui Shuren!" Little Guozi handed the imperial edict to Cheng Wanwan. "Looking at the entire Dayu Dynasty, only Sui Shuren has been promoted so quickly. All the men in the court and the country admire her, and all the ladies in the capital regard her as a role model..."
Cheng Wanwan's lips twitched. Did those men in the court and the countryside really admire her?
It seems that the Emperor must have offended many senior officials by being granted the title of Third-Rank Lady.
Fortunately, Eunuch Guo arrived today; otherwise, if she went to Yangzhou tomorrow morning and didn't receive the imperial edict, wouldn't she have failed the emperor's good intentions?
She smiled and said, "Please rest for a while, Lord Guo. I'll have someone prepare a banquet right away."
Little Guozi laughed and said, "Eunuch Ming said that the food in Dahe Town was particularly delicious and he still remembers it. I am finally able to enjoy it."
Mrs. Qi led Xiao Guozi and his party into the yard, arranged for them to rest in the side rooms first, and then began to prepare the banquet without stopping. Dahe Town held big events from time to time, and had experience in holding banquets. The women and maids all came to help, and the town was bustling with joy.
"Mrs. Dashan has been promoted again, to the rank of Third Rank Lady. That sounds impressive."
"Last year he was promoted to the fourth rank, this year to the third rank, next year to the second rank, and the year after that to the first rank. It's really amazing."
"The Emperor has prepared a house for Dashan Niang in the capital. I wonder when she will move there. Sigh, I can't bear to leave just thinking about it."
"Mother Dashan will fly away sooner or later, so don't be reluctant to let her go. Cherish the days we still live together..."
When the villagers were excited, businessmen such as Mr. He and Shopkeeper She were also very excited.
They had always heard about the deeds of Lady Sui, but they never expected that they would actually encounter an imperial edict.
It takes many people 20 to 30 years to move from the fourth rank to the third rank, and some people remain in the fourth rank for their entire lives.
But this Lady Sui was promoted as easily as eating and drinking. She was promoted to the third rank, such a joyous occasion, yet she sat calmly in the courtyard reading a book.
Cheng Wanwan was indeed reading a book, a medical book.
When she arrived in Yangzhou, the first thing she did was to save people. Although the poisoned people were not in danger of death, their bodies would slowly collapse if the remaining poison was not removed in time... She was not a medical student and did not know much about this aspect. She could only make up for her lack of knowledge about arsenic and try to deal with this matter as soon as possible.
While she was reading, the villagers were busy with their own things. Some were preparing for the evening's promotion banquet, while others were catching poisonous lobsters in Lijiagou. At the same time, they were contacting the Cao family merchant ship and putting all the lobsters into the water-filled cabin below...
As the sun set, the banquet was finally ready.
Besides the residents of Dahe Town, Lord Wei, Lord Lin, Lord Ge, and others also came to offer their congratulations.
County Magistrate Zhao and Zhao Tiezhu helped welcome the guests. The officials led them to the innermost room to take their seats, the merchants sat in the courtyard, and the ordinary people sat in the square. There were hundreds of tables of guests, and the banquet was set up for hundreds of meters. Some merchants passing by the river wharf couldn't help but stop and join in the fun...
Cheng Wanwan sat in the main seat, followed by Xiao Guozi, and then officials such as Lord Wu and Lord Lin. There were only men at the table, and Cheng Wanwan was the only woman. However, she was the person of the highest status here. When a person's status is high enough, no one cares so much whether they are male or female.
"The Xiao Qin Grand Canal is really well built!" Xiao Guozi said with a smile. "It connects the Grand Canal from Yangzhou to the capital. It only takes ten days to travel from the capital to Dahe Town. In the future, Sui Shuren will no longer have to travel so long and arduously to the capital as before."
Cheng Wanwan said, "The canal south of Yangzhou can actually be opened up. It will connect the north and south, making it much easier for the court to manage."
"Sui Shuren and the Emperor are on the same page." Little Guozi was full of admiration. "A few months ago, during the morning court, the Emperor raised this idea and asked the Prince of Qin to take charge of this matter... But the Prince of Qin's temper... well, anyway, this matter has been put on hold, and no one knows when it will be implemented. If only Sui Shuren were in the capital, the Emperor could hand this matter over to Shuren, which would be a great benefit for both the country and the people."
Cheng Wanwan took a sip of wine silently.
The canal was a massive project that required a great deal of manpower and resources, and it needed coordination from all sides. The fact that she was able to build the Xiao-Qin Grand Canal does not mean that she could also open up the road to the south.
The further south you go, the more complex the terrain becomes, and there are many foreign tribes that are not very integrated with the Great Yu Dynasty. Some provinces and states are located on the periphery and do not have much of a sense of belonging to the Great Yu Dynasty, making it even more difficult to build canals.
She's a woman, so she shouldn't get involved in this kind of thing.
She changed the subject and said, "I have to leave for Yangzhou early tomorrow morning, so I might have to neglect Eunuch Guo..."
Xiao Guozi put down his wine cup and asked out of pure curiosity, "What is Sui Shuren going to Yangzhou for? Is she perhaps going to start a new business?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled bitterly, "Eunuch Guo should have seen the lobsters sent from Dahe Town in the Imperial City. I went to Yangzhou just for this."
"When I stopped in Yangzhou, I think I heard something about crayfish..." Xiao Guozi recalled for a moment and said, "In the entire Great Yu Dynasty, only Yangzhou can eat crayfish. The people of Yangzhou are proud to eat crayfish, but it seems that some people get poisoned after eating them... Is that true?"
Four days ago, the ship docked at Yangzhou Wharf. He rested for one night in Yangzhou City and heard a lot about this matter, but he didn't take it seriously at all.
Because the crayfish that Lady Sui sent to the capital were eaten by the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince, and if even such noble people were fine, then the common people must have been able to eat them without any problems.
Someone must be jealous of Sui Shuren for breeding profitable crayfish, so they are secretly making trouble.
Xiao Guozi spoke up, "Should I arrange for someone to handle this matter?"
Cheng Wanwan shook her head: "I have to go there in person for this matter, but I have to leave tomorrow morning and I won't be able to entertain you, father-in-law. Please don't blame me."
"What are you saying, Lady Sui? It is a blessing from my past life that I can sit here and dine with you." Xiao Guozi said sincerely. "If this were in the capital, I would never dare to be so presumptuous... Lady Sui, please go ahead. If there is anything I can do to help you, I will do my best."
Cheng Wanwan raised her glass to express her gratitude.
The promotion banquet was not over until the moon rose to the highest point in the sky.
The people of Dahe Town helped clean up the mess, and Cheng Wanwan didn't rest either. Instead, she took advantage of the moonlight to go to Lijia Gou.
Over here, Wu Xiaochui and hundreds of farmers were still catching crayfish. Under the moonlight, crates of crayfish were brought to the dock and dumped into the boats, waiting only for dawn to set off...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
