Chapter 47 Reward, Dinner by Order
Zhou Shaoyu took three steps closer and asked curiously, "What on earth did she say?"
The prime minister looked at Emperor Xuanwen, who nodded and said, "Show him!"
Zhou Shaoyu took it and read it. He didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He thought it was amazing. Could a letter be written like this?
There is no rigid structure, but it is easier to understand and more vivid.
He thought of Xie Yanyan's face. He never expected that she would be such a Third Miss!
Just the three words "guilty daughter" are so eye-catching!
Emperor Xuanwen looked at Zhou Shaoyu's face and saw the surprise he had imagined, and he was very satisfied.
He could immediately think of the power of the curved plow, but he still announced: "The Minister of Agriculture should first take the blueprint and make a batch, try it out in the farmland, and then promote it to the people. As for Miss Xie's reward——"
He paused for a moment and said, "I will give you a two-wheeled carriage as a reward. You can get 10 catties of rice or a full meal for 10 people or less from any government office along the way."
It means eating in compliance with the emperor's order.
Zhou Shaoyu felt contemptuous in his heart. The curved plow was such a great ingenuity, but the reward was only such a small thing!
Emperor Xuanwen added: "Prince Zhou has made great contributions in discovering talents. From now on, you will take up your post in the Ministry of Works. Yes, you will be appointed as the Minister of Works."
Zhou Shaoyu thanked him, feeling somewhat unwilling.
But this is the only way now. After all, he has been exiled for only more than a month. If the emperor pardons Xie Yanyan immediately, he would be slapping himself in the face.
The date for the announcement and the imperial envoy were not immediately specified.
Emperor Xuanwen waited for the Ministry of Works to work overtime day and night to make several more curved plows, which were then taken to the imperial estates and farms near Kyoto for testing.
The functional advantages of the curved plow are very obvious. It is flexible and easy to rotate. It is not only more suitable for irregular farmland, but also saves time and labor.
Emperor Xuanwen was overjoyed and immediately issued an order to promote the technology at all levels and strictly ordered the Ministry of Works to keep the technical drawings confidential.
The imperial envoy who announced the decree was not Zhou Shaoyu, but the crown prince.
The prince personally caught up with the exile team and met Xie Yanyan to see what kind of woman Xie Yanyan was.
Zhou Shaoyu felt uneasy and kept pestering Emperor Xuanwen to go with him.
Emperor Xuanwen thought for a moment and said, "Hasn't it been a long time since you last returned to the Nanhai Palace? Go back and see your father, the king, and your mother."
Zhou Shaoyu immediately fell silent and said in surprise, "Didn't your majesty ask me to work like a slave in the Ministry of Works?"
"What are you talking about? How can going to the Ministry of Works mean working like a slave?" Emperor Xuanwen said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "I'll grant you three months of leave, but when you come back you must report to the Ministry of Works."
It takes almost two months to go back and forth to Nanhai, and only one month at home.
Zhou Shaoyu thanked him and went to pester the prince.
Prince Fu Hong saw him coming and said with a smile: "If you don't come to see me, I will go to find you."
"What do you want from me? Treat me to a meal?"
"Is it okay to eat at Wanghai Pavilion?"
"OK."
After a while, the two went to Wanghai Pavilion, which immediately closed its door and hung a sign outside saying it was temporarily closed.
The prince asked, "You have dealt with Miss Xie San, what kind of person is she?"
"You don't know?" Zhou Shaoyu said in surprise, "I thought you knew everything, the noble lady of Kyoto."
The prince said that he had some impression of the other noble ladies, but he had never seen Miss Xie.
The two scolded Xie Jinrong and praised her for her self-improvement. She was able to break free from the old Shen's restrictions and become so dazzling.
Zhou Shaoyu said: "I actually only met her twice, once to see the magic of her soap, and once to eat the porridge she made."
The prince was very surprised: "The porridge is delicious?"
Zhou Shaoyu originally wanted to say that it was delicious, but seeing the prince's curious eyes, he changed his mind and said, "Your Highness, why are you asking about this?"
The prince was stunned: "You brought it up yourself."
"She is a bit cold, and she would never say more than one word. In short, she is different from ordinary girls in the boudoir, so don't treat her like an ordinary girl." Zhou Shaoyu pondered and said, "When your highness goes to announce the decree, you can ask her what she needs."
The prince asked for a long time but got nothing out of him, so he treated the man to a good meal and went back.
When he returned, he went to the palace to meet the emperor.
"Father, Jingchen and Third Miss Xie should have no relationship. They didn't know each other before. But he knew the eldest Miss Xie Xiangxiang of the Xie family." The prince said to Emperor Xuanwen, "The Third Miss Xie entrusted him to present it to Father, it seems that she wanted to curry favor with the rich and powerful."
That's right, who doesn't want to be associated with a powerful person? Although Zhou Shaoyu is not well-known, everyone knows that Emperor Xuanwen dotes on him.
Emperor Xuanwen said to the crown prince, "Go and announce the decree to see what she thinks, and recruit those who can be used under your command."
The prince thanked him.
The prince's carriage caught up with the exile team, and another half a month passed. When the officials of the prefectures and counties along the way heard that the prince was passing by, they all held banquets to wait for him, delaying him on the road for a long time.
***
The exile team left Nanyang City and arrived at a village called Xiazhuang on the third day.
The north has always been dry and rainless, and there are no rivers here. Dust is flying everywhere. The dust on the official road is more than a foot thick, and people and everything are covered in dust.
Entering the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the daytime heat began to set in, and even without a blanket at night, it would not be cold. After Li Rong communicated with the head of the village, he arranged for the prisoners to rest near a poplar forest beside the official road.
Xie Yanyan didn't want to suffer any more, so she took her whole family to a slightly farther place, took out steamed buns, steamed bread, and meat patties, and had dinner with beef chili sauce. They had a horse-drawn carriage with a tin kettle, so they had no shortage of water.
Since discovering in Nanyang City that Jiang Shuang wanted to help Xie Xiangxiang, even Xie Ning had given up hope on her. During the meal, Xie Yanyan distributed steamed buns, meat patties, and beef chili sauce to everyone. Whoever wanted to eat it could come to their own place to scoop it.
Jiang Shuang, of course, would not give it to her to eat.
Since you like Xie Xiangxiang so much, go ask her for food.
"Why don't you give it to me?" Jiang Shuang was annoyed. "You have so much food, but you have the heart to watch others starve to death?"
Xie Yanyan: "There is a quota above, go and get it from Lord Li."
"One pancake is not enough."
"Figure it out yourself."
Xie Yanyan took out seven apples from the space while it was dark, giving one to each family member.
As for Jiang Shuang, no.
Xie Lingyu asked in a low voice: "Sister, what is this?"
"Don't ask, just eat."
During the Former Qin Dynasty, there was a real shortage of supplies. Even apples, a high-yield fruit that is the most common fruit in later generations, were not available.
What's more, this sweet, crisp and large apple only appeared after the 1990s.
The apples were crisp and sweet, but she didn't want to share them with Li Rong and the others. Li Rong had earned enough money from her, and she didn't want to give away apples, a fruit that was consumed as one was less, to too many people for the time being.
Li Rong had been paying attention to everyone and heard the crunching sounds of their food, but he did not come over to disturb them. It would not be nice to keep moving forward while others were eating.
When the rooster crowed for the first time, everyone fell asleep.
In the poplar grove, there was a sound of tired snoring.
"Flutter"
The sound of birds flapping their wings came, and Xie Anfeng and Xie Ning woke up immediately. They pricked up their ears and heard the dull "thump thump" sound of horse hooves stepping on the thick dust and the sound of leaves on the treetops being stepped on by birds.
Xie Anfeng jumped up and reached into the secret compartment under the car. In an instant, he had a Tang sword in his hand.
(End of this chapter)
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