The people who came were dressed differently from the people we usually saw. They were all wearing the same clothes, but they didn't look like the guards we had seen before.
"You're Song Ning?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, Song Ning could tell that he was from the palace.
"Exactly."
"We came from the Duke's mansion, on the orders of our master, to find the young lady to buy cotton. The princess told us to find a man named Song Ning."
"So you are a distinguished guest from the Duke's mansion. Please come in."
Invite the person into the house and bring the prepared list.
"These are all for the Duke's mansion; they were prepared beforehand."
Song Ning had already prepared one for the Duke's mansion, so there was no need to talk about selling it or not; she would just give it away.
After all, she had received many favors from the Duke's mansion, so these were only to be expected.
The head eunuch glanced at the list and was quite satisfied; this young girl was quite savvy.
“Miss Song, we’ve come here not just for the Duke’s mansion.”
Where else?
The eunuch laughed: "Of course it's the palace. His Majesty said that since the princess values the young lady, the palace can't be left out. So, when he heard that the cotton had been picked, he sent a few of us to come in person."
The emperor already knows?
"How much does the palace need this time?"
"The people in the palace are all of noble status. His Majesty said that you can handle it as you see fit."
Let her handle it; shouldn't she get the best deal?
To be honest, she gave it away voluntarily. The palace must want a lot of it. If she gave it away for free... it would hurt her heart.
Oh well, what can I do? He's the emperor, and he even bestowed quite a few things upon her last time. Let him give them away for free.
Moreover, not everyone is qualified to send gifts to the emperor.
Song Ning dared not delay and quickly prepared the things, loading several carts, which also contained other items for the Duke's mansion.
They also gave a lot of gifts to the fathers-in-law.
"Thank you for your help, gentlemen. Here is the list."
The head eunuch glanced at her, his face full of smugness: "Hmm, well done. When we get back, I'll put in a good word for you with the princess."
The way she's saying this makes it sound like she's doing all this to curry favor with the Duke's family.
"As long as Her Highness the Princess is pleased, whether the words are kind or not is irrelevant."
"Alright, we will hand all of these over to Your Highness later."
Thank you.
The whole trip only took a day.
They come in the morning and leave in the afternoon; by the time they get back to Beijing, it will probably be winter.
As the carriage drove away, Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan both breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "From now on... will we have to give them all away for free?"
"Pfft"
Song Ning couldn't help but laugh out loud. They really were family; they even thought the same thing.
“It’s alright. Even if we really need to send gifts every year in the future, we can afford it. Besides, he’s the emperor, and he’s related to General Xie and Princess Jianing. Sending a little something is no big deal. Last time, he gave us quite a lot of things.”
Liu Yuelan sighed: "It's not that I'm reluctant to part with the things, it's just that these people who came today don't seem like good people."
"Don't talk nonsense, those are all from the palace," Song Dahai reminded him.
"Father is right. Those are all people under the princess and His Majesty's command. They just came to pick up some things. We probably won't see them again."
However, what the Song family didn't know was that Princess Jianing threw a huge tantrum after those eunuchs returned from Tianxiang County.
"You audacious lackey! Who is the Song family's daughter? How dare you look down on her!"
The men knelt on the ground, trembling with fear: "Your Highness, spare us! Your Highness, spare us..."
Princess Jianing originally intended to send money to Song Ning, but unexpectedly, the gifts were returned, and the money was returned intact.
These ignorant fools are smug and complacent after getting Song Ning's things for free, thinking they're so capable.
Their Duke's mansion has never taken anything from others for free, let alone from her future daughter-in-law.
Sure enough, these people from the palace are unreliable.
"Your Highness, please calm down. After all, they were sent by His Majesty. We should still show them some respect," the nanny beside him whispered.
It would have been better if we hadn't talked about this, because mentioning it only made Princess Jianing even angrier.
"I was just going to Tianxiang County to buy some cotton, but my brother insisted that I use the people he sent. Now look what's happened! Er Ya might even think that our Duke's Mansion is the kind of family that's greedy for petty gains and preys on the common people!"
After Princess Jianing finished speaking, the servants around her were terrified. They were all His Majesty's people, and if this got back to the palace, it would be a huge problem.
But Princess Jianing didn't care about any of that. Song Ning had just returned from Huzhou and might come to the capital soon. Now was the time to pick cotton, so she wanted to take the opportunity to show herself in front of Song Ning.
Although the Jin Dynasty's current need for cotton means she doesn't need to intervene, there's still a difference between buying and not buying.
The main concern was that Song Ning might have forgotten about her son after all this time.
Now look what's happened. The Duke's Mansion has indeed made an impression on Song Ning, but in this way.
Pointing at the kneeling men on the ground, he said, "Send them back to the palace and tell His Majesty that if my son remains a bachelor, he should be responsible for finding me a grandson!"
In the current imperial court, only Princess Jianing dares to speak to His Majesty like this.
There was nothing they could do; after all, His Majesty only had Princess Jianing as his younger sister.
Granny Chang quickly tried to soothe her: "Princess, please don't upset yourself. Miss Song is someone our young master has taken a liking to. She's a good girl who can distinguish right from wrong, and she won't overthink things."
"Yes, Your Highness, please rest assured. The Song family still has businesses in the capital. Miss Song will come sooner or later. If you are worried, you can explain it to her then."
Princess Jianing naturally trusted Song Ning's character, but she was going to be Song Ning's mother-in-law in the future, so she couldn't afford to have a bad image in front of her daughter-in-law.
Even if Song Ning really doesn't care, what about the rest of the Song family?
Those are the Duke's in-laws; what if they don't agree to let their daughter marry into the Duke's family in the future?
Besides, if Song Ning marries into the family in the future, she will be the future mistress of the Duke's mansion and the future Duchess of the Duke's mansion. How can she allow a few eunuchs to look down on her?
These eunuchs were used to being arrogant in the palace, and they were even more condescending to ordinary people.
Thinking of this, Princess Jianing slapped her thigh: "Oh dear, we sent her away too early. We should have asked Er Ya if she was wronged."
If they really suffer injustice, those people will never be able to leave the inner palace for the rest of their lives.
On the other side, Zhang Ping hurriedly entered the courtyard, went straight to the study, and whispered something in Xie Linzhou's ear.
"Given away for free?" Xie Linzhou, with his hair down, suddenly brightened up after hearing Song Ning's news.
"Yes, I heard the princess was furious and sent the person back immediately. They're just about to send the silver back as fast as they can."
"Has the person left?"
"not yet."
"Tell him to wait a moment."
Knowing what the young master was thinking, Zhang Ping smiled and said as he ran, "I'll go get someone right away."
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