Liang Shuyan then said, "Your Highness, I only wanted to conduct an experiment. If it succeeds, I will report it to the Emperor. Otherwise, if the color becomes cloudy when it comes into contact with water, wouldn't that offend the Emperor?"
Su Ling didn't say a word, glanced at Liang Shuyan, and then laughed loudly: "Good, what a clever woman! Since that's the case, I won't hold it against you!"
"Someone, bring the lady a set of exquisite skin cream used by ladies, as well as a set of fine jewelry and clothing!"
Then a eunuch dressed in a eunuch's robe stepped forward, carrying an exquisite vermilion plate, and slowly walked over.
Liang Shuyan was flattered and overwhelmed: "This humble woman dares not! How could I dare to accept things used by Your Highnesses? Besides, I have been working in the fields for a long time, it would be a waste for me to use such precious things!"
Su Ling glanced at it: "I promised, so take it. Why are you making such a fuss? Are you disrespecting me?"
Liang Shuyan nodded: "Thank you! I will obey!"
Despite accepting the gift from the eldest prince, Liang Shuyan felt a sense of unease. What if the eldest prince had some ulterior motive? Wouldn't she be like a fish in a net, completely at his mercy?
However, since we've already accepted it, what can we do?
Liang Shuyan pointed to her main room and said, "Your Highness, you can stay here. However, the furnishings here are arranged according to women's furnishings. I will move all these things aside for the time being. If you need anything, you can bring some more in!"
The eldest prince frowned after listening: "These are indeed furnishings that women like, but I don't think there's anything wrong with them. Let's leave them as they are; there's no need to move them around anymore, it's too much trouble."
There's also a dining table in the kitchen. We originally planned to move in after we finished this busy period, but it's been delayed until now. Fortunately, we haven't moved in yet, so we can settle the eldest prince in.
The eldest prince glanced at the county magistrate and said with some displeasure, "What's wrong? We have everything now. Asking you to prepare a chef shouldn't be difficult, right?"
The magistrate quickly agreed: "No problem, I'll go find a chef with similar skills to cook for you every day."
The eldest prince said with a dark face, "What do you mean by 'almost there'? You have to be able to cook properly. Don't just find any cook to fool me, or you'll lose your job as county magistrate."
The magistrate looked up at the sky and said with some difficulty, "Your Highness, if we go to look for it now, will it be too late? How about we look for it tomorrow?"
"Nonsense! What am I supposed to eat tonight? What kind of magistrate are you? You can't even handle this simple matter. What else do you want to do?"
Upon hearing this, Liang Shuyan immediately said, "No need. If it were tonight, I could prepare the food and send it to the Crown Prince. The road down the mountain is difficult to travel now, and even if the magistrate could find a cook right now, there's no way to bring her up tonight."
He had long heard of Lady Cha's culinary skills, but he didn't want to directly ask her to cook a delicious meal. So, this excuse was a good one.
"Hmm, not bad. Then, let's do as you say. By the way, I've heard that your Jin's Tea House is very famous for its tea. Please bring out some for me to try."
Upon hearing this, Jin Dashan quickly turned around to get some tea leaves, brewed them according to his current habits, and then served them to the Crown Prince.
The tea was indeed very clear, and you could smell its fragrance from afar. Liang Shuyan pointed to the teacup on the table and said, "This is the tea from our Jin's Tea House. Please have a taste."
The eldest prince picked up his teacup, took a sip, smacked his lips, and then said, "Not bad, this tea is very clear, and it really has that legendary aroma."
After serving tea, Liang Shuyan had someone prepare some fine new bedding for Su Ling to take away. After a whole day of fussing, they finally settled in. Liang Shuyan felt like her whole body was falling apart. When she got home, she didn't eat anything and went straight to bed.
Feeling extremely tired, Jin Dashan walked in and asked curiously, "Mother, what is the First Prince, with such a noble status, doing in our Daling Village? Does he have some purpose?"
Liang Shuyan, feeling a bit tired, rubbed her back and said, "This Bodhisattva statue is not easy to give away. If we're not careful, we might offend the Crown Prince and it could bring us some trouble."
Liu brought in a bowl of noodles and placed it on the table.
"Mother, please eat something. You've been busy all day. What kind of deity is this? We've already given him our new home, what more could we ask for?"
Liang Shuyan thought for a moment: "Although we have given up our new homes, the village is currently building streets. We can't let this prince see the future prospects of Daling Village. We have to pretend to be poor. We must discuss this with Li Zheng. During this period, as long as everyone acts poor, extremely poor, I believe Su Ling won't cause any trouble."
Liu's eyes darted around: "How is that possible? Could it be that Mother has come up with a way to deal with the First Prince?"
Liang Shuyan thought for a moment and nodded: "Yes, that's how we'll do it. We have to pretend to be poor, so poor that we can't even afford to eat. We have to live a hard life. I believe the Crown Prince won't stay a day longer and will definitely leave soon."
The next day, Liang Shuyan was about to go to Lizheng to discuss the matter, but unexpectedly, Lizheng arrived at her house early and was about to discuss the matter of the eldest prince with her.
Li Zheng breathed a sigh of relief: "We must treat this great Buddha statue with utmost care. We should give in to whatever he wants. If we anger him, not only will the county magistrate be implicated, but we villagers will also be innocently implicated."
Liang Shuyan said, word by word, "I've got it. During this time, we must pretend to be poor, the poorer the better. That way, the eldest prince will definitely not be able to stand it and will leave Daling Village soon."
Li Zheng was surprised and slapped his thigh, saying, "That's right, how could I not have thought of that? Only by living a poor life will the Crown Prince leave. Otherwise, if something happens one day, dozens of lives in Daling Village might be lost in his hands."
Because of Liang Shuyan's idea, the villagers all acted as if they were extremely poor, wearing tattered clothes and kneeling at the door holding a bowl to beg.
When Su Ling learned of this news, he ordered people to distribute the prepared food and drinks, and each family was given 50 taels of silver, which surprised Liang Shuyan.
"Why? Isn't Su Ling always a lecherous person? How come he's suddenly become so compassionate?"
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