Chapter 2675 Come
The Crown Princess finished the grapes on the plate, wiped her hands, and then asked, "Tell me, what do you want to see me about?"
Mingda: "Can't you come to see your sister-in-law if you have nothing to do?"
"Goodbye, you guys are all the kind of people who wouldn't come to see me for no reason. Now that there are so many interesting people and things out there, why would you come all the way to see me?"
Mingda and Manbao Changyu looked at each other and had no choice but to tell the truth.
Upon hearing that it was related to the Emperor's personal expedition, the Crown Princess couldn't help but become more serious, "This isn't a very difficult matter."
So the group moved to the garden of Wude Hall.
The palace banquet had not started yet, but the afternoon sun was not so strong, so many people were enjoying the flowers in the garden.
The Crown Princess held the hand of the palace maid and led Mingda and the others slowly towards the most beautiful pavilion in the garden. There were seats and couches there, and many ladies were talking there.
When he saw the Crown Princess and the two princesses, he immediately stood up and bowed, then gave up the seat of honor.
After the Crown Princess sat down, she asked with a smile, "What are the ladies talking about?"
"Tell me about the clothes that are fashionable this year."
"Oh?" The Crown Princess smiled and said, "I think the flower arrangements that are popular in Jiangnan this year are very beautiful. If peonies could be woven into them, it would be truly magnificent."
"Yes, but they are too complicated. A weaver may not be able to weave one piece in two years. There are only a few pieces in the capital now. It takes several weavers working together and a year to weave them."
Chang Yu was very interested when he heard this. "It seems there are several horses in this year's tribute."
"How many?" the Crown Princess said with a smile, "There are only three in total. His Majesty gave them all to Your Majesty."
However, the queen always advocated frugality, so she didn't use any of them and didn't give them to her daughters either.
The Crown Princess touched her belly. Because she was pregnant, she was rewarded with one horse. The remaining two horses were kept in the warehouse. According to the Queen, one of them would be sent to Prefect Wei, and no one knew who would get the other one.
The queen usually did not allow the royal family to use such good things, and basically rewarded them to meritorious officials.
Especially after Prince Gong "fell out of favor", if it were in the past, Prince Gong would have hugged his arms and cried before the emperor gave the empress the full reward.
That's how love blinds one's mind.
Manbao listened to them talk about fabrics, from weaving techniques to embroidery, from Suzhou embroidery to Shu embroidery, then to the popular jewelry styles in Shu this year, then to those in Jiangnan, and then back to the popular styles in the capital...
Manbao: ...
She felt dizzy.
After a long time, the topic finally came up with this personal expedition. Manbao listened with his face supported, without any passion at all.
This is also one of the important reasons why the ladies in the pavilion are trying to please the Crown Princess at this time.
The emperor will lead the army in person, and the prince will be the regent. After this incident, the prince's position will only become more stable. At present, they can no longer see anyone who can compete with the prince.
If it was a few years ago when the prince had not yet given birth to a child, these ladies would only be polite to the princess consort on the surface and avoid making mistakes. They would not even dare to sit with her for too long, for fear that their husbands, fathers, brothers and others at home would be labeled as princelings.
There are not many concerns now.
The only people present who had a close relationship with the expedition were the Crown Princess and Zhou Man.
The topic of Regent is still a bit sensitive, so although everyone wants to please the Crown Princess, they still don't want to continue on this topic for too long, so their eyes fell on Zhou Man.
Those present were not strangers. Who had not consulted Zhou Man for treatment once or twice?
So everyone pulled Zhou Man aside and asked enthusiastically, "I heard that this time, Lord Zhou will personally accompany His Majesty on the expedition?"
Man Bao said, "This is what His Majesty and Dean Xiao meant."
Everyone sighed and comforted her, saying, "Master Zhou, you will definitely come back safely."
"You should be safe as long as you accompany His Majesty. Don't worry."
The Crown Princess and others who knew the inside story: ...She is not worried at all, it was clearly she who asked for the order herself.
"It's no wonder you're worried about Lord Zhou. My aunt and the others were also worried about my uncle in front of the Empress," Chang Yu said. "Because of this, my aunt even insisted on giving out 100,000 yuan, saying it was a blessing for the soldiers of the Eastern Expedition. But in fact, it wasn't a blessing for the Eastern Expedition, it was clearly a blessing for my uncle."
Mingda smiled and said, "It's better to believe something like this than not. Queen Mother is so wise and sensible. Isn't it because she's worried about my father that she asked us to come to the palace to pray overnight?"
The ladies in the pavilion hurriedly asked, "How do we pray?"
"Did you invite the immortal Laozi or the Buddha?"
"For this kind of thing, we should worship Guan Gong, right? Whether it's Taoism or Buddhism, he doesn't care about fighting, right?"
Manbao: "When praying for blessings, who cares about this? Naturally, there are 72 immortals, and I will worship them one by one."
Ladies: "...That makes sense."
One lady hesitantly suggested, "How about we raise some money to hold a ritual for the Eastern Expedition Army?"
This way they won't fall behind. Otherwise, the wife of Duke Zhao has done it, the Queen has done it too, so wouldn't they seem different if they didn't do it?
Manbao: ...
Even Mingda was shocked. How was this related to rituals?
Manbao couldn't help but ask, "You really want to go and worship the gods?"
Ladies: "Didn't Master Zhou say that we should worship the immortals wherever they are?"
"Why don't you just worship me?" Manbao sat up straight, straightened his official robes, and sat cross-legged on the seat. He said solemnly, "If you worship the gods, you won't know whether they have blessed the Eastern Expedition Army or fulfilled your wishes. But if you worship me, you will know that I tried my best to treat and protect the Eastern Expedition Army. I can even count how many people survived. How do you think?"
The ladies were stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. One of the ladies sitting above Zhou Man reached out and pinched her face, saying with a smile, "Master Zhou, if I didn't know you well, I would have thought you were asking for a bribe."
Manbao: I am just asking for a bribe. Don’t take it for granted. If I’m serious, just give me more money.
The Crown Princess laughed and said, "I think what Lord Zhou said is right. It's better to worship her than to worship the gods. But you can't take our money for free."
She smiled and said, "All our money must be used for the Eastern Expedition. This is the true merit. So, I will donate some incense money to you, but you must use this money to buy medicinal herbs, cloth, and other things that can heal the wounded and save lives. Write it down later and see how many people I have saved with this money and how much merit I have accumulated."
She touched her belly and smiled, saying, "Just think of it as praying for the child. I'll record the merit in her name later."
Manbao asked, "Have you given her a name yet?"
The Crown Princess: "I've taken it. I'll tell you quietly later."
When the others heard this, they also began to think about it. A lady whose family was not short of money was the first to say, "Since that's the case, I will also bow and donate some merit to my son. I don't ask for much, I just hope that he can make more progress next year and study hard."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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