Chapter 968: Royal Family (Reward for the book friend "Xiao Yi")
Upon hearing this, the emperor looked up at the King of Yizhou, who had a silly smile on his face. He didn't think he was old or thin. Instead, he had a rosy complexion and looked like he was living a much better life than him.
But he nodded anyway.
The Queen Mother sighed, "This child's fiefdom has been cut in half, and his life is hard. You are his biological brother, but you don't even feel sorry for him."
The emperor's eyebrows jumped. When had half of it been cut off? It was clearly less than one-third.
The emperor's face also showed a look of distress. He said to the empress dowager, "Mother, please wait a little longer. The Jianwei Weir incident happened not long ago, and taxes have just been collected again this year. I heard that the resettlement of the victims in Yizhou is not very good, and the ministers are very complaining. It will be difficult to restore the situation at this time. Let's wait another two years."
The emperor looked at the king of Yizhou and said, "Fifth brother, after all the disaster victims in Yizhou have been resettled, and in two years the court has almost forgotten about this matter, I will redistribute the fiefdom to you. Or, if you like a place, you can also change it."
Before the King of Yizhou could say anything, the Queen Mother spoke up, "He's finally gotten used to living in Yizhou, where else could he move? I suggest you give him a few counties near Yizhou, so he doesn't get acclimated to the local climate after so many changes."
The emperor smiled and nodded in agreement.
Seeing his agreement, the empress dowager's expression brightened a little. She asked, "By the way, it's been over four years since the flood. Why haven't the refugees been resettled yet? What are the governors and county magistrates of Yizhou doing for a living?"
The emperor laughed and said, "The magistrate of Huayang County is Tang Minghui's son. I have read his memorials. In the first two years, he wrote to me complaining about the difficulties of being an official in Huayang County. He said that when he took office, all the fields left by the victims of the disaster had disappeared. He did not know how to resettle the victims, so he apologized to me."
The Empress Dowager was silent for a moment. She glanced at her youngest son and saw him lowering his head. Then she turned to the Emperor and said, "Is Tang Minghui's son just coming of age?"
"Not really. About twenty-five or twenty-six."
"That's too young. Young people are unreliable. They complain to you over the smallest things. There are so many problems in the world. Is the emperor supposed to worry about them all by himself? What are his ministers for then?"
The emperor smiled and nodded, "That's what my mother said."
The Queen Mother didn't want to continue this topic. She was afraid that the more she talked, the more she would collapse. So she simply changed the subject to a safer one. She pointed at a young man and said, "Before you came, Xin'an wrote a poem. I think it's very good. You should also appreciate it."
Turning around, he saw the prince and the others and said with a smile, "Princes, try to write a song too."
The prince doesn't like writing poetry, but since the Empress Dowager has said so, can he still refuse?
He glanced at his brothers.
The third brother, Li Li, immediately came forward and said cheerfully, "Grandmother, what question did you ask the Prince of Xin'an?"
"Why call me Prince Xin'an? Call me cousin," the Queen Mother said angrily, "you are brothers. You are family, so don't be so polite."
"Yes, yes, the Empress Dowager is right. What question did you ask my eldest cousin?"
The emperor's expression improved a little. He sat down in his seat and simply called the King of Yizhou to the lower seat to talk to him, letting the children go to play with the Queen Mother.
Among his sons, from the seventh prince who had just learned to walk and talk to the sixth prince who had just started school, to the crown prince and the fifth prince, the third prince was the only one who could write poetry well.
Sometimes the emperor himself was very confused. Why didn’t his sons look like him?
When the Queen pulled the Princess of Yizhou into the palace with a smile on her face, the palace was bustling with activity. Li Li had composed a good poem that made the Queen Mother laugh heartily, and the brothers and cousins were all complimenting each other, making the place a very happy place.
If there hadn't been several memorials impeaching the King of Yizhou on the emperor's desk, the queen would have thought that their family had always been harmonious and warm.
Although the Queen Mother felt sorry for the King of Yizhou and missed him very much, and wished to keep him by her side all the time, the King of Yizhou was an adult after all, and was still a vassal king, so he still had to leave the palace at night.
The Queen Mother regretfully asked the Prince of Yizhou to take his wife and children out, but left Princess Yunfeng in the palace.
"You will be coming to the palace tomorrow anyway, so why not keep her here and let her talk to me, an old woman?"
Princess Yunfeng took the Empress Dowager's arm and said with a smile, "I like the Imperial Grandmother too, and I want to stay and take care of her."
Princess Yizhou said angrily, "You, it's fine if you don't cause trouble for your grandmother, but you're still taking care of her?"
"Who said that? I'm happy as long as she's here," the Queen Mother said with a smile. "There are palace maids to serve tea and water. Do we still need servants in the palace?"
The Queen lowered her head. Three years ago, because of the continued severe flood in Yizhou, the Queen and the Emperor discussed and decided to release a group of palace maids. The Queen Mother was a little unhappy at the time. She didn't expect that this matter would still be brought up three years later.
The Imperial College was well-informed, so within two days, Bai Shan returned to tell Man Bao, "The Emperor has ordered the other princes to come to the capital. August is almost here, and they should arrive before the Mid-Autumn Festival. By then, the capital will surely be much busier."
He said, "I heard that the Yizhou Palace was bustling with activity yesterday, with many friends and relatives visiting to reminisce about the past. Someone also spread the word that the Yizhou Princess has chosen the first day of August as a good day to host a banquet for friends and relatives. You want to sell flowers, how about I ask Liu Gui to help you make inquiries?"
Manbao shook his head. "No need. My fifth brother is now responsible for purchasing for the restaurant. He knows a lot of people. I asked him to ask around."
Bai Shan glanced at the flowers outside and asked, "Are you going to sell all these flowers to the Yizhou Palace?"
"That's not the case. If they sell so much, how much will it cost to hold a banquet? You can't just pluck the wool all at once. You have to wait and wait for it to grow back before plucking it again."
Bai Shan: "...Have you ever thought about switching to another sheep?"
"Let's wait until the other princes and dukes arrive in the capital. I'll sell them to anyone I don't like." Man Bao snorted, "If a family like the King of Yizhou is as bad as them, there must be bad people among the others."
Although Bai Shan felt that she was too arbitrary, that was not the point at the moment. He was curious, "What's wrong with these flowers of yours? I think they are growing well. Why do you choose to sell them to people you don't like?"
Manbao coughed lightly, rolled his eyes, and whispered to him, "There's only one problem with my flower. I don't know what it will look like in one, two, or three years."
Why are people willing to pay high prices for rare flowers?
Because if he bought one pot, as long as he didn't kill it or grow it weak, he would have a pot of such a rare flower in a few years, or even turn one pot into two, and two pots into four...
Or cultivate and mutate into other flowers.
The genes of this flower are unstable. I can guarantee its quality now, but not in the future, so it is better to sell it to people who don't like it, especially those who have done bad things.
I stayed up late last night and overslept during my nap. The next update will be around 8pm.
(End of this chapter)
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