Chapter 44: The little girl is so ridiculous...
As August draws to a close, the lush green ivy on the wall has begun to turn slightly yellow. The layers of moon-shaped doors are as beautiful as a painting in the breeze, and the air seems to be filled with the fragrance of harvested fruits.
Zhao Changning did not care about the struggles of the previous dynasty, but focused on handling the affairs of the female officials.
With the Queen's permission, the inner study hall was expanded and its dilapidated roof and collapsing eaves were repaired. Now, there are many more palace maids studying there than eunuchs.
She used her own money to purchase a batch of new books. The people in the palace had been treated with contempt for a long time, and those books had long been touched beyond recognition by countless hands, but no one was willing to replace them.
Many palace maids had already attended elementary school and knew a few words. Now that there were new books in the hall, they all went to copy them.
From this action, we can see the difference between many people. Many people just turn the pages casually, neither lightly nor heavily, but not cherishing them either. But there are always some people who are very careful, for fear of tearing the pages.
"Changning, it's only been a few days since we last met. You look quite good now." The Queen had arrived at some point and was watching with great interest.
Zhao Changning smiled and knelt in greeting, "It's all thanks to your grace, Your Majesty, that I'm where I am today."
The Queen waved her hand. "Now the Emperor has agreed, but those old gentlemen don't think it's a good idea. Do you think we can still keep this inner study hall going?"
Zhao Changning nodded, "Of course, Your Majesty, don't worry. We will not delay Your Majesty's lecture."
She asked the Queen for another day off, "Your Majesty, I want to leave the palace for the next two days. I haven't been to the house I bought outside for a long time, and I'm a little worried."
The palace has been peaceful lately, and Yonghe Palace has been quiet, so the Queen naturally agreed, "You've been tired for a few days, and you deserve a good rest."
The next day, facing the fiery red morning sun, Zhao Changning took Yunsheng out of the palace.
"You heard right, is it really Zhou Hai's day off today?"
Yunsheng nodded repeatedly, "Yes, aunt, he is taking a day off today."
When we arrived at the Jingshan Palace, we called for a sedan chair. What a coincidence, we ran into those two old men again.
The two were very happy to see Zhao Changning. "We were just talking about you yesterday, wondering why we didn't see you."
Zhao Changning raised an eyebrow, "Why are you nagging me?"
"The girl is generous and straightforward." The old man smiled. "It's easy to lift it, so we two old men naturally like it."
Zhao Changning shook his head. After getting on the sedan chair, he remembered Yunsheng and handed him a piece of paper hesitantly.
"Go directly to this place, then call a taxi to drag all the boxes in the cellar to Shui'er Lane, find Granny Xu, and tell her that I sent you there."
She couldn't help but stick her head out again, "Be smart, this thing is very important, no one is allowed to touch it, understand?"
Yunsheng said "Oh" solemnly, and then he saw his aunt's sedan chair gradually going away. He couldn't help but pursed his lips. Why didn't his aunt take him with her again?
The two old men walked a little slower, and when they were almost at Zhou's house, the sun had already risen in the east.
There were more and more people on the streets. Sedan chairs slowly passed through the bluestone streets, accompanied by countless shouts and the aroma of breakfast. The lives of ordinary people were uneventful.
When Zhao Changning lowered the curtain, he felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach. He stopped the sedan chair, gave the two old people money, sat in front of the wonton stall, and ate two bowls of wontons.
After serving others for a long time, her body became a little different. She could go hungry for several meals, and when she was finally able to eat, she could eat several bowls in one go.
She wanted to eat a third bowl, but when she remembered Xiaoshun's advice that eating like this was bad for her health, she stopped.
When they arrived at the Zhou family’s door, Zhao Changning stopped and observed carefully for a while.
This place is still some distance away from the imperial city, and the courtyard doesn't look very big. Compared with the Zhou family's ancestral home, the location is indeed not very good.
Zhou Hai's Zhou family and the Zhou family of the cabinet minister Zhou Min are cousins, but they have the same surname. Therefore, the cousin relationship between the two families is particularly complicated and can be compiled into a storybook.
The old man of the Zhou family had a daughter with his first wife, but he never had any other children until he was 35 years old, when he took a concubine and had a son.
At that time, the daughter had already married into the family, who was Zhou Min's grandmother, and the son born to the concubine, who was Zhou Hai's grandfather, was of little promise and was spoiled by the concubine. He played with cats and dogs all day long, and later he had a complete falling out with Zhou Min's grandmother over the family property.
In the end, the sister was forced to move out of the Zhou family with the money, and the siblings no longer had any contact.
Zhou Hai's father was not a very ambitious person either. In order to fight crickets, he even destroyed the Zhou family's ancestral home. This made the quarrel between the two families even uglier. When Zhou Min's grandmother was still alive, she even said some extremely heartless words.
So, although they both have the surname Zhou, Zhou Hai always feels that the "Zhou" in their family is more noble, while Zhou Min is just the grandson of a son-in-law.
This situation continued until Zhou Min entered the cabinet. Everyone knew how difficult it was to enter the cabinet. It was a place where one could be close to the emperor and protect his descendants. If one did a good job, one could even have a tablet enshrined in the imperial temple in the future.
Until this time, Zhou Hai finally lowered his noble head for the sake of his son's career and expressed his respect to Zhou Min, the "grandson of the son-in-law". Unfortunately, the "grandson of the son-in-law" did not buy it, and his relationship with Zhou Hai was only superficial.
Thinking of this, Zhao Changning handed over the jade pendant at his waist and waited for the doorman to report.
Although she was only a maid in the imperial palace, she had served the late emperor and was now a favorite of the emperor. Not many people could refuse her.
Zhou Hai saw her soon and frowned, "Why do you want to see me?"
Zhao Changning knelt and saluted, "Changning greets His Excellency, the Minister."
"Why do you want to see me?" Zhou Hai's tone was not very good. "Does the emperor have any instructions?"
Zhao Changning shook his head and said straight to the point, "Changning wants to ask the Minister for a small favor."
"I want to help?" Zhou Hai was puzzled.
"Yes, a small favor." Zhao Changning said with a smile, "Please, my Lord, please do not object to the female official's affairs anymore."
Zhou Hai sneered, then immediately realized, "I was wondering why the Emperor suddenly wanted to have a female official. So it was you who instigated this? You little girl, how ridiculous."
Zhao Changning didn't get angry, but instead asked, "The lady-in-waiting's matter didn't stand in the way of the Minister. Why don't you show some mercy?"
Zhou Hai's eyes widened. "The women in the harem are just there to serve. We're not going to take the imperial examination, so why do we need female officials? We've been doing fine without female officials for so many years, haven't we?"
Zhao Changning shook his head slightly. "Of course, a female official doesn't have to take the imperial examination, but the Minister's son does. It's not good to have to ask for favors and give money when the spring exam comes. He has to cheat and buy exam questions. At his age, he might still fail in the end..."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Hai interrupted her immediately, as if he had stepped on someone's tail, and was extremely angry. "This official and my son have never done anything so rebellious, so don't make such nonsense."
Zhao Changning smiled softly, "Your Excellency, the Minister naturally understands why I say this. My Lord, the matter of the female official has already been approved by the Emperor, and it will definitely be accomplished. I'm afraid that your opposition to this matter is not your own intention, right?"
She paused briefly, her gaze fixed on Zhou Hai. "Changning is also curious. Has the Lord truly come to his senses now? Does he no longer wish to dominate the Zhou family? Or is he content to be inferior to others, trembling in fear and begging for mercy all day long?"
Zhou Min was terrified, but fortunately he had been an official for many years and was able to control his expression. However, he still looked at Zhao Changning vigilantly, and his face was stunned when he heard her mention the old stories of the Zhou family.
Zhao Changning did not threaten his son with the cheating in the imperial examination, but just let it go lightly and talked about the Zhou family instead.
"Now Zhou Min is the second-in-command of the cabinet, and Gao Yun, the first-in-command, is getting old. If Zhou Min really becomes the first-in-command in the future, I wonder what will happen to the Zhou family, sir? Sir Zhou, it must have been a difficult journey, right?"
Zhou Hai glared at me, "Don't try to sow discord. It's ridiculous for a woman to show off her words in front of me and try to manipulate power."
Zhao Changning's face darkened when he saw that this man was extremely foolish and still spoke nonsense.
"Master Zhou, whether I'm funny or not is not important. What's important is that Master Zhou is now in Zhejiang. It's not easy to get an official position. It's a good place. Promotions are fast and money is easy to make. Whether or not I get a rank in the imperial examination is not important. As long as..."
Zhou Hai had no idea that this woman knew so much. His expression changed drastically. "What do you want to say?"
Zhao Changning deliberately stood in front of the window so that the cleaning servants could see him. Hearing this, he just smiled softly and said, "Changning said it from the beginning. I just want to ask you for a small favor."
Zhou Hai's expression changed constantly. He wasn't sure whether Zhao Changning was deceiving him or really knew something. But what if?
Besides, the female official's matter really had nothing to do with him, so why would he stand up for Zhou Min? In the end, he even provoked such a crazy woman.
But he was still unwilling to give in. He forced himself to calm down and evaded the question, saying, "I'm just a mere minister. If those elders disagree, my words may not be of any use. I really didn't know the emperor's thoughts before. No wonder the young lady misunderstood..."
Zhao Changning heard that he had become much more docile, with a harmless and gentle smile on his beautiful fair face, and he no longer poked at his sore spots.
"You don't need to worry about the affairs of the cabinet elders, my Lord Minister. You just need to get a few friends to agree to this matter."
She looked at the tea bowl brought by the servant and gently declined, "Sir, I don't have the good taste, so I won't drink your tea. Your words today have benefited me a lot, and I will remember them well. I will take my leave now."
Zhou Hai's eyes were fixed as he watched her slender figure moving back and forth freely. Suddenly his whole body relaxed and he sat down. He couldn't help but raise his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
This really made him think more. Zhao Changning was by the emperor's side. As for what happened today, was it the emperor who asked her to come after knowing about it, or did she come on her own?
He didn't dare to think about it too much.
Zhao Changning left Gao's house and stopped when he saw that the people carrying the sedan chair were still there.
The two old men also stood up and said flatteringly, "Miss, do you still want us to carry you back? Or to Shui'er Lane?"
Zhao Changning's eyes darkened when he heard the two people accurately tell him where they lived. He shook his head and refused, "No need."
She should be more cautious.
When we returned to Shuier Lane, it was just noon and the sunlight was already a bit dazzling, making our scalps itchy and our bodies sweat.
Yunsheng looked around at the alley entrance for a long time and finally saw his aunt's figure, "Aunt, Aunt..."
Zhao Changning looked up and saw Yunsheng happily jumping over, his face full of smiles. "Have you moved the things here?"
Yunsheng nodded, "Don't worry, auntie, all the boxes have been moved here. I was watching them the whole time, and no one saw them."
Zhao Changning was still relieved about what he said.
Granny Xu was very happy to see Zhao Changning. "I'll make some food right away. This kid must be exhausted from moving things and helping to repair the roof."
Zhao Changning had no intention of staying today, but when he saw Yunsheng sweating profusely and swallowing his saliva when he heard about the food, he relented.
"Just prepare some simple food. Granny Xu, please keep a close eye on the cellar in our house from now on. Make sure it doesn't get wet and don't let anyone in."
Granny Xu nodded and said, "Don't worry, young lady. I know what's important when I'm looking after the house."
Before I could even get my meal, I heard a knock on the yard door.
Yunsheng ran to open the door and saw a man who looked like a servant. "Who are you?"
The servant was also stunned, "I, I came to look for the master of this place."
Zhao Changning recognized the voice as soon as he heard it, "Yunsheng, let him in."
She said to the servant, "Your master is well-informed. Why? He wants to see me again?"
The servant couldn't help but scratch his head. "The master said he came to see if the young lady was home. If she was, he would come to thank her. It's not good to always trouble her."
Zhao Changning recalled their last conversation. She didn't have a good impression of Mingxuan. Perhaps it was because birds of a feather flock together. This man was too aggressive and liked to take unconventional approaches just like her.
But she was curious. What did Mingxuan want to thank her for this time?
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The author has something to say: The number of words is a bit short, I really can’t do it.
It's so miserable. I have a cold, my period and a high temperature. I really want to die. Waaaaaaah! I'll write again when I recover!
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