Chapter 58 058 Family Letters - Part 2
On the third day of the sixth month, Luo Fu once again boarded the Marquis's carriage and headed towards the imperial city.
Ever since she recounted Xiao Yu's family letters at the peony banquet, Empress Gao had become interested in them. She summoned her to the palace in April to listen to these "books," and this time would certainly be no exception. Princess Kangping and Princess Shun, needless to say, inquired even more thoroughly at the mahjong table. Princess Fu never asked proactively, but she always listened with great interest.
Luo Fu had specifically requested Princess Kangping and the two princesses not to divulge the contents of the couple's family letters. This was because the contents of the first family letter had been spread by the noble ladies who attended the flower banquet that day, leading to anecdotes circulating among the people of the capital about the top scholar Xiao Yu's fussiness, his dislike of Four Happiness Dumplings, and his aversion to being bored by boat or tired by climbing mountains.
In fact, Luo Fu was not afraid of the news spreading. She only told the nobles things that were worth telling. However, because it involved a lot of Xiao Yu's political affairs in Loujiang County, Luo Fu was afraid that if it was spread too much, some people would accuse the couple of deliberately promoting Xiao Yu's good reputation as an official, or even trying to use public opinion to put pressure on the emperor and force him to quickly transfer such a good official back.
Admittedly, Luo Fu did use some rhetoric in front of the nobles. For example, although she spoke with a tone of disapproval about Xiao Yu's wasteful spending on those twenty-odd mountain people, she was actually telling them how much Xiao Yu cared for the common people. But while it was fine for her to subtly praise Xiao Yu, if the entire town actually praised him, that would be a death knell for him. If Xiao Yu died or had to remain in Loujiang County forever, what good days would she, as his wife, have?
Princess Kangping and Princess Shun, who were not interested in Xiao Yu's political affairs but only enjoyed hearing his interesting stories, readily agreed. Given their noble status, they did not need to show off their knowledge to please others.
Princess Fu, who loves to hear everything, privately told Luo Fu that she would keep quiet if Prince Fu didn't ask, but she couldn't hide it if he did. Fortunately, Prince Fu wasn't the frivolous person he was rumored to be.
Rosé believed them.
Upon arriving at the capital, Luo Fu produced the palace pass sent by Empress Gao, and the Imperial Guards at the gate let her in.
Under the scorching sun, Luo Fu finally stepped into the palace, her forehead beaded with a fine sweat, but she wiped it away before seeing Empress Gao.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."
"Fu'er, no need for such formalities. I told you that when there are no outsiders, you and I don't need to be so polite."
Empress Gao smiled and asked Luo Fu to sit down, and the palace maids brought out fresh tribute fruits and melon slices.
Luo Fu ate two slices of melon, touched her face, and said to Empress Gao, "Every time the princess invites me over to play cards and listen to music, she sets out a table of delicious food for me to enjoy. Your Majesty treats me the same way now. If I keep eating like this, I'm afraid I'll get fat soon."
Empress Gao looked at her peony-like face and said enviously, "At your age, you can eat as much as you want without gaining weight. You can control your appetite after you turn thirty."
After a few casual words, Empress Gao indeed inquired about Xiao Yu's newly arrived letter.
Luo Fu didn't pretend to be stupid. With a playful look, she took out a rather thick envelope from her sleeve: "I knew Your Majesty wanted me to be a storyteller again, but I'm not very bright. It's too much of a headache to deliberately memorize the facts in the letter just to tell Your Majesty more stories. I might as well just bring it over so Your Majesty can see it for herself."
Empress Gao was eager to see it, but hesitated: "These are letters between you and your husband. It's fine for me to hear some interesting things from you, but how can you..."
Luo Fu blushed slightly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, I'm afraid that if there were any unspeakable words, they would offend your eyes. Xiao Yu is very long-winded. At most, he writes 'Missing you' at the end of each letter, without saying a single other love word."
On the way there, he wrote almost a letter a day, and later he wrote more than ten pages a month. Even if Xiao Yu was the top scholar, could he write about "longing" in such a beautiful way? Besides, compared to those sweet words, Luo Fu preferred to read about the things that happened around her every day. This made her feel that he was still a real husband, not just some top scholar who could only write poetry.
Since that was the case, Empress Gao agreed to read the letter. Luo Fu sat down next to her, and as soon as Empress Gao finished reading a page, she immediately handed her a new one.
Seeing that Xiao Yu had built a school to educate the local villagers, Empress Gao praised and affirmed him. When Xiao Yu boasted that he had single-handedly subdued a group of students, Empress Gao laughed for quite a while...
Finally, Empress Gao pointed to Xiao Yu's rebuttal of the students' argument that studying was useless and sighed, "Officials throughout history have all wanted to serve in the capital, regarding demotion as a terrible threat. Little do they know that while they complain about the hardships of remote places, the people there only suffer more. The more they suffer, the more they need a benevolent official who can improve their lives. Although the Emperor was angry with Xiao Yu for his reckless suggestion to depose the heir, as Xiao Yu said, the Emperor's transfer of him to the southwestern border was well-intentioned, hoping that he could achieve something significant in the local area."
Luo Fu listened silently, and seeing that Empress Gao was reading that page from the beginning, she whispered, "Your Majesty is wise. Do you know why I brought these letters to the palace for you to review?"
Empress Gao asked encouragingly, "Why?"
Luo Fu lowered her head, looking at the stack of letters in her hand, and said, "Even if I am dull-witted, I can see from this letter that Xiao Yu is doing practical things for the local people. So, I will tell Your Majesty about it. Even if I am not sincere, I am trying to help Xiao Yu gain credit. I am afraid that Your Majesty will misunderstand, so I ask you to read it yourself to prove that Xiao Yu is still as talkative and unserious as before. He did not use the letter to show off his political achievements, and I have never told him that you like to hear me talk about these things."
Empress Gao smiled and said, "Fu'er, don't worry. I know you're not the kind of person who's deep in thought, and Xiao Yu is even less so. Otherwise, he would never have allowed himself to be demoted."
Luo Fu nodded, her eyes red.
Empress Gao helped Luo Fu put the letter away, then took Luo Fu's hand and patted it: "I always hear you complaining about Xiao Yu, but you miss him too, don't you?"
Luo Fu looked up, holding back her tears, and said, "He is in the capital. I am annoyed that he always causes trouble. He is three thousand miles away. I do miss him, especially when I sleep alone at night. But when I think that he can still do some decent things in the local area and might cause trouble and annoy me when he comes back, I think it is better for him to stay there."
Empress Gao simply sighed and said nothing more.
Around noon, Emperor Yongcheng came to the central palace to have lunch with Empress Gao. During the meal, the topic of Xiao Yu's latest family letter naturally came up again.
Empress Gao would bring up one matter and Emperor Yongcheng would comment on it.
“The people in remote mountainous areas are the most difficult to educate. Every county magistrate in that area has a headache and is troubled by this matter, but few are like Xiao Yu who personally went down to the land to reclaim wasteland.”
"He's bragging about hitting a few kids? He's getting more and more shameless."
"The seven tribes of the barbarians once roamed the northeastern part of Dian and the southwestern part of Qian, but were later dispersed and divided by the armies of Wu and Dian, and have never been able to gain any real power since. Currently, three tribes are active in western Qian, living mostly in the deep valleys and mountains, neither obeying the government nor paying taxes. They are difficult to control due to language barriers, and the government is helpless. The tribe Xiao Yu encountered in Loujiang County was only a small branch of one of these tribes. If Xiao Yu can befriend them, he may be able to use this branch as a starting point to persuade the three tribes of the barbarians in Qian to completely submit to the Great Zhou."
"Hmph, he's good at flattering me outside, but in the capital he only annoys me again and again. Luo is right, we should keep him outside."
Empress Gao: "...In the time it takes to eat a meal, the Emperor said more than he had in the previous two days."
Emperor Yongcheng: "..."
After the banter, Empress Gao pondered, "Originally, I felt sorry for Luo Fu and Xiao Yu being separated and wanted to persuade the Emperor to recall Xiao Yu as soon as possible. But just now, I heard from the Emperor that Xiao Yu still has great achievements to make in Loujiang?"
Emperor Yongcheng: "I can only say that he has the opportunity to make great contributions, but whether he can succeed depends on his abilities."
If Xiao Yu succeeds, all the better; if not, Emperor Yongcheng won't be too demanding. After all, the Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for thirty-three years, and the county magistrates in the southwest border region have changed batch after batch, without much improvement in even the most basic local livelihood, let alone subduing those three barbarian tribes.
.
At the end of September, Luo Fu received a letter from Xiao Yu written in August:
August 2nd: Madam, the rice and corn outside the city are almost ripe. I heard from the old clerk of the county government that in previous years, scattered soldiers from the Dian Kingdom, young and strong barbarians, and local barbarians would often come to rob the grain at this time. However, I already have a plan to deal with it. Since Pang Xin married that extraordinary woman from the local barbarian tribe, I traded the new wheat with them for a batch of black goats during the summer harvest (several merchant caravans passing through this area are not going to the capital and cannot transport the goods for me; the messengers are still lazy. When I return to the capital, I will personally bring a few goats for Madam to taste). The barbarians have also agreed to cultivate the land in their territory. With a stable livelihood, they promised me that I would not come down the mountain to rob the grain again, and even sent someone to inform the familiar Dian Kingdom barbarians not to come to Loujiang to rob the grain (that barbarian leader is very difficult to deal with; for now, I can only persuade him to this extent. I hope that next year I can persuade him to persuade the Dian Kingdom barbarians to engage in both herding and farming, and not to rob anyone). In addition, the barbarian leader also sent thirteen young men to join the local militia, bringing the total number of militia to one hundred. Led by Pang Xin, they patrolled the borders of the Dian Kingdom and were to capture any Dian soldiers who dared to invade... Thinking of Lady Xiang.
August 9th: My lady, the autumn harvest is complete, and the villagers are tilling the land in preparation for planting wheat. The fields are yielding a good harvest, so I no longer need to urge them to work. Those in the villages who still have the strength are happily clearing land to cultivate next year, which pleases me greatly. There is another piece of good news: during the autumn harvest, Pang Xin led his militia to capture over two hundred Yunnan soldiers and unruly civilians. I have sentenced them all to hard labor, to clear land and build roads between the villages. They will be released when the Yunnan Kingdom sends someone to ransom them. I intend to collect twenty taels of silver from each of them as ransom. What do you think, my lady…? Thinking of my lady.
August 15th: My dear wife, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, but unfortunately, it rained all day in Loujiang. Though I sat by the window, I had no moon to admire. Traveling in the rain was difficult; I only made a few trips between the county office and the school, having no other duties. Therefore, my longing for you is even stronger… I think of you day and night; your every smile and frown is etched in my memory. I wonder if you still remember my appearance? To avoid being forgotten, although my former glory is gone, I still commissioned the most famous painter in the county to paint my portrait as a gift for you. If you are pleased with it, it means my appearance is still presentable; if you are disgusted, it's because the painter's reputation is undeserved and his skills are lacking, not because I am ugly… I miss you, my dear wife.
August 23: Madam, the Dian Kingdom has still not sent officials to redeem its people. I don't know if they haven't received the news yet or if they don't want to redeem them. That's fine too. Those two hundred or so Dian people are all young and strong. Under Pang Xin's supervision, three new roads have been opened up, connecting four villages. If the Dian Kingdom officials don't come soon, the new roads will be built all the way to the barbarian tribes. The barbarian chief is eagerly waiting... Thinking of you, Madam.
August 28th: Madam, today I heard a strange case. A woman from a mountain village had taken in four sons-in-law. The eldest, feeling neglected, beat up his favorite son-in-law. The two men went to the county yamen to ask me to intervene. I didn't know what to do, so I sent for the woman to come to the yamen. She berated the two men for their outrageous behavior, and they, fearing her, left obediently. This case is strange in one way, but another is strange because you and that woman bear no resemblance. Yet, she reminded me of you. If you were by my side, I would be as subservient to you as those two men. Therefore, please remember me, Madam, that I will wait for you and never leave you… Thinking of you, Madam.
Luo Fu: "..."
Finally, she unfurled the scroll that had accompanied the letter. The man in the painting was sitting under a tree, and she could barely make out Xiao Yu's shadow. The painting was indeed far inferior to the simple portrait that Xiao Yu had hastily drawn for her that night. However, the black goat tied to the tree behind him was painted so lifelike that it was clearly Xiao Yu's work.
Luo Fu's reply to him included an extra sentence: "What an ugly man, send me another one, a handsome one."
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Author's Note: Here it is! 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
P.S.: The new cover gives me a feeling of happiness, like basking in the autumn sun these past few days. I really love it! [kissing emoji]
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