Dechang Marquis Mansion.
"Miss, the eldest lady of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion is sending you an invitation again. Are you going to attend the banquet tomorrow?"
As soon as Ping'er entered the room, she saw her own daughter Xu Qinhui lying sickly on the imperial concubine's couch.
Xu Qinhui waved her hands and said angrily, "If you don't want to go, just tell her that I'm sick these days and I'm not going anywhere."
Since her rebirth, she has been staying in the Marquis' Mansion and has never gone out for social activities. In her previous life, even though she asked her second sister to marry for her, she still went out for social activities every day and often attended banquets.
The eldest daughter of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion could be considered her friend, but she invited her frequently only because she wanted to know how she got the new emperor to write an edict to change Prince Shu's fiancée from her to her second sister. Although she went there in her last life, she did not tell the eldest daughter of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion how she hooked up with the new emperor.
Anyway, this person just wanted to laugh at her, and the two of them couldn't be considered true close friends.
In fact, everyone in the capital knew that she had asked her second sister to marry in her place, but that was an edict written by the new emperor, so naturally no one dared to discuss it openly. But in private, there was a lot of talk about it, and she just pretended not to know, thinking that once she entered the palace and became a concubine, she would see if these people still dared to talk about it.
Later, she did enter the palace and become a concubine. Even though those people despised her, they did not dare to criticize her anymore.
Thinking that the new emperor would be selecting concubines in half a month, Xu Qinhui hated herself for letting her second sister get married in her place.
Yes, in half a month, she will experience the talent show that she has experienced again in her life.
She had already hooked up with Emperor Sheng Yuan, and her participation in the beauty selection was just a formality. After entering the palace, she was made a concubine, and finally became one of the four concubines.
But so what? She could not become the empress. In the future, Prince Shu would come to the capital to kill Emperor Sheng Yuan and Empress Dowager Fu, and she would be beheaded as well. It would be even more impossible for her to enter the palace to be selected as a concubine for Emperor Sheng Yuan. She knew she was wrong in her life, and she only wanted to admit her mistakes to Prince Shu and be his wife.
But the selection for entering the palace would begin in half a month, and it would be impossible for her to avoid this selection on her own, as her father and grandmother were both looking forward to her entering the palace.
Thinking of this, Xu Qinhui became more and more annoyed.
Ping'er was still mumbling to her, "Miss, it's very chaotic outside right now. The disaster victims in the north are all pouring into the capital, and in the southwest border, pirates have robbed two official ships. Not only did they steal the coal and iron on the ships, they also took the two ships away. I don't know where they went."
The official ship was robbed? Xu Qinhui was stunned.
Why did she remember that in her previous life, it seemed that the official ship was not robbed at this time, but a few months later. Moreover, it was the coal and iron on the official ship that were robbed, and the two ships were not robbed. Even in the end, the court did not catch the pirates who robbed the coal and iron.
As for these disaster victims, Xu Qinhui didn't have much feeling about them, because she remembered that these disaster victims were all killed before they even entered the city in their previous life, and they did not cause any impact on the people in the capital.
It's just that her second sister didn't die of illness on the road to exile, and King Shu's brother and niece didn't die in the mudslide on the road to exile. Other things might be a little different. She didn't know whether the fate of these disaster victims would change, but whether it changed or not was not her business.
What she needs to do now is to think about how to avoid entering the palace for selection and having nothing to do with Emperor Sheng Yuan.
Although her grandmother loved her, she could not help her with this matter, so she still had to tell her father about it.
Xu Qinhui slowly made up her mind.
When it was time for evening meal, usually the people in the mansion ate separately, and the third room of the Marquis Dechang's mansion had already eaten evening meal.
Xu Qinhui called the third master Xu Shuping and said, "Father, I have something to tell you."
Xu Shuping thought his daughter wanted to talk to her about some family matters, so he smiled and said, "Sister Hui, is there anything you want to tell Dad?"
Seeing that everyone in the family was there, Xu Qinhui hurriedly said, "Father, I have something important to tell you. Can we move to the study?"
Seeing this, Xu Shuping nodded and followed his daughter to the study.
After entering the study, Xu Qinhui hesitated about how to tell her father. She said that she was reborn, and in her previous life, Prince Shu finally ascended the throne, and Emperor Sheng Yuan and Concubine Fu Gui were finally beheaded, and even her head was chopped off.
I don't know what happened to the Dechang Marquis' Mansion after her death, but I think it probably didn't have a good ending.
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Qinhui thought carefully about what happened in the capital at this time in her previous life. Finally, she really thought of something. She looked up at Xu Shuping, "Father, what I am going to say next may be a little absurd, but what I say is true. During the morning court tomorrow, the Minister of Revenue will suddenly fall to the ground and die. After that, Emperor Sheng Yuan will appoint the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue as the Minister of Revenue."
She didn't know how the Minister of Revenue died.
She just remembered that the diagnosis given by the palace physician was that the Minister of Revenue died of a sudden heart attack due to overwork.
The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was still very young, only in his twenties, and was promoted when the new emperor ascended the throne. Less than half a year later, this Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was promoted to the position of Minister of Revenue because of an incident involving the Minister of Revenue.
Logically speaking, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue should be the Zuo Shilang, who has more seniority and is 40 years old.
Afterwards, there was another bloody storm in the court.
Xu Shuping scolded: "Sister Hui, stop talking nonsense!"
This is a matter of state, and now is the most sensitive time for the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu. Because many people have made irresponsible comments on state affairs, countless families have had their homes confiscated and been exiled.
Xu Qinhui bit her lip and said, "Father, trust me. Father will know tomorrow."
Only after tomorrow's events are confirmed will her father believe her and she will tell him what happens next.
After Xu Qinhui left, Xu Shuping did not take his daughter's words to heart, thinking that she was just hysterical and talking nonsense.
He himself was only a seventh-rank official and had no qualifications to attend court. As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers, and he wanted to continue to be promoted, so he needed to show his face in front of the new emperor. He also hoped that his daughter could enter the palace for selection.
The next day, Xu Shuping stayed in his own yamen. When the court was dismissed, his superior also returned, but his face was pale.
He went to ask, and his superior looked at him and said, "The Minister of Finance just had a heart attack in the court, and he has passed away."
After Xu Shuping's superior finished speaking, he couldn't help but tear up. He was already in his fifties and had known the Minister of Revenue for twenty to thirty years. They sometimes had some arguments, but there was still affection between them. The Minister of Revenue was obviously in good health on weekdays, but he suddenly suffered a heart attack in the court.
So, those who attended the court had no idea what was going on. The doctors all said it was a heart disease, and it could only be a heart disease.
I wonder what this court will look like in the future.
Xu Shuping's face turned pale as if he was struck by lightning.
Hui Jie'er was right last night, but how did Hui Jie'er know in advance that the Minister of Revenue would suddenly suffer a heart attack in the court?
Xu Shuping simply couldn't stay in the yamen at this moment, so he asked for leave from his superiors and returned to the Dechang Marquis Mansion.
After returning to the courtyard of the third room, Xu Shuping went straight to his daughter's room. Several maids were still serving in the room. He immediately waved the maids away, leaving only the father and daughter in the room.
Xu Qinhui said seriously: "Father, is there something wrong with the Minister of Revenue?"
Xu Shuping frowned, "Sister Hui, how did you know that?"
"Father." Xu Qinhui lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly. "You may not believe me, but this is all true. This is what I dreamed about. In my dream, I dreamed about what I would experience in the next ten years, as well as what happened in this world. Why was it only ten years? It was because after I entered the palace and served as a concubine to Emperor Sheng Yuan for ten years, Prince Shu came to the capital, and Emperor Sheng Yuan and Empress Dowager Fu were all beheaded, and I was no exception..."
Even now, she couldn't help shuddering at the thought of the scene of the vertical king holding the sword.
Xu Shuping's expression changed drastically, "Sister Hui, don't be so stupid..."
"Father!" Xu Qinhui interrupted Xu Shuping's words that she was talking nonsense again. She said with red eyes, "What I said is true. If you don't believe it, in ten days, the prince of Handong Palace will openly snatch the granddaughter of Lord Chongming in the capital and return to the palace. Lord Chongming wrote a letter to the court to punish the prince of Handong Palace, but in the end, nothing happened. Instead, Empress Dowager Fu issued an imperial edict to marry Miss Zhang Si to the prince of Handong Palace."
The King of Handong was the younger brother of Empress Dowager Fu. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was granted the title of a king of a different surname. The prince of the King of Handong was arrogant and domineering, bullying men and women, which made many families in the capital dare not speak out.
Xu Qinhui paused for a moment before continuing, "This will happen in ten days, but we will enter the palace for the selection in twelve or thirteen days. If you really wait until this happens before you trust me, it will be too late for the selection. So please trust me. I don't want to enter the palace for the selection, and I don't want to be Emperor Shengyuan's concubine and end up having my head chopped off. The fate of the Dechang Marquisate is unimaginable."
Xu Shuping was silent for a long time before he said, "Then why don't you wait until you enter the palace to tell the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu, and then go directly to the border town to prevent future troubles..."
Xu Qinhui smiled bitterly, "Father, Empress Dowager Fu dared to make her brother, who had no merit, a king of a different surname. What kind of person do you think she is? Will she believe me? Or will she also be suspicious of me and end up getting rid of everyone in the Marquis Dechang Mansion as well?"
Prince Shu and Queen Mother Fu.
One is cruel, the other is crazy.
The Empress Dowager Fu was simply a lunatic. She had made the whole world and the imperial court a mess.
She had been in the palace for ten years and knew Empress Dowager Fu too well. If she told Empress Dowager Fu about this, she might be grateful to her at first and send people to kill Prince Shu's lineage. But then she would definitely find an excuse to confiscate the Marquis Dechang's mansion and execute him.
Whether she entered the palace to become a concubine or told the matter to Empress Dowager Fu, it was a dead end. She could only take another path.
Xu Shuping knew that his daughter was telling the truth.
Judging from what the new emperor has done in the first half year since he ascended the throne, the world is likely to be in chaos.
Even if it wasn't King Shu, there would be others who would rise up against such a court.
At this moment, Xu Shuping seemed to have aged a lot.
He said, "Sister Hui, let me think about it."
"Father!" Xu Qinhui was a little anxious.
Xu Shuping said: "Let me think about it. If Prince Shu can really achieve great things in the future, he should do something about this matter. At least he should ease the relationship with the second house. He should send someone to give your second sister some silver, and explain that he had to let her marry in a substitutionary marriage. It was your grandmother's idea." He must get rid of the third house, at least he must not make enemies with Yu Jie'er.
Xu Qinhui did not tell her father that her second sister should have died of illness on the way to exile, and just pretended not to know.
It is right for my father to try to please my second sister. It is better to be safe than sorry. If my second sister dies of illness like she did in her previous life, I will go to the border to take care of King Shu's family in order to gain King Shu's favor. If my second sister can live to see King Shu ascend the throne, I can ease the relationship with her, which will only benefit the third house.
No matter what, as long as you don't enter the palace, you can just take it one step at a time.
The next day Xu Shuping went to look for his second brother and his wife.
Xue from the second house saw that her brother-in-law did not look at her favorably.
But when the brother-in-law admitted his mistake and said that he had not agreed to let Yu Jie'er marry in place of him at first, it was the old lady of Dechang Marquis who insisted on going to the palace to ask the old empress dowager, and also said that she would give two shops to Xue to do business. Xue directly refused, but when the brother-in-law said that he would ask someone to send 1,200 taels of silver to Yu Jie'er, Xue hesitated.
At first, she took out all the money she and her husband had, and only managed to collect fifty taels.
If she had these one thousand two taels of silver, Yu Jie'er's life in the border area would be much better.
But after thinking it over carefully, she decided to refuse the 1,200 taels of silver.
Because she knew that her brother-in-law had ulterior motives when he suddenly came to apologize and gave money to Yu Jie'er, and he also said that it was her mother-in-law who went to the palace to ask for it. But how could the old concubine be so kind as to let the new emperor write an edict? It was obvious that Hui Jie'er did something behind the scenes, so she didn't believe her brother-in-law's words.
There is no need for the one thousand taels of silver from my brother-in-law. Who knows what Yu Jie'er will have to pay for it in the future if she accepts it.
She has been making embroidery for the past six months. She is good at embroidery and knows several embroidery techniques. In addition, her husband is frugal and she has support from her parents. Her brothers from her parents' side gave her 100 taels of silver a few days ago and asked why Yu Jie'er didn't come to them earlier about the matter. This way, the silver could have reached Yu Jie'er earlier.
Xue knew that the one hundred taels of silver was all that her brothers from her natal family could come up with.
She accepted the kindness of her brothers from her natal family.
Together with the fifty taels she and her husband had saved, a total of one hundred and fifty taels of silver had been deposited, which she had already asked Ma Liu to help send to the southwest.
It seemed that Ma Liu and his men were about to escort prisoners to the southwest coal mine half a month ago.
In the future, she and her husband could save dozens of taels of silver every year by living frugally, and give it all to Yu Jie'er. Yu Jie'er should be able to get by and no longer need the one thousand taels of silver from her brother-in-law.
Seeing that his second sister-in-law refused, Xu Shuping did not force her, as this matter could not be rushed.
A few days later, the third daughter of the third room of the Marquis Dechang's mansion went out of the city to burn incense at a temple on the mountain. She accidentally rolled down the hillside and broke her leg. She also accidentally scratched her face and got a bloody mark. It was said that she could not even enter the palace for the selection.
Xu Qinhui had already submitted her name on the palace selection list, so she couldn't just choose not to go. Unless she was seriously ill and dying, or had a broken leg and a disfigured appearance, the royal family would definitely not want such a girl to enter the palace to be a concubine.
When the news reached the palace, the new emperor felt it was a bit of a pity, but didn't think much about it.
There are tens of thousands of beauties in this world, and he would not be obsessed with the third daughter of the Marquis Dechang's mansion.
Empress Dowager Fu was a little surprised. She knew how Xu Qinhui had entered the palace to seduce her son to write the edict. Now that this happened in the palace, wasn't it too coincidental? Could it be that Xu Qinhui didn't want to enter the palace to be her son's concubine? But that shouldn't be the case. For a woman in this world, who could give up the endless glory and wealth of entering the palace as a concubine?
Empress Dowager Fu sent the palace nanny and Doctor Yu to the Marquis Dechang's mansion.
It was discovered that Xu Qinhui's leg was really broken and her face was also injured.
When the nanny returned to the palace to report, she also said, "The third young lady is also pitiful. She really broke her leg and her face was pierced by a branch. The wound on her face was not serious. Doctor Yu said that if she takes good care of herself, even if there are some scars left in the future, it will not be noticeable. She also asked the old servant with tears in her eyes, if she is left with a limp in her leg and the scars on her face are not serious, can she enter the palace to be selected when the emperor chooses a concubine next time."
The next imperial concubine selection will take at least three years. By then, Xu Qinhui will be eighteen years old.
Those who enter the palace for selection must not be over eighteen years old.
Empress Dowager Fu saw that Xu Qinhui did not do it on purpose, so she gave up and ignored her. She just sneered, "She has a lame leg and a bruised face. In three years, she will be over 18 years old. She still wants to participate in the show. What a big dream."
When the new emperor heard that Xu Qinhui was really injured in her legs and face, he no longer had any interest in the matter.
Xu Qinhui breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she had avoided all of this.
This was naturally a self-torture trick thought up by the father and daughter. Xu Qinhui's leg was indeed broken, and the injury on her face was just an accident. She did not want to disfigure herself. She just bumped into a tree stump when she rolled down the hillside, and her face was injured. Fortunately, the injuries to her leg and face were not serious. If she takes good care of herself, she will not be lame in the future. She will also buy the best ointment to apply to the injury on her face.
No matter what, as long as she doesn't have to enter the palace in this life, she can avoid that ending in the future.
——————
On the southwestern border, Yuanbao Town has not been peaceful recently. Many soldiers are coming in and out of the town. The situation at the dock is even more serious, and soldiers are constantly investigating at the dock.
Many timid small vendors no longer dare to do business at the wharf. They have moved to other places, pushing their carts through the streets or going to the North Street Market.
Xu Qinyu naturally hadn't been to the dock in the past half month, but her business continued as usual.
I also made a bucket of fermented bean curd, a jar of dried black beans and fermented bean paste.
When doing these things, I always ask Wen Shuncheng to help. It is not difficult to do these things. Paying attention to the ratio of seasonings and ingredients is half the success. The rest is just cooking the beans, fermenting the beans and drying the beans. Practice makes perfect. The taste will be good after doing it a few times. Once Cheng Ge'er learns these, I can give these tasks to him in the future.
Xu Qinyu plans to use the prepared fermented black beans and fermented bean paste to open a restaurant in the future.
She had already calculated that she now had about sixty taels of silver saved, which was enough to rent a shop on South Street and North Street, but not enough on East Street and West Street. If she wanted to buy a shop, it would not be enough no matter where, so she just wanted to rent a shop first.
But the rent for a shop here starts from one year, and a deposit is also required. After opening the restaurant, you will have to decorate it, buy furniture, buy food ingredients, etc., so sixty taels of silver is not enough. She plans to set up a breakfast stall for two months. It will be tiring, but the sooner she can earn the money for opening the shop, the sooner she can open the restaurant.
All the fish had just been sold that day, and Xu Qinyu prepared dinner for the evening.
For dinner, she fried spring bamboo shoots with the bacon pickled before the New Year. The bamboo shoots were dug by Cheng Ge'er from the bamboo forest outside the town.
Now wild mushrooms are beginning to appear in the mountains again, but she is too busy on weekdays and has no time to go out to dig mushrooms. She doesn't dare to let Brother Cheng go, for fear of digging up poisonous ones.
In addition to fried bamboo shoots with bacon, there are also fried leeks with small river shrimps and fried eggs with Chinese toon.
Although mushrooms outside the town cannot be eaten casually, there are many wild vegetables, such as wild toon. Toon is used to scramble eggs. The flavor of toon is rich and fragrant, and the eggs are tender and delicious.
The small river shrimps were also caught by Cheng Ge'er in the small rivers and ditches outside the town. Needless to say, the Chinese toon trees were also picked by Chun Cheng Ge.
Finally, I made a homely three-fresh soup using eggs, tender tofu, leeks, and meat slices.
Since it is called "Sanxian Soup", the word "fresh" naturally comes from it, meaning it is fresh and tender.
As for eels, Xu Qinyu had been eating them for more than half a month and was tired of them. Recently, Cheng Ge'er had been selling all the eels he caught at the market.
Their family spends about two taels of silver every month on food.
The family was still drinking milk. After drinking milk for a month and a half and eating food for a month and a half, Gui's complexion improved visibly. Her face became rosy and she gained at least 20 pounds. The wrinkles on her face became less and she didn't look sick at all.
I filled Cheng'er's food box and made some steamed buns for him to take back.
Not long after Cheng and Gong left, there was another knock on the door outside the yard.
Wen went out and opened the door, and saw a young man about twenty years old with an unshaven beard and wearing official clothes. He grinned when he saw her.
Wen was stunned for a moment, feeling that the person looked familiar, but couldn't remember who it was for a moment.
The young man grinned and shouted, "Madam, it's me."
Xu Qinyu, who was in the kitchen, remembered who it was as soon as she heard the voice. She hurried out of the kitchen and saw a man grinning at the gate of the yard. Wasn't he Ma Liu, the soldier who had sent them into exile to the border town?
She also asked Ma Liu to help her deliver a letter to her original parents.
I didn’t expect Ma Liu to come to them.
Xu Qinyu asked happily: "Master Jun, how did you find this place?"
Ma Liu smiled and said, "I heard from Shopkeeper Zhou in Raozhou City that Miss Xu is in Yuanbao Town... After returning to Beijing a few years ago, I visited the Dechang Marquis's Mansion and met your parents. They were very worried about you..."
He talked a lot, and said that this time it was her mother who asked him to send the banknotes to the young lady, and that her parents looked much better this time than before, so she didn't need to worry.
After saying this, Ma Liu hurriedly took out the banknotes from his pocket and handed them to Miss Xu.
He had been asking around in Raozhou City for a long time, and finally it was the innkeeper named Zhou who told him after knowing that he wanted to send a banknote to Miss Xu.
He also asked him a lot of questions repeatedly, worried that he was going to cause trouble for Miss Xu. It was not until he confirmed that he was really delivering the banknotes that he told him that Miss Xu now lived in Yuanbao Town.
He came to Yuanbao Town, went to the government office to ask, and found the address after looking at the registered address.
Xu Qinyu took the banknote, which turned out to be as much as 150 taels.
She felt a little soft in her heart. The original body's mother had collected all her money and only got fifty taels, which she gave all to the original body. Now, in just half a year, she had collected another one hundred and fifty taels. She really didn't know how Xue got so much money.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but ask, "Master Jun, where did my mother get so much money?"
Ma Liu said, "Your mother seemed to say that she was doing embroidery work for others, and your father was reluctant to spend his salary and did not go out for social events. Your uncle from your mother's side also collected 100 taels of silver for you, and he sent it all to you."
Thinking of her original uncle, Xu Qinyu was also very grateful.
My uncle opened a teahouse, which not only sold tea but also food. He didn't make much money every month. This one hundred taels of silver was probably all the wealth my uncle's family had earned over the years.
It was also because my uncle opened a small stall that sold half tea and half food and could cook some food, so I also have some cooking skills.