Since it concerned the Third Prince of the current dynasty, Xu Rao could not be careless. He did not dare to leave through the front door, but went through the back door. Under the cover of night, he had the Liao family send Liao Zhixia, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, to the Xu family. After Zhang Zhaoci examined her, he prescribed a medicine and then left her in the Xu family's backyard to recuperate. As for Liao Zhiqi, the doctor treated her well after she came out, and all she needed to do was rest.
As the staff of the Ganzhou government gradually took up their posts and things in the Ganzhou government were sorted out, Xu Rao began to plan the repair of the river channel and to help the border garrison repair the defensive fortifications of several border counties.
Doing these things requires money. Besides taxes, Ganzhou really has no other source of income, so Xu Rao thought about doing something to make money.
After Zhang Zhaoci's treatment, Liao Zhixia is no longer like she was when she first came to the Xu family, when she had no reaction to the outside world. She would stare at the noises around her after hearing them, but she could only react to the noises and could not react any further.
When Liao Zhixia arrived, she brought with her a personal maid named Bitao, a maid who was about sixteen or seventeen years old. She didn't talk much but took good care of Liao Zhixia. At first, Liao Zhixia couldn't even take care of herself when she needed to use the toilet, so Bitao would time it perfectly and serve her mistress when it was time to go to the toilet. After Liao Zhixia gave birth, Bitao was the one who took care of her. Zhang Zhaoci saw that she had been so busy these past few months that she had lost a lot of weight and was in poor spirits. She knew that she had neglected her health, so she prescribed a medicine and had the kitchen prepare it. She drank a bowl of medicine every day, and after a few days, Bitao felt that she had regained her strength and that her hands and feet were no longer as cold as before.
These past few days, Granny Lu has been packing her luggage. In a couple of days, she will be taking Xu Zhi, Xu Zhi's four maids, and Bai Kou, who serves her, back to the capital. Zhang Zhaoci cannot come along because of Liao Zhixia.
Zhang Zhaoci went to Granny Lu's room, looked at the several bundles that had already been packed, and said, "Granny, I can't go back with you."
Granny Lu said, "That's because you have important things to do. You can go after you've finished your work. We won't be back for a while."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "Granny, you know about Miss Liao's situation. What will happen to the child Miss Liao gave birth to?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Lu sighed and said, "It's better for this child to stay here. We don't know what's going on in the capital. Who knows what might happen to such a young child if he goes there? It's better for him to stay with his mother and live a peaceful life."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "I think so too, Granny. Will you tell your superiors about this?"
Granny Lu said, "Everyone already knows. I estimate that someone will be coming here soon. This girl is a pitiful person. Zhao Ci, once the girl is feeling better, send the person away. Let's not get involved in these things."
Zhang Zhaoci sighed and said, "Granny, our master has been trapped here since he came from Hexi to Ganzhou. It's a good thing that you're taking Xiao Jiu and Xiao Qi back to the capital."
Granny Lu said, "Be careful here. The master is an extremely cautious person. And Di Ge'er, the child is sensible and does things in a methodical way. I'm going back to talk to Eunuch Chen and see if he can send a few more capable people over to you."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "That's good. What we fear most now is the lives of the Liao family. The master was personally ordered by the Emperor to come to Ganzhou, so he can't be easily harmed."
After meeting the Liao family, Xu Di understood that Ganzhou, despite its outward calm, was actually rife with undercurrents. People had been arrested, and the reason why everyone was embezzling the river works funds was to save money for the Third Prince. The incident in Hexi had injured several princes involved, and without money, many things could not be done. The prefect of Ganzhou was from the Yong'an Marquis's family, the maternal family of Consort Wan, the Third Prince's birth mother.
The Yong'an Marquis's Mansion was enfeoffed along with the Yongning Marquis's Mansion and the Yongping Marquis's Mansion, and can be considered a founding hero. The current Marquis is Consort Wan's father, and the heir is Consort Wan's elder brother. The current pillar of the Wan family is neither the Marquis of Yong'an nor the heir of the Marquis of Yong'an, but Consort Wan's second brother, Wan Weiyong, the Minister of Rites.
As the son of an official, Wan Weiyong entered officialdom through the imperial examination. He won the favor of the late emperor in the palace examination and was named the top scholar. Later, he passed the examination to become a probationary official and entered the Hanlin Academy. After completing his studies, he started as a county magistrate. He achieved remarkable political achievements and won the hearts of the people. In twenty years, he rose to the position of Minister of Personnel.
The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of all officials in the country, and Wan Weiyong's position was very important. Logically speaking, as the third prince's maternal uncle, he should have avoided suspicion of favor. However, he was so shrewd and capable that he had never messed up anything in all these years.
Emperor Liang Cheng's sons who had come of age were as follows: the eldest prince was born to Consort Shu, the second prince to the Empress, and the third prince to Consort Wan. The other princes were born to princes of lower rank in the palace.
The eldest prince was the eldest son, but he was not born to the empress. Consort Shu was a concubine of Emperor Liang Cheng when he was a prince. The empress was married after he ascended the throne, on the advice of several regents. Although the Great Liang Dynasty had been established for many years, many people in the south still longed for the previous dynasty. In order to stabilize the situation in the south, the empress was the daughter of a great Confucian scholar from the south. This empress, surnamed Gu, was a person who was well-versed in poetry and songs. She was somewhat indifferent, otherwise she would not have allowed Consort Wan to be above her.
Consort Wan was one of Emperor Liang Cheng's concubines when he was a prince. She was originally slated to be made empress, but unfortunately, Empress Gu intercepted her at the last minute.
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