After hearing this, apart from Zhang Hui, who hadn't attended the morning court session, the others didn't know whether to sympathize with Zhao Dajia or despise him. So, he picked up those toilet papers from here?
"Then what did you get for the money from selling the jade thumb ring?" Huang Wang asked curiously. The jade thumb ring was of excellent quality and should have fetched a lot of money.
"I donated it."
Zhao Dajia sighed, thinking of the emaciated disaster victims in the dilapidated temple. He felt that Heaven truly treated all things like straw dogs. At least he had a salary, which, although not much, was enough to make a living. But what about those disaster victims? They didn't know where their next meal would come from, and if they got sick, they could only wait to die.
This left the emperor and his men stunned. They had no choice but to give Brother Dajia a thumbs up. "Brother, you are truly noble!"
Hmm? After talking for so long, the emperor was puzzled as to why the official document contained no personal thoughts or anything he wanted to say.
Chuanwen didn't say anything. At this moment, all her thoughts were no longer on Zhao Dajia. Instead, she was trying to sniff, and her attention was entirely focused on the Qiu residence not far away.
[Eight-Treasure Chicken, Egg White Shrimp, Steamed Pork Ribs with Rice Flour... One lunch consists of 108 dishes! What an enormous fortune! Even an emperor wouldn't dare eat like this!]
Tears of envy streamed down the face of the poor writer, Chuanwen. "That's not all, they even have steamed bear paw...slurp...I've never even eaten bear paw before...slurp...not only have I never eaten it, I've never even seen it...slurp..."
The emperor was taken aback; he had never seen it before either...
Then, images of the Empress's simple two dishes and porridge at every meal flashed through my mind, along with how I had been scrimping and saving to raise funds for the army, and how I hadn't seen any meat for three days.
The emperor's teeth were itching.
One hundred and eight dishes, is that it? I'd like to see just how vast your empire is!
"Have you all had lunch yet?"
The emperor smiled slightly, but Chuanwen immediately snapped back to reality, saying, "I haven't eaten! I haven't eaten!"
Chuan Hai and the others exchanged glances, sensing that someone was about to be in trouble.
The little princess, just woken up in the emperor's arms, innocently yawned, her sleepy black eyes seeing Chuanwen, and stretched out her hands, babbling as if asking Chuanwen to hold her.
Chuanwen whistled, looking at the sky, the ground, and Brother Dajia, but not at the little princess. [Whoever's child it is, they should hold them.]
Brother Dajia: Then why are you looking at me? You're not my child.
The emperor's lips twitched. He thought about Chuanwen's thin arms and legs, and decided to let it go. He had heard plenty of treasonous things before, so this was good enough.
The emperor gently coaxed his daughter, who was pouting in grievance, "Little Tuantuan, Father will take you to eat something delicious."
The little princess was quite respectful to the emperor; her mouth relaxed, and she even giggled twice at the emperor's touch. Her sweet, childlike voice melted the emperor's heart, and he couldn't help but tease her a couple more times, "Little Tuantuan, after we finish eating all the delicious food, shall we empty his house?"
Several officials in Chuanhai were terrified by the emperor's words. Empty house? Confiscate their property? Your Majesty, are you serious or not?
Looking at the emperor's upturned lips, and thinking about how the emperor had been struggling to replenish the national treasury these past few days and had lost a lot of hair, and then thinking about how the emperor had summoned several officials from the Ministry of Revenue today just to discuss how to raise money, cold sweat broke out on his back. He wondered which unlucky soul was behind this.
When Huang Wang saw the large plaque of the Qiu family mansion, he almost twisted his ankle as he went up the steps. He said that the jade thumb ring looked familiar. Wasn't it the one that his brother-in-law's second uncle's distant cousin, their Minister of War, Qiu Gaoqiu, had worn?
When the gatekeeper of the Qiu residence saw that the group of people were dressed in official robes and yellow clothes, he guessed that they must be no ordinary people, so he hurriedly went inside to report.
Soon, Lord Qiu rushed out to greet the emperor, and kowtowed to him. The emperor impatiently raised his hand to interrupt him, "I was just passing by your residence and it was almost lunchtime, so I came in to ask for a meal. I hope I haven't disturbed you, my dear minister?"
"No disturbance at all," Lord Qiu replied repeatedly, but inwardly he groaned, "I'm really disturbing you. Your Majesty, would it be alright if you could leave?"
The emperor strode in, looking around the mansion as he smiled and said, "My dear minister, don't make a big fuss just because I'm here. Just serve a few dishes as you normally would."
Lord Qiu repeatedly agreed, and as he turned to have someone prepare the meal, he was already wiping away sweat.
He usually eats 108 dishes. Does he expect to serve all 108 dishes to the emperor? What honest and upright official could afford that? If he actually served it to the emperor, wouldn't the emperor have his head chopped off?
Lord Qiu quickly had the meal prepared: a plate of cucumber salad, a plate of stir-fried loofah, a plate of fried peanuts, a plate of stir-fried green beans with meat, a plate of stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, a winter melon soup, and a dish of pickled vegetables. That was it.
"That's it? That's all?" The emperor's face turned ashen as he looked at Qiu Gao in disbelief.
During the serving of the dishes, Qiu Gao had secretly glanced at Chuan Wen several times. He only dared to serve the dishes after he had not heard Chuan Wen's inner thoughts. He was also praying that Chuan Wen did not know about his 108 dishes.
However, not only did the emperor look incredulous, but Chuanwen, Chuanhai, and the others who were waiting to eat the bear's paw also had expressions that said, "You're just going to give us this to eat."
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