No one noticed that Princess Ruoling was acting strangely while playing the zither, but Di Xiu noticed it from the attitudes of Wei's parents.
He pondered whether he could use it, but ultimately gave up. The reason was simple: he had not yet accumulated enough strength to rebel.
He gave himself a year, and after that, he abandoned his literary pursuits for a military career.
Two days later, another incident occurred in Zhaodu: Princess Fu'an adopted Su Wanrou as her goddaughter, making many people green with envy.
Mu Ruoling, who hated Su Wanrou the most, jumped up upon hearing this, but dared not interfere with her imperial aunt's affairs. She complained a few words in private, which were deliberately relayed to the eldest princess by the second princess.
Princess Fu'an is the current emperor's elder sister. She was once a renowned beauty and talented woman, who was married off to foreign powers four times. Her life was full of hardships, making her a remarkable woman of her time. During her last marriage, she was nearly forty years old when her husband's country was destroyed and she was brought back to China. She has never remarried since and has refused any suggestions of adoption.
Emperor Xiu had considered that Princess Fu'an was forced to go with the flow due to the situation, but judging from her life, she was no ordinary person. She had been married off four times and had broad knowledge. In the original owner's memory, she seemed to have been assassinated while offering incense and was seriously injured. She died two months later.
Mu Ruoling was probably unaware of this matter, and the emperor and empress would not tell her about it, but as the eldest son of the Wei family, Wei Zixiao would be told everything by his parents.
Wei's mother suspected that her eldest son knew something, but she couldn't get the answer out of him. Su Wanrou also asked when she handed in her homework. Emperor Xiu gave her another book, but told her to study and read more with Princess Fu'an.
No one knew that the eldest princess actually possessed extraordinary medical skills. Su Wanrou was clever and quickly mastered these skills, becoming completely absorbed in them. But that's another story.
...
After the two countries signed the treaty, the envoys from Dongqing Kingdom stayed for a while longer, and eventually, except for Princess Zhao Yuning who was to be married off, everyone else returned home.
In this life, the emperor was not poisoned again.
In the timeline, the male and female protagonists humiliated Princess Zhao Yuning, who was sent to marry a foreign ruler, at the triumphant banquet. Zhao Yuning, who had always been arrogant, was overshadowed by a princess who was rumored to be a good-for-nothing, and was repeatedly mocked. Naturally, she could not swallow this insult.
After learning that Su Wanrou also hated Mu Ruoling, she secretly conspired with her to frame Mu Ruoling repeatedly, but the result was always a failure. Su Wanrou also died tragically after being discovered trying to drug the female lead and destroy her reputation.
Undeterred by setbacks, Zhao Yuning ordered her secret guards to launch a sneak attack on Mu Ruoling with poisoned arrows, but the emperor, deeply concerned for his daughter, stopped them.
The male protagonist, who was the head of Xuanji Pavilion, was busy at the time and it was too late when he received the news.
It seems impressive, yet it also feels useless.
Zhao Yuning logged off immediately afterward. Dongqing Kingdom was in the wrong, so they sent over a princess along with a generous dowry, which was actually an apology gift.
Now, although Zhao Yuning felt that Mu Ruoyin was not as good-looking as herself, she could still barely accept her overall. In addition, she did not suffer any humiliation this time, but instead witnessed the joke of the Tiansheng royal family. After trying twice, she gave up on Yanling, behaved herself and did not cause any trouble, and eventually entered the emperor's harem.
Her appearance was also extremely beautiful, second only to Mu Ruoling, and even more charming and alluring than the latter. She belonged to the category of femme fatales, in other words, she was the most beautiful woman the emperor could have. Most importantly, she was still very young, and for a time, she was constantly favored by the emperor.
Although the emperor didn't have feelings for her, his actions betrayed him, though Zhao Yuning's use of drugs played a part in this. Mu Ruoling was saddened that her father had forgotten her mother, but she still chose to offer her blessings.
The Empress, however, remained indifferent, telling Consort De, "The love of an emperor is nothing more than this." She also knew that a foreign princess could not threaten her position as empress. She spent her days reciting Buddhist scriptures to calm her mind and was too lazy to engage in palace intrigue.
The emperor, still enjoying the beauty, stopped picking on the Wei family. Di Xiu began to have serious duties, which he handled perfectly each time. If there were any numerical values, his previously stagnant reputation began to climb at a snail's pace.
The Director of the Imperial Household Department, who was in charge of all crafts and skills, had a wooden bicycle made after Emperor Xiu and 001 confirmed it. The emperor was very intrigued when he saw it.
(Instead of pursuing an industrial revolution, we'll just focus on simple things.)
Emperor Xiu demonstrated it once, steadily and clearly, with his hands and legs moving smoothly. However, when others tried it, they became flustered and clumsy. Seeing this, the emperor did not try it himself, but instead locked the carriage, closed the door, and began to study it with his favorite concubine.
After some time, the emperor gave a fairly fair evaluation.
Horses are expensive, so ordinary people mostly travel on foot. Those who are better off use oxen, donkeys, or mules to pull carts. This bicycle looks ingenious and convenient, and it doesn't take up much space. With the blueprints, ordinary carpenters can make it, but it's a bit difficult to learn. You have to exert your own strength, it's not elegant to ride, and it can't carry goods.
But it must be said that it was indeed a good thing for the people. But the emperor... tsk, he holds grudges. He still remembered that the emperor refused to marry him. He gave him some rewards, but did not promote him or bestow titles upon him.
The ministers saw this and those who were straightforward submitted their suggestions directly, but he himself remained humble and unperturbed, which earned him the secret admiration of many.
After some time, Emperor Xiu, having thoroughly conducted his experiments, produced cement again. This time, the emperor had no grounds for criticism and promoted him to a higher official position, ousting his superior to become the Director of the Imperial Household Department and granting him the title of County Magistrate.
Mu Ruoling couldn't help but feel puzzled. She had never heard of or seen these things in her previous life, and she had never heard of bicycles in the Mechanized City, which was famous for its mechanical arts. So she encouraged the Second Princess to ask, but naturally she didn't get any answers.
The emperor entrusted the task of supervising road construction to Di Xiu, who was in charge of repairing the road to Zhaodu.
On the other side, the ministers on the list had also been checked, and the results were rather disappointing for both the emperor and Mu Ruoling.
Thirty percent of them were imprisoned, while the others made drastic sacrifices, giving up some money to cover up their serious offenses. The emperor could not find any major crimes, so he had to treat these people leniently.
He didn't ask Mu Ruoling where the list came from, nor did he suspect that there was anything wrong with the list. He only suspected that there were spies from powerful families in the palace who had gotten wind of the situation in advance and had kept their true colors hidden.
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