The child grinned, stuffed the pastries into his arms, intending to take them back to his parents who were working in the fields.
"Grandpa, may I ask how old you are?" Zhao Shu asked the old man with a smile.
After hearing Zhao Shu's words, the old woman swallowed the pastry, pointed to herself, and said, "I'm sixty-eight this year." Then she pointed to her elderly friend next to her, "She's seventy."
Now that he's seventy, he's considered old. Zhao Shu quickly replied, "Old man, you are a blessed person."
"Princess, you have a beautiful face and are blessed." The old man gave Zhao Shu a thumbs up.
"Thank you for your kind words, sir. I also have a small mission with me on this trip out of the capital. His Highness the Crown Prince was seriously injured while digging a canal to divert water. Are you aware of this, sir?" Zhao Shu thought for a moment. She couldn't just leave the capital and do nothing but argue with her concubines; that would be too boring.
Upon hearing this, the old man nodded and gave a thumbs-up again, saying, "His Highness the Crown Prince is a good Crown Prince."
Zhao Shu smiled, a genuine, hearty laugh. "In this court, not only is His Highness the Crown Prince a good Crown Prince, but our Emperor is also a good Emperor. Does the old lady have any words to convey to the Emperor? For example, are there any difficulties?"
Upon hearing the mention of the Emperor, the old man could no longer sit still. He hurriedly got off the stool and knelt on the ground. Zhao Shu quickly stood up and said, "Please get up, old man."
However, the old people insisted on kowtowing and shouting "Long live the Emperor" before getting up. Xiao Guozi and the others helped the old people sit down again before saying to Zhao Shu, "Princess, everything else is fine. This humble subject just wants to ask if Your Majesty could talk to the Wei and Yang families and ask them to bring water from the east to our village. Every summer, our village's water source dries up. If we could bring water from the east, we could raise some fish seedlings in the fields."
These simple people were unaware that the Emperor was not actually omnipotent. Zhao Shu merely wanted to spread his good name and win more popular support for Emperor Mingde and the Crown Prince. They did not seek official positions or wealth for their children and grandchildren; all they wanted was to dig one more ditch.
"Alright, I will definitely tell the Emperor when I get back. The Emperor has many things to deal with every day, and sometimes he may neglect them. However, I will remind the Emperor from time to time that we are all His Majesty's subjects. The Emperor loves his people like his own children and will certainly not ignore them. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
In the afternoon, the kind villagers brought Zhao Shu food. The dishes were not delicious, nor were they made with any precious ingredients; they were just simple fare. But Zhao Shu ate them bite by bite, and she ate with great relish. When Xiao Guozi and the others saw their princess finish all the food in her bowl, they also quickly started eating. If the princess could eat it, why couldn't they?
In Dayong, where there was no hybrid rice or high technology, people lived in extreme poverty. Even officials and their families could only manage to make ends meet.
The food of the poorest people was mostly bran and chaff, and even broken rice was extremely precious, let alone white flour. They often survived on coarse grains.
Zhao Shu was eating broken rice at this moment. She had eaten it before in her previous life in the Gu family and found it palatable.
This piece of broken rice might be the best thing in this family. Throughout history, many emperors have judged their achievements by the size of their territories, but they did not realize that enabling the people to eat white rice was the greatest achievement.
After finishing their meal, Zhao Shu asked Chu Chun to pay for it before leading her aunts, who had been working for several hours, back to the city in a grand procession.
After entering the city, she wrote a memorial and sent it directly to the palace. Women of the Dayong Society were allowed to write memorials, but no woman had ever actually written one. Women were mostly concerned with their own little world in the inner quarters.
When Emperor Mingde read Zhao Shu's memorial, perhaps influenced by Huo Baichuan, he chose his words very casually and directly. In just a few sentences, he wrote, "Uncle, the people of Liuwang Village wish to draw water from the river next to the fields of the Wei and Yang families in the east for irrigation. They hope you can approve it. My niece and the people say that you are a good emperor who loves your people like his own children, and you will certainly grant their request." He also drew a smiley face below the memorial.
Seeing the smiling face, Emperor Mingde couldn't help but laugh. "Heh, Ah Jun is getting more and more absurd. How can the water from the Wei and Yang families be so easily diverted?" He weighed the memorial in his hand and said to Liang Yunsi, "Go and summon Wei Tingsi."
Liang Yunsi was about to leave when Emperor Mingde called him back and handed him the memorial, saying, "Send it to him."
"Sigh." Liang Yunsi took the memorial and walked out, muttering to himself, "Is the princess some kind of superhuman? Knowing that the censors have already submitted a memorial to the emperor impeaching her, only the princess could do something like this. Making the concubines show their faces and work in the fields, even having the west wing dismantled to grow vegetables for the concubines, and even declaring that in the future the Prince's mansion will eat vegetables grown by the concubines, truly...unique."
However, judging from the Emperor's expression, he did not seem to intend to blame the Princess.
If Zhao Shu knew what he was thinking at that moment, she would definitely scoff. It would be strange if he were to be reprimanded for flattering someone.
When Zhao Shu returned to the mansion, the west wing had already been demolished. She rushed over to take a look and found that a large open space had indeed been cleared out. If it were cut into small pieces, it would be just enough for each of the concubines to have a piece. However, it was too small. But her original intention was not for the concubines to grow vegetables.
I just wanted to torment people.
Without her permission, the concubines dared not return to their rooms without her consent. They should know that Zhao Shu was the only mistress in the entire Prince's mansion, so whatever she said was law. Even if Prince Yong were here, they would not have the right to disobey.
“The household’s system needs to be changed in the future. The concubines should sell whatever vegetables they grow to the Prince’s Mansion at the market price. Their monthly allowances will no longer be paid. The Prince’s Mansion is now poor because it has no fiefdom and is really unable to afford to feed you all with fish and meat.”
She clapped her hands in satisfaction and shared the plan she had come up with on the spur of the moment. She had said several times that the monthly allowance would no longer be paid, but now it was finally being implemented.
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