96 Chapter 96

◎Going out incognito◎

Until he drove out, Huiyin begged Li Cheng to tell her what to do, but he refused to say anything.

"Mother, mother, look, that's Moo..."

A child's voice interrupted her thoughts. It turned out to be her daughter who was talking. The child had never left the palace until she was two years old. She was very surprised to see a buffalo.

Huiyin laughed and said, "That's not mooing, that's a cow. Cows can be used to plow the fields, and they can also be made into ox carts to pull us. Look, there are cowherds riding on them."

"A shepherd boy was riding a yellow ox, and his singing shook the forest. He wanted to catch cicadas, but suddenly he stopped talking and stood still." The boy suddenly said.

Huiyin was surprised: "My daughter is really amazing. I didn't even teach her several times, but she can recite it. She has a really good memory."

When the mother and daughter had nothing to do in the palace, Huiyin taught her to read poetry just like she taught her two sons, but she didn't expect that her memory was so good.

Jing'er and Zhan'er were also cheering for their sister. They were both very fond of Tong'er, and their doting was completely non-jealous. The two brothers were playing chess at the moment, and they continued playing after cheering. Anyway, the carriage was quite big, and it was quite spacious for her to take three children with her.

Because Huiyin wanted to know Li Cheng's method, she also tried to test the brothers: "Has your father said anything to you recently?"

Jing'er had just put down a piece, looked at Huiyin, and nodded heavily.

"Then what did you say?" Huiyin continued to ask.

Jing'er thought for a moment, and seeing that her brother was still thinking, she looked at Huiyin and said, "She said a lot, saying that we came out to understand the people's sentiments, and told her son not to act like a prince, and to talk less and observe more."

Zhan'er, who was thinking just now, followed up with the words: "Yes, that's what father told us."

Huiyin resisted the urge to roll her eyes: "That's all..."

It didn't seem like a great idea, so she didn't ask any more questions and continued to accompany Tong'er to look outside. The outside was completely different from the palace. It was the autumn harvest season, and the rice seedlings outside were blowing in the wind, which looked very pleasing.

Since Li Cheng came to power, all the hidden farmlands in the country had to be reported to the higher authorities, but this also affected the interests of many large landowners. The change of dynasties had nothing to do with them, but they seemed to have a grudge against them because their farmlands were touched. They encouraged the people to go to the government office to make trouble, created disputes, and some even deliberately bribed the ministers in the court to speak for them.

In fact, Li Cheng's life was not easy either. He was now controlling the soldiers. He obviously wanted to distribute more land to the people, but now the people were making trouble.

He toured the capital, but did not go far, because he wanted his sons to carry on his will in the future and not wait until he died. The children did not know this and were really fooled by those scholars.

They arrived at the temporary palace in the evening. This was originally the palace where the previous emperor stayed when he was recuperating. Li Cheng was frugal and did not ask anyone to renovate it. He only sent a few people to set up guards, clean up, and decorate the place. Then the five of them moved in.

Jing'er and Zhan'er lived in the palace across from them, while the couple lived with their daughter. After arriving at the temporary palace, Li Cheng whispered to her, "There is a hot spring here. Please pack up and let's go take a dip in the hot spring."

"Hot spring?" Huiyin was originally feeling very tired, but her eyes lit up when she heard this.

Li Cheng smiled and said, "That's right. I just heard that you were not feeling well all the time. Alas, since you married me for so many years, you have been traveling a lot and had children. It seems that you are living a life of luxury, but in fact you are suffering. You are also worried and can't sleep well. How can you be healthy? Let's take a bath in the hot spring, have some ginseng chicken soup tomorrow, and go out for a walk the day after tomorrow. Everything will be fine."

When others sit on the throne of the emperor, they inevitably feel that the world is in their hands, but Li Cheng was very worried. He was afraid that his wife could not always be with him, and he was also afraid that many of his intentions were good, but he was too radical and would cause greater trouble in the future.

Perhaps only Huiyin could understand this kind of inner distress.

While the children were asleep, the two of them sneaked to the Tianchi hot spring like thieves. The servants left tactfully. Li Cheng hugged his wife. She was wearing a small dress with carp and lotus flowers on it, which made her skin look even more delicate. He couldn't help but pull it off...

The hot spring water rushed over her body. Huiyin stood up and blocked the water with her waist. She felt relaxed and comfortable.

Li Cheng grew up in the south of the Yangtze River and enjoyed swimming very much. Huiyin could also swim, but not as freely as Li Cheng. The two of them were so noisy that they splashed water on each other. They didn't go back until midnight.

When she got up, the sun was setting. She touched her head and said, "I have slept for almost a whole day."

Fugui came over with a cup of soup and said, "Your Highness is finally awake. His Majesty has taken the Crown Prince and the Second Prince out. The Princess just came over and saw that you were asleep, so she asked the nanny to take you out to play again."

Huiyin usually doesn't want to eat ginseng chicken soup, but today, maybe she was hungry, she ate the whole bowl cleanly.

Just after finishing eating, the two brothers came in with red faces. Zhan'er was carrying a bow and arrow, and Jing'er was holding two rabbits. Huiyin wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and couldn't help laughing: "Hey, you two just brought these in, this is not a hunting ground."

Jing'er said hurriedly, "It's my fault. My father took us hunting nearby today. I shot two rabbits and wanted to show them to you."

"It's incredible, it's incredible. What about Zhan'er, did he shoot anything?" Huiyin asked hurriedly.

Zhan'er shook his head: "My son doesn't have it."

Huiyin smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged. You are a few years younger than your brother. You will definitely be able to do it by then."

Zhan'er nodded heavily, and he continued, "Mother, my father and my brother also said so, but I heard that my brother could catch rabbits at the age of six, so I am still not as good as him."

"You can't say that. My brother has his good points, and you have your good points." Huiyin understood what Li Cheng meant. If they were going to compete, they should do it honestly. Whoever lacks the ability will only embarrass himself.

This is cruel, but also the most effective.

Jing'er also chimed in: "Yes, don't worry, mother. I will teach the emperor."

"Well, that's good." Huiyin touched her younger son's face.

Zhan'er felt a little ashamed again: "Sometimes I want to surpass my brother, but my brother always wants to help."

"That's not true. You two brothers are your father's right-hand men. Which of the ministers outside can you trust?" Huiyin smiled.

There was braised rabbit meat on the table for dinner that night. The whole family enjoyed the delicious meal. Li Chengzheng said to Huiyin, "You should have a good rest too. We will go out incognito tomorrow."

"Okay, I won't wear a hairpin tomorrow. A headscarf will be enough." Before Huiyin became the empress, she was also a princess, or the daughter of a marquis. She rarely dressed up as a commoner.

Thinking of this, she felt very curious.

Li Cheng glanced at her and said, "You're still like a child."

Huiyin watched the children eating happily and whispered to Li Cheng, "After we get out, we don't know what will happen to the capital. Are you afraid?"

She was a person who was afraid that someone else would usurp the throne once she let go. Before Li Cheng was not in the capital, she was still there. Now everyone has come out, and the Empress Dowager is useless and knows nothing in the capital.

Li Cheng smiled and shook his head: "You, stop thinking like a princess of a vassal state. I have unified the country for several years now. If I am not here for a few days and someone causes trouble, then I will not be emperor anymore."

"Even so, I'm still a little worried." Huiyin picked up a piece of rabbit meat for him with her chopsticks.

Although they were a royal family, they actually ate very simply. They only had elaborate food during festivals or when outsiders came to the palace to save face. On weekdays, they ate very simply.

Li Cheng took his family out of Beijing this time, so how could he really relax his control over Beijing? But if he told his wife about it, she would definitely not enjoy it to her heart's content, so he changed the subject: "Why does this preserved flower carving feel a little sticky in my mouth?"

"It's become soggy? No, it tastes good. It's specially made by the Fruit Bureau. How could it become soggy in just one day?" Huiyin tasted it.

Li Cheng curled his lips.

Pei Shuo was in charge of the Imperial Guards in the capital as usual. He took his job more seriously than anyone else. Even Xin complained to Aunt Dong: "He is still like a kid. He wants to patrol three times a day. The boys from the Five Cities Military Department have to avoid him when they see him."

Mrs. Dong smiled and said, "That's because His Majesty trusts our uncle. Others don't have this opportunity yet."

At home now, Xin has both a son and a daughter. Dong has not had any more children since she gave birth to her second child. Her son has become in-laws with the Xin family. Dong is now almost the only one favored by the family. Xin sometimes feels jealous, but when she thinks about it, she is just waiting for her own future happiness.

Now Dong had more money to spend. Xin remembered that she had many leather jackets and several fine pearl crowns. She had no children, so it would be nice to buy some makeup for Sister Xian in the future.

Although Pei Shuo is a high-ranking official now, he seems to be very glorious, but his family sends gifts to the palace at all times of the year, and the crown prince, the second prince, and the princess are not spared, and the same is true for Zheng's mother-in-law. Pei Shuo is also sentimental, and he takes care of the injured veterans of the Pei family. I don't know how much this item is.

Her daughter Xianjie'er's dowry must be worth more than a hundred yuan to be well-known, and it must be prepared in a few years. She didn't want to change the foundation of her family. When she fled to Xuzhou last time, she didn't have time to take her dowry with her. Thinking about it now, she is sad.

Xin was an extremely arrogant mistress both inside and outside the house. She seemed to regard money as dirt, but in her heart she knew exactly how to calculate the daily necessities of life.

Her wife and concubine were talking. No matter what, their interests were closely linked to those of the emperor and empress. They were even preparing to have the family make beef soup and send it to the government office for Pei Shuo to drink. Others were also ready to make a move, but they were only a minority.

Even Yin Lifang and Yin Liyi were worried about Prince Yuzhang's marriage. Yin Lifang had thought about letting her niece be her daughter-in-law before, but now their statuses were different, so naturally it was not possible.

Yin Liyi was more open-minded than Yin Lifang. With the help of Yin Lifang, the couple first bought a house with three entrances and then bought a shop. Xie Jiuyi was also a man of both literary and military talents. He opened a mounting shop, and his business was quite good because of his superb skills.

There was no work for Yin Liyi in the framing shop, so she often came to accompany her sister and asked Yin Lifang to help her find a marriage. Yin Lifang also carefully selected for her and chose the son of a military officer in a royal palace. After all, a military officer in a royal palace was a fifth-rank official, so Xie Jiuyi and his wife were very satisfied.

Now Yin Liyi said to her elder sister: "Isn't it okay for me to just look at the girl from the Sun family? Sister, don't be too picky."

Although she advised Yin Lifang last time, it was obvious that Yin Lifang still felt that her family background was too poor and she was not worthy of her son.

"It's not that I have high standards. It's just that the girls from the Sun family have different legs. You can't tell at ordinary times, but it's very clear when they walk." Yin Lifang didn't want to find a prominent man. She had never thought about finding a man from the Pei family, the Guo family, or the Yuwen family.

Yin Liyi smiled and said, "Then I'll choose carefully. Anyway, if there's anything I need to do in the future, just call me."

Yin Lifang was very grateful to have her sister by her side. She held her hand and said, "Let your brother-in-law take care of the shop first. When the prince is engaged, the people from the clan affairs office will arrange his marriage. Then I will give some money to your sister Fang as a dowry. Don't worry."

"Sister, what are you talking about? We are given such a big house to live in, a shop, and a dowry. We are really ashamed." Yin Liyi waved her hands quickly.

Yin Lifang said, "Alas, it's not easy to live in the capital. The emperor is touring the capital and Prime Minister Jian is left behind. The old lady of the Jian family is about to celebrate her birthday, and we have to prepare a birthday gift."

The Jian family has become extremely powerful since Jian Tan became the prime minister. This time when the emperor visited the capital, he handed over all government affairs to him, which made him second only to the emperor.

After Jian Tan became the prime minister, he was fine at first, but recently he loved to enjoy himself, with lots of delicious food and fancy clothes. But he never changed his wife. He knew very well that the emperor himself used what the people in Sichuan and Shu called "henpecked women", and the officials under him should follow suit.

However, the emperor is too young and too impatient. He wants to achieve political order and social harmony right away. But how can it be so easy? Look, someone comes to make another suggestion.

But he had to hold a birthday party for his wife, who had been through hardships with him all her life, and even now she was so old, she had never had a proper birthday.

"Come in."

The person who came in was the top scorer of the last imperial examination. He had personally selected him and now he was considered his disciple. He asked, "Why are you here? Aren't you in the Hanlin Academy?"

"Teacher, I came here for no other reason than to hear that the gentry in Wu County were put on the list of the people because of the land issue."

Jian Qin stood up and said, "Book of All Peoples? You can't just take this casually."

"Yes, Wu County was originally the fief of the emperor. Not only did the emperor not treat them well, but he was the first to start the operation in Wu County. How could the people below bear it?"

Everyone knows that Wu County is extremely wealthy and has many large landowners. These people may have supported the emperor in the past, but now that the emperor has ascended the throne, this group of people have taken the lead in making trouble.

"Teacher, would you please persuade the Emperor to slow down?"

Even though the warlords were fighting for power at that time, these scholars were the ones who supported them behind the scenes.

…

Huiyin got up early and changed into a green top with a maroon skirt and tied her hair with a headband. She was very satisfied with her status. However, Li Cheng was not satisfied. He said, "This coarse cloth will make your skin rough."

"What's the big deal? If we still wear silk and satin, it will arouse even more suspicion." Huiyin pulled her clothes and patted the folds.

However, Li Cheng took a look at Huiyin's face and said, "You, you don't look good in this. You will be coveted even more."

Even the silk skirt with thorns cannot hide her beauty.

Huiyin hugged his arm and said, "No matter what, I have you to protect me. I am not afraid of anything. Besides, we will be back in two hours. What can go wrong?"

"Okay." Li Cheng had to go out this time. Only by going deep into the grassroots could he truly understand what the common people were thinking.

Originally, they wanted to take Tong'er out, but she was too young, and Huiyin was afraid that she would eat unclean food outside, so they only let the maids look after her at home, and the four of them went out together.

Li Cheng only allowed the secret guards to follow behind him, and he drove the carriage himself. A group of people quietly came out from the corner gate of the palace, and the people serving in the palace did not know that they had left.

When they came out, there was no official to clear the way for them. Jing'er frowned as soon as she came out: "Father, Dad, who is that person kneeling here with the wood stuck in his mouth? There seems to be a corpse next to him?"

There was no need for Li Cheng to explain, Huiyin said: "That is a straw sign, this is selling oneself to bury one's father."

"It's really pitiful. Should we give him some money?" Jing'er felt a little reluctant.

Huiyin said, "Don't interfere with other people's karma. Besides, selling oneself to bury one's father is often a trap. They use beautiful women to make a show. Now that we are going to the countryside, let's not make things complicated. When your father finds out more hidden land and distributes it to ordinary people without owners, that will be great."

Jing'er was still a little uneasy, Huiyin smiled and said, "If we come back later, it won't be too late to rescue them."

Only then did Jing'er let the matter go.

They arrived at a small village called Zhanggou. Li Cheng quickly used a chicken bus to push the wax-dyed cloths on the back of the carriage and dressed them up as a small vendor. Huiyin pushed Jing'er and said, "Hurry up and shout. Didn't your father teach you?"

Jing'er opened her mouth but still couldn't shout. Zhan'er was smart and quickly knocked the gong. Jing'er then said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "One bushel of rice for a piece of cloth..."

"Speak louder, who can hear you like this?" Huiyin covered her mouth and laughed.

Jing'er blushed before she dared to shout, "Dear fellow villagers, uncles and aunts, a bushel of rice is exchanged for a piece of cloth."

Zhan'er, who was standing aside, was laughing when he saw his brother like this, but when he saw a lot of people suddenly running out from the village entrance, he was so scared that he quickly hid behind his mother. Then he began to sympathize with his brother. It was not easy to be a prince these days, and he had to peddle his goods from village to village. Fortunately, he was not a prince.

Huiyin saw a group of women surrounding Li Cheng. They had never received any training and could not help looking at her husband who was still handsome in his coarse linen clothes. She immediately stepped forward and said, "Sisters and aunts, this is the coarse cloth I wove at home and dyed by my husband. My mother-in-law took our rice and grain to help my brother-in-law, so our family of four wanted to exchange some for money. There will be no such shop after this. In the past, such coarse cloth would cost at least four or five hundred coins per piece."

When the villagers heard Huiyin talking so tearfully, their faces suddenly turned pale and they hurriedly wanted to help them go home to stay for the night. Huiyin gladly agreed.

Li Cheng & Jing'er & Zhan'er...

Didn't we agree to ask about the hidden farmland by selling cloth? Why did you change the line?

Huiyin whispered to Li Cheng: "Let's just inquire about it. How can we know if we don't go and investigate? Only when we move in, we can know the pros and cons of these people."