Chapter 40: Surviving Next Autumn
Sure enough, after Xiao Yi came in to pay his respects to Rong Ruxiang, he began to tell her about the rumors outside.
"Mother, if this continues, I will have to marry Ling Chan." Xiao Yi is already twenty-four years old, and he should have married a wife a long time ago.
But he was engaged to Ling Chan. Before that, Ling Chan had not yet reached the age of marriage, and the empress dowager did not want him to marry Ling Chan, so the marriage was delayed.
"Don't worry, I won't let you marry her." Rong Ruxiang said patiently.
Xiao Yi frowned, "But now the people outside are talking about it, saying that the royal family doesn't want to honor the marriage contract because they bully Princess Wanyue because she is an orphan."
"What orphan?!" Rong Ruxiang shouted angrily, "Ling Rui is still alive and well, how could she, Ling Chan, become an orphan?"
"These common people, ignorant as they are, dare to discuss the affairs of the royal family. Aren't they afraid of being killed?"
As the saying goes, if a person of low status and little influence discusses state affairs, he will surely be killed!
But although these people were few in number, their voices were powerful in numbers. Many hearts make a strong city, and many mouths can melt gold! Even the royal family couldn't do anything about it.
Sometimes, in order to quell public anger and silence the people, the royal family would make concessions.
There is precedent for this.
Mu Wenchang, the brother of the late emperor's favorite concubine Mu Baiyu, relied on Mu Baiyu's connections to be promoted continuously in officialdom, and finally became the second-rank Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Because the accounts were kept clean and beautiful, the late emperor was very pleased.
Later, when Daqi and Dahe fought a great battle, the late emperor sent him to allocate military funds and build fortifications.
However, he enriched himself in the process and cut corners in building the fortifications.
During a war, the incident occurred when the arrow tower collapsed, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many soldiers.
At that time, Gong Lele sent female soldiers to investigate the evidence of Mu Wenchang's corruption, abuse of power, and forming a clique for personal gain, and escorted the people and the evidence back to Beijing.
The people along the way were outraged and demanded that the court execute Mu Wenchang and that the late emperor grant Mu Baiyu death.
At that time, Mu Baiyu was in favor, and Gong Lele's investigation showed that she was unaware of what Mu Wenchang had done. The late emperor intended to forgive Mu Baiyu, but unfortunately the public outrage continued. In the end, in order to quell the public anger, the late emperor beheaded Mu Wenchang and gave Mu Baiyu a foot of white silk.
Rong Ruxiang was very thankful at this moment that... Ling Chan did not have that much influence.
Seeing Xiao Yi's gloomy face, Rong Ruxiang softened her tone and said, "Just be patient and wait."
"How long do we have to wait?" Xiao Yi muttered, "My son is already twenty-four, and he still has no wife, no legitimate son..."
Rong Ruxiang also knew that Xiao Yi was wronged in this matter, as the other princes already had legitimate sons and daughters when they were less than twenty years old.
"No later than next autumn." Rong Ruxiang narrowed her eyes. The chronic poison she gave Ling Chan was called Bing Xin, and as its name suggests, it was extremely cold.
It is winter now and the toxicity is relatively low, so the poisoned people don’t feel anything yet.
However, after the spring comes, the poisoned person will feel the biting cold in the body, and in the summer it will be like being on a glacier, and eventually the body will dry up and die in the biting cold.
This is why Rong Ruxiang is so sure that Ling Chan will not survive next autumn.
Xiao Yi's eyes lit up. His mother had never been so clear about the time before, so this time it was true.
Next autumn...Yao'er will be coming of age.
"Mother, then next year...I can marry Yao'er?" He could hardly hide his happiness, but he didn't notice that Rong Ruxiang's eyes narrowed a little.
"Let's talk about this next year." Rong Ruxiang didn't say anything to Xiao Yi. "Is this the reason you came to me?"
Xiao Yi gave a flattering laugh and said, "How could that be? Of course, a son comes to see his mother."
"How is your health lately, mother?"
Rong Ruxiang rolled her eyes at him, but suddenly felt a chill all over her body. She gathered her cloak closer and said, "How can it be any better in this freezing weather?"
She glanced outside and happened to see the snow covering a tree outside the temple falling.
It turns out that the wind is blowing. No wonder I felt a chill in my heart just now.
"Mother, I have two top-quality century-old ginsengs in my house. I'll have them delivered to the palace tomorrow." Xiao Yi took the opportunity to show his courtesy.
But Rong Ruxiang thought of something that happened before because of his words.
"I heard that you spent three thousand taels in one go a few days ago?"
Xiao Yi was stunned. How could the Queen Mother know about this? It seemed that someone close to him had the Queen Mother's spies.
"You just opened your office and you need money."
"The censors are watching us too. You should be more cautious and not make things difficult for your brother."
A trace of annoyance flashed through Xiao Yi's heart. Every time his mother scolded him, she would add at the end... Don't make things difficult for your royal brother.
"Mother, I understand." He stood up and said, "Then, I will take my leave."
Rong Ruxiang looked at his perfunctory attitude helplessly, but still couldn't help reminding him, "Since you have entered the palace, go see your royal brother."
"knew."
No matter how reluctant Xiao Yi was, he still went around to the side hall next to Zhaoyang Palace.
The current emperor Xiao Heng spends most of his time in the side hall next to Zhaoyang Palace after leaving court, and today is no exception.
In addition to Xiao Heng, Xiao Yi also met Rong An, Rong Ruxiang's brother and his own uncle.
"The emperor's younger brother pays homage to the emperor's elder brother."
"Meet uncle."
Xiao Heng looked up at him, then continued to deal with the memorials, "Have you been to the Queen Mother?"
"I have been there." Xiao Yi replied.
"I am usually busy with state affairs, so you should come to see my mother more often." Xiao Heng lowered his head.
Xiao Yi simply hummed.
Then the two brothers had nothing to say. Xiao Yi was bored, so Xiao Heng asked the palace servants around him to deliver a few unimportant memorials to Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi was used to it. Every time he came, Xiao Heng would ask him to approve some unimportant memorials.
In fact, these memorials were all screened, and it was not just him. I heard that it was the same when Prince Rui Xiao Jin came.
Xiao Yi opened a memorial submitted by the prefect of Dingzhou. It was very thick and contained many eloquent words praising the emperor, but it did not get to the point of serious business.
He patiently turned to the end, and found that there was a beautiful woman in Dingzhou who wanted to be presented to the emperor...
Open another one and you will see the latest weather statistics for a certain place.
The more Xiao Yi read, the less patient he became. He stopped reading the remaining memorials, put them directly on the desk, and then found an excuse to leave.
The memorials he had read were taken away by palace servants and placed directly in the read section.
"Prince Huai doesn't care as much about state affairs as Prince Rui." Rong An said with a smile, but his words were suggestive. "I heard that Prince Rui still insisted on discussing matters with his staff every day during his recovery."
"I don't know if they're discussing state affairs or family matters..." He tutted, "Prince Rui really can't sit still."
Xiao Heng chuckled and said, "Fifth brother has been extremely intelligent since childhood, quick-witted and eloquent, wise in decision-making, and always puts state affairs first. Like his uncle, he is a pillar of the royal family."
Rong An smiled and didn't respond.
Xiao Heng was right. Xiao Jin was indeed the backbone of the royal family. It was a pity that he was no match for Rong An.
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