Three days later.
Guan Zhiyue now gets up very early every morning, yawning as she waits for the beautiful women to greet her. They chat for a whole morning, then have lunch, rest, and only start doing serious work in the afternoon.
Well, the so-called "serious business" is just gathering in twos and threes to figure out how to properly take care of one's husband and children, and how to get that pickled cucumber into one's palace.
"Ugh! Bilian, let's cancel this so-called greeting! It's such a waste of my time, I can't take it anymore, I'm going to die!" Guan Zhiyue said, waving her hand impatiently.
Bilian also looked helpless. As an empress, she was supposed to receive the homage of the women in the harem.
"Your Majesty, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"Alright, let's cancel it! I'm too tired. These women will stop me from making money. Okay, go and gather all the palace servants. I need to get ready to dig. The snow has stopped, and although it's still cold, it's good to get moving!"
Behind the Cold Palace, there was a slope of fields, which Guan Zhiyue has now converted into terraced fields. The paddy fields are now filled with water, and they are just waiting to start cultivating seedlings and planting rice after the New Year. These rice crops were taken out of her spatial storage.
"Yes, Your Highness, please go and rest. I'll go get you some hot water to wash up." Bilian looked at Guan Zhiyue, who seemed a little tired.
Guan Zhiyue thought about it and agreed that it was a good idea. She would gather them together to dig the ground in the afternoon. Now that it had stopped snowing, the snow in the ground had piled up and could be tidied up.
——
Chengqian Palace.
"Hua Quan, the New Year is just around the corner. Go and inform the Empress to organize this year's banquet!" Li Qiji recalled the hot pot he had eaten in his mother's palace. He thought that if this year's banquet used such a hot pot, the officials would be very happy!
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When Hua Quan arrived at the Cold Palace with several eunuchs, he was told that the Empress had gone to bed and that they would have to wait for her to return before they could relay the message to her.
"What? Her Majesty went to farm? Where is she farming?"
"Is there still farmland to cultivate in the Cold Palace?"
Hua Quan was utterly shocked. Wasn't their empress a little too majestic? She was simply awe-inspiring.
"Yes, Your Majesty, Her Majesty is currently in the back leading the eunuchs and maids in farming," the gatekeeper eunuch reported respectfully, kneeling on the ground.
Hua Quan was trembling all over as he looked at the kneeling eunuch and said, "Take me to see him."
The young eunuch led Hua Quan and the others into the courtyard, closed the door, and then led them toward the back mountain of the Cold Palace.
After passing through the pavilions and towers in the backyard, we arrived at the outer courtyard of the Cold Palace. There, we saw that the wall had been smashed open and carved into the shape of a gate. There were also two burly eunuchs at the gate doing some kind of registration.
"Eunuch Hua, please register here as well. Her Majesty said that everyone leaving through this gate must register, as this is the only proof of leaving the palace," said the gatekeeper eunuch.
Hua Quan also wanted to see what his Empress was up to, so he registered his name and followed the gatekeeper eunuch toward the wasteland outside.
As he climbed the uneven mountain path, he saw the endless terraced fields and neatly divided plots of land marked by stones.
"Did Her Majesty do all this?"
“Yes, Your Excellency, this area behind us was originally a barren wasteland. It was the Empress who led the palace servants to reclaim it. The terraced fields you see were originally barren mountains. The trees on those mountains had all withered. The Empress said that the mountains would be turned into terraced fields, and rice would be planted in them when spring comes.” The little eunuch excitedly introduced to Hua Quan.
"Does Your Majesty really say that?"
"Yes, Father-in-law, look over there, the one shoveling snow is our Empress." Hua Quan looked in the direction the little eunuch was pointing and saw Guan Zhiyue bending over, holding a small shovel and slowly removing snow. He wondered what she was doing.
"Come on, take this eunuch over there."
......
"Your Majesty, this servant pays his respects to Your Majesty!" Hua Quan shouted loudly from afar, his voice echoing throughout the mountains.
Guan Zhiyue heard the voice and turned around to look at the person who came. She looked at him speechlessly and said, "Eunuch Hua, what brings you here?"
"Oh dear, Your Majesty, you're slapping this servant in the face with those words! This servant has come here today on the Emperor's orders to see Your Majesty!"
"This servant has brought Your Majesty some good news today."
Guan Zhiyue continued with her work, glancing up at Hua Quan, who was beaming with joy, wondering what kind of scheme he had come up with for her now.
"Oh! So what good news have you brought me today?" Guan Zhiyue continued digging in the snow, waiting for Hua Quan to continue.
Hua Quan didn't waste any time and directly conveyed the Emperor's intentions.
"I don't have time. Who's in charge of this harem? Let them be. I'm busy farming."
"Ah, Your Majesty, you're mistaken. You are the one in charge of the inner palace. Shouldn't it be Your Majesty the Empress who is in charge of organizing this banquet?" Hua Quan tried his best to persuade her. He knew that the Emperor was growing increasingly fond of the Empress, so he wanted to give her something to talk about with him. After all, every year during the New Year, a banquet was held for the officials as a reward for them.
Guan Zhiyue finally understood that the Emperor was just trying to give her trouble. He wanted her to manage the annual meeting, but she didn't want to. It was her first time and she had no experience at all. If she messed up, she would be stuck in the Cold Palace again. Although she would be in the Cold Palace, being confined to her quarters was a different story.
“Eunuch Hua, since I am the one in charge of the harem, I naturally have the right to order the concubines around, right?” Guan Zhiyue straightened up and looked at the obsequious Hua Quan in front of her.
"Yes, Your Majesty, you certainly have that right."
Guan Zhiyue was relieved to receive those words, and then continued bending down to work with the soil, leaving Eunuch Hua Quan speechless. What was she doing next?
"Then what do you mean, Your Majesty?"
"Of course I'm busy. You should go find Consort Shen," Guan Zhiyue said casually.
The Emperor instructed the Empress to handle things, so how did it become Consort Shen's responsibility? The Emperor never said that Consort Shen should get involved.
"No, Your Majesty, the Emperor specifically instructed you to oversee this banquet, you..."
"Alright, Eunuch Hua, stop wasting time here. Let Consort Shen handle it! After all, Consort Shen is very experienced and will surely make this year's banquet shine." Guan Zhiyue directly chased Hua Quan away, blaming him for delaying her work and nagging.
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