Chapter 132 Chapter 132 Entering Beijing (3)
Before Liu had even finished packing her luggage, she heard Li Xiaoxiao say that she was going to live in the west of the city. She was stunned: "What? How can this be allowed?"
While gesturing to Granny Qi and the others to quickly put away all the things that had been released, Li Xiaoxiao pulled Liu Shi away, saying, "What's so improper about it? It's improper of us to leave our big house here instead of living here. These houses were given to us by others. If the Crown Prince knew that we were leaving the houses he gave us instead of squeezing into this cold and cramped little courtyard, he would definitely think we don't respect him and would be angry with us... Everyone, quickly put everything away and come with us to the west of the city. The kang (heated brick bed) there is already heated, and there are several wells in the courtyard. You can use them however you want..."
Hearing that there was a large house to live in, who would want to stay here and light a charcoal brazier? So, the servants quickly and efficiently put all the things back into the chests and trunks, and rolled up the loose items into bundles and put them on the carts. Seeing that there weren't enough carts, Zhao Jian went out to the alley entrance and hired a few more to settle the people over first. As for Meng Liniang's dowry, it would be left here for the time being, and they would come over to move it slowly after everything was arranged there.
The Mao family stayed behind, partly to look after the house and partly to protect Meng Liniang's dowry from theft. Fortunately, they had lived there for several years and were already familiar with the neighbors, so they had no objections to not being able to move with Liu.
A total of six vehicles were prepared, and they headed in a grand procession towards Chang Le Fang in the west of the city.
Upon arriving at Chang Le Fang, everyone was overjoyed as soon as they entered the house. The house had been renovated, and it was new and bright, with many rooms. Moreover, just as Li Xiaoxiao had said, all the rooms that were meant to be inhabited had already been heated with kang beds.
Liu lived in the main house of the second courtyard, while Granny Qi and Liu Zhi lived in the side room. Aunt Luo lived in the east wing, and Meng Liniang lived in the west wing. Xingge and Taoxiang had to serve them closely, so they lived with the two of them. Zhao Jian and Xiumei, the three of them, lived in the left annex between the first and second courtyards, while Asheng lived on the right. Li Xiaoxiao let Aze live in the main house of the third courtyard, while she lived in the east wing, and Meng Guanqi lived in the west wing.
With a kind and satisfied smile, Granny Qi and Liu Zhi quickly helped Liu Shi pack her things. All the trunks and bundles were opened, but with three large cabinets in the main room, there wasn't enough room to store everything. After everything was put away, the room still felt empty, lacking much decoration and furnishing. Granny Qi sighed, "This house is really big!"
The house was large enough that she and Liuzhi could each have their own room in the side room of the main house, but in order to save firewood, the grandmother and granddaughter still slept on the same kang (heated brick bed).
Granny Qi wasn't unfamiliar with large houses. On the contrary, the Meng family's house had five courtyards, much larger than this three-courtyard house. However, the Meng family was large and the five courtyards were always full. Servants usually had to live in the side rooms, wing rooms, or back rooms, and usually three or four people shared a room. Unlike here, where even if you squeezed all the family members into this courtyard, it wouldn't be full, and there would still be half a room left over.
Moving into such a large house, I realized how lacking in human warmth it truly felt. While tidying up, Granny Qi said, “Miss, since we’re already here, we have to take charge. Xiaoxiao isn’t one for worrying. I heard her say she asked Madam Pang next door to renovate this house, throwing over two thousand taels of silver without a second thought. Luckily, Madam Pang is kind-hearted, and we have a good relationship with General Pang. Otherwise, if someone had really been plotting against her, wouldn’t she have lost everything? You’ll have to work hard from now on…”
When Granny Qi spoke intimately, she would call Liu Shi "Miss," treating her as if she were still a girl before her marriage. As she took out Liu Shi's jewelry and categorized it, placing it into the drawers of the dressing table, she shook her head and chuckled, "Miss never learned how to manage a household when she was at home. After marrying her husband, she just lived on a monthly stipend, never worrying about anything. I never imagined that now that she's getting married, her daughter-in-law would be even less capable than you. It's all thanks to those four years in Biyang County; she stumbled and struggled but slowly learned how to manage. It's just that it's not time for Miss to retire and enjoy a life of leisure yet~"
Liu lay half-reclined on the warm and comfortable kang, her eyes closed comfortably, almost falling asleep. The journey was tiring, and she had moved twice. Although she didn't seem to have to do anything herself, she was still quite exhausted.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and go to sleep, Granny Qi came over and pulled her up: "Madam, you can't sleep yet. There are no things to arrange right now. Mama Mao didn't come with us, so there's no one to take care of the chores in the kitchen. There's also no one at the gatehouse. Most importantly, it's getting late. We need your instructions on how to arrange dinner."
Liu groaned weakly, "How can we cook without a cook? Go to my trunk and get ten taels of silver, give it to Zhao Jian, and have him order two tables of food from Zhiweizhai. Then tell Asheng to fetch water and quickly boil some hot water for everyone to bathe in. I don't want to think about anything right now, I just want to take a nice bath, have a good meal, and get a good night's sleep. Even if the sky is falling, I'll deal with it tomorrow."
By the way, where's her son? Where did that little rascal go?
Liu was about to ask someone to carry him back, but then she thought that Li Xiaoxiao would probably be with him. In any case, he would never wrong himself, and she was too tired to move, so she simply let him go.
Granny Qi had no choice but to give the money to Zhao Jian and ask him to order two tables of takeout food. She also instructed Ah Sheng to fetch water and boil it for the whole family to take a bath.
The kitchen was severely understaffed. Ah Sheng had to clean the boiler, fetch water, and start a fire to boil water, and he was simply overwhelmed. Just as he was struggling with this, Li Xiaoxiao walked in and asked, "Are you short-handed?"
After the kang (heated brick bed) was heated, Aze and Ruirui took off their extra clothes and rolled around happily on the kang. They fell asleep after only two rolls. Li Xiaoxiao covered each of them with a cloak and let them sleep side by side on the kang. Thinking about how tired everyone must be after a long journey, but since it was inconvenient to take a bath on the boat, they must want to take a good bath and sleep now that they are home. So she went to the kitchen. As she expected, there was no one in the kitchen except for Asheng, who was busy doing something.
When Ah Sheng saw Li Xiaoxiao approaching, he almost cried: "Sister Xiaoxiao~"
What if he asks her for help the moment he opens his mouth? But the Xiaoxiao he knows is not the same Xiaoxiao he used to know. She is now the young master's fiancée and the future young mistress. How could he dare to ask her for help again?
But at this point, she was probably the only one in the whole family who wasn't exhausted.
Without Ah Sheng saying a word, Li Xiaoxiao had already taken the bucket and skillfully fetched water into the kitchen. The kitchen here was much larger than the kitchen in Biyang County, with three rows of stoves in a row. Each stove had a large pot with two small pots on it. Li Xiaoxiao filled all the pots with water and lit the fire with Ah Sheng to boil the water.
Ah Sheng wasn't really familiar with kitchen work. He couldn't get the fire going for ages and ended up with his face all dirty, like a cat's. Li Xiaoxiao pulled him away, skillfully lit the fire, and added firewood. Soon, the kitchen was filled with smoke, and the flames roared from the stove, gradually dispelling the coldness of the kitchen.
Ah Sheng admired her immensely. He felt that there was nothing Xiao Xiao couldn't handle in the world. It seemed that all difficult things would become easy in front of her, and she could solve them effortlessly.
Just like now, the whole family was exhausted and collapsed, but she still seemed to have inexhaustible energy. She carried three large pots and six small pots of water without even panting.
Ah Sheng stammered, "There are too few people in the family. Madam Mao didn't come with us, so we don't even have food. Madam asked Brother Jian to go out and order takeout, but food in the capital is expensive. We still need to hire a cook."
Li Xiaoxiao didn't take it seriously: "We just arrived today, so we'll just make do with whatever we have. Madam will arrange things naturally after she's rested tomorrow. We don't need to worry about these things."
While Li Xiaoxiao was boiling water in the kitchen, a quarter of an hour away at the Imperial Household Department, Lord Huang had been waiting in the tea room for over an hour before it was finally his turn to go in and see the Crown Prince.
Rong Si walked in: "Lord Huang, His Highness the Crown Prince requests your presence."
During the past hour or so, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was bustling with people, and the Crown Prince was so busy that he barely had time to breathe. However, Lord Huang did not show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he straightened his appearance, picked up the memorial in his hand, and followed Rong Si into the council hall with measured steps.
The Crown Prince was drinking tea when he saw Lord Huang come up to pay his respects. He waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for formalities, and asked him to sit down on a chair to the side.
Lord Huang presented a memorial: "Your Highness has ordered me to carefully examine the documents of all the candidates in Yunzhou. All the details have been recorded. Please review them, Your Highness."
The Crown Prince took the memorial from his hand and examined it carefully. He casually asked, "Have you noticed anything unusual?"
Lord Huang said, "The candidate who was falsely accused of cheating has been exonerated. I encouraged him, and he was moved to tears. He will soon set off for the capital to take the exam."
The Crown Prince closed the memorial: "Has the criminal been taken into custody?"
Lord Huang said, "The criminal has been imprisoned. The prefect of Yunzhou will soon submit a memorial to the Emperor, asking whether he needs to be escorted to the capital for trial by the Court of Judicial Review."
The Crown Prince smiled slightly: "Lord Huang, you've worked hard. The weather is freezing and the end of the year is approaching. You are not young anymore and you've traveled thousands of miles. I'll give you three days off. Take a good rest before you come back to work."
Lord Huang bowed and said, "Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness."
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something, paused, and hesitated whether to say it.
The Crown Prince had already placed his memorial on the table. Seeing that he suddenly turned halfway around as if he wanted to turn back and say something, he asked in surprise, "What else is there, Lord Huang?"
Lord Huang considered for a moment: "When I returned, something strange happened. I don't know whether I should report it to Your Highness."
The Crown Prince said, "Speak freely."
Lord Huang said, "Before my official ship arrived in Tianjin, some local thugs impersonated my family members and ran rampant at the dock. They injured pedestrians and then ran away. Fortunately, a scholar noticed something amiss and had his servants stop them."
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince frowned: "Impersonating your servants to cause trouble at the docks? Why?"
Lord Huang said, "I was also puzzled until that scholar said that these people were probably being instructed by someone behind them, and that I should take them back to the capital and hand them over to His Highness the Crown Prince for punishment..."
The Crown Prince glanced at the stack of memorials, which was over a foot high, on his desk. What was not more important than the matter of impersonating Lord Huang's servant and causing trouble?
Just as he was about to politely decline, he heard Lord Huang say, "The scholar said to hand the person over to His Highness the Crown Prince for disposal, and also instructed me to inform His Highness that the person was given to him by Meng Guanqi and Li Xiaoxiao."
The Crown Prince's expression changed slightly, and his gaze immediately locked onto Lord Huang: "Meng Guanqi?! Li Xiaoxiao?! You met them at the dock?"
Lord Huang was startled. Did the Crown Prince really know these two people? He cupped his hands and said, "Yes, the scholar I was talking to is extremely handsome. It would be hard to find anyone in the capital who can compare to him."
That must be Meng Guanqi!
The crown prince was both surprised and delighted, and immediately shouted, "Perfect!"
Wan Quan rushed in quickly: "This servant is here."
The Crown Prince said, "Lord Huang has brought back five hooligans who are impersonating servants of the Huang family. Bring them in and send them to the Censorate for solitary confinement. Have them carefully guarded, as I will interrogate them personally."
Wan Quan replied, "Yes!"
He turned to Lord Huang: "Lord Huang, may I ask where those people are now?"
Lord Huang was utterly astonished. The Crown Prince had actually ordered Wan Quan to personally handle these people? Who was Wan Quan? He was the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace. Why would the Crown Prince send him to deal with this matter, and even personally interrogate these people? Could there really be some hidden story behind this?
But the Crown Prince clearly had no time to pay him any attention and left the council hall like a gust of wind.
Li Xiaoxiao boiled the water, carried a bucket to the back room, adjusted the water temperature, and then shook the two children on the kang (a heated brick bed) awake: "Get up and take a bath."
Rui Rui was still half asleep and pouted, about to cry. Li Xiaoxiao quickly stripped off his clothes, put him in the tub, wiped his little face with a towel, and then washed his neck and body. He hadn't had a bath in almost ten days, and even such a small child was covered in mud. "Don't cry, look how dirty you are! You still need to eat after your bath. It's not dark yet, you have time to sleep."
Rui Rui whimpered and grabbed the edge of the tub with her little hands to let her wash. A Ze, being older, woke up after a short soak and took a towel to clean himself. It was so comfortable to soak in hot water in the dead of winter! It felt like every pore on my body was opening up.
Aze became more and more energetic as he washed. After taking a bath, he asked Li Xiaoxiao to wash his hair, and then took a dry towel and sat on the kang to dry his hair little by little.
Li Xiaoxiao carried the clean Rui Rui out in a large bath towel. His hair was still short and soft, and after being dried with the towel, it all stood up. His little arms and legs under the bath towel looked like lotus roots, and his chubby, soft flesh looked so cute that you wanted to take a bite.
As long as she doesn't throw tantrums, Rui Rui is a beautiful baby.
Aze looked at him with affection, went up to touch his little brother's chubby hands and legs, and took his clothes to put on him.
Li Xiaoxiao dressed him in layer after layer, but it was warm inside. After wearing three layers, Rui Rui refused to wear them anymore. Li Xiaoxiao said, "We're going to your mother's for dinner. It'll be cold on the way. Put these on quickly." Ignoring his objections, she dressed him in a small cotton-padded jacket.
Aze was dressed, and Li Xiaoxiao made sure his hair was dry before putting a hat on him. She held one in her arms and led the other by the hand, then called Meng Guanqi to go to Liu's place for dinner.
Outside, the cold wind howled, but inside it was warm and cozy. There were few people in the family, so they sat at two tables, regardless of gender, and ate hot pot.
No one had eaten properly on the boat. Now that they had washed up and felt refreshed, they felt empty and hungry. The hot pot made them very hungry, and everyone was busy cooking meat and vegetables and stuffing themselves into their stomachs. The only sound during the meal was the soft clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
Li Xiaoxiao stared at the large plate of mutton and kept eating. There were no sheep in Biyang County, and she had never eaten such sweet and delicious lamb before. She liked to eat it herself, and she also took care of the two children. She would scald a large chopstick of meat, give a portion to the two children, and then eat the rest herself. The large plate of more than three pounds of meat disappeared at a visible speed.
Li Xiaoxiao glared: "Five taels of silver for a table, and this is all the mutton you have? That's it?"
Liu felt warm all over after eating, and with food in her stomach, she had the strength to speak. She chuckled and said, "Do you think we're still in Biyang County? What isn't expensive in the capital?" This lamb came from the western grasslands, and the journey was long, so its value was naturally considerable.
Just as Li Xiaoxiao was about to sigh, she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the front yard, as if someone was knocking on the door.
Zhao Jian heard this too, and he stood up: "I'll go take a look at the front."
That's the downside of not having a doorman at home; even opening the door requires Zhao Jian to do it himself.
Li smiled and said, "It must be Pang Shi. We just arrived today, and no one knows we're staying here."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a group of people emerged from the dim twilight with hurried steps and quickly approached the main house.
Li Xiaoxiao was wondering who was so rude as to barge in without even announcing themselves when she realized the person in the lead had already entered the room very quickly.
Meng Guanqi quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The others in the room who didn't recognize the prince were terrified and hurriedly knelt on the ground.
The crown prince waved his hand dismissively, saying, "No need for formalities." But his gaze was fixed intently on one of them.
A man wearing a dark fox fur cloak stepped forward from beside the crown prince, staggered a few steps forward, and embraced him, sobbing softly, "Zezhi!"
Aze's tears streamed down his face instantly. He suddenly reached out and hugged the man's neck, crying out, "Father! Mother!"
It turned out that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess had come together.
The Crown Princess held her son, whom she had lost and then found again, tightly, and wept uncontrollably.
The Crown Prince couldn't help but step forward and carefully observe his son, who was being held in the arms of the Crown Princess and crying. His eyes were filled with tears, and he felt a deep sense of guilt.
Even Wan Quan kept secretly wiping away tears. The Crown Prince was now His Highness's only son. Knowing that he had returned safely, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess couldn't hold back anymore. They disregarded the fact that the palace gates were about to be locked and disguised themselves to rush out.
After the Crown Princess had cried her heart out, once the sadness subsided, joy spread through her. She released Aze, carefully examined him, and touched him from head to toe. To her surprise, she found that Aze had gained a lot of weight.
The Crown Princess was both surprised and delighted: "Your Highness, Zezhi has gained weight, he's gained so much weight..." With so much weight gain, it's certain that all the poison from the Poison Stone has been expelled.
The crown prince couldn't resist stepping forward and picking up his son, then putting him down and picking him up again, exclaiming with delight, "He's gotten fatter and heavier!"
Aze smiled broadly even before wiping away his tears.
Sister Xiaoxiao was right after all; he has gained weight, and his father and mother are very happy.
The Crown Princess took Li Xiaoxiao's hand and said sincerely, "Miss Li, you've raised Aze so well, I don't know how to thank you enough..."
Li Xiaoxiao said, "Your Majesty is too kind. You and His Highness the Crown Prince bestowed so many things upon our family. We were in such a hurry to go home that we didn't have time to express our gratitude. We would like to take this opportunity to thank His Highness and Your Majesty for your generosity."
The crown prince nodded in satisfaction and observed the renovated house. Perhaps because he had just moved in, many places still looked empty.
In high spirits, he saw the soup still bubbling in the pot, emitting the fresh aroma of meat, and felt his stomach growling. He naturally sat down and said, "I've been busy all day and haven't eaten yet. Since you're having hot pot here, tell the kitchen to add some dishes. The Crown Princess and I will just have a simple meal here."
After speaking, he gestured for the Crown Princess and Aze to sit down, and then invited Liu, Pang Shi, Meng Guanqi, and Li Xiaoxiao to sit down and eat. He personally put the dishes into the pot to cook.
The Meng family members present were stunned, as if they had been hit on the head with a blunt object. The dishes were all delivered, and they had already eaten half of them. Where were they supposed to find more food?
As the head of the household, Madam Liu was extremely anxious. What could she do? There wasn't even a blade of grass left in the kitchen. Even if she went out now to reorder from Zhiweizhai, it would be too late. You see, these two tables of dishes were delivered by Zhiweizhai more than an hour later. Now the Crown Prince had already picked up his chopsticks to eat. How could they possibly wait?
If it had just been served, it would be fine, but the main course of lamb was already gone, leaving only meatballs, fish slices, and vegetables. How could that be enough? Could they possibly tell the Crown Prince and Crown Princess that they had run out of food? That would be incredibly embarrassing!
Liu's anxious gaze met Meng Guanqi's. After a moment's thought, Meng Guanqi gave Li Xiaoxiao a wink and pointed at Pang Shi.
Li Xiaoxiao immediately understood, gave Pang Shi a wink, and while the Crown Prince and his wife were asking Aze with great concern how he was doing in Biyang County, Pang Shi whispered, "What's wrong?"
Li Xiaoxiao gestured for him to follow her out, and only after they were outside did she whisper, "Emergency! What do you have in your kitchen? Bring it over quickly. We just arrived today, and there's only boiled water in the kitchen, not even a single vegetable leaf..."
Pang Shi was taken aback, then shook his head, baring his teeth: "How come your family is so lowly? His Highness has given you so much gold, how come such a big family can't even afford a meal?"
Li Xiaoxiao retorted, "We just arrived, okay? Mama Mao didn't come with us, and we don't even have a cook at home right now. The hot pot we ate today was delivered from Zhiweizhai. I could go out and order ten or eight tables right away, but can Your Highness and Her Majesty wait that long?"
Pang Shi was speechless and started to walk out, but Li Xiaoxiao asked anxiously, "Where are you going?"
Pang Shi rolled his eyes at her: "Didn't you say you wanted vegetables? I'll go back and tell the gatekeeper to tell Madam to send the vegetables over..."
Li Xiaoxiao said, "My house is about half a cup of tea's distance from your front gate. It would take you a long time to go back and forth. Hurry up, this is your courtyard wall. Jump back from here—" She pointed to the courtyard wall of her house and Pang Shi's house, which was about two people high.
Pang Shi was dumbfounded. He was a general, after all, and they actually told him to jump over the wall and go home? This was simply outrageous!
Li Xiaoxiao provoked her, "You're not going to be unable to jump over it, are you? You can't even get over such a small height? Have you gotten too comfortable and stopped striving for improvement?"
How could Pang Shi stand this? He glared at Li Xiaoxiao, then immediately took a few steps back, tapped his toes on the wall a few times, and leaped over the wall.
Li Xiaoxiao was satisfied: "Come back quickly~ Ask your wife if she has any mutton, and if so, bring more over."
When Li Xiaoxiao returned to the main room, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess had already started eating. They even invited Liu Shi and Meng Guanqi to eat with them, but both of them knew that there wasn't much food left and didn't dare to touch their chopsticks much. Only the little dumpling was unaware of the family's financial difficulties and ate whatever was put on his plate, his mouth greasy with oil.
Aze also eats a lot, and he takes care of his younger brother. When he sees that Aze's mouth is full of oil, he will take a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess had no interest in the food, but seeing their two children eating so heartily filled them with both joy and sorrow.
What made them happy was that Aze's appetite had never been so good, but what saddened them was that the youngest son of Magistrate Meng was round and chubby, just like their third son who had died young.
But the Crown Prince was mostly happy. Seeing that only Li Xiaoxiao returned after Pang Shi was called away, he asked in surprise, "Where is Pang Shi?"
Li Xiaoxiao said without changing her expression, "He will be back soon."
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