Sun Miaoqing watched as Hongzhou ate all the red date cake. That unlucky child didn't even offer to share half with his mother.
Thanks to her years of care, she transformed him from a sickly, unruly child into a chubby, fair-skinned doll.
She looked at Consort Hua with teary eyes. How could she have forgotten to prepare something in private!
[Sister Shilan, look over here! Your favorite granddaughter also wants to eat red date cake.]
[If you don't have red date cake, crab roe pastry, cloud cake, or chestnut cake will do!]
If none of these are available, beef jerky will do!
Consort Hua rolled her eyes. She's over twenty years old, and she can't even hide something to eat. If she wants dried meat, she should ask Consort Qi. Does she think she has everything?
She gave Sun Miaoqing a reproachful look, then quietly handed her another piece. Luckily, she had prepared extra, otherwise the mother and child would have starved.
Overwhelmed with grief, the chubby orange cat fainted several times before the Empress Dowager's coffin. After examining the cat, the imperial physician said that the cat had damaged its spirit with excessive sorrow and needed to rest in bed, otherwise it might shorten its lifespan.
The princes, ministers, and the empress persuaded him repeatedly, doing everything they could, before the chubby orange reluctantly agreed to recuperate in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Nowadays, everyone in the court and among the people says that the emperor is extremely sincere and filial.
After working for more than twenty days to send the Empress Dowager's coffin into the imperial mausoleum and seal the underground palace, Sun Miaoqing felt as if she had come back to life.
She lay on the chaise longue while Linglan massaged her legs, after kneeling for so many days. Although there was a soft cushion and she had prepared two extra cotton pads, she didn't end up with bruises and couldn't get out of bed like before.
But his legs were also very stiff, and they ached unbearably after walking just a few steps. Only little Hongzhou recovered quickly, and within a few days he was walking briskly again.
"Mother, Mother, Hongzhou wants to fly a kite. Will you come with me to fly a kite?"
Sun Miaoqing didn't want to move at all. During the days of mourning after the Empress Dowager's death, she lost several pounds and hadn't regained them yet.
I'm lying around all morning and have to go to work at the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the afternoon. How can I have the energy to fly a kite?
"Mother is exhausted and wants to fly a kite to see your Emperor Father. If your Emperor Father agrees, Mother will make you some milk cake."
Hongzhou frowned, clinging to Sun Miaoqing's arm and shaking it incessantly. He acted exactly like Sun Miaoqing when she was being affectionate with the chubby orange cat; even a biological child couldn't be more affectionate.
"No, I want my mother to go with me. Father Emperor has been ignoring me these past few days; he must not like me anymore."
Sun Miaoqing said, "You are his precious little darling, his own flesh and blood, how could he not love you?"
“Your mother told you, if the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain. If your father doesn’t pay attention to you, can’t you at least pay attention to him?”
Hongzhou pouted, "But Father Emperor said I've grown up and should be more sensible. I should behave properly like my older brothers and sisters to be liked."
"Father also said that Mother and I are truly mother and son. We have the same unlucky nature, and only he doesn't mind. Other families would feed us three meals a day, nine meals in three days, and we would have bamboo shoots and shredded pork every day."
"Mother, what is bamboo shoot and shredded pork? I've never had it before."
Sun Miaoqing was speechless. You really want to eat it?
"Your father is bluffing you. Your mother is beautiful, talented, and so understanding. No matter which family she marries into, it will be a blessing they have earned for ten lifetimes."
"Your father is saying this because he's afraid you'll become arrogant, do you understand?"
Hongzhou felt that something was wrong with what he said, but after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he could only nod in a daze.
Sun Miaoqing said, "Once you understand, go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to pay your respects to your father, the Emperor, and tell him to take care of his health and not overwork himself."
"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. You're still young, there's a lot you don't know."
"Rose, take the Fifth Prince to the Hall of Mental Cultivation and let the Emperor accompany him to fly kites."
Rose responded and led the Fifth Prince toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Sun Miaoqing was just about to change her position and lie down for a while longer when Liuli came running over excitedly with a thick letter in her hand.
"Your Highness, the eldest young master has sent a letter."
"Really? Let me see it quickly."
Sun Miaoqing sat up, opened the envelope, took out a large stack of letters, and looked at them one by one.
"Huaijin has arrived in Guangdong and met with Yang Wengan, the governor of Guangdong. The local officials know that he went there to gain experience and will leave once he has done his job. They are all very polite to him and speak to him in a pleasant manner."
"Not only did I send him a lot of gold and silver jewelry, but also Yangzhou's slender horses. He remembered what I had instructed him to do, and he listed all the gold and silver in detail and reported it to the Emperor in a memorial, but he didn't keep a single beauty."
"There are also some local customs, such as the fact that rice can be harvested three times a year. He plans to take this opportunity to promote methods to increase production in the area so that people can have a better life."
Linglan said happily, "Young Master is so thoughtful. He even thought of the local people when he was on official business."
"The Emperor has instructed the eldest son to study under Lord Yang, which is a sign that he intends to give the eldest son an important position. Once things are done, the eldest son will still be young, and he might even be able to obtain the title of Duke in the future."
Nowadays, the highest rank a non-royal family can attain is Duke, and historically, civil officials are rarely granted titles; most titles are awarded to military officers for their military achievements.
Vertical farming makes the most of the land, not to mention the benefits of fertilizers and pesticides. However, given the vast territory of the Qing Dynasty, it only spread to Zhejiang within two years and did not yet benefit the whole country.
Once half the land under heaven has been equipped with these, Big Fat Orange will definitely be granted a noble title.
What's so great about the title of Light Cavalry Captain? At least a marquis title is needed, and it can't be the kind that disappears after two or three generations.
"Whether he is a duke or not doesn't matter. As long as he can do some practical things, he has a bright future ahead of him."
"However, Yang Wengan is not a good person. In order to achieve his goal, he would give up his own children without hesitation."
"The emperor is wise and able to control the overall situation, so having such ministers is not a bad thing. But if it's someone close to him, then they should run as far away as possible."
"I'm afraid that if I'm not careful, he'll use me as a stepping stone, and I won't even know how I died."
Liuli felt a pang of sympathy; she had never seen such a heartless father.
"I heard that after the incident, that Miss Yang attempted suicide several times but failed. People have been guarding her room day and night, for fear that something might happen to her."
"After much effort, Madam Yang finally dissuaded her from this idea. She thought that she should still find a good family for her daughter, even if it meant marrying her far away."
"As a result, when people heard that it was her family's daughter getting married, they were afraid that this would happen again at the wedding banquet, so they all avoided it like the plague."
"Originally, I thought I would marry into the capital and have the support of Madam Yang's family. But even the daughter of a governor is not suitable to be the second wife of a fifth-rank official."
Linglan said, "I've also heard that the fifth-rank official has some connection with Consort Xia's family."
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