Zheng Yong carried the letter from Nan Yi to the Fourth Prince in his arms. He intended to go back to his residence to wash up before delivering the imperial decree. However, when he arrived at the front of the house, he saw Li Dequan, the chief eunuch of the emperor, waiting in front of the residence in a composed manner.
"Lord Zheng is back."
"Greetings, Eunuch Li. I have just returned, but His Majesty wishes to see me," Zheng Yong asked, bowing slightly.
"Hmm, there's no rush," Li Dequan said, waving his hand. He raised an eyebrow, revealing a few wrinkles on his fair face. "Lord Zheng seems to be frequently visiting the Forbidden Garden lately?"
Zheng Yong pursed his lips. He knew it. The Forbidden Garden was located at the northernmost part of the palace. As a secret agent of the imperial palace, he was always there. How could no one notice him? Fortunately, few people knew his identity.
Moreover, he did not intend to hide it from the Emperor.
"I am guilty," he said, but he showed little fear.
Everyone here is intelligent, and they are all veterans who have served the emperor for many years and are familiar with his temperament.
Li Dequan didn't mince words and said, "Regarding the matter of pleading guilty, Lord Zheng told the Emperor that I don't concern myself with such matters. Lord Zheng must have brought something out from inside, right? I wonder if I could take a look?"
Zheng Yong did not hesitate. It was just a family letter. When Nan Yi wrote it, he did not hide it from him and did not say anything out of line.
He took out the letter and handed it to Li Dequan, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Li." It was probably not Li Dequan who wanted to see the letter, but someone else.
I wonder what that person will think when they see this.
Li Dequan received the letter and said, "Lord Zheng, why don't you rest for half a day before delivering the decree? The Emperor is currently discussing matters with his ministers and will not be able to finish in a short time."
"Thank you for your guidance, Eunuch." Zheng Yong bowed respectfully.
When Kangxi unfolded the letter, he almost spat out the tea in his mouth. He shook his head and laughed, "How did the Fourth Prince teach you this handwriting? It looks like scribbles, utterly unbearable to look at."
The entire text is in plain language, and the content is about getting up in the morning, practicing boxing for half an hour, preparing the land, and planning to plant spinach and bok choy in a few days so that they can be used to make hot pot in winter.
As Kangxi read the letter, he shook his head. He also complained that the courtyard was too small and there were no materials to build a chicken coop.
"What does she think my forbidden garden is? She thinks she can just farm her estate in Tongzhou?" He put down the letter and asked about Li Dequan's investigation, "How's it going? Anything unusual?"
"This..." Li Dequan was at a loss. He really didn't know that if he reported the findings to the Emperor, the Emperor would be furious, and Consort Tong's life might not be safe.
Kangxi gave him a deep look and said, "Tell the truth, and do not hide anything."
Li Dequan had no choice but to report the findings of his investigation: "Ninth Prince seems to have such thoughts, but Consort Tong is different. She is frank and sincere in her friendships, and therefore has a good personal relationship with Eighth Prince, Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, and Fourteenth Prince."
"If she also has any intention of seduction, I can immediately order her to die." Kangxi snorted coldly, picked up his pen, and wrote a reply on the memorial handed over by his fourth brother. He then ordered Li Dequan to take the memorial along with the letter, "Give it to the fourth prince. Tell him to clean up the Ministry of Revenue as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Dequan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat for Consort Tong. Fortunately, the Emperor didn't say what to do with her.
That's over now.
The Emperor still remembered the past favors they had shared.
Nan Yi had no idea that he had once again narrowly escaped death.
He practices his skills every day, and when he gets bored, he plays around in the yard. After playing around in his own yard, he climbs over the wall to play around in the neighbor's yard.
The forbidden garden was huge, and there were hardly any people locked up around it, so she could do whatever she wanted.
Day after day, year after year, the peach, plum, apricot, and grape trees planted in the yard bloomed and faded, bearing fruit seven or eight times.
Emperor Kangxi never issued an edict to lift her confinement, and Nan Yi went from having a glimmer of hope at the beginning to becoming completely indifferent later on.
In the Forbidden Garden, her small courtyard is no longer what it used to be; it now resembles a rural farmhouse.
Nan Yi planted several fruit trees next to the courtyard gate, grapevines climbed all over the east wall, and the west wall was also not empty, with pumpkins planted on the side. At this time, the season was over, and pumpkins of all sizes hung on the wall, not yet picked.
The open space in the yard was divided into several small plots, all of which were planted with vegetables.
To make it easier to walk, Nan Yi specially set up a path leading to the gate of the courtyard, although that gate was never opened.
Flowers were planted on both sides of the path, and when they bloomed, she often lingered on the path, enjoying herself.
Zheng Yong became increasingly busy, visiting infrequently. When things were quiet, he would come twice a month, but when he was busy, he could only come once every six months.
The Fourth Uncle's letters always came with Zheng Yong, two letters a month. Occasionally, Zheng Yong would come every six months, and she would receive a thick stack of letters.
She also had to reply to a certain number of letters, otherwise the next letter would definitely be full of lecturing. Fourth Uncle was very learned and never repeated himself when he lectured people.
She was trapped here for ten years. At the age of fourteen, she was betrothed to the Fourth Prince. In the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, she was imprisoned in the Forbidden Garden.
Time flies, and youth fades quickly.
This year is October of the fifty-eighth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
So much has happened in the past ten years. When Nan hears it, it's like listening to someone else's story. He feels trapped in this situation, never having participated, and has no personal feelings about it.
The one who has changed the most is said to be Xiao Xi, who has risen to the rank of Third-Rank Zhenwei General and is now on a military expedition.
Xiao Xi did not choose to marry and has remained single ever since. He even refused the emperor's bestowed marriage and has been leading troops to guard the border ever since.
Grandpa Kang, recognizing her loyalty, wisdom, and courage, did not blame her.
In the Tong family, the second sister, Tinglan, remarried and had a happy marriage. Li Chonglin was very good at interpersonal relationships and he and the second sister were very respectful to each other. The second sister also gave birth to two sons and a daughter for the Li family, which can be considered a perfect ending.
Tong Sanjie lived a life that was neither good nor bad. After finding Ning'an a good husband and marrying off her daughter, she devoted herself to living a leisurely life in the Tongzhou estate.
The Wang family harbored resentment but dared not speak out, so they let her go.
Ten years have passed, and even Yun'er has found a husband to marry into her family and had children.
Ten years later, Nan Yi touched her face. She was over thirty-one years old. Having been confined here for so long, she had never looked in a mirror. She often told Yi Ren that she was old, her heart was old, and her twilight years had arrived.
But Yiren and Xiaoshunzi disagreed, saying that their mistress was still young, while they were the ones who were young. Yiren had dressed herself up as a nanny and tied her hair up.
Xiao Shunzi, on the other hand, became a completely fat eunuch.
Nan Yi climbed the ladder past the vegetable garden and stood on the wall. In the neighboring yard, Yi Ren and Xiao Shunzi were picking corn.
Yi Ren wiped her sweat, glanced at her master on the wall, raised her head and smiled, "Master, are you hungry? There's still a little bit left. I'll pick it all and then cook for you."
Nan waved his hand, "No rush, we'll plant a few more rows next year and harvest the green corn to eat."
Xiao Shunzi smiled and straightened up. "Master, didn't you want to plant more watermelons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes? If you plant more of everything, I'm afraid there won't be enough space."
"Then plant less corn and more of the other crops."
"No, Master, if we plant fewer, we won't have any chickens to eat," Xiao Shunzi reminded her.
Nan Yi glanced at the dozen or so chickens leisurely pecking at food in the neighboring yard, and then thought about the big watermelons in the summer.
She swallowed hard, torn between the chicken and the eggs.
"Never mind," she waved her hand, pretending she hadn't said anything.
Xiao Shunzi and Yiren exchanged a smile, quickened their pace, picked the last half-row of corn, and went back to the yard to cook.
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