Chapter 35 The Prince's Failed Rebellion
Zhang Xiaojia looked at the seven or eight playboys in front of him with sharp eyes.
The reason why she valued Qin Xiao and Qing An was because in her previous life, these two people served as He Fei's right-hand men and together they recovered the Western Regions.
At this moment, Wen Miaoyin stepped forward and spoke clearly in Liu Xu's defense, "County Master Zhang Xiaojia, your words are too harsh. Liu Xu didn't mean to disparage farmers. It's just that she comes from a marquisate and has never been exposed to farming since childhood, so her words may have been inappropriate. I hope you won't take her words out of context and don't take her to task."
Zhang Xiaojia shook her head slightly and retorted, "Our noble ladies of the Great Zhou studied the Four Books and Five Classics from a young age, understanding the hardships of the people. Besides attending school, they also worked in the fields during the spring plowing season. How is it that after just a few years, they've never experienced farming since childhood?"
Wen Miaoyin's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, clearly having not expected Zhang Xiaojia to point this out so directly. She glanced at the flustered Liu Xu beside her and spoke again, her tone pleading, "The county lady is absolutely right. We were negligent. Liu Xu doesn't know much about farming, but I don't mean to belittle her. I hope the county lady will be magnanimous and not hold it against her for what happened today."
Zhang Xiaojia glanced at her and pointed out the problem: "I think you shouldn't say these words. It's better for Liu Xu to say them herself."
Zhang Xiaojia then turned his gaze towards Qin Xiao and Qing An, a hint of sternness in his eyes. "Although you two completed the winter wheat planting task as I requested, you haven't truly fulfilled your inspection duties. I'm giving you one chance. If you dare to shirk your duties again, I won't let you off lightly."
Qin Xiao and Qing'an nodded in agreement, their faces filled with fear. They knew that if they came to the capital without completing their mission, the consequences would be disastrous. If the censors learned of Lin'an's outspokenness, they would surely impeach their father, and they would be doomed.
Liu Xu had already realized her mistake. She lowered her head and admitted in a trembling voice, "County Lady, I was wrong. I will study farming diligently in the future."
Zhang Xiaojia looked at her and nodded approvingly. "Admitting one's mistakes and correcting them is a great virtue. However, punishment is necessary." She paused for a moment, her gaze returning to Liu Xu. "You will be punished by visiting Zhuangzi to experience the hardships of farming for a month. In addition, you will be required to write an essay on the importance of farming and reflect deeply on your words and actions today."
Liu Xu's face paled, clearly surprised and embarrassed by the punishment. But thinking of her own gaffe today, she reluctantly nodded and murmured her agreement.
Zhang Xiaojia's expression softened slightly upon seeing this. She turned to Qin Xiao and Qing'an and continued to announce the punishments: "As for you, although you have completed your planting tasks, your inspections have been inadequate. Your punishment is to assist Prince Jing in managing the farm and ensure that the crops grow smoothly until harvest time. You will also each write a reflection on this experience as a warning."
Xiao and Qing'an exchanged a wry smile. Although they felt the punishment was severe, they thought farming was the right path, so why bother writing articles? They had no choice but to accept the punishment. They couldn't afford to offend, so they respectfully replied, "Yes, County Lady, we will do our best."
After she finished speaking, she waved her hand and signaled everyone to disperse.
Zhou Panni suddenly revealed a gloating smile and said, "I heard that Wen Miaoyin has been looking for opportunities to go to Renhe Tower, Baifan Tower, Sun Yang's Store, and Ren Store, just to have a chance to run into Prince Jing. You punished Liu Xu to do farm work in the farm, aren't you afraid that Wen Miaoyin will follow you?"
Zhang Xiaojia blinked and responded, "If she dares to get even one meter closer to the prince, he will throw her out of the manor without mercy. If she can really enter the manor again, then I will agree to one condition of yours. Conversely, if the prince does it, then you have to agree to one condition of mine. How about it? Besides, Wen Miaoyin would never do that."
Zhou Panni shook her head and said with a complicated expression, "No, Lin'an. When mother went to the border, she specifically told me not to oppose you and to ask you for advice on anything. In fact, I have never understood it. Mother has three daughters and two sons, and I am her youngest daughter, born when she was 35 years old. But why did she choose to give me the surname Zhou instead of He? Why am I the only one who doesn't have the title of princess? Lin'an, does she love me?"
Of course, Zhang Xiaojia knew why the Grand Princess made such an arrangement! Because you don't have royal blood, you are a Liao person! In her previous life, Zhou Panni killed all her husband's family members and committed a capital crime. The Grand Princess used her military merits to save her.
Zhang Xiaojia looked at Zhou Panni and said firmly, "Love! Of course the Grand Princess loves you. She hopes that you can achieve great things through your own efforts, rather than relying solely on your status as a princess."
Zhang Xiaojia said she was drinking, but she just took a sip of wine. He Fei was not there, and security was not high in ancient times. If she got drunk, she would throw her innocence away.
When Zhang Xiaojia returned to the palace, Bai Zhi hurried to greet him. She had been guarding the palace carefully, and now there was a hint of anxiety on her face.
Bai Zhi respectfully reported, "County Lady, your stepmother is here with the second young lady, but you're not here. She said the second young lady is getting married soon and hopes you can come back to the Zhang family."
Zhang Xiaojia raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard this, and said with a hint of amusement: "Oh~ I wonder if she married some noble or aristocratic family?"
Bai Zhi replied, "He is from a noble family, the eldest son of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."
"When are you getting married?"
"Five days later."
Zhang Xiaojia frowned slightly when she heard this, and a sense of inexplicable displeasure welled up in her heart. She said coldly, "Bring me the gift list from my wedding."
Bai Zhi left in response, and soon returned to Zhang Xiaojia with a gift list. Zhang Xiaojia took the list and flipped through it carefully, his eyes lingering on one of the gifts, as if recalling the scene at that time.
After reading the gift list, Zhang Xiaojia threw it lightly on the table with a sneer on his face: "Humph, for this county lady's wedding, Wei Jingxuan gave more than my own father, and my second sister gave me a pearwood hairpin. Tsk~"
Seeing this, Bai Zhi secretly guessed what the county lady was thinking, but did not dare to say much.
Zhang Xiaojia pondered for a moment and continued, "Go prepare a gift. It doesn't have to be too expensive, but it shouldn't be too undignified. After all, she's my second sister. But remember, this gift must be in the name of the palace. I don't want to have any private disputes with the Zhang family."
Bai Zhi nodded in agreement and turned to prepare a gift. Zhang Xiaojia sat at the table, lost in thought.
She had no memory of the Zhang family. Her aunt brought her into the palace not long after she was born.
But it is still possible to tell whether the Zhang family treats her well or not.
She has been in the palace for so many years, but the Zhang family has not given her a penny.
When she got married, her mother gave half of her dowry to her and her brother, and the Zhang family gave her one thousand taels.
The only one who gave more was her eldest brother, who gave her a hot spring villa, five hectares of fertile land, and five stores in the capital.
When my aunt saw the dowry given by the Zhang family, she scolded them for three days and doubled the dowry she gave them.
When the eldest cousin saw this, his face darkened. The next day, he sent her a dowry (fields, real estate, farms, and shops) to the county lord's mansion.
It is no exaggeration to say that her dowry is as rich as ten miles of red makeup.
Zhang Xiaojia took a deep breath and suppressed those emotions.
————
He Fei was not idle either. He wanted to make glass.
Glass formula:
In industry, glass is made from limestone, pure alkali and quartz.
CaCO3 + SiO2 = high temperature = CaSiO3 + CO2↑
It’s not that the Great Zhou Dynasty didn’t produce glass, but the glass produced was mainly lead-barium glass, which is different from Western soda-lime glass in composition and properties.
Due to limitations in firing technology, purity of raw materials and other factors, glass products are fragile, not resistant to high temperatures, have poor transparency, and require high technology and cost in the production process.
The firing temperature of lead-barium glass is usually below 1000 degrees because the melting point of lead-barium glass is relatively low; soda-lime glass requires 1700 degrees.
The first question is: the high temperature of the kiln needs to be 1700 degrees, but the kiln in the Zhou Dynasty was at most 1400 degrees.
The Great Zhou lacked the natural pure alkali needed to make soda-lime glass. This raw material was relatively abundant in places such as the southern coast of the Mediterranean, but relatively scarce in the Great Zhou.
These three materials can be used to make glass, regardless of the hardness of the glass, but who can tell him what the proportion of the three materials is?
He Fei complained in his heart and accidentally complained to Jia Jia.
Zhang Xiaojia was having dinner when he heard He Fei's complaints and laughed involuntarily. Did He Fei forget that he had bought the golden finger of soul communication?
She went to the system mall to check out the points for this product, then said sorry for bothering her because she couldn’t afford it.
I originally wanted to ask An Yi to send it over, but then I thought, I will be back tomorrow night, so I won’t write it.
The next day, Zhang Xiaojia waited patiently for the arrival of the young uncle on the second floor of the restaurant closest to the city gate.
Zhang Xiaojia was quite surprised to see that the emperor actually came to greet him with his ministers.
After a while, the young emperor uncle came to the capital in a carriage, not on horseback. The carriage was very simple, which was totally illogical. The young emperor uncle liked luxury.
The atmosphere was very good when the emperor and his minister met, and the two of them returned to the palace chatting and laughing.
Zhang Xiaojia also got on the carriage and returned to the palace.
The problem between the young prince and the empress dowager cannot be solved in a short time. She wants to go to the palace to ask her mother's opinion. In her previous life, did her mother commit suicide because of guilt or love? If it was love, did they love to be together or to be in the same world?
The two are different. Being in love means that two people depend on each other.
Love is in one world. No matter where we are, we are under the same sky, breathing the air of this world and listening to this world together.
Halfway through the walk, he was stopped by a eunuch. Zhang Xiaojia lifted the curtain and saw Eunuch De, the personal eunuch of the young emperor's uncle.
"Tell the little uncle that I remember I will give him an explanation before the New Year." Zhang Xiaojia said preemptively.
After hearing this, Eunuch De bowed and left.
"To the palace."
Zhang Xiaojia went straight to Kunning Palace, and Aunt Caiyi came out soon.
Zhang Xiaojia looked at Matron Caiyi and asked softly, "Matron, is Mother in a good mood today?"
Aunt Caiyi said, "My Lady, I'm in a bad mood today."
Zhang Xiaojia walked in and saw the Empress Dowager sitting by the stove, holding a hot water bottle. She slowly walked over, leaned on her shoulder, and said, "Mother, what do you think?"
The Queen Mother's eyes were empty, and she said indifferently, "What I think is not important, because I never get what I choose. I have been obeying all my life."
Zhang Xiaojia said, "What if Mother gives you a chance to choose?"
The Queen Mother sighed, "I just want to leave the palace and live a free and easy life. In this palace, I have witnessed too much love, hate, and vengeance. The woman the late emperor doted on for his entire life was only used as a shield. Love has long been extinguished in this palace, and I no longer believe in love. Now, I only hope that the country will be peaceful and the people will live and work in peace."
Zhang Xiaojia whispered, "If that's the case, and you have no thoughts about the little uncle, then please leave the palace and be with the little uncle. However, please wait a while and let the imperial physician know that you are seriously ill and have passed away."
The Queen Mother looked at her fiercely, and Zhang Xiaojia nodded. "His Majesty already knew, and he would make arrangements, but he didn't expect that you just wanted to leave the palace. But no matter what you are going to do outside the palace, can you let our secret guards protect you?"
Zhang Xiaojia looked at the empress dowager with red eyes and stood up to leave.
When I arrived at my aunt's place, unfortunately, I saw that the emperor was there, but my aunt was not.
"Don't look for her anymore," the emperor said. "My mother is in the flower garden, with a stove and wearing thick clothes, drinking tea and admiring plum blossoms."
Zhang Xiaojia heard this and was about to turn around to look for his aunt, but he heard the emperor sternly say, "Come here and die!"
Zhang Xiaojia walked slowly before the emperor, pretending to be dead.
The Emperor angrily slammed his teacup onto the table and shouted, "Do you know what my uncle and I discussed today? The betrayal of 'Scholar Gong of Chu and the Fox Fairy,' the lessons of 'Mr. Zhao and Uncle Li,' and 'Sun Yi and Shopkeeper Wang,' the lessons of admitting mistakes and correcting them. He warned me not to be disloyal and unrighteous like Mr. Gong of Chu, but to be like Mr. Zhao and Sun Yi, who immediately correct their mistakes."
Zhang Xiaojia looked around, confirming that no one else was in the palace besides the emperor and his attendant eunuchs. Then, she said softly, "My mother wishes to leave the palace. She claims she does not wish to remarry and only wishes to live a free and unfettered life."
The Emperor angrily asked, "During your fleeting dream, didn't this little uncle have any affairs? Didn't he visit brothels? Didn't he have a confidante?"
Zhang Xiaojia rolled his eyes suddenly and said unhappily: "Brother, if I had these in my dream, would I still be like a grandson? I would have killed him long ago and would only make myself troubled."
The emperor said grimly, "It's not too late to kill him now."
Zhang Xiaojia........
"The young uncle asked his father-in-law to come look for me. What should I do now?"
The emperor suddenly smiled, his tone carrying a hint of amusement: "My mother is the elder, and my young uncle is also an elder. Let them handle their own affairs. You only need to convey my mother's words to my young uncle."
Is this okay?
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