Chapter 57 Letter Mu Xue sent the memorial box to the Forbidden City from Zhang Kuguan...
The memorial box that Mu Xue sent to the Forbidden City was delivered directly from Zhangku official road by a courier riding a fast horse. The speed was much faster than the team of Yunqi and his team driving sheep to Guihua City. It was delivered to the capital a month earlier.
Emperor Kangxi opened the memorial box, and the first thing that caught his eye was a painting. He couldn't help but smile as he picked it up and looked at it. The painting depicted the four princesses on the grassland. The woman in the painting was holding a sheep, wearing a traditional Mongolian robe, with a comfortable expression and a faint smile on her lips. It was vivid, but the painting method looked a bit like Western painting techniques.
The fourth princess seemed to have adapted to life on the grassland. Not bad, he thought.
As a father, it is natural for you to feel happy when you see your children are happy.
Under the painting is a letter from home, filled with all the words a daughter who married far away would say.
The fourth princess didn't talk much in the palace before. But she can write well. This child is too introverted. Only after she left her hometown did she dare to express her admiration through writing. She thought that a person who ascended the throne to become an emperor at a young age naturally thought that everyone in the world respected and loved him.
With the emotional foundation of the painting and the letter as a foundation, he did not feel that he was meddling in other people's business when he read the memorial. Instead, he felt relieved. The fourth princess had grown up and knew how to share the worries of her father and the emperor. As for the establishment of the official sheep and horse market and the opening of the Beijing Sheep Road, these were small matters. He could easily instruct his subordinates to do it, and there was no objection.
Emperor Kangxi specially brought this painting to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. He took it out to let the old lady have a look. "The fourth princess is living very well in Mobei. Both Tushetu Khan and her husband are very kind to the fourth princess. You can rest assured."
The Queen Mother took the painting in and looked at it carefully. A smile appeared on her face. "When I was a child in the grassland, I also loved to play with lambs. I even raised one, just like the cats and dogs in the palace."
The Queen Mother's hands, which were covered with brown spots due to old age, gently stroked the lamb in the painting. She then stroked the young face of the Fourth Princess and sighed slightly.
"She can live a good life on the grassland. I feel at ease."
At that time, the emperor asked the fourth princess to govern the northern desert. The emperor wrote to the empress dowager to ask her opinion. The empress dowager said that the fourth princess was of the right age. That's when the marriage was arranged.
Although the relationship between the Queen Mother and the Fourth Princess was not as strong as that between the Queen Mother and the Fifth Princess, who she personally raised, she was still her granddaughter. Seeing the Fourth Princess go to a place thousands of miles away from home, and marry in a place even more distant than the grasslands of the South Desert, she felt a little bit sorry for it. When the Fourth Princess left the capital, the Queen Mother prayed for her safety in the Buddhist temple.
Just like when she left the grassland and married to the distant Forbidden City, Eji also prayed for her.
The golden Buddha inlaid with oriental pearls sat on the altar. The white smoke of seal incense curled up and slowly spread into the dark room of Yikun Palace.
After Concubine Yi finished worshipping Buddha, she stood up with the help of her maid.
Outside, the eunuch Zhang Qiyong led the young eunuchs in, with a beaming face: "Master Yi, the fourth princess has sent a letter."
Concubine Yi's eyes lit up and she complained, "This girl finally has a letter." But she stretched out her hand, took the letter, and opened it herself with scissors without the help of a maid.
Zhang Qiyong said, "The princess also sent someone to bring gifts, which are all here."
It was already winter and not long before the twelfth lunar month. Mu Xue specially prepared gifts for the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, Concubine Yi and others as New Year gifts.
There are many fine furs in the Mobei grasslands, which are just right for wearing in such cold weather. The gift for Concubine Yi is a scarlet satin jacket with white mink fur inside. There are a few small words embroidered in gold thread on the inside of the cuffs, "Peace and Happiness".
Concubine Yi brushed the slightly rough stitches and said with a smile: "This girl, is she still a maid after getting married? She is still the same as before."
Look at the stitches, no one else except the fourth girl dares to embroider like this.
She put aside the half-opened letter and tried on the jacket first. The mink there was of the finest material. As soon as she put it on, she felt warm, even in this heated room, where it was still a little hot.
The palace maid also smiled and said, "As the old saying goes, girls are like little cotton-padded jackets. Our fourth princess is the queen's white mink."
"Is that true? Really."
Concubine Yi was wearing the white mink coat, looking at herself in front of the big mirror, her upturned mouth never lowered. She looked at the other gifts sent to her. Only then did she sit down and take a good look at the letter. This letter was strange, too. After opening the outer envelope, there was another envelope inside.
She first quickly scanned the letter outside. Handwriting can also reveal a person's state. The Fourth Princess may not have noticed it herself, but Concubine Yi noticed that when this child was upset, the words she wrote would be smaller, as if she was wronged. When she was calm, the words would be slightly larger. The handwriting on this paper was obviously the latter.
Concubine Yi was relieved. It seemed that the emperor did not only report good news but also bad news. The fourth princess was really living well on the grassland.
That Dunduobudorji seems to be quite sensible, which is good.
After reading the letter, Concubine Yi folded the letter paper, took out a small envelope from inside, and said to Zhang Qiyong with a smile: "A mother worries about her son even when he is thousands of miles away. Even though she is so far away, she still worries about a lot of things. Look, she is still directing me to do things. You can take some snacks made in the kitchen to the upper study later. When you see the Fifth Prince, ask him to take time to come and pay his respects to me. It just so happens that his sister also brought him some things, so ask him to take them back as well."
She thought again, "By the way, if you meet the Fourth Prince, remember to tell him in private that the Fourth Princess also brought him something. Then ask the Fifth Prince to take it out of the palace. They can take it themselves."
In addition to the general gifts prepared for other princes, the Fourth Princess also prepared one specifically for the Fourth Prince. When did the Fourth Girl and the Fourth Prince become friends? Concubine Yi thought about it and thought that perhaps the brother and sister had a deeper affection when they were on the way to the wedding.
After hearing the news that the Fourth Princess had prepared gifts, the Fifth Prince quickly came to pay his respects to Concubine Yi.
"How is it? Is Fourth Sister living well on the grassland? Did that Dunduobudorji bully her? I threatened him. If he dares to bully Fourth Sister, I will ride to find him immediately."
"You are so old, but you still talk so nonsense. Don't worry, your fourth sister is fine." Concubine Yi handed him the letter and said, "Take a look. There is something you can do for your fourth sister outside the palace."
After reading it, the Fifth Prince said: "What's the big deal? It's just a small matter. Leave it to me."
He was always impetuous. When he returned home from leaving the palace, he didn't even have time to change his clothes, and he directly called his long-time servant to invite the owner and his wife of the pawnshop of the Fourth Princess in the capital to come to his house for a chat.
It was getting late, and the last ray of sunlight was stuck on the edge of the window of the courtyard.
The beads clattered as Cui Gu, the owner of Rong'an Pawnshop, used an abacus in one hand and checked the accounts with the other.
As the end of the year approached, the pawnshop had already begun to settle its accounts. Since the princess became the new owner of this royal pawnshop, Cui Gu took advantage of this opportunity to start managing the accounts.
The pawnshop's business has improved significantly this year, and the principal invested by the princess has been paid out to earn interest. Their pawnshop treats people with sincerity, and uses fair scales for both pawning and borrowing - this is the princess's idea. Therefore, even if all the pawnshops in the capital follow the example of Rong'an Pawnshop and set up a privacy board at the door of the shop, there are still many customers willing to come to Rong'an Pawnshop, even if they have to walk an extra hour.
While Cui Gu was settling the bill, Shopkeeper Hu came in and took out a purple clay teapot to drink tea.
"Have you seen the guys put up the door panels?" asked Cui Gu.
"Okay, everything is ready." Shopkeeper Hu picked a chair and sat down. "How is it? How did you calculate the account? You should have made a lot this year, right? I think it's better than last year."
"Really? Not bad." Cui Gu took her hand away and motioned him to look at the abacus, "It's got to be this number."
Shopkeeper Hu looked over and saw four thousand taels of silver. He immediately smiled.
"This is much more than last year! When the Ministry of Internal Affairs collects the interest, the princess will be delighted to see the interest."
As they were talking, they suddenly heard rapid knocking sounds.
It's closed now, who else is coming? The couple looked out from the back room.
The waiter held up the oil lamp and unlatched the door. A cold wind blew in, making the waiter shrink his neck. “Who is this gentleman?”
The man was wearing a fur cap that was neither old nor new. He said, "I am from the Fifth Master's residence. Please come over, shopkeeper."
Cui Gu and Manager Hu looked at each other.
There was only one servant with such a generous demeanor, and he was called Wu Ye. Because the princess was in Mobei, Wu Beile, as an elder brother, consciously took care of his sister's property and sent people to the pawnshop every two months to take a look. In fact, it was to urge them not to be vague.
The two men did not dare to delay and quickly put on their cotton robes and followed the person.
Lanterns illuminated the cobblestone road. There were always many more lights in the Prince's Mansion than outside, making the road bright.
Cui Gu and Manager Hu waited in the ear room for a while, and the eunuch who had reported to his master came over to lead them into the palace.
After entering the house, the two of them greeted each other.
The Fifth Prince sat on the chair and waved his hand: "Okay, your master has something to tell you."
The eunuch serving at the door brought an envelope at the right time. Cui Gu and Manager Hu took it hurriedly, guessing that their master had something to tell them, so it must be the princess who sent someone to bring the news.
The Fifth Prince said lazily, "She got some fat sheep from Khalkha and asked you to open a hot pot restaurant. That's all. By the way, that Fan family member who is registered in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is now serving the Fourth Sister. Why would you ask the Fan family member to go there if you want to go there?"
Opening a hot pot restaurant? That's not a difficult thing.
Cui Gu smiled perfunctorily while opening the letter. There were a few pieces of letter paper and a purse. She glanced at the letter paper and the corners of her smiling mouth trembled. Shopkeeper Hu came over and gasped.
A thousand sheep... a thousand sheep to be sold at the hot pot restaurant? Sold out this winter?
Shopkeeper Hu was about to faint, or was he? Cui Gu pinched him secretly and he finally calmed down.
I wanted to say something, but the Fifth Prince was impatient and waved his hand again: "Alright, that's it, leave now. If you have anything else, just talk to the Palace Chief."
They had no choice but to agree and leave the house.
When they got home, Manager Hu shouted, "This is too difficult! No, where can we put all these sheep? Even if we build a sheepfold, we have to build it outside the moat!"
Cui Gu took out the letter again and read it carefully again in the candlelight.
She looked at the purse again. This dynasty had the custom of giving purses as rewards to subordinates at the end of the year. Cui Gu thought it was a reward, but when she opened the purse, she found three notes inside.
Not many words, but concise and to the point - "delicious food", "creating momentum", "taking advantage of momentum".
Cui Gu looked at the three tips and the last part of the letter, and her brows gradually relaxed. "No? It's impossible."
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