Chapter 137 Imperial Feast
Daiyu thought of something, and, unable to believe it, looked at Yuan Hongqu with hesitation.
Yuan Hongqu smiled and nodded slightly in affirmation.
Daiyu stepped forward and pulled back the shimmering brocade.
"The star-gazing mirror, it's my star-gazing mirror!" Daiyu exclaimed excitedly.
Beneath the shimmering brocade, a stargazing telescope was already set up.
Daiyu carefully examined the star-gazing mirror; it was clearly the same one that had already been given to her second uncle!
She didn't have time to ask Yuan Hongqu why the stargazing mirror was back. She went over and familiarly operated it, adjusting the angle and gazing at the stars in the sky through the eyepiece.
The stars she used to know seemed to be twinkling and greeting her.
Daiyu felt as if she had met a long-lost friend, and she was overjoyed.
Next to it, a quaint little fireplace was burning with silver ash, and on top of the fireplace were teapots and hot baked snacks, dried fruits, chestnuts and other treats.
The attic is far from the ground, so although the warmth from the underfloor heating is almost nonexistent there, and the windows are open, it doesn't feel cold at all.
This time, Daiyu sat in front of the star-gazing mirror for a full quarter of an hour, her eyes never leaving the starry sky, as if she wanted to make up for all the starry sky she hadn't seen through the star-gazing mirror these past few days.
"Granny, my wish has been fulfilled. Please give the star-gazing mirror to my second uncle." Daiyu reluctantly looked away.
Yuan Hongqu raised an eyebrow. "Why give it to him?"
"Although I love the stargazing scope, I won't lose my life just because I don't have it. Second Uncle, just take the stargazing scope back and let me enjoy it. If you don't return it quickly, I'm afraid he will be punished by his superiors."
"My silly girl," Yuan Hongqu said with heartache, "Can't we have one more stargazing telescope?"
"Granny," Daiyu exclaimed, overjoyed and hardly believing her ears, "You said there's another one. Didn't you say there was only one in the world, and that there couldn't be more...?"
Yuan Hongqu smiled and nodded, lying without changing her expression, "I had another one made that is 'one of a kind'. There really is only one in the world, and it is placed in Daiyu's little Peach Blossom Spring."
"Granny!" Daiyu threw herself into Yuan Hongqu's arms, her voice slightly choked with sobs, "I will never give it to anyone else again."
After the star-gazing mirror was given to Jia Zheng, Daiyu was unhappy for a long time, which almost became a knot in her heart. Only now has her knot been untied.
Granny Yuan truly understood her best.
Yuan Hongqu had already made another star-gazing mirror, but it was simply inconvenient to take it out while she was at the Rongguo Mansion.
Now that they have returned to the Lin family, she can naturally use the "Stealing Stars and Changing the Moon" technique again, placing the star-gazing mirror made by the craftsman that can magnify stars into the space, and the modern astronomical telescope that she disguised in the attic.
She originally intended to give it to Daiyu as a New Year's gift during the festival, but Daiyu suffered a minor shock after visiting the Rongguo Mansion and seemed listless these past two days.
Yuan Hongqu simply took out the star-gazing mirror in advance and had the manor bring over a cartload of fresh flowers and exotic fruits from the greenhouse, turning the attic into a small corner of the space.
Daiyu was indeed appeased.
Yuan Hongqu secretly felt smug. The little girl was so easy to please; it was just some flowers and a telescope.
However, it's truly unbelievable that the literary and artistic Lin Daiyu, who buried flowers, has been transformed into the science and engineering student Lin Daiyu, who knows everything from astronomy to geography!
In the blink of an eye, it's already the Little New Year.
The disaster relief team from Xicheng has finally withdrawn, and all the collapsed houses have been cleared away.
Wang Xifeng held three charity auctions, raising a total of 84,320 taels of silver.
To avoid suspicion, Jia Zheng did not accept the donation, but instead sent Jia Lian directly to the Imperial Household Department with the account books and silver.
With a stroke of his pen, the Emperor took another ten thousand taels of silver from the Imperial Treasury, bringing the total to one hundred thousand taels, and allocated it to Jia Zheng.
Jia Zheng was originally an official of the Ministry of Works, so he was more familiar with post-disaster reconstruction matters than other departments.
This year, the Jia family seems to have finally seen the light. They've heard less about those absurd things and have instead started doing some solid work.
Therefore, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, during a small banquet in the palace, the Emperor remembered that there was an old matriarch in the Jia family and specially bestowed a dish of steamed lamb upon the Jia family.
Meanwhile, Yuan Hongqu of the Lin family looked at the few dishes bestowed by the palace with some worry.
Braised sea cucumber with deer tendon, stewed fish maw with ham, shark fin with phoenix tail, and auspicious spheres are not fancy dishes, but three of the four dishes are in the style of Yangzhou. Lin Ruhai is not in the capital now, so what does it mean that the emperor bestowed these dishes upon the Lin family?
"Ms. Yuan, at the banquet held in the palace tonight for the eve of the Lunar New Year, a distinguished guest mentioned your contributions to the disaster relief efforts in Xicheng. His Majesty was greatly pleased and praised you for your righteousness, calling you a heroine among women. He also learned that you are now serving in the household of Lord Lin, who is a trusted advisor to His Majesty. Lord Lin's only daughter is currently alone in the capital, so His Majesty naturally wants to take care of her. Today is the eve of the Lunar New Year, and fearing that you two might miss your hometown, he specially ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare several Yangzhou-style dishes to ease your homesickness."
The eunuch who came to deliver the vegetables was the emperor's confidant. The emperor ordered him to come to the Lin family to deliver vegetables in such a grand manner. Wasn't that a clear indication that the Lin family was under his protection? Let's see who would dare to be so tactless as to cause trouble.
The eunuch looked very friendly, but this was Yuan Hongqu's first time meeting someone from the palace, and she really didn't know how to treat him. Was it enough to just give him a reward and send him away like before?
Just as Yuan Hongqu was about to speak, Daiyu gently tugged at her arm and stepped forward to ask first, "What is your surname, sir?"
"Reporting to Miss Lin, this is your servant Chen Li." Eunuch Chen saw that the little girl was quite beautiful. She was still young at the time, but when she grew up, he estimated that none of the princesses and empresses in the palace could compare to her looks. He thought that this must be Lord Lin's daughter, named Daiyu.
"Eunuch Chen, thank you so much for making this trip in this cold weather. But my father isn't home, and we are of no rank or grade, so it's not convenient for us to go to the palace to express our gratitude. His Majesty has bestowed these dishes upon us, and we've just accepted them for nothing. We feel really bad!" Daiyu thought that since she was still a little child, it wouldn't matter if she said something wrong.
"Miss Lin, please don't worry. His Majesty and Lord Lin have an extraordinary relationship. He treats you like a family member. Just treat it as a normal visit between relatives," Chen Li hurriedly said. Fortunately, this message had been sent from above. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known to bestow imperial meals upon the family of a high-ranking official who wasn't in the capital. There was no precedent for this!
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