Chapter 398 Going Back to Eat
The Southern Tour, to put it bluntly, was nothing more than using the guise of understanding the people's conditions to actually travel around sightseeing.
After all, the Southern Tour was planned as early as the beginning of spring, and now more than half a year has passed. Every place that is even remotely related to the Southern Tour route has been rearranged.
What they wanted the emperor to see was a picture of prosperity and peace; how could they let him see the filth and darkness hidden beneath?
Daiyu had walked this route before, and Lan Su, who was with her, had walked it many times.
The most recent time was this spring, when Lan Su went to Jiangnan to deliver medicine to Lin Ruhai. At that time, rumors of the Southern Tour had just spread, and the surrounding area was not like it is now.
“Miss, I think the decorations on this shore are similar to those used when the Rongguo Mansion welcomed their mistress to visit her family.” Lan Su leaned against the gunwale, gazing at the flower beds on the shore. The people coming and going on the shore wore neat and clean clothes, most of them still brand new.
"They're all decorated with fancy designs, like a stage for a theatrical performance!"
In the past, vendors selling their wares along the riverbank, as well as those selling local specialties from small boats, would crowd together, sometimes causing congestion.
This time, there wasn't a single small boat on the water's edge, nor were there any vendors on the shore.
Lan Su clicked her tongue in amazement, "This is truly an eye-opener. I've crossed this ferry crossing at least eight times, if not ten, and I've never seen it so clean and beautiful."
This is the season when chrysanthemums are in full bloom, and all along the riverbank, you can see chrysanthemums of various colors, some of which are even arranged in a decorative way.
Lin Daiyu didn't have a strong impression of what this place was like before, but the scene before her was definitely not ordinary. However, she did understand the situation.
“Susu, you have to understand. Officials also need to make a good impression. After all, they rarely have the opportunity to come to the capital to meet the emperor. If they have such an opportunity, even if they have to give up their entire fortune, it’s worth it as long as they get a word of praise from the emperor.”
“Girl, what we’re afraid of isn’t them taking away their own wealth, but the wealth of ordinary people.” Lan Su looked ahead.
"There's no need to worry about that. We've been traveling with several censors along the way. Ever since the news of the southern tour was officially issued, inspections have been underway in various places. I've heard that wherever there are officials in charge of levying exorbitant taxes, they will be punished. His Majesty doesn't want his trip to impose a heavy burden on the people of various places."
Although Daiyu did not participate in the southern tour team from the beginning, Yuan Hongqu was involved all along. After securing a spot for Daiyu, she began to reveal news and measures about the southern tour to Daiyu from time to time.
“This sounds like Mr. Yuan’s work,” Lan Su said with a smile.
"The master only said one sentence: 'When the emperor travels this route, who knows how many ordinary people will lose their homes and lives.'" Daiyu smiled, pursing her lips.
“We’ve passed through several prefectures and counties, and these places all seem to be decorated in roughly the same way... except for the flowers, and in some places I see they’re still using silk flowers.”
Daiyu covered her mouth and said, "It's probably close enough. These are all sponsored by various imperial merchants. Do you see that? There's a sign over there that says 'Xiuyunfang,' which means it was sponsored by Xiuyunfang."
Lan Su's eyes widened. "This method? Could it be something provided by the Business School of the Women's Academy?"
Daiyu nodded. "I heard that the Ministry of Revenue approved very little money, and they wouldn't normally stay in so many places. His Majesty felt that he hadn't gone out many times and was being too stingy, which was unseemly. Then the senior students from the academy came up with a win-win solution. It was because of this solution that the academy was able to get a spot to come with the southern inspection team to conduct the investigation."
"What about the people at the Imperial Academy?"
After a long journey by boat, the scenery was all pretty much the same, and Lan Su was getting a little tired of it. Fortunately, she could still talk to Daiyu to relieve her boredom.
"Them?" Daiyu didn't want to say more. Those students had heard that students from the Girls' Academy could accompany the Southern Tour on academic research trips, so they also petitioned to go along.
However, they were not like the students of the girls' college; they were members of the official southern inspection team.
The students of the Imperial College were all paying for their own admission!
"Princess, Lord Yuan has sent someone to summon you again."
Zijuan, who was standing nearby, saw the people standing on the boat behind them waving in their direction.
Daiyu exclaimed happily, "It's almost lunchtime! Granny is calling me to come eat!"
"Mr. Yuan is really something. Is he worried that the princess will go hungry on this boat? He calls you over as soon as it's mealtime."
Just then, the Empress's maid came over. The Empress had some business to attend to in the morning, and it was almost noon, but she hadn't finished. Thinking that Daiyu was bored by herself, she sent someone over to see what Daiyu was doing.
“Princess Lin, Her Majesty the Empress said she wants to invite Mr. Yuan over to play chess this afternoon. If we can be lazy, why don’t we ask Princess Lin to pass on a message when she goes over?” This maid was also one of the Empress’s confidantes. Usually, when Daiyu went to the palace, she was the one who served her.
"It's nothing," Daiyu replied with a smile.
The boat stopped at the ferry dock, partly to resupply some supplies, and partly because local officials needed to board to report on their work.
Daiyu and Lansu walked towards the stern of the boat. Before they even got close, the boatmen had already set up a platform between the two boats. The platform was one meter wide and five meters long, and it was surrounded by railings, just like a small bridge.
With people protecting her from both the front and back, Daiyu steadily stepped onto the boarding platform and boarded the boat behind her.
The boat was surrounded by water, which was not as convenient as being on land. However, Yuan Hongqu didn't think it was that bad, at least the local specialties along the way were the freshest.
The dish Yuan Hongqu made for Daiyu at noon today was the local specialty donkey meat that the officials had brought up this morning.
"Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground"—this is a local exaggeration, but donkey meat is indeed delicious and highly nutritious.
Today's main dish, red lotus root, was made into donkey meat sandwiches.
Each palm-sized flatbread has a crispy outer layer, filled with crunchy and sweet lettuce leaves, and then slices of braised donkey meat with skin on.
The lettuce leaves came from the space, but when Yuan Hongqu boarded the ship, she had more than a dozen large planting boxes placed at the stern, filled with all sorts of vegetables.
With these, it would be convenient for Yuan Hongqu to take out vegetables produced in the space to replace them.
For the first two days, Daiyu ate with the Empress, but after only a few meals, she felt very uncomfortable.
Although she would sneak into the space at night to eat the meals that Mr. Yuan specially prepared for her, she had already eaten during the day, so eating again at night would inevitably cause some indigestion and stomach discomfort.
Yuan Hongqu had anticipated this, so on the third night after Daiyu arrived in the space, Yuan Hongqu went with her and told her to eat on the boat at the back starting the next day.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com