Chapter 168 Old Clothes
Kangxi took Yuying and rowed back to the shore from the center of the lake.
This back and forth also took a lot of physical strength, and Kangxi was rarely in such an embarrassing state. Not only was he panting, but there was also a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, not to mention that his clothes were also soiled.
On the shore, Liang Jiugong, Qingdai and others were waiting there eagerly.
It should be said that Liang Jiugong is worthy of being the chief steward beside Kangxi, and he is considerate. Yuying looked at the guards on the shore who all turned their backs and couldn't help but sigh.
When the boat reached the shore, several people came around in a hurry.
Liang Jiugong took the lead and rushed to the front. He stretched out his hand and said, "Your Majesty, please help me."
Kangxi ignored him and carefully helped Yuying up, motioning Yuying to go up first.
Qingdai pushed Liang Jiugong aside and motioned Yuying to give her the flowers in her hand first. Luchen didn't say anything, but just stretched out her hand and motioned Yuying to hold her hand.
After Yuying got ashore, she turned around and looked at Kangxi.
Liang Jiugong wanted to help Kangxi, but Kangxi didn't even look at him and went ashore on his own.
Yuying couldn't help laughing out loud.
Liang Jiugong realized belatedly that the emperor was criticizing him for not putting the empress before the emperor. But he was the emperor's servant, so he should put the emperor first. Liang Jiugong felt helpless and was afraid that Kangxi would punish him later. However, when he heard Yuying's laughter, he was greatly relieved.
Since he was able to make the Empress smile, the Emperor would probably not hold it against him for the sake of this matter.
At this time, a cool breeze blew, making Kangxi feel a chill seeping into his bones. Kangxi glanced at Yuying, who was thin and frail, and worried that she would catch a cold, so he ordered Liang Jiugong to go to Qingxi Book House as soon as possible to get two cloaks.
Unexpectedly, Qingtao happened to be walking over from not far away, and what she was holding in her hands were two cloaks.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I saw that the wind was blowing and the lake was the place that was blown by the wind, so I took the initiative to deliver it here. Please forgive me, Your Majesty and Your Majesty."
As soon as Qing Tao came over, she apologized to the two of them. Qing Tao was rarely with Yu Ying today because Yu Ying temporarily asked her to go to the residence of the princes and princesses.
The reason why Yuying asked her to make this trip was that she thought that after all, she was the only concubine in Changchun Garden and had just settled down there, so she had to take care of them. After all, the youngest of the children was only six years old. She asked them if they had anything missing or missed, so that she could send someone to make up for it. She also gave the servants who served them a lesson, so that no one would serve them attentively and learn to flatter the powerful and look down on the weak.
Yuying was worried about leaving this to anyone else, so she had to give it to Qingtao, whom she trusted the most.
Kangxi raised his eyebrows after hearing Qingtao's words. He looked at the servant who had been with Yuying the longest and was the most inconspicuous on weekdays for the first time, and praised her: "Yes, this servant of Aying is very considerate to you."
Yuying heard this and said to Qingtao with a smile: "Qingtao, the emperor is praising you, why don't you thank him?"
Qing Tao's face was filled with joy, and even her tone was full of excitement: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty! Everything is what I should do!"
"That's right. When Liang Jiugong comes back later, go give her a monthly salary."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liang Jiugong felt a little sour. It was good to be with the empress. Even the smallest thing could get a reward from the emperor himself.
Even though this monthly allowance is not much, it is a reward from the emperor and has a different meaning.
Then Kangxi reached out and took the cloak that belonged to Yuying from Qingtao's hand. Kangxi unfolded it and put it on Yuying. He lowered his head and tied the cloak for Yuying with a serious look.
The servants surrounding him didn't even dare to breathe.
After Kangxi had tied the knot for Yuying, he seemed to think it was not enough and put the hat on Yuying as well.
After Kangxi had done all this, Liang Jiugong dared to come forward and tie the cloak for Kangxi.
Kangxi raised his head slightly to facilitate Liang Jiugong's movements.
But Kangxi was much taller than Liang Jiugong, and it was really difficult for Liang Jiugong to tie it. Seeing this, Yuying took over Liang Jiugong's actions.
It was Yuying's turn. Kangxi also cooperated with Yuying's movements, bending slightly to facilitate Yuying's movements.
With Kangxi's cooperation, this matter became much easier. It was done in a short while.
Yuying took a step back and said, "Okay, let's go back."
Thinking that there were still a lot of lotus flowers on her body, Yuying felt uncomfortable all over and couldn't help urging Kangxi.
"Okay, let's go back today."
Kangxi took Yuying's hand. Yuying's hand was cold, so Kangxi held her hand tightly.
The two of them held hands all the way back to Qingxi Bookstore.
The servants they met on the road all avoided the two men.
When they returned to Qingxi Book House, they took off their cloaks, put them aside, and went to take a bath separately.
After Yuying finished her bath and changed into clean clothes, she saw Qingtao walking out holding the Manchu dress she had changed out of.
Yuying was suddenly moved, so she called her over and asked curiously, "Do you want to carry these clothes to wash them?"
Qing Tao came over and nodded, "Yes, I want to try to wash the flower juice off this dress."
The clothes that Yuying changed out of were made of Shu brocade, which was made with a lot of gold thread. It was embroidered by the best embroiderer in the palace and took several days to complete.
The most important thing is that this is Yuying's favorite among this batch of new clothes, so Yuying couldn't help but express her concern.
"What if it can't be washed clean?"
"Of course we should burn it. We can't let Her Majesty wear these dirty clothes again." Qing Tao said as a matter of course. Even though the reward for this piece of clothing was dozens or even hundreds of times her monthly salary, she didn't seem to feel sorry.
On the contrary, it was Yuying who had a painful expression on her face.
She only wore this dress once! Just once!
Seeing that Yuying had not come to find him, Kangxi waited and waited in the inner room. Finally, he could not sit still anymore and came over to find her. He just happened to see Yuying's reluctant expression.
"Aying, what happened?"
It would have been fine if Kangxi hadn't come. As soon as he came, Yuying remembered that she had to blame Kangxi for not being able to wear the dress, so she glared at him.
Kangxi didn't understand why he had made her unhappy after coming out of the bath, as he was clearly fine before taking a bath.
So Kangxi asked again in confusion: "Did I make Ah Ying unhappy?"
Yuying snorted and repeated to Kangxi what Qingtao had just said.
After hearing this, Kangxi fell into deep thought, "Aying is reluctant to part with this dress?"
Yuying nodded.
"It's just a piece of clothing. If Ah Ying likes it, we can ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make an identical one for her. If Ah Ying feels it's not enough, I remember that the Suzhou weaving factory sent us some new fabrics this year. Can we make a piece of clothing for Ah Ying as well?"
As soon as Kangxi opened his mouth, Yuying got some new fabrics.
Yuying was anxious. Kangxi had clearly misunderstood her. She really liked the dress, but she thought it would be a pity to burn it after wearing it only once.
The point is how the garment is treated, not whether it is new or not.
The more Kangxi listened, the more confused he became. It was just a piece of clothing. What was the pity if it was burned? No one in the palace would be short of clothing, not Yuying's.
Kangxi thought so and said so.
Yuying was helpless, but the people around her all agreed with her, making her look like an outlier.
Yuying took a deep breath and motioned Kangxi to sit down. She asked Qingtao to go down as well and told her to try to wash it first. If it was not clean, she should leave it hanging and wait for her to deal with it.
Kangxi looked disapproving and was about to continue admonishing Yuying.
But Yuying covered her mouth with her hand and said, "Your Majesty, please don't say anything yet. Let me speak first."
Kangxi had his mouth covered by Yuying, and feeling the soft touch on her lips, he nodded obediently.
Only then did Yuying let him go.
She told Kangxi the idea that had just flashed through her mind: "Can we collect all the intact clothes in the palace and give them to those who need them? It would be a pity to burn them just because they are a little dirty."
Yuying just thought of the old clothes recycling stations that are set up in modern communities. She and her roommate once donated a batch of clothes that they no longer wore to people in the mountainous areas.
Even in modern times there are people who lack these basic resources, not to mention the Qing Dynasty when everything was backward.
Yuying suggested this sincerely.
So, after she finished speaking, she looked at Kangxi with anticipation, hoping to get Kangxi's approval.
After listening to this, Kangxi looked at Yuying with a complicated expression.
After a long while, he finally spoke: "Aying is kind-hearted."
Yuying was a little embarrassed, "I'm just making a suggestion. The rest still needs your approval."
Then she looked at Kangxi with sparkling eyes, "Does the emperor agree?"
Kangxi sighed and held Yuying in his arms.
Smelling the sweet fragrance coming from the person in his arms, Kangxi was thinking about what to say in order to make Yuying less disappointed.
"It's not that simple."
Kangxi said after careful consideration: "Aying, you know that in this palace, even if you are just a concubine, your clothes are much better than those of ordinary people."
"Take the Shu brocade that Ah Ying wore just now, for example. Not to mention ordinary people, even merchants are not qualified to wear it. If these clothes are sent out of the palace and worn by ordinary people, it will inevitably arouse envy and cause trouble."
Yuying frowned, she understood.
Ordinary people mostly wore linen, which was just an ordinary piece of clothing in her eyes, but it could bring disaster to the people.
She thought too simply.
Yuying exuded frustration and unhappiness.
Kangxi couldn't help but rubbed Yuying's head. After taking a bath, Yuying didn't have time to put her hair into a bun, but simply tied it up with a hairpin, and more of it was draped behind her.
As soon as Kangxi touched it, he couldn't let go of the silky smooth hair, and he was reluctant to put his hands down for a while.
Seeing that Yuying's mood still hadn't improved, Kangxi said: "Aying has such a pure heart, which is rare. If the people knew about it, they would definitely be grateful for Aying's kindness."
Yuying shook her head, still a little unhappy. She didn't make the suggestion to Kangxi for fame or gratitude from others.
"How about this? I take a portion of the tax revenue every year to help the poor people get a place to rest?"
In order to make Yuying happy, Kangxi spent a lot of money.
But Yuying still shook her head.
She just wanted to make use of the waste. After all, she could guess what the situation was with the silver in Kangxi's treasury.
After the Yellow River flooded two years ago, Kangxi got the recipe for cement and he never stopped building dams and roads.
Without the assistance of large machines, the progress was very slow with only manual labor. Not to mention the dikes, even the roads in the entire capital had only just been repaired. For this purpose, Kangxi even arrested the idle Eight Banners children in the capital one by one like conscripts.
On the day the road was completed, Kangxi even took Yuying to see it. The weak bodies of the Eight Banners children actually became strong and vigorous because of the road construction. They seemed to have been transformed and were full of energy.
The road built by Kangxi could only accommodate two carriages at the same time. Compared with modern roads, it can be said to be very simple, but Kangxi still proudly invited Yuying to ride in the carriage with him to experience it.
Yuying also suggested that Kangxi could draw a line in the middle of the road so that it would be more convenient for people to enter and leave the city on each side.
Even on that day, Kangxi vowed to pave the entire Qing Dynasty with cement roads.
Building roads is a huge expense, not to mention the war.
The occasional invasions by the Dzungars caused Kangxi a lot of headaches, and he even planned to lead the army himself recently, which required more money.
The treasury was empty, and Yuying looked on with disapproval as Kangxi tried to fill it up.
Kangxi realized belatedly that his current treasury could not support him to be so extravagant.
"Aying, when the treasury is more affluent, I will do what I promised you."
Yuying asked Kangxi not to speak for the time being, as she wanted to think about what to do.
Kangxi couldn't fulfill the big words he just said, and he didn't dare to speak casually anymore. Of course, he was also hoping that Yuying could come up with some new ideas.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Yuying to come up with an idea.
Yuying regrouped and met Kangxi's expectant eyes.
"How about we put some marks on those old clothes? In this way, we only need to announce to the world that the clothes with uniform marks are sent from the palace. And we should make the marks more obvious so that people can see them at a glance. I believe that the truly poor families will not mind. What do you think, Your Majesty?"
After hearing this, Kangxi looked at Yuying with admiration.
Yuying blushed. To her, this was just like a brand or work clothes nowadays. She was just enjoying the modern glory and didn't deserve Kangxi's expression.
Sure enough, the next second Kangxi gave Yuying a positive answer, "That's feasible."
"Right! Your Majesty! Then should we gather everyone together now to collect the unwanted clothes? And then determine what kind of markings are appropriate?"
"I will listen to Ah Ying."
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