Extra 4: Daily Life in the Palace
The family of three went through a tiring journey, but fortunately they returned to the capital before the end of the year.
That day, the news that the Crown Prince and his wife had returned to the court spread throughout the capital, and of course, the news that they already had a daughter also spread.
Xiao Yuluan knew about this as early as when Qingwu was pregnant. She loved this little great-granddaughter so much that she didn't want to let go once she held her in her arms.
Hearing everyone around calling the old lady, little Xiao Yi also called her "Your Majesty" sweetly, which made Xiao Yuluan very cute.
The Royal Clan Leader had been informed long ago, but he still had to go through the formalities for inclusion in the family tree, so he came this time.
Qing Wu smiled and taught his daughter to call out, "Yier, this is your great uncle."
The current head of the clan has also been replaced. He is Xiao Ji's uncle and the only surviving younger brother of Xiao Yuancheng, Prince Duan.
When everyone supported Xiao Yuluan to take the throne, there were also people who encouraged him, but Prince Duan knew what methods this imperial aunt had. He had been lying flat on his back for half his life, and now he still planned to lie flat on his back. Later, he was glad that he was lying flat on his back, because his second nephew, Prince Wen, who did not lie flat, had been demoted to Prince Pingning and driven to Mobei two years ago.
However, Prince Duan felt that his second nephew was relatively good. At least he left his family alive, which was better than his other three nephews being buried in the mausoleum.
Xiao Yi called out obediently, which made Prince Duan's face wrinkle with smile. He was only in his forties. Although he had grandchildren, they were all boys. After two or three years of being a rarity, they became as naughty as monkeys. He had never had a granddaughter as soft as this one.
At that moment, the King and Princess of England also walked in, bowed, and then came over to look at their niece. Princess of England teased, "Do I even need to look? She looks just like the Crown Prince, and especially her eyes, which are from the late Queen Mother, just like the Crown Prince."
As soon as she finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment, and everyone subconsciously looked at Xiao Ji. Xiao Ji was indeed lonely for a moment, but seeing the look on Princess Ying's face as if she had said something wrong, he would not blame her.
Xiao Ji smiled instead, "It's great that there are still people who can remember what the Queen Mother looks like."
He came back this time to bring his children to pay a visit to his mother.
Princess Ying felt even more guilty. Qing Wu walked over to her, patted her hand, and asked, "How can you remember it so clearly?"
Princess Ying had only married into the family two years before. Although she was Qingwu's sister-in-law, she was younger than Qingwu. If you calculate, even if she had met the late Queen Mother before her death, she would probably have been only eleven or twelve years old at that time.
Princess Ying's eyebrows furrowed, feeling a little embarrassed. She whispered, "When I was young, I entered the palace with my mother. I accidentally got lost in the Imperial Garden and ran into the late Queen Mother. She was very kind and looked at me warmly while speaking to me. I was deeply impressed."
Later, the late Queen Mother took her hand and helped her find her mother, so she was not scolded by her mother.
Xiao Ji felt a little sad when he unexpectedly heard some unknown little things about his mother during her lifetime. As the atmosphere became increasingly awkward, His Majesty, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
"If you look like Linghui, then you should also look like me."
As soon as the words came out, everyone looked at Xiao Yuluan again. Xiao Yuluan now looked a little older than before. Although he had to sleep in the open air, he had a good mentality. After becoming the emperor, he would have to work hard all day long.
Everyone looked at Xiao Yuluan's eyes and finally saw the vague similarities between the old man and the young man.
"I'm old, my skin is sagging, and Yi'er is still young, so of course you can't see it. But the eyes of me, Linghui, Ji'er, and Yi'er are all inherited from my mother, the Empress Dowager. If you look closely, it was passed down from my grandmother, Madam Zhang."
Old Madam Zhang gave birth to a daughter and two sons. Her daughter Yang Huang's branch passed on to Xiao Yuluan, and her son's branch passed on to Yang Gong and Yang Linghui. After the two bloodlines merged after a generation, they were passed on to Xiao Ji, and then to Xiao Yi.
What a wonderful bloodline that passes down the characteristics of ancestors from generation to generation.
When everyone looked at the baby girl in the empress's arms, there was suddenly something different in their eyes. The ignorant little Xiao Yi didn't know what kind of extraordinary bloodline was flowing in her body.
The King of England subconsciously thought of the gossip he had heard on his way here. They said that the Crown Princess had given birth to a girl, and if it was a boy, her position would be even more secure. He subconsciously thought so then, but now, looking at the girl in the Empress's arms, he suddenly felt that this statement was wrong.
The Xiao royal family has already produced two empresses, so why won’t there be a third one?
However, when this thought came to his mind, he suddenly had different expectations for his daughter who was only half a year old. If the next empress was still an empress, she would definitely have to have a girl as her right-hand man. Wouldn't his daughter be right at the right place?
It was at this moment that the King of England's thinking began to lead the powerful and wealthy in the capital. While other families were still focusing on cultivating their own boys according to the old ideas and hoping that the Crown Princess would give birth to another boy as soon as possible, the King of England's Palace had secretly used the method of cultivating the Crown Prince to cultivate the little princess.
But that’s all in the past.
After the Zong Zheng confirmed Xiao Yi's identity, he withdrew and went out to deal with the family tree matters. Xiao Ji and Qing Wu's jade discs had been changed as early as the year Xiao Yuluan ascended the throne.
Later, Xiao Yuluan also noticed that Xiao Ji was actually in a bad mood, so she used the excuse that she had government affairs to deal with and asked Xiao Ji to take her and her daughter to the palace where Yang Linghui once lived to comfort the deceased spirit.
Two days later, when Xiao Ji was busy reporting to Xiao Yuluan about the Westerners, Qing Wu also took Xiao Yi to visit relatives and friends. Of course, it was mainly others who visited her.
As soon as the morning court ended that day, Shanshan came to visit the East Palace without taking off her official uniform. Yes, since Xiao Yuluan came to power, she has recruited female officials. In the past four years, there have been several female officials in the court, and Shanshan is one of them.
Of course, Shanshan is an agricultural official working in the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of rice seed cultivation and replacement, and teaching agricultural affairs. Although his position is not high, he is very different from her.
Who would have thought that a girl who loved growing flowers would eventually become an agricultural official in Dayu?
She achieved the goal that her family and her maternal grandfather's family had tried their best for generations but failed to achieve.
Lin Shanshan, who had her achievements falsely claimed and was always accused of being useless for women, did it. She jumped from being a merchant's daughter to becoming an official. Even though she was only a sixth-rank official, she was a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, and was looked up to by her maternal and maternal families.
At first, some people were dissatisfied with Lin Shanshan, but as Lin Shanshan improved rice seeds and figured out the methods of planting from generation to generation, the first batch of seeds planted in Hedong Village has completely adapted to the hinterland of the capital, and the yield has steadily increased. Now it has entered thousands of households.
The two girls, who hadn't seen each other for four years, both had tears in their eyes when they met again.
"You're dark."
"You're dark too."
Then the two girls looked at each other and smiled. How could they not be gloomy? One had to constantly research in the fields, while the other ran a female medical school, teaching students. They had never lived a life of luxury.
After laughing, Shanshan looked at Qingwu carefully, her eyes sparkling: "You've become darker and thinner, but your eyes are brighter and more powerful than before. You look more beautiful than before."
She paused, lowered her voice, and said with genuine admiration, "I've heard everything you've done in Hai'an Prefecture. The female medical school, caesarean sections, the introduction of textile machines... Qingwu, you've truly done things we women wouldn't even have dared to think about before."
Qingwu pulled her to sit down, poured her a cup of hot soup, and said with a smile: "Aren't you the same? When I left Beijing, you were still arguing with the old farmer in the experimental field about how to apply fertilizer. Now you are a legitimate agricultural official in the Ministry of Revenue. The new rice variety you cultivated has even been planted in Hai'an. The people call it 'Good Rice'."
When Shanshan heard the name "Shandao" that was spontaneously called out by the people, a blush appeared on her face, but the credit was not hers alone.
"The biggest credit goes to you. If you hadn't given me the seeds and supported and encouraged me to do this, how could I have all these things today?"
"There's no need to thank me between us." Qing Wu waved his hand and asked with concern, "Are you doing well in the Ministry of Revenue now? Maybe someone is giving you a hard time?"
"Of course there were rumors at first," Shanshan said calmly, "but Your Majesty is wise, Lord Xi is impartial and upright, and... my husband is quite capable and is now highly valued by the Minister of the Chancellery. So those people didn't dare to do anything openly. As for what happened behind the scenes, I just focused on growing my rice. The yield is there, and that's my best response."
She said it lightly, but Qingwu could imagine how difficult it had been for her to gain a foothold in the capital's officialdom over the past four years. Seeing her confident and calm appearance now, Qingwu was filled with relief.
"Oh, by the way, where is the little princess?"
Although I have known for a long time that my friend has a daughter, I have never seen her.
Qing Wu hurriedly asked the maid to bring her daughter over. Shan Shan took little Xiao Yi and looked at her gently, "The princess is so beautiful. Her eyebrows and eyes are like the crown prince. I heard that she is also like your majesty when he was young. Your majesty is in pain like an eyeball?"
Hearing this, Qing Wu smiled and shook his head: "How come it's spread like this outside? It's only been a few days."
"Aren't all the people out there like this..."
Speaking of children, Qingwu naturally asked Shanshan, "When will you bring that boy into the palace so I can take a look?"
Because Shanshan was busy with farm work, she gave birth to a boy at the beginning of this year, who is almost a year younger than Xiao Yi.
"Well, the weather has been cold recently, and he's feeling a little unwell. Let's wait until he feels better before coming back, so as not to disturb the young prince."
Shanshan was surprised for a while at Xiao Yi's softness, and said that her son was as hard as anything when she held him. After chatting briefly about the child, the two talked about their experiences in the past few years.
Shanshan explained to Qingwu that while there were not many female officials in the capital today, several held important positions in the six ministries and the inner court, demonstrating a much more open-minded society than four years ago. Qingwu also shared her experiences practicing medicine, running schools, and interacting with Western merchants in Hai'an Prefecture.
"It seems that our original choice was not wrong." Shanshan sighed, "A woman's path to success in life doesn't necessarily have to be just to be a wife and mother. You see, although our journey was difficult, we finally made it."
"Yes," Qingwu held her hand, "The road ahead is still long, but together we can always go further and further."
The warm winter sun shines through the glass windows, onto two women who have weathered many storms but have become more resilient and brilliant, and also onto the face of the little girl whose future is full of infinite possibilities.
The era that belongs to them is slowly opening.
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