At the dinner table, Kangxi ate the food he didn't like with an unchanged expression, as did Youqing, while the princes and other princes looked rather pale as they ate.
Modern farm-style meals are delicious; food cooked in earthen stoves has its own unique flavor, but it was different in ancient times.
Without large-scale cultivation, seasonings were extremely expensive in ancient times, and farmers considered adding more oil and salt to their meals to be incredibly delicious.
However, this was quite unaccustomed to the princes and nobles who had been used to eating delicacies and rare dishes since childhood, so they didn't eat much.
During the meal, the village chief brought out his treasured wine, and before he knew it, he had drunk quite a bit, and started rambling on about village affairs.
The village has no roads and is far from any other village or shop. The nearest town is dozens of miles away. Most of the villagers are poor. The only consolation is that there is a lot of land here, and most of the villagers are hardworking and diligent, which has prevented the village from disappearing.
Youqing listened for a while, but disliked the smell of wine on the table, so she left the table.
As soon as Youqing stepped out of the main room, she heard the village chief's wife lecturing her daughter-in-law.
"Who told you to put so much oil in your cooking? Don't you know how expensive oil is? You spendthrift woman, how did I end up marrying such a thing?"
"Mother, Father said to put in more oil," the village chief's daughter-in-law said, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
“You do whatever your father tells you to do. He doesn’t even go into the kitchen, what does he know? Next time you need oil, just tell me. If you dare to be so wasteful again, I’ll have the eldest son divorce you.”
The daughter-in-law was startled upon hearing this and immediately said, "Mother, I understand." Then she lowered her head and went to do her work.
The two were talking in the dark, and Youqing was also in the dark, so they were not discovered.
Youqing wasn't angry at the village chief's wife's "nitpicking." The village was indeed poor, and she could understand that.
When Youqing was in modern times, she heard her grandparents talk about the rather difficult days after the founding of the People's Republic of China. During the three years of famine, there was no oil, let alone oil. Being able to eat eggs was a luxury.
Just as Youqing was about to leave, she suddenly felt like she was being watched. When she turned her head, she saw someone standing outside the gate staring straight at her.
Youqing didn't know this person, and his gaze made her very uncomfortable.
Youqing didn't say anything and went straight inside.
After she went in, she didn't know that the person who had been staring at her didn't leave after she left, and only left after a long while.
Youqing didn't take it to heart.
Just then, the village chief's wife had to go out for some business and happened to run into Youqing. She said, "Madam Huang, the house is ready. Let me show you."
Youqing nodded: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Auntie."
"It's nothing, it's nothing, it's all what I should do." After all, they had given a lot of money for the lodging.
The village chief's wife seemed a little awkward talking to Youqing.
Youqing followed the village chief's wife to the room where they would rest for the night. The room was very dark, with only a little candlelight. In the dim light, she could see the rough corner of a table and a small bed. The blankets on the bed were not clearly visible.
"The conditions are simple, please don't mind, Madam Huang."
"It's already very good, thank you for your trouble, Auntie." Youqing was quite polite to the village chief's wife.
The village chief's wife explained the arrangement of things in the house before leaving. After she left, Youqing took a candle and carefully examined the house. There weren't many large decorations inside, and it was fairly clean, but it looked rather simple.
Youqing asked the nanny to bring Anle over. She coaxed and played with Anle for a while before she heard the door open.
Emperor Kangxi entered.
Some of the alcohol smells are actually hard to detect. Kangxi used the excuse that he was sick and couldn't drink, so he didn't drink. However, the village chief sitting next to him had drunk quite a bit, and he started crying unhappily as soon as he got close to Le'an.
"Close the door, I'm going to the farm to take a shower."
Outside of official circles, the way Kangxi was addressed changed somewhat.
"good."
When Kangxi came out after taking a bath, he approached Le'an again, and Le'an stopped crying. Kangxi held his daughter in his arms and said, "According to the village chief, life in the village is not easy these days."
Youqing could tell that life was tough for the villagers.
After turning off the lights, the two chatted for a while longer before falling asleep.
In the middle of the night, Kangxi vaguely heard some noises. As an emperor, Kangxi was a suspicious person. He knew that there was no threat to him by staying in a farmhouse. However, he would not sleep well in an unfamiliar place, so the slightest noise would wake him up.
After Kangxi woke up, Youqing also woke up. She was in an unfamiliar place and her sleep was light.
"What happened?" Youqing asked in a low voice.
"You go to sleep first, I'll send someone to find out what's going on."
Youqing couldn't sleep either, so she simply sat up. Kangxi got up, walked to the door, and summoned his secret guards to ask about the situation.
The secret guards, who had been operating in the shadows, knew the whole story.
"Your Majesty, this servant has discovered a secret room down here, where a young woman is imprisoned. She was bound and tried to escape under the cover of night, but was caught and brought back, causing quite a commotion."
"Go and find out what's going on."
"It's His Majesty."
The guards, having received their orders, vanished into the darkness.
By this time, the farmhouse had become quiet again, and the village chief's wife, having caught the person, went back to rest.
There were no special precautions in the basement, and the guards easily entered. Inside, there was a girl whose mouth was gagged with a white cloth. The girl looked haggard and disheveled, and she appeared somewhat disheveled. However, judging from her clothes, she was clearly not a girl from the village.
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