Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studioscontemporary romance
“How can I scare you?” Auntie Shen smiled and hurriedly went forward to help the Empress Dowager up. She added a pillow behind her back to make her feel more comfortable. “Are you feeling better?”
The Empress Dowager sighed softly. “In the end, I lost my health when I was young. Now that I’m old, no matter how much medicine I take, I’ll only be like that.”
Auntie Shen recalled that the Empress Dowager was already 69 years old.
The Empress Dowager couldn’t help but think of Old Madam Yu. “Compared to Old Madam Yu, I’m still alright. I have people who are proficient in nourishing my body by my side and have started recuperating early on. I’m much older than her, but I’ve lived longer than her.”
Auntie Shen smiled and said nothing. She turned around and poured a cup of hot tea, handing it over.
After saying a few words, the Empress Dowager felt a little listless. After drinking the tea and recuperating, she saw the memorial on the small table. “What is this?”
Auntie Shen hurriedly said, “Princess Shaoyi sent a memorial into the palace from Liancheng. There’s also some incense medicine personally made by Princess Shaoyi. Among them, there’s a Musk Medicinal Fragrance Pill. I’ve already sent it to the Imperial Hospital for Imperial Physician Hu to check.”
Previously, when Princess Shaoyi was conferred the title of County Head, she often sent things to the palace. Most of them were incense medicine that she had made herself.
The Empress Dowager liked Princess Shaoyi. After the Imperial Physician’s examination, there was no problem, so she did not avoid using the medicine.
After using more of her medicine, she was better.
Princess Shaoyi was talented, and the things she made were a little better than others.
“She’s quite considerate. It’s a pity that she didn’t have a child to support the royal family. Otherwise, I would be willing to dote on her like Old Madam Yu.” There were a few princesses in the palace, and none of them were considerate people. The Empress Dowager felt a little regretful. As she took the memorial, she asked, “Isn’t she recuperating in Quanzhou? Why did she go to the North?”
As she spoke, she had already opened the memorial.
Auntie Shen turned around and went to the incense table. She changed the calming incense in the incense burner to an incense pill.
A moment later, the Empress Dowager finished reading the memorial. “Shaoyi mentioned in the memorial that King Yue Fei has set up a refugee camp in an area where the drought is lighter and the supplies are more abundant. He plans to promote the planting of sweet potatoes to relieve the drought, so he specially invited her to the North.”
Auntie Shen was also stunned. After a while, she said, “The North is a bitterly cold place. Princess Shaoyi…”
The Empress Dowager sighed again. “Since she was conferred the title of Princess Shaoyi, she has to carry out her virtue. She’s worthy.”
Auntie Shen lowered her head and listened without saying anything.
However, the Empress Dowager’s heart skipped a beat. “The auspicious snow indicates a prosperous year. Last winter, there wasn’t much snow in the entire north. It’s already February, but the weather is still as cold as an ice cellar. It seems that this year is another year of disaster.”
Auntie Shen said softly, “You’ve done your best.”
The emperor had taken a medicinal pill and it had poisoned his body. He was sick in the palace and had been ignoring the court for a long time. In order to prevent the news from being leaked and causing the court to be unstable, the Empress Dowager had ordered someone to seal the hall door. Concubine Lan wanted the Second Prince to walk from the imperial study to the previous court to support the government and take the opportunity to take over the power. She had reached a consensus with the Empress Dowager and kept this matter a secret.
Now, Concubine Lan was in charge of the emperor’s palace.
She had been in charge of the harem for many years and had deep-rooted power in the palace. Even Imperial Concubine Xu did not notice anything amiss. She only cared about joining forces with the Xu family and forming cliques in the court.
The Empress Dowager looked at the memorial and pondered for a long time before asking, “Is the emperor’s health better?”
Auntie Shen’s heart tightened. “Concubine Lan’s people said that it’s still the same.”
That was, there was no improvement. The Empress Dowager’s eyes flickered. After a while, she said, “Send Shaoyi’s memorial to the cabinet.”
Princess Shaoyi’s memorial was just a request for a casual chat, so no one could find anything wrong with it. However, if someone saw it, they would inevitably have other thoughts.
There were frequent riots among the refugees in the three provinces of the capital. Even the government could not suppress them.
If the Imperial Court did not think of a countermeasure as soon as possible, more and more refugees would gather together. The situation would become more and more serious, and it might even cause a large-scale riot and endanger the country.
However, the treasury was empty, and the court officials were helpless.
Now that the North still had the strength to accommodate the refugees, how could the cabinet sit still? They immediately gathered the ministers for a meeting.
The cabinet had caused a huge commotion because of Yu Zongshen’s resignation, but the Ministry of Revenue was still in Yu Zongshen’s hands.
In order to consolidate the right of the royalists to speak in the cabinet, the royalists mobilized their connections and sent an old minister of the Yu Clan’s legitimate lineage into the cabinet.
The status of the Yu Clan in the cabinet was unshakable.
Elder Yu was listening calmly as the court officials argued about the resettlement of the refugees.
When both sides were talking so much that their faces flushed with agitation, neither of them could convince the other. Everyone looked at Elder Yu in unison. “Elder Yu, what do you think?”
After receiving Yu Youyao’s letter, Elder Yu knew more about the situation in the North than others. He had a plan and was naturally calm in the face of many questions.
He asked, “Why is Princess Shaoyi going to the North?”
Seeing that he looked so confident, Lord Qi, the Imperial Censor of the Imperial Court, had a guess in his heart. “The memorial mentioned that King Yue Fei wanted to promote the planting of sweet potatoes in the areas that were less affected by the disaster in the North to relieve the drought. As the sweet potatoes were successfully planted by Princess Shaoyi, and it concerns the survival of the tens of millions of commoners in the North, King Yue Fei asked Princess Shaoyi for help.”
Old Yu asked again, “Why did King Yue Fei dare to take in a large number of refugees?”
Lord Qi looked enlightened. “That’s because the drought in the three northeastern provinces is relatively light, so it doesn’t affect the planting of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are cheap, durable, and full. As long as we promote planting in the three northeastern provinces, with the sweet potatoes, King Yue Fei naturally won’t be worried about whether the refugees have food.”
The two of them cooperated well.
Elder Yu smiled. “Isn’t that settled?”
“Settled?” The court officials looked at one another.
Elder Yu simply made it clear. “Most of the north is drought-stricken, and the fields are drought-stricken, so we can’t plant crops. The disaster in the three northeastern provinces is light. Coincidentally, King Yue Fei wants to promote the planting of sweet potatoes, so we’ll move the refugees to plant sweet potatoes. King Yue Fei has a large army, and the refugees won’t dare to act rashly with him around.”
The court officials were immediately speechless. They were a little tempted, but they were also afraid of King Yue Fei’s authority. They were worried that King Yue Fei would be unhappy if they threw this huge problem to him.
“This— This isn’t good. The North is under King Yue Fei’s rule. It’s understandable that he’s taking in the refugees from the North. If we send the refugees from other areas over too, millions of them will be waiting to eat. There’s still no sign of the sweet potatoes. I’m afraid that they’ll eat all the military food.”
“King Yue Fei has no obligation to accept refugees from places other than the North. If he refuses, there’s nothing we can do.”
“That’s right. King Yue Fei isn’t easy to get along with either. It’s better not to provoke him…”
“This, if we anger King Yue Fei, it won’t be easy to clean up…”
“…”
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