In the dining hall of Kunde Hall, Liang Zhaoyi, mother and daughter, Poppy, and Pan Cairen sat together for lunch.
"I heard that the ministers were clamoring to add beads to the king. The quarrel was very fierce. The emperor was so angry that he asked the ministers to continue quarreling after the court."
Pan Cairen asked: "What does adding beads mean?"
Poppy didn't know either, so she turned to look at Liang Zhaoyi.
Liang Zhaoyi explained to them: "Prince Jiazhu is a rule of the previous dynasty, which is a special honor given to princes who have made great contributions. The beads are divided into nine. Nine beads represent the emperor, eight beads represent the prince, and seven beads represent the prince." It is the highest-level symbol of the prince.”
After hearing this, Poppy and Pan Cairen looked astonished: "So that's it. What's the use of adding pearls to that generation of kings?"
"Whether it's useful or not has nothing to do with us." Liang Zhaoyi didn't want to say this. Besides, this matter is not something they can discuss. "Don't worry about this, just eat."
Zhao Yao nodded aside and said, "That's right, it has nothing to do with us. It doesn't matter if he adds beads or not."
The fifth princess agreed: "That's right, adding pearls on behalf of the king will not benefit us."
Poppy frowned and said, "I'm afraid that it will affect Chi Yu." They have no power in the palace, and they might be dragged into being scapegoats in the end. After all, this kind of thing has happened before.
Liang Zhaoyi comforted Poppy and said, "No, this matter has nothing to do with us."
Poppy looked at Liang Zhaoyi and nodded lightly: "Well, it has nothing to do with us."
"Second Concubine, I'll give you my chicken legs." Zhao Yao handed the chicken legs in his bowl to Poppy, "Second Concubine, you won't be afraid after eating the chicken legs." Second Concubine is timid. Whenever there is any disturbance in the palace, she will be frightened.
The little uneasiness in Poppy's heart was eliminated by Zhao Yao's words. She deliberately teased Zhao Yao: "The second mother-in-law really ate it."
"Eat it." Zhao Yao said very generously, "It's delicious."
"The second concubine doesn't like chicken legs, so Yao Yao should eat them." Poppy returned the chicken legs to Zhao Yao, and then asked, "Yao Yao, what did you learn in Wende Hall this morning?"
"Second Concubine, can you please stop talking about things that affect your appetite during the meal?"
Yu Meiren was amused by Zhao Yao's words and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I won't ask about the second mother and concubine."
Next, Poppy and the others talked about growing vegetables and discussed what vegetables they would grow this year.
After a while, you can dig the ground and plant vegetables.
Pan Cairen said: "It rained heavily yesterday, and the soil in the vegetable field should become loose. Why don't we dig now? Otherwise, when the weather clears up, the vegetable field will harden again, and it will be difficult to dig by then."
Liang Zhaoyi nodded and said, "Then we will start digging in the afternoon."
The concubines in the harem have nothing to do on weekdays and are very idle. If you don't find something to do, you will be bored to death in this deep palace.
In addition to embroidering, reading, and painting, Liang Zhaoyi and Poppy also like to grow vegetables.
Growing vegetables not only helps you pass the time, but you can also eat them.
They grow vegetables all year round and do well. Not only is there enough for the entire Kunde Hall, but there is also extra for others.
In the entire palace, they are the only ones growing vegetables. For this reason, they were laughed at by the palace people. However, they didn't care.
When Zhao Yao listened to Liang Zhaoyi and the others talking about growing vegetables, he couldn't help but think of the delicious things in his dream, such as strawberries. Strawberries are not only delicious in themselves, but they can also be used to make many delicious things. I just don’t know where to get them.
In that dream, besides strawberries, there were many things that Dazhou didn't have. For example, potatoes and corn. Zhao Yao in the dream likes to eat potatoes and corn very much. These two foods are not only delicious, but also have high yields. The most important thing is that these two things are very easy to grow and can survive even in sandy soil. If you can get these two things, you can make many people full. But where can I get these two things? Is it on the other side of the sea?
Qingzhou is by the sea, and there are foreigners there. I wonder if these two things exist in the countries of foreigners?
Zhao Yao thought for a while and decided to write a letter to his uncle and ask him to inquire about potatoes and corn in Qingzhou.
Liang Zhaoyi saw that her son was distracted while eating, and the corners of his mouth were covered with grease, so she took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the corners of his mouth herself.
"What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?"
"I'm thinking about something delicious."
Poppy and the other three were amused by Zhao Yao's words, and they all asked him with a smile: "What delicious food is Yao Yao thinking about?"
"Peach, we will be able to eat peaches in a few months." There are several peach trees in the courtyard of Kunde Palace, which produce many peaches every year. The peaches are big, juicy, and very sweet. Zhao Yao looks forward to eating peaches early every year.
"Then you still have to wait for more than three months." Poppy smiled.
"It's okay, I can wait." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "Besides, I still have dried peaches to eat."
There were too many peaches to eat every year, so Liang Zhaoyi and Poppy made the peaches into dried peaches.
"We make a lot of dried peaches every year. If there are still more peaches this year, let's make something else."
"Okay."
Zhao Yao suggested: "You can make peach meat sauce."
"Peach jam, that's a good idea, we'll try it then."
Liang Zhaoyi and Poppy also discussed how to make peach meat sauce.
In the Kunde Hall, the atmosphere during lunch was harmonious. However, the lunch atmosphere in the East Palace was a bit dull.
The eighth prince came to the East Palace after school to pay his respects to the prince. He has recovered from his illness and should pay his respects to the prince.
When the prince saw that the eighth prince had recovered from his illness, he was very happy and asked him to stay and have lunch with him.
What happened in the morning this morning left the prince with no appetite.
"Brother, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?" the eighth prince asked with concern, "Is it because the second brother wants to add beads?"
When the prince heard the eighth prince ask, he put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands, "Have you also heard about the king's request to add beads?"
"Ninth brother said it. Ninth brother specifically asked Mr. Prince what was going on with adding beads, and also said that second brother wanted to add eight beads..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw the prince's face darken, and then he heard the prince say, "Jia Bazhu, does King Dai want to be the crown prince?"
"The ninth brother said that the second brother has great military exploits and is more powerful than any Prince Jiazhu of the previous dynasty, so the second brother must surpass the Prince Jiazhu of the previous dynasty and become the Eighth Prince." The eighth prince told the prince truthfully, "Mr. I scolded him and said that the Eight Pearls can only be owned by the prince, and the second brother is just a prince and cannot add the Eight Pearls. The third brother and the others also said the same."
The prince sneered and said: "With the great victory in Liangzhou, King Dai can't wait to replace Gu."
"Brother, on the way to the East Palace, I heard from the eunuchs and maids that this morning, many ministers proposed to let the second brother add beads. Does the emperor agree?"
"Father didn't say anything." The prince said, frowning. Although his father didn't say anything, he felt that his father would agree to add beads to Dai Wang, because his father always loved Dai Wang the most.
"Brother, you don't have to worry. No matter how much credit you have for your second brother, your father will never let him replace you." The eighth prince comforted the prince, "You are the crown prince personally named by my father."
"My father likes King Dai more than me." The prince has been jealous of King Dai since he was a child. Because the king always gets praise from Emperor Wu of Zhou, but the prince rarely gets praise.
In the heart of the prince, Emperor Wu of Zhou preferred the acting king.
"I'm afraid that sooner or later, my father will agree to let the acting king add pearls, and then I, the prince, will..."
"Brother, if my father really agrees to add pearls to Dai Wang, you don't have to worry too much." The eighth prince reassured the prince, "Third brother and the others will definitely add pearls to Dai Wang by then. If my father only adds pearls to Dai Wang, no Do you think the Wang family and the Yuan family would agree to add beads to Third Brother and the others?"
"Of course I won't agree."
"It is impossible for Dai Wang to add pearls by himself." The eighth prince continued, "When the princes become adults, they will all add pearls. Dai Wang, the prince of pearls, will not be so valuable. Big brother, don't you think so?" "
"What I'm worried about is not this, but how many beads my father will add to the king. Is it seven beads or eight beads?" The prince said, his face became very ugly, "If it is seven beads, the king will be..." The highest-ranking prince is enough to compete with me. If it is Bazhu..." At this point, the prince smiled bitterly, "Then I, the prince, have done my best."
"Brother, although my father places great emphasis on my second brother, I will never let him get past you."
"This time is different. This time Liangzhou won a great victory..." The prince said this, did not go on, and changed the subject to talk about other things, "Ninth brother didn't bully you, right?"
"No, he just kept showing off his second brother's military exploits to me." Seeing that the prince didn't want to talk about Jiazhu on behalf of the king, the eighth prince followed his words and told the prince how the ninth prince showed off to him in the morning. "The tenth brother couldn't stand his verbosity. As soon as he got to school, he ran out as fast as he could for fear of being caught up by the ninth brother."
The prince imagined the scene and couldn't help but laugh: "How is your tenth brother studying?"
In the past few days, because of the great victory in Liangzhou, the prince's thoughts were all on King Dai, and he did not go to Wende Hall to visit his younger brothers. On weekdays, he would often go to Wende Hall to visit his younger brothers and care about their studies.
The prince didn't like his younger brother Dai Wang very much, but he still liked the other brothers, especially the younger ones.
At first, when he saw the eighth prince being bullied by the eunuchs, he was so angry that he killed the eunuchs on the spot. The prince's temperament has always been gentle, and he rarely beats or scolds eunuchs or maids, let alone kills them with a stick.
Later, he learned that the eighth prince had been bullied by eunuchs and maids and was living a very bad life, so he took good care of the eighth prince.
People in the palace are accustomed to looking down on those who are superior and flattering those who are inferior. Seeing that the eighth prince had good luck and was liked by the prince, they naturally did not dare to bully the eighth prince like before. Since then, the Eighth Prince, an unpopular prince, has gradually gotten better.
The eighth prince was particularly grateful to the prince for this, and always stayed with the prince, becoming the prince's most caring brother.
