Chapter 281
As a woman, Queen Zhou was actually not satisfied with the social atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty. She was different from Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen grew up in the palace and had no idea of the true face of those great Confucians and gentry.
But Queen Zhou was born a commoner, and her father Zhou Kui was a fortune teller and medical practitioner. Although he did not belong to a poor family, he did not break away from the grassroots class.
When Queen Zhou was young, she had to help her father with housework and crops. Because of this, Queen Zhou used the seeds sent by Cheng Shijie to plant more than six acres of land in the Imperial Garden, harvesting a lot of sweet potatoes and Potato.
In fact, the protection between men and women among the people has never been as strict as that of wealthy families. Otherwise, livelihood would be a problem. Sure enough, after arriving in Jinzhou City, a large number of women appeared in the shops on both sides of the street. Although Liaodong is not as conservative as the Central Plains, in fact women need to hide their eyes when going out, which is like hiding their ears and stealing their bells.
Especially the young girls who have not left the court, almost no one wears women's clothes to go out. However, the so-called men's clothes they wear are not as colorful as women's clothes, and they are mainly long gowns. Many women also wear earrings, earrings, and folding fans for fear that others will not know that they are women.
"Don't miss it if you're passing by. Authentic Jiangnan hibiscus cake, try it first before buying it!"
"One inch candy!"
"Magnolia pieces!"
"Kebab!"
"roasted beef!"
The little prince Zhu Cixiang came out of the palace for the first time and saw such a lively market for the first time. He looked at the crowded streets and the dazzling array of things. He felt that his eyes were not strong enough. Of course, the more important thing is that Zhu Cixiang's mouth watered when he saw the children on the street eating mutton skewers, jujube cakes and a hundred seed cakes.
Zhu Weiti saw the envious look on her nephew's face and smiled: "Your Highness, do you want to eat?"
Zhu Cixiang did not agree or disagree, but looked at Queen Zhou.
Empress Zhou looked at her skinny son, sighed and said, "Cixun, what do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat……"
Zhu Cixi found that there were many things that he couldn't even name.
Zhu Weiti stood up, opened the closet of the carriage and RV behind her, and took out some pastries from it. This carriage was a carriage and RV. Due to its good shock absorption effect, you could sleep directly in the RV when you were sleepy, and you could eat something when you were hungry.
Zhu Weiti's carriage contained not only more than a dozen kinds of pastries, but also more than a dozen kinds of cans, beef jerky, fruits, and several kinds of drinks.
It was more than 120 miles from Lushun to Jinzhou, and the carriage was not traveling very fast. Not only Zhu Cixiang was hungry, but Empress Zhou and Empress Zhang were also hungry.
Zhu Weiti took out four plates, which contained roasted cake, champion cake, mung bean cake, chicken cake, piano cake, rub cake, peach cake, Sichuan heart cake, luncheon meat, canned beef, and canned fruit.
Of course, although the outer packaging of the cans Zhu Weiti eats is the same as ordinary cans, there are four small words printed on the bottom: "Internal use only."
This means that Zhu Weiti's canned luncheon meat is made of high-quality meat, rather than starch mixed with a little meat.
Zhu Ciliang held the beef jerky in his left hand and the walnut cake in his right hand, devouring it hungrily.
"Eat slowly, don't swallow!"
Empress Zhou was filled with sadness when she saw Zhu Cixiang who had let himself go. Emperor Chongzhen was very strict with his life. He only had a small bowl of good rice and big fish and meat for each meal, so don't even think about it. Emperor Chongzhen was so simple, and the young prince Zhu Cixiang was equally simple.
After finally arriving at the Ning Haijun Military Mansion, Zhu Weiti hosted a banquet in honor of the two royal sisters-in-law, Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang. Although there were no outsiders to accompany them, the meal was very luxurious.
All kinds of delicacies were served in succession, including not only delicacies from the mountains, but also various delicacies from the sea, flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water, and swimming in the sea.
Like braised bear paws, braised venison, braised beef, braised mutton, there are more than a dozen braised dishes without any duplicates, such as steamed blue grouper, braised sea cucumber, rock sugar elbow, stuffed sugar lotus root, and other dishes from Lu Specialty fruits of Song Dynasty, fruits of Jiangnan.
Cheng Shijie never wronged himself. Some of the cooks at Ning Haijun Military Mansion were from Shandong, some from Beizhili, some from Sichuan, and a few from Guangdong. There are more than 60 chefs working in the Ning Haijun Military Mansion alone. Although there are not as many chefs as in Emperor Chongzhen's Imperial Kitchen, the ingredients and cooking techniques are far superior to those in the Imperial Kitchen.
Queen Zhou looked at Zhu Weiti and said, "Eight sisters, there are too many dishes, how can we possibly eat them!"
"It's okay, Sister-in-law, don't worry!"
Zhu Weiti said: "Although Liaodong prohibits the waste of food, it does not restrict consumption. You only need to send the food you can't eat to the street office. They will process it twice according to the ingredients and give it to those who need it most! Let's eat No, some people can eat it, and those poor people wish that the rich people had a lot of meat and fish every day, because they can also get involved in some trouble!"
Empress Zhang asked with some confusion: "Why don't you see my adopted daughter?"
"oh!"
Zhu Weiti explained: "Jia Yue should be in school. She is different from other children. In addition to going to school normally, she also has to study music, learn handicrafts, and have military training!"
"military training?"
Queen Zhou asked in confusion: "Do girls still need military training?"
"This is arranged by my husband. I have no choice. I have no say in the education of Jialong and Jiayue. Now Jiayue is young and his physical fitness is not very good, so he only needs to train one every day. At every hour, no matter how windy or rainy it is, Jialong will remain invulnerable every day. He has two hours of military training, half an hour of running, half an hour of fighting, and horse riding training!"
Zhu Weiti sighed and said: "The emperor's sister-in-law doesn't know something, but my husband is too..."
"Too what?"
"Too strict!"
Just as he was talking, there were dense footsteps outside. Without looking, Zhu Weiti knew that this was Cheng Jiayue coming back from school.
Sure enough, Cheng Jiayue, accompanied by the four accompanying readers, ran towards Zhu Weiti.
Zhu Weiti hurriedly went up to meet her. The ground in the yard had just been sprinkled with water. It would be bad if she fell while walking without looking at the road.
Zhu Weiti grabbed Cheng Jialong and pressed her nose hard: "Jia Yue, how many times have I told you to watch the road? What should I do if I fall?"
"Aunt Zhu, I'm not afraid, I won't fall!"
At this time, Cheng Jiayue saw several strangers in the hall. She quickly tilted her head and asked, "Auntie, who are they?"
"These are all our distinguished guests!"
Zhu Weiti brought Cheng Jiayue to the living room: "Jiayue, come here to meet the Queen!"
"Queen?"
Cheng Jiayue just entered the living room.
Queen Zhang was actually more excited than Queen Zhou.
Empress Zhang is now twenty-eight years old. Although she has had a son, Prince Huaichong Zhu Ciran was born stillborn. This tragedy is simply fatal for a woman.
When Emperor Chongzhen found her and wanted her to come forward and adopt Cheng Jiayue as his adopted daughter, Queen Zhang was actually very willing because her identity was very sensitive. If it weren't for Cheng Shijie, she would not be able to adopt anyone's child. Of course, without Emperor Chongzhen's permission, she would not be able to adopt Cheng Jiayue.
Empress Zhang looked at Cheng Jiayue. Cheng Jiayue was different from everyone else in the Ming Dynasty. Even when facing the two most noble women in the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Jiayue had no fear or timidity. Her eyes were bright, like a pool of spring water, very clear.
The moment she saw Cheng Jiayue, Queen Zhang was stunned.
"Meet the Queen!"
Cheng Jiayue's eyes fell on Zhu Cixiang, who was now six years old. According to the custom of this era, Zhu Cixiang who was six years old should be considered seven years old.
"Auntie, who is he?"
"He is... your father's student!"
Cheng Jiayue happily jumped in front of Zhu Cixiang and said: "Then you are in luck. My father never accepts apprentices. You can become his disciple. It is a blessing from your previous life! Let me tell you, my father knows a lot. If you can learn anything from him, you will be able to do it for the rest of your life..."
Zhu Cixiang was a little scared and retreated unconsciously.
Cheng Jiayue reached out and touched Zhu Cixiang's head.
At this moment, a eunuch following behind shouted loudly: "How dare you! How dare you be unreasonable to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
The eunuch's scream really startled Cheng Jiayue.
Queen Zhou looked at the eunuch and said, "Hu Liang'an, step back!"
"It's the Queen!"
Cheng Jiayue looked at the room full of strangers and quietly backed away. She ran to the door and started running towards the door: "Brother, someone is bullying me, brother, someone is bullying me..."
Cheng Jiayue ran and cried.
She immediately ran to the backyard of the East Cross Courtyard. When she arrived at the East Cross Courtyard, she found that Cheng Jialong was not here, so she looked at the guards in the East Cross Courtyard and said, "Where is my brother?"
"The eldest son has gone out and hasn't come back yet!"
"Take me to my brother!"
Cheng Shijie was not at home. Cheng Jiayue's only support was Cheng Jialong. Cheng Jiayue was cute and well-behaved. Even Cheng Shijie never scolded her. In later generations, Cheng Shijie and Xiang Hui always praised Cheng Jiayue. In the palm of my hand, I never scolded him.
Soon, just as Cheng Jiayue was about to leave, Zhu Weiti came over to coax Cheng Jiayue.
Cheng Jiayue was very obedient. Although she stopped crying, her tears kept flowing.
Zhu Weiti couldn't coax her, so Empress Zhou and Empress Zhang also came over to coax Cheng Jiayue. Although Cheng Jiayue stopped crying, she couldn't hide her aggrieved look.
Zhu Weiti looked at the eunuch with an unkind expression.
Although Cheng Jiayue and Cheng Jialong are both Cheng Shijie's children, unlike others, most of them favor sons over daughters, but Cheng Shijie favors daughters over sons. Relatively speaking, he cares more about Cheng Jiayue.
Cheng Jiayue's eyes were red from crying.
Fortunately, Cheng Shijie is not here. If he were here, Hu Liangan would probably have to shed his skin even if he died.
However, after all, Hu Liangan was Zhu Cihong's man sent by Emperor Chongzhen. It depends on the owner to beat a dog, not to mention that the owner of this dog is the emperor?
Until the night was dark, Cheng Jiayue was tired from crying and slowly fell asleep.
At midnight, Cheng Jialong came back.
Before Cheng Jialong could sit down, the guard reported: "Eldest Master, the eldest lady will come to see you this afternoon!"
"Did you tell me what happened?"
"This...I don't know, but looking at the eldest lady, she seems to have been wronged in some way!"
When Cheng Jialong heard this, he couldn't sit still.
Cheng Shijie repeatedly asked him to take good care of Cheng Jiayue. If Cheng Jiayue was wronged, it would be terrible.
Cheng Jialong hurriedly came to the Xikuoyuan where Cheng Jiayue lived. At this time, the Xikuoyuan was brightly lit, and Cheng Jiayue seemed to have fallen asleep. Seeing that Cheng Jiayue fell asleep, Cheng Jialong breathed a sigh of relief.
However, just when Cheng Jialong was about to leave, Cheng Jiayue suddenly turned around: "Brother, I want to go home, I miss my mother..."
Cheng Jialong looked into Cheng Jiayue's eyes. At this time, her eyes were swollen into peaches. This made Cheng Jialong feel heartbroken: "Who is it!"
Cheng Jialong was really angry.
Sun Pu, who was following outside, timidly told Cheng Jialong everything that happened in the afternoon. At that time, Sun Pu did not add fuel to the fire, but reported the truth.
Cheng Jialong asked: "Where are they?"
"I don't know now, but after dinner, they had already left!"
"You ask!"
Cheng Jialong looked at Li Zaiyang and said, "Go find Gao Jie and ask Gao Jie to bring his people over!"
Cheng Jialong actually knew very well that Ning Haijun's bodyguard department had plenty of manpower, but the problem was that in the eyes of the bodyguards, Cheng Jialong was the young master and Zhu Weiti was the mistress. They would probably protect themselves wisely and not dare to offend the queen.
It didn't take long, and Li Zaiyang quickly found out where Queen Zhou was staying. This place was located in a courtyard in the west of Jinzhou City. Zhu Weiti actually wanted Queen Zhou and the prince to temporarily stay in the Ning Haijun General Military Mansion.
But the problem is that Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang are not alone. They bring three to four hundred people with them. Number three hundred and four hundred will not be able to live in the Ning Haijun General Military Mansion.
What's more, more than two-thirds of the area of Ning Haijun's General Military Mansion belongs to government offices, and Ning Haijun's military headquarters and various departments of the Liaodong Management Committee are here.
Gao Jie was just about to rest with the Xing family and took off his clothes when he received the order from Cheng Jialong. When he learned that Cheng Jialong asked him to take the manpower, he thought that someone had offended Mr. Cheng without opening his eyes.
Gao Jie would naturally not let go of the opportunity to perform like this.
Gao Jie took more than 200 people to the Ning Haijun General Military Mansion. Of course, they did not get within 500 steps of the Ning Haijun General Military Mansion when they were stopped by soldiers and horses from the Guards Department.
Not long after, Cheng Jialong and Cheng Jiayue came out in a carriage.
"Meet the eldest son!"
Cheng Jialong waved to Gao Jie and said, "Gao Jie, do you dare to kill someone for me?"
"I am willing to die for the eldest son!"
"Very good!"
Cheng Jialong said: "Li Zaiyang, lead the way!"
At this moment, a thin woman appeared on the street. It was none other than Gu Ziyi, the maid beside Zhu Weiti and one of Cheng Shijie's concubines.
"Master, wait a moment!"
(End of chapter)
