After sending Imperial Physician Chen back to Tai Hospital, Yang Xuan took the prescription and Zhu Di's order to the Imperial Pharmacy to grab the medicine.
The medicine here can be said to be the best in the entire Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, the people at Imperial Pharmacy are all professional, so there will be no chance of getting the wrong medicine.
After the medicine was ready, he personally sent it to Zhongshan.
However, he did not know that when he went to Zhongshan to deliver medicine, Zhu Di summoned Dr. Chen, who was treating Lan Yu.
In the imperial study room, Zhu Di looked at Imperial Physician Chen who was kneeling in front of him and said calmly:
"You mean, Lan Yu doesn't have many years left to live?"
"I dare not deceive Your Majesty." Dr. Chen kowtowed heavily.
Immediately, Lan Yu's physical condition was analyzed from a professional perspective.
"Get flat!"
"I have no intention of punishing you."
Zhu Di said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Dr. Chen stood up.
"From now on, you will be personally responsible for Lan Yu. Let him live as long as possible!"
"He...has served the country well after all!"
Zhu Di took a long breath and said slowly.
"I obey the order!" Imperial Physician Chen respectfully accepted the order.
Then when Zhu Di waved his hand, he knew it was time to leave.
"Wei Chen resigns!"
Alas~
There was only a heavy sigh left in the imperial study.
After being the emperor for so many years, Zhu Di no longer had the same opinion of Lan Yu that he had before.
Instead, I felt sorry for him even more.
As the saying goes, heroes cherish heroes!
He is determined to restore Lan Yu's title.
However, his father deposed Lan Yu's title and asked him to guard the mausoleum.
If he restores Lan Yu's title, wouldn't it mean that I have done something wrong?
"Forget it... Anyway, I have done more than one thing against my ancestor's decision, and I don't care about one more."
"And the waste of Lan Yu for common people is just because you, my father, are trying to pave the way for that little bastard Zhu Yunwen."
"Facts have proven that that little bastard Zhu Yunwen is not suitable to be emperor."
"Father, you are wrong. If you had passed on to me in the end, your twelfth brother would not have died, and the Ming Dynasty would not have fallen into three years of civil strife."
Zhu Di leaned on the back of the dragon chair, looked at the ceiling, and spoke in a soft voice. He didn't know whether he was speaking to Old Zhu in heaven or to himself.
After a long silence, Zhu Di made a decision in his heart.
The next time Yang Xuan requested to restore Lan Yu's title, he would go along with the situation and restore his title.
This would also make Yang Xuan owe him a favor.
Killing two birds with one stone, why not?
…
After Yang Xuan delivered the medicine to Lan Yu, it was already dusk when he returned to the Hou Mansion.
Another day passed like this.
Fortunately, he has the privilege of not going to court and can sleep until he wakes up naturally.
At the same time, Xia Yuanji clocked out of get off work and returned home.
His wife has prepared dinner.
Two plates of pickles and two bowls of porridge were dinner for the couple. ①
When he saw Xia Yuanji eating, he still looked thoughtful.
His wife Zheng was very angry.
"Can you stop thinking about your things while eating?"
"Look at what we eat every day. Among all the officials in the capital, is there anyone worse off than you?"
"You, the Minister of Household Affairs and a dignified second-rank official, can't think of ways to improve our family's conditions."
"Don't say that you give me your monthly salary. With just your salary, we have to pay a lot of money to pay the rent of this yard every month. We also have to pay a lot of money to my mother-in-law, sister Wang② and San A child sends money.”
"In addition, in recent years, the rent of houses in Beijing has been getting higher and higher."
"There is not much money left for us to eat every month."
"If we had followed the salary when the Ming Dynasty was first established, I'm afraid our family would have starved to death."
What Zheng said is also true.
Although Xia Yuanji was in charge of the entire Ming Dynasty's economy, he never embezzled a penny and only used his own salary.
It can be said that he has to support a large family by himself.
He is the eldest son in the family. His father died when he was thirteen. It was his mother who raised the three brothers.
He could not fulfill his filial piety in front of his mother's knees, so he asked Mrs. Wang to take the child to fulfill his filial piety for him.
His salary was only enough for him and his wife to live on, and the rest was sent back to his hometown.
Therefore, compared with other ministers who are also the second-rank officials, he lives a relatively poor life.
"Okay, our life now is good enough."
"How many people have worked hard for a year, but in the end they can't even afford a full meal."
"As the Minister of Household Affairs, I am in charge of people's livelihood and economy, but in the end I can't even provide the people with a full meal."
"I'm already very ashamed of them." Xia Yuanji said with a straight face.
The hardship of life in his childhood did not allow him to accept bribes after he reached a high position. Instead, it created his strong character and his ambition to serve the country and the people.
He knew in his heart that the salary he received came from the people, so he naturally wanted to do practical things for the people.
Seeing that her husband seemed a little angry, Mrs. Zheng stopped talking and just ate porridge with pickles.
She finished eating quickly. Seeing Xia Yuanji starting to think about things again, she stepped forward and roughly grabbed the bowls and chopsticks from his hands.
"Since your mind is filled with those national events, then you can continue to think about them and stop eating."
"You don't want to eat it anyway!"
"Hey, hey, you..."
Xia Yuanji raised his finger and pointed at his wife, feeling helpless.
He didn't want to quarrel with his wife now, so he got up and came to his simple study.
After grinding the ink, he spread out a piece of special paper for memorials on the table. Then he picked up the brush, dipped some ink in it, and thinking about what Yang Xuantong said to himself that day, he started to write.
"Xia Yuanji respectfully wishes to inform Your Majesty..."
He was engrossed in writing the content of the poem and did not feel the passage of time at all.
When he came to his senses when he heard the noise coming from the door, he saw his wife Zheng coming over with porridge.
"If you're not in a hurry, just eat something first to cushion your stomach before writing."
After hearing his wife's words, Xia Yuanji rubbed his stomach, looked at his wife and said with a smile: "Don't mention it, I'm really hungry."
He took the porridge, took a small taste, and then raised his head and asked his wife: "Did you add sugar?"
"Why do you ask so many questions? Hurry up and eat."
"I'm still busy after eating!"
The price of sugar is not low, and the family doesn't have much, but my wife is never willing to eat it and keeps it all for herself.
Looking at the bowl of porridge in front of him, Xia Yuanji felt warm in his heart.
He scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his wife's mouth: "Try it too!"
Zheng rolled her eyes, but she didn't refuse, so she tasted it briefly, not even one-tenth of Xia Yuanji's mouthful.
For her, a taste of sweetness is enough.
"Okay, hurry up and don't let the porridge get cold!"
In one word, the good atmosphere is gone.
Xia Yuanji smiled bitterly in his heart. His wife was good at everything except that she had a mouth...
…
① In the play "Zheng He's Voyages to the West", there is a scene where Zhu Di raids Xia Yuanji's house, but what Zhu Di sees is Xia Yuanji's poverty. Here I borrow the pickles and porridge from the play.
② Xia Yuanji has two wives, Zheng and Wang.
