The night rain is gurgling, the pipa is clanging, the guests have gone to pour their cups in the pavilion, and the lights are dim.
Yao Qing sat facing the lake and played "Golden Thread Clothes" to Ye Yu. She studied under Cao Xingtan, a pipa master, and learned all about his true heritage. She also prided herself on her noble status and rarely showed it to others. Therefore, only her famous name was spread in Yongjing, and even if she spent a lot of money, she could hardly get a piece of music.
But tonight her music contribution was rejected, but the one who rejected her was the person she wanted to play for the most.
Yao He stood behind him and beat the chopsticks with him: "I advise you not to cherish your gold-threaded clothes, and I advise you to cherish your youth. Flowers can be broken when they are in bloom, but they must be broken when they are empty."
The music stopped and the night rain continued. Yao Qingyi cried silently while holding her pipa. Yao He stood behind her and sighed. After a long while, he comforted her and said, "Why are you crying? He will promise to marry you."
Yao Qingyi said: "He will only marry the daughter of the Yao family. He doesn't like me."
Yao Heshou said: "This man is not someone who can be captured by his sexual skills, but the people in the Yongpinghou family are very affectionate. As long as he marries you, as time goes by, there will always be a time when he is tempted."
Yao Qingyi put down her pipa, turned around and asked Yao Heshou: "Why didn't dad agree to my sister back then, but now he is willing to let me marry him?"
“Times change and I just go with the flow.”
Yao Heshou asked people to remove the table, bring in the clay stove and tea utensils, and wash his hands to make tea himself. Ever since he was promoted to Prime Minister, he had been so involved in state affairs that he rarely had such leisurely moments. It was rare that he took a break on a rainy day to have a few heartfelt words with Yao Qingyi.
"Although with Beijin as a guarantee, your father, the prime minister, can still be prosperous for a few more years, but the dangerous building is hundreds of feet tall, and no one pillar can support it. Your brother is unsatisfactory and only causes trouble all day long. As a father, you can only count on him. You sisters. When the new emperor ascended the throne, my Yao family also worked hard, and our family deserves the position of concubine. I thought that the daughter of the Qi family was frail and sick, and was not a person who would live long. When she died of illness, I would help your sister become the queen. ,did not expect……"
Yao Qingyi understood the rest of the matter, "I didn't expect that Queen Xiangyi committed suicide in public and trapped my sister in injustice. Now that my sister cannot become the queen, my father has no choice but to go with the flow and help the Yongping Marquis Mansion."
Yao Heshou nodded, "It's better to sell them a favor than to become a deeper enemy."
Yao Qingyi asked: "Am I also part of the human relationship?"
Yao Heshou avoided answering and persuaded her: "Qi Lingzhan can be ranked first in Yongjing in terms of appearance and talent. It is not an injustice for you to marry him. If your brother can be half as good as him, I don't have to ask for help today."
Yao Qingyi smiled bitterly and said, "I'm not wronged. I'm just afraid that he is the one who feels wronged."
In the Yongping Hou Mansion, Rong Tinglan was sitting under the lamp calculating her account books, but because she was restless, she kept pointing at the abacus and making a mess.
The maid brought her hot tea and advised her to rest. Rong Tinglan just took it and took a sip when she saw Qi Lingzhan walking from the courtyard through the window, her eyelids twitched involuntarily.
"Did something happen again?"
She stood up to greet Qi Lingzhan, and saw that Qi Lingzhan's temples were stained with rain and dew, and his sleeves and robe corners were wet. She hurriedly asked the servant girl to get the veil. Qi Lingzhan stopped walking down the hall and saluted: "Don't bother mother, it's just a small matter, I'll tell you Leave as soon as you’re done.”
The maid retreated out of the house and bumped into Zhaowei on the corridor. She was closing her umbrella and patting the water droplets on her sleeves carefully.
The servant woman said: "Madam and the prince have something to discuss, so please wait in the corridor for a while."
Upon hearing this, Zhaowei raised his eyebrows slightly, nodded, and said to the servant woman: "It's a bit cold out here. Could you please help me make a cup of hot tea?"
The maid took the order and left. Zhaowei walked quietly under the lattice window when she heard Rong Tinglan say decisively: "This is not feasible."
There was anger in her tone, which made Zhao Wei very curious. She lowered her body further and put her ears close to her.
She heard Qi Lingzhan's slow and gentle voice: "My mother's love is a blessing for my son, but Yaoning and Zhaowei have sacrificed too much for this. As women, they are not able to get married on their own, and I have Why should I reject it willfully, but I should be careful about myself?"
Rong Tinglan said: "I can't control their affairs, but I will never allow the daughter of the Yao family to step into the Hou Mansion and become my daughter-in-law. Otherwise, when I see her, I will remember that Yao Ning was forced to death by the Yao family." .”
"Mother."
Zhaowei leaned under the window and listened to Qi Lingzhan's eloquent explanation. His tone was gentle and clear, as if he was discussing someone who had nothing to do with him.
He said that the imperial decree to establish the queen is still in Zhongshu Province, and marrying Yao Qingyi is the condition for the Yao family to give up the fight for the position of queen, and it is the step given by Yao Heshou. If you take this step, the two families will be repaired, and Concubine Yao will not regard Zhaowei as an enemy in the palace; if you refuse to take this step, I am afraid that the two families will not be able to maintain their smiling faces in public.
"For my little plan, mother should think of Yaoning's lesson; for my plan, Prime Minister Yao has turned sixty this year and his son is no longer able to survive. Only if I become his son-in-law, will he trust me and rely on me."
Rong Tinglan's attitude gradually changed from firm opposition to silence. After a while, she said: "Zi Wang, you are still young and should have married the girl you like. Once you choose this path, you will be doomed to be separated from each other and live in different beds." It’s so long, no one knows how warm or cold it is, have you really figured it out?”
Qi Lingzhan's attitude was without hesitation: "It's not my fault that I have to follow suit. I don't have a sweetheart now, but I only have a younger sister, Zhaowei."
Rong Tinglan let out a long sigh.
To get married, the man should send someone to visit the woman's house first. Rong Tinglan said that he wanted to go to the Yao family in person. Qi Lingzhan was considerate of her mood and said that he would only send an official matchmaker there.
Rong Tinglan smiled bitterly and said: "How can the younger generation be willing to accept compromises, while the elders are willful and unruly? My late husband's grudges are still there, so I go there in person, which shows the sincerity of the Houfu to fight. Compared with the suffering you have to endure, it's not It’s not really a grievance.”
Qi Lingzhan bowed deeply and said, "Please mother, please don't tell Zhao Wei about this, I'm afraid she won't be able to rub this grain of sand out of her eyes."
Rong Tinglan sighed, "She will know sooner or later."
Qi Lingzhan said: "Then it will be later and wait until she enters the palace safely."
Three days later, Rong Tinglan prepared gifts and would drive to Yao's house. The night before, she lied to Zhaowei that she was going to patrol the shop. At that time, Zhaowei was playing with her new slingshot. Hearing this, she lost interest and only told her to go early and come back early.
Rong Tinglan breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, when he was about to board the carriage early in the morning, he was caught off guard and saw Zhaowei already waiting beside the carriage.
She is wearing a light purple flowered gown, her black hair is tied into a neat bun, lightly powdered and lightly dotted with vermilion. She holds a peony fan and half-covers her face while smiling. She has the graceful grace of a lady.
There is only one pair of bright eyes, like silver water nourishing jade, showing unfettered agility.
She smiled at Mrs. Rong and said, "I will go with my mother to inspect the shops."
That slightly narrow smile made Mrs. Rong immediately turn cold and reprimanded her: "I don't care where you heard the news from, this matter is of great importance and you will never be allowed to fool around!"
"What nonsense can I do? Can this matter be stopped by burning down the Yao family's house?"
Zhao Wei impatiently threw the fan into the carriage and promised Rong Tinglan: "Mom, just take me. If I get into trouble this time, I will personally apologize to my brother. If you don't take me, I will walk by myself." If you follow it, your face will become even worse."
Rong Tinglan had no choice but to allow her to get in the car. On the way, he kept telling her about the principle of sleeping hard and enduring hardships. Zhaowei listened quietly and said nothing all the way. When she was about to arrive at the prime minister's house, she suddenly leaned into Rong's arms and whispered: "My daughter is unfilial and has made my mother suffer for me."
Hearing this, Rong Tinglan's words stopped abruptly, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
Yao Mansion received the greeting card, and this morning Yao Heshou and his wife went to Zhaobi to greet him. When he saw Zhaowei following Rong Tinglan, he couldn't help but be startled, and the smile on his face faded by three points.
Zhaowei acted as if he hadn't seen her before, stepped forward, gathered her skirts, and saluted, saying with a smile: "Unfortunately, I, the second mother-in-law of the Qi family, have met the Prime Minister and Madam, and wish the Prime Minister and Madam well. In the past, I behaved in a rude manner, and I often offended you. Today I came here with my mother to apologize."
She is polite and well-behaved, and is irresistible. Mrs. Rong looked on, feeling sad for a moment, her nose was slightly sore, and the koudan hidden under her wide sleeves was pinched deeply into her palms.
In the South Garden of the Imperial Palace, in the Zhengshi Hall under the Zhongshu Gate.
The Prime Minister was away today, so Qi Lingzhan took the opportunity to convene people to discuss matters and approve the resolution submitted by officials and merchants for the transportation of grain from various places.
The longest title book comes from Rong Yuqing. After arriving in Lianghuai in early February, he spent a month visiting ordinary people who produced cloth and taxed grain before he could figure out the tax situation in Lianghuai.
The Great Zhou Dynasty relied on the two Huaihe Rivers for food and clothing, but this place suffered from exploitation at all levels, and the people were already stretched thin and miserable. Rong Yuqing reported what he learned to the imperial court and included his own thoughts in the title book.
One of them was to ask the court to grant him authority to change the tax cloth in Ye County and Aonan County from finished cloth to an equal amount of silk floss. He then hired poor people from both places to weave the silk floss into cloth as an official businessman. This can reduce the cloth tax burden on the people of the two counties, and ensure that the cloth collected is of the same color and quality. When sold elsewhere, or even overseas, it can be sold at a higher price, earning more tax money for the court.
In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this matter, Rong Yuqing worked hard and traveled all over the Huaihe River. Not only did he study how to collect silk floss, how to build workshops, and how to teach illiterate refugees, but he also always paid attention to the transformation of new looms. Condition.
He was so busy that he didn't even rush back to Qingcheng when his wife gave birth. He only happily spent the night drinking alone when he received a letter home saying "mother and daughter are safe".
It is now June, and he has compiled the results of his search and research into a title book, which contains more than thirty chapters and nearly 20,000 words, just to persuade the court to allow him to try this plan in the two poorest counties in Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers.
The question book was handed over to the Central Publishing House, but the answer was not as pleasant as expected.
The local transshipment envoy and the third division grain tax collector were dissatisfied with Rong Yuqing and others for usurping their interests, and they made trouble everywhere. Now they objected to this matter on the grounds that "using business to control the people will damage the reputation of the court", and even more What's more, they actually suspected that Rong Yuqing's move was to "hide the imperial court, bully the people, and collect huge sums of money for himself."
"This is not the Yushitai, and we don't have the power to report anything. If you say someone is corrupt, you have to provide evidence."
Qi Lingzhan had a headache from their quarrel. He glanced coldly at the officials of the Third Division under Yao Heshou and said quietly: "If there is no evidence, please put your stamp on the resolution so that this matter can be passed as soon as possible so that it can be implemented as soon as possible."
Several officials from the Third Division refused to give in easily, saying that they would first wait for Prime Minister Yao to nod his approval.
Qi Lingzhan sneered in his heart, bypassed them, and asked the remaining officials who agreed to delay. He raised his hand and approved the word "approval" on the decision document.
Cinnabar is like blood, and its red color is scalding. Although his words no longer have the strength to penetrate the back of the paper, they still have an upright and unrestrained character.
After the meeting ended, Qi Lingzhan was still sitting in the hall, thinking about what he would face next. Although he deliberately bypassed Prime Minister Yao and took advantage of Rong Yuqing's trick, he knew in his heart that these tax collectors who had taken advantage of him would not give up. They had many ways to secretly stumble people.
I have to write a letter to remind Rong Yuqing, but can I avoid it just by reminding him?
Just as he was thinking about it, Ping Yan found this place. He looked a little anxious and rushed in front of Qi Lingzhan without wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Qi Lingzhan looked at him with a bad feeling in his heart.
Sure enough, I heard Ping Yan say: "Your Majesty, there is news from the mansion that the second girl has gone to the Prime Minister's Mansion with my wife to propose marriage!"
Qi Lingzhan's heart sank when he heard this, and he suddenly got up from the wicker chair and walked out.
