The Lofty Fierce Consort

Chapter 138

In the evening, the old lady was making noise again.

Mother Zhao brought the chicken soup to her, and she vomited all over her clothes and quilt.

Mother Zhao knew that the old lady did not want to drink chicken soup. Since the Weiyuan Hou Mansion moved out, the old lady’s food has dropped a lot. Although ginseng and deer antler were not constant in the past, nourishing products such as bird’s nest are also available every day. Nowadays, the only kind of tonic used by the old lady is chicken soup, stewed hen with angelica, red dates and so on. No matter how the content is changed in it, it is also a chicken, and the taste is the same.

Not to mention that the old lady seldom eats chicken before, even if she eats chicken, she is very particular about it. For example, we slaughter more than a dozen chickens just to eat a plate of braised chicken wings, or a few chickens are used for stewing soup, just to eat a bowl of chicken shreds. surface. Using a chicken to send the old lady, how could she accept it?

For this reason, the ignorant Xiao Miao always went out and said that the old lady was greedy and wanted to eat well.

Mother Zhao didn’t have time to take care of her, so she let her talk. In fact, Xiao Miao is not a broken mouth, but there are a lot of tactics among the subordinates. Obviously, it is hard work to wait on the old lady’s side, and fools will come on the initiative, and therefore fall on Xiao Miao, a little girl who bought from outside. And for some subordinates, she is lazy and always likes to ridicule others. Every time I saw Xiao Miao sitting in front of a big wooden basin and scrubbing the quilt, someone would ask her what’s wrong.

Xiao Miao was young and ignorant. She couldn’t understand why such a good chicken soup made the old lady so unwelcome. She could only say that the old lady wanted to eat well. She also kindly wanted Mrs. Chen to change her mouth after she knew about it, but it was a pity that the Chens always turned a blind eye.

Mother Zhao stood in front and asked Xiao Miao to change the clothes on the old lady. Xiao Miao leaned to untie her clothes, and the old lady screamed and cursed vaguely.

First of all, Xiao Miao is also quite afraid of this kind of sound. After a long time, she is not too close, but she is not afraid anymore. But she didn’t dare to get close to look at the old lady’s face, this face always reminded her of the story of the yellow skin sperm that her mother told her when she was a child.

Xiao Miao was not a son of Weiyuan Houfu’s family. He came to Hengshui Hutong afterwards. No one came to wait for the old lady. He bought it from outside.

Mum Zhao and Xiao Miao were both sweating profusely as soon as they survived. After resting for a while, Xiao Miao went to the kitchen to serve the rice heated on the stove. Mother Zhao asked her to eat first, and she sat on the bedside persuading the old lady.

Xiao Miao admired Mother Zhao very much, because she had also heard what the old lady said, but she couldn’t understand it. Naturally, she didn’t know that this was the skill that Mother Zhao had developed after serving the old lady for decades. Even if it was the look of the old lady, Mother Zhao knew what she wanted to express.

Xiao Miao squatted outside and grabbed the rice from the bowl. The meal for the servants was naturally not as good as that of the masters. There were only a few pieces of fat meat and some vegetable leaves, but Xiao Miao never dared to eat before. In fact, Xiao Miao was in a small village not far from the capital. The year before last, there was a famine and the family couldn’t support her, so she sold her. Xiao Miao was only eight years old when he was sold, and now he is only ten years old.

After all, Mother Zhao didn’t persuade the old lady, and brought out the remaining half cup of chicken soup. Xiao Miao sniffed the smell of chicken soup in the air, and when she saw this, Zhao’s mother poured all the remaining chicken soup into her bowl. Xiao Miao asked Mother Zhao to eat some too. Mother Zhao shook her head and glanced at Xiao Miao strangely.

Xiao Miao knew that this meant pity, and many people in this yard looked at her that way. From Xiao Miao’s point of view, these people are quite boring, isn’t it just that day by day? It’s good to have enough food to eat. They probably haven’t tried it when they don’t even have a full stomach.

Mother Zhao didn’t even eat dinner, so she sighed and shook her head and went into the back room again. The old lady must have someone to watch the night. This work is usually done by Zhao’s mother. Xiao Miao is not her turn because she is small and a bit stupid.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Miao was woken up by Mother Zhao, saying that she was a little uncomfortable, and asked her to guard for a while.

The next day, Xiao Miao wondered why Mother Zhao hadn’t got up. When she went to call her, she found that Mother Zhao couldn’t get up.

…

Mother Zhao was ill, very ill, and could not get up directly lying on the couch.

The Chen family asked Mother Zhao for a doctor, and the doctor said that as she is getting older, she is at a disadvantage and can only raise her slowly.

Mother Zhao is sick and can’t wait for the old lady anymore. Xiao Miao is definitely not good enough alone, so she can only take one out of her servants to wait. The subordinates are afraid to avoid it. It is useless to ask grandpa to tell grandma. Chen can’t go to battle in person, so whoever is picked is naturally unlucky.

The old lady made a lot of trouble when she couldn’t see Mother Zhao, but no one could understand her, so let her make trouble. But Xiao Miao understood why the old lady was making trouble and told her that Mother Zhao was sick and could not get up now.

Mother Zhao lay down for another two days. Her son came to the door and begged the third master and said that he wanted to take Mother Zhao out. Zhao’s mother has worked for the Weiyuan Hou Mansion all her life. Now she is dying of illness. Zhao’s son wants to take her out to wait for two days.

San Ye agreed, and tears were in her eyes when Mother Zhao was carried away.

After Mother Zhao left, the old lady was silent for a long time, but within a few days she returned to her old habits. But there was a lot of noise, but this time the servant who was waiting for her was not so dedicated. If the clothes and bedding are dirty, they should continue to be dirty. If you are not in a hurry, just wait. As for wiping, don’t even think about it, even turning over every half an hour is gone.

San Ye will come to greet the old lady every one or two days, but now the old lady has become completely different from before, and everyone knows that she is making trouble for no reason. He is not good at condemning the servants, so he can only let Chen Be a little bit more concerned. Chen was so angry that she had to worry about such a big mess. The two daughters came to cry for her every day. He Yan Qu said to her to make her feel more concerned, so she turned her head and went to Aunt Cui. There will be more thoughts to have ghosts!

The patient who is paralyzed on the bed needs to wait for it with all his heart before it can last long. With such a fuss, the old lady lost the energy to make a fuss in a few days. The weather was hot, and no one turned her over to wipe her sweat to change the bedding, and the old lady soon developed bedsores.

She hurts her and feels uncomfortable, so she can hear her whining or howling day and night. It’s just that no one pays attention to her anymore. Everyone is an old lady deliberately. The woman who served the old lady with Xiao Miao even cursed secretly, why don’t you die quickly, die!

Suddenly one day, the old lady finally stopped. The six girls and seven girls are no longer making noises so scared that they cry at night, and Aunt Lan wants to put cotton wool in her young son’s ears, and there is sunshine on everyone’s faces.

Another day, Xiao Miao’s scream resounded through the entire Erjin’s yard.

The old lady is gone.

The old lady’s death was extremely miserable, her bones were as thin as wood, and her back and buttocks were all covered with ulcerated bedsores.

The third master was furious and scolded the servant who was waiting for the old lady.

But the subordinate is quite innocent, Xiao Miao is a young man. After Zhao’s mother left, the Chen family also arranged for someone to come and wait. They just stopped working for a few days. They cried and cried and quit, and had to replace them. In the end, such a rule was formed, and a few people took turns to wait on them, changing to one every few days. Whose responsibility can the old lady look for like this? I can’t pull it all out for a fight. What’s more, if you hit someone, who will do the errands in this mansion?

Under Aunt Cui’s instigation, the third master blamed Chen for all the responsibilities. It was all because this daughter-in-law didn’t care about it that caused this situation!

You can only make trouble in your own house. Before going to report the funeral, you have to collect it for the old lady. I can’t let Dafang and the eldest sister know that the old lady passed away in such a bleak way because they didn’t care about the three rooms.

When Yan Zhi was not there, the Xue family came with two sons, and Shen Yiyao and Yan Mo also came.

The son of Mother Zhao, who has been following here, did not dare to go back and tell his mother the news. Mother Zhao has been seriously ill since she left here, and she has only just met now. He was afraid that he could not bear the news of telling his mother.

The funeral of the old lady was held in Hengshui Hutong.

Today is different. Except for the Chen family, Shen family, and Xue family, almost no one came to offer sacrifices. Yan Feng cried to death, but to no avail.

People die when they die, and they die like a lamp.

The spirit that had stopped for seven days was hurriedly buried, just in front of Yan Ting Yiguan Tomb, living next to the deceased Old Hou Ye.

Xu Xiangrong wanted to hide Yan Ting, but after thinking about it, he decided to tell him.

Yan Ting had recovered from a serious illness, and fell down after learning the news. After the man woke up, he forced him to be carried on the carriage, and the carriage stopped for the whole night on the opposite side of the three-bedroom residence in Hengshui Hutong.

When the old lady was buried, naturally everyone was there, including Yan Yan and Luo Huaiyuan.

After that, when Yan Yan and Luo Huaiyuan got in the car and prepared to return to their home, they saw a familiar black-painted flat-headed carriage from a distance.

This kind of ordinary-looking carriage is everywhere in the capital, so Yan Yan’s point of view is that she had seen such a carriage in Hengshui Hutong long ago, and at this time she actually saw another carriage.

Is it the same car, or did she see it wrong?

“What’s the matter?” Luo Huaiyuan asked.

Yan Yan shook her head: “Nothing.”

This incident only caused a faint ripple in Yan Yan’s heart, and did not think deeply.

…

After everyone had left, the inconspicuous carriage finally approached.

After a long distance, he stopped, and the groom got down and put down the bench, and raised the driving curtain.

There was a voice in the carriage.

“I have someone help you down.”

“No.” This is another male voice.

Then, one person came out of the carriage.

The man’s face was pale and ghostly, and his cheeks sank so badly that there seemed to be only a handful of bones left. His actions were quite difficult, and the simple move of getting off the car caused him to grind for a long time, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

The driver couldn’t stand it anymore, and reached out his hand to help him. He unavoidably got out of the car and almost fell over.

“Your leg hurts—”

Yan Ting leaned on the wooden crutches with difficulty, and waved away the hand that wanted to hold him behind him with the other hand, “Go away, go away!”

His expression was quite agitated, his eyes sank, his eyes were black and blue, and his eyes were full of bloodshot eyes. At first glance, it looks like an evil spirit crawling out of hell.

He walked forward with crutches, pain in his bone marrow every step he took, but he felt a sense of refreshment from the bottom of his heart.

Mother, mother, your unfilial son came to see you!

Xu Xiangrong looked at his back from the carriage with complicated eyes.

After a while, he got out of the car and walked slowly thereafter.

Yan Ting walked to the grave with all his energy.

After the cliff fell, his right leg was seriously injured. It is said that when he was found, his right leg bone was directly on the outside. After that, he sought out a famous doctor to connect his leg. The doctor said that he needed to be taken care of, otherwise he would be disabled in the future.

It stands to reason that Yan Ting shouldn’t try to walk around, but as a son of man, he has never done his filial piety well. His mother was not around before his death, and he was not there even when he was buried. Can’t show up either. Yan Ting finally walked out of the shadow of begging for death, and finally a little thought of survival arose. At this time, he was completely shattered by the death of the old lady.

Even if he knew that life and death were always the norm, the old lady’s body would have been bad for a long time. It is estimated that after learning of her death, she would have been another heavy blow. White-haired people give black-haired people, who can bear these! It was another blow to move out of the Weiyuan Hou Mansion where he had lived all his life. It is conceivable that the old lady will be bad. But Yan Ting couldn’t think of this at this time. Even if he thought of it, he didn’t want to pay attention to it. He felt that it was his fault. It was because his old lady died so early and so miserable. Otherwise, the old lady would definitely enjoy her twilight years.

Yan Ting knelt down with a thud and threw away the crutch in his hand.

With a very sad ‘mother’, he crawled on the ground and cried out all his sorrows. The cold wind was blowing, and the white paper money was blown to dance with the wind. Xu Xiangrong stood not far behind him, with one hand behind him, grabbing gussets as a gift.

Yan Ting was kneeling just like that, like an eternal sculpture.

The sky began to patter with light rain, the rain was fine and dense, and it soon wet the ground.

Xu Xiangrong took two steps forward and pulled him up: “Let’s go, it’s time to leave.”

Yan Ting, who had been silent for a long time, waved him away: “Go away!” He roared hysterically, as if Xu Xiangrong was his enemy.

The corners of Xu Xiangrong’s mouth were pinched tightly, and his facial lines were stiff.

“I’ll say it again, it’s time to leave!”

Yan Ting ignored him, and he stretched out his hand to drag him. Xu Xiangrong doesn’t know how to use martial arts. If Yan Ting is still in good health, he will naturally not be able to pull him, but now he has just recovered from his illness, and his legs are inconvenient, so Xu Xiangrong pulled him up.

“Why do you want to save me? Why do you want to save me? You might as well let me die, I won’t be grateful to you…”

Yan Ting seemed to be mad, struggling desperately, rain pounding on the two of them, and soon his hair was wet against the faces.

“Enough of you! What a trouble!”

Xu Xiangrong couldn’t bear it, and got used to him on the ground. When he saw him falling to the ground, he looked embarrassed and felt that he couldn’t bear to hug him.

“My patience is limited. Don’t challenge my patience. Don’t ask me why I want to save you this stupid question. Since I saved you, you will give me a good life!”

While Xu Xiangrong was talking, he hugged Yan Ting and went to the carriage. The coachman hurriedly stepped forward to help him lift him onto the carriage.

Yan Ting’s face was extremely messy, and he collapsed on the carriage full of mud. His lips were blue with cold, and his facial lines showed a strange curve.

“You are disgusting, you really make me disgusting! It’s all because of you, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have fallen into this situation!”

Xu Xiangrong took out a dry kerchief from the cabinet, wiped his wet hair, and slowly wiped the muddy water on his hands.

“Yes, I’m disgusting, I’m despicable, you’ve said this countless times. Even if you greet you on the surface, you still scold me like that. You can scold me as you like, but don’t forget one thing, your life I rescued it.”

“You think I was saved by you, so I want to be grateful to you? It’s not easy to live, but it’s not easy to die!” Yan Ting sneered.

Before he could finish his words, Yan Ting realized that he had an extra hand on his chin. The snow-white slender hand tightly pinched his chin, as if to crush it. The other, equally snow-white, slender hand was holding a kerchief and slowly wiping his face, moving very gently, but this movement and the face in front of him made Yan Ting unbearable.

The thin, pale white lips opened and closed up and down: “I found that people really can’t give a face, I give you a face, you don’t want it, don’t blame me for not giving you a face in the future. Want to die, do you?”

Xu Xiangrong’s voice was very soft, like a puff of smoke, “I said, I saved your life, you want to die? Yes! I remember that you have a brother and several sons, and I don’t want your Yan family to cut off children and grandchildren. If you don’t want your mother to crawl out of the coffin to find you, just be honest with me!”

Yan Ting’s face turned dead white in an instant.

But the tone of the person in front of him and his usual behavior told him that he really did such a thing.

“Xu Xiangrong, you despicable and shameless evil spirit!”

Xu Xiangrong lowered his eyes to cover the light in his eyes and ignored him.

In a blink of an eye, Luo Huaiyuan came out of Beijing.

Long before, Prince Yun’s Mansion was ready to open. The people who should be picked and taken away were all picked out. In the past few years, Luo Huaiyuan ordered the people to investigate in all directions. Naturally, those other people’s eyeliners could not be taken away.

Xi Gonggong was old and so old, so he was not going to go to the domain with Luo Huaiyuan and stayed at the Yunwang Mansion in Beijing to take care of the house. Luo Huaiyuan understood what he meant, and he readily gave the “antidote” to father-in-law Xi, which was a cause for concern.

On the day when he left Beijing, the convoy stretched for several miles, and it seemed that the momentum was huge, but it was incomparable with the king of Jin and Qi when he was out of Beijing.

Shen Yiyao, Yan Mo, Yan Ru, Yan Ling, and Liu Shuyi have all come to send Yan Yan, but there is no one from Zhenguo Gong’s mansion, because Yan Yan and his wife have already gone to the mansion for the first two days to meet their grandfather, uncle, uncle, and aunt. This is the time when everyone is watching, so it’s better to keep a low profile.

After getting on the chariot, what was left behind was the capital city where it was born, and what was waiting in front of Yan Yan was a completely unfamiliar place.

“Don’t worry, the place in Yunzhou is cold in winter. When we reach our own boundary, we want to do a lot in the future.”

Luo Huaiyuan naturally comforted Yan Yan. Although the domain was the domain of the vassal prince, it was indispensable for the supervision of the court and the mutual defense of the vassal princes.

It’s just a human being. Always be optimistic.

Yunzhou is located in the north.

It’s not a very northern place, but the weather is relatively cold.

At this time, it was November, and before entering Yunzhou, it was full of heavy snow. Although the road could not be closed by heavy snow, it was quite difficult to walk.

Fortunately, this is the king of the feudal clan. Fortunately, Luo Huaiyuan’s surname is Luo, so there are officials to greet him all the way. Even if the road is not accessible, some officials ordered Qingxue to clear the way.

You know, once the princes have titles, they are no longer just the sons of the emperor, but also the princes. The imperial court has always managed the vassal princes very strictly. For example, when they leave the capital and when they arrive in the vassal lands, they have a limited period. If the period is exceeded, it is against the edict.

Although this situation cannot reach the point where the head should be cut off, it is inevitable that the court will be held accountable. It is the time that the king has to defend himself, which is extremely troublesome.

Before the deadline, Luo Huaiyuan and Yan Yan rushed to Yuncheng, the capital of the domain. Luo Huaiyuan wrote a book on the book, stamped his own seal on it, and handed it to the court.

The construction of King Yun’s Mansion began as early as when Emperor Xi was planning to give it a title. The prince’s mansion is the place where the princes will stay for a lifetime, and it is the highest-ranking place in the fief, so naturally they can’t wait for it to be idle.

Luo Huaiyuan asked the construction supervision department that the completion of the Cloud Palace will probably be in June next year, so before that, Luo Huaiyuan and the others were all settled in another courtyard outside Yuncheng.

Daxi had a system of enfeoffment, and all the princes had to go to the domain of the vassal when they were adults, leaving only the prince in Beijing. This is also the rule set by the Tai/zu of the Daxi Dynasty to ensure the inheritance of the throne and prevent the descendants of the Luo family from killing each other for the throne to prevent future troubles.

In Daxi, the prince belongs to the hereditary iron hat king, who never surrenders, and enjoys a lifetime salary, and the salary is extremely generous. Suilu alone is one item of rice, that is, there are 10,000 shi. In addition, there are expenses for canonization, palaces, marriages, funerals, etc., as well as to handymen such as kitchen servants, Zhailang, and laymen, and rewards from time to time.

Moreover, the fief of the vassal belongs to the feudal country, and the vassal princes can rule the people and divide the vassal soil.

To put it bluntly, the fief belonged to the domain of the vassal king, and the taxes paid under the rule of the territory were not handed over to the court, but to the vassal king. It also has great judicial and personnel powers, which override all government offices. All officials can be appointed by the vassal princes, except for the long history, guard command, and guard commander who are appointed by the court.

It seems that the vassal king has great power and freedom, just like a soil emperor, in fact, these are all false appearances.

The highest political institution of the vassal fief is the prince’s mansion, and there is a long history department in the prince’s mansion. The Changshi Division externally manages all the government affairs of the domain, and it has several offices under its jurisdiction, and has a detailed division of labor.

Tribunal, responsible for judicial and criminal prisons; Dianshan, responsible for the royal palace’s sacrifices, guests and the king’s and concubine’s meals, meals, banquets, and banquets; Dianbao, responsible for the royal palace’s seal of symbols; Jishan, responsible for teaching the prince’s rituals, and the country On the Great Festival of Grace and Righteousness, the emperor Congshan; the ancestral hall, responsible for sacrificing music and dance; the ceremonial hall, responsible for the palace etiquette; the Gongzheng office, responsible for the restoration of the palace; the good medical institution, responsible for medical and health; the ceremonial hall, responsible for the driving of the car and the luan. Ceremonial equipment; the herd, responsible for the raising of livestock; the guard and the official yamen of the ceremonial guard, are responsible for the safety of the palace and the ceremonial travel; the warehouse, the warehouse, the delivery and storage of the grain, and the accompanying students, professors, and gifts Sheren and other permanent staff of the palace.

It can be said that Chang Shisi is the largest government agency in the feudal fief.

Among them, the duty of Chang Shi is to “in charge of the government orders of the royal mansion, complement each other’s satire, in order to judge the king’s failure, lead the officials to make confession, and general affairs. Anyone who asks for a name, asks for a seal, asks for marriage, asks for grace and Chen Thank you, for presenting the table and opening the book, and the long history is written for the king.”

It can be seen from this that long history is extremely powerful.

In addition to the long history, there are guard commanders who manage local military power, and guard commanders who are responsible for the safety of the palace and the prince himself, all appointed by the court.

Therefore, it is an illusion to say that the power of the prince is very large, because the chief officials involved in the government and military affairs of the fief and the personal safety of the prince are all appointed by the court. It is equivalent to nailing a few nails around the king to supervise the king’s daily behavior. In fact, it is to prevent the king from rebelling.

Of course, this kind of so-called freedom is a matter of opinion. For example, if you are a very honest vassal king with no other thoughts, you will have a very good life. On the contrary, if you have a bad mind, or move some crooked ideas, it will take a lot of effort.

In his previous life, King Yun was a very honest feudal lord, and he really lived a life like a fish in water for a while.

But in this life, he didn’t want to be an honest feudal lord, he faced three big mountains in front of him. The three mountains that must be crossed, if not, this fief cannot be regarded as one’s own boundary.

Fortunately, the guard commander was brought up from the guards around Luo Huaiyuan. The former captain of the guard, Li Wei, gave Luo Huaiyuan a little private freedom. The king’s personal guards count in thousands, which means that as long as you can afford it, you can operate at will under 10,000, and these courts will not interfere.

Luo Huaiyuan’s guards now only have more than one hundred people, of whom more than thirty have followed him in his early years, and they are considered direct descendants. There are dozens of other people who were sent by the Beijing court to guard him that day. I don’t know if there are other people’s nails in it. Of course, it’s better not to use it. It’s best to recruit from the local area.

Because of the cold weather and the New Year’s Eve, Luo Huaiyuan was very honest after arriving in Yuncheng. He stayed with his princess in the other courtyard every day.

The boss of the fief is here, and officials who are qualified to come to visit are in an endless stream. The snowy weather has not been able to resist their desire to make progress. It’s just that Luo Huaiyuan didn’t bother to pay attention to them. He thought that the palace had not been built. Now he only asked for official affairs, and the government offices were working step by step, and they didn’t need to use the table as an excuse to shut everyone out.

In private, he accompanied Yan Yan to play the entire Yuncheng once, and from time to time he rode out to walk in the snow.

The officials and wealthy businessmen everywhere were not allowed to enter the door, so they could only secretly buy off the servants of the other courtyard, wanting to inquire about King Yun’s Xi Hao. The amount of money has not been smashed, only one inquired out, our Royal Highness does not count what we say, it is Princess Yun that counts.

Uh, what kind of rhythm is this one?

Then they still want to send money, send beauties, etc., do they still send it? I wonder if Princess Yun likes beauty? ! ?