14.Growing Vegetables

In the dining hall of Kunde Hall, Liang Zhaoyi and her son, Yu Meiren and her daughter, and Pan Cairen sat together for lunch.

  "I heard that the ministers were clamoring to give the King of Dai more pearls. The argument was very fierce. The emperor was very angry and asked the ministers to continue arguing after the court session."

  Pan Cairen asked, "What does this adding pearls mean?"

  Yu Meiren didn't know either. She turned to look at Liang Zhaoyi.

  Liang Zhaoyi explained to them, "Adding pearls to the prince is a rule of the previous dynasty. It is a special honor for the prince who has made great contributions. There are nine pearls. Nine pearls represent the emperor, eight pearls represent the prince, and seven pearls are the symbol of the highest level of the prince."

  After hearing this, Yu Meiren and Pan Cairen looked enlightened: "So that's how it is. What's the use of the King of Dai adding pearls?"

  "It has nothing to do with us." Liang Zhaoyi didn't want to talk about this matter. Besides, this matter was not something they could discuss. "Don't worry about it, just enjoy your meal."

  Zhao Yao nodded and said, "That's right, it has nothing to do with us, no matter if he adds pearls or not."

  The fifth princess echoed, "That's right, if the king adds pearls, we won't benefit from it."

  Yu Meiren frowned and said, "I'm afraid that innocent people will be affected." They have no power in the palace, and they might be dragged down to be scapegoats in the end. After all, this kind of thing has happened before.

  Liang Zhaoyi comforted Yu Meiren and said, "No, it has nothing to do with us."

  Yu Meiren looked at Liang Zhaoyi and nodded slightly, "Well, it has nothing to do with us."

  "Second Mother Concubine, I'll give you my chicken leg." Zhao Yao handed the chicken leg in his bowl to Yu Meiren, "Second Mother Concubine, you won't be afraid if you eat the chicken leg." Second Mother Concubine is timid, and she will be scared if there is any movement in the palace.

  The uneasiness in Concubine Yu's heart was dispelled by Zhao Yao's words. She deliberately teased Zhao Yao: "Second Mother Concubine really ate it."

  "Eat it." Zhao Yao said very generously, "It's delicious."

  "Second Mother Concubine doesn't like to eat chicken legs, so Yaoyao should eat it." Concubine Yu returned the chicken leg to Zhao Yao, and then asked, "Yaoyao, what did you learn in Wende Hall this morning?"

  "Second Mother Concubine, can you please not talk about things that affect your appetite during meals?"

  Concubine Yu was amused by Zhao Yao's words and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, Second Mother Concubine will not ask."

  Then Concubine Yu and the others talked about growing vegetables and discussed what vegetables to grow this year.

  After a while, they can dig the ground to grow vegetables.

  Talented Pan said: "It rained heavily yesterday, and the soil in the vegetable field should have become loose. Why don't we dig now? Otherwise, when the weather clears up, the vegetable field will become hard again, and it will be difficult to dig at that time."

  Liang Zhaoyi nodded and said: "Then we will start digging the ground 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 embroidery, reading, and painting, Liang Zhaoyi and Yu Meiren also like to grow vegetables.

  Growing vegetables can not only kill time, but also be eaten.

  They grow vegetables all year round, and they grow them well. Not only are they enough for the entire Kunde Palace to eat, but there are also surpluses to give to others.

  In the entire palace, they are the only ones who grow vegetables. For this reason, they are also ridiculed by the people in the palace. However, they don't care.

  When Zhao Yao heard Liang Zhaoyi and the others talking about growing vegetables, he couldn't help but think of the delicious food in his dream, such as strawberries. Strawberries are not only delicious in themselves, but can also be made into many delicious things. I just don't know where to get them.

  In that dream, in addition to strawberries, there are many things that Da Zhou doesn't have. For example, potatoes and corn. Zhao Yao in the dream likes to eat potatoes and corn very much. These two things 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 even grow in sandy land. If you can get these two things, you can make many people full. However, where can you get these two things? Are they on the other side of the sea?

  Qingzhou is by the sea, and there are foreigners there. I wonder if these two things are available in foreign countries?

  Zhao Yao thought about it and decided to write a letter to his uncle, asking him to inquire about potatoes and corn in Qingzhou.

  Seeing that her son was distracted while eating, with oil stains all over the corners of his mouth, Liang Zhaoyi took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped his mouth personally.

  "What are you thinking about? Why are you so lost in thought?"

  "Thinking about delicious food."

  Yu Meiren and the other three were amused by Zhao Yao's words, and asked him with a smile: "What delicious food is Yaoyao thinking about?"

  "Peaches, we can eat peaches in a few months." There are several peach trees in the courtyard of Kunde Hall, and they bear many peaches every year. The peaches are big, juicy, and very sweet. Zhao Yao looks forward to eating peaches early every year.

  "Then you have to wait for more than three months." Yu Meiren smiled.

  "It's okay. I can wait." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "Besides, I still have dried peaches to eat."

  Every year there are too many peaches to eat, so Liang Zhaoyi and Yu Meiren make 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, "We can make peach sauce."

  "Peach sauce Ah, that's a good idea, let's try it out then."

  Liang Zhaoyi and Poppy discussed how to make peach meat sauce again.

  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, "You also heard that " What

  did the Ninth Brother say? The Ninth Brother specifically asked the prince what was going on, and also said that the Second Brother wanted to add eight beads..." Before he could finish speaking, the prince's face turned gloomy. When I came down, I heard the prince say, "Jia Bazhu, does the king want to be the prince?" "

  The ninth brother said that the second brother has great military exploits and is more powerful than any prince of Jiazhu in the previous dynasty, so the second brother must surpass the previous dynasty. Prince Jiazhu became the Prince of Eight Pearls." The eighth prince told the prince truthfully, "Sir, he scolded the ninth brother and said that only the prince can have the Eight Pearls, and the second brother cannot add the Eight Pearls to the prince. "That's it."

  The prince sneered and said, "With the great victory in Liangzhou, the king can't wait to replace Gu."

  "Brother, on the way to the East Palace, I just heard from the eunuchs and maids that many ministers proposed to let the second brother go to court this morning. "Father, did you agree with the addition of beads?"

  "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 pearls 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."

  "Compared to My father prefers King Dai." The prince has been jealous of King Dai since he was a child. Because the king always gets praise from the emperor, but the prince rarely gets praise.

  In the heart of the prince, the emperor prefers to act as king.

  "I'm afraid that sooner or later, my father will agree to add pearls to the acting king, and then I, the prince, will..."

  "Brother, if my father really agrees to add pearls to the acting king, you don't have to worry too much." The eighth prince comforted the prince, "By then, third brother They must also add beads. If the father only adds beads to the third brother and others, do you think the Wang family and the Yuan family will agree? "   " Dai Wang thinks

  so.

It is impossible for one person to add pearls. "The eighth prince continued, "When the princes reach adulthood, the prince will not be so valuable. Brother, don't you think so?"

  "I'm worried ? It's not this, but I'm worried about 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 level. The prince is enough to compete with me. If it is Bazhu..." At this point, the prince smiled bitterly, "Then I, the prince, will do my best."

  "Brother, although my father re-appoints my second brother, I will never let him. Brother, I will surpass you."

  "This time is different, this time Liangzhou is victorious..." After the prince said this, he changed the subject and talked about other things, "Ninth brother didn't bully you, right?"

  "No, just all the time. Show off your second brother's military exploits to me." Seeing that the prince didn't want to talk about Dai Wang Jiazhu anymore, the eighth prince followed his words and told the prince how the ninth prince showed off to him that morning. "The tenth brother couldn't stand his verbosity, so he ran out as fast as he could after school, for fear of being caught up by the ninth brother."

  The prince imagined the scene and couldn't help but laugh: "How is the tenth brother studying?"

  In the past few days, because of the great victory in Liangzhou As a result, the prince's thoughts were all on King Dai, and he did not go to the Wende Palace 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 Crown Prince, they naturally did not dare to bully the Eighth Prince like before. Since then, life has gradually gotten better for the eighth prince, an unpopular prince.

  The eighth prince was particularly grateful to the prince for this, and always stayed with the prince, becoming the prince's most caring brother.

  (End of this chapter)