Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 817 Waste Utilization
The news that the concubine of Yonghe Palace had safely given birth to the fifth prince, whom the emperor named Zheng Duo, spread quickly from the palace to outside the palace, causing quite a stir, because the emperor sent someone to report the news to the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, Prince Jiangdu, and record the child in the family tree.
Although Concubine Yu was favored in the past, she was actually quite low-key. On the contrary, Princess Yongping attracted more attention, even though she was promoted to a noble concubine and was pregnant. In addition, there were too many things going on recently, and most people didn't care that there was a noble concubine who was about to give birth...
Even Princess Yongping, who was studying the school rules with Hong today, was surprised to learn that her mother had given birth to a younger brother. How much more so for others? After all, the emperor had three daughters since the fourth prince, so most of the officials in the court thought that the emperor would probably have another princess this time. After all, it wasn't the first time that Concubine Yu had given birth to a daughter.
Thus, such an unexpected prince was born at the end of the year when no one was prepared. Two other pieces of news spread: one was that when Concubine Yu gave birth, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying happened to visit her, and the other was that when the emperor was worried about naming, the third prince casually said the word "Duo".
Even though the Third Prince didn't think he was just saying it casually, after all, this was a word that the Emperor had mentioned before, but for those who like to break down and carefully consider the news in the palace, this word is very meaningful. It's not just because there is something wrong with the word Duo itself, but because... the homonym of the two words Zheng Duo, isn't that scramble?
The duo is an ancient musical instrument that was popular from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty. It is no longer used now. Back then, in addition to beating the duo when announcing decrees, military judges would also hold the duo. This instrument can be said to represent both political decrees and laws, as well as military law. If this is the case, the third prince gave him such a name. Does it also mean that the third prince wants to put the shackles of the law on the neck of this younger brother?
Although these chaotic speculations were only circulated privately in small circles, and for fear of reaching the emperor's ears, in public one could only hear various praises for the birth of the prince and the prince's filial piety. However, Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying still learned about the gossip hidden beneath the calm surface from people they knew.
This time, even the impatient Zhu Ying did not get angry at others because of such rumors, but sneered twice and that was it, not to mention Zhang Shou. Zhang Xueshi seemed to be unaware of the discussions around him and continued to maintain his old pace. Even Fatty Lu or others who wanted to ask her were blocked by his Tai Chi attitude.
When he returned home in the evening of that day, Zhang Shou ordered people to move in a batch of new books printed by Fatty Lu's Sansan Bookstore and several foreign mathematical classics. He watched those people busy unloading the book boxes from the carriage at the back and moving them in. Before he could even enter the house, he heard a lot of noise. Turning around, he saw a group of people coming over.
A group of guards were escorting a carriage that he was very familiar with. Wasn't it Zhu Ying and her group who had gone out with him this morning? He simply stopped where he was and saw Zhu Ying getting off the carriage. She was wearing a thick fur coat and holding a hand warmer in her hand. She looked like the most common noble lady in the capital. She was different from when she went out this morning. He couldn't help but be stunned.
After he realized what was happening, he was about to make a joke, but Zhu Ying came up and shoved the hand warmer in his hand in a bad mood.
"I just went to the Yonghe Palace. This outfit is all the Empress's old things. She said they were old clothes and she couldn't wear them anymore, but it would be a pity to throw them away, so she gave them to me. I can wear them back or I can give them to others as a reward." When Zhu Ying said this, she saw Zhang Shou holding her hand. She followed him inside without any resistance, but continued to complain in a low voice.
"I never wear someone else's old clothes, but there are so many rumors these days. In order to prevent the queen from having wild thoughts, I had no choice but to wear them for her to see. Then I put them back on! Look at me, I look like a big stupid bear!"
Hearing what Zhu Ying said, Zhang Shou burst out laughing: "Yingying, it's right for you to think about the queen, but have you ever thought about what others will think when they see you wearing one outfit when you enter the palace and another outfit when you leave? Besides, shouldn't the queen know you best? If you suddenly change your usual style and go along with her, will she think too much?"
Zhu Ying stopped for a moment, then remembered that she had promised immediately and changed her clothes in the stuffy environment when Concubine Yu was lying in bed to show her, and the very subtle look in Concubine Yu's eyes when she looked at her.
Although she thought at that time that Concubine Yu probably gave her something, so when she saw her wearing it, she thought of the past, but now she thinks that Concubine Yu probably felt something was wrong but held it in. Did she end up acting like a monkey?
"Why didn't you warn me earlier!" Zhu Ying's mood suddenly became very bad. She let go of Zhang Shou's hand in annoyance and asked with a bitter face, "What should we do now? The queen must have sensed something from my attitude. Will she go and find out about the mess outside? I meant well but ended up doing something bad!"
"What are you asking? The queen is the smartest person. She knows that taking good care of her body and the fifth prince is more important than anything else. So, even if she knows that you have concerns and deliberately go against your nature to please her, has she asked you?"
When Zhang Shou asked this, he saw Zhu Ying frowning thoughtfully. He habitually stretched out his hand to press on her forehead, smoothing out the fine lines, and then smiled and said, "So, you should worry less about the queen. Tell me, in addition to this outfit, how much else did you bring back? I don't believe that the queen will only give you this little."
Zhu Ying was already accustomed to Zhang Shou's sharpness. She looked around nervously, and seeing that everyone was knowledgeable and not following, she coughed lightly.
"There are still a lot more in the car at the back. Of course, they are not all old clothes. There are also all kinds of fabrics! No, no, in fact, there are not many. There are only seven or eight boxes of all kinds of furs and good fabrics. My carriage can't hold them all. There will be another carriage later..."
Zhang Shou couldn't help but feel a little headache: "There are so many things? And from the tone of your voice, these may not only belong to the queen, but also to the princess? If I give all of this to you, the princess won't come to my house because she is angry that the queen will dispose of her things casually, right?"
Seeing that Zhang Shou was expressing his worry but looked very relaxed , Zhu Ying knew that he was joking and shrugged immediately.
"Because Yongping doesn't like anything except pure white fur without any other colors. As for the material, the girl likes dark embroidery, so she once snatched the tribute material from me, but most of the time, she won't touch the Shu brocade with bright but delicate patterns. This girl, as Grandpa Taizu said, is just pretentious!"
"This part is the fabrics that Your Majesty has not used to make clothes in recent years. The other part is that after the Queen was deposed and imprisoned, her personal belongings piled up like a mountain. The Emperor took them out and distributed them to the concubines in the palace. Your Majesty also got a share."
Zhang Shou was speechless. A day of marriage brings a hundred days of grace. After all, she has given birth to two sons for you. Even if she is completely heartless, you are still taking out things from her private storehouse to reward your concubines. Isn't this a bit too much?
No wonder people think you, the emperor, are partial. You are really too partial! Of course, the deposed queen is also mentally ill. As the empress, the queen mother has always supported you. Do you need to save things like you have never seen it before?
Although he didn't say this to her face, Zhu Ying was very familiar with him. As soon as she saw his expression, she knew that although she felt that deposing the empress was excessive, she also disliked the emperor's behavior as being a bit heartless and disloyal. Although she didn't like deposing the empress, to be honest, she couldn't agree with the emperor's behavior. But at this time, she still had to explain a few words for the emperor.
She then whispered, "During the years that the deposed queen was in charge of the harem, she withheld most of the tributes that were sent to the palace from outside, hid them in her own private vault, and only gave a small amount to the other concubines."
"There was even one time when all the finest materials in her private storehouse were eaten by rats. When the matter was exposed, the emperor was furious and wanted to open her private storehouse for inspection. But then the empress dowager spoke up and the matter was dropped. Later, the emperor was so angry that he took half of the tribute to the inner storehouse every time, and then he would give things to the concubines. This became a regular practice."
Zhang Shou's problem this time was not a headache, but a toothache. Being an empress is the most difficult position in the world, bar none. If you consider this as a job, then the job of the deposed empress is undoubtedly a terrible one. He sighed, and really didn't want to continue the topic of how the deposed empress was. In his mind, he also had a rough idea of the batch of things that Concubine Yu gave to Zhu Ying this time.
But because of this, he thought of another thing: "By the way, where is the box of things that the Queen said she would give to us last time? I remember it was either books, short swords, wrist guards, and even Emei thorns?"
"Well, because I didn't want to argue with Mingyue later, I made it clear to her first. I asked her to go and look at the box herself. If there was anything she wanted, then I wouldn't want it. After she looked at it afterwards, she said generously that she would give it all to me, but I still planned to wait until later to talk about it. Who knew that this box of things hadn't been sorted out yet, and she brought back so many today."
At this point, Zhu Ying couldn't help but ask, "I can accept that box of things without hesitation, but what should I do with my clothes and the furs and fabrics? I don't like them, but it's not good to give them away casually."
"Since you don't like clothes that have been worn by others, then it's very simple..."
Zhang Shou laughed and said nonchalantly, "Go and discuss with Princess Yongping about taking these things and giving them to the girls' school students as rewards. Of course, if you think these things are too valuable, and many of them were once tributes, and are inappropriate, then just pretend I never said anything."
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. It's perfect! Using these things in a girls' school is simply making good use of waste!"
Zhu Ying didn't think there was anything wrong with using the word "waste" to describe a pile of high-quality fur clothes that were very valuable in the eyes of ordinary people. At this time, the second gate was right in front of her. She was feeling hot as she walked, so she simply took off her heavy fur coat and told Zhan Jin Liuyin, who was following her from a distance, to come up and throw the thick fur coat over to her. She was very happy.
"What you said reminds me. Although the emperor gave away all the things in the private storehouse of the deposed queen, not only the queen, but also the imperial concubine, Concubine Jiang... that is, Concubine Xian, and those other people, all dared not use these materials to make clothes, so they were all kept at the bottom of the box. I will find a chance to ask later..."
Zhang Shou immediately shook his head: "Don't ask. If you ask, it will be like forcing them to follow the example of Yonghe Palace and give things away as a favor. You know, before, the Empress Dowager and others took the lead in donating cosmetics money to help students. Didn't you tell me that the Emperor knew that many concubines were poor and actually subsidized them privately? So, if you want to donate these things, why not do it in the name of you and Princess Yongping."
When Zhu Ying heard that Zhang Shou should not be involved in the Yonghe Palace, she only thought about it for a moment and realized that Zhang Shou was right.
Although the concubines now have some reservations and do not rashly use the fabrics from the private storehouse of the deposed empress to make clothes, the deposed empress will eventually change. As long as one person makes clothes and wears them, others will naturally follow suit. After all, there are not many people in the palace who are as favored but arrogant as Concubine Yu, so many concubines live mediocre lives.
The emperor originally thought of subsidizing his concubines from the inner treasury because Concubine Yu had complained directly. As the emperor, how could he easily think about whether his concubines were living well or not? He only looked at the superficial glamor. She nodded immediately: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Seeing Zhu Ying's willingness to follow his advice, Zhang Shou smiled and bowed, saying, "Thank you, madam, for accepting my advice!"
"Yes, yes, yes. My dear husband, please give me more advice in the future. I will definitely accept it!" Zhu Ying said as she knelt down in a serious manner to return the greeting. Then she sneezed because of the cold. Then she remembered that she had just taken off the thick cloak in a stubborn manner.
Zhang Shou wanted to ask Zhan Jin and Liu Yin to bring the heavy fur coat over, but Zhu Ying was unwilling to do so. She immediately pulled Zhang Shou up and ran forward quickly. Thinking of the books he had just sent, Zhang Shou simply pulled Zhu Ying out to the study room first, but the excited Zhu Ying screamed as soon as she entered.
Seeing the situation in the room clearly, Zhang Shou held his forehead helplessly and said, "I forgot to tell you that I hired a boy to be a bookboy for a while. Otherwise, he would be doing odd jobs in the public school, which is not doing his job, but getting into trouble... Look, this is the boy I told you about, from Florence, who stole a ship in Pisa and sailed across the sea to here."
Zhu Ying had seen people whose skin, hair and eye colors were all different from those of the Ming people. These people often appeared at grand court meetings and state banquets. In theory, she shouldn't have been in such occasions, but with the emperor's connivance, she had done many things like hiding in certain places and peeking when she was a child. Later, she felt bored and stopped doing so.
But the feeling of spying on those foreign envoys and seeing a real foreign boy in her own study at this moment are completely different - she had never thought that someone would appear in her own home, so her surprise just now was really extraordinary!
At this time, she was slightly relieved when she heard Zhang Shou explain the origin of this person, but then she couldn't help but get angry. Because even though they came in, the blond boy was still concentrating on reading a book, not even raising his eyelids.
Is this a servant? Can this boy serve others?
