Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 142 Emperor Tianlong's Secret Visit

It is the end of the twelfth lunar month and the time of year is coming to an end. The Little New Year has passed and in two days it will be New Year's Eve.

The capital city has become exceptionally lively, with crowds of people surging and noisy in the downtown area from morning to night. Some are buying various New Year goods, while others are taking advantage of the year-end to do business and make more money.

Although the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty continued to operate as usual and there was no holiday, Yuan Qingbai, as the emperor, was more relaxed than usual. He had fewer state affairs, fewer memorials to the emperor's memorials, and fewer noble officials to meet with.

Although the palace was also preparing for the New Year, Yuan Qingbai felt it was a little deserted and couldn't help but think about leaving the palace. Traveling was only secondary, his main purpose was to personally explore the people's situation in the capital during the New Year.

So today, Yuan Qingbai went out of the palace incognito, wearing a winter suit and a pair of cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles. The suit and cloth shoes were both simple and not extravagant. Even so, with his heroic appearance, he still had some extraordinary temperament with this outfit.

There were two people around him, Jia Zhu and Su Yin, both of whom were Yuan Qingbai's closest confidants. In addition, the imperial guard Guo Han led several other guards to sneak behind him. In order to cooperate with Yuan Qingbai's incognito trip, this group of people also dressed in incognito.

Yuan Qingbai neither rode in a sedan chair nor on a horse, and after wandering around the inner city for more than half an hour, he wanted to go to the outer city. Jia Zhu and Su Yin had accompanied him on several incognito trips, so they were not surprised by this, but they still tried to dissuade him, after all, the outer city was not as safe as the inner city, but Yuan Qingbai was determined to go.

"When the throne is further consolidated, I will find an opportunity to go on a private visit outside the capital."

Yuan Qingbai thought so in his heart.

As the Son of Heaven, he would travel incognito, understand the people's sentiments, rectify the administration of officials, punish evil and promote good... This was a dream he had cherished all his life. However, when he really became the Son of Heaven, he could not do such a thing easily because it was both dangerous and troublesome.

But he had not given up this ambition. When the throne was secure and the political situation was stable, he would follow the example of Emperor Jing'an and travel incognito across the country, rather than being like Emperor Chengtai, who confined himself to the palace for almost all of his years as emperor.

At this time, Yuan Qingbai, Jia Zhu and Su Yin came to the vicinity of Chongwenmen, which was already the outer city area. Twelve years ago, during the New Year's Eve, there were hundreds of refugees and beggars gathered here, and the air was filled with desolate winds, rain and smoke. Yuan Qingbai, who was only twelve years old, came here to donate and pray for his grandfather, Emperor Jing'an.

Twelve years passed in a flash. When Yuan Qingbai came here again, he could not help but recall the scene when he made donations here and Emperor Jing'an of that time, and his heart was filled with emotion.

But today, there are no longer many refugees and beggars here.

Because of the strict governance of the Chengtai Dynasty, not only did the administration and finance of the Great Zhou improve, but the livelihood of the people also improved slightly. Although there were many refugees and beggars pouring into Shenjing at the end of the year, there were not as many as twelve years ago. Moreover, Yuan Qingbai had ordered that the resettlement of refugees and beggars in Shenjing during the New Year be done well to prevent unrest and plague.

Yuan Qingbai came to the entrance of an alley, with a stall on each side, one selling soup noodles, the other selling porridge and tofu pudding. The porridge and tofu pudding stall had a table of customers, but the soup noodles stall had no customers. It wasn't that the soup noodles were bad, but because it was cold in the middle of winter, the open-air stalls didn't do as well as in spring and autumn, and it wasn't time for people to have dinner yet.

This soup noodle stall was run by a middle-aged couple with a simple appearance. Yuan Qingbai led Jia Zhu and Su Yin to the soup noodle stall. The woman was busy and attentively invited the three of them to sit at a small wooden table, while her husband cooked soup noodles for them.

The so-called soup cake is noodle soup. In China at this time, soup cake is more popular than noodles.

After a while, three bowls of soup noodles were brought to the table by the woman. Yuan Qingbai started to eat. The taste was not bad. Although it was much worse than the soup noodles made by the imperial kitchen in the palace, it was a different taste for him. He was an emperor in his life, and he rarely ate street food in the twelve years of traveling through time. Jia Zhu's situation was similar to his, and Su Yin ate street food quite a lot.

"How's your soup and noodle stall business?"

Yuan Qingbai wiped his mouth with the handkerchief he carried with him and asked the woman.

"Hey, it's just a small business, just trying to make a living."

The woman forced a smile and replied that based on Yuan Qingbai's appearance, words and actions, she felt that even if this guest was not a rich nobleman, he most likely had some status.

To make do with one's life is equivalent to getting by. Not to mention this era, even in Yuan Qingbai's previous life, this was the norm for many people.

However, due to the backwardness of the times, many people in the Great Zhou Dynasty could not even make a living. There were countless people in the Great Zhou Dynasty who could not survive due to poverty.

Yuan Qingbai asked again: "Are there many refugees and beggars in the capital this year?"

The woman was a little puzzled. There were many guests who approached her and asked questions, but it was rare for them to ask such questions. She didn't think much about it and replied with a forced smile: "During this season, there are many refugees and beggars in the capital. Fortunately, the current emperor has issued an order to properly settle them, and Tang Junmen, who is in charge of the Nine Gates, is an honest and good official. Those refugees and beggars don't cause trouble, and rarely starve to death or freeze to death."

Tang Junmen refers to Tang Yue. After Yuan Qingbai ascended the throne, he transferred Tang Yue from the Minister of the Imperial Guard to the Governor of the Nine Gates. Tang Yue has only been the Governor of the Nine Gates for more than eight months, but he has received praise from the woman running the soup and pancake stall, which shows that he has won the hearts of the people and has followed Yuan Qingbai's orders.

After Yuan Qingbai chatted with the woman for a while, he finished his bowl of soup noodles. Jia Zhu and Su Yin finished eating before him and were waiting for him.

"Give her five taels of silver." Yuan Qingbai told Su Yin, who quickly took out a five-tael silver ingot and handed it to the woman, smiling, "The extra is a reward from my master." The woman was pleasantly surprised, as five taels of silver was a considerable fortune for her. Three bowls of soup noodles cost only a few dozen coins, and although she would occasionally receive tips from customers, she had been running the stall for more than a decade, and there were only a handful of such generous rewards.

"Oh, I was so rude. It turns out you are a distinguished guest. Thank you so much!" The woman hurriedly thanked him, and her husband also stepped forward and bowed to express his gratitude.

Yuan Qingbai smiled calmly and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a burst of shouting and fighting coming from the alley next to the soup noodle stall. A man with a rough voice was shouting angrily, "No matter who you are, you shouldn't bully them mother and daughter. This really piss me off, Drunken King Kong Ni Er!"

Jia Zhu and Su Yin hurriedly protected Yuan Qingbai, one in front and one behind, fearing that something might happen to him.

Drunken King Kong Ni Er? Yuan Qingbai heard the nickname and showed a hint of interest in this person.

Ni Er is a character in the original novel. He is Jia Yun's neighbor. He is nicknamed Drunken King Kong. He is a scoundrel who lends money at high interest rates, eats his spare money in gambling halls, and likes to drink and fight. However, he is used by others and has a reputation as a chivalrous man. He generously helps Jia Yun. According to Zhi Yanzhai's comments, Cao Gong's original manuscript after the 80th chapter wrote that Ni Er helped Jia Yun to visit Baoyu who was imprisoned in the Prison God Temple.

Yuan Qingbai immediately walked towards the alley. Seeing this, Jia Zhu hurriedly dissuaded him quietly: "Third Master, be careful to avoid danger."

Yuan Qingbai smiled and said "It's okay", then walked into the alley. Jia Zhu and Su Yin had no choice but to follow him.

A fight was going on in the alley, with three young men dressed as waiters joining forces to besiege a strong man. The strong man was in his early thirties, with a burly body, knotted muscles, rough and unruly. He was fighting one against three, his eyes were like cold stars, he was awe-inspiring, and showed his fierceness. This man was Ni Er.

Standing next to him was a middle-aged man with a narrow face, flat nose and a mean appearance. His name was Ding Shoujin. He was the owner of a clothing store and the three shop assistants were all his subordinates.

Soon, all three of them were beaten by Ni Er, and they were in pain and fear. Ni Er looked down on them and Ding Shoujin with domineering eyes, and shouted: "Have you seen how powerful I am? Get out of here quickly. If you dare to entangle me again, I will hit you hard!"

The three guys didn't dare to curse back and looked at Ding Shoujin. Ding Shoujin said to Ni Er in a pretentious tone: "Okay, okay, you are so bold, you are the Drunken King Ni Er, right? I will remember you, see you later!" After making the threat, he walked away in embarrassment with the three guys.

When Ni Er turned around, he spotted Jia Zhu in the crowd. His eyes suddenly lit up, his anger disappeared, and he smiled. He raised his voice and asked, "Master Jia, why are you here?"

Ni Er lived in the west corridor of the Jia Mansion. His ancestors had some connection with the Jia Mansion. He knew Jia Zhu, and Jia Zhu also knew him.

Jia Zhu glanced at Yuan Qingbai, and when he saw that Yuan Qingbai did not give any instructions, he responded to Ni Er: "I was just passing by here, Lao Er, why are you fighting with others here?"

Ni Er stepped forward and said, "Uncle Jia, I am not to blame for what happened today. I am just standing up for this poor mother and daughter." As he spoke, he pointed at the mother and daughter at the scene.

The mother and daughter were standing at the gate of a dilapidated small courtyard. The mother was about 30 years old and quite pretty, and the daughter was in her early 10s. She was naturally beautiful, but her face was pale and thin, and she looked nervous, so she looked very delicate and lovable.

Jia Zhu glanced at Yuan Qingbai again, and Yuan Qingbai said, "Ask about the whole story."

Jia Zhu nodded in understanding and asked Ni Er, "Old Second, tell me the whole story."

Ni Er knew Jia Zhu's identity. Seeing Jia Zhu being a little respectful to Yuan Qingbai, he did not think that it was the emperor traveling incognito. He only guessed which wealthy family Yuan Qingbai came from.

Ni Er did not dare to be negligent and quickly explained the whole story.

The mother and daughter were named He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing. He Qi's husband Zhai Xiuben was the magistrate of Dingxing County, Baoding Prefecture. He died young last year due to illness caused by overwork. He was only 32 years old.

What is hateful and despicable is that after Zhai Xiucheng died of illness, his brother Zhai Xiuye ​​had improper intentions towards He Qi. When He Qi refused, Zhai Xiuye ​​threatened and treated him harshly.

In desperation, He Qi fled with her daughter Zhai Xiaoqing and hid in Shenjing.

He Qi rented a room in the outer city of Shenjing and did needlework in Ding Shoujin's clothing shop. Because she was really poor, she asked Ding Shoujin to borrow two taels of silver. Ding Shoujin said that he felt sorry for her and her daughter and wanted to lend her ten taels, and she accepted.

Less than a month later, Ding Shoujin asked He Qi to pay off the debt with her body. He Qi refused, so Ding Shoujin used force. He Qi broke free and fled back to the rental house. Ding Shoujin brought his men to collect the debt and asked her to pay back 20 taels of silver. He Qi could not afford it. Ding Shoujin had a backer. His master was the chief steward of a marquis's mansion.

Ni Er happened to be here and encountered this incident. He decided to act chivalrously and rescued the mother and daughter He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing, and started fighting with them.

After listening to Ni Er's story, Jia Zhu looked at Yuan Qingbai, guessing that Yuan Qingbai would have some instructions. He sighed in his heart: "This mother and daughter are very lucky today. They met the emperor in secret. Ni Er's chivalrous deeds will most likely be appreciated by the emperor."

(End of this chapter)