I dress up as a poor noblewoman, and I bring my whole family home with my literary talent.

Chapter 114: Outing in the Suburban Garden
Lu Jing was silent for a long time
"Your Highness, are you here today just to give me some wine?"

"Of course not." Shen Liuyun was not so idle. "During the Lantern Festival Palace Banquet, His Majesty summoned me to Xuanzheng Hall alone and discussed letting me go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to buy grain after the spring. I guessed that this trip might not be too smooth, so I wanted you to go with me."

This was a new law tried by the empress in Daliang, which involved buying grain from wealthy provinces at low prices on behalf of merchants and landlords, and transporting it to disaster-stricken areas, selling it at low prices, and lending it out.

First, it was to compete with merchants for profits to fill the treasury, and second, it was to benefit the people and reduce land annexation. It could also be stored in the national granary, and when the prefectures and counties were hit by disasters, the granary would be opened for disaster relief.

It is impossible to measure how many people's pockets were filled with money and grain that the imperial court used to relieve the people, from the central government to the prefectures and counties.

The new laws proposed by the empress are quite different from previous policies.

One is an independent regulatory department that is directly connected to the imperial court.

Neither Beijing officials are involved in the process, nor will it go through the governors-general or even prefects and county magistrates of provinces and counties. It completely simulates private market transactions, does not use money or grain from the national treasury, and does not apply for public funds.

This new institution had to be self-reliant in distributing salaries and meet the court's targets every year, which almost eliminated the possibility of officials at all levels taking advantage of loopholes to make money.

The new agency has great flexibility and cannot apply for public funds, so it must compete fairly with businessmen from all over the country.

The main advantages are the convenient transportation and low transportation costs of the national water transport.

If the price is too high, the victims will naturally go to private merchants, and the institutions will not be able to meet the court's targets, which forces them to be more "conscientious" than private merchants.

The empress sent Shen Liuyun because she knew that he had a righteous character and was a suitable talent at this stage.

Lu Jing thought for a moment. On the one hand, he couldn't let go of the layout of Chang'an. On the other hand, the empress had taken elixirs under the temptation of Yu Youzhi in recent years, and her health was about to deteriorate.

Chang'an seems calm on the surface, but in fact there are undercurrents.

If the new law is implemented successfully, the issue of establishing a crown prince can be put on the agenda. If it is delayed any further, something unexpected may happen.

The implementation of the new law was more important, and Lu Jing had no reason to refuse. "Okay, I will send people to Jiangsu and Zhejiang in advance, but I am not good at new laws. Your Highness must remember our agreement and act more cautiously, and don't let the emperor down."

…………

After the beginning of spring, the Tai Shi Bureau became increasingly busy. Song Lingyi had been studying with Ye Xuan'an for half a year. The imperial teacher, who was originally unhurried in teaching, had been checking in at the Daqing Hall almost every day recently to supervise Song Lingyi's learning progress.

In the court, there was a heated debate about the trial of the new law. The ministers of the Imperial Censorate, led by Hua Simiao, were the most opposed. They believed that reforms would not happen overnight, and that competing with merchants for profits would be counterproductive. Moreover, the world was peaceful and there was no need to implement new laws.

But no matter how Hua Simiao objected, the empress insisted on her own opinion, even to the point of wanting to pay for it out of her own pocket.

Yu Youzhi was eager for a chance to get Shen Liuyun out of Chang'an, so he often fanned the flames behind the scenes. Officials headed by him all supported the empress in implementing the new law, not to mention Shen Liuyun who was given the task. There was no reason for them to object.

……

This lasted for a whole month, until the end of the month, when Xie Yanshu and Song Lingyi finally got a chance to catch their breath.

It is natural to go outing in the early spring. Before leaving Beijing, Aunt Duan sent someone to give Xie Yanshu the key to her villa in the suburbs of Beijing.

The villa in the suburbs of Beijing is built in the mountains, with clear springs flowing through it and extremely elegant scenery, making it a great place for an outing.

After the two made an agreement, they took a car to the place early in the spring morning.

Aunt Duan's villa in the suburbs of Beijing is located in a mountain in the suburbs of Beijing.

There are waterfalls and streams on the mountain, and the mountainside is full of maple and ginkgo trees.

Grandma Duan entered the palace in her early years and rose through the ranks to become a fifth-rank official. Later, she was credited with educating the emperor, who treated her kindly and bestowed countless gold, silver and treasures on her, including this villa. The emperor asked a national master to look at the feng shui, bought the entire mountain with his own money, and carefully selected a piece of land halfway up the mountain with a beautiful view, hired people to transport wood into the mountain, and renovated and expanded the original old bluestone mountain road. He spent a huge amount of money to build a quiet villa in the deep mountains.

Aunt Duan likes quietness, and often hides in this remote villa in the suburbs of Beijing when she has nothing to do, resting quietly for a few days without going out.

Ever since Aunt Duan resigned from her official position and retired to the south of the Yangtze River, few people have visited this villa. Xie Yanshu and Song Lingyi are rare guests of this villa.

Xie Yanshu had sent people to clean the valley in advance. The valley was quiet, with tree-lined stone paths and the chirping of birds in spring coming from the treetops. Although the mountain stream was not visible in front of him, the sound of gurgling water could be heard in his ears.

Song Lingyi looked around, a happy smile appearing between her brows.

The two of them walked along the quiet path towards the main courtyard.

The courtyard paths are lined with evergreen pines and cypresses, and there is a square pavilion built on the lake.

Song Lingyi trotted into the Sifang Pavilion. A cool breeze blew across the lake. "Yanshu, it's so beautiful here!" The joy in the girl's voice was very contagious, echoing among the mountains, forests and lakes.

Seeing the girl happy, Xie Yanshu was happy too. He wanted to tell her that if she was willing, she could come often. But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he remembered that they were both very busy and it was rare for them to have time to get together.

I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait next time. Song Lingyi didn’t get a response, so she turned around and saw Xie Yanshu’s sad face. “What’s wrong with you? Are you unhappy?”

The girl's voice brought me back to my thoughts
Xie Yanshu smiled faintly and said, "Happy, I am very happy to be with you."

The boy in the sunlight had skin like transparent white porcelain, and his handsome face glowed with a jade-like gentle radiance, which was extremely pleasing to the eye. It was a pity that the remaining sadness in his eyes made him look a little worried.

Song Lingyi's eyelashes fluttered. After thinking for a while, she found a topic that Xie Yanshu was interested in: "Yanshu, the scenery here is so beautiful, do you want to write a poem?"

Isn't it because of a poem that they met each other?
Xie Yanshu did not want to spoil the girl's interest. The courtyard had been empty for a long time, and there was no paper or even a pen. He had no choice but to take a branch and write on the mud while thinking about composing a poem.

The font is vigorous and powerful.

Song Lingyi looked at his serious profile and accidentally discovered that the young man who was once full of vigor and vitality, since some time ago, his eyes became deep and contained a bit of the sharpness of the ups and downs of officialdom.

Recently, because of his opposition to the new law, Xie Yanshu has been targeted by officials from Yu Youzhi and Shen Liuyun's party in the officialdom.

As for official affairs, she was a seventh-rank official in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and could not share his worries, so she tried not to bother him with some of her trivial matters.

When Xie Yanshu finished writing the poem, he turned his head and found that the girl was in a trance. He stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her, "Lingyi, are you tired?"

Song Lingyi shook her head and said with a smile: "It's not easy to go out for a trip, I'm not tired."

"I'm just worried that the Censorate is overwhelmed with official duties, and you're distracted enough to bring me out..."

"I have been working in the Censorate for some time now, and I'm used to the busy schedule. But you, the bruises on your eyes have become more serious. Is it because the homework assigned by Master Ye is too heavy?" Xie Yanshu said in a gentle voice.

Song Lingyi raised her hand and touched her eyes.
Is it very heavy? I have been studying very lately and going to bed late...

"The master has been very strict recently"

The two of them were sitting in the Sifang Pavilion chatting. Before they could enjoy their rare leisure time for long, they heard the servant they brought with them come to report that there were guests at the gate of the villa.

The two looked at each other. They didn't invite anyone, so how could there be guests coming?

……

After a while, the sound of chattering and laughing could be heard outside the Sifang Pavilion.

"The scenery here is really nice, thanks to Xie Yanshu for finding it."

"This villa seems to belong to Aunt Duan. She lives in Jiangnan. It has been a long time since anyone has come to clean the villa. My cousin is really thoughtful..."

Li Hewei and Zhao Yinxian's appearance caught them off guard
The servant led them to the Sifang Pavilion. Seeing the beautiful scenery, Li Hewei ignored the boys and girls in the Sifang Pavilion and ran to the railing of the lake to look into the distance. "Wow, it's so beautiful!"

"Why are you here?" Xie Yanshu asked

"You two are so disloyal. You didn't even invite me when you went out to play. My aunt told me that you two were coming to a villa in the suburbs of Beijing for an outing, so we followed you." Zhao Yinxian raised her chin, not realizing that she was a third wheel at all.

Song Lingyi doesn't care, it's more fun to have more friends
It was almost noon, and the servants cooked the semi-finished ingredients brought from the mansion and brought them to the Sifang Pavilion.
There were quite a variety of dishes on the table, including roasted grouse, stewed pork ribs soup, grilled river fish, two dishes made from vegetables freshly picked from the mountains, and even rice wine.

Everyone toasted each other for several rounds.
Li Hewei's alcohol tolerance was average to begin with, and he was already tipsy after just two drinks. "Sister Lingyi, my mother later told me that you said at the engagement party that you didn't want to resign..."

This is a sensitive topic recently.
Song Lingyi subconsciously looked at Xie Yanshu and found that he was also looking at her.

"Sister Lingyi, you don't know that my aunt is very busy every day. If you marry her, it would be nice to help her share some of the affairs in the inner house... Besides, my cousin is so capable, maybe in two years he can earn you a title of a royal consort, which is better than you getting up early and going to bed late every day..."

It seemed like she had heard this many times. It seemed that Li and her sisters-in-law had discussed the engagement party a lot.

Li Hewei was busy talking drunkenly and didn't care about the reactions of the two protagonists.

Zhao Yinxian sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere, so she stuffed a chicken leg into Li Hewei's mouth and said, "You should eat more vegetables..." Why are you talking so much?
Xie Yanshu felt that he could not avoid this topic, but the last time he communicated with his parents, although his parents did not explicitly ask Song Lingyi to resign after marriage, they also did not agree that Song Lingyi could still work in the Imperial Astronomy Bureau after marriage.

The brief silence had made Song Lingyi see his embarrassment. In front of outsiders, she could only smile and perfunctorily say, "It's not that I don't believe in Yanshu's ability, but recently I have been busy with not only the official duties of the Imperial History Bureau, but also the heavy schoolwork. I really can't leave."

After dinner, the four of them hiked to the pear blossom forest on the top of the mountain to enjoy the scenery. The pear blossoms were in full bloom at this time of year.

Zhao Yinxian supported the slightly tipsy Li Hewei, fearing that she might stumble and roll down the mountain.

The boys and girls who fell behind finally had some space to be alone
Xie Yanshu continued the topic he had brought up in Sifang Pavilion, "You don't have to take your cousin's words to heart. Her thoughts do not represent my thoughts."

Song Lingyi understood that Xie Yanshu must be feeling uncomfortable being caught in the middle.

"If you don't want to resign, then don't do it. After all, you and I are of the same mind. Even if my father and mother disagree, they have to consider the attitude of the Imperial Master. If the Imperial Master disagrees, they will definitely not act on their own..."