Phoenix Fight: The First Concubine

Chapter 87 Don't Tell Others About This
Otherwise, you will lose yourself.

The royal family's Huangzhuang actually received lower rents, and it was set up to support the royal family.

After Murong Wei inquired carefully about the situation, she realized that most of the fields planted here are wheat and millet. Even if a few villages are considered good, the yield can only be several hundred catties, which is really terrible compared to the 21st century.

"No corn and sweet potatoes, no sweet potato tomatoes?"

These high-yielding crops have not been seen either, at least she seems not to have seen them until now.

When Murong Wei asked, several people looked at each other in blank dismay.

But He Sanlai was thoughtful: "I have heard about the little sweet potato that the princess mentioned. I remember seeing someone planting this plant when I went to the south. It was probably brought by the barbarians in the west. Some people in the south planted it as a fruit for children. For food."

Murong Wei was speechless when she heard that, how did this become a fruit?

"Doesn't the Jingshi Rice and Grain Store sell any?" Murong Wei grabbed a brush and drew a few pictures of things.

Aunt Yue didn't know why the concubine wanted to ask about this, so she showed the drawing samples to some stewards.

Du Lao Si is in charge of a grain and oil shop, and he has a lot of experience. He just heard what Murong Wei said, and he didn't know why, but now he knows what happened when he met Shi Xiang.

He beamed and said, "The villain has seen it before. This thing is called corn? The villain sent some from relatives. He thought it tasted good, so he cooked it. The villain has seen these things before, but they don't call them corn." These names."

Murong Wei was overjoyed when she heard this, and thought to herself, why don't she plant some seeds at home first, as she really misses the taste of roasted corn and roasted sweet potatoes.

"Okay, if there are any, how much will be brought in, some will be sent to the palace, and some will be planted for several Zhuangzi to test according to the accounts."

The several Zhuangzi stewards looked at each other, and Zhou Fang asked: "The princess planted this thing...does she want to eat it as a fruit? I don't know how much to plant?"

"How many seeds do you have? Let's try to open a few acres of land first. These things are high-yielding. Corn, sweet potatoes, and sweet potatoes can have a yield of a thousand catties."

Aunt Yue couldn't imagine it, let alone she didn't believe it, even the managers didn't believe it.

They have all been dealing with the land all their lives, so what kind of crops can produce such a high yield?
Seeing that they didn't believe it, Murong Wei smiled and said, "You guys plant it first, and don't tell others about it. If someone asks, just say that I want to try something new."

The stewards didn't quite believe it, but since the princess said that she wanted to try something new, there is nothing wrong with that kind of thing, anyway, the quantity is not big, otherwise they can't just plant things randomly.

But Murong Wei didn't know how to grow these things. Fortunately, the relatives of Du's fourth family planted a lot of these things, so Murong Wei asked him to ask for advice.

Murong Wei only saw each other for a while, and let them go back separately.

"Madam Zheng, tell me, what kind of business do you need to make money?"

Murong Wei tapped her finger on the table, calculating something with one hand.

Madam Zheng said calmly, "Since the concubine has found a supervisor, I'm afraid she has an idea?"

Murong Wei smiled: "The best money in this world is women's money."

Murong Wei became interested. Daily necessities in this era are already abundant. Bath beans for bathing and ointment for face washing are all made of various flowers and herbs accompanied by medicinal materials. They are not only pure natural but also pollution-free.

There are already a lot of gouache, rouge and skin care products for makeup, but they are not as diverse as in modern times.

The rouge gouache that Murong Wei uses is all the top-grade treasures made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is not only of good quality, but also has skin care effects.

It's just that not everyone can use this thing.

"Didn't I say I wanted to go to the Zhuangzi to have fun? It just so happened that there was nothing else going on in the mansion. Zhou Fang, the steward of the Xiaojiazhuang, also said that everything was ready. It would be better to hit the sun than to choose a day. I think I will go out tomorrow." Look."

Mother Zheng smiled and said, "Since the princess wants to go out for a walk, it's not bad. The countryside is cooler than the city."

"Well, when the time comes, you and Yuegu will be in charge of some things in the palace. There is nothing important that I need to know, so don't come looking for me."

As soon as Murong Wei made her promise, on the second day, she took her maids and eunuchs as guards, took a black lacquered flat-topped carriage, and left the palace for the outskirts of the city without the logo of the Luo Palace.

The carriage passed through Dongmen Street and passed by her own rouge shop. Murong Wei wanted to go in and have a look, so she asked someone to stop.

Luer, Lushao, Xiangtao and Aichun accompanied Murong Wei to Zhuangzi.

Now that Murong Wei got out of the car, they also hurriedly followed to wait on her.

This rouge shop is at the intersection of two streets on Dongmen Avenue, and its location is quite good.

When Murong Wei entered the shop, she saw that there were a lot of customers, but the shopkeeper was not there. A manager in charge guessed which lady they were from the way they were dressed, and greeted them with a smile.

"Madam, do you want to see rouge powder? The rouge powder in my Bixiangzhai is all high-quality goods from Yangzhou. Now there are new rouges. They are all filtered with various colored petals and rouge flower juice, and steamed. What comes out is not only fragrant, but also soft and bright."

Murong Wei looked at it casually, but didn't speak.

On the side, Lu'er asked, "Show me your best rouge and gouache."

Murong Wei saw that in addition to rouge powder, this store also sold some hair oil and skin care products, and the grades of rouge powder were different.

The steward brought the high-quality rouge powder over, and Murong Wei looked at it, and saw that the powder and rouge were indeed of very high quality, the rouge was bright in color, and the fragrance of flowers was tangy, and it only needed to be applied on the face to make the color bright, just like her The things obtained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not bad.

The person in charge said beside him: "This is not lead powder. This fragrance powder is also a high-quality product produced in Yangzhou. It is made from the powder of purple jasmine flowers and finely ground with fresh flowers. It is mixed with pearl powder, suet ointment, and borneol. Top-grade spice powder prepared with brain and other spices..."

Xiangtao watched from the side, stretched out her hand to try it, and liked it very much.

"Can it be used in winter? The powder of mirabilis bells will be too dry to apply on the face in winter. It is not good to use lead powder."

The powder of the purple jasmine flower bell can be applied to the face after preparation, and the effect is much better than that of lead powder. This method was originally used by the people, and it has been used in the upper class since it was used by Empress Gao.

"Why not? This is moisturizing. This is a high-quality fragrance powder. If it is of low quality, it must not work. If you use lead powder, your complexion will be dull, so it is better to buy expensive ones. Madam, don't you think so?"

The steward asked flatteringly.

The corners of Murong Wei's mouth turned up, "Okay, let's buy a few."

Murong Wei bought a few different things separately, got into the carriage when she turned around, and asked some servant girls to give them as rewards.

"This thing is not bad, if you like it, you will be rewarded."

Lu'er took the lead to thank her. There is no one in the daughter's family who is not cute, and they all like it very much.

Murong Wei took a box and studied it, and sighed in her heart, don't look at the small things, but they are not ordinary.

The gouache she uses is made of pearl powder and medicinal materials, but Murong Wei doesn't usually use powder. Her skin is already rosy, and the powder is just for whitening. She doesn't need to use it, just put on makeup It will be enough.

Natural beauty is hard to give up, these things are just icing on the cake.

"Is the incense powder in Yangzhou famous? I think the shopkeeper seems to be very respected."

Aichun replied: "Yes, Wangfei, many shops in the capital buy incense powder and rouge from Yangzhou, and servants like to use it on weekdays. It's just a bit expensive. If you use lead powder, although lead powder steamed with hosta flowers is better It's not bad when paired with pollen flower dew, but it still can't compare with Yangzhou incense powder. The powder made of mirabilis bells is good in summer, but it's too dry in winter. It's really rare to see such a good powder as today. Well, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the best."

When Murong Wei heard about this ancient cosmetic production, it was quite interesting, and she was a little interested: "You say that, I kind of want to make it myself."

Lu Shao agreed: "If the princess wants to, the servants will prepare some flower petals for you. The daughters and mistresses of rich families like to make their own rouge. It is much better than the ones on the market."

The car drove all the way, out of the inner city, and then through the outer city. The people here are sparser than the inner city, and if you go any further, it will be all suburban roads.

Originally, no pedestrians would dare to come and block such a group of car drivers surrounded by guards, but they never thought that the group of people in front would fight and block the road.

Murong Wei was admiring the scenery of the suburbs, when she looked out from the bamboo curtain, she saw seven or eight rogues beating a man in front of her, and she couldn't help frowning.

The car drove forward for a while, and the hooligans continued to beat people on the side of the road amidst the guards' scolding.

Murong Wei was a little surprised that the man was beaten so badly that he was clearly on the verge of collapse, but he still punched and kicked fiercely.

It was a man in his 20s. His hair was stuck up with a tree branch. Although the clothes on his body were worn out, they were not dirty. They were white from washing, and the messy hair and the bruises on his face were not very real. His appearance, but definitely not bad.

There was a pair of worn boots on his feet, and the clothes on his body were also stained in the beating.

Those rogues were swearing dirty words, and one of them laughed and said: "Where did you come from, I will tell you to get out, if you don't get out, you will be beaten! If you dare to snatch a girl from me, what are you?" Stuff! If you don’t kneel down and beg for mercy to grandpa, I will break your dog’s legs!”

The man just fought back in a muffled voice, looking at him, he looked like someone who had practiced some skills, especially his eyes, sharp and fierce like a wolf, he would never admit defeat, even if he was knocked down, he still got up.

Murong Wei was a little moved, and the guards of the palace beside him couldn't help slowing down and looking over there when they saw how strong this man was.

"Stop." Murong Wei said: "Look at what happened to that man, save him."

Xiangtao covered her small mouth and said nervously: "Ah, that person is about to be beaten to death, right?"

The guards of the royal residence stepped forward, those rascals were naturally not their opponents, seeing someone intervene, they yelled: "This is none of your business, can you control it?"

The guards of the palace, who were always looking at people sideways, would not pay attention to these country thugs. They beat them three times, five times, five divisions, two times, and they were so scared that they screamed and screamed.

It wasn't until this moment that the man who had been beaten miserably got up, looked at the guards in front of him, and saw that they were neatly dressed, high-spirited, with strong horses on their crotches, they were clearly the guards of a wealthy family.

"Thank you all righteous men for your help, Han Mou is very grateful." The man clasped his hands in thanks, neither humble nor overbearing, he limped not far away with his head down, picked up a bundle and carried it on his back.

One of the guards cupped his hands and said: "You're welcome. If you want to thank, thank our wife. If she didn't order, I wouldn't be able to do it. Just now I despise those people's bullying. Brother is a character, but how did you respond just now?" thing?"

The man surnamed Han was silent and didn't answer. He just looked at the car in the distance and bowed.

Until then, a handsome girl in a coarse blue shirt and skirt ran over eagerly in the distance, rushed up to see his miserable state, and cried, "Brother Han, I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I didn't know that bastard would find him." You trouble."

The man shook his head: "Go back, I'm leaving too."

The girl hurriedly said: "Brother Han, you are injured, why don't you ask the doctor to see the injury first? How can you leave?"

The man ignored it, just turned around and left with his burden on his back: "No need, thank you for these days."

He tidied up his face. Although his clothes were ragged and colorful, he gave people a feeling that he was not downcast, as if he was wearing a golden jade dress, and he was still unhurried.

Murong Wei narrowed her eyes, this person is quite a character, his demeanor is also unusual.

She gave instructions to the woman who was following the car, and the woman jumped out of the car, stepped forward and said politely: "Little brother, you are hurt like this. Our wife is kind, I will give you some money and go first." See a doctor."

The woman handed the man a purse, the man paused, and looked at the car driving in the distance, just at this time the wind rolled the curtain and a beautiful figure came into view.

The cloud servant girl swayed with golden steps on her temples, and the woman's face was faintly visible behind the curtain.

The man was shocked all of a sudden, his eyes showed disbelief, and then hid for a while.

"Thank you for your wife, Mr. Han dare not take it." He thanked him, and suddenly quickened his pace, as if he wanted to get closer to the car.

Seeing that he didn't want it, the mother-in-law was also a little surprised, but this person was very strange, so the guards didn't ask any more questions, and hurriedly returned to their respective positions and continued on their way.

The girl from behind chased him up and said something to the man, Murong Wei looked through the curtain, and sighed: "This man must have some character, he doesn't want money, but why should he bother?"

Xiangtao was still looking out, and her eyes were full of sympathy: "He must be a dilapidated young master, otherwise how could he have such a demeanor? It's a pity."

The man seemed to look at the car frequently, and wanted to go this way, but was entangled by the girl and couldn't get away for a while.

Lu Shao laughed and joked: "Could it be that my sister has taken a fancy to him?"

Xiangtao's face flushed, and she was so annoyed that she stepped forward to pinch her: "You son of a bitch, see if I don't tear your mouth apart, you'll fall in love with him!"

The car drifted away.

Murong Wei didn't take what happened just now too much. There are many things happening in this world every day, and there are many miserable people. She can't save anyone. She is not a god, let alone a god.

Since this man refuses to help, Murong Wei will not try to please him.

Some people regard strength of character as more important than their lives, so she naturally wouldn't make things difficult for herself.

Unexpectedly, after walking for a while, there was a sudden noise from behind.

The woman outside said in a low voice: "Princess, that Brother Han has been following behind our car."

Murong Wei was a little surprised: "Is it on the way? Where are you going?"

"This road leads to the Xiaojiazhuang. The slave girl sees that he is not on the way, otherwise the guards behind will not be so noisy."

"Lu'er, go and see what's going on."

This person is really weird. I just gave him money and didn't want it. What are you doing chasing her car all this time?
Murong Wei didn't know what happened, so she asked someone to stop the car, and she wanted to see what this weird man was trying to do.

Lu'er was ordered to inquire, and sure enough, she saw the man falling behind along the road not too far away, and the guard next to him was talking to him.

Lu'er stepped forward and asked, "Little brother, what's your problem? Why do you follow my car like this?"

At this moment, the guard said with some dissatisfaction: "Just now I saw that you look like a man, why did I say that I don't want money, but I made such an idea? Madam doesn't owe you anything!"

Lu'er frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Miss Lu'er, this person is following here, saying that he is alone and wants to work in the mansion to repay his kindness."

Lu'er was a little disdainful when she heard it, she thought that he was so noble and pure, she just didn't eat the cheap food, but it turned out that she was looking at the wealth and honor of the mansion, and wanted to live in the mansion?
Is it easy to enter the palace, a man of unknown origin, he still wants to use the sympathy of the princess to enter the palace?

Looking at their car guards, they can guess that they are either rich or expensive, and the car driver's logo is also from an official family, so they don't know what the purpose of this person is.

Lu'er looked at him vigilantly, but the man's eyes were calm: "Han Wen has been favored, and he should repay the favor, and ask this girl to repay his wife. Han Wen doesn't take any money when he enters the house, just to repay the favor." .”

Seeing him like this, Lu'er hesitated for a moment, this man looked very strange, how could a person of unknown origin be used casually?
Sui said: "Brother Han, you should leave quickly, we have no shortage of people in our house. Madam, she doesn't need others to repay her."

"Ma'am, please report back." This man's voice had some southern dialect, but his calm attitude made people unable to refute for a while.

For the first time, Lu'er felt a sense of oppression in front of a stranger. Although she was a little annoyed at his ignorance and pestering, she thought for a while and said with a stiff face, "Just wait."

Lu'er walked to the carriage a few steps, opened the curtain and said: "Princess, that man said that he has received a favor, and he wants to enter the mansion for free to repay the kindness of the concubine, and he will not take a penny."

Murong Wei raised her brows slightly, her black eyes flickered, and she snorted, a little unhappy: "I'm not a nursing home, the money I gave him is enough for him to recuperate and find a job, so don't we have to enter the house as a slave? He looks like a person with dignity, but I didn't expect to be such a person."

This guy is a bit over the top.

She just saw an injustice, and she was entangled by him!

I don't owe him anything, he wants to find a job to earn a living, but she is not interested in offering it yet!
"Let him go and ignore him."

Murong Wei was too lazy to care.

Lu'er responded, turned her head to Han Wen, and said, "Young Master Han, you should go, I still have some scraps of money here, and you can use them to see a doctor. Wouldn't it be good to find a job to do well? My servant, a good man has ambitions in all directions, and the young master can work hard."

Han Wen didn't reach out to pick it up, and said calmly: "Han is not trying to ask for anything, I also have a skill, I don't want to sell myself as a slave, but I am grateful for this lady's help. If it wasn't for the lady today, Han Wen would have died."

Seeing that he was obsessed with his obsession, Lu'er was also a little annoyed, and threw the broken silver to him: "It's up to you, anyway, our house doesn't recruit people."

She is a beggar.

What a weirdo this man is.

Han Wen was silent for a moment, seeing the carriage speeding up and continuing to move forward. After a while, he lowered his head to pick up the broken silver, a flash of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, but he didn't turn around and leave, and continued to follow firmly.

Xiangtao looked out, clicked her tongue and said: "Why is that guy still following, is he..." She pointed to her head: "Is there a problem here?"

Murong Wei snorted, and said coldly: "Follow him as he pleases, don't let him enter Zhuangzi for a while."

"Yes, the servant knows."

Murong Wei's good mood was ruined, Xiang Tao looked at the man behind who was still limping after him, he was covered with scars, but for some firm purpose, he had to follow.

What's the trouble with this?

The sandy dirt road in the countryside is not muddy, and the sun is already three poles high, and the sun is tight, but that person seems not to care about the scorching heat, and walks forward stubbornly and slowly.

Xiangtao was a little shocked, she was very confused, if it was an ordinary person, she would have turned around and left.

But what is he for?

It's really hard to guess.

When Murong Wei went out, she ordered that no one should know that it was the concubine driving, so as not to have fun wherever she got it.

At this time, not far away, you can still see Xiaojiazhuang in front of the small hill. In the distance, you can see the traffic on the rice paddies, and the chickens and dogs smell each other. A big house stands at the foot of the mountain, with blue tiles and white walls, which has the taste of a Jiangnan water town. .

This house was built by Murong's family for vacation, and it is rather elegant and interesting. Murong Wei asked someone to clean it up, and now it's time to go to play.

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, the head of the village, Zhou Fang, and his wife came to greet her. Murong Wei didn't stop the car, but only ordered them to leave Han Wen behind.

The car drove all the way to the big house at the foot of the mountain before stopping.

When Murong Wei got out of the car, she saw that the house had been named Qingcheng Bieyuan.

Zhou Fang and his wife led Murong Wei in, and Zhou Fang's family smiled and said, "Princess, how do you look at the courtyard? There are people cleaning here on weekdays, but no one has come for a long time. The courtyard on the east side is the coolest. It is next to the lotus pond. Will the princess move?" to there?"

Murong Wei looked left and right, this place was built on the hillside, the rockery in the east courtyard is jagged, most of them are made of real stones from the mountain, the yard is not big, the windows are bright and clean, it is full of wildness.

It's just that there aren't many houses, and with the people she brought, it's not enough to live here.

"There are too few houses."

"The back room on the west side can also accommodate people. The princess's guards will be arranged in the front yard, and the maids and mother-in-law in the back yard can also be arranged."

Zhou Fang's family is very capable.

Murong Wei looked around, but the West Garden was not as beautiful in comparison, it looked more simple, with many houses, the place was big, but it seemed too crowded.

Murong Wei didn't like this feeling very much, so she asked people to prepare for it and moved into the East Hospital.

What Murong Wei didn't know was that after she entered Zhuangzi, the person who called Han Wen still followed slowly.

When he arrived at the village, he was stopped by the village folks.

The black and fat boy stopped him and said: "My brother, you'd better go, the village head asked me to stop you."

Han Wen was silent for a moment, then asked, "How can there be a doctor here?"

Hei boy saw that he didn't want to enter the village, so he pointed to a house in the distance: "See, the one with the red tile house is the well-known Dr. Shen's house."

"Thank you."

The fat black boy saw him go, and looked at him with his head poking around.

"Poor thing, why was he beaten up like this! My parents don't even recognize me!"

At noon, Mrs. Zhou of Zhou Fang's family prepared a sumptuous lunch.

Speaking of richness, it is naturally not as good as the palace. Mrs. Zhou's cooking skills are not bad, and some of the side dishes she cooks are a bit like farm dishes.

Cucumber with mashed garlic, cabbage in vinegar, water bamboo in cold sauce, eight delicacies in water, stewed duck in clear broth, sweet and sour lotus root slices and so on.

The weather is hot, but the mountain wind blows here, but it is very cool.

The sun was shining outside, Murong Wei saw that the ultraviolet rays were at their strongest at this time, so she didn't go out and took a nap on the bamboo couch in the room.

In the afternoon, the weather was cloudy, and the sun appeared and disappeared in the clouds. Murong Wei wanted to go for a walk in Zhuangzi, but she didn't want others to pay too much attention to herself, so she changed into a plain moon white floral gauze shirt, bright green plum blossoms The pleated skirt, the black hair is tied up, and a goose yellow hibiscus silk flower is casually worn. If you don't pay attention, it is really hard to find that this is a princess.

It looks like a Xiaojiabiyu.

The room is shaded, but it is very cool in summer. There are rosewood furniture in the room. The entrance is a floor-to-ceiling screen with the sunrise of Mount Tai, and a mahogany cabinet is placed on the east side.

There were some miscellaneous things in the cabinet, and Lu'er took out the veiled hat from it, "Does the princess wear a veiled hat? It's not good to be seen by those idlers."

(End of this chapter)