The little girl of the landlord's house

Chapter 135

When Xie Yujiao came to the imperial study in a sedan chair, lunch had already been prepared in the dining hall next to the imperial study.Xie Yujiao took a look at the dishes that could hardly be seen at a glance, and then realized that the breakfast at her house was nothing more than a trivial one.

But what's the point of eating like this?If you have poor eyesight, you may not even be able to see what the dish placed in front of you is!It's even killing people with difficult choices!

Seeing that Xie Yujiao was coming, Zhou Tianhao only pointed to the seat next to her to let her come over. Xie Yujiao walked over with some embarrassment, and saw that the emperor had already sat down in the first place, so he lowered his head and sat next to Zhou Tianhao.

Zhou Tianhao reached out and rubbed the back of her hand, then looked up at her.

Immediately afterwards, the emperor spoke up: "I have never kept any female relatives here for dinner, and I don't know what you like to eat, so I asked the imperial dining room to prepare a few more dishes, and some of them are what the emperor likes to eat."

Zhou Tianhao smiled and said, "Brother Huang, you are too polite."

Xie Yujiao thought in her heart that they were really brothers, and they even asked exactly the same questions, but looking at the dishes full of seats, Xie Yujiao couldn't whet her appetite, so she raised her head slightly and asked the emperor, "Your Majesty usually eats every meal." Are there so many dishes?"

When the emperor heard the words, he was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't know very well, he turned around and asked the eunuch serving beside him: "How many dishes do I usually have for lunch?"

Hearing this, the eunuch just said: "Your Majesty's meals are regulated. When he was in the capital, there were 68 dishes, including cold dishes, hot dishes, noodles, fruit plates, soups, etc. Later, the emperor ordered to simplify it. Now There are only 48 dishes per meal, saving [-] courses.”

Xie Yujiao's eyelids trembled when she heard this, forty-eight is still considered frugal, no wonder Dayong couldn't beat the Tartars, Xie Yujiao suddenly felt that she regretted giving Zhou Tianhao the box of bank notes, so much money, and I don't know how many meals the emperor can eat.

Xie Yujiao raised her head, glanced at Zhou Tianhao, and found some helpless expressions on his face, probably he had been shocked before, but now he is no longer surprised.Xie Yujiao thought for a while, and then said: "Caishikou pork costs twenty renminbi a catty, pearl rice costs five renminbi a catty, and all kinds of vegetables cost about three or four renminbi a catty. Before the imperial court moved south, these things were not like this. It’s expensive, but now it’s all increased by one penny. The emperor’s table of dishes costs 30 taels of silver, which is enough for an ordinary family to spend for a year.”

The emperor was born in the royal family, so how could he know these things? Although the Ministry of Households also counts the prices of grain, cotton, silk, meat, etc. every year, no one has ever done such a detailed calculation for him.

Xie Yujiao said while looking at the emperor's face, she didn't seem to be angry, so she continued: "If your Majesty has 20 taels of silver left over from a meal, then there will be more than 2000 taels of silver left over in that year, which can be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver." Thousands of cotton jackets. Thousands of bolts of fine cotton cloth."

"Really... really can you exchange so much?" The emperor was a little curious for a while, so he couldn't help but ask.

"What did I lie to Your Majesty? Last year, refugees from the north came, and Xie Jiaguang spent 6000 to 1000 taels on disaster relief. Ordinary people don't see much, but he has fed more than [-] refugees for a full half a year. Your Majesty, you Think about it, if you have one bite left to eat, you can live at least five hundred refugees!"

"Imperial brother, why have you never mentioned this to me before?" The emperor looked at Zhou Tianhao with a questioning tone. Hanging around among the people, why didn't you tell him a word, which made him a king of extravagance for such a long time!
Why didn't Zhou Tianhao say anything?It's just that he has Xie Yujiao's words in such detail, and the accounts are clear and clear. How much money is right? Of course, the emperor can't listen to it. , Only after meeting Jiaojiao did I realize that ordinary people’s life is so difficult.”

Hearing Xie Yujiao's words, the emperor couldn't eat anymore, so he just stood up, walked back and forth a few steps with his hands behind his back, and ordered: "I will pass on my order, from now on, only prepare eight dishes for three meals. I couldn't eat much at all."

When Xie Yujiao heard this, she couldn't help but choked, and the original 48 dishes were shortened to eight dishes, which is too... too big.

The queen on the side listened to the words and broke out in cold sweat on her forehead. After thinking about it, she asked: "Your Majesty, if you only eat eight dishes, what will you do with the ladies? Naturally, the ladies are not as good as you, and the queen is as good as you. Ba Dao, then the waiting waiter can only eat one dish?"

Zhou Tianhao frowned anxiously. If the emperor really did something like this, Xie Yujiao would offend someone this time, and the entire harem's female family would probably secretly stab her.

"Brother Huang wants to be frugal. It's good, but these are the regulations left by the ancestors. If you want to change, Brother Huang, you have to take your time. Why don't you... change eight dishes into eighteen dishes? This way you can have cold dishes and hot dishes. For tea, Brother Huang also has a choice, and women don’t have to only eat a few dishes, what does Brother Huang think?"

The emperor nodded slightly after hearing this, and then asked Xie Yujiao: "Sisters and sisters, help me figure it out. If there are eighteen dishes, how many taels of silver will it cost?"

Xie Yujiao estimated a number in her heart and replied, "About ten taels of silver."

Hearing the words, the emperor still had a sad expression on his face, he just said dully: "Ten taels of silver seems to be quite a lot."

Zhou Tianhao couldn't stand it anymore, so he tugged on Xie Yujiao's sleeve, gave her a wink and said, "Brother Huang invited you to lunch, but you've settled the bill, aren't you tired? We After eating, I’d better go back home earlier.”

Who said Xie Yujiao wasn't tired?She is naturally hungry and tired now, so she nodded and said, "What you said is, let's have lunch quickly."

After lunch, the emperor had made a decree that only eighteen dishes would be served for three meals a day. Within half an hour, all the people in the harem received the imperial decree, and their ranks would be reduced according to their ranks.

At this time Zhou Tianhao and Xie Yujiao were already sitting in the carriage back to the palace.Xie Yujiao's waist was so sore, Zhou Tianhao let her lean in his arms, stretched out his hands to massage her slowly, and said lightly: "As the emperor, although his qualifications are mediocre, he has a Love the people like a child's heart, that's enough."

Xie Yujiao also vaguely heard Zhou Tianhao mention some past events, so she smiled and said, "You caught someone else in the battle, so naturally you want to say good things to him, otherwise, you are the one who was trapped inside?"

"That's right, if I'm trapped inside, our Jiaojiao won't be able to get married." Zhou Tianhao just followed Xie Yujiao's words and continued.

Xie Yujiao snorted coquettishly, and glared at Zhou Tianhao: "Who can't get married? Obviously someone is going to be unable to marry a wife!"

Xie Yujiao is usually used to being a housekeeper at home, and always looks serious, but now and then she becomes coquettish and angry, it is so soft that Zhou Tianhao's bones are so soft, she just hugs her tightly in her arms and kisses her for a long time, how can she be willing? release.

Xie Yujiao's body was unbearably limp after being teased by her, so she slapped him on the back of his flailing hand, turned her back and ignored him.

After the two returned to the palace, Zhou Tianhao called for water, took off his thick court clothes, and walked around the room with only his middle coat on.

Sitting in front of the dressing table, Xie Yujiao let Ziyan remove the red hairpins and rings from her head. Seeing Zhou Tianhao coming in from outside in his middle coat, she whispered: "The water is ready, you go and wash it first. Walking around here is an eyesore."

Zhou Tianhao just picked up a book and sat down by the window, casually said: "One person also washes, two people also wash, it's better to do it together, and it saves them from fetching water several times, it's so tiring!"

Xie Yujiao's cheeks flushed red when she heard this, it's true to say such shameless words in front of the servant girl!Ziyan behind her couldn't help but blushed when she heard this, but she could only act as if she didn't hear it, and helped Xie Yujiao put everything into the dowry before stepping back.

Zhou Tianhao saw that Xie Yujiao had cleaned up, he just put away the book and stood up, picked up Xie Yujiao with a squat, and went into the clean room.

This sleep was extremely peaceful, and when Xie Yujiao woke up, it was already dark outside.I really didn't eat well in the palace at noon, so I was a little hungry at this time. Xie Yujiao originally wanted to call a maid to help change clothes, but seeing the red marks all over her body, she endured the pain in her body and pulled the curtain by herself.

At this time, footsteps came from outside the door, and Xie Yujiao heard Zhou Tianhao's voice. Ordinary maids walked very gently, and there was no such thing as a gust of wind like him.Knowing that he came in, Xie Yujiao lay down on purpose, only to hear Zhou Tianhao enter the door and asked, "Madam, are you awake?"

"Madam hasn't woken up yet, maybe she's tired." Judging from the voice, it should be the one named Hong Yuan.

Zhou Tianhao hummed, feeling a little distressed, but he endured it for a long time, and when he saw Xie Yujiao, he couldn't help but want to touch her, and he couldn't control it at all.Zhou Tianhao thought for a while, and then said: "If Ma'am is awake, you can go and pass on some supper, and she doesn't need to get up, let her eat in the room, and I will go to the study, so you can take good care of me."

When Hong Yuan heard the words, she had to agree, and seeing Zhou Tianhao was about to leave, she couldn't help but said: "Madam is young, so she can't bear it, the prince must know how to be compassionate and cherish jade."

Xie Yujiao couldn't help but frowned when she heard this. These two maids didn't even say a whole sentence in front of her these two days, but now they talked so much when they saw Zhou Tianhao. Harsh.

Xie Yujiao lifted the red-bottomed Danfeng Chaoyang thin quilt, and let out a lazily snorted.Zhou Tianhao hadn't gone far outside, when he heard the humming inside, he immediately stopped, turned around and went inside again.

Hong Yuan followed her, only pulling up the curtain for him all the way, leading him to walk in.Zhou Tianhao saw that Xie Yujiao was covered with a thin quilt. Under the dim candlelight, the bright red quilt imprinted her delicate face with a trace of laziness.

"Have you had enough sleep this time?"

Xie Yujiao nodded, and stretched out a pair of white and tender arms. Zhou Tianhao hurriedly gave her a look, signaling Hong Yuan to go out, and personally sent her a small coat over there.

"What time is it? Why is it dark?"

"It's already the second quarter of Xu hour, are you hungry?"

Xie Yujiao was really hungry at this time, so she nodded her head vigorously, and Zhou Tianhao said to the door: "Go pass some snacks over here, the king will use some with the princess."

Xie Yujiao saw that Zhou Tianhao looked quite energetic, so she stretched out her hand and pinched the muscles on his arms, got up and sat down in front of the dressing table with her shoes on, and combed it a few times with a comb. At this time, Ziyan and Yuanyang were eating from below. When I came back after dinner, I saw that Xie Yujiao had already woken up, so I blamed myself: "If I knew Madam would wake up, I shouldn't have left."

At this moment, Xie Yujiao saw that Hong Yuan who was waiting just now was not nearby, so she asked her in a low voice, "Usually you two never leave for a while, what's the matter today?"

Zi Yan frowned and said: "The servant girl was going to wait here, but sister Hongyuan finished eating first, so she pushed the servant girl to eat, and said that she would wait in the room. The servant girl saw that the lady was not awake. , and went with the mandarin ducks."

Ziyan was careless at first, and she couldn't tell that there was anything wrong with it. For a while, she just helped Xie Yujiao comb her hair, and the mandarin ducks came in outside to spread the word, saying that the supper from the kitchen had been delivered.

Zhou Tianhao woke up early and had already eaten a meal, so he was just eating with Xie Yujiao at this time.The supper in the evening is quite light, with Yutian fragrant rice porridge, a few cold dishes, and a bowl of iced lotus root starch balls.

Now that the weather is already hot, Xie Yujiao couldn't eat anything hot, but she ate several of the lotus root powder balls, and fed the rest to Zhou Tianhao one by one.

There are no elders in this palace, no one can control them, but they are just love.Besides, Xie Yujiao was still slightly sour after hearing what Hong Yuan said, so she became more courteous in front of Zhou Tianhao.

Zhou Tianhao let her do it, even if he fed him everything, as long as he could eat, he would definitely not say no.

After midnight snack, it was almost approaching Haishi, Zhou Tianhao originally planned to go to the study to read but didn't go there, he just found a random book on the bookshelf in the room to read, the husband and wife didn't have much to say when they arrived.

Xie Yujiao took out the box Mrs. Xu gave her from the chest of drawers.Things have been too busy these past few days, and the bed is too tired. She hasn't calculated how much money Xu has given herself. She only knows that this thick stack of papers costs about three to four million taels. look.

At this time, since I was free, I simply turned it out and counted it page by page, and it was as expected as I guessed. There are always forty chapters in the 1 taels of bank notes.What remains are the title deeds for the first [-] mu of good paddy fields in Chunhua Town, Jiangning County, and several hills growing melons, fruits and mulberry fields around Yinlong Mountain. Although these title deeds are not worth much to the Xie family, they add Those silver coins are an incredible dowry.

Not counting these, the 120-carrying dowry alone contained all kinds of antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and gold and silver hand decorations, which added up to tens of thousands of taels.Xie Yujiao counted the things in her hands, feeling a little sorry.

Although she has indeed earned a lot of money for the Xie family in the past two years, she knows in her heart that she has indeed spent a lot.Whenever something happened to the county government, the Xie family would always be the first to bear the brunt of it. Even the food for disaster relief in the past six months happened to eat up the food that the Xie family had stored in the past few years.

Today's Xie family, apart from the shop and fields, probably doesn't have much cash.

Seeing that Zhou Tianhao was still waiting to read, Xie Yujiao just reached out and snatched his book, holding the box with both hands, looked at Zhou Tianhao in a daze and said: "The money in this box is always enough for my descendants to live long enough to rebuild the new society."

Zhou Tianhao just glanced at it that day, and didn't know how many there were. Now, after hearing Xie Yujiao's talk, he asked curiously, "How many are there?"

Xie Yujiao raised four fingers to make a comparison, and asked playfully, "Have you made a lot of money?"

Zhou Tianhao nodded with a smile, and said again: "Well, I haven't mentioned this matter to Brother Huang, and I plan to wait for a while."

"Why did it take a while?" Xie Yujiao just didn't understand.

Zhou Tianhao then said: "Nowadays the imperial court is indeed short of money, not to mention that the northern part is occupied by the Tartars, so the tax revenue of those county governments will be gone first. In the south, even though it is a land of fish and rice, the imperial court does not dare to act like a lion. Open your mouth, for fear of offending the officials, gentry and rich people here. Brother Huang has already recruited several concubines for this, and you know that."

Xie Yujiao just burst out laughing when she heard this, and said, "Why, do you feel sorry for not being able to share the burden with your brother?"

In fact, Xie Yujiao also understands that the most effective way to maintain a relationship in ancient times is the relationship between in-laws, especially between the powerful and powerful. Once Zhou Tianhao's quota was taken, others would not be able to get in, so it was normal for the emperor to be reluctant to add a few more concubines.

"No, most of the families who donated their daughters are local officials, gentry and rich people, and their families don't have much silver. Naturally, Brother Huang wants them to make some contributions to Dayong. It's just that those people didn't get the advantage. How can you be willing to take out the money first, just like the matter of your [-] padded jackets last time, I cut off the beard of the He family."

Xie Yujiao heard that what he said made sense, so she asked, "What are you going to do?"

Zhou Tianhao rubbed his chin, frowned and thought about it: "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. I plan to ask the emperor to collect donations among the courtiers, nobles, and gentry."

When Xie Yujiao heard the words, she immediately understood, she only squinted her eyes and said, "So you are so bad, you want to use the dowry my mother gave me to cheat other people's money?"

"What's wrong with me? Isn't the silver from the mother-in-law's family not silver? If the emperor's brother gets so much silver for nothing, at most it will be replaced with a compliment, and it can't produce more silver. Why don't you use the silver to go fishing for big money?" fish."

Xie Yujiao looked at Zhou Tianhao's smug face, and felt flattered in her heart. He still had some conscience, not just letting it go for nothing.

Another day passed in a flash, but this day was not just one day.On the third day, it was the day when Xie Yujiao returned home for three dynasties.

Mother Liu had already prepared the corresponding gift. Xie Yujiao has been a little lazy these two days and got up a little late.Fortunately, it was going back to her natal home, so Xie Yujiao didn't need to be too formal, so Xie Yujiao chose a comfortable dress.

Zhou Tianhao wore a bright yellow straight gown with four-clawed golden dragon pattern, and his eyebrows flew into his temples, making him look even more heroic.

He usually wears casual clothes in Xie's house, but now that he has set up a mansion, he wears the service prescribed by the prince, and his whole person is more and more graceful.

Originally, Zhou Tianhao planned to ride a horse by himself, and Xie Yujiao was in the carriage, but it was too hot outside, so Xie Yujiao called him into the carriage to sit together, there was only three rules of agreement, and no hands and feet were allowed.

When the two arrived at the entrance of Xie's Bieyuan, Zhang's mother was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing the carriage approaching, she hurriedly asked people to go in and report to Mrs. Xu.It turned out that Xu Yuxing knew that Xie Yujiao was going back home today, so he brought his aunt, Xu Huiru and others, and came here early in the morning, just waiting for them to come.

Xie Yujiao and Zhou Tianhao entered the main entrance, the servants were busy carrying all kinds of presents, Xu Shi came out from the hall early to welcome them.Xie Yujiao just walked around the screen wall, and saw Mrs. Xu already waiting in the corridor.Xie Chaozong even had a pair of small arms, and threw himself into Zhou Tianhao's arms while running.

Zhou Tianhao stretched out his hand to lift him up, twirling around in the air, causing him to giggle, Xie Yujiao then said: "It's still noisy in such a hot day, let him down quickly."

Xie Yujiao followed Mrs. Xu into the hall, where ice cellars were placed at the four corners, exuding a cool and cloudy vapor.The eldest aunt stood up to greet her, Xie Yujiao saw that the aunt's belly had already begun to look slightly pregnant, but her face was still rosy, so she knew that her pregnancy was well maintained.

Mrs. Xu happily said to Xie Yujiao: "Just now I let Chaozong see it, saying that your aunt is pregnant with a little brother!" There is a custom in Jiangning, it is said that children under three years old can pass through the belly. It can be seen whether the pregnant woman is carrying a boy or a girl, so just now Xu asked Xie Chaozong to look at the belly of the aunt.

Xie Yujiao naturally knew that this was not working, otherwise the baby's eyeballs could catch up with the B-ultrasound?But even so, she continued to say: "My aunt will have a young son in the future, so she must love Baozhu and Baozhen!"

The two girls wore double hammer buns and stood obediently aside. After hearing Xie Yujiao's words, they only said, "Cousin, don't worry, we will take good care of our younger brother and never let others bully him."

Xie Yujiao teased them: "In this family, he will be the youngest from now on. Besides you, who else would bully him?"

After Baozhu heard this, she just kept shaking her head and said, "That's not true, Sister Huiru said, the cousin will be the youngest when she gives birth to a younger brother, and we will all be aunts!"

Xie Yujiao immediately blushed when she heard the words. Speaking of which, she and Zhou Tianhao had indulged too much in the past two days, and they hadn't taken any contraceptive measures... If this happened, she would be finished.Thinking of this, Xie Yujiao suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)