Resourceful beauty

Chapter 256 Xing Zhuo
"If you go back to the master, His Highness has already brought the troops back. The report I received early this morning said that we set off on October 26. If everything goes well, we will be able to return to Shangyang City on the tenth day of November."

It wasn't until Fang Ruxuan had finished her breakfast that Zheng Ping came in to answer, with a happy expression on his face.

Today is the second day of November, so in seven or eight days, Chu Yuan will be back.

Muttering to herself, Fang Ruxuan smiled and told Zheng Ping, "If you have any new news about His Highness, please report to me in time, you understand?"

"Master, don't worry, the servants at the Hall of Yiyuan have all been taken care of, and will report back immediately if there is any news."

Zheng Ping agreed, and when Fang Ruxuan made no further instructions, he turned around and left.

Nothing happened in the afternoon, thinking of the two midwives who lived in the East Palace a few days ago, Fang Ruxuan thought about it and asked Su Ye to call them over.

Both of them were in their 50s, with gentle faces, and they were very polite when they advanced and retreated.

These two people were ordered by Chu Yuan to find innocent, honest and reliable people from the Prince's Bieyuan and sent them to the House of Internal Affairs, and then arranged them to the East Palace through the hands of the House of Internal Affairs to serve Fang Ruxuan's childbirth in the future.

"The old slave's surname is Yan, and people outside call him Mrs. Yan."

After saluting and getting up, the older one introduced himself.

The other said respectfully: "The old slave's surname is Wei."

"Since you've entered the palace, it's natural to call you two mothers."

Talking softly, Fang Ruxuan glanced at Mrs. Yan and said, "Where did Madam Yan live before she entered the palace? What kind of people did she deliver babies for? Is there anything interesting?"

When she mentioned what she was good at, Mrs. Yan was not as cautious as she was when she first came in. She replied with a smile: "The old slave lives in the willow alley at the south end of the city. There are five members of his family. Now he lives with his son and daughter-in-law and has a grandson. Both daughters have married out of town, and they can meet each other every two years during Chinese New Year."

"On weekdays, they deliver babies to the women in the neighborhood. If the medical hall can take over the safety pulse of the pregnant young ladies in the mansion, if it is suitable, they will also recommend old slaves to deliver their babies. Counting it now, the young wife of the Qing family in Guanglu Temple, the wife of the Shilang family of the Ministry of Rites, and some rich families, the old slaves have also been there. Ning Beihou's Jiu Yiniang delivered the baby, and it was so dangerous at that time, she didn't give birth for two days and two nights, but in the end, a pair of dragon and phoenix twins were born, and Ning Beihou was very happy."

Talking on and on, as if thinking of something unlucky again, Mrs. Yan stopped talking.

Turning her gaze back and forth on Fang Ruxuan, Mrs. Yan said softly, "The concubine's pregnancy looks good, and looking at it now, the fetal position is also correct, so the delivery will definitely be smooth when the time comes, don't worry."

Fang Ruxuan nodded with a smile, looked back at the other Mrs. Wei and said, "Nurse Wei, how about you?"

Mrs. Wei didn't talk much, she explained her background clearly in a few words, who delivered babies in the past, how many babies have been successfully delivered by her so far, and what mothers should pay attention to before giving birth. Fang Ruxuan.

Now that she's up and down, Fang Ruxuan likes Mrs. Wei a little more.

After talking for a while and sending them away, Fang Ruxuan called for Kapok.

Mu Mian had been standing outside the screen just now, came in and nodded, "Both of them are not lying."

These two people were found by Chu Yuan who arranged for people who believed in them. The reason was that they were afraid that Queen Zhou and those impure people in the palace would do something to them. Although Fang Ruxuan believed in them, she still wanted to find out the truth. Seeing what Kapok said, Fang Ruxuan felt relieved.

Thinking of Mrs. Yan's hesitation just now, Fang Ruxuan asked Kapok curiously, "What's wrong with the pair of twins in Ningbei Houfu?"

Mu Miansu straightened his face and said: "Ningbeihou's heirs are weak, except Mrs. Hou who gave birth to two daughters and a son, the other concubines, and the young masters they gave birth to, all died before they reached adulthood. Therefore, Ningbeihou's mansion There are more than a dozen young ladies, but young master, there is only Ningbei Hou Shizi."

Fang Ruxuan knew that this must be the trick of Mrs. Ning Beihou.

Mu Mian nodded and continued: "That Jiu Yiniang is also a son of a good family. After being taken into Ningbei Hou's mansion, Ningbei Hou loved her a lot. She became pregnant in the second year. However, she is also a scheming person. It’s because no one succeeded, and it’s the time when the fruit is ripe. But..."

As soon as the voice changed, a touch of sympathy appeared on Kapok's face, "During the delivery, Jiu Yiniang didn't have such good luck, the fetal position was not right, and she was pregnant with two more children. After two days and two nights of tossing, in the end, it is said that she used The child was born smoothly through very means. However, before even seeing what the child looked like, that Jiu Yiniang died of blood."

"Then, the twins will be raised by Mrs. Ning Beihou?"

Fang Ruxuan guessed and said.

Seeing Kapok nodding, Fang Ruxuan couldn't help but let out a soft sigh in her heart.

Old people often say that you must not have the intention to harm others, and you must not have the intention to guard against others. From this we can see that until the last moment, one should not take it lightly.

That Jiu Yiniang thought that being careful and careful when she was pregnant for ten months would be considered a success, but unexpectedly, she lost at the last moment, it is really pitiful.

In the early morning of the second day, Zheng Ping returned to Xuanyi Hall to answer after the morning court, and his expression was quite serious.

Chu Yuan and his party didn't send any news back, but the dispute in the court was the winter seed that Chu Yuan promoted a few days ago.

The common people were cautious, for fear that the winter planting would affect the spring plowing at the beginning of spring. Therefore, very few responded to Chu Yuan's proposal of trial planting, so the ones that were widely promoted were all idle fields in the hands of rich households.

But in the past few days, Chu Yuan has only been away from the south for a few days, and there have been several cases of tenants who stopped farming and were forcibly suppressed by the government, and it is said that people were killed.

This naturally deviates from Chu Yuan's original intention, but there are people in the court who have ulterior motives and say that Chu Yuan is very happy, otherwise, he would never have made trouble like this.

For a while, in the early morning, the courtiers were arguing about the winter planting. In the end, Xing Zhuo suggested that the king should send a special envoy to the county where the accident happened to investigate the matter, so as to prevent the situation from worsening.

Before retiring from the court, King Yao ordered that Xing Zhuo be in charge of the matter and go to investigate thoroughly.

This is the second time Fang Ruxuan has heard his name mentioned after Xing Zhuo went to Da Yuan as an envoy.

Not very interested in Zheng Ping's report, Fang Ruxuan asked about Xing Zhuo's background instead.

Zheng Ping hesitated for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice became a little lower, "Master Xing Zhuo Xing has always been a loner in the court, and he has no courtiers who have personal friendships. Even the king said that he is a lonely minister. However, Lord Xing doesn’t seem to care too much about it, except for doing the errands entrusted by the king, he does his own thing on weekdays.”

Seeing that Fang Ruxuan's face became more astonished, Zheng Ping continued: "Master Xing is the eldest son of Xing Yuan, Marquis of Chang'an, and he is still the concubine's brother of Princess Xuan. However, there was a lot of trouble in the Marquis of Chang'an back then. In the end, The Marquis of Chang'an opened the ancestral hall and expelled Lord Xing from the Marquis of Chang'an, so now, Lord Xing has established his own family and does not admit that he is involved with the Marquis of Chang'an."

Thinking that it was another rich family secret that involved many things, Fang Ruxuan nodded and asked: "Then how old was he when he set up his own family?"

Fang Ruxuan recalled that when Xing Zhuo was sent as an envoy to Da Yuan that year, he had inquired about him, saying that he was the youngest cabinet minister in the Kingdom of Yao, and he was quite trusted by King Yao. At that time, Xing Zhuo seemed to be under 30 years old.

"Returning to the master, in the year when Mr. Xing's biological mother died young, the Marquis of Chang'an opened the ancestral hall and expelled Mr. Xing, who was only 15 years old, from the mansion. After that, Mr. Xing disappeared from the sight of everyone in Shangyang City. However, in the 18th year of Yongqian, Mr. Xing became a blockbuster. The number one high school student at that time, the candidate list marked on it was Xing Zhuo, an examinee from Huainan. Oh, by the way, before he was expelled from the Marquis of Chang'an, Mr. Xing's original name was Xing Jun. It is said that , Mr. Xing's mother's surname is Zhuo."

Zheng Ping spoke carefully, as if he was quite familiar with Xing Zhuo.

"He didn't change his surname to Zhuo, but he's a strange man."

Fang Ruxuan laughed.

If it was an ordinary person, after being expelled from the house, he would definitely be ashamed of his previous surname and would change it to his mother's surname or another surname, but Xing Zhuo did not do this.

"exactly……"

Zheng Ping nodded and said: "Although Master Xing has never mentioned it, his current achievements cannot be compared even by the Marquis of Chang'an, so people in Shangyang City secretly said that Master Xing did this on purpose. Always remind yourself not to forget the suffering this surname has brought to you.”

"and after?"

Xing Zhuo was famous in Shangyang City after being named on the gold list. I don't know what kind of mood the Marquis of Chang'an was in at that time. Fang Ruxuan actually felt a little relieved.

Zheng Ping said with a smile on his face: "Zhuangyuan Lang, as usual, he is going to work in the Imperial Academy, but Mr. Xing handed in his resignation letter, saying that he had other plans, and the king agreed miraculously. Then, Mr. Xing disappeared for another three days. In the 21st year of Yongcheng, he won the champion of martial arts."

Fang Ruxuan felt that it was no longer possible to express her inner astonishment with admiration.

"And then what?"

As if listening to a legendary story, Fang Ruxuan asked.

Zheng Ping continued: "Afterwards, Master Xing was summoned by the king to go to the study room, and he only discussed matters and was not in charge of his duties. At that time, people said that the king wanted to use Lord Xing again, and some people said that Lord Xing was in charge of the affairs. The secret envoy of Wang Shangping, but this is just a legend of others. As for whether it is true, no one knew at the time. Later, in the 23rd year of Yongqian, Lord Xing entered the Procuratorate and took the right deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Two years later, he entered the cabinet and became the youngest cabinet minister in the history of Yao Kingdom."

The right deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, that is an official of the third rank. Xing Zhuo won the number one scholar in civil and military affairs, and his leap to become a third-rank official was enough to shock the government and the public. But after two years of work, he entered the cabinet again. I don’t know. What kind of expressions do the people in the government have.

Fang Ruxuan said with some regret: "It's a pity that such a person has become a lonely minister."

Zheng Ping smiled proudly, "However, Lord Xing and His Highness are quite hit-and-miss, and often get together in private, but it's just that no one in the court knows about it."

Fang Ruxuan raised her willow eyebrows lightly, with a proud expression on her face.

(End of this chapter)