After the food and wine were taken away, it was the time for the subordinate countries to come forward and offer their tributes. Qu Qing Ju looked at the obedient envoys and the matter-of-fact attitude of the people around her. She suddenly understood what it meant by might was the truth.
As the taijian read out the list that the envoys had sent up, the ones that had given the most tributes had smug expressions, the ones that had given the least were full of poverty. They wanted to kowtow to Qing De Emperor to express their helplessness at not having any more food.
After these envoys retreated, another hour had passed. Qu Qing Ju held a teacup and had a new understanding of Da Long Dynasty. This was a powerful dynasty. It was even a place of pilgrimage in the eyes of other small countries. Since it was like this, the possibility of Da Long Dynasty having foreign wars in the next few decades was very small. No wonder Qing De Emperor had such a soft personality.
Just at this time, a heavy drum suddenly sounded. Qu Qing Ju saw the Emperor and Empress come out of the Great Hall and kneel on the white jade platform outside the hall. She, who had followed the crowd out, paused slightly and knelt down with Jing guifei. She listened to Qing De Emperor's prayers to the heavens, as though he was begging for good weather and prosperity for the people in the coming year.
When the fireworks exploded above Qu Qing Ju's head, she finally woke up. At this time, the Emperor had just finished his prayers. She helped Jing guifei stand and retreated to one side. Then she heard the singing of singers and some laughter. She raised her head and saw the multi-colored fireworks explode. She couldn't help but blink. Her eyes seemed to be sore and uncomfortable.
Jing guifei dazedly stared at the fireworks for a beat. She lowered her head and said: "The Emperor and Empress have already returned to the palace. It's getting late, you should also return." Finishing, she held the hand of a palace maid, "Ben gong is also tired."
"Mufei, erxi will send you back." Qu Qing Ju held Jing guifei's hand. Seeing that her brows were slightly tired, she took the cloak that Mu Jin had prepared for her and draped it over Jing guifei.
"No need," Jing guifei looked at the long red dress that Qu Qing Ju was wearing. Her hand lightly wrapped around the knot of the cloak, "It's cold at night. You and Heng'er should return early. This place isn't far from Zhong Jing Palace. Ben gong can take the step-carriage back." Finishing, she waved her hand and didn't pay any more attention to Qu Qing Ju. She held the hand of a palace maid and left.
Qu Qing Ju stood in the same spot for a while before supporting Mu Jin down the tall white marble steps. The long skirt swept across the stone steps like a stream of water.
At the bottom of the stone steps, the four He brothers stood a few steps away from each other. He Yuan's expression was cold, and behind him was the expressionless Qin Bai Lu. The two of them did not have a deep relationship to begin with, and when the two of them met, Qin Bai Lu still had a wronged expression on her face. This made He Yuan's expression turn sour, and the two of them stood stiffly at arm's length.
Qin Bai Lu hated her mother-in-law for not giving her face and blamed He Yuan for not being gentle enough. Originally, she had already been wronged, but she still had to look at He Yuan's face. This made her even angrier. She didn't care what others thought of her and just stood there with a sullen face.
Seeing her like this, He Yuan looked away impatiently. He raised his head and saw a red figure walking down the white jade stairs. White and red in the flickering fireworks, it was an indescribably seductive sight. He refocused. When the person came closer, he found that it was He Heng's wang fei. Seeing that it was his brother's woman, he didn't look any longer. He coolly moved his gaze away and turned to leave without a word. He clearly had no intentions of bidding farewell to his brothers.
He Ming wanted to open his mouth to say goodbye, but seeing that da ge and er ge didn't seem to have seen the scene, he hesitated and lowered his head.
"My hands are a bit cold," He Heng walked to the bottom of the stone steps. When Qu Qing Ju stepped down the last white jade step, he held her hand. He took off the cloak he was wearing and wrapped Qu Qing Ju tightly before bowing to He Qi and He Ming: "Da ge, si di, I'm leaving first."
"Er di, please go ahead," He Qi glanced at er di mei who was tightly wrapped up and smiled as he waved his hand, "It's late, er di and er di mei should return early." No wonder lao er was so protective of her that she looked like an eyeball, and even carried a small pouch on her body. He looked teasingly at He Heng. This er dimei really did have some beauty.
He Ming was well-behaved and didn't even glance. He respectfully bowed with his hands in front, saying: "Er ge, take care." He moved to see her off.
The fox fur felt itchy on the tip of her nose. Qu Qing Ju reached out to push it away and coincidentally saw He Ming's proper bow.
"Si di, wait," He Heng grabbed Qu Qing Ju's hand and smiled at He Ming, "We're brothers, you don't have to be so courteous." Finishing, he turned to leave.
He Ming looked in puzzlement at er ge's back as he strode away. His steps hadn't even come back.
"After you get married, you'll understand," He Qi reached out to pat his shoulder. Coincidentally, he saw Wei Qing E come out and said, "Ge is also returning. You should also return to the fu early." Finishing, he casually walked away.
He Ming looked in bewilderment as He Qi walked away. Seeing da sao come over, he bowed again. In this short amount of time, the brothers had all left. He felt they were even harder to understand.
It was rare that there wasn't a curfew in the palace tonight. He Ming waited until most of the people had left before he walked towards An guipin's palace.
An guipin's palace wasn't large and the furnishings weren't exquisite. But because she had an imperial son, the servants of the Department of Household Affairs didn't dare to slight her. Compared to the other feipin that weren't favored, her days were already very good. At least, she never lacked for what she needed.
Mother and son were afraid that other people would be suspicious so they didn't spend much time together. Now that they saw each other, they talked more. When An guipin heard her son mention what had happened before and after the banquet, she couldn't help but smile: "What they do isn't our business. As to Ning Wang … …" Seeing her son's confused expression, the smile on her face grew, "Just a few jokes, you don't have to think too much."
Duan Wang's wife's appearance was exquisite. The Imperial Family didn't lack for women with this kind of beauty, but Duan Wang's wife had a different flavor to her. She had been in the hougong for many years and naturally understood how attractive this kind of woman was to men.
As a wang fei, to have this kind of beauty, she really didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse. Thinking about how Duan Wang Fei obediently ate tea and desserts with Jing guifei, An guipin shook her head. Jing guifei wasn't simple.
Thinking back to when she had entered the palace, she had been at this age. She wanted Duan Wang Fei to have a comfortable life in the future. Thinking about it, she spoke in a heavy tone: "Ming 'er, in the future, treat your wife better. This woman doesn't have it easy."
He Ming obediently agreed but he still didn't understand how the matter had implicated his wife who hadn't married yet. Maybe, he was too dumb, Little Ming wang ye thought helplessly.
After the New Year Festival, it was the first day of the first month of the new year. Qu Qing Ju and He Heng sat in the main hall of the wang fu. The stewards of the fu, one by one, gave their New Year greetings to the two. The lower level servants all kowtowed outside the hall door.
Hearing the servants continuously change their auspicious words, Qu Qing Ju motioned for Mu Jin and Shu Kui to reward these people. Looking at the happy faces of these people, she thought of how she felt when she received the bonus from the management company in her previous life. It was probably about the same as these people right now.
"Nucai kowtows to wang ye and wang fei. May wang ye and wang fei have a happy New Year and have everything go smoothly in the coming year," Qian Chang Xin and Ming He were the two people that He Heng was most proud of. The words that the two said were very simple but the loyalty on their faces was more obvious than anyone else.
Qu Qing Ju looked at the two of them and then looked at He Heng, saying: "Wang ye, it isn't easy for the two of them to run around with you every day. You have to reward them."
Hearing this, He Heng smiled and replied: "Wang fei, you make the decisions in our family. How to reward them is up to you."
When the stewards heard wang ye's words, they all stopped breathing and focused. These days, wang fei had been in control of houyuan, but there were still some people that wanted to find a loophole. But today, wang ye had said it so clearly that some people's foreheads broke out in a cold sweat.
"If that's the case, then qie will take matters into her own hands," When there were many people, Qu Qing Ju still followed the rules and called herself "qie", even though she didn't like this way of addressing herself, "Mu Jin, take two pouches for the two gonggong."
The two took the pouches and didn't pinch or look at them. They kowtowed in thanks, their attitude extremely respectful.
As expected of the people that could serve He Heng, they didn't make any mistakes. She looked at the crowd and announced loudly: "Today is the first day of the year. Everyone doesn't have to be so reserved. Leave."
The servants kowtowed again before bowing and retreating. Coming out of the main hall, there were people that were envious that the two chief steward gonggong had received the favor of the two masters and carefully fawned over the two. There were also people that wanted to know what was inside the pouches but were dismissed by the two.
After the two sent away the people around them, they opened the pouches. There wasn't anything rare in the pouch but a banknote of fifty taels. The two released a breath. If wang fei had really bestowed something rare, it would have been a troublesome matter.
The two exchanged a look. Qian Chang Xin sighed: "This wang fei of ours isn't simple. Us two brothers have to do our best in the future." Fifty taels of silver was a large sum for normal people, but to them, it wasn't very rare. Wang fei giving them this number meant that wang fei wasn't trying to win them over. It was also telling them that she thought highly of them, but didn't want them to do anything they shouldn't.
A day of fifty taels, it perfectly matched their status. Wasn't it telling them that they had to stay within their boundaries?
Not long after the stewards left, He Heng's women came in. Among these women, other than the four qieshi that had status, there was also a tong fang called Bai Zhi.
He Heng originally had three tong fang, but Yun Qing had been betrothed to the people of the estate. Ban Xia had been punished by Qu Qing Ju to be a lowly washerwoman, so the only one left was Bai Zhi, whom Qu Qing Ju hadn't seen before.
After the women bowed to her, Qu Qing Ju didn't have any virtuous words to say. She tilted her head to ask He Heng: "Does wang ye have anything to say?"
He Heng didn't understand, but to the qieshi, he really didn't have anything to say so he shook his head.
"Since wang ye doesn't have anything to say, you can all leave," Qu Qing Ju raised a teacup, "Mu Jin, take out the red packets I prepared for everyone and send them out."
The qieshi paused. They hadn't thought that they would be thrown out so quickly. Where was the admonition that was expected in the other fu? Wasn't it supposed to be about serving wang ye well and obeying the rules of the wang fu?
Each of them clutched the red packets and didn't react as they left the main hall. Luo Yin Xiu asked in shock: "We're going back like this?"
"If we're not going back, what are we staying for?" Han Qing He gathered the cloak on her body and walked away without turning her head back.
Bai Zhi reluctantly turned her head to look at the main hall before slowly walking away.
Inside the hall, Qu Qing Ju stood and moved, "Is wang ye reluctant to part with the beauties?"
He Heng put down the teacup in his hand and stood as well. He smiled helplessly: "It's almost noon, let's go eat together." Finishing, he pulled Qu Qing Ju's hand and gently opened, "Don't think too much."
Hearing this, Qu Qing Ju's lips rose in a smile but there wasn't much mirth in her eyes.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
