After giving titles to the people in the harem, it was time to give titles to those who had performed meritorious service in the previous dynasty. Of course, these titles were not cheap cabbages that anyone could take a bite of. The first to be rewarded were the maternal clans of the two Empress Dowagers. The maternal clans of the two Empress Dowagers were idle people. He Heng only rewarded them with titles of nobility, just glory but no real power.
Then there were the old officials who had performed meritorious deeds. Those who should be promoted were promoted, and those who should be rewarded were rewarded. As for those who had stood on He Yuan's side and deceived He Lao 'er, sorry, just stand to one side. It would be nice if I didn't punish you.
Of these rewards, the one that drew the most attention was probably Tian Jin Ke. Although his family was a hereditary marquis, in the capital where marquises could be found everywhere, he had relied on his own ability to stand in such a high position. Now, with a wave of his hand, the Emperor raised his hereditary title of Marquis to a hereditary First Rank Duke and bestowed him the title of Zhong Yi. He also rewarded the Duke of Zhong Yi with five thousand taels of silver to expand the Duke's Mansion. Finally, the Emperor even generously wrote a plaque with the words' Zhong Yi Duke's Mansion 'and gave it to Tian Jin Ke. From this, it could be seen how much the Emperor doted on him.
Loyalty naturally referred to his loyalty to the Emperor. As to this meaning, some people speculated that it was because the Emperor remembered Tian Jin Ke's protection of the Empress and the injustice he had done for his younger sister, Tian shi, that he had chosen this meaning.
Thinking of the glory of the Duke of Zhong Yi and the fallen Qu Clan, many people began to sigh. It was evident that one had to accumulate good karma. The so-called karmic retribution was not without reason.
The Duke of Zhong Yi did not have a good daughter, so having a good niece was also his fate. It was not something to be envious of.
When Qu Qing Ju heard that He Heng had bestowed the title of First-rank Duke of Loyalty and Righteousness on jiujiu, she didn't feel surprised. She had detected that He Heng respected jiujiu a long time ago and clearly admired his conduct and conduct. Now that he was in power, he needed people like jiujiu to work for him. Rather than saying that he was rewarding jiujiu, it was more accurate to say that he was telling the world that he admired talents who were loyal to the Emperor.
"Empress, Kui Yuan Palace has pretty much been rebuilt. Why don't you go take a look and see if there's anything you don't like and have the servants change it before moving the decorations in." Ming He came to the rear hall and bowed in front of Qu Qing Ju. He mentioned the Kui Yuan Palace which was still being renovated.
Renovating Kui Yuan Palace was probably the biggest project in the back palace. Over the past month, three groups of people had worked through the night to transform it into the appearance on the blueprint. Because he was afraid that the paint on the newly renovated residence would crack easily in the summer, he placed an ice basin in the first few days to cool down the areas that were painted. This showed how much importance the emperor placed on this matter.
Qu Qing Ju looked at the color of the sky outside. Today's weather was dark and cool. She didn't feel the heat when she went out. Ming He must have purposely picked this kind of weather to make this request. She nodded, replying: "Today's weather is dark and cool. It's not bad to go out for a walk. Ben gong is a bit bored staying in the room all day."
Because Tian Qi Palace was very close to Kui Yuan Palace, Qu Qing Ju didn't sit on the phoenix carriage. She took the attendants along the main path of the palace to Kui Yuan Palace. Entering Kui Yuan Palace, she found that the inside was different from the first time she had come to Kui Yuan Palace. At that time, Kui Yuan Palace was spacious, but it seemed slightly cold. Also, she had gone to visit the empress as a wang fei. Now, she was the master of this palace. Just her mentality was different.
What entered her eyes were the gardens and trees that had been meticulously renovated. When one came in, they would feel that it was well-designed and bright. This was what was called pleasing to the eye. The flowers and rocks in the garden outside had the style of Jiang Nan. At first glance, one would feel it was very elegant. Going further in was the main hall. The doors and windows of the main hall were all new. The doors were carved with dragons and phoenixes. The windows were also exquisitely designed.
The main hall was where Qu Qing Ju resided. So she found that every part of the main hall was exquisite and meticulous. At a glance, it was possible to see how meticulous the people were. She couldn't find anything bad about it.
Ming He saw the Empress had a satisfied expression and said: "The Emperor heard that some paint materials were harmful to the body and specially ordered people to choose natural materials to make paint. Empress, smell it, these paint materials even have a fragrance."
When Qu Qing Ju entered the room, she smelled a faint fragrance. Hearing Ming He's words, she smiled and responded, "I have troubled the Emperor."
"The Emperor said, as long as Empress, you like it, it's fine," Ming He moved a step to the side, "niangniang, please follow nucai to the western hall to have a look."
When the door to the western hall opened, Qu Qing Ju was dumbstruck. Because inside was a very large white jade bath. There were two dragon heads on each side of the bath. The wide mouths of the dragon heads were clearly where the water was drawn in. The sides of the bath were separated by a hazy gauze curtain. Qu Qing Ju lifted the gauze curtain and saw a very wide couch. Next to the window was a table and two comfortable reclining chairs. Looking at it, one would have the urge to be lazy.
She hadn't thought that He Heng would remember that she wanted a swimming pool. She walked out of the gauze curtain and walked to the edge of the pool. She reached out to touch the cool and clear surface of the water. A long time later, she said: "Ben gong likes it very much."
Ming He instantly smiled. He pointed at the two dragon heads lined up side by side, declaring: "The one with the sapphire on the forehead releases cold water, the one with the ruby on the forehead releases hot water. If niangniang likes it, you can come and soak in it. The Emperor specially asked the Head of the Imperial Hospital daren. Appropriate swimming is good for the body. "
Qu Qing Ju stood. She suddenly thought, such a large bath, it really took up a lot of water and manpower. The cold water in the summer was fine, but if it was hot water, how many people would it take to boil water to fill the entire pool?
"Does the palace have running water to bring in?" Qu Qing Ju directly asked. She might like to enjoy herself, but it wasn't to the point of tricking others to death just so she could swim.
Ming He smiled and explained: "Empress, don't worry. This place uses running water. Coincidentally, there is a hot spring in the palace. The Emperor ordered the water to be drawn here. "
Qu Qing Ju's heart relaxed. She looked at the luminous pearls inlaid on the walls of the bath. Each one was the size of an infant's fist. She didn't know how grand it would be at night.
The palace maids and taijian serving behind Qu Qing Ju were dumbstruck when they stepped into Kui Yuan Palace. Mu Jin sighed inside. In the past, she had thought the so-called one step, one scenery was an exaggeration. Today, she found that there really was a place where one step, one scenery, existed. This Kui Yuan Palace might not be filled with gold and white jade, but it was unspeakably beautiful. Thinking about it, she was slightly puzzled. It hadn't even been two months since the Emperor ascended the throne. Who was able to draw the plans in such a short amount of time, and leave so much time for the craftsmen to finish everything?
Or was it that before the Emperor ascended the throne, he had people study … … Her heart shook, Mu Jin slightly furrowed her brows. She detected that she was thinking about something she shouldn't be thinking about and hurriedly put her attention on the Empress.
Coming out of the Western Hall, Qu Qing Ju looked at the Eastern Hall. The Eastern Hall had been remodeled into a place to read and paint. The rear hall was her private storehouse.
After touring all of Kui Yuan Palace, Qu Qing Ju only had one thought. After all the decorations were put in, this Kui Yuan Palace of hers would be even more elaborate than Tian Qi Palace.
"Is it the Imperial Garden out of the rear hall?" Qu Qing Ju pointed in the direction of the rear hall. Even though she had come to the palace many times, but the paths in the palace were full of twists and turns. She couldn't always walk the main path so she really didn't know the layout of the hougong.
"Empress, if you leave the rear hall and pass through a bamboo forest, it will be the lotus pond in the corner of the Imperial Garden. Crossing the nine-turn covered bridge over the lotus pond, it will be the Imperial Garden." Ming He carefully answered.
Qu Qing Ju nodded but she didn't have any intentions of going to the garden. It hadn't even been two months since xiandi had died and the Empress of the new Emperor was going to the garden. If it got out, it wouldn't be right.
"Ben gong has finished looking. The palace is very beautiful," Qu Qing Ju thought of the white jade bath and smiled, commenting, "The Emperor spent so much effort, ben gong likes it very much."
Hearing this, Ming He bowed with his hands in front, replying: "If Empress can like it, it is a good deed. Nucai will go back to report. Nucai bids farewell."
Qu Qing Ju nodded. When she came out of Kui Yuan Palace, she stepped on the clean stone slabs and looked at the roses blooming on both sides of the path. Many butterflies danced among the flowers. For some reason, she suddenly felt that she was the female lead of Cinderella, and He Heng was the high and mighty rich CEO.
After He Heng heard Ming He's report, he couldn't help but smile, remarking: "If it was someone else, it would have been fine. But she had to care about where the water came from," Finishing, he helplessly shook his head, "It seems that zhen's Empress isn't easy to please. Luckily, there was running water that was brought in. Otherwise, the bath that zhen had specially built for her wouldn't have been used."
The words sounded helpless, but Ming He had served by the Emperor's side for more than a decade. How could he not understand that the Emperor was happy? He bent forward to change a cup of tea for him: "Emperor, nucai feels that niangniang doesn't want to cause the people to be injured. Isn't Empress the same as other women? To have an Empress who is the mother of the world, it is the fortune of the people. "
"En, your words are reasonable," He Heng nodded. He raised the teacup to take a sip before picking up the memorials on the table to annotate.
After another two hours, Ming He saw the Emperor stand. With a glance, he saw the dark cloud embroidered "fortune" pouch at the Emperor's waist. This pouch had been embroidered by the Empress. The Emperor liked to use it very much. He even looked down on the pouches of the Jiangnan weavers in the palace.
He Heng looked out the window. The sky had darkened. He was about to ask what time it was when he saw a bolt of lightning flash across the sky. Then there was a crack of thunder. The sudden gust of wind caused the windows to sway.
"Go to the rear hall to take a look." He strode out the door, clearly disregarding the fact that it was about to rain.
Ming He and the other taijian hurriedly carried the lanterns and followed. He looked at the sky and saw another bolt of lightning flash across. Tonight, there was going to be a large thunderstorm.
He looked at the Emperor's slightly impatient figure in front of him. Was the Emperor worried that the Empress was afraid of the thunder?
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.
