Hairpin Phoenix

   Chapter 505 New Favorite (1)

   She is giving birth to a fool!

  Concubine Qin couldn't stop crying, she wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and said bitterly, "Yes, yes, I am short-sighted, narrow-minded, and come up with some bad ideas. You can do whatever you want in the future, and don't pay attention to me."

  The fourth prince sighed and slowed down: "Mother, don't be angry."

"On weekdays, I am a little careful to think about small abacuses, that's all. At this time, I should put the people first, and the stability of the court. If I really do like what my concubine said, I will only shrink back when I encounter things. What will all the ministers in the court think of me? What will the royal father think of me?"

   "Look at my eldest brother. He hurts a leg and walks bumpy. He refuses to rest in the house. I have lived in the household for seven or eight days. I have good hands and feet and can run and move, so how can I rest?"

   Concubine Qin was dumbfounded for a moment and sighed.

   Born in a heavenly family, as a prince, every word, deed, and every move was watched.

   To be lazy is really indecent.

   "By the way, what about Li Changren?" Concubine Qin suddenly thought of the Fifth Prince: "He has arranged a marriage and will get married in May this year. It's not too young, so it's time to learn to be an errand!"

  The fourth prince hummed: "When the third brother went to Pi County, he took the fifth brother with him."

   Concubine Qin was completely speechless and had to tell the fourth prince to take care of his health.

   Turning her head, Concubine Qin praised the fourth prince fiercely in front of the Queen Mother Zhao.

   Empress Dowager Zhao always prefers the fourth prince. Furthermore, the fourth prince has done a good job in the past two years, and he is indeed commendable.

  So, Empress Dowager Zhao called Emperor Yongjia over again to show merit for the Fourth Prince.

   These days, Emperor Yongjia was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground, he hadn't eaten or slept well for several days, his complexion was dark, and now he was full of blue shadows. Listening to Empress Dowager Zhao's message again, my head hurts even more: "Now I am busy with disaster relief, and when everything is busy, it is not too late to discuss merits and deeds."

   Empress Dowager Zhao felt distressed for her son again: "You are also in your forties. No matter how busy you were when you were younger, you have to eat and rest on time, but don't hurt the dragon body."

  Emperor Yongjia cheered up and said with a smile: "I'm not a child, and I have to worry about my mother."

   Empress Dowager Zhao smiled and said: "Don't say you are in your forties, you are sixty-seven. As long as the Aijia is here, you will always be the son of the Aijia. If the Aijia doesn't care about you, who will care for you."

   paused, and then whispered: "When the busy time is over, the Aijia will talk to the queen again and choose some new people to enter the palace. The emperor is busy and hard all day, and there must be someone around to take care of him."

  Emperor Yongjia didn't refuse this time, he just said, "We'll talk about it after a while."

  …

   Five days later, the imperial court received a memorial from the crown prince and the third prince.

  Lu Mingyu also received a letter from Li Jing.

  This letter is only a thin page, with only a few lines, and the handwriting is flying like a phoenix. It can be seen how busy Li Jing is.

   "The snow disaster in Zhengxian County was severe. More than a hundred people were frozen to death, and many people were starving. The scene was full of horrors..."

  Lu Mingyu felt worried when he saw it in his eyes, frowned and looked down.

   When Li Jing arrived in Zheng County, he immediately ordered the county magistrate to open the warehouse and put grain in order to help the people. It never occurred to me that the food in the warehouse in Zheng County was less than 30% of the amount on the account book.

   Li Jing was enraged, and ordered his own soldiers to take down the county government office, and interrogated the magistrate and the county magistrate one by one.

   It turned out that most of the grains in the warehouse were resold. On weekdays, when the spring grains come down, and the grain depots are quietly replenished, no one will know. I never thought that this year, I encountered heavy snow that I haven't seen in more than ten years, and I need to use the grain stored in the grain depot. Zheng County panicked.

   After Li Jing asked about the situation, he put all the officials in the Zhengxian county government office in prison, personally took over the county government affairs, and ordered the warehouse to be opened. While sending the memorial to Beijing, he asked the court to send food immediately.

   This memorial was presented to the imperial case, and Emperor Yongjia was immediately furious, and immediately issued a decree, ordering the Ministry of Household to allocate food. He also ordered the Ministry of Personnel to immediately select several officials to fill the vacancies in Zheng County.

   As for those daring officials, they were escorted into the capital when Prince Li Jing returned to the capital, waiting for the Ministry of Justice to interrogate and convict them.

  Compared with Zheng County, the disaster situation in Pi County was much lighter and smoother.

   After half a month, Li Hao returned with Li Chang and five hundred personal soldiers.

  Li Hao has been trained in the army for two years and is very capable. This time, I went to Pi County for disaster relief, and I also did a good job. It is Li Chang, who has been away from Beijing for a month. He has also matured a lot, and he has a similar appearance when answering.

Emperor Yongjia was very pleased when he saw it in his eyes, and praised Li Chang with a smile: "I look at you, much stronger than before. In a few months, you will be an adult when you get married. At that time, I will also send you some errands, and you should learn to be errands."

  Li Chang was rarely praised once, and he straightened his back with excitement: "Yes, Erchen must be a good errand."

   Li Hao smiled and said: "Why wait until after the big wedding. The fifth brother is also sixteen, and he has listened to politics in the court before. I implore the father and the emperor, and now send the fifth brother an errand and let him learn to be an errand."

  Emperor Yongjia was delighted to see that his son was promising, and said with a smile: "Alright, then go to the Ministry of Works."

   Among the six ministries, the bureau of officials has the most power and is in charge of the promotion of hundreds of officials. The matter of the Ministry of Rites in charge of the imperial examinations is the most noble. The Ministry of Household is in charge of the country's money and grain, and has the most oil and water. In contrast, the Ministry of Industry is obviously a bit worse than the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Household.

   However, Li Chang was not qualified to be picky, and he honestly thanked his grace.

Emperor Yongjia saw Li Hao becoming more and more pleasing to the eye, and praised Li Hao with a smile: "You have done this errand quickly and well, and Li Chang has made great progress when he went out. This is all your credit. I have to reward you well. Yes."

Li Hao said with a smile: "My son really wants to ask for a favor from the father. This new year, I have been busy with disaster relief, and my father has not been able to take a good rest. The son wants to hold a small banquet in the mansion and invite the eldest brother and the fourth brother. Go with the two concubines. Please also honor your father and come here, and give your son a respect."

  The son set the wine and invited his father to the banquet.

   As a father, how can there be no reason to be unwilling?

  Emperor Yongjia readily agreed.

  Li Hao smiled slightly, and said, "Thank you, Father."

  …

  Li Hao held a banquet in the Mansion of the Three Princes, and invited a group of princes and consorts, and even Emperor Yongjia went there in person. Li Jing did not come back from the disaster relief work in Zheng County, so naturally he could not attend.

  Lu Mingyu's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and there is an upright reason not to go.

  Emperor Yongjia was in high spirits and was drunk. He didn't return to the palace that night and slept in the mansion of the Third Prince. The next day, Emperor Yongjia took a day off and stayed at the Third Prince's Mansion for another day.

   It was not until evening that Emperor Yongjia left the Three Princes Mansion.

   Moreover, he brought a gentle and beautiful girl back to the palace.

   This newly favored beauty, who has no status for the time being, was placed in the Yihua Palace where Concubine Su lived before her death. That night, Emperor Yongjia stayed in Yihua Palace.

When the news reached Lu Mingyu's ears, Lu Mingyu frowned, and suddenly had a bad premonition.

   (end of this chapter)