[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

On the official road in Guangxi, the convoys are mighty and continuous, and this has been the norm for the past year.Among them were the war materials transported from Sichuan to Guangxi, and the Sichuan Special Administrative Region Government purchased from Jiangnan and had Jiangnan merchants transport them directly to Guangxi.

There are also some natives or poor Han people in the southern provinces who got the news that they can get fertile land when they go to North Vietnam. People go south.

"The front is blocked again?" Bai Zhi murmured, and looked at her wife again.

The lady closed her eyes and meditated, and after a while, an eleven or twelve-year-old child called out: "Mother, there is a post station ahead, but this motorcade is blocking the official road. Grandma told you to get out of the car and walk there. Leave it to the stewards."

Daiyu got out of the carriage without a veiled cap.Now she is not a girl who has not been out of the cabinet. Besides, Mrs. Nie never wears a hat when she travels in the rivers and lakes. The governor of Sichuan and Marshal of Pingnan who command thousands of troops and horses by the empress Yijie are all men, so why did she ever wear such a hat? something.Of course, Daiyu is not the same as when she was in her boudoir.

Xiao Xiaoxiao was riding on a pony. Of course it wasn't her Arabian horse "Treading Snow".

Madam Nie and Xiao Lang also sat in the arms of a beautiful little boy, the third and fourth children of the Xiao family, nicknamed "San'er" and "Si'er".The third son was nine years old, and the fourth son was seven years old. It was the time when Xiao Lang and his wife loved their grandson. They wanted to ride a horse, so they took them along.

This road is a newly built official road, which is convenient for transporting materials. It was repaired with cement produced in Sichuan. The construction team is also from Sichuan. In addition, villagers will be hired to clear the road every time they go, so the efficiency is naturally very strong.This nearly one year is enough to cultivate a new path.

After getting out of the car, she realized what was blocking the road. Daiyu thought that there were [-] carts of medicinal materials she raised in Kyoto to support the front line. One can imagine how many things were transported to the south from other places, and how many things went to the south. immigrants.

When he arrived at the post station, Xiao Lang couldn't help being dumbfounded, and murmured: "Is this called a post station? It's bigger than the 'Kyoto State Guest House'."

The "Kyoto State Guest House" is Xiao Lang's pride, and Daiyu helped to make the project budget after the Nancheng renovation project, and Xiao Lang participated in the design and invested in shares.

Mrs. Nie's nephew, Nie Mingyuan, is here. Unlike his older brother Nie Zhiyuan, he didn't pass the martial arts exam. In fact, even Ruyun, a master of Teke, didn't get admitted to the Royal Academy.

With the Xiao family's relationship, the business of the Nie's Escort Bureau is naturally booming. This time, the delivery of medicinal materials to support the front line, because the Xiao family members went south together except Xiao Jingyun, and Nie Mingyuan personally accompanied them.

Nie Mingyuan said: "Auntie, Master Hou, Auntie, the VIP room of Tianzizhan in the station are all full."

This station is also a modern multi-functional "official state-owned hotel", which integrates catering, accommodation, transportation and supplies.They have also been to a post station built by Sichuan people before, but it is not as big as this one. If it includes the "parking lot", "stable" and "warehouse" at the back, it covers an area of ​​more than 300 mu, which is enough for several large houses.There is no way, if it is not built so large, it cannot handle the current flow of people and goods, and there was no such powerful inn in the town.

Mrs. Nie said, "Is such a big place full?"

Nie Mingyuan said: "That's what the 'receptionist' said. I don't think it's a lie. I asked clearly. It happened that a large number of military uniforms and quilts were transported from Sichuan. It said that there were thousands of cars. The escort was from Sichuan. The quartermaster is from the same system as this post."

Xiao Hou asked strangely: "Isn't this in Guangxi? How come it belongs to the same system?"

Nie Mingyuan said: "But this station is newly built, built by people from Sichuan, and the people who manage it are also from Sichuan."

Mrs. Nie said: "Sichuan people are from Sichuan, and they are not outsiders. Isn't Pan'er also from the Sichuan system? She wrote back and said that she has officially become a new army's 'confidential secretary' and has received a 'secretary secretary'." Salary at the deputy department level. As expected of my granddaughter, she has become an official, which is much better than his father who only became an official at the age of 19."

Mrs. Nie looked quite complacent.

Daiyu sweated profusely, thinking to herself: Can this be the same?Husband is taking the imperial examination, Xiao Pan'er is going through the relationship.

Although Xiao Pan'er is young, her education is blinding.Before she was five years old, Xiao Pan'er went to school in the primary school of Cheng'en Gongfu. Later, the empress and the prince and princess studied together in the Shang's study.After the age of seven, Xiao Pan'er left the Shang's study. After returning home, Madam Nie taught martial arts, and a Jinshi taught articles. Daiyu had three children and couldn't take care of her.

Because of Mrs. Nie's upbringing style of "looking forward to her granddaughter becoming a phoenix", she was brought up like that.

Xiao Xiaoxiao's novel: "Grandma, I want to be an official too~~"

Daiyu said: "You study hard and practice martial arts, and you will be admitted to the imperial examination just like your father."

Xiao Xiaoxiao said: "I don't want to take the imperial examination, but Uncle Yu Nu won't take it."

Daiyu said, "You can also enter the Royal Academy."

Xiao Xiaoxiao said with a smile: "Uncle Yu Nu, Teke, also took the fourth-to-last exam."

The so-called special department is a special student, and Yunu is a special department among the nobles. His score is a little lower than that of ordinary people, but the Royal Academy, where everyone is overcrowded, is full of masters even so.

Yu Nu didn't like reading and was mischievous. In order to let him take the exam, he hired several strict teachers to give him extra lessons. Xing Zhong watched him with a cane every day.Fortunately, his scores in martial arts, riding, and shooting were all very high, and he evened out his cultural points to pass the exam. When he passed the exam, Xing Zhong had several gray hairs on his temples.

Daiyu said with a sullen face, "You are not old or young, how do I usually teach you?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao: "It was Uncle Yu Nu who told me."

Yu Nu felt a little embarrassed and didn't want to go to the Royal Academy, because his nephew, the prince, who is more than one year younger, became his senior.The two princes have outstanding looks and were admitted at the age of 12.

Back then he failed the first exam, and the second time he took the exam with his nephews, and he still failed the exam. That's why Xing Zhong watched him study with a rattan stick.

Daiyu said, "That won't work either. Your uncle can joke on his own, but you can't."

Nie Mingyuan said: "Grandma, if you don't reveal your identity, I don't believe there will be no rooms in such a big post."

But Daiyu said: "Ordinary rooms are fine, as long as they are clean, we also bring quilts."

Xiao Hou smiled and said: "Come on, I'm going to pay a private visit in Weifu, and I'll be in Nanning in two days."

Nie Mingyuan went to check in again, but it still didn't work. No matter how good-tempered Xiao Hou was this time, he was annoyed.

Xiao Hou went there in person, several rooms in the station are handled separately, and there are different front desks.Nie Mingyuan chose a house with a local name, and there are also "standard rooms", "economy rooms", "ordinary rooms" and "multi-person shops".

There was a long queue, but Nie Mingyuan had just gone to handle it, so he went directly to ask.

The "Mr. Front Desk" became impatient, waved his hand, and said, "There are no rooms, all reservations are made, don't you see that I am busy?"

Xiao Hou said: "Such a big post station doesn't even have three houses with a real estate name?"

"If you say there is no, there is no. Go and see the economy housing."

Nie Mingyuan said: "Do you know who we are?"

The "Mr. Front Desk" looked at Xiao Lang, although he was in his 40s, but he had an outstanding appearance and was dressed in a brocade robe.Not everyone can wear brocade these days, but this person has a northern accent, and Sichuanese are not afraid of officials from other places.The nobles from other places don't care about them, they only recognize the emperor, empress and people in the system.

"Mr. Front Desk" said: "I don't care who you are? There is a family member of the magistrate who wants to book a house with a local name, and I will tell them the same. Don't delay my business."

At this time, there was a woman who got the keys to several houses in a local name, and it seemed that she hadn't booked them in advance, so Xiao Hou couldn't help being angry.

"Why did she have a room without a reservation? We came first, and those rooms should be ours."

The woman was a young woman, she took a look at Xiao Hou and Nie Mingyuan, although she was surprised, she is of different ages and she is already a woman, so she is not an idiot.

The young woman said: "You dare to fight for the room with me, you can't afford to offend anyone."

Xiao Hou became angry: "Ben...I'll have to see who I can't offend."

The young woman said: "I am from the Chen family."

"Which Chen family? I have never heard of any Chen family in the world that I can't afford to mess with."

The young woman was angry, her face flushed, and she said: "The Chen family in Hangzhou. Our uncle is General Yunhui from Sichuan, and he will take care of the logistics of the Pingnan Army."

Xiao Lang was slightly surprised, and before he could answer, the young woman said: "Aren't you afraid? The general manager of this posthouse is not so good as our general, Madam told me to keep a low profile, otherwise I will live in a Tianzihao room. It's also worth living in."

At this time, Mrs. Nie, Daiyu and the others were waiting anxiously, leading the child and walking over, followed by two guards, Baizhi, Qinglian and other maidservants.

Mrs. Nie said: "Is this room booked or not? Why don't we go to eat, the child is hungry too."

Nie Mingyuan said: "It's still going on, it's said that there is no real estate."

Mrs. Nie said, "Why don't you go into the town ahead and see if there is an inn."

Xiao Hou took out the silver and said, "I still don't believe it."

Xiao Hou sent the money to the front desk, and said: "Five houses with a local name. Besides, if there is no one, let those of you who can make decisions here come to see me." Of course the stewards and bodyguards below will not live so well, and they don't need to worry about it. .

Looking at such a large ingot of silver at the front desk, the colleague next to him couldn't help swallowing.

Money can make ghosts turn the millstone, but the people below can't control it after all, and there will be places with famous houses.

At this time, the young woman looked at Daiyu for a long time, and suddenly stepped forward to salute, a little timidly, and said: "Madam is... the Lord of Heyu County?"

Daiyu looked up and saw the young woman, but she didn't recognize her, but she must have seen her if she could tell her identity, and said: "You are..."

"It's really He Yu County Lord. I am... how can the county king know me? I met the county king in Cheng'en Gong's mansion back then. My young lady got married in Cheng'en Gong's mansion. Thanks to the county king's help manage."

"Who is your wife?" Married in Cheng'en Gong's mansion, she must have come out of the palace.

The young woman said: "My wife's maiden name is Xie, and she is married to General Chen. This time General Chen came to Guangxi from Sichuan to assist with logistics, and Madam raised some donations and materials from Jiangnan. The old lady also asked Madam to follow the general. .”

The main reason is that the Chen family also wanted to use this to show off, and many merchants in Hangzhou also showed their favor.Building a good relationship and supporting the national war will be beneficial in the future when businessmen in Guangxi and North Vietnam, who are waiting to be rebuilt, will benefit from it. Businessmen are not stupid.

This time, Youtian brand has all the houses, and the general manager personally came to make amends. Who can afford to offend the Xiao family and the Lin family.The queen's righteous sister, Lord Pingzhang's eldest daughter, has more face than the prince and the eldest princess.

Xie Wanying lived in the Tianzihao room, and Sulan (that is, the young woman) reported that Dingzhonghou's family had come, so how could she not go to see her.

After dinner, he brought his daughter and Xiao Lang led his three grandsons to escape.

Daiyu knew Xie Wanying, not to mention that she was a very outstanding woman, and Xie's family was not from an ordinary family. As the daughter of Pingzhang, and in recent years, because of the empress, she was interested in court affairs. It's all clear.

After talking about the old days, Mrs. Nie and Daiyu gave Miss Chen a respect.

Xie Wanying saw that Mrs. Nie treated Daiyu with kindness, which was no less than that of her own daughter, and she couldn't help feeling disappointed in her heart.

Daiyu was sensitive, she smiled and said, "Madam Chen is tired?"

Xie Wanying said: "It's nothing, how can I be so delicate? It's just that Madam and the County Lord are not like mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but like mother and daughter. I'm just envious."

Mrs. Nie said with a smile: "With this daughter-in-law, there is such a big family. How can I not be partial?"

Xie Wanying said: "You are the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who envy others, and the county lord is lucky."

Madam Nie couldn't help asking: "Did your mother-in-law treat you badly?"

Daiyu coughed involuntarily, and Madam Nie realized that she had asked the wrong question impulsively.

Due to Xie Wanying's upbringing, she couldn't directly blame her mother-in-law, but she kept it in her heart for a long time.How beautiful and happy she lived in Sichuan in those years, Sichuan is the paradise of "ladies".

Among the sisters who went out of the harem, she is also top-notch. The wife is valued by the queen, and their husbands are eager to flatter the wives.And none of those generals had concubines. Although most of them were low-educated people, they were promising, and the daughter-in-law had the final say in the family.

But the mother-in-law was lonely and sick and asked her daughter-in-law to take care of her. Xie Wanying had to go back to Hangzhou to take care of her illness. Later, Chen Yi couldn't resist her mother's request, so she took her niece from her natal family as a good concubine and gave birth to a concubine.

Xie Wanying was originally the daughter of Henan Xuezheng, and later promoted to governor of Henan, and her elder brother was finally transferred to Hangzhou as the magistrate.In terms of family status, if it wasn't for Chen Yi to get the queen's way, he would be far from Xie's family by a hundred and eight thousand miles.When the Xie family learned that the merchant still had good concubines, and her mother-in-law refused to let Xie Wanying accompany Chen Yi, how could they not come to slap her face.

Mr. Chen was so ashamed by the blow, and Mrs. Chen still couldn't figure out who said her son was the queen, so she went straight to Tianting.

Xie Wanying really had enough of her mother-in-law, and the next day she wore a pair of jade bracelets that the queen rewarded her, and her mother-in-law wanted to ask for it after seeing it.

But Xie Wanying said: "Originally, a daughter-in-law should respect her mother-in-law for such things, but this is what the empress rewarded her. The daughter-in-law is also ashamed to mention what happened back then. Although I entered the palace and lived in the same room with the empress, the empress I am full of favor, but I can't get a look from the sage. The empress doesn't like to walk around in the harem, so she lives in the same room with me, so she has some affection. I want to get married, and besides the dowry, the empress has a copy from the private treasury The dowry was given to me, saying that it was all the love of the past. This bracelet is still a tribute from General Yili's mansion back then, and it is top-notch Hetian jade, which cannot be found anywhere else."

Mrs. Chen's face turned red and white with anger, and she wanted to rub her daughter-in-law, because Mr. Chen, who had never cared about the affairs of the inner court, thought that the new magistrate was from the Xie family, and no matter how soft-tempered he was, he got into a fight with his wife.

If the husband belongs to the queen, it seems that no one else knows the queen. She is in harmony with her husband, Yuan Qinse. She has been with many sisters in Sichuan, and she can do many things she likes to do.But the mother-in-law said she was sick, so she always had to be filial, and she was brought from Sichuan to Hangzhou, and the husband and wife separated.After recovering from his illness, he made his husband take a concubine to make things worse, and sent his niece from her natal family there.

It was also because of Master Chen and Mrs. Chen's quarrel over the matter of Xie's family that Mrs. Chen wanted to win back her husband's heart and let Xie Wanying's mother and daughter out.

Xie Wanying shed tears, wiped them quickly, and said: "I have been serving my mother-in-law in Hangzhou for the past few years, and I also miss those sisters back then. Last month, I received a letter from sister Ziyue, saying that she has arrived in Nanning, and this time the county lord is also here. , this is quite lively, I am happy."

It sounds like nothing, but there is a hidden message.There is nothing in Daiyu's seven orifices that can't be tasted.She separated from Chen Yi and his wife and went to Hangzhou to serve her mother-in-law.What kind of mother-in-law would separate the young couple and ask the daughter-in-law to serve them by her side?Although Daiyu didn't often follow Xiao Jingyun when he went to other places, it was because firstly, she had to give birth and raise children, and the educational resources and network resources in other places were not as good as those in Kyoto; secondly, she had her own business in Beijing; thirdly, Xiao Jingyun was stationed in Hubei before, and it is not too far to go to Kyoto, so he can go back once every two or three months.

She has a good relationship with Ziyue and others, which can be regarded as the queen's side.

Daiyu laughed and said, "I haven't seen Ziyue for many years, and I don't know how she is doing well."

Speaking of which, except for Lan Jiu, all the maidservants in the dyeing house around the queen were from the Lin Mansion. Back then, the court nuns came to the Lin Mansion to carefully select and train the big maids.

Xie Wanying smiled and said: "Ziyue can't do anything wrong, she has the final say at home, who can not give her face when she is in Sichuan? General Wu also loves people, they already have two sons and a daughter."

Daiyu said with a smile: "She is good luck, and she will not be in vain."

Wu Dafu is a bachelor, there are no elders in his family, and those distant relatives can only try to curry favor with Ziyue, how could the mother-in-law of the Chen family use her niece to control her proudest son.

Xie Wanying has already regretted that she came from a noble family, but her vision of seeing people is not as strong as the maids around the queen back then.

Over the years, Xie Wanying has also heard some unspoken things. It is said that Chen Yi also took a fancy to Ziyue, but Ziyue insisted on marrying Wu Dafu.Later, when the queen saw that she had chosen Chen Yi, she secretly matched them.

It's not that Xie Wanying doesn't love Chen Yi, it's just that no matter how deep the love is, when the concubine's son is born while she is being rubbed by her mother-in-law, that will fade away.The mother-in-law's niece is only 19 years old this year, 11 years younger than her, and she was also the most beautiful girl in the mother-in-law's family back then, fresh and tender.

Chen Yi is not a licentious person, but he is no longer innocent. The young, fresh, delicate and charming girl has been around for a long time, and his wife is not around. How can a man love to be a chaste and strong man in this era?

Xie Wanying knew that she had to leave the Chen family in Hangzhou. She wanted to find her own life. Only by the Queen's side could she have dignity and opportunities.Even if her natal family stood up for her, they couldn't force her husband not to take a concubine, nor could she overwhelm filial piety. She was still a little daughter-in-law in the backyard.

Only the queen can surpass filial piety in this world, and the queen is the king, before kissing.And without her husband's only love, she still has to live well. She has spent enough time in the backyard in the past few years.

Her expectations for Chen Yi were not so strong, she fought to come to Guangxi because of the queen.

Because she is the daughter of studying politics, she has read a lot of poetry and books. In the 13th year of Qianyuan, she worked as the queen's secretary in Sichuan and assisted the queen in the construction of basic education. It was so beautiful and fulfilling at that time that even the husband looked up to her. of.

The queen is knowledgeable, quick-thinking, and has unique insights. It's also good for the queen to treat those around her. She won't spend the rest of her life acquainted with that concubine in the backyard.