Chapter 174 Prime Minister Zhu Returns Home
"What?" Yingpin's eyes widened in disbelief. The judge's words hit her heart like a bolt from the blue. Two years ago, a concubine in the harem died of heavy bleeding due to ectopic pregnancy, which made Yingpin feel a chill rising from her spine. She was originally immersed in the joy of pregnancy, but now she felt like she was in an ice cellar, and the fear of death made her tremble all over.
Long Xiaotian frowned. His Concubine Ru had also left him because of an ectopic pregnancy. It was at that time that he knew that if this condition was discovered early, abortion could be used to save the life. However, if the fetus was grown up, it would be too late. Moreover, the pulse of this disease is often normal in the early stages and is almost undetectable. Yingpin is probably facing the same fate now...
"Your Majesty, Concubine Ying can only take a gamble. She may be already quite pregnant. The only way now is to have an abortion as soon as possible, so that she may still have a glimmer of hope. Otherwise, she will surely die." The judge explained with a sweat on his forehead.
Long Xiaotian turned his head to look at Concubine Ying. His eyes were as cold as ice. He said in a low and stern voice: "I'm afraid Concubine Ying has known that you are pregnant for a long time. Do you know how serious a crime this is? Humph, you should have heard clearly the two paths that the judge just mentioned. Now it's up to you to choose." After saying that, he left without mercy, leaving Concubine Ying alone to face this difficult choice.
Yingpin's face turned pale as paper in an instant. She certainly understood the crime she had committed - the crime of deceiving the emperor! Thinking back to how she had relied on the emperor's favor to become arrogant and domineering, she realized that she had deserved this fate.
"Your Excellency, please prescribe some medicine for me." Yingpin waved her hands weakly, as if she had lost all her vitality. She slowly slumped down in the chair, as if all her strength had been drained out, and she leaned limply against the back of the chair.
Meanwhile, in the imperial study, Long Xiaotian was furious. He issued an imperial decree without hesitation, directly ordering the removal of Minister Gu from his post and handing Gu Xuetao over to the Ministry of Justice for disposal. It turned out that he had already received a pigeon message from Qingzhou Prefecture, informing him that Minister Gu had colluded with Ye Mingyuan to provoke Gu Xiao. However, he had always believed that this matter had nothing to do with Gu Qingying, but when Gu Qingying admitted that she was pregnant, everything became clear, and the Gu family had obviously had second thoughts. "Your Majesty, calm down," Eunuch Zhao consoled.
At this time, a secret guard reported: "Your Majesty, the letter from Qingzhou Prefecture has arrived at full speed."
Long Xiaotian hurriedly said: "Quick, bring it here for me to see."
Long Xiaotian took the letter from the secret guard and became happier the more he read it. "Great, great, our Da Xiao is saved."
The emperor was delighted and said, "Quickly summon Prime Minister Zhu and Grand Tutor Pang to the palace."
Prime Minister Zhu is the nephew of Old Lady Song, and also Zhu Mingyue's father. When Zhu Mingyue returned to Qingzhou Prefecture, she was pushed into the lotus pond by her cousin Zhu Mingyang, and it was Shen Zhi who saved her.
When Prime Minister Zhu and Grand Tutor Pang entered the palace, they were overjoyed after reading the contents of the letter. The potato harvest was good, with an output of 8,000 kilograms per mu, which was a completely shocking number. The Great Xiao Dynasty was blessed.
Prime Minister Zhu knew that the greatest contributor was his daughter's savior, and he was truly happy for her.
"Your Majesty, Lord Yixiang is the greatest contributor to these potatoes and he deserves a reward," said Prime Minister Zhu.
"The Prime Minister is right. If these potatoes are promoted throughout Daxiao, the people will no longer suffer from hunger." Grand Tutor Pang also agreed.
Long Xiaotian looked at the two of them and said, "My dear Zhu, I know that Qingzhou Prefecture is your ancestral home. Now I am sending you to Qingzhou Prefecture in person to convey my order. Those who participated in this experiment are all meritorious officials and will all be rewarded."
Prime Minister Zhu knelt down excitedly to express his gratitude, tears in his eyes. More than ten years had passed since he came to the capital to serve as prime minister, and he had not been able to return to his hometown during this period. Now that he finally had the opportunity to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors and meet old friends, he was filled with gratitude and awe for the emperor's gift.
After returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Mrs. Xue saw her husband smiling and looking so happy. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Master, did something happy happen today? Why are you so happy?"
Prime Minister Zhu laughed and replied, "It is indeed a happy event! The emperor ordered me to set off to Qingzhou Prefecture tomorrow to read the imperial edict. When my mother passed away, I didn't even get to see her for the last time. At that time, the emperor had just ascended the throne and the country was in a turbulent period, so he failed to approve my memorial of mourning. However, now the emperor has taken pity on me for not returning home for many years, and has specially given me the task of reading the imperial edict, and told me that I can stay in Qingzhou Prefecture for a while longer."
Xue was also happy for her husband after hearing this, "Master, I will go pack my clothes, and I will accompany you back to Qingzhou Prefecture tomorrow."
Although Xue had sold all her properties in Qingzhou Prefecture, she still had relatives from her mother's family there, so it would be nice to visit them. I heard that my aunt was not in good health recently and might not make it through this year. When she was young, her aunt was very kind to her. She often thought that it would be great if she could see her aunt for the last time, and it would be even better if she could show her filial piety in front of her. Now that he has the opportunity to return home with the master, he is even more eager.
Early the next morning, Prime Minister Zhu and his wife, along with everyone from the Imperial Household Department, set out on their journey to Qingzhou Prefecture.
The hundred acres of potatoes at Baiyun Villa are still being harvested, and everyone has a smile on their face.
Shen Zhi has been running around to help these two days, arranging some workers to put the dug potatoes in a cool and ventilated place to dry the moisture on the surface.
Another group of people went to the Dacao River to haul sand. Shen Zhi had investigated in advance and found that the Dacao River was full of fine sand. After hauling it back, they exposed it to the sun until the water dried up. Before harvesting potatoes, Shen Zhi asked the workers who were good at carpentry to prepare a lot of large wooden barrels, which came in handy now. The dried potatoes were neatly stacked in the large wooden barrels, and then the dried and cooled fine sand was poured in, which ensured that the potatoes would not sprout, turn green or even rot for a long time.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the cicadas' calls were making people feel irritated. Fortunately, the watermelons planted by Shen Zhi by the Dacao River were ripe. Shen Zhi had already picked one to taste. It had a thin skin and thick flesh, and was sweet, crisp, plump and juicy. Moreover, Shen Zhi had specially picked the seedless variety of Qilin melon, which was unheard of in the Daxiao Dynasty.
Shen Zhi had someone pick a batch of them, chilled them in well water for two hours, and then sent them to the fields.
Everyone didn't expect that they would all have a share of watermelon. Shen Zhi gave one watermelon to every five people. Each watermelon weighed at least 20 kilograms, which was more than enough for five people.
"This melon is so sweet and juicy, and there are no watermelon seeds. Girl, the emperor will definitely be very happy if he eats it. Let's send a batch to the palace." Eunuch Cao asked for Shen Zhi's opinion while eating.
Shen Zhi planted a lot of melons and said generously, "No problem, there are melons all over the river. I didn't expect that I could get so many melons the first time I planted them. You can pick as many as you want. If not, I still have a lot in Bi Bo Villa."
Eunuch Cao was very pleased with Shen Zhi's generosity, and he picked a lot of watermelons with several guards, and asked the guards to drag several carriages back to the capital overnight. In order to reduce losses on the road, they padded the carriages with thick straw and separated each watermelon with thick straw.