Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Lin Daiyu was going to the temporary palace, and Kou Zhaorong and Dou Jieyu hurried over to see her off.

The matter of her sending the painting to Kou Zhaorong had already been dealt with by Tao Xingjian. Now she just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. How could she dare to "chat" with them again?

With a glance, Xiao Hong smiled and stepped forward to "remind" her that Tao Jian said that the emperor would come over to have dinner with her:

"Your Majesty still has something to tell the princess."

Kou Zhaorong and Dou Jieyu realized that they were being chased away, and they both felt embarrassed. After saying a few more words, they politely took their leave.

As soon as they left, Daiyu fell on the bed: "I'm so tired, so tired, so tired!"

She went to the East Palace early in the morning. Although there was very little to do, she had gotten along very well with the King of the East in the previous few days, so Daiyu was very sad to pay her condolences.

Then he went to Jia's house. It took him three hours to finish the trip, and he was exhausted.

After finally returning to the palace, Supervisor Tao also helped to say that they could take shelter from the storm for a while, and as a result, the two concubines came to reconnect with each other.

Daiyu felt her face was frozen.

"We have to set off early tomorrow morning..."

Before Xiao Hong finished her words, Xueyan's desperate voice rang out outside: "Princess, Lang'er and Qiao'er want to see you."

Daiyu covered her eyes with her hands.

Xiao Hong couldn't help but smile softly: "Maybe they knew they would have to part with the princess tomorrow morning, so they were reluctant to let her go."

"Forget it, let him in." Daiyu sat up and tidied her clothes and hair slightly.

As expected, the two children both had tears in their eyes. As soon as they came in, they ran straight to Lin Daiyu, hugged her arms on the left and right, and sobbed:

"I don't want to leave my aunt! Aunt, come with us!"

Lin Daiyu had no choice but to coax him patiently:

“Everyone in the family, adults and children, has something they must do.

"Lang'er's mother wants to raise you well. Qiao'er's mother wants to support this family.

"As for you two, you must study hard and learn to be good people. Only when you become successful as soon as possible can you take over the burden from your mother and take care of your family.

“As for me, although you also call me aunt, my last name is Lin and yours is Jia.

“Just like Aunt Shi.

“She has her own family, and so do I.

“In the early years, Aunt Shi and I both visited your family as relatives.

“These days, you also come to visit my relatives.

“But although relatives can come and go, they will eventually have to leave.

"Grow up quickly, both of you!

"After a few years, when my aunt comes to visit your relatives, we can live together, eat together, and play together, okay?"

The two children listened while sobbing.

They were all sensible children, and they had seen too much tension among the people in the palace these days. Under the guidance of Nanny Cui and Yuanyang, they naturally understood that their future life would never be the same as before.

Now that Daiyu was trying to comfort them in a gentle manner, their emotions gradually calmed down and they became more sober.

Jia Lan looked up and asked Daiyu, "Aunt Xueyan said that we are going back to Jinling tomorrow.

“But Aunt Yuanyang hasn’t come back yet.

"Will she go back to Jinling with us?"

Daiyu lowered her eyes and said, "I don't know about that either. Go and ask your Aunt Yuanyang tomorrow when you see her."

Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, the two children were reluctant to leave and begged to have dinner with Daiyu.

Xiao Hong came up with a smile: "I'm afraid it won't work. The emperor said he wants to come over, you guys..."

"We don't know when we will have dinner with aunt next time." Jia Lan interrupted Xiao Hong pitifully, "But the emperor can see aunt anytime and anywhere."

Qiao Jie followed with a sobbing tone: "Yes! Can't the emperor eat by himself? I can eat by myself, I don't need the aunts to feed me!"

Daiyu burst out laughing.

Xiaohong sighed weakly.

"Forget it, serve their meal first, and I'll eat with them first." Daiyu agreed softly.

The two children contentedly enjoyed what might be their last dinner with Aunt Lin.

After dinner, Qingwen came in with a strange look on her face: "Your Majesty is here."

The two children were carried away.

Daiyu touched their little hands one by one, smiled and sent them to the door, and went to greet Emperor Zhaoming.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Zhaoming was sitting outside drinking tea.

Daiyu paused, knowing that her son's words might have been heard by the person in front of her.

He hurried forward and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"No need. I just happened to go and see the renovation of the Cining Palace. I'm afraid it will take another three to five months."

Emperor Zhaoming put down his teacup and motioned Daiyu to sit next to him. He did not serve the meal but just kept talking to her, "Calculating the time, the Queen Mother will return just in time before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

“I just don’t know if Tai Shang has the patience to live in Tiewang Mountain for half a year.

"——Go and help me find out what the two elders think.

"If they can't stay here and want to take a walk, it's a good time to go north when the weather gets hot. I'll go there too and accompany them to see the grassland..."

Obviously, with the major issues in the court settled, Emperor Zhaoming felt relaxed and began to dream, or fantasize, on a large scale.

Daiyu kindly reminded him: "Aren't we going to fight a war with the Northwest?"

"..." Emperor Zhaoming let out a breath and raised his chin to signal Tao Xingjian.

Tao Xingjian brought over a small mahogany box and placed it in front of Daiyu.

Daiyu didn't understand what was going on, but seeing that Tao Xingjian looked OK, she reached out and opened it.

Two...silver bills?

One is worth two thousand taels, and the other is worth ten thousand taels.

"What is this?" Daiyu didn't think it was for her.

His own shop and farm are still making money, and in the past two years, under Jiang Yong's management, he has made especially a lot of money.

Emperor Zhaoming raised his hand and pointed in the direction where the two children had just passed by: "Give it to the one who can make money.

"Let her do business freely in Jiangnan. As long as it is legal and proper, and doesn't cause any trouble, I will have someone look after her."

It turned out to be the case.

Daiyu understood and blurted out, "Is the money in the treasury still not enough?"

"Half a year is enough." Emperor Zhaoming did not hide it from her, knocking on the table and frowning, "But the forces in the northwest are intertwined.

“Once the war starts, it’s hard to say whether there will be unusual movements in the east and south.

"I have always thought that if there is a way to avoid war, it would actually be the best.

“But they insisted on forcing me.”

Emperor Zhaoming held his knees with both hands, exhaled a long breath, and said the last words, "I do not allow marriage, only war!"

Daiyu was shocked: "A marriage is coming from the Northwest?"

"Yes." Emperor Zhaoming nodded solemnly, "He also asked me to marry at least one princess, but promised her the title of queen.

“I didn’t agree.

“Of course you can’t.

“It’s okay for Yimin to raise the first level, but the Feng family won’t agree.

"Hongchang has volunteered, but, for such a good child, shouldn't I keep him and marry him off to the next top scholar? Why should I send him to a foreign race to suffer?"

Daiyu heaved a sigh of relief, smiled, and nodded vigorously: "Your Majesty is wise!"