Food bloggers made fortunes in ancient times

A group of able-bodied men were taken away from Zhangjia Village, and the whole village seemed much quieter.

The once bustling threshing ground now only had a few old people left, sitting there chatting incoherently with weak voices.

The crops in the fields were unattended and overgrown with weeds.

In the families whose young men were conscripted, the women had to take care of the elderly and children and worry about farm work, and their lives were extremely difficult.

In the past few months, Song Yan has been living back and forth between Zhangjia Village and Zhuangzi, and spends more time at Zhuangzi.

Song Wanzhou and her sister Yaya have also been living in the farm. With Xu Yue playing with them, they have never thought about going back to the village to find their sisters.

Since Song Zhengdu went to private school, Xu An has been following Song Yan, usually helping to run errands or do some chores within his ability.

Xu Anren was also smart and learned things quickly. He always managed to complete the tasks assigned by Song Yan in a neat and orderly manner.

Song Yan found Xu An so useful that she was reluctant to return him to Song Zhengdu.

However, Song Zhengdu still has to study in a private school, and Xu An cannot go with him to serve him. He will probably have to stay with Song Yan for a long time.

At this time, General Zhou's deeds were widely circulated among the people, and some storytellers added fuel to the fire, making General Zhou's story more dramatic.

In the streets, teahouses and restaurants, people always talk about this legendary general of the previous dynasty.

The people were filled with righteous indignation, and many of them jointly wrote a letter to the court, begging it to clear General Zhou's name and restore his innocence.

This petition flew to the capital from all over the country like snowflakes, and in just a few days it filled up the desk of the Minister of Rites.

The Minister of Rites looked at the mountain of letters with his brows twisted into the shape of a "川" character. Knowing that this matter was thorny, he did not dare to delay for a moment and hurriedly presented it to Emperor Kangrui.

Emperor Kangrui looked at the densely packed names, his face raged, and he threw the memorial to the ground.

"Investigate thoroughly! Investigate thoroughly for me! I want to see which traitor is stirring up trouble behind the scenes!"

The eunuch before the emperor was so frightened that he was shaking all over, and he hurriedly ran down to convey the imperial edict.

Within half a day, the capital was in a state of panic, and officials at all levels were terrified, fearing that they would be dragged into this turmoil if they made the slightest mistake.

In the capital, officers and soldiers were dispatched everywhere, searching every house. If they found any books, calligraphy or paintings related to General Zhou's deeds, or even a piece of paper with a few words recording the incident, they would take away the owner.

For a while, cries and pleas for mercy were heard throughout the city.

Under the high-pressure situation of the court's large-scale manhunt, the world-famous Meng Qingsheng strode into the Dali Temple, carrying the key imperial edict when General Zhou was wronged.

When the Dali Temple Minister saw Meng Qingsheng, he was startled at first, then he bowed and said, "Mr. Meng, what are you doing..."

Meng Qingsheng looked solemn as he presented the imperial edict with both hands and said in a deep voice, "This is ironclad evidence that General Zhou was wronged. Now the people are crying out for his injustice. I hope you can present it to His Majesty so that the truth can be made known to the world and the loyal and good man will not be wronged in the afterlife."

The Dali Temple Minister unfolded the imperial edict with trembling hands, and his face turned pale after reading it.

Once this imperial edict is made public, it will surely cause a storm in the court.

But he also knew that if he concealed the truth, he would be cursed for eternity.

After careful consideration, the Dali Temple decided to present the imperial edict to Emperor Kangrui.

When Emperor Kangrui saw this imperial edict, his face became terribly gloomy, and the atmosphere in the hall instantly froze to the extreme.

"Who instructed you to present this?"

The Dali Temple Minister was so frightened that he trembled all over and quickly replied: "Your Majesty, this is presented to me by Meng Qingsheng, the great scholar. He is only trying to clear Zhou Lingyue's grievances. I dare not hide it, so I specially come to present it to Your Majesty."

"Great, great Zhou Lingyue! Great Meng Qingsheng!" Emperor Kang Rui laughed in anger, "I want to see who is behind all this!"

The ministers were suddenly silent, and the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to breathe, for fear of becoming the target of Emperor Kangrui's anger.

Kang Ruidi slapped the armrest of the dragon throne fiercely, causing the entire hall to buzz: "Are you all mute? Usually everyone is eloquent, why is no one talking now?"

Li Xiang stepped out at this time, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, calm down. This matter still needs to be discussed in the long run."

"Many years have passed since Zhou Lingyue's incident. Now this imperial edict has suddenly appeared. There may be hidden secrets. The most urgent task is to find out the truth, so as to avoid being used by treacherous people to disrupt the government."

Of course, if Emperor Kangrui wanted to, even a real imperial edict could be said to be fake. After all, the emperor's authority could not be challenged, and everything depended on his will.

Kang Ruidi's intention was to suppress the matter first, investigate secretly, and find out who was behind the incident and whether there was any ulterior conspiracy.

In addition, the Hu people are now coming in with great force, and the northern border has almost completely fallen. If it weren't for Qin Shu's hard work in supporting Zhenyuan City, I'm afraid the Hu people would have already marched straight in.

Zhenyuan City has now become the last solid line of defense against the Hu people, and its strategic significance is self-evident.

Therefore, Emperor Kangrui only wanted to settle the matter of Zhou Lingyue as soon as possible to prevent the generals from being disheartened by General Zhou’s injustice, which would in turn affect the war in the northern border.

If this matter is not handled properly, it will not only cause public resentment, but may also lead to instability in military morale, with disastrous consequences.

But the more they tried to suppress the matter, the more the turmoil intensified.

No one knew who had leaked the news of Meng Qingsheng's imprisonment. The people were outraged and gathered in front of the government office in the capital, demanding the release of Meng Qingsheng and clearing the name of General Zhou.

At the same time, some forces in the court took this opportunity to fight against each other.

Some ministers advocated severe punishment of Meng Qingsheng to serve as a warning to others; others believed that they should follow public opinion and re-examine the case of General Zhou.

The open and covert struggles among various forces have made the situation even more complicated and chaotic.

Just when Emperor Kangrui was overwhelmed by the matter, urgent news came from the northern border. Qin Shu of Zhenyuan City wrote a letter to appeal for justice for General Zhou. In passionate words, he said that General Zhou had been loyal to his country all his life, but was framed by a traitor and ended up with such a tragic end, which was truly heartbreaking.

Qin Shu also bluntly stated in his compromise that the people were now complaining about the injustice done to General Zhou. If the court did not handle it properly, it might lose the support of the people, which would be detrimental to the war.

Moreover, General Zhou had outstanding military talent, and his methods of training and employing troops are still highly respected by the officers and soldiers in the army. If he could be vindicated, it would surely boost morale and allow the soldiers to fight the enemy with one heart.

In addition, many military generals stationed on the border responded to Qin's strategy.

Memorials from these military generals flew to the capital like snowflakes. For a time, the calls for redress for General Zhou became louder and louder in the court.

Those ministers who originally advocated severe punishment of Meng Qingsheng and shelving the unjust case of General Zhou gradually shut up under the powerful pressure of public opinion.

Emperor Kang Ruidi looked at the table full of memorials and became furious. He swept all the pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the table to the ground.

"This group of traitors and villains, each of them wants to force me to submit!" Emperor Kangrui panted, his face flushed red.

But even if Emperor Kangrui was angry, it would be of no avail. The Northern Frontier was in danger at this time, and he needed the service of these generals. If he did not properly handle the Zhou Lingyue case and lose the support of the army and the people, the consequences would be disastrous.

After a long time, Emperor Kang Rui finally calmed down. He sat back on the dragon chair tiredly and waved his hand: "Pass on my order to re-examine Zhou Lingyue's case and get to the bottom of it."

Half a month later, the case of Zhou Lingyue finally came to a conclusion.

However, they did not conclude that the previous emperor was incompetent and deliberately framed the emperor, but instead put all the blame on a few treacherous ministers who had long since passed away.

Among them was Kang Yinan, who was posthumously named a first-class mighty general.

Although Kang Yinan had been dead for many years, he was dragged out as a scapegoat for this unjust case.

In the court, all the ministers echoed and described Kang Yinan as a despicable villain who framed loyal officials for his own selfish desires and to flatter the late emperor.

According to the historians, the former emperor was deceived by treacherous ministers and was bewitched into making a wrong decision.

The imperial edict was announced to the world, announcing the restoration of Zhou Lingyue's reputation, posthumously conferring the title of "Loyal and Brave Marquis", and generously rewarding his descendants.

The Zhou family had already been exterminated and executed in those days, and the so-called generous reward now is just a superficial appeasement.

When the common people heard about this, although they were not very satisfied with the result, they felt that at least General Zhou's injustice was vindicated and they felt relieved.

Shou'an Palace.

After the death of the previous emperor, the imperial concubine was promoted to the rank of imperial dowager concubine, and moved here with a group of the previous emperor's concubines.

Shou'an Palace is located in the northwest corner of the palace city, with towering red walls and closed gates.

There are few flowers and trees in the palace. Even in midsummer, it is difficult to see any vitality. There is an indescribable coldness and loneliness.

In Shou'an Palace, the noble concubine was wearing plain clothes, leaning on the couch, teasing the thrush in the cage from time to time.

The sunlight shines through the carved window lattices, casting mottled shadows, but it cannot warm the coldness of the palace.

Only two years after the death of the previous emperor, fine lines have already appeared at the corners of the noble concubine's eyebrows, and her originally beautiful face has become a little haggard.

Although Emperor Kangrui never treated her, the favorite concubine of the previous emperor, too harshly, he never gave her any special care either.

The noble concubine did not have too many complaints about this, but she could not help but feel uncomfortable with the huge gap from being the center of attention in the past to being deserted now.

She often looked in the bronze mirror, gently stroking the fine lines that gradually crept up the corners of her eyes, recalling the glorious time she had spent with the late emperor, and couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

At that time, she was in her prime, beautiful and charming, and the late emperor loved her to the fullest. She was surrounded by people wherever she went, and envied by everyone she went.

But now, the silence and desolation of Shou'an Palace was like an impenetrable wall, trapping her in a lonely prison.

At this time, the personal maid Xiuzhu approached quietly and said softly: "Queen, there is a result for General Zhou's matter."

The noble concubine was slightly startled, stopped playing with the bird, and asked anxiously: "How is it?"

Xiuzhu told the noble concubine everything about the situation outside.

All this news was heard from Xiao Ningzi, the godson of Eunuch Fushou, who was the chief eunuch beside the late emperor.

Since the death of the previous emperor, Eunuch Fushou followed him, while his godson Xiao Ningzi stayed in Xianyou Palace to serve the new emperor.

Of course, after the new emperor ascended the throne, Xianyou Palace was renamed Qianyuan Palace. Xiao Ningzi still had some trust in Emperor Kangrui, so some news could still be passed to Shou'an Palace.

After hearing this, the noble concubine dropped the bird food can in her hand to the ground with a clang, and the bird food in the can spilled all over the floor.

Her hands trembled slightly, and complex emotions flashed in her eyes, including relief, regret, and a hint of indescribable relief.

"Finally..." The noble concubine murmured to herself, her voice as soft as a mosquito.

"Concubine, are you okay?" Xiuzhu saw that Concubine Gui looked dazed and hurried forward to support her.

The noble concubine waved her hand to indicate that she was fine.

She slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the small piece of sky outside. Tears flashed in her eyes, blurring her vision, and those dusty memories came flooding back like a broken dam.

She remembered the first time she met Zhou Lingyue, when he was wearing armor and looking full of vigor and vitality. At that time, she was just beginning to fall in love, and her heart was full of longing for love.

But fate played a trick on her. Zhou Lingyue was suspected by the late emperor, framed, and her entire family was executed. In order to protect her newborn child, she had no choice but to endure the humiliation and devote herself to the late emperor.

However, the wealth and splendor in the palace gradually confused her mind, causing her to sink deeper and deeper into the palace, and she forgot her original intention and her deep affection for Zhou Lingyue.

Now that the truth is out, Concubine Dowager feels extremely empty and melancholy. At this moment, the figure of Zhou Lingyue appears in her mind, with his tall figure and handsome face, as if he still carries the coldness and heroism of the battlefield.

The noble concubine's thoughts drifted back to the spring day when they first met. The peach blossoms were in full bloom, and he was standing on his reins, his armor gleaming in the sunlight. At one glance, he touched her heart.

"Why have I been confused for so many years..." The noble concubine murmured to herself, tears blurring her eyes again.

She recalled the day when Zhou Lingyue was taken to the execution ground. She hid behind the palace wall and didn't even have the courage to take a last look at him.

Then she thought of their child Yu'er, the child she tried so hard to protect but from whom she had been separated for a long time.

We met briefly two years ago and I didn't have the chance to take a good look at him.

If I had given up the glory of this palace and followed Yu'er out of the palace, would I be able to make up for what I owed him over the years?

Unfortunately, she realized it too late.

She was not a good mother. She failed to protect her children and failed to keep her promise to Zhou Lingyue.

Recalling Yu'er's eyes and eyebrows, which seemed to be carved from the same mold as Little Pomegranate's, Concubine Gui felt heartbroken.

She still remembered the day they parted, when little Shiliu held her hand tightly, her eyes red, and she called her "Mother" over and over again, which broke her heart.

Now, she can only face the cold palace walls in the square space of Shou'an Palace, silently chanting his name, recalling his appearance when he was young, whether he was fat or thin, and whether he was living a good life. These simple concerns have become unreachable thoughts.

"Xiuzhu, please go out first. I want to be alone." The noble concubine said in a hoarse voice and waved her hand.

Xiuzhu looked at her worriedly, but still retreated quietly.

The noble concubine finally burst into tears. It seemed that she had enjoyed wealth and glory in her life, but in fact, it was all illusions and she had grasped nothing.

After the final decision was made, a Saker Falcon flew out of Yanchun Tower and headed south towards Songzhou.

In a villa in Yunshan County, a slender jade-like hand caught a flying Saker Falcon.

The owner of the hand was Shu Changyu. He took the secret letter from Haidongqing's leg, unfolded it, and a mocking arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He spent so much effort to stir up this uproar, so naturally he would not be fooled by such a result.