Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

The King of Wu would go out for a stroll every day, looking for beauties and buying delicious seafood. Today, the King of Wu was dressed elegantly, wearing a slightly worn white jade crown and a slightly worn purple and gold robe. He did not ride a horse, but wore auspicious cloud boots and held a white jade fan in his hand, strolling leisurely in the market.

The people of Wu County all knew him.

The King of Wu never took money from the people. The guards around him held purses in their hands. Whatever the King of Wu liked, the guards would pay for it.

The King of Wu patrolled the streets every day. Under the pressure of the royal family, merchants dared not cheat on weight or raise prices. Ordinary people could buy high-quality and low-priced goods.

"Your Highness, it's really hard to find beauties in this shabby place like Wu County. You'd better give up." The guard advised tactfully, holding a handful of seafood in his hands.

"Shh, don't make any noise!" King Wu suddenly stopped and his eyes fell on a thin figure not far away.

Slim as a willow!

The figure is swaying!

Even if she wore cheap linen clothes, it couldn't conceal her temperament.

The King of Wu had seen countless beauties in the imperial city in the past, and he could tell at a glance that this must be a girl of extraordinary beauty!

The other fishermen's girls would grab the clams with a handful, but this girl held the clams lightly with her index finger and thumb, with her fingertips slightly raised, in a very elegant posture.

The King of Wu was so excited that he snapped his white jade fan shut. "When I was young, I met the State Master of Yue by chance. He" went up to the girl and said hello: "Where are you from, what's your name, are you married——"

The words were not finished.

King Wu looked at Shen Wei in amazement.

Why is it her again!

King Wu's face instantly fell, and he fanned himself impatiently: "How much do you admire me? You come to me every day. I have said many times that you are ugly and I don't like you."

Shen Wei looked puzzled.

She was accompanying her brother to sell seafood when the King of Wu suddenly appeared and started to blame her.

Simply sick.

King Wu's gaze shifted, and when he saw the unsold clams next to Shen Wei, he said, "I want all these clams, take the money and leave!"

Shen Wei understood now, and she immediately handed the remaining half bucket of clams to the guard. The guard took out the money, and Shen Wei counted the number of copper coins, and after confirming that they were correct, she took her brother and turned around and left.

The movements were quick and efficient.

Before King Wu could react, Shen Wei had already walked away with the empty bucket. King Wu was stunned for a moment, and looked at Shen Wei's back with lingering interest: "You look pretty from behind, but it's a pity that your face is too rough..."

The King of Wu spent half a day in the market and returned with a lot of goods. As soon as he stepped into the palace, the imperial edict from the eastern imperial capital arrived.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict chattered a lot, and the King of Wu knelt on the ground to listen. The meaning of the imperial edict was that this year, the Kingdom of Donglin would pay tribute to the Kingdom of Qing, and the task of escorting the tribute would be given to the King of Wu.

The imperial edict also said that the harvest in Donglin Kingdom was not good this year, and hoped that King Wu could, on behalf of the Emperor of Donglin Kingdom, propose to Emperor Qing to "reduce the tribute by 20%."

After the eunuch delivered his decree, he left behind a few carts of tribute and left.

The King of Wu held the imperial edict in his hand in a daze, looked up to the sky and cursed: "My father is such an idiot, he wants to harm me!"

In previous years, sending tribute to Qing State was a good job. Qing State not only took the tribute for free, but also rewarded silver. The princes and ministers of Donglin State vied for this good job.

Unfortunately, the harvest in Donglin Kingdom was poor this year, the treasury was empty, and the tribute sent to Qing Kingdom was of poor quality. Donglin also wanted to ask Emperor Qing to "reduce the tribute by 20%, which was simply a suicide pact.

Who is Li Chengtai, the new emperor of Qing? He is the first person to propose "building a dam upstream of Donglin to block the water"!

Perhaps the new emperor of Qing had already had the idea of ​​destroying Donglin Kingdom.

What if Emperor Qing used the excuse of "insincere tribute" to directly kill the princes and ministers who escorted the tribute - the Donglin Kingdom would not dare to say a word.

A weak country has no right to breathe in front of a strong country.

The King of Wu was so anxious that he was in a state of panic: "I haven't even found a wife yet, and my father, this cowardly bastard, actually wants me to die!"

The guard looked worried: "Shh, Your Majesty, please keep your voice down. The eunuch delivering the decree is not far away yet. If he hears you scolding the emperor, the consequences will be disastrous."

The King of Wu angrily rebuked: "Can't you close the gate? If the gate is closed, the eunuch delivering the decree will not be able to hear anything!"

Guard: ...

The guard went to close the door silently.

After the door was closed, the King of Wu scolded his father again in the room. The emperor's order was hard to disobey, and the matter of escorting the tribute to the Kingdom of Qing was a foregone conclusion.

Disobeying the order means death, and going to Qing Kingdom also means death.

King Wu paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. After a while, he made up his mind and told the guards: "Grind the ink. I want to write a letter to my sister for help. At worst, I will go to Qing Kingdom to seek refuge with my sister and never return to Donglin. At worst, I will become a traitor, surrender to Emperor Qing, and lead troops to capture Donglin."

"Anyway, Donglin Kingdom is rotten to the core, rotten from top to bottom, it's better to be included in Qing Kingdom's territory."

The King of Wu cursed but acted quickly. He sent out a letter for help.

King Wu went to check the tribute carts again, most of which were dried seafood and pearls and gems. The Emperor of Donglin probably knew that this trip was dangerous, so he did not send palace servants from the imperial capital to accompany him, not even a guide, but let King Wu bring his own people to escort the tribute.

It's just short of having "selling son" written on his forehead.

King Wu gritted his teeth, his hatred and disgust for his father deepened. He scratched his head and called the guards: "Go to the county and post a notice saying that I want to escort tribute to Qing State and hire a person who is familiar with the road conditions and customs of Qing State."

The guard turned around to do it.

The palace fell silent. King Wu sat back in his chair, rubbed his brows, and felt a mixture of emotions.

...

...

Yuanjia fishing village.

Shen Wei and her brother Yuanfu sold all the seafood and received a bunch of copper coins. Yuanfu jumped happily and said with a smile: "Sister, if we save money for another two or three years, we can buy a small house in the county."

Yuanfu wants to move out of the fishing village.

The fishing village is too small, and rumors are rampant. When his parents were alive, Yuanfu always thought that the villagers were good people, simple and kind. But since his parents died in a shipwreck, the originally simple and honest villagers have become hideous and terrifying.

Honest men covet my sister's beauty.

The honest women scolded my sister behind her back, saying she was a low-class person.

Yuanfu no longer likes this village.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to wait until the time comes to move out of the village." Shen Wei stopped and saw a large group of people had come to her little house.

The dark-faced old lady saw Shen Wei and greeted her with a smile: "Xi'er, Ah Fu, you two are finally back - come here, Xi'er, come here quickly, I have found a good marriage for you."

As she spoke, the old lady pointed to a middle-aged man in his forties and asked Shen Wei to look at him.

The middle-aged man did not come alone. He also brought his elderly parents who were over 60 years old and two little kids who had just learned to walk.