【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

As winter approaches, the royal gardens are covered with snow during the day. Layer upon layer of snow is white and crystal clear, falling on the roofs, trees and courtyards. In a short time, the earth is covered with white, pure and flawless by God.

"Empress, the snow is getting heavier. If you stand for too long, you'll get sick."

A soft satin cloak with auspicious animal patterns was draped over him, blocking the pervasive cold.

"Xiu'er, I heard that it's only snowing in the capital and a few nearby areas?"

"Yes, for some reason, the suburbs of Beijing haven't had a single rain or snow since October, and the wheat is dying of drought. Now, His Majesty has ordered that the snow in the capital be transported to the wheat fields where there's no snow. No one is allowed to collect money. Lord Tao will come to haul the snow soon."

Xiu'er also has a heart that cares about the country and the people.

"I didn't believe the Empress Dowager's talk about the Little Ice Age before, but now it seems to be true. Jinzhi loves reading and has studied the weather from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Tang and Song dynasties to the present day. She found that the weather in Dalian in recent years is indeed very abnormal. Sigh! I wonder how many people will suffer in the future?"

Yun Xi was also feeling bad. No matter how the celestial phenomena changed, it would not bring hardship to the rich and powerful, but only to the common people at the bottom of society. If the harvest was poor, they would not be able to escape taxes. Where would their way out be?

"Xiu'er, how much private money do I have?"

Xiu'er knew that her master was asking about how much money she had saved recently, not including the gold and treasures in her private treasury, nor the things in the warehouse.

"Her Majesty, let me tell you that our income, from the official positions awarded by the palace, the harvests from the imperial farms and shops, and the tributes from your Majesty and the princesses, has reached a total of one hundred thousand taels of silver since the beginning of the year."

Yun Xi nodded. It was about this number. The main reason was that Ling Zhaoyi was too rich. The money she paid as tribute not only supported the army but also offset the money she donated. Why did she donate money? Because when there was a disaster, she, as the empress dowager, took the lead in donating money.

Now, these 40,000 taels of silver are composed of several parts. One is the official position, that is, the salary paid by the palace. As the empress dowager, she receives 20 taels of gold and 2,000 taels of silver a year, which is the highest in the palace.

The second part is Yun Xi's private property, including her dowry and things she has acquired over the years. There are three large imperial manors, all with hot springs, five small imperial manors, two large manors, twenty shops in good locations, and fifty hectares of fertile land. Together with the land in the imperial manors and manors, there are a total of one hundred hectares of fertile land.

Finally, there were the gifts from the younger generations, which were quite a bit. Excluding the wealthy Ling Zhaoyi, the others gave tens of thousands of taels of silver.

This does not include the value of the treasures in the warehouse, which is pretty good.

When I read "Dream of Red Mansions" before, I was surprised to learn that it cost millions of taels to build the Grand View Garden and that Lady Jia had millions of taels of silver in her private stash. But now that I have become the empress dowager, I realize that this is nothing. If she had been a miser, she would have had millions of taels of silver in a few years. No wonder everyone wants to climb up the social ladder.

"I remember I gave you some good seeds to plant at the Royal Farm?"

Xiuer nodded, "Yes, we have already harvested a season."

"So, continue planting those seeds next year and produce more good seeds. These can save lives." Yun Xi made arrangements. "Use the 100,000 taels of silver to buy easy-to-store food as a precaution. Also, I have various peppers and pepper seeds in my palace. Keep the seeds and plant them on the two large farms."

"There are 20,000 kilograms of chili peels. Take them out and ask our restaurant chef to make hotpot and sell them. You can also develop some spicy dishes. If you see how they sell, business should be able to pick up in the winter."

Xiu'er didn't ask any more questions, "Okay, Master, do you have any other instructions?"

"No, it's so cold, why are you going out? I have a whole bear skin. You can use it to make a cloak. It will keep you warm."

Although there wasn't much snow, the temperature was really low and the wind was so cold that people couldn't open their eyes.

"This old servant thanks the Empress Dowager for the reward."

"You old fellow, why are you being so polite to each other? Go quickly. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back. I'll ask the chef to make spicy hot pot and barbecue for us."

"Hey! I'll go right away."

For lunch, they had a double-boiled hotpot and roasted venison. The three little ones were drooling with greed and kept stretching out their hands to try, but Yun Xi was "hard-hearted" and refused to give them anything.

Nanny Yue looked reluctant, "Madam, the young masters are all teething. Should we give them something less spicy?"

"No, no, it's hard to digest. Let's wait until they're one year old. I'll try making them some milk custard."

"Yes~"

After eating the milk and egg custard, the three little kids restrained their powers and ate everything with relish.

Xiu'er was helpless, "Master, please stop teasing them. What if they get a cold wind?"

"There's nothing wrong with children crying more, as it can help them exercise their lungs. But we can't always spoil them and let them know that they can get what they want by shedding a few tears. That would be unacceptable." Yun Xi ate the spicy hot pot happily.

Xiu'er couldn't resist and looked at the three young masters helplessly, "Okay, I'll listen to the Queen Mother."

In the afternoon, Wei Runiang came to visit with her son. Many people wanted to visit Yun Xi every day, it all depended on Yun Xi's mood. Secretly, she didn't want to be disturbed by anyone.

"Madam Xiu, please send these fresh vegetables to the main kitchen. I carefully selected these gifts as a tribute to the Empress Dowager."

Wei Runiang never comes empty-handed and is very helpful.

"Come and let me hold this little chubby boy. How did you raise him so well? At first glance, I thought he was the little boy from Guanyin's seat who came down to earth."

Yun Xi picked up Xiang Lingfeng and couldn't let him go. This little chubby boy was so cute. His nose was a nose, his eyes were eyes, his long eyebrows were like picturesque paintings, his little mouth was rosy, and his big eyes like black grapes were particularly focused when he stared at people.

"Empress Dowager, please stop praising him. This child now understands good and bad words, and he becomes proud when you praise him." Wei Runiang bowed and asked with concern, "Empress Dowager, how is your health recently?"

Yun Xi hugged Xiang Lingfeng and looked at her younger sister-in-law. "Everything is fine. I am an old lady who has a happy life. You don't have to worry. How is everything at home?"

Wei Runiang has a baby face. When she smiles, shallow dimples appear on her face. She has long eyelashes and round eyes. She looks very anti-aging and very friendly.

"Thanks to the Empress Dowager's blessing, our family is doing well. Now the child's father has started to learn to do some small business, so we don't have to worry about food and drink." Wei Runiang smiled and chatted about family matters. "There is a hot spring on our farm. I asked people to grow some vegetables and spinach and brought them to the Empress Dowager to try."

Yun Xi nodded, "You are thoughtful. Fresh vegetables are expensive in winter."

"It's nothing. There are few people in my family but a lot of food, so all the relatives sent some." Wei Runiang waved her hand modestly.

The snow outside had been shoveled away and the place was clean. Yun Xi said, "Let's go for a walk. We're all bloated from eating too much. The children should stay in the palace so they don't catch a cold. Xiu'er, take good care of the children and give them plenty of water. It's dry out, so drinking more water helps clear their stomachs."

After giving a casual instruction, Yun Xi picked up the fishing rod and walked out with his sister-in-law.