Too high to reach

Chapter 263 So-called Submission

In the past two days, the Emperor also learned about this matter from the chief eunuch by his side.

After the court session ended, the Crown Prince was kept behind to discuss matters.

The Crown Prince mentioned Li Jing's idea. After he returned, he organized people to review it carefully.

Everyone agreed it was a good idea, and some even suggested drawing lots to form teams for attack and defense. The outcome would be unpredictable and even more exciting.

"My seventh brother has been in the army for many years and is very experienced. I think his idea is quite good. I went back and discussed it with them, and we went to refine it further. In the next couple of days, I will take some people to the site to take a look."

The Emperor glanced at what the Crown Prince had written. "I am gratified that you brothers can work together so well. How did you ultimately resolve the matter between you and his wife's sister?"

This turn of events was a bit too abrupt. The Crown Prince smiled wryly, "Father, I swear to the heavens, I truly meant well in trying to save her. Nobody expected... that she would faint in the end."

"How could you not have thought of that?" the Emperor retorted. "It's perfectly normal for a young woman to faint in this situation. It's your own fault for not thinking things through."

"Your son knows his mistake!" the Crown Prince respectfully admitted. "Now, I said I would bring that girl into the manor. The Mo family is very grateful, but my seventh brother is unwilling. He even took her away and hid her. Your son..."

He said with a wry smile, "I discussed it with my seventh brother. His point was that it's impossible to get into the manor this way. But he wouldn't say how we could do it..."

After sending the Crown Prince away, the Emperor silently pondered, and then summoned Li Jing.

Before the emperor could even open his mouth to speak, Li Jing took out several items from the leather pouch.

"Father, I have a few important matters at hand that I would like to request your special approval for. You see, this is the blueprint for a new type of crossbow. The sample is already finished... The design is fine, but the actual performance is disappointing. It seems that the material is subpar. But if we want to purify and refine it, we'll need silver... This is one of them."

And this is the climate statistics for the Northwest over the past sixty years. You see, there are certain patterns. This is a projection; this winter should be a harsh one. Some of the barracks of the Northwest Army haven't undergone major repairs in years. When my son was alive, we had to squeeze out some military funds each year for repairs and reinforcements. But it could only be done on a rotating basis… and the livestock sheds too. To get through the winter safely, they all need some maintenance. And that money…

and this……"

The emperor did not speak, but silently looked at him.

He understood, and after all that, it boiled down to one word: money...

Who would have thought that he, who's usually so quiet, could be so talkative...

The Emperor listened patiently, but didn't respond. Finally, he nodded: "First, inform the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, and have them keep an eye on things, submit the memorials, and wait for their approval..."

This is just passing the buck; we don't know if it will be approved or not. Even if it is approved, when will it be time to allocate the funds?

However, he didn't expect it to work in one go. "Father, the matter of the military camp is quite urgent. Even if we allocate the funds now, we only have two or three months to sort things out."

The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief as he watched him put away the thick stack of things. "What's going on between the Crown Prince and that girl from the Mo family?"

Li Jing seemed surprised that the Emperor asked this, and his face turned a little sour: "The Princess Consort's cousin was riding horses with her cousin from the Zhao family. Because of some trivial matters between women, they were ambushed, and the horses were startled."

The Crown Prince saw it was her and ran after her to save her. Those around him, seeing the Crown Prince go to her aid… well, you know, they all followed at a distance. This probably took longer than expected… Somehow, when they arrived, they saw the Crown Prince carrying the unconscious girl. Later, I asked the girl, but she only cried and didn't speak. Perhaps she was too frightened to remember what happened?!

The Emperor scratched his temple. "Why are all these words so awful from beginning to end?"
The crown prince was greedy for credit and let others flatter him so he could show off, which delayed the rescue opportunity.

I don't know what he did, but the girl fainted and cried...

This doesn't look like rescuing someone; it looks more like bullying the girl!
That bastard!

"Hmph!" Sure enough, Li Jing snorted again in dissatisfaction: "The Crown Prince said he would take responsibility. Father, that is my wife's elder sister. He wants to take her as a concubine?"
Although from the perspective of the Mohists, the young lady is considered to be marrying above her station, what do I think from my perspective?
As the saying goes, brothers should be kind and respectful. How can the brothers possibly get along in the future? It's hard to imagine that the Crown Prince didn't come here just to annoy me.”

The Emperor couldn't stand it anymore. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? What does the Crown Prince do all day? Would he be so bored?"

"Father, I am also working, and I need money."

Again!
"Think back to how you were back then! What did you say when you wanted to marry the Mo family girl?"

"Your Majesty, I married you through proper channels. How can that be compared to taking a concubine who is nothing? In the Crown Prince's residence, she is not even as good as a maidservant. He might as well just slap your face!"

"What do you want?"

"Your subject has no opinion. This has nothing to do with your subject..."

"Why are you beating around the bush with me?" The emperor slammed his fist on the table. He was furious and was ready to give the order directly.

But, well, my word is law, arranging marriages is one thing, but concubines… who is it for him, the emperor, to utter a word about?
Should the Empress speak?

After thinking about the bastard in front of him again, he decided it was best not to cause trouble.

"Then I'll get straight to the point. Two conditions: First, she must be granted an imperial title. Second, the Crown Prince must expedite one or two of the matters I just mentioned..."

"Get out..." The emperor pointed outside, finally losing his temper.

Without saying a word, Li Jing bowed, said, "Your subject takes his leave!" and turned to leave.

The Emperor said to the chief eunuch, "See? His heart is full of self-interest! And he calls himself a brother... What respect is there in him?!" "Seventh Master's temper is really something..." The chief eunuch sighed softly with the Emperor.

The emperor realized that he hadn't been to the inner palace for a long time, and hadn't even gone to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.

And so, they set off.

He first went to the Empress Dowager's palace to offer his greetings, and then returned to his own palace.

Upon hearing that the Emperor had entered the inner palace, the Empress hurriedly came to pay her respects.

The two talked for a while, and then the Queen picked out a few important things to say.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor learned that it was nothing more than a matter of where repairs were needed; the Empress Dowager had been coughing badly a few days ago; and Consort Dong needed money to renovate the Xia Manor…

After rambling on for a while, the Emperor still didn't get a chance to discuss the matter.

……

Mo Yi stayed inside for two days, then came out to stroll in the garden again.

He dismissed the concubine, saying, "Go ask Consort Feng if she has a map of this garden. It would be best if it included dimensions."

A moment later, Hongyan returned and said, "Consort Feng said she didn't know if it happened. We need to have someone investigate."

Mo Yi nodded.

Before long, Consort Tian learned of her presence and came with her daughter.

Consort Tian knew that the prince had been throwing a tantrum these past two days, so she dared not come out and risk offending him.

I heard that Mo Yi was out and about, so I came to see what was going on.

After chatting for a while, Mo Yi mentioned the garden, "Last time we went to Huaxiang, I had some ideas in mind, and I wanted to tidy up this place."

Consort Tian looked around and said, “Indeed, among the houses I’ve visited, there are a few that are quite interesting. Ours is big enough, and it’s quite beautiful when the flowers are in bloom… but it is indeed a bit ordinary.”

"A picture would be helpful, preferably with dimensions, so I don't have to measure it myself."

"Yes, we have the diagrams! They're all stored in the library. These things need to be preserved; we'll need them during the major renovation." Consort Tian seemed to know quite a lot.

Mo Yi had never encountered these things before, so she didn't understand. Now it seems that Consort Feng deliberately refused to give it to her.

After chatting for a while, Mo Yi returned to her room, feeling angry. "Hongyan, have Consort Feng come over here."

The beauty left, then returned. "The concubine said she would come over after finishing her work."

After quite a while, Consort Feng finally arrived.

The two of them rarely meet like this.

"Your Majesty, is there anything you need?" Consort Feng bowed.

"Hmm." Mo Yi didn't offer her a seat. "I was going to ask you to come and ask a few days ago, but something came up and I couldn't... These past few days, I've been strolling around the garden. Either you've watered the flowers so much they're everywhere, or you're burning weird-smelling things to repel mosquitoes in broad daylight. And the fertilizer makes a mess of dirt everywhere. Is this how you manage the garden?"

Her expression was cold, and her words were sharp.

Consort Feng was quite surprised. She had actually brought it up so bluntly? A thought quickly crossed her mind, and she hurriedly smiled apologetically, "It was my oversight. My subordinates were not doing their work efficiently, and I didn't notice."

"So, you're not deliberately preventing me from going to the garden?"

"Your Majesty! This humble servant dares not..." This startled Consort Feng.

"Hmm. It's good that you wouldn't dare. Back then, the Prince said you managed the household very well. Even Granny Zhao spoke highly of you. Don't embarrass them."

"Yes." No matter how much hatred she felt, Consort Feng lowered her head and admitted her mistake.

"So, the garden must have a certain size, right?"

"Your Majesty, yes, it is. Hongyan just asked. I checked the ledger, and it's recorded there. I'll open the library for you right away."

"Go."

Looking at Consort Feng's somewhat hurried steps, which were unlike her usual calm demeanor, one could see that she was not as composed as usual.

She gave a cold laugh...

I found that alternating between odd and even numbers made it easier.

You can exercise, and you can go out to eat.