Dreams of Jianghu

Chapter 104 – Qing Transmigration Tale (13)

When the weather turned warm, Si Ye started to get busy because the emperor suddenly is decreed a southern tour. This was the fifth tour to the south. This time, he only took along the crown prince and Thirteenth A-ge.

The matters of the capital were given to Commandery Prince Zhi, Eighth Prince and Fourth Prince.

When the emperor went on a southern tour, it was not like he would depart immediately after he said so. Each step cost silver. Si Ye was in the Ministry of Revenue. The silver had to pass through his hands. In order to have the emperor successfully depart, Si Ye went to live in the ministry offices. Lin Yu Tong called people to deliver him his daily items, thinking that since the emperor was not there, and he said that Si Ye was in charge of the ministry, he would likely stay a long time. But right after the emperor left the capital, Si Ye returned.

“Ye is not busy?” Lin Yu Tong asked.

Si Ye smiled. Lin Yu Tong just felt that the smile was very unfathomable. She heard him say, “I see you stuck in the room all day, very boring. Tomorrow, we will go to the estate to live, take Hong Hui, Hong Yun and Moyaqi.”

You were told to be in charge but you just left. Was this good?

Lin Yu Tong did not ask many questions. In terms of cunning, everyone likely could not win against him. Otherwise, how could he become the winner in the end?

On the next day, the two of them took the three children and left the capital.

Lin Yu Tong felt at ease in the estate in the suburbs. She could move as she wished. After leaving, she felt the world had broadened, and it was much better than being stuck in the courtyard. There were gardens in the establishment, but she did not want to see other women, and so she did not go out.

She took Moyaqi and the servant girls with little shovels and baskets to dig wild vegetables from the ground.

Si Ye led Hong Hui and Hong Yun to plow the ground. Lin Yu Tong looked at the ground that Si Ye had plowed. He had truly put in effort. At the start, she thought that the eunuchs had redid the work for Si Ye, but now, she discovered that this person, in everything he did, would be very serious.

Hong Yun pulled at the remaining grass roots on the ground, and was not able to pull them out no matter how hard he tried. He fell back on his bottom. The robes he wore were made from the tribute brocade worth its weight in gold. Now, it was completely ruined. The harvest from this piece of land could not make up for this piece of clothing.

She did not know why they were doing this.

Si Ye turned to look and then said to Lin Yu Tong, “Ye said for them to change clothing, but you say that the sackcloth rubs on their skin. Look at this, it is ruined.”

“It is fine, it can be sized down for his younger brother to wear,” Lin Yu Tong said.

“Nonsense.” Si Ye stood up and wiped his sweat. “What are you thinking of making?” He pointed at Lin Yu Tong’s vegetable basket.

“At noon, I will make you vegetable balls to eat.” Lin Yu Tong tilted the basket as she spoke for Si Ye to see. “Moyaqi found all this. Our eldest gege is very capable.”

Moyaqi covered her mouth and smiled in embarrassment. “I do not know if I found the right ones.”

Si Ye nodded and said with a smile, “Ask your di–Eniang, she will know.”

Lin Yu Tong of course could not let Si Ye know that she recognized most of the wild vegetables. She was a bit embarrassed and said to Moyaqi, “Do not fear, the kitchen people will know, and pick out what is not edible.”

Si Ye laughed.

At noon, Lin Yu Tong went to the kitchen to make vegetable balls. After they were steamed, she cut them into slices, and had people make a dipping sauce. Si Ye was very supportive and ate a whole plate himself.

Hong Hui and Hong Yun split a plate while Lin Yu Tong and Moyaqi shared one plate.

“The days of the people are just this difficult. They have to use wild vegetables to fill their stomachs,” Si Ye looked at Lin Yu Tong and said, “Princess Consort has made a good meal. They have to learn that the days of the people are not easy.”

“A-ma, the wild vegetables are not hard to eat,” Hong Yun whispered.

Si Ye glared, about to start lecturing. Lin Yu Tong hurriedly said, “This is because Di–Eniang has used the best flour and eggs to make the dough. The sauce is made from sesame oil and chili oil. Of course it is not hard to eat, and there is a special fragrance. The people will not be able to afford this.”

Si Ye snorted and said, “Tonight, make the kind that ordinary people eat. Let them brothers learn the hardships of the people.”

Lin Yu Tong hurriedly agreed. Why did this stupid child always try to throw himself right at the spear point?

In the afternoon, Si Ye led the two a-ge to the fields. Granny Yuan asked, “We will have A-ge eat that?”

“Yes! The people can eat, they can eat. Today, not just the two a-ge will eat, me and Ye will eat.” Lin Yu Tong’s gaze was very distant. Even if she did not bear to do so, she had to say that Si Ye had more principles in teaching children than she did.

“Find sackcloth, I will make clothing for them to wear in the field,” Lin Yu Tong said to Granny Yuan.

If the country was fated to be given to the next generation, why would she not start to seriously teach the next generation and the heir?

Granny Yuan thought that Princess Consort would not bear to, but on some matters, Princess Consort was able to steel herself.

At night, Lin Yu Tong called Moyaqi to eat in her rooms. She made a bowl of rough rice porridge, a plate of cornmeal bread mixed with wild vegetable, and nothing else like just how the common people ate.

Si Ye looked at the food on the table, looked deeply at Lin Yu Tong, and then softly patted her hand.

“Eat.” Si Ye grabbed the bread from the table and took a bite. Slowly, his expression grew stern. He used the watery porridge and swallowed.

Lin Yu Tong also took one and slowly chewed in her mouth. The feeling was very rough, and it scraped at her throat. But there was already dry grain. Many people only had rough rice porridge and some wild vegetables for a meal.

Hong Hui and Hong Yun exchanged a gaze, and then took one each. With a bite, they changed expression. They had never ate something like this. Hong Hui looked at Lin Yu Tong and suddenly thought of the story of Zhu Yuan Zhang that she had spoken of. Zhu Yuan Zhang had starved back then, so after he became the emperor, he cared greatly about agriculture. Empress Ma even farmed personally in the palace.

He held the wild vegetable bread with both hands and seriously started to eat. He picked up the crumbs that fell to the table and shoved them in his mouth. If he choked, he would drink the porridge to wash it down.

Hong Yun frowned and soaked the bread into the porridge, and then shoveled it down with his chop sticks.

After eating, Si Ye patted their heads and said, “Go, have the grannies bathe you, and go to sleep early.”

Watching the two children bow and then leave, Si Ye pulled Lin Yu Tong to sit at the couch on the side. He said, “I thought you would not bear to do this?”

“I do not. But Ye is right,” Lin Yu Tong smiled and said, “When Ye is teaching the children, I will not say a thing.”

Si Ye stroked her back and said, “It is good if you understand Ye‘s thoughts. However, you do not need to suffer as well. You are also pregnant.”

“The five grains nourish people the most. It is fine. Look at the children of poor families. They look stronger than those from rich families. I think, sometimes, it is good to raise them without such care. Some farmer wives even work in the fields before they give birth. They even have more successful labors than the mistresses who live in luxury,” Lin Yu Tong said and picked up the sackcloth to keep sewing.

“Your words make sense, but other people are used to this. When have you ever suffered like that for a day? You will not be used to it. You do not have to force yourself to change,” Si Ye said and went into the inner room to wash. He must be very tired today.

After washing and coming out, Su Pei Sheng came with two large boxes. At a glance, she knew that while he was on the estate, he did not slack off on the matters of the capital. This person was one who will not rest until he worked himself to death.

She put down the things in her hand and went to grind a bowl of black bean soup for Si Ye, and made some for the three children as well, sending people to deliver them.

Then she placed the bowl by Si Ye’s side.

Si Ye frowned as he looked at a document. Out of habit, he picked up the teacup, but when he drank, he tasted fragrant bean milk. He did not like the taste of the beans, but there was also the taste of the sesame, walnut, peanut, and date. The taste of the beans was much fainter.

He looked up. Lin Yu Tong was sitting opposite him. Maybe because of her pregnancy and her waist feeling sore, she was lazily leaning on the cushion as she sewed the sackcloth outer robes that the two children were going to wear tomorrow.

“Have the servants do this, careful of your eyes,” Si Ye could not help but say.

“The clothing just has to be sewn, it does not matter how big the stitching are.” Lin Yu Tong looked up and smiled.

Si Ye looked. The collar and sleeves were lined with fine cotton cloth, and would not rub against the children’s skin. In the end, she did not bear it. This was good. A stern father and a benevolent mother.

When Lin Yu Tong finished with the two pieces of clothing, Si Ye was still deep in thought.

Lin Yu Tong could only call for a bowl of wonton to be cooked.

When she turned around, Si Ye was writing something. When the wonton was delivered, Lin Yu Tong accidentally saw that this was a memorandum for the emperor about the matters of the estate, of how difficult farming was, of how he and her led Hong Hui and Hong Hun to eat wild vegetables and rough grain. He mentioned how he thought of Khan A-ma‘s teachings in childhood, and now, he was teaching his sons the same. When he thought of it during the night, he would not be able to sleep thinking of his Khan A-ma.Now that he was also an a-ma, he truly experienced Khan A-ma‘s mental state back then, and tears would rise. He wrote this family letter wanting to ask if Khan A-ma far away was well.

He wrote so emotionally, and Lin Yu Tong almost cried reading it.

But when in bed, Lin Yu Tong realized. Was this a family letter to the emperor? This was not the goal.

But what was the goal? The goal was to have the emperor know that his fourth son should have been with Commandery Prince Zhi and Eighth Prince in the capital in charge of matters. But right now, he was on the estate in the suburbs of the capital with his wife and sons reminiscing about the teaching of the miserable past and the happy present.

Why did this situation occur? Si Ye had the imperial edict. If he was in charge, no one would dare to say anything. But he gave up the power. He was not greedy for power, but he trapped Commandery Prince Zhi and Eighth Prince.

Si Ye was not greedy for power, then did not it mean that the other two had power and did not want to let go?

Would the emperor think, Four would not go to the estate for no reason? Commandery Prince Zhi or Eight definitely had done something.

This is the most skilled way of telling on someone. Even more importantly, he flattered the other, and connected with the other as father and son.

How could this person be so smart?

When Si Ye laid down, Lin Yu Tong looked at Si Ye with glittering eyes.

Si Ye patted her back and said, “Never mind tonight. We did it last night. You are still pregnant? Take it easy.”

Eff you!

The memorandums from the capital were delivered with urgency of four hundred miles each day to the emperor.

Kangxi looked at Si Ye’s memorandum and sighed. He handed it to Zhang Ting Yu. “Look at this.”

Zhang Ting Yu respectfully received it. He thought, this ye is very skilled. He saw the methods in this, but as the other’s a-ma, the emperor first saw an innocent heart. No father would think badly of their child at first glance. Also, the things described in the memorandum were definitely true, for example, how the emperor had once taught the imperial sons, and now the fourth prince was teaching his sons using this method. What was this? This is inheritance.

“Zhen‘s sons, in terms of people who truly work trueheartedly, it has to be Four,” Kangxi sighed.

Zhang Ting Yu said, “It is because that the emperor taught well. All the imperial sons are dragons among men, and ordinary people cannot compare to them.”

Kangxi nodded, not commenting. He took Si Ye’s memorandum, wrote a few lines, and said to return it.

The memorandum was sent back. Commandery Prince Zhi was the first to see it.

His face turned green immediately. Among the brothers, Four was the most cunning. This was a person who was proper from inside out. He put his directness and properness on the surface to fool others. But inside, he was more slippery than anyone else.

He told on people with such skill!

Dang! We all love power, just you are above the rest. How could Four be so bad?

Memorandums from outside were still waiting to be delivered to Si Ye. Why was Commandery Prince Zhi detaining it?

Eighth Prince looked at the memorandum and sighed inside. This time, the emperor left Fourth Brother was because he was close to the crown prince, and so he would be able to keep Big Brother in check. But in the end, it was him who was fighting with Big Brother, and Four remained out of it.

He gave up, and returned to his establishment, saying that he was sick. He gave everything to One, and would see what he would do on his own.

When Commandery Prince Zhi learned that Eight had called in sick, he was completely furious. If he was the only person left, would Khan A-ma feel safe? He needed a person to fight with him. The play still had to continue.

So he personally wrote a letter, telling Four, your brother is almost worked to death. This brother knows that no one can compare to your talent. At such a time, if you do not come to help your big brother, who can help your big brother? Come back to the capital quickly. Your brother is waiting in the capital for you. We will work on the duties Khan A-ma give us together.

When the memorandum that Kangxi had reviewed and Commandery Prince Zhi’s letter reached Si Ye’s hands, he smiled smugly.

“Pack up, we will return to the capital in the next days,” Si Ye ordered.

So you were increasing the emperor’s feeling that you were not greedy for power, but on the other side, you forced Commandery Prince Zhi to have to invite you back and share power with you.

How could a person plot so well? His brains…… She had to respect him.

Table of Contents

• Grafting Life Chapter 103 – Qing Transmigration Tale (12)
• Grafting Life Chapter 105 – Qing Transmigration Tale (14)
• Grafting Life Chapter 106 – Qing Transmigration Tale (15)