Chapter 1299

At the reception banquet, the reception was staggered, and the female relatives in the palace drank the fragrant plum wine, ate the delicious food, and chatted from time to time.

And the center of the female relatives is naturally the prince concubine Nangong Yue.

There was more than one stick of incense, and Concubine Mei, who was standing beside her, twisted her body awkwardly.

The other concubines glanced at her involuntarily. This Concubine Mei was sent in by Mrs. Qiao. Although it was in the name of serving the lady, everyone knew the real intention.

Back then, when Madam was not grounded, they had to follow the five-hour rule every day, but now it's just a stick of incense, they don't believe that she can't stand anymore, huh, just thinking Just pampered and coquettish.

Aunt Mei adjusted her standing posture, supported her forehead, and swayed her weak body, as if she was about to fall down at any moment.

Every once in a while, she swayed weakly, once, twice, three times... Naturally, there were quite a few girls on the table who saw it, and exchanged glances secretly, all of which were calm.

The banquet continued lively, and after half an hour, the maids removed the dishes on the banquet and served hot tea for the masters to digest.

Nangong Yue picked up the tea cup, took a sip, then turned her head and said to Mrs. Wei, who was sitting on her left: "Concubine Wei, my mother has been lingering on the bed recently, so the newly arrived concubine has neglected the rules and is really out of style! Concubine Wei, I can only bother you to work hard, and let that bride go to your yard every day to establish a two-hour rule."

When Concubine Mei heard this, a hint of disbelief appeared on her charming face, and she blurted out: "Prince Concubine, I am the king..."

"Bold." Que'er reprimanded lightly, "In front of the concubine, the aunt should call herself a 'slave'. According to the rules of the palace, the aunt will go to get the five-hand board in a while."

Aunt Mei bit her lower lip and seemed very unconvinced, even her eyes dimmed a bit, looking pitiful.

Nangong Yue said slowly and deliberately: "...I trouble Concubine Wei to assign another nanny to nurture over there."

Wei Shi had already seen that Concubine Mei's unruly and frivolous appearance, but she was always low-key, so she didn't speak out. Since the Concubine Shizi proposed, she immediately owed her body and said, "What Concubine Shizi said is that the concubine must teach this Concubine Mei the rules, so as not to lose the face of the palace."

Nangong Yue nodded and said with a smile: "Today's tea-flavored duck tastes good, but is there a new cook in the palace?"

Concubine Wei smiled and said, "Concubine Shizi, you are right..."

No one paid any attention to a mere aunt.

This scene was seen by everyone in the room, and they couldn't help but secretly said: Concubine Shizi is worthy of being the Concubine Shizi, even the newly favored concubine, she doesn't give any face.

The banquet ended peacefully.

After Sanxi returned to the yard, Nangong Yue didn't want to move at all, and fell asleep after a while.

When Baihui and Thrushi came to be on duty early in the morning, Nangong Yue was still awake. An Niang's eyes lit up when she saw the two of them. She quickly pulled them aside and asked in a low voice, "How is it?" Worried about this matter, but as soon as she came back yesterday, these two maids were sent away by Concubine Shizi, and it was inconvenient for her to ask Concubine Shizi directly...

It's just three words, no brains, but Baihui understands it, and Thrush on the side also understands it, and there is a fiery glow on her face.

Baihui's face was as usual, and she nodded.

With this nod, An Niang let go of her heart that was hanging in the air, and bowed with her hands clasped together, she muttered, "Bless the concubine and concubine to be pregnant with the grandson as soon as possible!"

Ever since the marriage of Shi Ziye and Shizifei, An Niang has always been concerned: At first, she was afraid that Shiziye was too young to be impulsive and could not control herself. Unexpectedly, the eldest son has a heart, and waited patiently for more than two years... After the eldest concubine finally reached her wedding dress, the eldest son went on an expedition again, and the matter of the consummation could only be put on hold.

Finally, this time, it's done!

Now, when the prince and concubine give birth to Lin'er, I can rest assured... No, I have to help take care of my descendants!

An Niang looked at Baihui and Thrushi and frowned. These maids are still too tender, how to know how to take care of the little baby, you still have to rely on yourself!

Seeing that An Niang's complexion changed and changed in the blink of an eye, and finally left with ambition, Baihui and Thrushi couldn't help but look at each other, and then laughed.

Not sure what happened, but it seems to be a good thing.

Naturally, Nangong Yue, who was still asleep, didn't know about all of this. She slept until the third day.

After several days of rushing, riding a horse, and fighting wits and courage with the Baiyue people, Nangongyue's body and mind were a little tired, and her muscles were sore. When she came back yesterday, she didn't feel much, but After waking up after a night of sleep, the soreness all over her body hit her like wildly growing vines, making her not want to move at all.

After struggling in the bed with a stick of incense, Nangong Yue slowly rang the small copper bell beside the bed.

The door opened, and the maids who had been waiting outside in the morning streamed in, waiting for her to get up and wash.

After hurriedly eating breakfast, Nangong Yue asked Que'er to fetch the roster of the servants of the palace, and took Baihui to Tingyu Pavilion by herself.

The little maid diligently led her to the Dongci room. When Mrs. Fang saw her coming, she quickly put down the newly acquired seal stone in the book, beckoned to her, and said, "Ayue, come, come and sit."

Although the winter in the southern border is much better than that of Wang, Grandpa Fang is old and frail after all, and a pot of charcoal has been burned in the house, which is very warm.

Nangong Yue greeted An with a smile.

Mrs. Fang looked at Nangong Yue up and down, with lines of laughter on her wrinkled face, her eyes narrowed with laughter, "Ayue, you've lost weight during this journey, and you can take good care of your body. . Go back and have a good rest later, the trivial matters in the palace are endless, don't tire yourself..."

Nangong Yue's heart was warmed by the old man's thoughts. In this palace, only Mrs. Fang could make her feel the kindness of the elders to the younger generation.

"Thank you grandfather for your concern, I know." Nangong Yue sat down beside Mrs. Fang.

Nangong Yue had just asked for safety yesterday, and was driven back by Mrs. Fang to rest, and he did not talk to him about what happened in Yanding City. However, she knew that Mrs. Fang must also be very concerned about it, so she took the initiative to say with a smile: "Grandfather, can you know about A Yi's victory?"

"I know I know!"

Speaking of this, Mrs. Fang laughed even more cheerfully.

Nangong Yue had instructed Zhu Xing to report every good news to Mrs. Fang immediately. Therefore, even though Mr. Fang stayed at home, he was very clear about the great victory of Yanding City. He had to read every good news. Several times.

"Grandfather, you must have no idea how you beat him!" Nangong Yue's eyes were like bright stars, and he said, "Ayi, he is so majestic..."

She talked about the battle of Yanding City vividly, how Xiao Yi pretended to lead an army of 20,000 troops to Yongjia City, and how the Nanliang army came under the city, but ran away in a panic, but was ambushed, and was finally led by Xiao Yi. Wan Dajun waited for work, and killed almost the entire army!

In order to make Mrs. Fang happy, Nangong Yue deliberately picked up Xiao Yi's parts and talked about how brave Xiao Yi was, how good Xiao Yi was in battle, how high-spirited Xiao Yi was... It was as if she had witnessed it on the battlefield. It was like that scene, in fact, even if she didn't witness it with her own eyes, Xiao Yi happily showed it to her several times.

The old man Fang smiled, and he seemed to be several years younger all of a sudden.

"Good kill! Good kill!" Mr. Fang, despite his age, was still bloody, and patted his palm on the table, "It's time to kill all these Nanliang people who don't know how many people in southern Xinjiang have slaughtered us. !"

Seeing the happy look of the old man, the corners of Nangong Yue's mouth became higher and higher, with a smile from the bottom of her heart on her face.

Grandpa Fang excitedly asked her a lot about Yanding City, and Nangong Yue answered them in detail.

Naturally, it was good news and not bad news, only Xiao Yi's bravery was mentioned, but there was no mention of the shocking old and new scars on his body, big and small.

Mrs. Fang was so addicted to listening to it that his smile was so deep that the wrinkles on his face even deepened, and he said with pride, "Okay, okay! If his mother-in-law knew that Yi was so capable now, I'll be very happy too." Mentioning his daughter who died young, Mrs. Fang's face darkened.

Nangong Yue said along the way, "I'll go and put incense sticks on my mother-in-law in a moment and tell her the good news." The mother-in-law was the one who gave birth to A Yi. Although they could no longer be filial to her, they still put incense sticks to report to her. Peace is deserved.

Mrs. Fang nodded in relief, and couldn't help but feel relieved, and asked again, "Ayi is going to Yongjia City now?"

Nangong Yue nodded with a smile, and did not dare to mention that Xiao Yizheng led his troops to venture into the territory of Nanliang. I can't go on. When this battle is over, Yi will be able to come back, and it will only take a month or two at most."

Grandpa Fang was beaming, his grandson is coming back, maybe he will have a great-grandson soon, and the days really get better.

God made him lose his wife and daughter in his early years, and after so many years of torment, he finally did not treat him badly in his later years!

Nangong Yue continued to say, "... I have to give the Zhou family a small ceremony in a few days, so I will come back first." Having said this, she changed her words, "?...Grandfather, I am on my way back. , got a piece of ore..."

She glanced at Baihui, who took out something wrapped in a blue handkerchief from her purse and handed it to Nangong Yue.

Nangong Yue unfolded the veil, revealing the gray ore in it, and sent it to Mrs. Fang: "I want to ask you to help me with palms and eyes..."

Before Nangong Yue's words were finished, Mrs. Fang looked at the ore and blurted out, "This... could it be a salt mine?" He took the ore in his hand to examine it, and then pulled it out with his fingernails. A few stone chips, put it on the tip of the tongue and tried it, and then nodded with certainty, "This is indeed salt ore."

Salt mine! ?

Nangong Yue suddenly realized.

Even in Dayu, salt was strictly controlled by the imperial court, and the salt tax was one of the main sources of revenue for the Ministry of Households. Selling smuggled salt is a capital offense, but it can make huge profits, or a steady stream of people are willing to take risks in order to make a country that is rich and rivals.

Dayu is like this, not to mention Baiyue, which is located inland.

Baiyue does not rely on the sea in all directions. Even if there is lake salt, well salt and mineral salt, they are not as inexhaustible as sea salt. They are short of salt, and the benefits of a salt mine are incalculable.

No wonder they took such a big risk to seize the Fang family's salt mine, and in the name of the Fang family, they have been mining for more than ten years, and even now, they are unwilling to give up.

Mrs. Fang keenly sensed that Nangong Yue's mood was a bit wrong, and asked, "Ayue, what's wrong with this ore?... Someone is holding the ore to deceive you?"

Nangong Yue hesitated for a moment, then asked instead, "Grandfather, do you still remember that the Fang family had a mine on Mount Siglai?"

Sigley Hill?

Grandpa Fang frowned and stroked his beard thoughtfully, "...I remember that more than ten years ago, someone seemed to report back and forth that a mineral vein was discovered in the area of ​​Siglai Mountain. I remember that I was responsible for it at that time. The manager of the mine, Mr. Wu, hired some long-term workers to dig there and see if it was a poor mine or a rich one."

There are many mines in the Fang family. If it is just a poor mine, Mr. Fang will not look down on it, and it is not worth spending manpower and material resources to mine.

After that, in Mr. Fang's impression, he never got a reply from Siglai Mountain. I think the mine was too poor to be worth mentioning. Grandpa Fang didn't care anymore. For Mr. Fang, who owns most of the mines in southern Xinjiang, it is not bad to be able to remember a name.

What's more, it was ten years ago.

Thinking of the ore Nangong Yue had just taken out, Mrs. Fang seemed to understand something and asked, "Ayue, are your ore from Siglai Mountain?"

Nangong Yue nodded.

"It turned out to be a salt mine!" Mrs. Fang was very surprised.

Salt mines are rare and can bring even more value than iron ore.

But if the salt mine was mined in Siglai Mountain, why would he not know it at all?

No, he doesn't know it, why, more than ten years later, Nangongyue has noticed this mine instead, among which... Mrs. Fang can't think about it anymore.

Nangong Yue knew that it would definitely attract the suspicion of Mrs. Fang, but if she wanted to follow the Siglai Mountain to investigate, she would undoubtedly need the support of Mrs. Fang. At least Siglai Mountain was in the name of the Fang family, maybe There were also posting books in earlier years. Mrs. Fang is the head of the Fang family. If you want to see this account book, you can't hide some things from him.

Nangong Yue looked directly at Mrs. Fang and said, "...Grandfather, now the salt mine of Siglai Mountain is in the hands of Baiyue, and it is called Fang's family to the outside world. I don't know how it is. ." She only talked about Baiyue, and concealed that it might have something to do with the death of the former princess and the old prince.

Grandpa Fang is also someone who has experienced wind and rain, so he calmed down after hearing this, nodded slightly, and said, "If you want to check or ask anything, you can tell my grandfather."

"That's natural." Nangong Yue replied with a smile, and then climbed up the pole, "Speaking of which, there is really a place for your help now. When I came back this time, I got two hundred and fifty stone in vain. I want to ask your grandfather to make a batch of iron arrows."

Grandpa Fang was getting old, and he was afraid that he would cause trouble to his grandson. Now, Nangong Yue said that there was something to trouble him, but instead he was very excited, especially this iron arrow was used by grandson on the battlefield. Grandpa Fang said nothing. Said and agreed immediately.

Nangongyue pretended to exaggerate the story of how she deceived the iron ore from the Baiyue people, which made Mrs. Fang laugh, and the little anxiety caused by the Siglai Mountain just disappeared with the laughter. go.

Accompanying Mr. Fang for lunch, Nangong Yue asked him for the Ping An pulse again, prescribed a dose of soothing soup, watched him use it, and then left Tingyu Pavilion.

When she returned to the yard, Queer had already put the roster on the desk in her small study.

On the roster, the basic information of every servant in the palace was recorded: whether they had children or bought them, their names, their ages, where they worked, and so on. The establishment of the Zhennan Palace only took a mere twenty years, and even if the family had the most children, they would have multiplied to the third generation. From time to time, the palace would buy some servants.

These records are a little too simplistic.

In particular, the parents of children born at home, the parents used to work in various places, and there is no record of them.

Nangong Yue casually looked at the roster and asked, "Que'er, who are the wives you mentioned yesterday who talked about Concubine Mei?"

Queer took two steps forward and said, "Forgive this servant's rudeness."

After turning a few pages, she pointed out several names. They were the first batch of servants in the palace. In addition to basic information such as names and monthly money, the roster only recorded the date and price they were bought, and where they were currently working on errands.

Nangong Yue closed the roster and said, "Pass on my order, from today onwards, gather all the servants of the palace and re-register the roster... Specifically, just as we did when we were in the palace in the palace. She paused, then added, "Not only the servants, but also the concubines."

"Yes, Concubine Shizi."

Queer bowed his knees holding the roster and retreated.

It must be a lie to say that she is not disappointed. Nangong Yue can only comfort herself in her heart not to worry. Since someone did it back then, there must be traces to be found! She has enough time to check slowly!

Nangong Yue's order was quickly passed down. Although there were a lot of discussions, the servants did not dare to raise any objection. However, the reaction of those concubines was a little bigger. He complained to King Zhennan that he was lightly abused, and let King Zhennan decide for him.

For this reason, King Zhennan also called Nangong Yue over to ask one or two questions.

"Father, whether it's Yanding City or Luoyue City, they've all discovered the spies that Nanliang had planted." Nangong Yue said without squinting, "My daughter-in-law thinks that you must be careful, if people from Nanliang sneak into our palace, That's a big worry for the confidant. Instead of always having hidden worries, it's better to check it first."

These words were reasonable and restrained. When King Zhennan thought that there might be spies from Nanliang people in his palace, he couldn't help but feel terrified. He made a decisive decision and asked Nangong Yue to investigate.

With these words from King Zhennan, things are much easier to handle. Nangong Yue handed over the full authority to Queer and Thrushi, while he was reading the greetings sent by the various governments in his spare time, and he was tired from the journey. , All rejected on the grounds of needing a rest. Failing to get close to Nangong Yue, the various governments were disappointed, and immediately expressed that they did not dare to disturb the rest of the princess, and instead sent a generous welcome gift.

In just two days, a newly opened warehouse was full.

Baihui, who was facing the gift list, raised the corners of her mouth. She still remembered that when Concubine Shizi first came to Southern Border, these mansions were still watching. Attitude, Concubine Shizi can be regarded as standing firm.

After resting for two days, Nangong Yue took over the pair of cards sent back by Xiao Fei, and took over the central feeder of Zhennan Palace again.

On the fifth day of the first month of December, Zhou Dacheng rushed back with 200 stone iron ore three days in advance, and the iron ore was sent to Fang's smelter on the same day for work day and night.

On the sixth day of December, Xiao Hui flew into Bixiao Hall and brought back a good news——

Xiao Yi led his troops into Nanliang from the poisonous black swamp, captured five cities in one fell swoop, and approached the capital of Nanliang with integrity.

There was only such a simple sentence in the good news, but Nangong Yue said it over and over again with a happy expression on her face.

After counting the time, she was only separated from Xiao Yi for ten days, and she was thinking of him all the time.

There was always a smile on Nangong Yue's lips, and after a long time, she reluctantly threw the good news into the brazier...

"Prince Prince, Miss Han is here."

At this moment, Baihui's voice came from outside the door. Along with Nangongyue's words, "Let Sister Xia come in," Han Qixia hurried in. She was dressed in ordinary blue cloth with unstoppable anxiety on her face. As soon as she met, she said : "Yue'er, I seem to have been recognized..."

Nangong Yue was startled and hurriedly asked, "Who is it?"

"Yes..." Han Qixia took a deep breath and said in a buoyant voice, "It's the saintess of Baiyue, who dresses up."

This book was first published by Xiaoxiang Academy, please do not reprint!