Чистая вода и прекрасные горы

Глава 26

"Your Majesty, this year is another year of severe drought, and the people and our dynasty are facing difficulties. I speculate that Your Majesty will pray to the heavens for rain during the ancestral worship ceremony to save the people and resolve the crisis. Oiled paper umbrellas are commonly used by the people to shield themselves from the rain. If oiled paper umbrellas are seen everywhere, it means that a heavy rain is coming, and the people are taking out their own oiled paper umbrellas to avoid the rain. Therefore, I believe that Your Majesty's intention is for rain to fall... and oiled paper umbrellas are also within Your Majesty's wishes, something that Your Majesty is eagerly anticipating."

The Emperor smiled calmly, "Just now the Crown Princess also said that a great victory was what I wanted. What do you think?"

“The Crown Princess is right,” I said with a slight smile. “However, we must distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. The drought comes first, and the battle comes later. Furthermore, to fight the Liao people, we must first conscript soldiers. If the people are suffering from the drought and their hearts are scattered, we will surely lose this battle. Therefore, to win the battle, we must first solve the people’s water shortage, appease the people, and ensure the stability of the country.”

The Emperor slightly twitched the corners of his lips and waved his hand to summon the eunuchs. "Hand over the Crown Princess's embroidery to the embroidery workshop and instruct them to embroider enough before the battle. I want to use the Crown Princess's expectation of a great victory to boost the morale of the army."

The Crown Princess looked at the Emperor with a pale face from excitement. The Emperor waved his hand and said, "Reward the Crown Prince with fifty bolts of silk, three thousand taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver, and five ginseng roots."

Everyone knelt down and shouted in unison that the Emperor was wise and the Crown Princess was virtuous.

The Emperor smiled slightly and took the oil-paper umbrella I had embroidered from his right hand. I saw tears glistening in his eyes, and his voice trembled. “I will take Princess Ning’s embroidery to the sacrificial ceremony… Make molds of Princess Ning’s embroidery and distribute them to all the embroidery workshops in the country. Even the embroidery workshops in the palace will have to rush to complete their work. Not only will I carry it with me, but all my subjects will carry it. I will pray for this rain together with all the people of the world… I do not believe that a single rain can destroy my dynasty, which has lasted for hundreds of years.”

No one could make a sound; it was deathly silent. I trembled, as if I could hear nothing at all.

The emperor stood up and yanked off the long cloth covering the whiteboard. A huge character for "rain" came into view and hit my chest. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears streamed down my face.

The Emperor's voice echoed in my ears, "In embroidery... Princess Ning won the crown. During this Millennium Festival, Princess Ning won two out of three rounds, ranking among the top... Princess Ning is hereby appointed as a First-Rank Palace Attendant, in charge of the palace's female officials and responsible for their education in morality and arts. Prince Ning is appointed as the Inspector General for this inspection, to investigate difficulties, appease public opinion, oversee water conservancy projects, and alleviate the drought... Princess Ning is specially permitted to accompany the Emperor during the sacrificial ceremony a few days later."

In the end, even the Empress stared in shock at the unpredictable Emperor. The sacrificial ceremony… traditionally only the Crown Prince could accompany the Emperor; this was unprecedented.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Ambition of Lanruo

It was already evening when I returned to my residence from the palace.

I ate some sweet porridge in my room and gave instructions on all the things that had been delayed at the manor over the past few days. I sat by the window looking at the account book and lost track of time. I noticed that the light in the study across the way was still on.

He lazily got up, pushed open the door, walked through the waterside pavilion, and paused in front of the study in the north room, without even knocking to announce his arrival.

Then Lu Li's voice came from inside, "Come in directly."

The study was dimly lit, and Lu Li stood by the window with his hands behind his back, gazing at the pond in the courtyard.

I tugged at my sleeve and walked over, puzzled. "What's wrong? What time is it? I haven't seen you go back to Yiling's place, nor have I told you to turn off the lights and rest in the study. You stayed up all night last night, how come you're still not sleepy tonight? Do you think you're made of iron?"

He turned his back to me and asked softly, "I wanted to ask your opinion on the drought?"

"We just had a mild winter. There wasn't much snow. So a spring drought isn't surprising." I gently rubbed my heavy forehead. "It's just that it's already March, and the spring rains are slow to come. I'm worried it will delay the planting of crops."

"How long do you expect this rain to last?" Lu Li raised his eyebrows and looked at me intently.

My gaze shifted from the window to the dark sky. "It's not far... at this rate, it will be here soon."

Lu Li nodded, pulled me to the desk, and pointed to the books scattered on the table. "Look at the records from previous years, the latest one is before April. Now look at these drawings."

I picked up the blueprint, which was as tall as a person, and looked at it with some surprise at the dense annotations on it. "Is this the reservoir you're planning to build?"

“I don’t expect this rain to last long.” Lu Li frowned slightly. “If the drought continues, we should take advantage of this rain to accumulate the limited water. If we wait until then to take action, it may be too late.”

It turned out that after leaving the palace, he had been holed up in his room for several hours, even skipping dinner, to study these things. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, so I said, "I know you're worried about the people's suffering, but you also need to take care of your own health. So many people are counting on you."

Lu Li smiled faintly, "I just remembered that I've been starving since this afternoon."

"I'll have someone make you a bowl of porridge," I said, getting ready.

"No need." Lu Li hurriedly pulled me away. "Don't you know what time it is? The kitchen staff have already been sent away, and even Xiao Si and the others have been sent to sleep."

"I'm here for you, aren't I?" I smiled. "What kind of food do you want? Fine, you'll have to make do with whatever you have."

As I spoke, I hurried out of the study and went straight to the small kitchen in the main courtyard. I washed the sago and barley, and cooked them together with chopped white fungus. I made small glutinous rice balls and threw them into the boiling pot, adding a few shreds of bright green bok choy.

When I turned around and left the kitchen with the steaming porridge, I saw Lu Li standing behind me.

“This is called Clear Silk and White Jade Congee.” I pushed the bowl in front of him. “My grandfather loved this. It’s light, smooth and tender.”

Lu Li smiled, scooping up spoonfuls and bringing them to her lips one by one, "It does have flavor."

I smiled with satisfaction, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Starting tomorrow, you'll begin those projects?"

Lu Li nodded. "We need to hurry."

"Wouldn't that be very hard work?"

"I'll probably need to live and eat at the construction site for a few days."

I sighed, "I have to accompany the Emperor to pay respects to our ancestors in a few days, and Yiling's health isn't good either. How about I send a maid with you to take care of her?"

"No need, Xiao Si and a few others are with us."

"After all, it would be better to have a maid to take care of things."

Lu Li coughed softly, "When did you become so concerned about my daily life?"

"I am, after all, a legitimate wife, aren't I? Of course I have to live up to this title." I said with a pout, sounding annoyed.

He looked up at me and said casually, "You've been busy for days and haven't had a good night's sleep. Don't you have to go to the palace to take up your post early tomorrow morning? You won't get much sleep."

I stood up with a smile. "I'm going back to take a nap. Don't push yourself too hard."

Stepping out of the study, I saw him sitting down at his book again in the shadows of the window, and I sighed softly.

My job as the Palace Attendant was extremely leisurely. I would occasionally visit a few palaces and then play chess with the female officials.

"Your Majesty..."

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep on a warm, sunny afternoon, someone stepped into the garden and called out to me.

I stood up dejectedly, smiled at the person who came, and said, "Master Qin, what brings you here?"

Master Qin bowed and sat down beside me. “Your Majesty, you are now in charge of the female officials. I would like to ask you for a favor.”