Chapter 329: The Imperial Retreat
Chapter 329: The Imperial Retreat
Feng Xuanrui wanted to read, and Feng Xuanbin also wanted to show off his skills.
It wouldn't be appropriate for Prince Qi to take the letters from the children, so in the end, the whole family gathered together to read them.
Sun Ronglin was already eleven years old, so he wrote his letter himself. His handwriting was excellent, and although he lacked a bit of maturity due to his age, with a few more years of practice, he would likely improve.
Lian Ruoyi was younger and had just started learning to read, so she didn't know many characters. This made it troublesome for her to write letters when she came across words she didn't recognize.
As a result, her letter was half-written by herself and half-dictated to her brother, who wrote it on her behalf.
The letters from the two children were free from adult influences and mostly asked about how Suisui was doing after arriving in the capital. They wanted to know if she had adapted to her new surroundings, how she was getting along with the family, if she had made any new friends, and whether she had started her studies yet.
...
The two of them asked a lot of questions, mostly about Suisui's daily life.
Lian Ruoyi sent Suisui two popular storybooks from Wenzhou, while Sun Ronglin sent dried fruit from Qingzhou.
In addition, there were some slightly more expensive gifts prepared by the adults.
The gifts exchanged between the children were relatively simple.
The adults' gifts weren't of interest to the children.
After the three children finished reading the letters, they spent some time admiring the dried fruit.
Finally, Aunt Qiu intervened and prepared some tea and snacks for them to taste.
Among the treats sent were sugar-coated plums, which had a delightful sweet and sour flavor.
However, concerned about the children's teeth, they were only allowed to eat a small amount.
As Suisui sipped her tea, she savored the lingering taste of the plums.
They were a bit sour, but the sugar coating gave them a wonderful flavor.
They were quite refreshing.
In Sun Ronglin's letter, he mentioned that he would be joining his mother soon to reunite with his father, so the next time she wanted to write to him, she would need to send the letter to Hezhou.
Suisui didn't know where Hezhou was, but she didn't need to worry about that anyway, as her brothers would take care of sending the letters.
After discussing with her brothers whether Hezhou or Qingzhou was farther away, the three children happily went off to play.
The next day was another clear and sunny day.
Prince Qi and his family got up early, packed their things, ate a vegetarian meal, offered incense, and then set off for the retreat.
The imperial retreat was quite a distance from Lanruo Temple.
It took over half a period of time to get there by carriage.
Riding horses might have been faster.
However, the carriage ride was too bumpy for the nobles, and as they weren't in a hurry, they opted for a leisurely pace.
Since the Emperor hadn't come to this retreat to escape the summer heat, the place was deserted.
However, Prince Qi had sent word ahead, instructing the servants to prepare the rooms.
As a result, many people were aware that Prince Qi was on his way.
The initially lackadaisical servants suddenly sprang into action.
When Prince Qi and his entourage arrived, one of the head stewards was already there, leading a group of servants to welcome them.
As Prince Qi had brought his own attendants, they didn't require the services of the palace servants.
Following the head steward, they went to their accommodations for the night and settled in briefly before Prince Qi, carrying Suisui, along with Feng Xuanrui and his brother, set off to find Feng Xuan Shang.
Princess Qi was in no rush to join them.
Although the servants had already prepared the place,
she wanted to inspect everything herself to ensure it was up to her standards, and she also wanted to oversee the preparation of refreshments in case the children got hungry after playing.
While she was busy with these tasks, Prince Qi had already taken Suisui to the medicinal fields.
The royal retreat had an abundance of herb fields, though they weren't concentrated in one area, as precious flowers and trees were also interspersed throughout the landscape. The herb fields were strategically located in patches, and the palace attendants tended to them diligently, resulting in thriving plants.
Prince Qi wasn't sure which herb field was ready for harvest, so he randomly chose one and found Feng Xuan Shang with his robe hitched up and his pants legs rolled, carefully inspecting the herbs.
Hearing the commotion and alerted by a servant, Feng Xuan Shang became aware of their visitors. He hastily yet gracefully straightened his attire, washed his feet briefly, put on his shoes, and then emerged, ensuring he didn't appear rude.
After exchanging greetings, Prince Qi waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be so formal among family. You do your work, and I'll just take the children for a tour. Suisui hasn't been here before, and I thought she should see it."
With the recent ample rainfall, the herbs in the fields were flourishing.
Feng Xuan Shang estimated that, at the latest, they could harvest the crops in another two days.
Hearing Prince Qi's words, he nodded and replied, "I understand, Uncle."
After responding, Feng Xuan Shang asked, "Do you have the medicine packet I made? There are many mosquitoes in the mountains, so be sure to use it."
Naturally, Prince Qi didn't have it, and upon realizing this, Feng Xuan Shang quickly sent someone to fetch a newly made one and helped his uncle put it on.
When it came to medicine packets, incense pouches...
Prince Qi still felt a subtle sense of aversion.
However, seeing that Suisui looked on with curiosity and didn't exhibit any unusual reactions, Prince Qi thought...
Perhaps he shouldn't always be like this.
While there were indeed many mosquitoes in the mountains, he wasn't particularly afraid of them.
However, if he didn't wear the medicine pouch and mosquitoes swarmed and bit the children...
With these thoughts in mind, Prince Qi felt that wearing the fragrant medicine pouch wasn't so bad after all. He just wondered...
As they dragged out the days, was Madam Che still alive?
At that moment in the palace, the Emperor had just received a report from the Court of Judicial Review.
Half of the female relatives of the Che family had already perished.
Although the Che family wasn't particularly wealthy in the past, they hadn't endured many hardships either.
The pampered ladies couldn't withstand the torture of the imperial prison.
So, after just a few days of imprisonment, some of them started falling ill.
Moreover, there was infighting among them.
Madam Che blamed her family for conspiring behind her back and poisoning her, leading to her downfall.
Her brother, however, claimed that they had other plans, and a woman shouldn't meddle in such matters. Because of this, Madam Che scratched her sister-in-law's face, as well as the faces of her three nieces, including Che Lingzhi, and pulled out quite a bit of their hair.
In any case...
They were left looking quite disheveled.
The investigation revealed that the Che family had connections with the Su family from years ago.
Without the need for the Empress Dowager to intervene, the Emperor had already arrested the corresponding personnel.
Although they didn't invoke the punishment of the nine relations, all members of the Che family had been apprehended.
With a large number of female relatives, the prison became quite lively.
Every day, there was shouting, ruckus, fighting, and scratching...
In the end, some fell ill, while others died.
Now, half of them had perished, and the remaining half didn't seem to be faring much better.
The Court of Judicial Review didn't come to report out of sympathy but rather to seek the Emperor's opinion.
It was clear that these female relatives wouldn't last much longer, so they wanted to know if they should intensify the interrogation now, while they were still alive, and see if they could get any useful information out of them before it was too late.
Otherwise, their deaths would be a waste.
Second Watch
(End of Chapter)
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