uture, you must go and retrieve him and bring him back to our ancestral grave!"Wu Er was becoming impatient. “He's already dead, why are we burying him I can’t even afford a meal, let alone the energy...Not only was the whole new village buzzing, but even guests from the hot spring valley came early to queue up to buy melons. People from Dahuai Tree Village, Da Wang Zhuang, and Xiao Wang Zhuang all came to see the commotion.
The eunuch in charge, perhaps having received instructions, was very courteous to Li's family.
The Li family wanted to set up an incense altar, but he didn't allow it. He only allowed the Li family and the villagers from Xin Village to kowtow and express their gratitude.
Li Laoer went to Luo'an Town, but Li Zhensheng, Li Laosan, and Li Laoshi were not there.
Only Li Lao Tai and Jia Yin could have done this, and the village head came out to host them.
Old Li had someone cut a piece of the jade melon from the well and the eunuch in charge wasn't polite, he ate three pieces in one go. At last he smiled and said, "Madam Li, Miss, you don't know. The jade melons sent to the palace yesterday were incredibly popular!"
The Emperor had given several to the Empress Dowager, and the rest were distributed to the other Palace Mistress. All of them said it was good. Today, the Empress sent servants to deliver gifts, and when the other Palace Mistress heard this, they all added some as well.
Everyone laughed and thanked her, no wonder there were six carriages, it turned out the Empress was just leading the way, and the gifts inside were for the others as well.
Soon, all the belongings from six vehicles were moved down.
Most of it was silk fabrics, with some small ornaments. The most eye-catching was a dressing mirror.
Perhaps from overseas, the dressing mirror was half a person's height. Its surface was bright and inlaid with a wooden frame at the back. It could even rotate to adjust the angle. The carvings were intricate and hollowed out, making it look quite exquisite and elegant.
This is something new and unusual, no one has ever seen it before, they were all amazed and staring wide-eyed.
Occasionally, someone gets startled by a mirror and screams in fright at their own clear reflection before running away.
The eunuch leader not only didn't laugh, but was quite pleased. He hoped to tell the Empress about it when he returned, so that the Empress could be happy for a bit.
When the Empress gave up this dressing mirror, her face was pained, and everyone could see she didn't want to.
But because of yesterday's incident, the Emperor not only moved the Third Princess out of Kunning Palace, but also found a strict nanny to discipline her.
Although the Empress spared her face and did not punish her,
But under the pretext of prayer, the Emperor ordered the Empress to copy thirty copies of Buddhist scriptures within a month.
This is equivalent to being under house arrest for a month!
All the empresses in private called Empress Dowager a joke. This time, she took the initiative to add rewards, first to show her face in front of the Emperor, and second to spite Empress Dowager.
Therefore, the Empress made such a grand show of bestowing gifts upon the Li family. She only used her own name and didn't reveal any other details, it was just a game of give and take, each party had their own calculations...
The villagers didn't know about all these twists and turns, and Li Laotai didn't know that the Empress had bullied her granddaughter. Most of this stuff was for appeasement; otherwise, she probably would have smashed the dressing mirror right there.
But the village head knew, returning home last night, he was angry at the unreasonable empress and felt sorry for his child's suffering. He still couldn't vent his anger, suffocating all night without falling asleep.
Even after seeing so many gifts, he wasn't very happy.
The head eunuch said a few more words and, with the hard-earned money from the Li family tucked away, returned to the palace.
The villagers wanted to stay and watch the spectacle, but the village head shouted, "Don't dawdle! There's still work to be done in the melon field. We need all hands on deck to open up shop and collect money!"
"Just put these things aside, they can't run away with long legs! Besides, most of them were given to the county lord by the Empress Dowager. The rest will be for the old lady to take a look at. We'll see what she can share with everyone and let us all enjoy the good fortune."
The villagers all smiled and replied, then hurried to the fields.
They weren't really greedy for these things. It was just that the imperial palace rewards were something to be proud of, and everyone wanted to see them more and touch them more.
But as the village head said, Suijin Beach belongs to the county princess. She also went to offer melons. I heard she pleased the Emperor and Empress so much that they bestowed so many gifts upon them.
Logically, there's nothing wrong with the Li family leaving everything behind.
But Li Shiniang is not a stingy person, she will definitely share some with everyone.
As expected, as soon as the men left, Old Lady Li led the young girls to open the box.
Needless to say, the dressing mirror and the little trinkets are definitely for JiaYin.
There was also a box, a piece of jewelry specially sent by the Queen to Jia Yin.
Then, Li LaoTai asked her granddaughter about it and took out most of the fabric to distribute to each household in the village.
Things that come out of the palace are always of high quality, after all, the entire nation is mobilized to support this family.
This batch of gifts includes several boxes of textiles, the patterns are excellent. There are also a few pieces of bright red silk, the color is deep and rich, so vibrant it dazzles the eyes.
Half a bolt of silk was enough to make a wedding dress, so those with young daughters or who were about to marry their sons-in-law all received a share with great joy. Immediately, their faces blossomed into smiles.
The darker-colored cotton fabric was used to make new clothes for the men in the family, and the more colorful fabrics were kept by the women to sew themselves new jackets.
The soft cotton cloth was picked out separately and made into clothes for children at home.
Finally, everyone looked at each other, and each family had been given three or four pieces of cloth, their arms were full to bursting.
Li LaoTai looked at the several young girls in the village, their eyes fixed on the satin in the box, gleaming with excitement.
She gently patted the heads of several little girls and smiled, “This is satin, it looks good, but the clothes cut from it are not as comfortable as cotton. Even Fu Niuer doesn't usually wear it, only when she visits guests does she put on a show.”
The few young maids' mothers quickly pulled their children away and said, "Sister-in-law, don't mind them. Children just love novelty. Funiu'er is a county princess, so she can wear silk; they are just ordinary maids, having a rough cotton skirt is enough."
Li Laotai smiled and still called He Mamá to open the storeroom, taking out three bolts of flowered fine cloth. She gave each of the several little maids half a bolt.
"The girls are just at the age where they love pretty things. You take this fabric back and don't keep it hidden away, make new dresses for all the children." Old Mrs. Li instructed the women. The women were embarrassed to be spoken to so directly about such a thing, but indeed that was their plan.
Even though their lives are better today, they just can't let go of the habit of frugality.
One piece of clothing, always wanting to be worn by the eldest, then the second oldest, and after the second oldest is finished wearing it, the youngest wears it…
And these girls are all the youngest in their families, truly seeing a new piece of clothing only every three or five years.
But at this moment, Li Laotai (grandmother) supplemented the fabric extra. They gritted their teeth and made up their minds.
One woman spoke up first, “Alright, we’ll listen to our aunt. We’ll cut and sew them tonight and have them wear them in a few days.”
The little girls were so happy, they were just about to jump up and clap.
Grandma Li called the women to rest under the eaves, then shouted to Jia Yin, "Bring a box of snacks and share them with the young ladies."
Jiayin remembered what the Empress had given her as compensation, but grandma spoke, and she could only obey.
Then, Li Lao Tai led the women to gossip under the eaves.
Jia Yin was accompanying a few young girls, eating snacks and playing together.
Jia Yin didn't have any particular bias against the little girls in the village, and they usually didn't play together. This time, they were indeed quite unfamiliar with each other.
But as a "mature soul," it wasn't difficult for her to cheer up the little girls.s, oh no, help!"The children were also crying hysterically, "Help! Save our father!"The soldiers guarding the pier this time could see clearly that they were all common people from Tianwu. Immediately...