When Chu Wuyang saw Xuanwu, his eyes lit up and he was about to go over with his little hands flapping.
But he was only six or seven months old and could hardly crawl.
Yingbao placed her hands at his feet, but the boy stepped on her hands, pounced on the little turtle, picked it up and started chewing it.
Xuanwu howled in anger and simply retracted his head and limbs into his shell, letting him do whatever he wanted.
"Princess, the couple is here." Mu Dan walked in and reported, "Do you want to meet them?"
Yingbao sat up and straightened her dress: "Bring them in."
"Yes." Mu Dan went out to lead the people.
After a while, two men and women came in and bowed to Ying Bao: "Greetings, Princess."
Yingbao asked Mudan and the others to leave, stood up and sat on the armchair, and asked calmly, "What are your names?"
"My name is An Rou, and I was originally a maid in the Purple Palace."
"My name is Gu Shun, and I used to be your Majesty's personal guard."
Yingbao looked up at the two of them and saw that the woman was about twenty years old, with a dignified appearance, and she looked like a very steady person.
The man was less than 30 years old, with an ordinary appearance. He would be hard to tell if he stood in a crowd.
"If you take him out of the palace, what will you do if others find out that the King of Chu is missing?" Ying Bao asked.
An Rou lowered her eyes and said, "Your Majesty has his own arrangements. He will not let anyone know that the King of Chu is no longer in the palace."
In other words, there must be a baby in the palace as a substitute for the King of Chu.
Yingbao nodded and said to Anrou, "From now on, you will take care of Chu Wuyang in my yard."
An Rou immediately replied, "Yes."
Ying Bao then said to Gu Shun: "From now on, you will be called Chu Shun. Follow Yibin as an errand boy. When the King of Chu returns, you can change back to your original surname."
Gu Shunyi clasped his fists and said, "I obey your command!"
Then, the two of them took their positions.
An Rou followed several palace maids to clean up the small kitchen, while Chu Shun went to the outer courtyard to familiarize himself with the environment.
The next day, Jiang Sanlang and his wife, along with his parents, were going back to Qinchuan County, so Yingbao sent guards to take them back.
Chunniang took her daughter's hand and said, "Bao'er, when we are settled here, let's go back to Qinchuan County. Now our whole family lives in the county town, so you will have enough space to live there when you go back."
"Okay, I'll go back when the weather gets cooler, and I'll go to Dongchen Village by the way." Yingbao stuffed a few bottles of medicine into her parents' hands, and gave a few bottles to her grandparents, asking them to take care of themselves.
"Aunt, you must go back." Jiang Dali felt guilty towards his aunt after that incident and didn't know how to make up for it. "When you go back, I'll go catch some fish for you."
Yingbao touched his head and said, "Well, Dali should study hard when he returns, and go to the capital in the future to become a general like your uncle Jiang Wu."
Jiang Wu was appointed by the emperor as the palace inspector, responsible for closely protecting the emperor's safety.
Jiang Dali scratched his head and said, "I will study hard."
"Good boy, hurry up and get in the car. Look after your great-grandparents on the way."
"Okay!" Jiang Dali got on the carriage, turned around and waved to his aunt.
Ying Bao watched the carriage go away, then turned around and said to Wei Zhan who was standing beside her: "Go to the county government office and ask them to show me the tax accounts collected last year."
Now that Zhouhe County is hers, she must know how much tax has been collected over the years.
Not only that, the salary accounts of all officials in the county government must also be taken a look so that he can have a clear idea of the situation.
Wei Zhan nodded and said, "Let your chief secretary and accountant come with me. We don't know as much about some accounts as they do."
The Princess's Mansion was also equipped with a chief secretary and two minor clerks. They were both the chief secretary of the Princess's Mansion and the emperor's spies.
However, this did not stop Yingbao from asking them to do their work.
"Go and invite Song Changshi and the others." Ying Bao ordered the palace servants around her.
A eunuch agreed and ran to find Song Changshi.
After a while, Song Changshi, who had three strands of beard, came over and clasped his fists towards Ying Bao: "I wonder what the princess wants to see me about?"
Yingbao: "Mr. Song, go with the Yibin to the county government office and check their accounts. Then go to the charity granary to see how much grain is stored in the granary."
Currently, the most valuable things in Zhouhe County are food and other things, so she must figure it out.
Song Changshi clasped his fists and said, "Yes, I will go now."
So Wei Zhan took Song Changshi and his men to the county government office.
A few days later, Song Changshi brought the county government's account books to Yingbao to see.
He said with a sullen face, "The county magistrate's surname is Mei. There is something wrong with the accounts they produced. I went to the charity granary with the imperial attendant and found that the grain there was not only insufficient, but also mostly moldy."
"Not enough?" Ying Bao frowned: "Let the county magistrate surnamed Mei come to see me tomorrow."
"Yes." Song Changshi responded.
In the evening, Wei Zhan came back after a busy day.
Yingbao took off his outer clothes and asked the maid to bring water for him to wash.
While washing his face, Wei Zhan said, "This county does have some problems. Most of the residents in the city are extremely poor. I took some time to visit the surrounding villages, and it's even worse there. Most of the villagers are half-naked, like beggars."
Yingbao handed him a towel and asked, "How are the crops in the fields? Has anyone abandoned them?"
"Yes, but I don't know if it was abandoned on purpose." Wei Zhan took the towel and wiped his face, then lowered his head and kissed Ying Bao on the forehead: "I'll take someone to check it out tomorrow."
Yingbao patted him lightly in a reproachful manner, indicating that there was a maid nearby.
Wei Zhan didn't care. He laughed and took his wife into the inner room.
Inside the house, An Rou, who was looking after Chu Wuyang, saw this and hurriedly retreated.
Wei Zhan bent down to tease Chu Wuyang who was kicking his legs, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"My wife, I have been running so hard these past few days that my legs are almost broken. I also dealt with a few ignorant bastards. You must reward me well."
"Okay, I'll have someone prepare a delicious meal for you later." Ying Bao was saying this when she was suddenly pulled into his arms.
Wei Zhan hugged his wife and said with a smile: "That's not what I want. My wife, you are pretending to be confused when you know the truth."
Yingbao had no choice but to hug his neck tightly and kiss him on the lips: "Okay."
Wei Zhan grinned and was about to kiss her back when he heard the baby next to him start babbling.
Yingbao leaned over to look and saw that Xiao Wuyang had turned over, grabbed the hem of Wei Zhan's clothes with both hands, and tried to raise his head to call out to her, his saliva almost dripping onto Wei Zhan's robe.
Wei Zhan twitched his lips, quickly turned him over, lifted up the little kid's clothes to wipe his mouth, and said with a look of disdain: "Let someone take him out to play."
"It's too hot outside. We've already gone out to play." Ying Bao picked up the baby and put it into Wei Zhan's arms: "He wants you to hold him, so just hold him."
Wei Zhan had no choice but to hold Wuyang in his arms and walk to the window. He pointed at the persimmon tree outside and said, "Little fool, do you want to climb a tree?"
Wuyang blinked and stared at him, then wrapped his short arms around his neck, rested his head on the side of his neck and closed his eyes.
"You little thing, you want to sleep." Wei Zhan patted him gently a few times, walked around the room twice, and saw that the little baby was really asleep, so he put him in the small wooden bed and covered him with a small quilt.
He came behind his wife and gently took Yingbao, who was checking the account book, into his arms.