"Your Majesty, has he sent the Fashion Bureau to order me a coming-of-age dress and hairpin?" After leaving Princess Yangling's palace, a cold wind blew, and Shen Xihe couldn't help but pull her cloak closer. Although she was as healthy as an ordinary person, she was afraid of cold to her bones, and she still felt extremely cold when the cold wind blew.
"Yes." Pearl responded, "I will come to the mansion tomorrow to let the princess choose the style."
"Go to the Shangfu Bureau and tell them I'll call out Gu Zexiang's name," Shen Xihe ordered.
Zhenzhu immediately understood that Shen Xihe was planning to use Gu Zexiang. After careful consideration, she suggested, "Princess, we also have someone in the palace. Gu Zexiang might be someone of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
They could all see that the Crown Prince was in love with the Princess; but after all, they were not a proper couple. Even if they really became a proper couple, they still needed to be cautious about some things. Otherwise, if they turned against each other, there would be no recovery.
Pearl naturally hopes that the princess and the crown prince will get along well, but a man's heart changes faster than the weather in June, so it's always better to be cautious.
"She is not the prince's woman." Shen Xihe took two steps, and snowflakes suddenly fell from the sky. Zhenzhu opened her umbrella and stretched out her hand, letting the snow flying in the cold wind brush across her fingertips. "She just did a business with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I can also do a business with her."
"I'll go to the Shanggong Bureau right away." Zhenzhu handed the umbrella handle to Ziyu.
She was a servant, her job was to share her master's worries and remind him of things he might not have thought of. Reminding him was her duty, and occasionally giving him a word or two of advice was an offense. She just followed her master's orders.
She had only figured this out slowly after she had been away from the princess. The princess in the northwest was happy for the prince and the prince to make decisions for her, which made the prince and the prince feel happy about being relied on and needed by the princess, and also allowed them to be more at will with their servants.
The princess of Kyoto does not need anyone to make decisions for her. It is very difficult here and one could drown in the icy lake if one is not careful.
The next morning, His Majesty issued an edict of repentance, admitting that he was a foolish ruler, which had caused many people's ancestors to be disturbed, his deceased wife to be restless, and his dead son to be uneasy. The edict was sent to all places at the fastest speed of 800 miles.
His Majesty decided to go to the imperial mausoleum in person to pay homage to the ancestors in order to comfort the spirits of the ancestors in heaven. He also made corresponding compensation and expressed condolences to the court to the families whose graves were dug up.
When they heard that the court would provide subsidies, many people with evil intentions, whose families had fallen into poverty, and whose family traditions were not good went to dig up their own ancestral graves. However, Xiao Huayong had anticipated this possibility when the court was discussing the subsidies. During the political meeting, he proposed to make a record of the victims as soon as possible under the pretext of investigating the case.
Therefore, after the emperor issued the edict of self-criticism, those who tried to fish in troubled waters were all punished and denounced by the government for being unfilial and unfraternal. Such a small episode diverted a lot of attention from the people, making the people who were really suffering feel better.
They were victims recognized by the court. The court knew they had been wronged, and His Majesty sent people to appease them. The imperial mausoleums were blown up by unscrupulous and vicious people, but the court did not shield the criminals and stood on their side.
Government offices in various places were conveying this idea, and the people's pent-up dissatisfaction with the tomb robberies quickly dissipated.
Even Shen Xihe, who had heard about several cases of cheating the imperial court for subsidies, couldn't help but sigh: "If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were to be king, it would be a blessing for the people."