Time passed quickly. Zhou Shuren rarely had a day off and was reluctant to get up in the morning. Not only did he not get up himself, he also pulled his wife to stay up.
Zhulan sat back with her clothes on, "If you don't want to get up, then don't get up. Why do you have to pull me?"
Zhou Shuren did not respond to his wife's words. It was so comfortable to sleep on a warm kang in winter. Now that he was warm in the quilt, he huddled in the quilt again and said, "Time flies so fast. It seems like the end of the year has come in the blink of an eye."
Zhulan hugged the soft pillow and said, "You are too busy, so you feel that time passes quickly."
Zhou Shuren whispered, "If I hadn't delayed time on purpose, the emperor would have assigned me more tasks."
He did not ignore the emperor's hesitant look at him.
Zhu Lan thought of something and asked quietly, "I heard from Xue Han that a princess from a foreign tribe will come to Beijing after the New Year?"
Zhou Shuren, "Really? Then I really haven't noticed it."
Zhulan didn't ask anymore. Men and women have different focuses. As for why the nomadic princess came to Beijing, it was obvious that she was here for a marriage.
When the late emperor was in power, he was old, and the dynasty was not stable after it was established. It took a series of wars to defeat the foreign tribes. At that time, the foreign tribes did think about marriage, but the emperor was old and did not care about women, and several princes had their own wives, so they never thought about it.
But now it is different. The new emperor is in his prime, the country is growing stronger, and marriage is also on the agenda.
The couple lay down for a while before getting up. Yuyi and the children had already eaten breakfast. Zhulan asked the maid to bring it to them. If she hadn't, Yuyi and Yujiao would have waited for them to get up before eating.
After breakfast, Zhou Shuren lay in the rocking chair while Zhulan made a belt for her son. Zhulan said, "The Empress Dowager has been ill for some time."
Zhou Shuren nodded. The emperor had been accompanying the empress dowager recently and had not visited the Ministry of Revenue for some time. "The old Duke passed away, and the empress dowager was very upset."
Zhulan, "Now that the Marquis' Mansion is on the right track, I think the Empress Dowager will be able to figure it out sooner."
Zhou Shuren closed his eyes, and suddenly opened them, "Where's Changzhong?"
Zhu Lan put down the needlework in her hand and said, "I wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't told me. This child has seldom been with me recently. Today is your day off and this child should stick to you."
Ever since the new emperor ascended the throne, Wu Ming has been very busy. Chang Zhong has been at home all the time and is the closest to Zhou Shuren. It is very strange that he is not at home now.
Changzhong followed Mingteng to meet Prince Joey. Since their last meeting, Changzhong and Joey became friends.
Ming Teng said with a wooden face, "Uncle, have you forgotten something?"
Changzhong frowned as he sat in the carriage, and took out the gift he was going to bring to Prince Joey from the box, "No, the gift is not left behind."
Ming Teng, "You forgot that grandpa is taking a day off today."
Changzhong actually forgot about it. His father has been very busy recently, and he was also thinking about the foreign items that Joey wanted to give him, so he really forgot about it.
In the palace, Rongchuan was grinding ink for the emperor. He looked straight ahead, not daring to look around.
There was a bright yellow imperial edict in front of the emperor's desk. The emperor was writing the edict very seriously. He didn't stand up until he put down his pen. He picked it up carefully and waited until the ink was completely dry before he carefully took Yuxi and covered it.
The emperor touched the words one by one with his fingertips, curled the corners of his mouth, and put away the imperial edict.
Rongchuan came back to his senses when he heard the sound of the box being closed. This was the imperial decree to establish the crown prince.
His father lived in the Prince of Qin's Mansion. He favored him and would naturally analyze the court situation and the emperor's offspring for him. He inevitably mentioned that the emperor was in his prime, a contradiction between a long-lived emperor and the prince.
He knew his father's concerns, and his eldest brother obviously knew his father's concerns, but he also believed that he could do the same as his father.
The emperor touched the box, looked at the smaller box that had been put up early, turned to look at his younger brother, but finally did not speak.
The emperor stood up and said, "I haven't seen my father and mother for many days. I am not busy now. I will go back to the Qin Palace with you."
Rong Chuan smiled, "Father and mother often talk about the emperor. The emperor also needs to balance work and rest. Government affairs are always busy."
The emperor's mouth curled up, and he was obviously in high spirits. "I can relax a little now. Your father-in-law helped a lot."
Zhou Shuren's operation gave him a lot of inspiration. He had to say that Zhou Shuren did a great job and he had won the game.
In the seed shop, Chang Zhong helped record the precautions for seeds with a wooden face. While recording, he looked at Prince Joey. He didn't think that a prince would come to the seed shop for no reason, he just thought it was interesting.
At this time, there was a gleam in Joey's eyes. Changzhong only saw ambition in this gleam. Food is important at all times.
After asking, Joey took the record book and said, "Thank you."
Changzhong didn't ask any more questions. He didn't think that if he asked the prince, he would ask, "Where else do you want to go?"
Joey smiled, "You don't have anywhere to go. I'll treat you to dinner."
In fact, he could have asked the new emperor for help on what to plant for grain, but he didn't. He wanted to find out for himself. Only after knowing it for himself would he cherish it and remember it in his heart.
At this time, the carriage of Prince Qin's mansion happened to pass by. The emperor saw Qiao Yi and Ming Teng. Relatively speaking, the emperor was more familiar with Ming Teng and paid more attention to Qiao Yi.
The emperor looked at the seed shop and snorted. This prince was more threatening than he thought.
At Zhou's house, Zhulan was surprised that Xuemei and her husband had returned, and she did not hide it, "Did you two send a letter in advance when you returned?"
Xuemei and Jiang Sheng looked exhausted and came here without even going back to Jing's house.
Xuemei's cheeks were a little red, this was because of the cold, "Mom, I also wanted to give you a surprise."
Zhulan pointed at her daughter's face and said, "You must have suffered."
Xuemei hugged the heater. Traveling in winter was indeed a pain. Even with all the preparations, she was still a little cold. "It's okay. My daughter can handle it."
Zhulan felt distressed and touched her daughter's face carefully, "Does it hurt?"
Xuemei's cheeks felt a little itchy, but she said, "It's not uncomfortable."
Zhulan didn't believe it. "Your house has been empty for a long time. Now that you are here, don't go back. Let's spend the New Year together this year."
Having said that, Zhulan asked Qingxue to arrange it.
Xuemei had recovered and warmed up, and she told her mother about the situation in Xuzhou, which was what her mother wanted to hear most.
Zhulan felt relieved after knowing everything about Xuzhou. Mrs. Song should have come back earlier. Finally, Zhulan thought about it and asked Mrs. Song to come back after the New Year.
Xuemei looked at Yuyi and Yujiao and said with a smile, "My sister-in-law brought back a lot of things for Yuyi and you two."
Yuyi and Yujiao were both happy and a little depressed, as children all missed their parents.
In the study, Zhou Shuren looked at the paintings his son-in-law had drawn along the way. While reading, Zhou Shuren raised his head and looked at his son-in-law.
Jiang Sheng was very nervous, "Dad, is there something wrong with my drawing?"