Chapter 297: Building the Star-Picking Tower
The old emperor's order to build the Zhaixing Tower was opposed by most of his ministers. If he had just built an ordinary palace, the ministers would not have opposed it.
However, the Star-Picking Tower that the emperor wanted to build was not only seven stories high, but he also requested that the walls and floors of each floor of the palace be plated with gold, which was extremely luxurious.
Most of the ministers agreed that this matter was too costly and would be detrimental to the country.
Although there has been no war on the border in recent years and the national treasury is still relatively full, how can natural disasters and man-made disasters be predicted in advance?
If the emperor used up most of the money in the national treasury, and if a war broke out or a natural disaster occurred, the national treasury would be empty. How could the emperor be able to withstand it?
However, the old emperor now relies heavily on elixirs for nourishment, and the Taoist priest who refines the elixir also said that only by building a Star-Picking Tower with sincerity and the Taoist priest refining the elixir on the highest floor can the elixir be closer to the energy of heaven and earth, and the tonic effect will be better. Therefore, the old emperor will never give up building the tower because of a few words from his ministers.
"I am the ruler of a country. I just want to build a palace for myself to practice. What's wrong with that? My lords, please stop talking. I have made up my mind. I am leaving the court!"
After saying this, the emperor turned away. The ministers could only shake their heads and sigh as they left the Golden Palace.
The emperor then ordered people to open the national treasury, take out silver and let people from the Ministry of Works start building the Zhaixing Tower.
As for the prince, he quickly sent someone to send Thirteen to Qianhuan.
Qianhuan asked, "Thirteen, what is your real name?"
"My lady, I have been an orphan since I was a child. The prince took me in. I don't even remember my real name. As the prince's secret guards, we only have code names, not real names."
Qianhuan really didn't expect that secret guards like Thirteen not only lived in the dark for many years, leading a life on the edge of a knife, but they didn't even have a decent name.
Qianhuan said with some distress, "Thirteen, why don't I give you a new, nicer name?"
"Since the prince has given me to the young lady, I will belong to her from now on. It is my blessing that the young lady is willing to give me a name."
After asking for Thirteen's consent, Qianhua thought for a moment and then said, "Since you understand medical principles, I will name you after the medicine. How about you be called Banxia from now on?"
Thirteen knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude, "Banxia thanks the master for giving me the name."
Qianhuan quickly helped him up, "Banxia, here, there are not so many rules in private, and you don't have to kowtow to me all the time. I will let Yinhua take you downstairs to familiarize yourself with the environment, and then arrange a room for you. From now on, you and Yinhua will serve me personally."
Banxia had spent some time with Qianhuan on the way to Dongling Kingdom. She also knew that Qianhuan was not the kind of master who would beat or scold servants at will, so when she learned that she was given to Qianhuan by the prince, she was quite happy.
Now that she saw Qianhuan was so easygoing, she became even more determined to stay by her side. "Yes, I'll take my leave now."
Qianhuan nodded, "Well, go ahead."
The farm’s soy sauce has now been successfully brewed, and Qianhuan’s soy sauce shop has also started in full swing.
In order to quickly promote soy sauce and let more people know that adding soy sauce to cooking makes it taste better, Qianhuan set up a pot in front of the door of the soy sauce shop and asked the chef of Zuixianju to cook with soy sauce himself, and then let passers-by taste it for free.
Gradually, more and more people came to know the benefits of soy sauce as a condiment, and Qianhuan’s soy sauce no longer had trouble selling.
The capital city is worthy of being the most prosperous capital of the Dayuan Kingdom. The soy sauce sold by Qianhuan is not particularly expensive, but it is not particularly cheap either. Rich families can basically afford it. Even the not-so-rich people in the capital city are willing to pay for it every now and then to improve the taste of their dishes.
Just when Qianhuan was extremely busy, Chu Yichen finally returned to the capital from Qingxi County.
Qianhuan was very surprised to see Chu Yichen, "Brother Lin'an, when did you return to Beijing?"
"I just arrived in the capital. I brought some local specialties from my hometown, and I specially sent one to you."
Qianhuan took the package from him and handed it to Yinhua behind her, "Thank you, Brother Lin'an, for thinking of me. I learned about what happened to the Chu family from Lan'er earlier. Now that Brother Lin'an has returned to the capital, I believe that everything at home has been sorted out, right?"
"Well, it's all taken care of."
"That's good. Brother Lin'an, you must have been very tired on the journey. I will ask the servants to prepare a table of good wine and food. We can eat and chat at the same time."
"Maybe next time. I was planning to go to the Song family to see Lan'er after I deliver the things to you."
"Well, Brother Lin'an, you haven't seen Lan'er for a long time. I'm sure you miss her very much. I won't keep you here today. I haven't seen Lan'er for a while either. When you get to the Song Mansion, please say hello to her on my behalf. Now that she's married into the Song Mansion, it's not convenient for me to ask her out to play. Now that Brother Lin'an has returned to the capital, if you have time, you might as well bring Lan'er out so that we can have a good gathering."
Chu Yichen smiled and nodded, "Okay, then I'll leave first."
In the end, Chu Yichen did not bring Chu Lan'er out for the party. The reason was that Chu Lan'er was pregnant. The Song family now treated her like a treasure and pampered her, fearing that she would get hurt. How could they feel comfortable letting her go out to play?
Chu Lan'er herself was also very cautious and stayed in her own yard to take care of the baby. In addition, she had just become pregnant and her reaction was quite strong, so she didn't want to go out.
Qianhuan learned from Chu Yichen that Chu Lan'er was pregnant, and she was both happy and worried.
The good news is that Chu Lan'er will be able to become a mother in the near future. The worrying thing is that Chu Lan'er is still young, she is only in her teens and got pregnant. She has not developed well and it may be very harmful to her body during childbirth.
But she was not too worried. After all, women in ancient times were like this. They got married early and had children early.
Although the Song family is not a high-ranking noble family, their family conditions are not too bad. I believe that they will find a better midwife to help Chu Lan'er give birth. She feels that she does not need to worry too much.
But she secretly swore in her heart that for the sake of her health, she must not get pregnant too early in the future.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Qianhuan followed Doctor Bai's instructions and insisted on taking a medicinal bath every morning and evening. Now, the cold in her body has been completely cured.
In the past, when winter came, her hands and feet were always cold, and she needed a hot water bottle to fall asleep at night. Every time the hot water bottle was cold, she would be woken up by the cold. Yin Hua would help her change the hot water again so that she could fall asleep again holding the hot water bottle.
Now that her cold has healed, she feels that the heat in her body is gradually becoming sufficient. Her hands and feet are not so cold at night, and she can finally sleep peacefully.
Her complexion also looked better than before, as bright and beautiful as the warm spring sun, and she felt that her life was really getting better and better.