Chapter 462 Family Dinner
Chapter 462 Family Dinner
Xiao Xia visited the Yuan Mansion for less than half an hour before saying goodbye and leaving. After seeing Xiao Xia off, Yuan Xiaoju sat alone in the study, thinking. At this time, the eldest son Yuan Wujie asked in the hall: "Father, why did the King of Jin come to visit us?"
"Come in and talk!"
Yuan Wujie walked into the study and bowed. Yuan Xiaoju asked his son to sit down and said with a smile: "Don't say you are confused. Even I didn't understand it at first. Now I understand the intention of King Jin."
"Why did the King of Jin come?"
Yuan Xiaoju smiled slightly and said, "He came to visit not to discuss matters, but to express an attitude. He has no intention of falling out with the Guanlong nobles, and will continue to welcome the Guanlong nobles to trade in Jiangnan."
“What should we do about the dispute over salt profits?”
"The dispute over salt profits has ended. He did not mention it today, but encouraged other trades. What he meant was that the dispute over salt profits was over, and he would lower commercial taxes and encourage the Guanlong nobles to conduct normal trade. He might even let us build warehouses in Shanyang County and use the profits from other trades to make up for the loss in salt profits. That should be what he meant."
Yuan Wujie nodded, "It seems that Xiao Xia is better than his father!"
Yuan Xiaoju glared at him, "What do you know? Xiao Xia is a soft knife. Sometimes a soft knife is more terrifying than a hard knife!"
The next morning, two guests came to Xiao Xia's house, Yang Feiyan and Xiao Zhurong and his wife.
When Yang Feiyan entered the mansion, she asked, "Where is your concubine, Madam Zhang?"
"She's not my concubine yet, but she will be soon. What do you want her for?"
"It wasn't me who was looking for her. It was my mother who was looking for her. She invited her to the palace as a guest."
"Because of my elder brother's matter?"
Yang Feiyan nodded, "When my mother heard that she could remove the poison from my eldest brother, she was very excited and asked me to invite her to the palace. My mother wants to see her."
Xiao Xia hesitated for a moment and said, "But does the Queen Mother know that even if the poison is removed, my brother will never be able to return to normal?"
"Of course she knows. The imperial physician has long said that it is impossible for my eldest brother to recover. But my mother only hopes to save my eldest brother's life."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Okay! I'll take her to the palace with me, and I'll go see the lady, too."
Zhang Qiao was making medicine in her mansion. When she heard that she was going to the palace to see the Queen, she had no choice but to pack up, change her clothes, and follow Xiao Xia into the palace.
Xiao Xia rode a horse with Xiao Zhurong. Xiao Zhurong was granted the title of Duke of the Imperial Concubine's Horse and was appointed as the Imperial Charioteer, which meant he was in charge of the carriages of the emperor and the empress. It was actually a sinecure.
Seeing that Xiao Zhurong was a little unhappy, Xiao Xia smiled and said, "If you are not happy in Luoyang, you can come to Jiangdu. I will let you be the governor of a small county, such as Liyang County. Are you interested?"
Xiao Zhurong smiled bitterly and said, "Of course I would love to, but I have no choice now! The key is that the queen doesn't want the princess to leave her side. The princess has to go to the palace to accompany her mother every day, and we can only meet at night."
"Then I will talk to my father and ask him to give you a real job so that you can be busy."
Xiao Zhurong forced a smile and said, "The princess has already asked the queen mother, and the emperor has agreed to appoint me as the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple after the New Year."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "Then you will be very busy. Soon, small countries in the Western Regions will come to pay homage to you, and all kinds of receptions will be your responsibility."
"It's okay to be busy, but I don't like to be idle."
The group soon arrived at the palace. Xiao Xia saw that Zhang Qiao was a little nervous, so she hugged her and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'm here, no one will give you a hard time."
Zhang Qiao whispered, "I'm worried that the Queen will ask me to stay and treat the Crown Prince. What should I do then?"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "How long will it take to remove the poison?"
"About a year."
"Must you stay by my side?"
Zhang Qiao shook his head. "The medicine is fixed. We need to check regularly according to his condition, and then consider increasing or decreasing the medicine, or adding some tonic medicine." "That doesn't matter. I'll tell the queen that you only need to come every two months."
"So much the better!"
Soon, the group was brought before Empress Xiao. To Xiao Xia's surprise, Emperor Yang Guang was also there. Xiao Xia then remembered that today was Laba Festival and the court had a day off.
Ever since the imperial physician told Empress Xiao that her eldest son had at most one year to live, Empress Xiao was almost going crazy.
Empress Xiao also knew that only Xiao Chunyu could remove the poison from her son's body. If that didn't work, she was willing to ask her cousin Xiao Chunyu to save her son's life. Just then, Zhang Qiao came. She was Xiao Chunyu's direct disciple. Perhaps she could really cure the poison in her eldest son's body, which gave Empress Xiao hope.
Empress Xiao was extremely enthusiastic towards Zhang Qiao and asked her all sorts of questions. Xiao Xia could only chat with her father on the side.
Yang Guang smiled and said, "Xia'er, you have too few children. You should enrich your harem. Have you ever considered marrying into a Jiangnan family?"
"Your Highness wants to hear your father's advice!"
Yang Guang smiled and said, "In fact, I have been thinking about this issue. If you want to gain the support of the Jiangnan family when you are in charge of Jiangnan, marriage is a good way, just like my marriage with the Xiao family. Your marriage with the Jiangnan family is also a very realistic political need. Even if you don't mention it, I have this request.
Currently, the Jiangnan families are divided into three factions. One is the abolitionist faction, including Liu, Xiao, Chen, and the Sima family of Jiangning.
The second faction is the group of people who moved south, represented by the Danyang County Prince's family, and of course the Xiao family. The third faction is the local faction, including the Zhang family of Piling County, the four major families of Wumen, the Yu family, the He family, the Gu family of Kuaiji County, the Shen family of Wuxing, and so on.
If I were to make the decision, I would consider the local noble families, because the Xiao family is both a faction that advocates the migration of scholars to the south and a faction that advocates the abolition of the country. You already have the support of the Xiao family, but what you lack is the support of the local noble families. The Wujun Lu family, the Wuxing Shen family, and the Kuaiji He family can all be considered. In the end, it all depends on your own preference!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "I'll remember this!"
At this time, Yang Feiyan came running over and said, "Father, Queen Mother suggests that we all have lunch together!"
Yang Guang smiled happily and said, "It has been many years since I had a family dinner with my son. OK!"
Yang Guang ordered the preparation of a small family banquet. At the main table were the emperor and the empress, at the lower right were Xiao Xia and Zhang Qiao, at the lower left were Yang Feiyan and her husband Xiao Zhurong, and the Crown Princess Cui came with her eldest grandson, Prince of Yan Yang Dan, and sat below Xiao Xia.
The palace maids soon served a sumptuous banquet. Behind each person stood a palace maid, pouring wine and serving food to them.
Yang Guang raised his glass and said with a smile: "Today is Laba Festival. Let's drink to celebrate the reunion of our family on Laba Festival!"
Everyone raised their glasses and drank together.
Yang Guang glanced at Zhang Qiao and smiled at Xiao Xia, "I heard from Feiyan that Aqiao is still your master?"
"Father, it's not Master, it's Senior Sister. I always call her Little Senior Sister."
Everyone laughed. Yang Guang laughed and said, "Yes! Yes! It must be Senior Sister. I was confused. I will punish myself with a drink."
Yang Guang drank a glass of wine and said to Zhang Qiao, "You examined the prince's condition yesterday. What was his condition? We still don't know what the problem is."
Yesterday morning, when Xiao Xia came to have a secret talk with his father, Zhang Qiao went to the East Palace again and carefully checked Yang Zhao's poisoning condition.
Zhang Qiao said quickly, "Your Majesty, the prince must have been poisoned by a Qiang poison. The Qiang people call it a slow poison, but the ingredients are very complex and only the poisoner knows. There are two ways to remove this poison. One is the poisoner's antidote, which can quickly remove the poison. The other is to remove the poison. Use medicine to draw the poison out of the body and slowly eliminate it bit by bit. For example, after a few months, you will find that the prince's shoulders have turned black. This is because the poison has been drawn to the skin of the shoulders. Then after a few more months, the skin color will slowly return to normal. This is because the toxins in the body have been removed. The third step is to recuperate and slowly improve the physical condition. However, the damaged parts cannot be restored, so it can only be said that the normal life span is restored."
Yang Guang sighed deeply, "Now I know that it was a Qiang poison. I don't expect Zhao'er to recover completely. As long as he can return to a normal life span, I will be satisfied."
Xiao Xia bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Father. Ah Qiao is confident that he can remove the poison from Big Brother's body."
Empress Xiao whispered a few words to her husband, and Yang Guang nodded, "Okay, let's follow Xia'er's plan. A Qiao will come to the capital every two months to remove the poison for Zhao'er. As long as the poison can be removed from his body, I will definitely reward you handsomely!"
(End of this chapter)