There is a black lotus in the deep palace

Chapter 86

After lunch, Xia Houjue came out of Chaoluan Hall and went straight out of the palace.

After leaving the palace, he didn't go to the Ministry of Industry as usual, but went straight to Fresh Fruit Lane in the south of the city.

As we all know, Fresh Fruit Lane is the largest fruit and vegetable market in the capital. Needless to say, there are a wide variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables in midsummer. Even the supposedly deserted seasons of late spring and early summer are frequent, and purchases from various noble residences are endless.

After careful inquiry, it turns out that these merchants will select the best fruits in season, store them in ice, and then sell them at a high price when they are in short supply.

The result of such time-consuming and labor-intensive exchange is that the pot is full.

At this time, the fruits are all top-notch and limited, and those with the highest price will get it. When the market is at its peak, the high price may not be able to buy it, so it must be kept for the official.

For example, it is now April and May, and the fruits of the previous year are almost exhausted, even the frozen ones are gone, and the new batch of fruits is not yet on the market, which is the most expensive time.

When Xia Houjue came to Xianguo Lane, many shops on the street had already closed, preparing for a new round of busyness.

A handful of stores were also open, but the shelves were empty.

Xia Houjue quickly turned dark: "Li Dequan, go and ask what's going on?"

Li Dequan quickly apologized with a smile: "Master, why do you need to go out of the palace in person for such a trivial matter, what do you want let the slaves come and buy it for you!"

Nothing is ready-made in this season, even if there are fruits from the south that are ripe, there must be time to transport them, right?All need to be booked in advance.

What's the matter today?Why did you come here all of a sudden?

Xia Houjue calculated the seasons in the near future, and thought about the market, but he didn't insist anymore.

He just told Li Dequan with a dark face: "Within three days, get the last and freshest fruit for my grandfather, if you can't get it, you can come and see me!"

Li Dequan was about to cry.

This is not for fruit, it is clearly for his life!

With the current market situation, even if the people in the palace travel from the south, it will take ten and a half months to come back, right?How could three days be enough?

Li Dequan lamented for a while with a sad face, so he could only go back and think about what to do. If he couldn't do it, he would spend more money and ask others to give him some.

……

Coming out of Xianguo Lane, Xia Houjue went straight to the Ministry of Industry.

Things have been complicated recently, and several major projects that benefit the country and the people are about to be completed. In order not to cause problems, he can only supervise day and night.

Xia Houjue was too busy to touch the ground, but Tang Wanning was very idle.

Because the empress was busy arranging the marriage of the fourth prince, she had no scruples about other matters.

Speaking of the fourth prince, it has been very prosperous recently. Before marrying his wife, the queen went to ask the fourth prince for a title, and named him King Chen.

As the name suggests, the word 'Chen' means throne and emperor, which shows that the queen's ambition is obvious.

However, Emperor Jingyuan didn't think it was wrong, he thought that he owed his son too much to pass on the throne to him, and couldn't he be given a meaningful title?
Even the emperor thought so, and naturally no one else dared to say anything.

When Tang Wanning got the news, she just scoffed coldly, and didn't even say a word.

Don't say that her daughter-in-law can't take care of her father-in-law's affairs, even if the speech officials of the court dare to say one more word, they may be cut miserably.

She has long known the tricks of the queen mother and son, and they would not recognize anyone if they were vicious.

So, just ignore it.

Tang Wanning ate happily every day, read a book, practiced archery, or went to the pond in the yard to feed the fish.

There was an old eunuch in Chaoluan Palace who raised an orange cat, which made her belly fat and round. She occasionally brushed the cat in the sun on the porch.

Life is leisurely and carefree.

Two days later, she was taking Biyue and Biluo to catch fish for Daju by the pond, when suddenly a little eunuch came and said that there were two bamboo baskets in the front yard that His Highness the Crown Prince had given to the Crown Princess Concubine.

Tang Wanning was a little suspicious, so she asked Bi Yue to bring some young eunuchs.

The bamboo basket was quickly brought back, Tang Wanning opened it with her own hands, and saw that there were two full baskets of big red cherries.

Those cherries were first-class at first glance, each one was as big as a copper plate, and they were bright red and still glowing with freshness, making one unable to help but want to take a bite.

"This is?"

She looked at Li Dequan who came with several young eunuchs.

"His Royal Highness heard that Madam likes to eat this, so he made a special trip to Fresh Fruit Lane to give it to Madam for you!"

"Oh!" Tang Wanning smiled.

When did this cold-faced prince become so caring? It's really impressive!

She pinched a cherry and put it in her mouth, the sweet juice overflowed her lips and teeth, and she smiled.

"Go back and thank me for me!"

Li Dequan hurriedly said: "Your Highness said that you don't have to be polite, you can order your servants to buy whatever you want to eat in the future, and don't feel bad about money!"

"Understood!" Tang Wanning pursed her lips.

I thought to myself why this guy talks to the servant about everything, now it's all right, the whole house knows that she is stingy and can't bear to eat cherries.

……

Smiling and sending Li Dequan away, Tang Wanning asked someone to share one of the baskets of cherries and left the other basket for herself alone.

Bi Yue was a little unhappy.

"Master, this is specially given to you by His Highness, but you want to share it with them?"

Tang Wanning didn't care.

"What's wrong with this? We can't finish eating it, and if we leave it for nothing, it will be ruined!" It's just a few fruits, and she is not so stingy.

The last time I taught those little wives, they were all so frightened that they had to give a sweet date even if they were slapped.

What's more, she can't see things being wasted!
"OK then!"

Biyue didn't say any more, she pointed to two young eunuchs to carry the bamboo basket and went with her, and Biluo took someone to soak the remaining bamboo basket with well water.

……

At night, Xia Houjue didn't come back, so he served a meal alone in Chaoluan Hall.

Tang Wanning was very happy when a series of familiar Northwest dishes were served. After the meal, a large plate of bright red cherries was served, which was refreshing and quenched her thirst, making her even more satisfied.

After the meal, she leaned on the couch and smiled happily while watching her favorite little Huang Wen.

An hour later, Bi Luo came over with a bowl of bird's nest with rock sugar and smiled and persuaded her: "Madam, you always get angry if you eat cherries, you should have a bowl of bird's nest with it!"

She had long been used to Biluo's carefulness, so she didn't take it seriously, and took a few mouthfuls of it as usual before continuing to watch.

In a daze, when she raised her head, she seemed to feel that Biluo's expression was not right.

When she raised her head again, Bi Luo regained her expression, still smiling, showing nothing abnormal at all.

Tang Waning felt something was wrong, and looked around.

The room was empty, only she and Bi Luo were there. Outside the door, there were a few second-class maids cleaning up and scrubbing lightly, and further outside were the maids and eunuchs cleaning. Everything was exactly the same as usual.

But she just felt that something was wrong, and after a while, she suddenly lost her expression.

"Where's Biyue?"

A trace of panic welled up in Biluo's eyes, and she quickly covered it up.

"That girl Biyue, she complained about her toothache when she came back today, I told her to rest!"

Tang Wanning watched Biluo quietly, and said seriously.

"Bi Luo, do you think you are a liar?"

　Tang: I am the most virtuous woman in the world!
　　Xiahou: I treat you as a daughter-in-law, but you treat me as a gay friend? !
　　Ladies (eating cherries): The concubine is more loving than the prince.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)