bayedsolid Chapter 345 Unraveling the Knot, Planting Rice Seedlings
Chapter 345 Unraveling the Knot, Planting Rice Seedlings
In the Rongguo Duke's mansion, candlelight flickered.
The brothers Gu Yunxiao and Gu Chenglin returned from outside, slightly tipsy.
The guards escorted them to their respective courtyards and then disappeared into the shadows.
Seeing that Dongfang Jin was still awake, Gu Chenglin went over and hugged her: "Wife, today after leaving the palace, my elder brother took me to my sister's house..."
Dongfang Jin listened quietly as Gu Chenglin recounted what had happened that day.
It is said that he and Gu Yunxiao went to the palace to see their cousin.
My cousin didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Ask Gu Yunxiao if the bowl of poison he gave his mother back then was given to him by his people.
Gu Yunxiao didn't hide anything and shook his head directly, saying that the people around him back then had long been bribed by the Second Prince.
When his aunt was imprisoned in the palace, it was Qiao'er, the daughter of his aunt's dowry maid, Granny Sun, who found him.
Tell him that his aunt said that no matter what happens in the palace, he and his father should not leave the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.
The moment they leave the manor, the Rongguo Duke's mansion will be doomed...
In front of Gu Chenglin, Gu Yunxiao took out a slip of paper wrapped in yellow silk from the fold of his inner garment and handed it to the emperor.
As for what was written inside, Gu Yunxiao said he had never opened it.
He said he could only give this thing to his younger brother if he found it.
If my brother doesn't come, let this thing go with him into his coffin.
He also said that his undergarments were all made by Duan Jing'an herself, and never by anyone else.
Only Qiao'er and Duan Jing'an knew about this, but Qiao'er had already been killed by the Zheng family, leaving no way to verify it.
Gu Chenglin also said that his cousin, the emperor, cried his eyes out after reading the above content.
When the two brothers finally left the palace, the emperor, their cousin, agreed to Gu Chenglin's suggestion and allowed Gu Yunxiao to directly take over the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture.
However, he couldn't abandon the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he continued to help Changsun Lan.
After leaving the palace, Gu Yunxiao took Gu Chenglin directly to the Chu family.
Dongfang Jin listened quietly as he recounted the events of the day and the scene of his meeting with the three siblings.
Gu Chenglin recounted that his sister fainted several times after hearing about his ordeal, but thankfully he had the elixir that Ruyi had given him.
Otherwise, it would have caused chaos in the Chu family, not to mention that Gu Chenglin later said that he had secretly given his sister a bottle of pills.
Dongfang Jin gave him a cup of Five Elements Spring water. After Gu Chenglin sobered up, he talked about the Hua family of the Ningguo Duke's Mansion.
Gu Chenglin learned from them that his biological mother was not a daughter of the Hua family; it turned out that this was true.
It turns out that their maternal grandmother and the wife of the old Duke of Ningguo were sisters, but they were fifteen years apart in age.
Gu Chenglin's maternal grandmother was in poor health from a young age, so she was sent to her maternal family in Dongyue, where the Shen family was in the business of medicinal herbs.
She knew many doctors, and because of her poor health, no one wanted to restrain her, which allowed her to develop an unrestrained personality.
When she reached the age of adoptive parents, the Shen family wanted to send her back to the Duke of Dingguo's family. However, the Shen family was vying for the position of family head at the time.
In order to gain the support of the Mu family, the Duke of Dingguo, to become the head of the family, Gu Chenglin's maternal grandfather drugged his maternal grandmother and had marital relations with her.
However, because of this incident, Gu Chenglin's grandmother was forced to go through such a thing and therefore did not return to the capital.
However, she did not support the man who raped her. Even after she gave birth to a son, the Shen family's affairs did not calm down, and the struggles continued.
At that time, the court was also rife with fierce infighting.
When Gu Chenglin's maternal uncle was twelve years old, his mother took him back to the capital.
Unexpectedly, it was discovered that she was pregnant, and the Mu family did not rush her back to Dongyue.
After she gave birth to Gu Chenglin's mother, she kept it a secret. When she and her son returned to Dongyue, she left Gu Chenglin's birth mother at the Mu family.
At that time, the Duchess of Ningguo had just suffered a miscarriage, so it was only natural that she took Gu Chenglin's birth mother under her care.
At the time, it was also to protect Gu Chenglin's biological mother, because the struggle within the Dongyue Shen family had not only not subsided, but was becoming increasingly intense.
She already knew what happened after that from the Hua family father and son.
Although Dongfang Jin found his words confusing, she managed to understand them.
The current head of the Dongyue family is Gu Chenglin's maternal uncle, and his sister-in-law Zhao Yuming (Shen Yunxiao) is Gu Chenglin's maternal uncle's son.
Zhao Yuming's biological mother was the daughter of the Duke of Dingguo's younger brother.
The old Duke Dingguo was Gu Chenglin's mother's maternal grandfather.
Dongfang Jin's maternal grandmother was Gu Chenglin's biological father's aunt.
Dongfang Jin's grandmother and Gu Chenglin's grandmother were aunts.
The Qi State Duke Jun family, who govern Yingzhou, has long been estranged from the imperial court.
After going around in circles, it all comes down to family ties.
Listening to him talk about how well the three siblings got along, Gu Chenglin also mentioned that he wanted to help his sister's family.
“We must help, we absolutely must help,” Dongfang Jin said, taking out another cup of Five Elements Spring water and giving it to him to drink.
Gu Chenglin stared at Dongfang Jin like a hungry wolf: "Wife, let's go to the Ruyi Realm."
Dongfang Jin looked wary: "What, what are you doing?"
Gu Chenglin hugged her and whispered in her ear, "Sweetie, I need comforting."
……
The morning sun shines on the land of Huangzhuang.
Emperor Cang Lingyuan, dressed in casual clothes, walked confidently along the ridges of the fields, followed by a large entourage of officials.
The officials, usually so serious and rigid in the imperial court, now found themselves in the fields, their expressions varied.
The group of agricultural teachers knelt by the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty."
Emperor Cang Lingyuan was now completely absorbed in the paddy fields: "Rise."
After saying that, he looked at the tender green rice seedlings in front of him and said with great interest, "I have come to this imperial estate today to personally see the scene of rice planting."
Master Li, I saw that you brought a lot of people with you, and many officials also came from your residences.
"You watch as they are interspersed among those people, and assigned to plant rice seedlings in the fields." He finished speaking, his eyes full of anticipation.
Li Mulin stood up: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will make the arrangements immediately."
Cang Lingyuan looked at Gu Chenglin and Gu Yunxiao standing on the ground, nodded and smiled at the two brothers.
Yesterday, when they went to the Chu family, what they discussed was already reported to him by the shadow guards.
It seems that the Ningguo Duke's family has ulterior motives.
However, this Duke of Ningguo has been lying low for quite some time.
As soon as Li Mulin shouted "Start!", everyone bent down and began planting rice seedlings.
There are seven people in each plot of land, and each person has two rice planting lines.
In the paddy field, there were baskets of rice seedlings placed at intervals. They picked up a bunch of seedlings and walked backwards while looking at the first bunch of seedlings.
Some people who weren't familiar with the area took a few steps back and squatted directly in the paddy field, getting splashed with mud, which made everyone burst into laughter.
Some planted the seedlings too deep, while others planted them too shallow, and soon the seedlings were floating in the water, which made everyone laugh.
Seeing this, Li Mulin hurried to the edge of the field and anxiously explained to them the steps of transplanting rice seedlings and the depth to which they should be inserted into the soil.
At this moment, Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Rites frowned slightly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
He muttered to himself, "For the emperor to be so concerned with matters of the countryside is truly unbecoming."
Although these words were spoken softly, they were still overheard by General Li, a military officer standing nearby.
General Li, being a forthright man, immediately glared at him and rebuked him in a low voice: "Lord Wang, agriculture is a matter of the people's livelihood and the foundation of the country. How can you treat it with such contempt!"
The Imperial Tutor stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Even I, an old man, am tempted to go to the fields."
Duke Su walked over and said, "You're getting old. If it were a few years earlier, this job wouldn't be a problem at all."
The Duke of Zhenguo had already taken off his shoes and rolled up his trousers to get out of the water, but his guards stopped him: "My lord, your legs can't go into the water, they're prone to cramps."
"Yes, what if your leg ailment flares up again?"
The Duke of Zhenguo angrily rebuked his two guards: "Let me go! I cannot refuse to participate in such a solemn and memorable day."
"General! No!" General Li came over and tried to stop him.