In truth, Ming Tan had never been away from Suxin and Lüe for so long either, and she missed them dearly as well.
Soon, people began bringing in luggage to Qian’an Hall. Ming Tan searched and found two intricately carved small boxes in a large sandalwood chest.
“Alright, stop crying. Here, gifts for you two.”
The tears on their faces slowed as they exchanged glances, then simultaneously broke into smiles.
Lüe said happily, “I knew it, the Young Miss cares for us the most!”
She opened the box to find exquisitely crafted necklaces, hairpins, and rouge. Delighted, she immediately wanted to adorn herself and go out to show off how much their Princess Consort valued her.
Suxin was also happy, but being more composed, she controlled herself. Wiping away her tears, she quickly said, “After such a long journey, why doesn’t the Young Miss take a bath to relax? I picked fresh flower petals from the garden early this morning. The small kitchen has also prepared almond milk, tender bamboo shoots and chicken soup, crystal dumplings, and white porridge.
“Considering the fatigue from travel and the varied diet, we only prepared these few easily digestible items that won’t upset your stomach. They’ll be perfect for after your bath, Young Miss. If you want anything else, I can instruct the kitchen to prepare it.”
That sounded good. They had rushed to enter the city at dawn, and Ming Tan was indeed tired.
Ming Tan nodded, and Suxin immediately went to call for water to be brought in. Lüe wasn’t idle either, efficiently directing the maids to unpack while also brewing tea and massaging Ming Tan’s shoulders.
Ming Tan sat in the outer room, watching as maids moved to carry the chest from which she had taken Suxin and Lüe’s gifts. Suddenly remembering something, she called out “Stop,” then went over herself and took out the box of trinkets Ming Heng had given her.
As soon as she opened it, Lüe, standing behind her, cleverly said, “These must be from the Young Master. He truly cares for you beyond measure.”
She had heard from Yun Yi about their detour to Pangshan, and looking at these curious items, who else could they be from but the Young Master?
Ming Tan smiled, taking out the small piece of black jade and rubbing it for a moment. Suddenly remembering something, she asked, “By the way, Lüe, do you remember the ‘jinbu’ (ankle bells) I wore when I went to Hanyan Temple a few years ago?”
“Jinbu?” Lüe thought for a moment. “Young Miss, you have at least eighty sets of jinbu, if not a hundred. When you went to Hanyan Temple… was it during the Spring Outing Festival? Before that Spring Outing Festival, Suxin and I didn’t take good care of you, letting you catch a cold. The Madam was punishing us, so we didn’t accompany you.”
“I know, but when I returned from Hanyan Temple, I threw a tantrum, didn’t I? I didn’t want any of the clothes, jewelry, or embroidered shoes I wore that day.”
Lüe finally remembered, “Oh, that’s right. You said you didn’t want them, so as usual, I packed away that day’s clothes and accessories in the chest. Why is the Young Miss suddenly asking about this?”
It wasn’t surprising that Lüe couldn’t immediately recall this incident. Every time Ming Tan got angry outside, she would take it out on the clothes and accessories she wore that day. Many items in the Jing’an Marquis Mansion were relegated to disuse after being worn only once or twice.
“Where are those things now? At the Marquis Mansion?”
“They should be at the Marquis Mansion. Young Miss had such a rich dowry when we came to the Northern Defender Prince’s Mansion, we only brought the things you regularly wear, nothing else.”
When they had returned home previously, the Madam had said that the Young Miss’s courtyard would always be kept for them, convenient for the couple’s short stays. The Marquis Mansion wasn’t short on money, so the Madam wouldn’t touch anything in Zhao Shui Courtyard without giving notice.
Ming Tan nodded, planning to look in her old courtyard when she returned to the Marquis Mansion in a few days to deliver souvenirs.
—
While Ming Tan had returned to the mansion to settle in, Jiang Xu remained in the palace until the gates were almost locked.
It turned out that when Shu Jingran had set off to return earlier, he had been ambushed by assassins sent by the Su family in a place far from Lingzhou. Fortunately, Jiang Xu had assigned most of his secret guards to protect Shu Jingran, and with skilled bodyguards like Yun Yi accompanying him, no major incident occurred.
Later, the Su family probably received a warning from the capital and didn’t dare to make any more reckless moves, as they couldn’t get what they wanted anyway.
As soon as he obtained the evidence, Jiang Xu employed a strategy of “repairing the highway in the open while secretly moving through a side path.” Openly, he negotiated with the Su family, but privately, he had already transferred the evidence to the Northern Defender Army, having military leaders rush it back to the capital by express courier.
He had anticipated that the extracted taxes were no small sum, and he had boldly demanded that they make up for nearly two years of tax collection and interest. The Su family couldn’t possibly agree to such a transaction so readily.
As for why he dared to go directly to Tonggang with only Ming Tan and two secret guards, without suffering any attacks from the Su family in the far reaches of Lingzhou, it was because troops had been arranged in all the prefectures they passed through. No matter how powerful the Su family was, they wouldn’t want to directly confront the military.
Emperor Chengkang had a detailed discussion with him for nearly three hours before finally letting out a long sigh of satisfaction, saying, “It’s fortunate you went this time. If it had just been that Shu boy, it might not have gone so smoothly. By the way, how is the Princess Consort? The Empress was mentioning her yesterday, worried that the journey must have been tiring. In a few days, when she’s well-rested, we must invite the Princess Consort to the palace to appreciate the newly bloomed green chrysanthemums.”
If not for the mention of entering the palace, Jiang Xu might not have remembered.
At the mention of entering the palace, Jiang Xu lightly tapped the table and suddenly said, “The Su family doesn’t know that Zhou Baoping left behind a ledger of bribes. Lingzhou can’t be touched, but what does Your Majesty think about those who accepted bribes in nearby prefectures?”
Emperor Chengkang paused, pondered for a moment, and then said with some difficulty, “By rights, they should be dealt with immediately. However, Consort Su is an old acquaintance from my days as the Crown Prince. She has been with me for many years and has her merits if not achievements. Moreover, last month she requested a health checkup and is already pregnant with a royal child. As it’s not yet three months along, it hasn’t been announced publicly. So, I’m thinking of delaying this matter for a while.”
If the people on this bribery ledger were to be dealt with, Consort Su’s father and brothers would be the first. Emperor Chengkang didn’t have many children, so his hesitation was understandable.
Jiang Xu was quiet for a moment. “Mm, if there’s nothing else, then this subject will take his leave.”
“You won’t stay for a meal?”
Jiang Xu didn’t respond further, just nodded slightly as a bow, and quickly left the Imperial Study.
Outside the Imperial Study, Jiang Xu lowered his eyes, casually rubbing his wrist as he instructed, “Investigate when Consort Su became pregnant, and check if any eunuchs around His Majesty behaved unusually on the day the evidence entered the palace.”
“Yes, sir.”
As he stepped down the stairs, Jiang Xu suddenly changed his mind: “Never mind. Go to Kunning Palace and let the Empress investigate. She will look into it.”
For matters within the inner palace, it was most appropriate for the Empress, the head of the six palaces, to handle it.
—
News of Ming Tan’s return to the capital spread quickly. The next day, invitation cards flew into the Northern Defender Prince’s Mansion like snowflakes. However, those sending invitations were considerate, knowing she had just returned and needed rest, so all invitations were for several days later.
Ming Tan picked out a few important ones to look at, while Lüe and Suxin read the rest aloud beside her.
Lüe wasn’t sure if her ears were playing tricks on her, but she thought she heard her Young Miss mutter inadvertently, “These gold-foil inlaid invitation cards are too extravagant.”
Extravagant?
She stole a surprised glance at Ming Tan.
She must have misheard. How could the Young Miss complain about invitation cards being too extravagant? In the past, when the Jing’an Marquis Mansion held flower-viewing banquets, the invitation cards the Young Miss carefully prepared cost twenty taels of silver each. What was a bit of gold foil compared to that?
However, after lunch, when Jinxiu Workshop was supposed to come to take measurements for autumn clothes and light winter jackets, Ming Tan unexpectedly said it wasn’t necessary – she didn’t need new autumn clothes or light jackets this year.
Suxin and Lüe were both somewhat skeptical.
Lüe thought that perhaps during this trip away from the capital, she had already bought plenty of autumn clothes and light jackets elsewhere, possibly more than she could wear. But when she later organized the several chests of luggage Ming Tan had brought back, they were all filled with souvenirs for others, with only one set of new clothes – and it was summer wear!
This was truly bizarre.
Even more strange was that after her afternoon nap, Ming Tan instructed Lüe to find the autumn clothes and light jackets from the past two years that she hadn’t worn much, saying she would wear these this year.
“Young… Young Miss, what’s the matter with you?” Lüe couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you mean, what’s the matter?” Ming Tan replied matter-of-factly. “Isn’t it wasteful not to wear clothes that haven’t been worn? Though I’m not sure if my figure has changed much in these two years. Bring them out, and I’ll try them on. If they don’t fit, we can have the tailors from Jinxiu Workshop come and alter them.”
Lüe was thunderstruck!
What had happened to the Young Miss? How could words like “wasteful” come out of her mouth? And altering clothes that didn’t fit? This was impossible – the Young Miss must have had her soul switched.
Lüe, at her wits’ end, went to consult with Suxin. Upon hearing this, Suxin was momentarily at a loss for how to refute it. She hadn’t thought much of it when the Young Miss had ordered less food for breakfast and lunch, assuming it was just because she had just returned and her appetite wasn’t good. But now, even wanting to wear old clothes – this was a big problem.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with the Young Miss’s clothes, but after being stored for a year or two, the fabrics were out of style. The Young Miss would never wear them, nor would any young lady in the capital. Wearing them out would surely invite ridicule.
Suxin hadn’t responded for a moment, and Lüe was already anxious, wondering if she should prepare things like black dog blood to ward off evil spirits.
Suxin lightly patted her: “Don’t overthink it! The Young Miss must be planning something.”
Lüe was about to say something more but suddenly paused, feeling that what Suxin said made sense. In the past, when the Young Miss wanted to appear pitiful in front of the Marquis, she would dress plainly. This time, she might be planning something similar.
This reasoning seemed right.
Lüe finally breathed a sigh of relief.
—
Jiang Xu hadn’t expected his little Princess Consort to maintain this sudden whim even after returning to the capital.
He noticed that in the days since their return, she hadn’t worn different outfits each day as usual, but had worn several clothes he had seen before. Her meals were also reduced by more than half compared to normal and seemed to be decreasing further.
This morning, after returning to Qian’an Hall from sword practice, he saw only four buns and two bowls of rice milk on the table. Jiang Xu was silent, not knowing what to say.
Ming Tan hurriedly took a handkerchief from a maid’s hand to wipe his sweat, then pulled him to sit down: “There were many leftovers from yesterday’s breakfast, so A’Tan only prepared buns and rice milk today. Three for my lord, one for A’Tan. If A’Tan can’t finish hers, she can give half to my lord if it’s not enough.”
Jiang Xu could only nod, but when he picked up a bun and took a bite –
It was vegetarian.
It might be hard for others to believe, but the mighty Northern Defender Prince of Great Xia hadn’t had any meat at breakfast since returning to the capital.
“…”
“The Princess Consort need not be so frugal.”
Ming Tan didn’t understand and was about to tell him about the living conditions of the common people they had seen on their journey. Jiang Xu thought for a moment, then carefully said: “Many things cannot be changed overnight. The Princess Consort being harsh on herself won’t put money into the hands of the common people. Even if you were to save money and use it for charity, it wouldn’t change the root causes of poverty.
“If poor people become accustomed to receiving charity, in a sense, it’s not helping them but harming them. As you said in Tonggang, only through education and allowing them to develop their region, or leave poverty-stricken areas to see broader possibilities in the world, can we fundamentally solve the problem.
“Ensuring that the people of Great Xia can live and work in peace and contentment is what the ruler and the entire court of Great Xia have been doing, are doing now, and will continue to do in the future.”
Of course, he still affirmed Ming Tan’s frugal mindset: “It’s certainly good that the Princess Consort can think this way. However, not being extravagant doesn’t mean you have to be harsh on yourself. You don’t need to do this in the future.”
Ming Tan rested her chin on her hand, looking a bit unhappy: “So is there nothing A’Tan can do to help?”
Jiang Xu thought for a moment: “In a few days, the Empress will likely invite you to the palace to view flowers. You can mention this to her and let her decide. As winter approaches, if the Empress could call on officials’ wives to donate some valuables to provide warmth for people in cold, impoverished areas, that would be good.”
Ming Tan nodded, feeling warmth in her heart.
Having the Empress take the lead was indeed more appropriate than her, a mere Princess Consort, organizing it.
Jiang Xu had to go to the palace today, so he left after eating those three vegetarian buns.
While combing Ming Tan’s hair, Lüe, seeing no one else around, said softly with admiration: “The Young Miss’s strategy is truly brilliant.”
…?
Ming Tan was puzzled: “What are you talking about?”
Lüe analyzed, thinking she had it figured out: “During this trip, did the Prince feel that the Young Miss was too extravagant usually? The Young Miss pretending to be frugal these past few days must have made the Prince feel he was being too harsh on you. Today he finally couldn’t help but say you don’t need to be like this!”
“You think I’m pretending to be frugal?”
“Of course… of course not, I mean–“
“Alright, you don’t need to say more. I understand.”
Ming Tan was furious! These little maids thought she was pretending to be frugal, deliberately being harsh on herself to gain her husband’s pity!
Seeing the situation wasn’t good, Lüe quickly employed her failsafe strategy of lavishly praising Ming Tan, even holding up a small mirror in front of her: “Young Miss, please calm down. With such a beautiful face, just looking at yourself for a while will dissipate even the greatest anger.”
Well, this trick might be old, but it was very effective.
Ming Tan admired her snow-white skin and flower-like countenance in the mirror for a while. After a long moment, she calmed down and asked evenly: “Do I look so unlike a frugal person?”
“Well…”
“Tell the truth!”
“You don’t.”