The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 1688 - 1682: Open and Aboveboard

Jing County.

Old Doctor Du received the urgent letter sent by Wang Yongzhu and knew there might be trouble.

He first let the steward arrange for the messenger to rest, then entered the study to open the letter and began to ponder.

After some thought, he asked someone to invite Lady Qi and handed her the letter.

Lady Qi took the letter, read it quickly, and then exhaled deeply: "I think this is quite good. Honestly, doing business with the Empress always made me uneasy. Now, handing it all over is fine; we can be more relaxed. Besides, we still have the Qingzhou Prefecture and Jing County, so we won’t suddenly have nothing to do."

Old Doctor Du naturally agreed: "Since that’s the case, I’ll copy the formula first and send it to our eldest in the Capital City. Once matters are settled in the Capital, they can directly go to our eldest to retrieve the formula."

"As for Yongzhu, I’ll send a reply. I’ve been thinking, over these years, because of this cosmetics business, we two old folks have earned quite a bit of silver."

"The formula initially came from Yongzhu, and I only slightly modified it by adding one or two things. The main credit is still the formula. It sold well because Yongzhu and that kid from the Lee Family have skills, along with the Empress’s influence. We two old folks didn’t really contribute much; it’s just that Yongzhu was filial, so we’ve shared the profits for years, and it’s been enough."

"In the Capital City, Yongzhu needs to negotiate with the Empress personally. Regardless of how the talks go, whatever compensation the Empress offers, we should decline. At our age, even if we had silver up to our necks, we wouldn’t spend much. Instead, it’s Yongzhu and their side who might need silver coins more in the future; let them use it as they like."

Lady Qi reflected; indeed, over the years, due to the dividends from Hongxiu Tianxiang, they had earned a fortune, comparable to the profit from their family’s traditional pharmacy business.

Now, with the eldest studying medicine and the second managing the pharmacy, the Du Family may seem inconspicuous in the Capital, yet internally affluent, truly lacking nothing.

So she simply nodded: "Do as you say. You clearly inform Yongzhu in your letter that she shouldn’t worry; we, as mentors, won’t drag her down."

The old couple settled the discussion, one went to write the letter, and the other began planning to wrap things up.

It turned out just as Wang Yongzhu anticipated, agreeing without a hitch.

But as for the Capital City.

Because the Emperor dispatched officials to Chicheng City concerning the opening of trade routes, naturally, no one dared act independently.

So, every so often, any progress would be reported back to the Capital.

The urgent delivery channels were specialized for these messages, and Wang Yongzhu simply sent the letter for the Empress back to the Capital along with them.

The Emperor saw the letter for the Empress on his desk and couldn’t help but twitch his mouth.

This Lady Dingguo, openly placing her private communications with the Empress out in the open, is she asking me to read the letter? Or asking me to read the letter?

After hesitating for a while, the Emperor still did not open the letter but sent it to the Empress’s Changchun Palace.

The Empress was first delighted to receive the letter sent by the Chamberlain at the Emperor’s behest.

This Majesty is quite something, seeing him throughout the day doesn’t suffice, how come he would have matters still needing a letter?

With a glance at the handwriting on the envelope, she was instantly startled, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

But in the end, she held herself steady, calmly asking the Chamberlain delivering the letter: "What is this letter about?"

The Chamberlain, following the Emperor’s orders, honestly replied: "This is an urgent letter delivered by Lady Dingguo from eight hundred miles away to the Capital, sent together to His Majesty, and when His Majesty saw it was a letter from Lady Dingguo to the Empress, he instructed this old servant to deliver it."

The Empress felt uneasy but maintained a smile, handing a pouch as a reward to the Chamberlain.

Only then did she take the letter into the inner room, examining the envelope to find no sign of being opened.

The Empress felt half-relieved, opened the letter, and carefully read it.

In the outer room, Hong Fei and Lv Cui, along with the nurse, were entertaining the Ninth Prince when they heard a crashing sound from the inner room.

The originally joyful Ninth Prince was startled by the noise and began to cry.

Hong Fei hurriedly picked up the Ninth Prince, handed him to the nurse, instructing her to take him to the side hall to soothe him.

Only then did Hong Fei and Lv Cui quietly enter the inner room.

In the warm pavilion of the inner room, the kang table was flipped over on the ground, with tea, snacks, and a white jade incense burner shattered, the floor in disarray.

The Empress, clutching the letter, wore a somber face, her chest heaving, clearly bursting with rage, or she wouldn’t have lost control and thrown things.

Lv Cui dared not call others in, squatting down to clean up quietly.

Hong Fei approached carefully: "Empress, please calm down, don’t harm your health!"

Gently patting the Empress’s back to soothe her.

The Empress took several deep breaths, reluctantly suppressing her anger, coldly huffing: "Enough, let them come in to tidy up!"

Lv Cui quickly responded, went out, and called two little palace maids, briskly cleaned the mess on the floor, and wiped it with a hot cloth before leaving.

Lv Cui followed them out, warning the palace attendants in service: "Just say that I accidentally tripped and knocked over the kang table, breaking these items! If I catch any gossiping, watch out for yourselves!"

The palace attendants hurriedly nodded, indicating they understood.

Lv Cui then brought fresh tea and snacks into the warm pavilion.

Inside, the Empress was already leaning against the bolster pillow, her eyes half-closed, while Hong Fei knelt behind her, massaging her temples.

Seeing Lv Cui enter, Hong Fei quickly signaled to her.

Lv Cui comprehended, after serving the tea and snacks, carefully knelt nearby, began massaging the Empress’s legs.

After a while, the Empress’s expression improved a bit, and only then did they dare to ask: "Did Lady Dingguo say anything presumptuous in her letter? Why are you so angry, Empress?"

The Empress coldly snorted: "She’s quite competent! Presenting me with a dilemma! A bunch of incompetent fools who excel at ruining things!"

Hong Fei and Lv Cui weren’t sure who the Empress was scolding; from the tone, it didn’t seem to be Lady Dingguo, then who?

These two maids were close confidantes to the Empress, accustomed to things not being hidden from them.

Moreover, if Wang Yongzhu’s letter was accurate, soon there would be tasks for these two maids, too hard to conceal.

Consciously, the Empress tossed the letter to both of them, allowing them to read it themselves.

Hong Fei and Lv Cui exchanged glances, took the letter, and read it together, finally realizing why the Empress was so livid.