Chapter 934: The Reward of a King
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In particular, Eunuch Li emphasized the word “eldest”, his tone filled with respect.
Yu Youyao lowered her eyes and quickly raised her hands.
Satisfied, Eunuch Li rolled up the Empress Dowager’s decree and carefully placed it into Eldest Princess Shaoyi’s hand.
Yu Youyao held the imperial edict high and bowed respectfully. Her voice was respectful. “l, Youyao of the Yu Clan, thank Your Majesty for your grace and the Empress Dowager’s grace.”
Eunuch Li looked at Eldest Princess Shaoyi and sighed inwardly.
In order to raise Princess Shaoyi’s status, the Empress Dowager had really put in a lot of effort. In order to prevent others from criticizing the t.i.tle of “Eldest Princess Shaoyi”, she had deliberately added the word “Zhao” to the t.i.tle, indicating that Princess Shaoyi’s t.i.tle followed the t.i.tle of the princess from the royal family.
With that, no one said anything else.
It was a small t.i.tle, but there was a lot of meaning behind it.
After announcing the decree, Eunuch Li took out the list of rewards and read it out. “The Empress Dowager has bestowed Princess Shaoyi with a phoenix box made of ebony and inlaid with treasures…”
Yu Youyao immediately became interested. The most precious items rewarded by the palace were often placed at the front.
Ebony was an imperial wood. There were certain rules according to the gradeof ebony. If one went beyond the rules, they would be punished with “overstepping”. Furthermore, it was rarely given by the palace.
In addition to the 50,000 acres of fertile land, there were countless tributes. Everything was priceless. The Empress Dowager had also rewarded many additional things from her private vault.
After a while, the front hall was quickly filled with rewards.
Yu Youyao quickly thanked the Empress Dowager for her grace.
However, this was not the end.
Eunuch Li’s mouth was dry from reading. Atter calming down, he said, “The
Empress found out that the Eldest Princess had worked hard and suffered a lot in the Liaodong area. She praised the Eldest Princess for being magnanimous and kind. She did not disgrace the family and did not let the
Imperial Court down. She also prepared a reward for the Eldest Princess…” Yu Youyao was a little surprised.
Then, she heard Eunuch Li begin to read out the reward list. “The Empress has bestowed Eldest Princess Shaoyi with a pair of jade ruyi and a Lantian jade pine tree…”
After that, there were also eunuchs and palace maids carrying boxes of things into the hall.
Yu Youyao was numb.
The Empress’s rewards were only a little less than the Empress Dowager’s rewards from her private vault, but the value of the items was actually higher than the Empress Dowager’s.
The entire hall was packed.
Even people as wealthy as the Xie family couldn’t help but feel dizzy.
They recalled that when they had gone out to welcome Eunuch Li and the others just now, more than ten carriages had followed the street and the emperor’s throne. They had actually stretched for a few kilometers.
Yu Youyao quickly thanked the Empress for her grace before standing up.
After the rewards were handed over, Eunuch Li continued, “The Eldest
Princess’s crown clothes are a serious matter and will take a long time. The Internal Affairs Department is intensifying its supervision. It will take about a month to complete, When the crown clothes are completed, we will send someone else to send it over. Eldest Princess, please wait for a few days.”
The crown clothes of the “Eldest Princess” was only second to the Empress’s. The emerald crown on her head had to be changed from a crown with seven phoenixes to a crown with 12 Hui’s and four phoenixes.
The Hui was a a type of five-colored pheasant, with two fewer colors than the seven-colored phoenix. Its status was second only to the phoenix.
Other than the Empress who could use the Dragon Phoenix Crown, the other concubines, princesses, and relatives of the Great Zhou Dynasty could only use phoenixes. The number of phoenixes depended on the position.
A crown with nine Hui’s and four phoenixes was a ceremonial crown of the prince and the princess consort.
A crown with 12 Hui’s and four phoenixes was a crown that only those with the t.i.tle “Eldest” had. The corresponding craftsmanship of the crown was already worlds apart from that of the princess.
More than a month was a conservative estimate. Everyone in the Ministry of
Internal Affairs had to work harder, so time was still tight.
However, as servants of the palace, they had never said anything.
Yu Youyao quickly thanked him. “Thank you, Eunuch Li. There are still many matters in Xiangping. I won’t be able to return to the capital for a while, so I won’t have a chance to wear it. It’s fine to slow down.”
Eunuch Li’s smile relaxed and he understood. “I’m really impressed by the
Eldest Princess’s hard work.’
He took a boat all the way from the Beijing Ca.n.a.l to the pier of Liancheng in Liao Province.
After going ash.o.r.e, he stayed at the Liancheng courier station for two days. After that, he switch to traveling on a carriage. As he gathered information, he headed to Xiangping, walking and stopping along the way.
According to what he knew, there was still a group of refugees in the Longcheng camps who had yet to be settled. The last batch of sweet potatoes could only be successfully cut after the Dragon Boat Festival.
The large-scale promotion of sweet potato planting went very smoothly.
However, the sweet potatoes had just been planted not long ago. There were still five to six months before the harvest. There were still many things to do. It was impossible for Princess Shaoyi to return to the capital now.
Yu Youyao smiled and said, “I’m a woman, but have to bear the burden of a ruler. Although I’m weak, the entire family has received the emperor’s grace.
I’ve inherited the familys etiquette, law, and principles since I was young. I naturally don’t dare to disgrace the family, embarra.s.s the family, and embarra.s.s my ancestors.”
Eunuch Li was very satisfied.
Yu Youyao invited Eunuch Li to eat and drink some tea. Only then did Eunuch Li leave. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll send the commendation and reward fro the
Empress Dowager to the Xie family. Please wait!”
Old Master Xie looked flattered again and quickly thanked him. “Thank you,
Eunuch.’
Before leaving, Yu Youyao arranged for a rich gift and ordered someone to send it to Eunuch Li’s carriage in advance.
The family respectfully and politely sent Eunuch Li and the others out of the house. They watched them leave and heaved a sigh of relief.
Back in the front hall.
Old Master Xie dismissed the servants and asked someone to guard the door. Then, he asked, “Little Yao’er, did you receive the news that the Imperial Court had conferred the t.i.tle of the Eldest Princess on you in advance?”
Xiangping and the capital were not far apart. If the news was sent at full speed, it often took three to five days to arrive.
The matter of adding a t.i.tle and the reward had always been discussed by the cabinet and handed over to the Empress Dowager to decide. If the Imperial Court wanted to add a t.i.tle and reward her, there would definitely have been news long ago.
Then, Xiangping would also hear the news.
Yu Youyao shook her head. “Two days ago, I received a message from the Yu Clan saying that the Imperial Court wanted to reward me with something. They didn’t mention anything about conferring an additional t.i.tle.” The Yu Clan might not have known about this before.
Old Master Xie felt a little uneasy. “From the looks of it, the matter of conferring an additional t.i.tle should have come about after Lord Ye sent the memorial requesting credit for you to the capital, right?”
In addition to seeking credit for Little Yao’er, Lord Ye had also submitted a case file related to the Han Clan.
These cases had all been tried and there was conclusive evidence. It was probably the Han Clan who had framed Little Yao’er, killed Liu Dagen, framed the Bai Residence, brushed off the national policy, and so on.
The remaining charges were still under trial.
They would not deal with it for the time being.
Old Master Xie nodded. “That’s most likely the case.”
Yu Youyao said, “Just now, I noticed that when Eunuch Li issued the decree, his tone was clearly filled with surprise. I’m afraid the matter of conferring an additional t.i.tle hasn’t been discussed in the cabinet..