Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 276 Abacus

Since the empress dowager needed to recuperate, Feng Ziying and others finally felt relieved. The guards took him and they ate seafood happily for two days.

On the third day, the empress dowager felt that she was not seriously injured, so she prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Daiyu asked, "Should we go meet up with the Supreme Lord, or go back to the capital directly?"

The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment, then called Feng Ziying to ask, "Where is the Supreme now?"

Feng Ziying reported respectfully: "After leaving Suzhou, the Emperor first took me to Jiangyin County, Changzhou Prefecture, and then went west for inspection.

"When I set out to come here, the Supreme Lord had just entered Zhenjiang Prefecture. I heard that section was badly damaged this time, so I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few more days.

"According to this estimate, at most we have just entered Jiangning Prefecture."

The Queen Mother nodded immediately upon hearing this: "Then let's set off quickly. If we can meet the Supreme Lord, that would be great. If not, we can go to Yangzhou and wait for a while."

Feng Ziying understood what the empress dowager meant, agreed with a smile, and immediately went out to arrange for everyone to set off.

"So, we can go to Jinling?" Aunt Meng's eyes lit up.

She had long heard of the beautiful scenery of Jinling, especially the bright lights and night life on both sides of the Qinhuai River, which was extremely beautiful at night.

——She didn’t expect that if the Empress Dowager went there, the lights and wine in that area would have the same charm as before.

Daiyu also called Jia Jin and Jia Wei to come, and thanked them with a smile for their support along the way. She then said, "Go back and study hard. I will be waiting in the capital next year to welcome you back."

The two men were flattered and bowed deeply to express their gratitude.

The journey north was very fast.

The Queen Mother only needed to let her get off the boat and eat a meal on the land nearby at lunch every day, and then bring a few dishes on board to heat up for dinner.

As for how to sail the boat during the day or at night, she doesn't care at all.

Feng Ziying then ordered the most experienced boatman to be found, gave him a large reward, and sailed according to the Empress Dowager's itinerary.

Sure enough, the boat arrived at Jiaxing Prefecture in half a day. The Queen Mother took Daiyu and the others to find the best restaurant for dinner.

With the help of the local garrison, Feng Ziying exchanged civilian ships for official ships and small boats for large ships, and the Haiyan River was turned into the Grand Canal.

The next day, the boat passed Suzhou Prefecture and there was still an hour before lunch.

The Queen Mother then argued with Daiyu: "How about we have another meal in Suzhou?"

Daiyu declined the offer: "I am tired of Suzhou cuisine."

After a pause, he said tentatively, "However, according to the time, we will reach Hushu Pass in half an hour. I have only heard of the name of that place, but I don't know what the food is like."

The Queen Mother's face darkened. "Are you talking about the Hushuguan case that wiped out the whole family?"

Daiyu lowered her head and said, "Maybe we can have dinner later. Once we enter Changzhou Prefecture, we will be in Wuxi."

The Queen Mother said nothing.

Daiyu quietly stepped out and told Feng Ziying not to stop the boat but to go forward with full speed.

Feng Ziying now obeyed her orders and only ordered the sailors on the ship to work harder.

In this way, Daiyu watched Hushuguan slowly slipping away in front of her eyes, feeling it was a pity in her heart.

Ever since she knew that there were three families involved in the extermination case, she felt that there must be something going on. After all, it was easy to just bully the Song family.

But if all three families were wiped out, it would be a major case that would shock the whole country!

Under such circumstances, Yucun, as the prefect, would not be able to get promoted no matter what.

Unless this extermination of the entire family was tacitly approved by the emperor at that time.

Since it is tacitly agreed, there must be a reason.

From what Yuanchun and Chu Kai said, she could almost conclude that Miaoyu must be an orphan from the previous dynasty.

What about the other two?

Wei Jun found out that the Qiu family were tomb robbers; and he himself speculated that the Yu family were pirates.

None of them come from good backgrounds.

Presumably, they were all recruited.

The one who offered peace must be Prince Yu!

How could the Supreme One not know that these two families were recruited by Prince Yu? He must know!

In addition, there is a rumor circulating among the people in the south of the Yangtze River: "The wealth of three families can offset the taxes levied by the imperial court in one year."

If two of these three families were recruited by Prince Yu and later secretly pledged allegiance to him!

I'm afraid that the kingdom of the Supreme Lord will not be able to remain in the hands of the current emperor.

Instead, it would fall into the hands of Prince Yu before the Supreme Lord abdicated!

Therefore, both of these families were wiped out.

I guess most of the family wealth went to the national treasury.

As an unspoken compensation, the Supreme Lord entrusted the important task of the regent to Prince Yu.

But if this is the whole story, it would be such a pity!

Daiyu sighed slightly!

If those two families didn't wipe out the entire family, but secretly left some of them alive, maybe they wouldn't even need this compensation!

Moreover, the ambitious Prince Yu and his entire family can also be seized! The national treasury will have an extra sum...

Daiyu stood by the window on the boat, staring blankly at Hushuguan gradually disappearing into the distance, and could only hope silently in her heart.

I hope that Prefect Wei will not be such a fool, and that his advisor Guan Sheng will not use all his cleverness on trivial matters...

After this incident, the Empress Dowager was too lazy to even get off the boat to eat. At lunchtime, she sent Tanchun ashore to bring up some local specialties for them to enjoy.

Fortunately, Feng Ziying was always there with me.

This person loves to eat and is good at eating. Most importantly, he is thick-skinned and can always get some strange and bizarre food.

I don’t know how the Queen Mother ate, but Daiyu and Aunt Meng ate every meal with relish.

In just three or five days, when the boat arrived in Zhenjiang, Daiyu's little face had become rounder from eating so much.

Seeing that they were about to reach the confluence of the canal and the river, the empress dowager ordered the boat to stop and told Feng Ziying to go and inquire about the whereabouts of the Supreme Lord immediately.

Feng Ziying got off the boat and headed straight for the Zhenjiang government office. He asked and learned that the emperor had just passed the Jiujiangkou the day before. If he did not stop day and night, he would probably catch up with him in a day or two.

He hurried back to report to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother immediately ordered the boat to change course and go look for the Supreme.

As a result, Daiyu and Tanchun immediately became quails, trying to please the empress dowager all the time.

The Queen Mother suppressed her laughter, pretending not to understand, and said to Aunt Meng in a sarcastic tone: "Oh my, my old bones are not worthy of coming to Jiangnan.

"A little girl as beautiful as a flower, with a few words of Wu dialect, can soften even the most hard-hearted person.

"It's just that I really don't understand this mess. You said that this steel can be turned into something soft, but there must be a reason for it.

"But why do the flowers just keep softening?

"You didn't water the flowers? You didn't fertilize them? Or have they been spoiled by the lack of wind and rain?!"

Daiyu and Tanchun, one on each side, hugged her and acted coquettishly.

The Queen Mother couldn't help laughing, patting their hands and saying, "Don't worry. The little paw was beaten like that the other day, so it must be punishment enough.

"No matter how angry he is, I have my own way to make him come back at me. You two just stay in the cabin and act quiet!"

Then he looked at Daiyu with a smile, "As you wished, we are finally going to Jinling. You have made a very careful plan.

"Don't lose your wife and your troops!"