EBE Chapter 136 Yan Heng went to war, Xia Xiaorou easily raised money to support
Chapter 136 Yan Heng went to war, Xia Xiaorou easily raised money to support
Three days later, Yan Heng was indeed appointed as the General of the Northern Expedition by the Emperor.
After bidding farewell to Yan Heng, Xia Xiaorou was summoned into the palace by Empress Dowager Ji.
This was her first time entering the palace and also her first time meeting the Queen Mother and a group of noble ladies.
In the past, when Yan Heng was around, she didn't need to meet outsiders.
Yan Heng had just left and Empress Dowager Ji summoned her into the palace. Her purpose was self-evident.
"The war situation at the border is tense, and there is a shortage of food and wages in the court. As women in the court, you have to share the worries of the soldiers on the front line." Empress Dowager Ji looked at everyone.
All the ladies answered in unison, "That's what the Queen Mother said."
Queen Mother Ji looked at Xia Xiaorou again, "Does Princess Yan have any ideas?"
Xia Xiaorou knew that this was a trap for her.
Suddenly she was asked that if she couldn't answer well, she would become a laughing stock among the people in the capital in the future.
So Xia Xiaorou just said, "I grew up in the village and have never seen this kind of world before, so I'm afraid I can't speak well. Please give me some advice, Queen Mother."
The others all started to snicker.
Even the eunuchs and palace maids were secretly laughing.
Queen Mother Ji snorted in her heart, what a foolish and ignorant woman she really was.
"Forget it, Princess Yan, go back and think about how to help the soldiers at the border. You are the most important lady in the capital, and everyone else is watching you."
On the one hand, he said she was stupid, and on the other hand, he said that everyone was watching her words and actions. It was obvious that he wanted to embarrass her.
After leaving the palace, Zhu Yun, who had entered the palace with her, gave Xia Xiaorou some advice, "Madam Xia, don't worry. It's not difficult to share the worries of the soldiers on the front line."
Xia Xiaorou looked at Zhu Yun, "What's your plan?"
"We have plenty of money in our house. Princess, just take out some of it to buy some food, clothing, and medicine to donate to the front lines. As long as the amount is large, who can say that Princess doesn't care about the soldiers on the front lines?"
Xia Xiaorou asked her back, "Zhu Yun, if this war lasts for a long time, and the Queen Mother keeps asking me to show sympathy for the border guards, then won't I have to keep using the money in the mansion to buy food, medicine, and clothes to show sympathy for the border guards?"
Zhu Yun was stunned by the question. She murmured, "Madam Xia, this method really doesn't work."
"I have to think of another way that won't cost us too much money, but won't be caught by the Queen Mother." Xia Xiaorou narrowed her eyes and began to think of a solution.
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Xia Xiaorou didn't think about it for too long. She came up with a solution early the next morning.
She found Zhuyun and told her plan.
Zhu Yun was stunned when she heard this. "But Princess, those are the jewelry and clothes that the prince carefully made for you. How can you exchange them for money?"
"Not only do I want to change it, I want to do it in a grand manner. Let's go to the pawnshop. Also, ask Tian Zhen to arrange some gong and drum players to follow me." Xia Xiaorou said.
Zhu Yun listened to Xia Xiaorou's arrangement, speechless and amused, thinking that Xia Xiaorou still thought she was in the countryside? Would anyone listen to the drums?
But when Yan Heng left, she gave instructions to everyone in the mansion that no matter what Xia Xiaorou wanted to do, they had to follow her arrangements.
Zhu Yun would do whatever Xia Xiaorou arranged.
The gongs and drums were found, and the gong and drum players were all big guards in the mansion.
Xia Xiaorou did not take a carriage or sedan chair, but walked to the pawnshop with the gong and drum players.
Behind her followed eight servants carrying baskets.
Two people carried one basket, and eight people carried four baskets.
The basket contained items for Yan Heng and Xia Xiaorou's wedding.
There were candlesticks used by the couple at their wedding, a gold and jade scale that Yan Heng used to lift her veil, a wine jug, head ornaments for both of them, and wedding gowns and wedding dresses.
There are also vases and jade ruyi.
Behind the guard who was beating the gong, there was a flag.
On the top of the flag was written "Yanwang Mansion raises funds to reward the soldiers at the front."
The people beating the gongs and drums walked and beat them, while they shouted, "The Princess of Yan sympathizes with the soldiers who bravely fight the enemy at the border. She is willing to exchange her dowry and wedding supplies for silver to buy food, clothes, and medicine to send to the border to reward the soldiers."
Passersby heard their shouts and stopped to look.
Some people said, "The Princess of Yan is just a village woman, she doesn't have much dowry, and her dowry was given by the Prince of Yan. I'm afraid she doesn't have much savings left after making this donation?"
"Our princess said that if the border areas are not protected, the Central Plains will be implicated. What's the use of this dowry?" Zhu Yun said to the man what Xia Xiaorou had told her.
After hearing this, people felt that Xia Xiaorou was a very righteous person.
Someone immediately threw jewelry into Xia Xiaorou's basket.
Xia Xiaorou raised her hand and motioned Zhu Yun, who was following her, to take notes, "A gold hairpin and a pair of earrings."
Someone else threw in a bracelet and a piece of cloth.
Xia Xiaorou also asked Zhu Yun to take notes.
When the group arrived at the pawnshop, the four shallow baskets were already full.
The booklet in Zhuyun's hand was also very thick.
Seeing such a situation, the pawnshop invited the owner to come and personally keep records and calculate the pawn money.
Xia Xiaorou took the five thousand taels of silver she had pawned and immediately went to the rice shop to buy all the food.
After doing all this, she also wrote the names of those who donated items and money on big red signs and posted them at the five city gates.
In a short while, the whole city knew about Xia Xiaorou's actions.
"I grew up in the village. I can't compare with other noble ladies and women in the court. I don't understand the affairs of the country and the family. I can only do my best." Xia Xiaorou asked someone to let her words out of the house.
Now, the whole city was even more excited.
The Princess of Yan, who was ridiculed by everyone as a village woman, took out her dowry to provide relief to the soldiers, and passers-by also donated items. However, the families of other court officials, who considered themselves to be noble ladies, did not donate a penny.
When the servants of these mansions went to the streets to buy vegetables, rice, or other items, or walked from house to house to do errands, they would always be asked by passers-by, "How much money and goods did the ladies of your mansion donate?"
The servants were stopped and questioned more often, and they were worried that the matter would get out of control.
They all reported to their masters.
The ladies from high-ranking families in the capital city blamed Xia Xiaorou for being nosy and told her not to bring them along if she wanted to be in the limelight.
But they were afraid that they would be outdone by Xia Xiaorou and be questioned by the Queen Mother. They were also afraid that Xia Xiaorou's popularity would be higher than theirs in the future. It was absolutely impossible for them to obey a village woman.
Fearing that their families would be the last ones to make a donation, the women from the city's wealthy families took out their own hidden silver and gave it to Xia Xiaorou of Prince Yan's Mansion.
Xia Xiaorou was also not vague. She made a record and ordered someone to write the names of those who donated money and goods on a large sign.
When the wife of a certain marquis found out that the wife of her former arch-enemy had donated one thousand taels, she was not willing to be outdone and donated one thousand one hundred taels as well, and even asked Xia Xiaorou to write her name behind her opponent.
This was exactly the result Xia Xiaorou wanted, so she agreed immediately.
Three days later, Xia Xiaorou had raised a total of 122,523 taels and 5 cents of silver.