The emperor was very amiable. He spoke in a gentle tone and warmly invited them to the Jingyi Palace for a feast. He even offered to arrange a separate table for them behind the screen...
However, Li Wanming was utterly dumbfounded.
She stood there motionlessly, like a statue.
She was beyond shock.
She felt like an old tree struck by lightning, completely numb, with not a single ripple in her heart.
Since this morning, she had been in a daze, as if walking on clouds. Nothing seemed real.
Li Wanming stared blankly at Zhao Yanke, watching Xiao Jingnan exchange greetings with him.
"Your Majesty, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be meeting with the royal ministers at this moment?"
Zhao Yanke waved his hand. "Don't even mention it. It's just idle chitchat. It's not that important. I left it to the Empress Dowager. I came here to see you."
He waved his hand in front of Li Wanming. "Hey, are you in a daze? Can't even speak?"
Li Wanming replied blankly, "You're the emperor?"
Zhao Yanke fluttered his dragon robe. "Genuine, no fake."
"What about before..."
Zhao Yanke smiled. "I was incognito. Isn't that what emperors throughout history have done?"
"You ordered my wine..."
"Oh, I just happened to pass by. I heard that Miss Cheng brewed good wine, so I went in to take a look. Later, I found that indeed, the lady is beautiful, and the wine is even more so."
He turned to Xiao Jingnan, squinting slightly. "Are you really not going to the Jingyi Palace? General Feng will be here soon..."
Xiao Jingnan bowed and said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness. But I'm just a commoner now. It's inappropriate for me to attend the palace feast in the Jingyi Palace. It's better for me not to go."
Zhao Yanke sighed. "But if you don't go, the palace feast will be so boring."
His expression suddenly turned dejected. He hung his head and looked at Xiao Jingnan pitifully, as if he would be in great distress if Xiao Jingnan didn't go.
Xiao Jingnan was both annoyed and amused. He coughed heavily and said,
"Your Majesty, General Feng's triumphant return is a blessing from heaven to our dynasty. Your Majesty's feast in the Jingyi Palace shows your concern for the old ministers, your reward for the meritorious officials, and your care for the front - line soldiers. It just proves the harmony between the monarch and his ministers and the unity of our Sheng Dynasty..."
Zhao Yanke looked listless. "Alright, alright. If you don't want to go, then don't. Why are you rambling on so much?"
He said dejectedly, "It's just that on such an occasion, Prime Minister Lu is there, the Duke of Qing is there, and the Earl of Zhongshan is also there... The Empress Dowager will surely bring up the matter of establishing a queen again. I probably can't escape it."
Li Wanming's ears perked up. The He family of the Earl of Zhongshan was her second sister's husband's family.
She was eager to hear more, but the emperor refused to say anything further. He just looked listless, completely different from his high - spirited self when he went to Li's wine shop.
Xiao Jingnan said in a deep voice, "The matter of establishing a queen is of great significance. It is crucial to the court, the common people, the country, and future generations."
"Although the Empress Dowager has her eye on the daughter of the Lu family, Prime Minister Lu is already the Chief Minister, second only to the emperor. If he becomes the emperor's father - in - law, his power will be too great. There may be concerns about the interference of the empress's relatives in the court in the future."
"General Feng has been fighting on the battlefield for many years. He is dedicated to the country, far - sighted, and discerning. I believe he won't fail to consider this..."
Zhao Yanke thought for a moment. "You mean General Feng may not agree..."
Suddenly, he laughed. "Brilliant! General Feng is now the Great General Who Guards the Country. All the military officers in the court look up to him. If he doesn't agree... Haha, then there will be a good show at this palace feast!"
Xiao Jingnan reminded him, "Your Majesty, General Feng has been on the western expedition for many years. It's been a long time since he last saw you."
The meaning behind his words was clear. Although that young man Feng Xiao was on good terms with them, his grandfather was the one in power in the Feng family!
He had been away from the court for too long. No one knew what his views on the current court situation were.
Your Majesty should behave well today and try to leave a good impression on General Feng to win over such a powerful ally!
Zhao Yanke nodded. "I know. When I went to greet him the other day, although it was mainly the Empress Dowager who received him and I didn't say much, I felt that he quite liked me."
Xiao Jingnan said, "Your Majesty..."
"Alright, alright." Zhao Yanke waved his hand with a smile. "I understand everything you want to say. Don't worry. I'll behave well tonight."
He stretched out one hand and slowly made a fist. "I'll surely win him over!"
...
Li Wanming didn't know how she left the palace or how she got home.
Even when she was sitting on the bed in the Luoxue Studio, she still looked dazed.
"Miss, did you encounter something evil in the palace? Did it scare your soul away?"
Chuntao held a candlestick and looked at her for a long time. Then she said, "Sir, should we find a witch to take a look?"
Xiao Jingnan also looked at her seriously for a while and said, "She was probably scared by our unconventional Son of Heaven. Chuntao, go and make a bowl of calming soup."
Chuntao agreed, put down the candlestick, and left.
Xiao Jingnan was silent for a while. Then he suddenly said, "Wife, how about we calculate how much money we've earned this time?"
He excitedly brought over the small box filled with gold ingots, then took out the writing brush, ink, and account book, and carefully calculated the expenses one by one.
"The rent for three shops for a year is 5,600 cash."
"Renovating the houses, digging fermentation ponds, building a wine cellar, and modifying the steam stove... The total cost is 2,272 cash."
"Renting ox - carts to carry water, plus labor costs, and buying water tanks... The total is 3,200 cash."
"Buying brewing materials, 1,500 dou of rice, 500 dou of millet, 500 dou of sorghum, as well as fresh fruits, flowers, and medicinal herbs, costs a total of 43,400 cash."
"Hiring eight workers for two months costs 14,000 cash."
"Buying 3,500 wine jars costs 7,000 cash..."
"Finally, for delivering the wine, we also rented five carriages and thirty ox - carts..."
Li Wanming turned her head stiffly. "I'm in this state, and you still have the mood to calculate money?"
Xiao Jingnan said, "I know what you care about most, so I'm calculating the accounts at this time. We've been busy for more than two months. We should see some returns, right?"
He clacked on the abacus for a long time. Then he said mysteriously, "Wife, guess how much money we've earned?"
Li Wanming's interest was piqued. "How much?"
Xiao Jingnan said, "If we convert the gold given by Young Master Zhao into silver, we've earned a total of 1,100 taels of silver!"
1,100 taels...
Li Wanming gasped.
You know, 20 taels of silver was enough for a family of five for a year!
30 taels of silver could buy a pretty good house in the capital!
And they had earned 1,200 taels in just two months.
Li Wanming's head started to spin again.
But this time, it was a happy dizziness.
She felt that the candlelight in front of her was emitting colorful halos, and the whole room was colorful!
Ah! That was the luster of money!
Seeing her expression, Xiao Jingnan pursed his lips and said, "Wife, your Jin Yutang wine has been served at the state banquet and is the special wine for His Majesty's feast for General Feng. After tonight, our wine will probably become famous all over the capital."
He gently patted the account book and said, "Wife, your good fortune is yet to come."