A few rays of sunset were frozen in the sky, and they seemed to blend into one with the quiet yellow tiles and red walls on the ground.

In the Shufei Palace in the West Sixth Palace, there is no dust on the brick and stone floor, so people must be cleaned every day; but many dead leaves are still falling on the ground. Zhu Gaoxu stepped on the dead leaves and could clearly hear the sound of "Kazhi".

On the road ahead, Du Qianrui and a team of followers finally came to greet her. She reached out and brushed her hair, tidied up her makeup, and then stepped forward and bowed her knees and said, "I am late to welcome you, please forgive me."

"Forgive." Zhu Gaoxu said casually, reaching out to hold her arm.

Du Qianrui stood up straight and said, "I am still in the kitchen just now. I haven't mastered the time well, so I'm in a hurry."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "You still cook yourself?"

"The emperor is not praising me for being good at craftsmanship, just telling the truth?" Du Qianrui smiled.

Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly said, "Of course it's the truth. Concubine Shu suffered." He said, holding her hand to look at it. He said, "Don't worry about cooking this year and keep a good body."

Du Qianrui's face suddenly showed a slightly shy look of joy. After taking her slender hands away from him, she gently held it in front of her abdomen. She has been pregnant for several months, but it is not very obvious yet.

"Have the food been prepared?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Du Qianrui said, "I have a stew when I say something to the emperor. I ask the palace maid to see the heat, and I have to wait a while. The emperor goes inside and rests first, and you can have a meal in one or two cups of tea."

Zhu Gaoxu and her walked into a palace. He was about to walk towards a chair, but suddenly he found an old stool next to several cases, and he felt a little strange.

He has been here many times, and remembers that there was no such stool here; not to mention that it was incompatible with other furniture and looked very old. It was a square stool with wood skeletons, with a chair woven with bamboo strips in the middle. At this moment, there was a pair of futons woven in fine silk, which made the stool itself more rough and old.

"Huh." Zhu Gaoxu made a sound, walked to the stool, and sat down on it. He felt quite solid.

Du Qianrui covered her mouth and smiled.

Zhu Gaoxu said in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Du Qianrui said: "I suddenly remembered that Zhanhe is very similar to the emperor. Whenever he sees something he has never seen before, no matter whether the thing is interesting or not, he will immediately be interested. If he is not careful, he will find it interesting."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and asked, "But Qianrui doesn't think this stool is a bit out of place here?"

Du Qianrui casually said: "It's not very good to show off, but it is made of cypress and riveted, and it is very strong. It has been nearly twenty years since I have only changed the bamboo strips on the stool. This kind of wood will not break even if it is used for a lifetime."

Zhu Gaoxu changed to a relaxed posture and looked patient: "It seems that it has a bit of origin."

Du Qianrui seemed to remember something, her expression changed subtly, and her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. She should be a little hesitant, but she had already said this and it was not easy to stop.

After a while, she murmured: "This stool was made by my mother when I was about nine years old. My mother asked a carpenter. The first time I left home, I said that I would sell it to a wealthy family in Nanchang Prefecture as a concubine. Although it was not a formal marriage, my mother also thought that I had calculated the marriage and tried every means to prepare a little dowry.

At that time, there were three things, a wooden box, a cypress stool, and a quilt. The other two had been lost, and only this stool was left. It was easy to carry, and even if it was a boat or a car, it could be used. After several twists and turns, I followed me to the capital and let it go at Jiaofangsi and Fuleyuan. Later, I asked Dilang to take it away from my acquaintance in Fuleyuan and put it in Dilang's residence..."

Zhu Gaoxu's emotions also became a little heavy and mixed. Thinking about the rich dowry he bought for Guo Wei back then, the difference was too big compared to Du Qianrui's so-called dowry.

"I shouldn't say these things." Du Qianrui said carefully, "The emperor is from a noble family. Are you unhappy to hear these messy things?"

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and reached out to gently hold Du Qianrui's little hand. He thought for a while and said, "Next month is Mid-Autumn Festival. There will be family banquets, moon viewing and other programs in the palace. I will send someone to bring your mother into the palace and have a reunion dinner together."

Du Qianrui whispered: "It's great to treat me. But you must remember that you must also invite the Empress's family, the Imperial Concubine's family, and the old lady from the Imperial Concubine's family to the palace. Other concubines, whether their mother is gone or they are too far away, it's understandable that they have not been invited."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and agreed.

The so-called messy things in Du Qianrui often make Zhu Gaoxu feel the breath of family. Perhaps he had experience as a lower-class civilian, so he had such empathy?

Du Qianrui touched the Hotan green jade bracelet on his wrist and said softly, "The betrothal gift given to me by the Lord is very expensive. I almost let the Lord down."

"That's not a betrothal gift." Zhu Gaoxu said, "I didn't seem to give you a betrothal gift. When you were appointed as the wife of the Han Palace, you were in Yunnan and the war was about to happen, so you saved it."

Du Qianrui hurriedly said, "I am now the imperial concubine, what kind of courtesy do I need? Every time I encounter something unpleasant, I will remind myself that I should be very glad to meet the emperor who gave me wealth and honor, and treat me with all my heart for ten years. Then I can endure everything."

Zhu Gaoxu said kindly: "I will treat you like this until I grow old."

Du Qianrui leaned gently on her upper body.

Zhu Gaoxu was silent for a while and said with a complicated expression: "The prosperity and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, the so-called peaceful and prosperous era, is limited to the big city with concentrated wealth. The vast villages are really too poor. I guess that the whole family can't find anything decent in many families, and the only valuable thing is probably a little food."

Du Qianrui echoed: "No? In the past, there was a family in our village who couldn't even find a perfect bowl. It is said that relatives and friends were not good to have dinner at his house."

Zhu Gaoxu pondered: "But at least I can't see the feasibility of Junfu's approach. Wang Mang of the Han Dynasty had tried it and it failed completely; this is the nature of human self-interest. Wang Mang just caused the collapse of order, intensified conflicts between the parties, and then some new high-ranking players were produced. The pragmatic goal may only allow everyone to live a better life more or less."

Du Qianrui said: "The emperor always cared for the people of the people, which is a blessing for the common people."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything. When he thought of those complicated problems, he couldn't help but feel a little distracted.

To fundamentally improve production, it is impossible to make fundamental changes by relying on farming methods. He can only choose the so-called "new policy" to plunder and grab the industry or even foreign trade; and the land of China in the future will play the role of being plundered. Even if the new policy is successful, it will affect the imperial power of the descendants of the Zhu family. He has never carefully and accurately weighed the pros and cons of the pros and cons, but he should have subconsciously chosen it.

However, can the new policy really succeed? From time to time, Zhu Gaoxu's confidence will be shaken, just like on the sinister battlefield, he often questioned his decisions.

Occasionally, depression prevailed, and he said a little negatively: "Don't let the common people see what life the landlords and families in the big city live, perhaps there is no way to do it. It is not unreasonable for the Ming Dynasty government to restrict the people from leaving their hometowns."

"The emperor's words are reasonable. When I returned to my hometown that year, I could no longer bear it. However, I grew up there since I was a child." Du Qianrui sighed softly.

She was stunned for a moment, and then comforted softly: "The emperor is diligent in his work and loves the people. He has done his best, so there is no need to make things too difficult for yourself."

At this moment, a palace maid walked to the door. Du Qianrui subconsciously let go of Zhu Gaoxu and sat upright. The palace maid said, "Please invite the emperor, Concubine Shu to the dining room for dinner."

Four dishes and one soup were placed on the round table in the dining room, which was the emperor's daily diet set by Taizu. The most standard part of this meal was cooked by the imperial concubine himself. On the table was Zhu Gaoxu's favorite sea fish, stewed meat, fried meat, a large bowl of green vegetables and tofu soup with dipping water, and a pot of wine. There were at least twenty or thirty people from the people who tried in the compartment to the palace maids serving around.

Zhu Gaoxu was really hungry. Enjoying delicious food always made people feel happy. Soon he felt much more relaxed.

After the two of them had a meal, it was not completely dark. Zhu Gaoxu accompanied Du Qianrui and walked around and chatted in Shufei's palace.

Du Qianrui whispered: "I am inconvenient and cannot serve the emperor tonight. I have paid attention to it. There is a female official in Shufei Palace who looks good. Why don't you let her come tonight?"

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and smiled, "No need, I just want you to accompany you. It's great to be able to hug each other and fall asleep."

According to the customary harem rules since Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, there was a certain order for concubines to serve the bed. But what he really couldn't bear was the arrangement of letting a group of female officials with titles serve the bed from time to time, and he felt that he had cheated himself. Perhaps, people were always overestimating themselves.

Du Qianrui said, "It's dark and it's still early. I will change my clothes and sing a few small songs for the emperor."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "This show is good and elegant."

Du Qianrui's bright eyes rolled, "Your Majesty wants to listen to Yaqu?"

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "It's better to be vulgar, you can still be so romantic. I think the opera you sing is really professional."

Du Qianrui said softly: "Okay, I will choose an opera to make the emperor happy. But there was no musician in the palace for a while, so I could only sing a cappella."
Chapter completed!