Little Cardamom

Frost's fall came before I knew it, and it was less than half a month before the beginning of winter. The gold, silver and soft goods donated by the officials and family members of Beijing have been registered and sorted, and they have been sorted out by category. There are more than 40 boxes of jewelry hairpins and more than 200 clothes. box, and a number of other items.

Ming Tan originally entrusted Bai Minmin with asking about transportation costs, thinking that with his uncle and cousin of the Bai family around, the matter should not be difficult.

Who would have thought that when Zhang Huaiyu heard about this, he quietly found a friend, omitting all the complicated things in the middle, and directly approached the Western Region merchants entrenched in the Yuxi area.

Those merchants in the Western Regions were willing to accept this batch of gold and silver at the market price in the Yuxi area, and directly exchanged them with a large amount of warming materials of equivalent value.

After careful calculation, Ming Tan seemed to be a mutually beneficial and very suitable deal.

Now time is very tight, and the things should be distributed to the people before the winter solstice at the latest, otherwise what is it called to keep out the cold?

It can be sold and converted into silver to add supplies, which is also cumbersome. Nowadays, some people are willing to directly omit the intermediate process and barter, which can be said to save trouble and effort. Although the market price in the Yuxi area is not the best, it is definitely more cost-effective than random trading in Shangjing.

No matter how he cares about it, Ming Tan feels that this method is very good, and there is no reason why he should not accept it.

But Bai Minmin didn't agree very much, she murmured reluctantly, "Who knows if the person he's looking for is reliable or not."

"Do you think I haven't even figured out this point?" Ming Tan felt amused.

Bai Minmin was dissatisfied again and said: "Then who would accept so many things for nothing, and is willing to trade at the market value of the Yuxi area? I think it's either unreliable, or Zhang Huaiyu agreed to other conditions in private.

"If Zhang Huaiyu reached a deal with them in private to facilitate this matter, then what's the point of us accomplishing this matter? It's just relying on others' ability to gain fame!"

"Not really, you're thinking badly."

Bai Minmin was puzzled.

Ming Tan said slowly: "I have inquired about this matter, and the merchants in the Western Regions can sell our goods to small countries in the Western Regions.

"In Wuheng and other countries in the Western Regions, things from Daxian Shangjing have always been expensive and novelty, and our fine gold and silver are originally owned by Daxian's concubines and officials, and sold to small countries in the Western Regions. The benefits of this are far from other The places are comparable, and they will agree to the deal because they can make a profit."

"Can--"

"But what?"

Bai Minmin originally wanted to say that Zhang Huaiyu did this to make her owe him favors, but this matter was suggested by the queen, even if he was helping, what's wrong with helping his sister? If she embraced herself, it would be too pretentious and sentimental!

Seeing Bai Minmin's silence, Ming Tan thought she had no objection, and he rested his chin in a trance, and couldn't help but regretted: "My brother is also in Yuxi, so I didn't think of this method. In the past, I seldom paid attention to Zhang Shizi, but now it seems, Zhang Shizi is not an ordinary person."

Of course he is not an ordinary person, which ordinary person can be so outstanding in the two things of being able to speak out and making people unhappy!

Bai Minmin turned her back angrily, still quite unhappy about being forced to accept Zhang Huaiyu's favor.

The twelfth lunar month is approaching in a blink of an eye, and the winter solstice is approaching. Among the many seasons in a year, besides New Year's Eve, counting the winter solstice is the most important.

As the supplies to keep out the cold were successfully delivered to the people in the bitterly cold places they donated, the errand assigned by Queen Zhang was finally completed satisfactorily.

The censors have written letters one after another, saying that Empress Zhang is compassionate, caring for all living beings, virtuous and kind, and can be a model for women in the world. Having this mother of the country is a blessing to the common people.

Although there is no lack of praise from the ruling and opposition parties, Empress Zhang did not take the credit alone. She never forgot to say that it was the benevolence of the officials and family members in Beijing, who were willing to donate materials to raise funds, and it was everyone's credit for being able to help the people in the border areas.

As the actual facilitator of this matter, Ming Tan naturally had to be rewarded. Emperor Chengkang even made a special trip to issue an imperial decree, praising her for her quality, intelligence and quick-wittedness.

Now fame is not so important to Ming Tan, she was already very proud and satisfied in her heart when the first thing she wanted to achieve was successfully completed.

It's just that the end of the year is approaching, and there is no room for her to rest. After finishing this errand, she started to manage the affairs of the mansion without touching her feet.

Although Uncle Fu is in charge of the palace most of the time, Uncle Fu is too busy managing the government affairs and the shops outside, and he has no time to deal with all the favors received and sent from the mansion.

The main reason is that when there was no princess in the past, the palace was solemn and deserted, and there was no mercy in the palace. Now that there is a princess, the palace is much more lively than before. Ming Tan has to worry about the extra things that happen here.

"The gift from the Li family is too light, how do you prepare it? Add some supplements that pregnant women can use, and add a top-quality old ginseng, which is most suitable for the old lady of the Li family. By the way, add a few more Good leather, although the lord and I were not in the mansion a few days ago, but I remember that after the autumn hunting, there was a piece of white fox fur among the rewards sent by the Holy Majesty?"

The handmaid should be.

"Add the white fox fur. Remember to tell me that it is specially given to my cousin to keep out the cold. I am pregnant in winter, and it is too bulky to go out. The white fox fur is warm and light, and it is most suitable for my cousin."

The maid answered yes again.

"There is also the Duke of Pingguo's mansion. This time, Duke Pingguo's son has helped a lot. This gift can't be overstated..."

After all, she is a girl who has learned how to run a family. Although Ming Tan handles these things in a hurry, she is also methodical.

She spent a day preparing for the winter solstice ceremony, looked at the account books for another day, and then spent most of the day wandering around the palace, pointing out the places that needed repairs in the mansion to the attendant, and ordered her to supervise them. After all, once the winter solstice is over, New Year's Eve will not be far away. During the Chinese New Year, the mansion should be brand new and clean.

By the time I get dizzy and busy enough to catch my breath, it is already the eve of the winter solstice. It was only then that Ming Tan remembered that Ming'er Shengjia came to the Ancestral Temple in person, and her husband, as the prince of the clan, naturally wanted to travel with him. She originally thought that she would eat dumplings with her husband tomorrow, but now it seems that is impossible.

In recent days, she was so tired that she often settled down early before her husband returned home, and the two of them didn't speak much for several days.

Tomorrow's winter solstice can't be spent together...Ming Tan didn't know what he was thinking about, but in the end, before Jiang Xu returned home, he asked Lv E to hold the lamp, and dug out the winter boots that were pressed at the bottom of a certain sandalwood box.

She held it for a while, and finally remembered how to continue sewing the winter boots.

She has been so busy recently that she almost forgot. When she went to Tonggang to rest at Orion's house before, she overheard the conversation of his husband and wife by chance, and she was enthusiastic about the warmth of ordinary married life for a while, so she also wanted to learn what others can do for her husband.

On the way back, Jiang Xu left her at the inn for a few days, and went to patrol the Dingbei Army's garrison alone. She had nothing to do, so he dug out the fur and made winter boots for him.

Thanks to her being a bit fussy about the speed with which she can make things, if she were to make ordinary boots, she might have to wait until the spring of the next year to give them away.

"Miss, these deer boots are so exquisitely sewn, are you planning to make them for His Highness?"

Ming Tan made a "hmm" sound, and soon began to sew seriously.

Seeing that Ming Tan was still sitting in front of the couch and threading needles earnestly after being tired all day, Lu E couldn't help but asked again: "Miss, you are tired today, why don't you take a rest first, it's not too late to sew during the day."

"No, I have to finish it before my husband returns home."

"Then how about I help Miss? It doesn't look like much. It's not good to burn people sewing under the lamp and hurt your eyes."

"No, you can go outside and watch." Ming Tan was a little sleepy, so he yawned involuntarily, but his attitude was still very persistent.

Lue couldn't help it, so she had to change her to a brighter candle, and then silently backed out.

Without Lue talking aside, the room suddenly became extremely silent. Ming Tan cheered up and continued to sew the left boot, and patted himself on the face from time to time to cope with the rising sleepiness.

Perhaps because she was too sleepy, the tip of the needle stuck on her fingertips several times, and small drops of blood suddenly emerged from her fingertips. She hissed lightly, and sucked her fingertips again. The pain seemed to wake her up slightly.

Tomorrow's winter solstice, Shengjia will go out of the palace to pay homage to the Taimiao. The military preparations in Beijing are all in full swing. The Imperial City Division is responsible for guarding the city, while the imperial guards under the command of Lu Ting need to guard the holy driver all the way.

Jiang Xu discussed with him very late, and when he returned home late at night, he thought that the little princess must have gone to bed early as usual, but he didn't expect that the lights in the house were still on today.

When he entered the room, Ming Tan was holding back his yawns to hem his winter boots. For the last two needles, she inserted them one by one. When she heard the movement outside the curtain, she couldn't help being distracted, and then stuck to her fingertips again. Tiny blood beads came out again. She hissed softly and sucked her fingertips skillfully.

When Jiang Xu lifted the curtain and entered, he happened to see this scene.

"Husband." Ming Tan looked up, quite surprised.

Jiang Xu didn't respond, and went forward to hold her wrist, only to see that her fingertips were red, and there were many fine pinholes on her head. After pinching it hard, small blood beads leaked out again.

"What is this doing?"

Ming Tan withdrew his hand in embarrassment, finished the last stitch, and then cut the needle and thread with scissors.

"The winter boots made for my husband. The soles are thick and soft. It will be very comfortable to walk on. The fur inside the boots is also very warm. Even if it snows, you don't have to worry about it. There will be no water seepage inside."

Ming Tan swept away his sleepiness, and looked at him expectantly: "Husband, do you want to try?"

Jiang Xu looked at her quietly for a while, then gave a soft "um" and took the deer boots.

This pair of winter boots was made extremely meticulously. Jiang Xu caught a glimpse of the word "Qizhi" embroidered on the inside of the left boot. He subconsciously looked at the right side, and the word "A Tan" was also embroidered on the inside.

"You embroidered words in the dark."

Ming Tan nodded, looking at him expectantly, waiting for his compliment.

But he didn't want him to look at it for a while, and obviously wanted to say a word of praise, but said: "Embroidered in boots, won't it stink?"

"..."