Chapter 2635 - 2568: Palace Relocation

Once they passed through the city gates, the pace of the convoy picked up a bit, but given the number of carriages, it still couldn’t be too fast.

Manbao took a pouch of water from the horse’s side, unscrewed it and took a sip, then sighed again.

The nearby Assistant Ministers couldn’t help but swallow their saliva, taking out their water pouches to drink. However, Assistant Minister Liu felt that somehow the water Manbao drank was different from theirs and kept staring at her pouch.

Noticing this, Manbao said, "This is honeysuckle tea, Assistant Minister Liu, would you like some?"

If Zhou Man were not a woman, Assistant Minister Liu might have nodded, but she was, so he just smiled and shook his head.

Manbao remembered this and broke away from the convoy as they went ahead, riding forward to find Princess Mingda’s carriage.

Bai Erlang and Mingda were sitting together; the carriage moved slowly, the sun was blazing, and they were bored, so he was somewhat dozing off.

There was a knock on the carriage, and he lifted his head, seeing that Mingda seemed to have just been startled awake. He pulled open the curtain to look outside.

Manbao was riding alongside the carriage and asked him, "Where are the things I asked you to bring?"

Bai Erlang pointed at the servant following behind, "Ask Ma Fuming."

Suddenly, he didn’t want to sit in the carriage anymore, so after greeting Mingda, he asked the guards outside for his horse.

Once on the horse, he was overjoyed, "Riding a horse is indeed better!"

Manbao silently glanced at him, "If you can still say that in two quarter-hours, I’ll salute you as a true man."

It didn’t even take two quarter-hours before he couldn’t stand it, "Why is the sun so blazing?"

Isn’t this normal?

Otherwise, why would the Emperor leave the capital to avoid the heat?

Manbao said, "I’m going to find Assistant Doctor Duan to get some things. You have Ma Fuming go to the front and ask the Imperial Guards at the campsite for a stove."

Bai Erlang could only do errands for her.

If it were just Manbao and her group traveling, they wouldn’t normally start a fire for lunch, but this was the Emperor’s entourage.

However, if it were just Manbao and her group traveling light, they wouldn’t still be on the road at noon between the capital and Yongzhou.

Most people had dry food, yes, including the accompanying ministers and assistant ministers. The Imperial Guards just set up a few stoves to warm the meals for the dignitaries.

Bai Erlang asked for a stove to boil tea water.

Following Manbao’s advice, he had the cook at home make two barrels of thick sour plum soup. Now, he poured half a barrel into a pot, brought it to a boil, sprinkled some dried osmanthus flowers brought by Manbao on top, and then poured it into a bucket filled with ice...

Bai Erlang stood to the side watching as the dark red soup streamed over the lustrous ice, unable to resist swallowing his saliva. The ice looked really appetizing...

He took a spoon to scoop up a piece but had his hand smacked by Manbao, who had come over.

Bai Erlang: "...How did you get here so fast?"

Manbao: "Take a guess?"

Bai Erlang ignored her.

The court ladies and attendants stirred the soup and ice together in the barrel. The ice melted quickly, and then they covered the barrel, first delivering it to the Emperor and Empress.

Soon, the accompanying officials also received bowls of chilled sour plum soup, and in this scorching sun, drinking a bowl was indeed very refreshing.

After the busy work, the court ladies and attendants gathered to take small sips of the freshly brewed herbal tea, also a good remedy for the heat, although its taste wasn’t as enjoyable as the sour plum soup the dignitaries had.

But at this moment, being able to drink herbal tea to beat the heat was satisfying enough for them.

Half of the accompanying attendants and court ladies had carriages to sit in, following from afar, while the other half followed beside the carriages on foot.

So, they were the ones losing more fluids.

After serving the Emperor his meal, Gu Zhong came over asking for hot water to make tea, and an attendant offered a bowl of herbal tea chilled on ice.

He took a sip and shook his head, "It’s better to drink it warm. You’ve overdone it."

The attendant was startled and was about to kneel.

"Enough," Gu Zhong waved his hand, "It’s not a big deal. Is there enough?"

"There is enough. Not only for us, the Imperial Guards all had a bowl as well."

Gu Zhong nodded slightly, "Lord Zhou is meticulous. You should take care of yourselves too. It’s rare for someone to remember us humble ones. If anyone gets heat exhaustion, go to Assistant Doctor Duan. Let’s not have a situation like previous years, where even a short journey sees several on the brink."

The attendants bowed in response.

The convoy moved slowly, and it was nearly dusk by the time they reached the Yongzhou Palace.

The Emperor and the dignitaries moved directly into the already prepared palaces, while Manbao, without feeling weary, exhaled and called over an attendant to ask, "Do I have a courtyard to myself, or am I sharing with Lord Bai from the Central Secretariat?"

The attendant smiled, "Lord Bai is already staying in Lord Zhou’s courtyard."

Manbao was satisfied, nodding before following the attendant to her courtyard.

This time, since the Emperor granted a favor to his officials for the summer outing, he allowed officials of the fourth rank and above to bring their families.

There weren’t many officials of the fourth rank and above in the court, and only half of them came, so there were enough courtyards to provide one for each.

Whether it was because Bai Shan was from the Central Secretariat or due to Manbao’s special status, the two of them were assigned a courtyard adjacent to Lord Wei’s courtyard, not too far from the Emperor’s Longqiu Hall.

Further out were the residences of the various Assistant Ministers.

Yin Li lived inward, from their courtyards, well, diagonally opposite.

Yin Huo, having nothing to do, came over wearing a large hat and happened to meet Manbao at the entrance.

When they saw each other, their eyes lit up, and Manbao stepped forward laughing, "I looked for you during the midday rest, but they said you came ahead. How did you arrive later than us?"

Yin Huo smiled, "I arrived and waited at the foot of the hill, only coming up after you all went in."

Seeing that he looked energetic and in good spirits, Manbao nodded, "I’ll tidy up first, and when Bai Shan returns, let’s have a meal together."

Yin Huo smiled and nodded.

Apparently, Bai Shan was occupied for the moment, so when Manbao entered her small courtyard—just a single courtyard with three rooms in the center and wings on either side that could house people—

She opened the door to the legitimate wife, finding it fairly clean, hung up her official’s hat, and breathed out a sigh. Even though she was only on horseback today, it had been exhausting.

She sat in a daze for a moment, and the servants and luggage finally passed the inspection and came up the mountain.

Daji and two guards carried two boxes, while Xi Bing and May each carried and hugged large bundles, following an attendant inside.

Hearing the commotion, Manbao went out, took the bundle from May’s arms, clicked her tongue, "Weren’t we just packing a single box? Why so much extra stuff?"

May whispered, "This morning, after you left, Old Madam came over, thought we had packed too little, and packed another box."

They almost didn’t make it in time to register.

The family members and servants coming with the officials had been registered early on, but the luggage had to be registered on the spot, recording how many boxes and bundles they brought.

No wonder officials and government clerks of all ranks in the capital had been driven crazy today.

Manbao thought that the Emperor had it easiest.

However, the Emperor, whom she thought had it easiest, had just sat down and taken a sip of tea when a memorandum was presented to him.