Song Dingxiang [Completed]

C64. Reward.

Chapter 64

The Emperor pondered for a while, then turned to the royal eunuch and said, "Take the children to the courtyard to play."

Eunuch Wang nodded and smiled at the Song family, saying, "Come, Dingdang, take the children to the garden to play. The flowers are blooming beautifully now."

Although the members of the Song family were somewhat nervous, they still let the children go out. Hutou stood up as well, saying, "I, I am also a child, I will take them out to play."

The Emperor smiled and said, "Go ahead, have them prepare some refreshments, and make sure they don't run around."

With Hutou, the older child, the younger ones were less afraid and followed the beautiful palace maid outside. Soon, the sound of children's laughter could be heard.

The Emperor sighed and said, "Actually, the words from before should not have been heard by the children. It was just a moment of anger on my part, and I overlooked these things. Xu Qiang has committed a grave offense against me, which cannot be tolerated. As for Song Taohong... do you know, even if you were to return home, it might not guarantee your survival?"

Song Taohong just hung her head, her whole demeanor becoming dull.

The Emperor continued, "The moment you leave, Xu Qiang will send a letter to your home. Even if you go back, it would lead to your death. He is so malicious, I have truly never witnessed such cruelty. Song Taohong, you schemed to enter into this marriage, and now you have harmed yourself and your children. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Song Taohong hesitated for a moment and then suddenly said, "Even if I had not married Xu Qiang, my husband would have been Zhou Tiezhu."

"Zhou Tiezhu?" The Emperor was taken aback, then chuckled, "I almost forgot, Zhou Aiqing, weren't you called by that name in the past?"

Zhou Yinuo smiled and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, yes. However, Dingxiang has given me a new name, which I am very fond of."

The Emperor chuckled twice and replied, "Well said, well said. It is often said that women without talent are virtuous, but if all women in the world were like Dingxiang from the Song family, then that would truly be great virtue."

Song Dingxiang quickly responded, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. In reality, many women excel in virtue and talent above ordinary women. It's just that because they are women, they are limited to being wives and mothers at home. If their family does not understand them, even if they have great talent, it may be overlooked. The praise for ordinary women is due to their families being supportive and understanding."

She had originally wanted to say that women are not inferior to men and that given the opportunity, they can certainly achieve great things. However, considering it was ancient times, she was afraid of offending the Emperor with her words, so after some thought, she refrained from expressing those thoughts.

The Emperor did not say anything further. It seemed he had forgotten about Song Taohong still kneeling on the ground.

He instead chatted with Song Xingyi and Song Dingxiang about some rural matters, such as whether the recent drought had truly eased and how the household's crops were faring.

When the conversation turned to fruit trees, Song Dingxiang also shared her method of making preserves. The Emperor was quite interested and had it noted down, saying, "This is indeed good. In winter, it is rare to have fresh fruits to eat. If I desire fresh fruit, it would require a significant effort and cost. With this method now available, even in winter, we can enjoy fruits."

Song Dingxiang smiled and said, "Actually, no matter if it's the north or the south, there are plenty of fruit trees. It is said that even in the south, winter is not cold, and it's not difficult to find fresh fruits to eat. However, in the cold winters of the north, even the best fruits cannot be preserved. In winter, we can only taste frozen persimmons and pears, while other fruits easily spoil. So, I thought if pickled vegetables can be preserved, why not fruits? I discussed with my family, tried it out, and surprisingly, it could be stored for a long time."