Chapter 315: Volume 1, Chapter 315: Unable to Give the Empress an Explanation

The capital had already entered the height of summer, the weather so hot that people could barely catch their breath.

Kangkang could already walk slowly while holding onto things, and could indistinctly call out "Mother," and Rong Luoge was so excited holding her son that she nearly shed tears.

In her past life she had been entirely alone; in this life she had found her beloved and had her own flesh and blood. Now, hearing her child's tender voice call "Mother," the hardships of these past few months all flew away with the wind.

Once the weather turned hot, the Empress Dowager fell ill. The Imperial Physician had taken her pulse and it was nothing serious—just the oppressive heat sapping her appetite. Han Xinglan seized the opportunity to suggest that the Empress Dowager go to the imperial villa to escape the heat.

The Empress Dowager was unwilling and insisted on staying in the palace.

Rong Luoge did not involve herself in this matter. Whether the Empress Dowager went or not had little to do with her. In any case, she would be staying with Han Xinglan together with the child, and Han Xinglan's arrangements already showed signs of taking shape—he absolutely would not leave the capital.

The only thing Rong Luoge could do was increase the ice allotment for Funing Palace so that the Empress Dowager could be a bit more comfortable; anything beyond that was beyond her power.

Moreover, when she went to visit the sick, two out of three times she could not even see her. After several such occasions, Rong Luoge no longer went often.

Rong Luoge was currently helping the child practice walking, supporting him by the heated brick bed as he walked step by step quite steadily. Every two steps he would turn his head to look, and seeing his mother, he would continue walking forward.

Rong Luoge followed behind the child, so that if he lost his balance and fell, she could catch him.

"Your Highness, Kang Shufei has arrived," Rong Xin came in to report.

Rong Luoge handed the child to the wet nurse and walked out herself, but Kangkang was unhappy seeing his mother about to leave and toddled after her on his little feet.

Rong Luoge had not expected the child to actually chase after her. She quickly stopped and reached out to pick up the running child. "Kangkang is so good!"

The First Prince broke into a smile upon hearing this and struggled, pointing outside.

Rong Luoge did not know whether to laugh or cry, so she simply carried the child along with her. When Kang Shufei saw the First Prince, she first paid her respects to Her Highness the Empress, then said, "The First Prince's eyes are truly beautiful, exactly like Your Highness's."

Rong Luoge had Kang Shufei sit down. "He's so mischievous, insisting on following me out." After she finished speaking, she set her son down on the ground. The little one began babbling as he held onto a stool and circled around it. Perhaps having managed to say a few words and take a few steps earlier had given him courage—he actually dared to let go of the stool and walk on his own, but after just a few steps he plopped down on his bottom.

The wet nurse's face went pale with fright and hurried over wanting to help the First Prince up. Rong Luoge said, "Let him get up slowly by himself. What child learning to walk doesn't take a tumble?"

After Rong Luoge said this, she crouched down and encouraged her son to stand up on his own. Kangkang had been about to cry, but seeing his mother smiling so happily, he unconsciously started smiling too, then slowly crawled and tried to stand up, but clearly he still lacked the strength and could not manage it.

At this moment, Rong Luoge quietly placed the stool in front of him, and the First Prince grabbed hold of it and stood up.

Kang Shufei watched the way Her Highness the Empress raised her child and truly had not expected it to be like this. She had assumed that with the Empress raising the First Prince, she would be exceedingly cautious, but to her surprise it was the opposite.

After playing for a while, Kangkang was clearly tired. The wet nurse hurried over and carried him out to the side hall to nurse.

Rong Luoge went to wash her hands first, then returned and sat down, looking at Kang Shufei with a smile. "In such sweltering heat, why come at this hour? Whatever business you have, it wouldn't be too late to discuss it after the sun goes down."

Kang Shufei smiled and said, "Your Highness, the raw cloth over at the dyeing workshop is running short. The Weaving Workshop rushed out a batch overnight, but our cotton thread and silk thread are both insufficient. We need to purchase more."

"We've asked all around and bought everything we could. Yang Yi says someone is deliberately hoarding raw cloth to prevent us from buying it smoothly. I reckon it's those aristocratic families' cloth shops doing this, so I came to discuss the matter with you."

Yang Yi was the person Noble Consort Liu had recommended back then, and he was indeed a capable man. With him serving as shopkeeper on the outside, Kang Shufei was indeed much more at ease—many things only needed to be instructed and Yang Yi would get them done.

Rong Luoge nodded, looking at Kang Shufei thoughtfully. "Have someone tell Yang Yi to look around the surrounding towns. If he still can't buy any, then we'll go south. A round trip would take a month at most."

Kang Shufei hurriedly nodded upon hearing this. "If we go south, who would be the most suitable to send?"

"We'll talk about it once Yang Yi can't buy any over there." Rong Luoge truly did not have a suitable candidate. Purchasing was not an easy task, and the person doing the buying had to be reliable.

"Understood. I'll have Yang Yi look around the surrounding area first, though the prospects probably aren't great." Kang Shufei was somewhat worried.

Rong Luoge nodded. "No rush, let's have a look first."

Kang Shufei received the Empress's instructions and rose to take her leave. Once she was gone, Rong Luoge thought it over—she had no suitable candidate here, so she could only ask whether Han Xinglan had one.

The Internal Court naturally had purchasing agents, but Rong Luoge was unwilling to deal with Prince Qi, so she did not consider having the Internal Court handle this matter.

She had not expected that before Han Xinglan returned in the evening, Shi An came to report. "Your Highness the Empress, His Majesty will be staying at the Military Ordnance Bureau tonight."

Rong Luoge's heart skipped a beat as she looked at Shi An. "It succeeded?"

Shi An's face was full of excitement yet he dared not show it. He gave a slight nod. "His Majesty says there is no need for Your Highness to worry. His Majesty will return to the palace tomorrow morning."

Rong Luoge had not expected this day to come so soon. Did this mean that Han Xinglan's arrangement had caught someone?

Thinking this, even she grew a bit nervous. "Did His Majesty say anything else?"

Shi An shook his head. "Your Highness the Empress, do you have any message for His Majesty?"

Rong Luoge looked at Shi An and said, "Tell His Majesty to take care of himself. Tell him I'll wait for him to come back."

Having received the message, Shi An hurried out of the palace toward the Military Ordnance Bureau, not daring to delay even a moment.

Rong Luoge found herself a bit nervous. Seven or eight days ago, Han Xinglan had told her that the cannon had been successfully built and had deliberately test-fired one. She had not been at the Military Ordnance Bureau at the time, but she could imagine that the commotion from that single shot was considerable.

After expending so much thought and effort, everything came down to tonight.

Rong Luoge was somewhat restless all evening, so she simply played with Kangkang. Only after she had coaxed the child to sleep did she wash up and lie down.

But once inside the bed curtains, she still tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, not knowing how things were going at the Military Ordnance Bureau.

At this time, at the Military Ordnance Bureau, Han Xinglan was not staying in a room but had gone to the storehouse to look at the cannon that had been built. It was just such a pitch-black object, yet the power of that single shot had left him profoundly shaken.

"Your Majesty, it's very late. Please go and rest first. If there's any movement, this servant will certainly wake you," Shi An said hurriedly. Seeing that His Majesty showed no intention of moving his feet, he immediately added, "Her Highness the Empress instructed this servant to convey to Your Majesty that you must take care of yourself and mind your safety. Your Majesty, if you keep waiting like this, how will this servant explain himself to Her Highness the Empress?"