Chapter 563: How are we supposed to make a living under their thumb from now on

The Empress Dowager's box contained a jade bead necklace with one hundred and eight beads. It looked like jasper, but with its translucency, no one would mistake it for jasper.

Apart from the bead necklace, there was also a small white jade bottle.

"They say jade nourishes the body. Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, wearing this jade bead necklace more often in the future will be good for your health." Her implication was quite obvious, and the four people in the hall clearly understood it.

She pointed at the jade bottle in the box. "These are the pills I've left for Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. Take one if you don't feel well."

The contents in Empress Xu's box were similar to those of the Empress Dowager's, both having a bottle containing five pills. However, the difference was that Empress Xu's was a watermelon - red jadeite bracelet. In terms of material, the jade bracelet was of lower quality than the bead necklace. Well, one was the Emperor's mother and the other was the Emperor's wife!

It wasn't that Yue Fuguang was being discriminatory; she was actually trying to protect Empress Xu. Yue Fuguang thought she was truly considerate!

Emperor Mingxi was eyeing the things in the box enviously. Yue Fuguang resisted the urge to roll her eyes and took out two more boxes, giving them to Emperor Mingxi and Xie Zhiyan respectively.

The gifts for the four most powerful members of the royal family were generally the same, except that Emperor Mingxi's jade pendant was obviously one size larger than the Crown Prince's jade plaque.

After presenting gifts to the four most powerful people in the royal family, Yue Fuguang visited several high - ranking officials' mansions one after another in the following days.

These were all her loyal followers. In the court, they either had a say in political affairs or held military power. Yue Fuguang had to pay them a visit before leaving.

Even for those families she didn't visit, she sent someone to deliver gifts. She truly managed to treat everyone equally. As the system put it, [Host, you seem to be giving everyone benefits, but you really look like an air - conditioner trying to keep everyone cool evenly. It's just like the behavior of a typical playboy.]

Since the people of the Great Xia Empire learned that their Divine Maiden was going back to the upper realm, they were even more distraught than the civil and military officials in the court.

In the past few days, upon hearing the news, people from far and wide dragged their families to the capital city.

On the cement - built roads, as the system described, it was more crowded than the highways during the Spring Festival in later generations.

"Dad, is the Divine Maiden really going to abandon us?" A five - or six - year - old little girl stared at her father with eyes as black as grapes.

Her father wiped the sweat off his face and gently said to his daughter, "A - Yan, the Divine Maiden isn't abandoning us. She... she's just going back to her own home."

"Dad, isn't the Divine Maiden the Divine Maiden of the Great Xia Empire?" The little girl didn't understand why the Divine Maiden had to go home.

"Sister is right. The Divine Maiden is the Divine Maiden of the Great Xia Empire. Even the name 'Great Xia' came from the Divine Maiden's mouth. Why does she still want to leave us?" A seven - or eight - year - old boy beside the little girl showed the same puzzled expression as his sister.

The man didn't have much education and was left speechless by his children's questions. After frowning and thinking for a while, he pointed at the sky and said, "The place where the gods reside is in the sky."

He sighed softly. "The Divine Maiden has completed her mortal experience and naturally has to return to the sky."

He looked at his son. "Da Wa, you study at the academy founded by the Divine Maiden. In the future, you can be a useful person. Don't disgrace the Divine Maiden's name and let down her kindness to our poor families."

The boy nodded vigorously. "Dad, I'll remember."

Such conversations were taking place in different families. Even without inquiring, Yue Fuguang already knew from the system that the people coming to see her off had lined up from the city gate of Shangjing to beyond the Ten - mile Pavilion.

"He Jin, inform the Capital Guards to strengthen patrols and ensure the safety of the common people. If any lawbreakers are found, deal with them quickly and severely!"

"Yes, my lady. I'll go and inform Minister Wei right away."

"Not so fast." Yue Fuguang stopped her. "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. You several can go to your respective yamen to start work these days and get familiar with your duties. If there are any problems, I'm still here and can make decisions for you."

He Jin, Shen Chunying, and Luo Shendong exchanged glances, and there was a glint of moisture in their eyes. He Jin forced a smile and said, "My lady, we want to see you off before taking up our posts."

Luo Shendong also said, "Yes, my lady. We're your subordinates. Who would dare to make things difficult for us?"

Everyone knew that as long as they didn't make mistakes, even after the Grand Tutor (Yue Fuguang) returned to the upper realm, no one would really target them.

Those officials in the court more or less had a connection with them.

Seeing their determination, Yue Fuguang didn't persuade them anymore, but only instructed, "Remember, we don't cause trouble, but we're not afraid of it either. If there are any blind - eyed people who dare to bully you, use the whips I gave you to reason with them properly."

It was not easy for women to serve as officials. Yue Fuguang was afraid that they would be at a disadvantage, so she gave each of them a horsewhip early on. These whips were all registered with the Emperor. If any officials offended them, they could really whip them without consequences as long as they were in the right, and even the Emperor couldn't punish them.

[Host, you've arranged everything clearly for everyone related to you. Aren't you supposed to be a lazy person who doesn't care about things? Why have you been so worried these days?] The teasing in the system's words was almost overflowing from the screen.

Yue Fuguang rolled her eyes and let the system figure it out on its own. After arranging everything for everyone, on the last day, she sent off her beloved pets like Treading Snow Without a Trace and Caramel Milk Tea.

"You should support each other and live well in the future." Yue Fuguang was worried that these few little guys, with their intelligence far exceeding that of their peers, wouldn't be able to integrate into the animal community after returning to the mountains and might not make friends, so she couldn't help but give a few words of advice.

[Host, you're just being over - worried. With the tempers and abilities of these guys, if you release them into the mountains, the real concern should be how the other animals in the mountains will survive under them.]

The little pets rubbed their heads against her hand, with tears in their eyes, knowing that their master was leaving them.

Yue Fuguang felt heart - broken when she saw this. "Alright, alright, stop crying. If you miss me, just look at the necklaces I gave you." Each of them had a pendant around their necks, with her photo inside. This was the only thing she left for them to remember her by.

No matter how reluctant Yue Fuguang was, time had finally arrived at the day when she had to leave.