February of the fifteenth year of Tianze.

This was the first time that Tianxiang Kingdom, which had not seen war for nearly seventeen years, was invaded. In the last three years of the late emperor's life, his generals were invincible in the surrounding areas, which brought about more than a decade of peace.

But even though there were only more than 20 enemy soldiers, and they went to the northwest border to rob food and run away, it was still frightening.

The Northwest has always been a strategic defensive area. How could more than 20 people steal food and return unscathed?

It seems that the northwest garrison has been vacant for a long time.

Otherwise, how could he be defeated so easily?

In fact, robbing food is not a big deal. There was a good harvest in the Central Plains last year, so they could have sent food over. But the implication of this was frowned upon.

The city that was impregnable more than a decade ago was defeated by such an enemy, and the northwestern city that no one dared to invade more than a decade ago can now be easily entered.

This also means that the efforts of the previous generation are being disintegrated bit by bit.

That generation of wars brought more than ten years of peace to Tianxiang Kingdom, but now the peaceful days will probably become less and less.

In the past, when Tianxiang Kingdom had excellent defenses, the other side did not dare to invade. But once they know that you are a paper tiger, many forces will be ready to move.

The foreign enemies are still determined to destroy Tianxiang Kingdom.

It is said that it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to keep it.

The previous generation worked hard to firmly defend the territory established by their ancestors, to make the surrounding foreign countries submit, to unite the world and to make the world content.

But maintaining it is not a matter of a moment; it requires the joint maintenance of many emperors and ministers.

It’s just like having a garden at home, which was bought by our ancestors and taken care of by the previous generation.

Then can the younger generations just keep admiring and ignore everything?

This is definitely not possible. A well-maintained garden may last for a year or two and still be lush and well-organized.

But if you don't do anything about it for three to five years, weeds will inevitably grow and chaos will inevitably prevail, and maybe even the weeds outside the garden will spread into it.

This is what Tianxiang Kingdom looks like today.

Those who are careless think that it is just a small group of enemy soldiers, but those who understand the situation know that this is a signal.

It seemed to be telling everyone that Tianxiang Kingdom was no longer as powerful as before, that it could no longer win every battle, and that it could now be bullied.

Maybe there won't be a direct attack for the time being, but the other party will definitely start to find out the details of Tianxiang Kingdom.

However, the Tianxiang Kingdom was still worried about the empty treasury.

"Sima Faren said in his book that even if a country is big, it will perish if it loves war, and even if the world is peaceful, it will be in danger if it forgets war." Su Wan said to Li Rongrong while doing her work, "That's what he meant."

Although the world has been at peace for longer, slacking off in military preparedness will still bring danger.

Today is a good example.

After seeing a palace maid die in front of her, Li Rongrong developed a habit of looking for Su Wan.

I always feel that although Su Wan is younger than her, she is able to handle everything steadily.

Su Wan really comforted him: "It seems difficult now, but things are not out of control."

"The foundation left by the previous generation is too strong, so Tianxiang Country has been safe and sound for such a long time. If we clean up the family assets, it shouldn't be too tragic."

There are still many old ministers from the previous generation, and they left behind many elite soldiers and generals. A broken ship still has three nails, not to mention the Tianxiang Kingdom which was so powerful more than ten years ago.

Apart from anything else, Su Wan had seen the Ding family army in Bi Guangshan, and she could see how capable those people were.

But having them does not mean you can sit back and relax. If you just live off your savings, you will soon lose everything and your family fortune will collapse. Now it can still stand tall for a while.

If we want future generations to have no worries, we must rebuild the foundation and renovate it now to make this collapsing building complete.

This is not an easy thing to do.

I don’t know how much time the foreign tribes who are eyeing us covetously will give.

Li Rongrong whispered, "But I heard that those foreign tribes in the northwest have united with the tribes on the grassland. Is that okay?"

Su Wan laughed: "Several brothers and sisters in the same family who are related by blood will fight to the death for the family property."

"So many tribes want to form alliances, but do they want to unite peacefully and in an orderly manner?"

"They will have to fight among themselves for a while before they can choose a chief. But if this chief is capable, it will be ok. If not, he will die at the hands of other tribes before he even starts attacking Tianxiang Kingdom."

"Although Tianxiang Country is not so peaceful, there will probably be no major incidents in the next one or two years."

At most, small groups of enemy soldiers kept attacking and constantly testing the bottom line of Tianxiang Kingdom. The other side was also forming alliances and eventually decided to attack Tianxiang Kingdom based on the results of the test.

However, Su Wan still sighed: "We will be fine for the time being, but the people in the northwest border will be miserable."

The food can be delivered, but what about the family?

What to do if the city is destroyed by cavalry?

Li Rongrong listened to Su Wan and said subconsciously: "I always feel like you seem to be even more powerful."

Even more powerful?

Su Wan was also stunned for a moment, and retorted: "No, I just said it casually."

But when I think about it, it is probably because I have been reading and practicing calligraphy in the past year, reading more ancient books, and combining them with modern learning, that I have gained some insights.

I don’t feel anything when I read more books on weekdays, but when I think about things, I can’t help but have such thoughts.

The conversation between the two in the kitchen of Shangshenjian was heard by Xie Pei and another person outside.

The Grand Secretary of the Dongge frowned. He couldn't believe that these words were spoken by a little palace maid.

Even if his favorite disciple had said this, the Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy would have praised him and trained him carefully, but now?

Just now in Chonghua Palace, he only mentioned the little palace maid to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and asked, "I heard that you took a little palace maid to Biguang Mountain?"

Although the prince is young and there is nothing wrong with taking a palace maid as his wife, it is still inappropriate to take her to Bi Guangshan.

I originally thought that the prince would explain a few more words, but I didn't expect him to bring him over, just in time to hear Su Wan's views on the war in the northwest.

It's good enough for ordinary people to understand what a harassing group of enemy soldiers means.

Going a step further, we can think that although Tianxiang is a weak country, it can still hold on for a while.

But later on, the northwestern grassland tribes formed alliances, fought among themselves and tested their bottom line, which showed that both sides had figured out their intentions.

This little palace maid was actually cooking in the kitchen, and she said something that many people of honor and fame could not understand.

I thought it was just a group of enemy soldiers and I could just fight them back, so why were the grand secretaries so shocked?

Xie Pei originally wanted to go in and ask the questions himself, and let the Grand Secretary of Dongke listen outside.

I didn't expect to run into Su Wan comforting other palace maids.

After hearing these words, he did not say a word and took the Dongge Grand Secretary back to Chonghua Palace. After returning to the study, Xie Pei said, "How about I take her to Bi Guang Mountain?"

The Grand Secretary of the Dongge bowed and said, "I will follow your orders, Your Highness."

Are young people nowadays so amazing?

For the first time, Dongge Grand Secretary felt that he was old.

Whether it is His Highness or the little palace maid, they both have their own opinions and can sympathize with the people.

The Grand Secretary suddenly felt that he seemed to be closer to the glorious era of more than ten years ago, when he was just a small official, an inconspicuous one among the numerous powerful generals and capable ministers of the previous emperor.

Perhaps he will meet his "previous emperor" in his lifetime?

Seeing this, Xie Pei didn't say much, even about Su Wan's affairs.

Anyone who has witnessed her talents would definitely not say, "She's just a little palace maid, what's so great about her?"

No matter one's birth or status, nothing is eternal.

Everyone knows who to choose between the stupid ministers of the wealthy and powerful families and the capable generals from common people backgrounds. How could a truly smart person care about these things?

Besides, Su Wan is not only smart.

What she has is a kind of open-mindedness and clarity that is rare in this world.

The harassment by a small group of enemy soldiers in the northwest did not cause much trouble, but it left an impression on many people.

The Ministry of War and others analyzed that it was probably because they had come to Kyoto to pay tribute in recent years and had discovered clues. This time their subordinates disobeyed their orders and came to rob food, which made them certain that Tianxiang's national strength was not as good as before.

I guess the northwestern border will not be peaceful in the future.

Just like ringworm spots, it is not fatal for the time being, but it can be very annoying.

If we fail to resist, it is estimated that the surrounding small countries to the west, north, east and south will all tentatively plunder.

Tianxiang Country is rich in resources, who wouldn't be envious?

But after another round of discussion, everyone felt that nothing major would happen in the next one or two years, or even three or four years, but it was hard to say what would happen after that.

The most important thing now is to replenish the national strength. Not to mention restoring Tianxiang Kingdom to its state when the previous emperor was alive, but something must be done.

When the saint saw these memorials, his face still looked unhappy.

The concubine beside him spoke softly, "Saint, you are the emperor, how can you worry about this matter? It is more important to take care of your health."

As he spoke, he fed the saint the medicine with a gentle expression.

After the medicine was finished, the favorite concubine's expression was cold for a moment, then she smiled and gently massaged the saint's shoulders so that he could sleep more peacefully.

The eunuchs watching nearby felt that this favored concubine was indeed very lucky. She was originally just a maid in Imperial Concubine Jiang's palace, but now she was the most favored concubine by the Saint.

But now, looking at her under the candlelight, I always feel that the new favorite concubine, Beautiful Qiang, has deep eye sockets. Her eyes usually look pitiful, but now they seem to have some foreign blood.

The eunuch only dared to look up for a moment, and when he looked up again to see what was going on, the beautiful lady Qiang had already changed her position, and he could only see her beautiful chin and snow-white skin.

I must be overthinking it. How could the woman around a saint be a foreigner?

Their identities and backgrounds are carefully investigated, otherwise they would not be allowed to stay in the palace.

The eunuch laughed to himself, wondering what he was thinking about. He did not notice that the beautiful lady Qiang's gaze lingered on him for a moment, with a hint of coldness flashing across her eyes.

The sage did not make any decision on the visit from foreign tribes, which made the Ministry of War look very unhappy.

When the saint's party saw this, they immediately said, "It's just a small matter, is there any need to be so anxious?"

"You are too surprised. With the national strength of Tianxiang, how can you be afraid of some small thieves?"

"The Ministry of War can handle it themselves. Why bother the Saint?"

The Ministry of War left the Qinzheng Hall and went directly to Chonghua Palace.

The prince is General Ding's only bloodline and his only grandson. The people in the Ministry of War are already very close to him. Since he is allowed to make the decision this time, he can always consult the prince.

As the future crown prince, it is normal for the prince to handle these matters.

When he arrived at Chonghua Palace, the Minister of War finally understood what efficiency and wise decision-making meant.

The prince gave direct orders, one, food and two, troops, to be assembled immediately.

But both of these things cost money. Will the Ministry of Revenue give it to me?

The Ministry of Revenue didn't want to give it, but since the prince had said so, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and squeeze it out. After all, the prince promised that they would earn it back soon!

How could the Minister of War never have expected that things would go so smoothly?

It was so smooth that it even made him feel dazed.

The Ministry of War sent someone to leave the Minister of Revenue to ask, "If we only rely on palace servants to do the work, I'm afraid it won't be easy to get the money back."

The Minister of Revenue thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was still thinking of persuading the various departments to go out to do business, but this matter was rejected by the Saint. However, there were many people outside clamoring to eat the snacks from the Shangshi Department, so it was actually not difficult to reopen it.

But that is a long-term business, how to solve the current problem.

All this money has its uses. If we give it to the Ministry of War today, the money for repairing the river embankment will be misappropriated.

The prince wouldn't be thinking of robbing Peter to pay Paul, right?

If so.

He felt a little regretful about sending people to deliver food to the Ministry of War.

Xie Pei sneered: "Ordinary ways of making money are definitely not that easy."

I mentioned it before, and Su Wan reacted immediately.

What could be a faster way to make money than confiscating property?

Many people in the capital have been fattened up, and now it is time to slaughter them.

Those who had been eating the people's money and had been hiding before have been living a life of luxury with the money he gave them in the past few months.

It's time to settle the accounts.

It was similar to what Su Wan thought. The chaos in the northwest only caused panic for everyone for a period of time, less than five days. Everyone basically did what they had to do and didn't care at all. After all, the northwest was too far away, so far that most Kyoto people would never go there in their lifetime.

Ke Bi Guangshan and his group have already set off at the secret invitation of the Ministry of War and are expected to arrive there in about ten days.

The rest is confidential. Even the presence of people like Bi Guangshan is not something Su Wan should know.

But who can blame her for having Xie Pei by her side? Every time Xie Pei comes to eat, he always brings some news.

In fact, the calm outside and the undercurrents inside seem contradictory, but it is actually very normal. After all, most people cannot be exposed to these things.

Everyone just needs to eat well, drink well and live a good life.

For example, if something big happened in the palace, the original plan to select palace maids could go on as usual.

Concubine Jiang is still in charge, and tasks are assigned layer by layer.

When it comes to the Shangshi Division, of course, they have to properly allocate fifty skilled palace servants and one hundred and fifty unskilled ordinary people.

When the assignment was being made, Su Wan stood next to her superior and felt like she was seeing herself two years ago.

Time passed so quickly. Two months after she entered the palace, it would be two years.

However, even though she had been in the palace for two years, she was still one of the younger ones in the Shangshi Division.

It's her family's fault for sending her in too early.

The superiors and the Ministry of Rites had lamented that if Su Wan was older, she could be a left-right leader, but at fourteen years old, she was still too young.

The superior was not discouraged and allowed Su Wan to continue her studies and stay in the Shangshenjian for a while longer.

Although there is always a feeling that Su Wan will be kidnapped by the prince at any time, she still needs to be taught.

On February 15th, the palace maids were finally assigned to various places, and the selection of palace maids for this year was finally completed.

Su Wan has been busy for nearly two months. I guess she will be able to take charge of the next selection process later.

However, what followed was that all departments had additional staff. After all, not only did the Shangshi Department have more palace servants, but other places had more people added than they did.

The imperial palace, which originally had 10,000 to 20,000 palace servants, now has over 20,000 people.

These are just the eunuchs and palace maids, not even counting the guards, there are also craftsmen from various places.

It gives me a headache just thinking about it.

But it should be Xie Pei who should be troubled. What does it have to do with her, a little palace maid?

She made kelp and pork ribs soup today to nourish Xie Pei's brain, no, to replenish his nutrition.

The main thing is that the kelp used this time was also given by Bi Guangshan. Since she did it, she must take Xie Pei into consideration.

Soups are the best for health. Whenever she has nothing to do, she would make a few bowls of soup. She would give some to the old man in the Ministry of Revenue Library who was helping her with her tutoring, and also to Xie Pei.

Su Wan also added chestnuts to the kelp and pork ribs soup. Chestnuts have a sweet and mild taste. Eating them during the change of seasons can make the body better and prevent colds.

Soaking kelp in advance can not only clean it but also remove the fishy smell.

Chestnuts are boiled in boiling water for about an incense stick of time to remove the thin film on the chestnut skin, revealing the soft chestnut meat inside.

You don’t have to worry about the rest. Add water to the pot and bring it to a boil, then put in these ingredients. The ribs are very fresh and can be put directly in after blanching. Bring the water to a boil and then turn to low heat. It will be ready in two cups of tea and twenty minutes.

The seasoning is also simple, salt for saltiness and white pepper for flavor.

You must not lift the lid of the pot while the soup is cooking, otherwise not only will the aroma dissipate, but the ribs will not taste as tender.

After making the pork ribs soup, Su Wan also made the fish head stewed with tofu that she often ate in spring.

This dish is really for nourishing the brain. It can also be eaten when the seasons change. Needless to say, the benefits of fish head are great. It is rich in protein and can supplement vitamins, etc.

This dish uses spring silver carp, only the fish head and a piece of cut tofu.

Fry both in separate pans, then stir-fry shredded ginger, tofu, fish head and garlic, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

No matter how long you boil the tofu and fish, there is no need to worry that the two will separate after a long time. The flavors of the tofu and fish head will blend with each other until the end, leaving a rich aroma, in which the shredded ginger and garlic are the finishing touch.

When putting the garlic in, Su Wan suddenly thought that it was already mid-February, and in less than three months, the pickled garlic made during last year's Dragon Boat Festival could be taken out and eaten. Time passed so quickly.

Su Wan prepared the meal, put one portion into a lunch box and placed it on the table. A guard came to take it. She ate one portion herself and took the other portion to the Ministry of Rites to give to the old man in the library.

But now when I deliver food, I always feel like a thief. Otherwise, some of the food will always be taken away by others. It’s no big deal for me, but the old man will be unhappy.

Before lunch, Su Wan set off for the Ministry of Rites headquarters.

The offices of the six ministries are basically together. When Su Wan passed by the Ministry of War, she felt that it was very bustling inside. It was probably preparing for things happening in the northwest.

A group of people have already gone there, but more will need to be sent later.

If there is a small tear in the northwest, it would be very difficult to repair it, so it is better to block it now.

Su Wan thought about the money needed for the military operations and sighed a few times. She decided to stay in the palace honestly recently, as some people's past backgrounds would be exposed.

Su Wan carried the lunch box to the library, but no matter how careful she was, she was still discovered.

As a result, there were several more people coming to the old man's table to eat and drink for free. Fortunately, Su Wan always cooked more, otherwise there would not be enough food.

One of the people who were eating for free was Cui Hucheng from the Ministry of Rites. He clearly had something to say, but he insisted on waiting until they finished eating before speaking. In his opinion, if he said a few more words, he would have to eat a few less bites of food. How could this be possible!

After dinner, Cui Hucheng asked, "Miss Su Wan, have you ever eaten puffer fish?"

Pufferfish?

The pufferfish that puffs up when you squeeze it?

You know what, Su Wan has really eaten it.

Seeing Su Wan nod, Cui Hucheng was overjoyed: "Then do you know how to deal with puffer fish?"

After hearing this, not only Cui Hucheng looked over, but the few people who came to eat for a free meal also had the same expression.

That's a pufferfish!

Su Wan was helpless: "Puffer fish is indeed delicious, but it is really difficult to handle. If it is not handled properly, the person who eats it will die."

"Mr. Dongpo once said that pufferfish is worth dying for. I've been reading books recently and the more I think about it, the more I think pufferfish is delicious. So can you kill some?"

It’s no wonder Cui Hucheng wanted to eat it. Which elegant person doesn’t want to taste the flavor of puffer fish?

Mr. Dongpo once said that when the ground is covered with mugwort and the reed shoots are short, it is the time when puffer fish are about to come up.

It’s February now. If you miss it this February, you will have to wait until September or October to eat it.

Su Wan just felt that Mr. Dongpo was a master in selling products.

But to be honest, puffer fish does taste delicious enough, otherwise people wouldn't be so eager to die for it.

It's absolutely true to say that it's a way to commit suicide.

First of all, puffer fish is delicious. As we all know, the meat is white and tender, leaving a long-lasting aftertaste.

But puffer fish is poisonous. Even modern people don't slaughter it themselves at home. There must be someone special to do it. It's best to eat it in a restaurant where they kill the fish cleanly.

Here we need to talk about how to eat puffer fish.

Everyone knows that puffer fish is poisonous, but if you eat it right, you can actually avoid it.

The internal organs, ovaries, skin, etc. of pufferfish are all poisonous, and the toxicity of pufferfish in different places, at different times, and in different rivers is different.

This means that if you handle puffer fish like this today, it’s okay, you’ll be fine and have a delicious meal.

So we treated it the same way every day, and yet people died.

So when Cui Hucheng came to Su Wan, he didn't ask her if she could cook, but if she could slaughter.

But Su Wan didn't want to take the risk. Although she knew how to do it, what if someone died from it?

Every year, people die from eating puffer fish, so the risk is indeed very high.

Seeing Su Wan’s refusal, everyone could only sigh.

But think about it, if someone dies, who will be responsible?

Su Wan wanted to write down the method of dealing with puffer fish, but she felt that this was dangerous. These were all officials appointed by the imperial court, so she gave up.

Puffer fish is so poisonous that just a little bit can kill a person. Even if you are an emperor, you will die.

When Su Wan returned to the palace, she felt that it was extremely quiet, like the calm before a storm.

Su Wan was right. When she saw Xie Pei in her room at night, she knew he had something to say.

"Don't leave the palace too often recently. Just stay in the Imperial Kitchen. You should be able to find your friend's belongings in the Imperial Household Department."

Although this sentence is short, it contains a lot of information.

Don't leave the palace, it means there is trouble nearby. The things of the friend in the Imperial Household Department, are they the things that Wei Jun lost before? Is it related to the black market?

Seeing that Su Wan understood, Xie Pei knew that there was no need to say more, but at this moment he still said: "There is one more thing, don't enter the inner palace. If you meet the Saint's favorite concubine, the beautiful lady Qiang, don't look at her too much."

Why is this?

"Why would a saint be jealous of her?" Su Wan could only think of this reason.

Xie Pei was amused by her again and said, "A few days ago, a eunuch looked at her a few more times and was beaten to death."

Execution?

Su Wan frowned. The laws of Tianxiang Kingdom were not that strict. How could they beat people to death for no reason?

"Didn't the Censorate say anything?" Su Wan asked immediately.

"Of course, countless memorials were submitted, but Miss Qiang was only confined to her room for a few days." Xie Pei came over, naturally to tell her to avoid danger.

After Xie Pei left, Su Wan sorted out her thoughts. There were actually only two things on her mind.

The black market must be thoroughly investigated. Although it has been investigated before and the people have been evacuated, these people will never give up as long as they can make money.

The saying that people die for money is not wrong.

Moreover, taking advantage of the fact that the other party is not on guard and suddenly checking can have a miraculous effect.

The other is the favorite concubine in the inner palace, Lady Qiang, who is not someone to be trifled with.

But just because you look at me a few more times, you have to kill me?

If she had looked at Xie Pei's face for no reason before, would she have died many times?

There's nothing you can do about it, who doesn't like to look at little handsome boys? But it's nothing to just look at them, and little handsome boys have the tendency to grow up to be handsome men.

That's just gossip.

The next day, Su Wan was determined not to wander around the Shangshenjian. Before she could find a reason, she saw that her superior had already found all the documents from the Shangshenjian for decades. He said, "Since there are not many things to do recently, everyone should sort out these old documents and put them in order. Later, these books can be sent to the Ministry of Rites for preservation, and we will just keep them for filing."

These trivial tasks can be done at any time.

But coming now, Su Wan naturally knew that this was something the prince and his party had been secretly preparing.

We must protect our own people.

The people in the Imperial Kitchen naturally listened to their superiors and carefully sorted out past documents. Su Wan also got a glimpse of the experience of the Imperial Kitchen over the past few decades.

The Shangshisi has existed since the previous dynasty. After several changes, it was first responsible for the meals of all the people in the palace, and then it was gradually subdivided. This is not the point, as basically every government office has gone through such changes.

What’s important is that starting more than 20 years ago, there have been more and more people in the palace and the departments have become more and more complicated.

Later, the late emperor increased the salaries of people, and more people were willing to enter the palace, and the number of eunuchs also increased sharply at that time.

During the following period of time, the number of people only increased, and the current situation has been formed since then.

Just the daily vegetable expenses would cost the palace nearly ten thousand taels of silver. This was only for the palace servants under the charge of the Imperial Food Department. The expenses for the inner palace would be many times more.

Although there are few people inside, the expenses are terrifying.

Ever since they spied a little bit from the Imperial Kitchen, they knew how important what Xie Pei was going to do was.

It seems that they are targeting the black market, but in fact they are following the clues to catch the insiders.

Then we can do a major cleanup.

First check the accounts of various departments and re-count the rosters, then everything else will go smoothly.

Originally, this step was not necessary. If the saint agreed to let all the palaces start to go out and do their work, then Xie Pei would use a slow knife to clean the wound bit by bit.

Now that he won't agree, he will cut the Gordian knot and force the saint to face the fact that the palace, court, and border are already riddled with holes.

You can't see it with your eyes closed.

The imperial palace is nothing more than a microcosm of the court, frontier, and even the common people.

There is chaos even under the emperor's feet, let alone other places.

The more Su Wan read the documents, the more she understood.

The superior officer looked at her and felt heartbroken. How could such a good successor like her be given to the prince?

It really makes me angry. I shouldn't have let Su Wan deliver food to the prince.

But thinking about it again, they had known each other long before she knew about it, and it seemed that there was no way to stop it.

While the Shangshenjian was working hard to sort out the documents, the various kitchens also restricted the palace servants from moving around.

Only a few maids from the Dessert Department of Zaliku were in a bad mood.

After all, they had earned a little over a hundred taels of silver in twenty days, but suddenly this way of making money was cut off, which made them feel unhappy. One maid even wanted to suggest that the sisters should go out and open a small shop?

But think about it again, they have no one to rely on outside, unlike now when they make snacks and have a place to return to, it doesn't seem so good.

Deputy Prime Minister Li also tried to comfort them, saying that there might be opportunities in the future.

In fact, they made money, and the miscellaneous warehouse also had benefits. In twenty days, they earned more than five hundred taels, which was not a small amount no matter how they were put.

Before, she was a little hesitant about going out to earn money, but now she feels it is a very good idea. Apart from anything else, she has hired imperial physicians and provided her with medicinal herbs for the maids in the miscellaneous storehouse, and now she has a lot more money in her hands.

So Zaliku surprisingly doesn't like to move around.

But the changes taking place outside were earth-shaking.

On the evening of February 17, a tea shop in Nanxunfang was raided and dozens of imperial items were seized, including an agate top on a stove, a white jade toad, and several ivory bottles.

Early in the morning of February 18th, they followed the clues and found the warehouse of the tea shop, where there were five pieces of modified clothes unique to the palace. These clothes were made by the Fuzhou Weaving Factory. They were double-layer fabrics made of four layers of warp and two layers of weft. Among them, the well-known gold-woven material was a kind of modified clothes.

You can imagine how valuable it is.

There are also more than 20 pieces of velvet clothes, two square purple clay lacquerware pots, and a special pot for the saint.

There are countless lacquer plates, carved lacquer cups, etc. left.

There is even a jade bed and several large screens.

After interrogation, it was found that these were items that had not yet been sold. They were originally scheduled to be sent to the ship at the Kyoto dock at the end of the month, and then shipped to various places for sale after leaving Kyoto.

The seller won't say it, and the buyer dare not say it, but people in various parts of Tianxiang Kingdom thousands of miles away are secretly happy about using the imperial items.

On February 19, it was investigated that several local governors were involved in this case.

On February 25, the Internal Affairs Bureau, where the royal family members were stationed, and Concubine Jiang's cousin were investigated, and they were found to be related to the Nanxunfang tea shop.

On February 27, there was more than one tea shop where the stolen goods were sold, there were seven or eight shops of various sizes.

They even have shops near Yuquan Palace, where people go to escape the summer heat every day.

This is too cruel.

This is the big rat.

How could it be wrong to say that the harem is full of holes?

Moreover, there are many people involved in this incident, and the few mentioned are just typical ones.

For a time, all the officials in Kyoto felt insecure and were questioning their nephews and nieces to see if they were involved in this matter.

The royal family members did not expect that someone would actually dare to investigate them.

But Su Wan thought about it, the Internal Affairs Supervisor had appeared before when he was instigated by Concubine Jiang to embarrass the Shangshu in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It is an official office that supervises the people in the inner palace.

Now he has committed embezzlement and no one knows how much he has stolen.

No wonder people like Wei Jun, who check the warehouse from time to time, have their things stolen.

This shows how powerful this force is.

The office of the Internal Affairs Bureau was also located in the outer city of the imperial palace, but it was the northernmost place, and Bei'anmen was right outside the door.

The convenience of doing things can be easily imagined.

Needless to say, the guards of that place must have been in collusion, and an investigation of the guard team is needed.

This check is a complete list from top to bottom.

But no one dared to stop him.

If they stop it, the prince's cronies will naturally instigate the Censorate to act as trolls. Why? Why don't they allow the investigation? Do they have something to hide?

Ever since entering the palace, Su Wan has heard of the name of the Censorate, so it is natural for her to stand up and speak out now.

And how did the Censorate get promoted?

That is, the more you spray, the faster you will be promoted.

There are regulations for this. If you impeach an official and your impeachment is successful, you can be promoted.

With such a promotion mechanism, who wouldn't work hard?

So there is a reason why the Censorate always turns into a big troll.

The Censorate certainly knew that the prince was using them as swords, but they were happy to do so. Everyone knew the situation in the court now.

It couldn't be better for the Third Prince to be the Crown Prince.

Who doesn’t want to meet his or her own “predecessor”?

Anyway, it was March now and we argued about this almost every day.

The documents of the Shangshenjian have not been sorted out yet. I am busy with clerical matters every day, which makes me feel the most peaceful.

Moreover, after checking all the palaces, it was found that although the Shangshisi was missing some things, it was basically safe and stable compared to other palaces.

In other palaces, one thing was missing or another, and the investigation was in turmoil.

According to Su Wan's estimation, there are thousands of palace people involved in the incident, and no one knows how they will be dealt with in the future.

Besides, there is still the issue of empty salaries that has not been exposed.

The Internal Affairs Bureau refused to conduct a thorough investigation because it was not only the embezzlement that was committed, but it would be a big deal if the empty salaries and empty staff were discovered.

Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver embezzled in a year is already a small amount.

There are countless officials involved in the incident, and after the investigation, almost everyone is in danger.

So until the end of March, those who wanted a thorough investigation and those who did not wanted to investigate were arguing in the court almost every day, and they were even incompatible.

Imperial Concubine Jiang wanted to conduct a thorough investigation, but Xie Pei was the one who took the lead in this matter. If her people supported a thorough investigation, wouldn't that give Xie Pei a boost?

While she was hesitating, Concubine Chu and the Second Prince had already firmly stood on the side of not conducting a thorough investigation, causing the royal family to actually start supporting the Second Prince and implicitly want to compete with the Crown Prince.

This ability to seize opportunities is eye-catching.

At this time, news came from the northwest that the troops sent by the Ministry of War had avenged the grain robbery, but the defense there was weak and the city walls were dilapidated and needed to be repaired.

To put it bluntly, the battle was won, but it cost money.

Therefore, the Ministry of War stood on Xie Pei's side without hesitation, and the situation began to tilt.

Finally, in early April, Xie Pei brought people from the Lingtai Division to search the home of the official who was most closely involved with Nanxunfang, and found one million in gold and three million in silver.

There are also countless real estate deeds.

These mountains of silver and gold made almost everyone unable to sit still.

Xie Pei said: "If such a small official has such a large amount of corruption, what about others?"

Need I say more?!

There are just as many others as there are others!

The whole month of April, even the Qingming Festival, could not overshadow the continuous house raids.

By the end of April, Su Wan would change into summer clothes, sort out the last of the classics in the Shangshi Bureau, stretch herself, and open the window.

A chubby white pigeon landed on the windowsill, with a note underneath.

Su Wan skillfully took the note off, and saw that it read: "The spring outing at Bi Guang Mountain has been changed to a summer outing. The little lotus leaves have just begun to show their tip, so let's go for a swim in the lake."

During the Chinese New Year, the two of them made an appointment to go to Bigang Mountain in spring to fly kites and play polo.

I didn't expect that summer is almost here.

Su Wan replied: "Be busy now, we'll talk in autumn?"

Playing polo and flying kites are not as interesting as watching palace dramas.

Now that the matter has not yet come to an end, it is not appropriate to leave the palace, right?

But the next day, Xie Pei had someone send him a kite polo ball, so it seemed that he definitely had time.

But when Su Wan got on the carriage, she found that there was more than just Xie Pei in the carriage. The Grand Secretary of Dongge was also sitting in this spacious carriage.

This? Why did you ask her to come here?