Chapter 232 Secretly Helping the Imperial Concubine

In the past two days, Concubine Chen has been asking Song Zhao to come to her palace every day.

He said he wanted to teach her the rules of governing the six palaces.

But most of the time, he just found ways to make things difficult for Song Zhao.

For example, today,

Concubine Chen asked Song Zhao to arrange the seating arrangement and dishes for the New Year's Eve banquet next month.

However, the original process of these matters should be that it should be drafted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial Kitchen first, and then submitted to the master who assists in managing the six palaces for review. If there is anything inappropriate, the master can make additions or deletions.

Now Song Zhao is the only one who is in charge, so the seating arrangement is easy to arrange.

However, the menu for the banquet involved the tastes of the concubines in the palace.

How could Song Zhao know who doesn't eat what and who has an indigestion about what?

Seeing that she couldn't write a single word after picking up the pen for a long time, Concubine Chen said in disgust:

"You better be careful. Don't be like last time in Meiyuan, where you couldn't even clean the floor when you ordered them to."

At this moment, Kang Yubin came in with a shy smile and reported,

"Your Majesty, just now the eunuch Jiang in front of the emperor came to pass on a message, saying that the emperor arranged for the general and his wife to enter the palace tomorrow to meet you, Your Majesty!"

"Really?" Imperial Concubine Chen was delighted, but she still held her head high and glanced at Song Zhao with great satisfaction, "The Emperor really took my matter to heart. I just mentioned that I wanted to see my family, and the Emperor immediately made arrangements."

Kang Yubin smiled and flattered, "Yes, Your Majesty is the apple of His Majesty's eye. In terms of favor in this palace, who can compare with Your Majesty?"

These words entered Song Zhao's ears, but they did not stir up any ripples in her heart.

But she knew that Concubine Chen wanted to see her jealous, so she deliberately stopped her brush, leaving an abrupt ink spot on the light yellow rice paper.

Seeing this, Concubine Chen laughed suddenly and said to herself:

"Come to think of it, the last time I met my father and mother was two years ago when my father made great contributions and the emperor personally gave him a family banquet. I miss you so much after not seeing you for so long. Liuyue, tell the kitchen to make more seafood tomorrow, my mother loves it the most."

Liu Yue took the order and left. Kang Yubin asked again:

"Your Majesty, the new year is approaching. Should we prepare gifts for the Emperor on New Year's Eve according to the usual rules?"

"Of course." Noble Concubine Chen did not hesitate for a moment and blurted out, "What we prepare for His Majesty must be top-notch stuff, and we cannot be careless at all."

Indeed,

The New Year gifts that Concubine Chen gave to Xiao Jingheng every year were all rare things that cost a fortune.

Take for example the dragon-patterned jade disk more than ten feet high that she gave to Xiao Jingheng last year.

Just that piece of transparent white marble is worth thousands of gold.

Not to mention the natural dragon pattern on it.

At this moment, Concubine Chen looked very proud, but Kang Yubin looked embarrassed and whispered in her ear:

"But... when the queen was pregnant and promoted, she gave away a lot of money to the six palaces, and she has already spent a lot of her savings. Now the remaining money in the palace is a bit tight."

Concubine Chen said disapprovingly, "Just go and prepare if I ask you to. Father will be entering the palace tomorrow anyway. No matter how much money is spent on pleasing the emperor, father will never think it is too much."

Concubine Chen's smugness was probably just a show for Song Zhao to see.

She wanted to tell Song Zhao indirectly that she had a good mother's family who could always help her, unlike Song Zhao who had no one behind him.

But the more Song Zhao listened, the more he thought her stupidity was cute...

Over the years, whether it was Xiao Jingheng's birthday or a New Year's gift, the gifts sent out from Concubine Chen's palace must have been the most splendid and respectable.

But has she ever thought about it?

As a concubine, she only received a monthly salary of 1,000 taels of silver.

Although my father and brother were important officials in the previous dynasty, their salary was only 1,500 taels.

Although this number sounds rich, it is still not enough to support the extravagance of Concubine Chen.

Didn't she ever wonder where the inexhaustible silver in her father's pocket came from?

After Kang Yubin left, Concubine Chen asked Song Zhao to put down the paper and pen and asked her,

"Can you also help me think about what kind of New Year's Eve gift I should give to His Majesty this year to please His Majesty?"

As he spoke, he gave her a proud look and said, "Don't worry, I know you're living in poverty. If your suggestion is good, I will naturally help you prepare a small gift, so that you don't embarrass yourself at the New Year's Eve banquet."

Song Zhao held his chin in his hand and thought for a moment before saying:

"During the New Year's Eve banquet last year, I was still under house arrest and did not attend. But later I heard from Concubine Yao that at the banquet, in addition to the dragon-patterned jade bi that the emperor liked very much, the gift that Concubine Ying gave to the emperor was also highly praised by the emperor."

"Ying Fei?" Concubine Chen sneered, "Ha. Isn't it just that her mother's family donated 10,000 soldiers to the court? The Adahu tribe is short of gold and silver, so they can only send some worthless animals and people."

Song Zhao said: "Your Majesty rules the world. What treasures in the world are there that His Majesty cannot obtain as long as he wants? On the contrary, those things that the Empress thinks are worthless are real military power and authority for His Majesty, and they are good things that cannot be bought with any amount of money."

Although Song Zhao's words sounded a bit harsh, they made sense after careful consideration.

Concubine Chen said, "You make it sound so easy. The Adahu tribe is a self-governing tribe, so of course they can send troops to the emperor. But where can I go to recruit troops for the emperor?"

"You don't have to recruit soldiers, Your Majesty." Song Zhao and Concubine Chen looked at each other and whispered, "Doesn't General Ning have 200,000 troops at his disposal?"

Hearing this, Concubine Chen rolled her eyes almost to the sky.

"Song Zhao, have you lost your mind after having a child? The troops under my father's command belong to the Qi Dynasty, which originally belonged to the emperor. Do you mean to let me take the emperor's things and give them to the emperor? You are trying to get something for nothing and let me tease the emperor?"

Song Zhao smiled and said slowly:

"General Ning is a brave warrior. In recent years, he has pacified all the foreign states and countries that were hostile to the Qi Dynasty. Since the defeat of Zhu Yin, the world has been unified, and all the countries and tribes have submitted to our Great Qi. Now the Qi Dynasty is peaceful and prosperous, and there will be no more wars. General Ning is returning the military power to the emperor at this time. For the emperor, is there a better gift than this?"

Concubine Chen always considers issues from Xiao Jingheng's perspective.

Song Zhao's words woke her up.

Now that the world is at peace, if her father still commands a large army, it will certainly attract criticism from the old officials of the previous dynasty who are conservative and unrepentant.

But in the Ning family's era, they were all military generals, and they were not ordinary front-line generals, but governors.

If a military general loses the military power in his hands, what is the point of being a governor?

"You want my father to hand over his military power? Then wouldn't my father and brother only have empty titles in the previous dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. General Ning is proficient in military tactics and is invincible. He is a genius. The emperor values ​​his strategy and ability to lead troops in battle. Regardless of whether the military power is in his hands or not, as long as he is still here, there will be no battle that the Qi Dynasty cannot win. The emperor will still treat General Ning well, and no one in the previous dynasty dared to disrespect the general. The most important thing is, this gift will please the emperor more than any amount of gold, silver and jade that Your Majesty gave him."

Concubine Chen thought carefully about Song Zhao's words for a long time before nodding slowly and saying:

"Father has many old injuries from fighting on the battlefield for many years. If the military power is still in his hands, he will have to lead the troops in training frequently and will have no time to recover from his injuries. It is better to hand over the military power so that father can have time to recover."

He glanced at Song Zhao and spoke in a softer tone:

"Your idea is not bad. I will discuss this matter with my father in detail when he enters the palace tomorrow. You have been tired here for half a day, so go back to the palace and rest."