I didn't expect Su Wanwan to be so decisive.

Last time, Mingming firmly disagreed with selling her dowry, but now it has all been converted into silver.

She breathed a long sigh of relief and clapped her hands excitedly:

"One million taels of silver will be used for the nine border regions!"

"Once the news gets out, I'm afraid those border troops won't care about causing trouble anymore; they'll be scrambling to beg the Ministry of War for more funds!"

Su Wanwan smiled and nodded: "That's right."

When conflicts become too intense or situations become too tense, offering a small incentive as bait can naturally ease the tension temporarily.

Mrs. Qiu happily went back and told her husband, Liu Yu, the news.

With such a huge benefit right in front of them, no one in the Nine Border Regions would dare to cause trouble at this critical juncture.

First, fabricate various expenses to grab a larger share of the profits and then talk about the rest.

It was the Tatar soldiers waiting outside the Great Wall to march south who suffered the most.

I've been scammed for months.

The plan to cooperate from within and without to let them enter the pass and plunder ultimately came to nothing.

Soon, Lu Xingjian also received the news.

He simply threw down the memorial in his hand and scoffed coldly.

How cunning and treacherous Su Wanwan is.

She made a fortune from the grain war in Jiangnan, and then used the proceeds to buy up all her dowry, sending the money to the Ministry of War.

In the end, the dowry that generated substantial profits each year returned to her own hands.

She only donated one million taels of silver, so she didn't lose out.

That brat is really good at making money.

He, the emperor, has stirred up such a huge commotion, incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, with curses echoing everywhere, and he hasn't seen a single tael of silver yet.

She, on the other hand, quietly made arrangements early on, easily earning a million taels of silver, and then immediately spent it all.

Those wealthy merchants and powerful families in Jiangnan suffered heavy losses in this grain war, and they thought their enemy was Zhen Jin of the Imperial Household Department, and that his master was the emperor.

They never expected that behind the scenes there was a scheming Empress Su Wanwan.

The frenzied acts of revenge were all directed at Zhen Jin.

It is said that Zhen Jingguang survived more than ten assassination attempts.

A smile, unnoticed by Lu Xingjian, appeared on his lips.

His wife is really capable.

He didn't think much of being used as a shield by his own wife.

Protecting one's wife is a husband's responsibility.

However, Lu Xingjian did not intend to let the root cause of their falling out lightly.

Now that her dowry has been sold, it would be best if she could also completely sever ties with Xiao Bin.

Lu Xingjian frowned slightly.

Meng Yue happened to come over to ask, "The Imperial Household Department has prepared the Dragon Boat Festival gifts to be sent to the various palaces. Does Your Majesty have anything to add or subtract?"

Lu Xingjian took the gift list and glanced at the column for gifts destined for Kunning Palace.

"Anything else is fine, but let's add another painting to Kunning Palace."

Meng Yue: "What painting? This servant will go and fetch it."

The palace is filled with calligraphy and paintings by various famous people.

Lu Xingjian didn't say much: "Wait for now, you can personally deliver it to Kunning Palace tomorrow."

After saying that, he asked for a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and immediately began to paint.

Meng Yue: "..."

The Empress has been ignoring you these days, so what good will a painting do?

It would be better to make a trip to Kunning Palace yourself; maybe the couple will reconcile.

However, it's understandable.

How could a man as high and mighty as the emperor stoop to coaxing people?

The emperor's greatest concession was to paint a picture by his own hand.

This is much more sincere than those calligraphy and paintings by celebrities.

The next day, when Su Wanwan saw the Dragon Boat Festival gift personally delivered by Meng Yue, she still gave him face and had the painting opened on the spot.

Su Wanwan stared at the painting for a long time without saying a word.

Crane Shadow peeked out and stared wide-eyed.

The painting depicts two magpies perched on a gnarled and strong branch.

One of them stood upright, head tilted back, mouth open, squeaking.

Another magpie stood below, its body hanging upside down in the air, head down, mouth closed and silent, clearly sulking.

The two magpies had red eyes and ignored each other.

It looks a lot like... how some people look after an argument.

Why did the Emperor go to the trouble of sending such a painting?

Su Wanwan simply instructed, "Hang it up."

Meng Yue smiled cautiously and asked, "Your Majesty, is there any return gift that this servant may present to His Majesty?"

"It's okay if there's no return gift, a simple message will suffice."

He really hadn't expected that the gift the Emperor had specially sent would be like this.

This is hardly a way of offering a way out.

Su Wanwan's tone was calm and composed:

"The Imperial Food Supervisor said that Miss Ma from Yongshou Palace has had a poor appetite these past few days. Perhaps His Majesty should send an imperial physician to take a look."

Meng Yue's eyelids twitched, and he had no choice but to say he was leaving.

The Dragon Boat Festival was a big day. The palace held a banquet for civil and military officials at the Meridian Gate. Lu Xingjian made a brief appearance and then left.

As for the ladies of the court, due to the unexpected events at the Empress's birthday celebration last time, no banquet was held in the palace; instead, fans were distributed to each household as gifts.

However, Lady Wang specifically summoned Su Wanwan to Renshou Palace for a talk, her face grim.

"Has the Empress grown too big for her britches? Does she think she can just ignore what I say?"

"Your Majesty, I am terrified. Please enlighten me." Su Wanwan had no idea what was wrong with Madam Wang this time.

"Hmph! The emperor was deceived by treacherous officials, and he embezzled a million taels of silver in Guangdong and Guangxi alone and sent it to the capital. Did the empress know nothing about this?"

Wang's tone was full of anger.

This indicates that the forces in Guangdong and Guangxi have already surrendered to the emperor.

Lady Wang did not know whether Marquis Liu Wen of Anyuan had pledged allegiance to the emperor.

She had no other choice at the moment, since she couldn't get in touch with Lu Xingjian at all, so she had to call Su Wanwan over to vent her anger.

Su Wanwan paused, her tone wistful:

"Is that so? No wonder the whole controversy about the clerks paying silver for their duties was only implemented in Huguang, Jiangzhe, and Southern Zhili. It seems that Guangdong and Guangxi took the initiative to raise the silver."

Wang was a little exasperated.

Without the strong support of the army, how could one million taels of silver possibly leave Guangdong and Guangxi?

Marquis Liu Wen of Anyuan had been living idly at home for many years, and it was only through Lu Xingjian's promotion that he was appointed as the General Commander of Guangdong and Guangxi.

It's not surprising that he sought refuge with the emperor.

By sending out this million taels of silver, Liu Wen not only gained favor with the emperor but also with the powerful families of Guangdong and Guangxi, thus avoiding the trouble caused by the clerks having to pay silver and perform their duties.

The silver was accumulated in the treasury of various departments and offices, and it didn't belong to Liu Wen anyway.

But... he was too impatient.

Now that Yanruo has not yet earned the title of concubine, the Liu family has already turned against her, and Wang Shi has lost another bargaining chip.

"I have heard that the eunuch Wei Yun has been committing all sorts of evil deeds in Guangdong and Guangxi, levying exorbitant taxes and plundering the local people, trying to seize all the remaining profits to send to the capital, resulting in the empty granaries of the empire. If there is any unrest in the local areas, who can bear the responsibility for this crime?"

"The Empress must advise the Emperor to severely punish Wei Yun and reassure the people."

Su Wanwan quietly clenched her fist.

Wang never cared about the court's dire situation of lacking money and food.