Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Shocking Change
"Liang Jiugong, has the imperial edict promoting Yinsi to Beile been sent to the Ministry of Rites?"
Liang Jiugong glanced at His Majesty.
Seeing His Majesty lightly tapping the imperial pen with two fingers, he understood what was going on. The emperor's mind is unpredictable, but the smallest details still revealed His Majesty's displeasure at the moment.
Liang Jiugong bowed his head. "Alas, Your Majesty, calm down. I'm busy dealing with the bondsmen sent to the Palace of Heavenly Purity by the Ministry of Internal Affairs today, taking turns with the servants in the Fengxian Palace. I had planned to deliver the imperial edict to the Ministry of Rites early tomorrow morning. I'll go now..."
Liang Jiugong ran away in a hurry.
Emperor Kangxi shook his head slightly: "Withdraw it, I won't send it again."
Liang Jiugong let out a cry and moved to the door with his back hunched.
He knew very well that even if the imperial edict had been sent to the Ministry of Rites today, he could still delay it for a few days and then go to the Eighth Prince's residence to issue the edict without anyone noticing.
The Eighth Master and his group were too clever for their own good. His few insignificant words of praise and criticism had already made His Majesty suspicious.
The hall was so quiet that only the ticking of the Western clock could be heard. At this moment, Liang Jiugong pricked up his ears, waiting for the emperor to speak.
He knew that the Emperor was unhappy.
"Liang Jiugong, pass on my decree to promote Lao Jiu to the rank of Beizi."
"I obey your order!" Liang Jiugong was secretly delighted.
From this moment on, the Eighth Prince's party was completely eliminated from the fight for the throne.
The Emperor could no longer tolerate this and publicly bypassed the Eighth Prince and promoted the Ninth Prince to the rank of Beizi, making the Eighth Prince lose face.
"Your Majesty, Consort De has sent me her handmade nightgown."
Liang Jiugong suppressed his smile. The one who was anxious today was not just the Eighth Master. Even Concubine De had a broken wrist, and she still took advantage of the night to come and play the victim.
Defei had been whispering in the emperor's ear for half a year, and two days ago, the emperor finally gave in.
The reason for giving in was not because Concubine De was pestering the Emperor, but because of the Fourth Prince, who needed a mother of noble status.
"I hereby declare that Consort De is promoted to..."
Emperor Kangxi hesitated for a moment, thought again and again, and then said slowly: "Give Concubine De a set of head ornaments and jewelry."
If he rashly promoted Concubine De to Imperial Concubine, others would surely speculate that he was trying to replace the crown prince.
The concubines in the harem who had children were not only Uya. Uya was of humble status and came from a family of bondservants. In terms of seniority, Huifei and Rongfei surpassed Uya.
The harem is the former dynasty, and one move can affect the whole body.
Liang Jiugong suddenly spoke up, "Her Majesty Defei is really worried and confused. She even broke her wrist while taking care of the Fourth Prince."
"The doctor said the bones were all cracked."
Emperor Kangxi remained silent. Uya had no other bad habits except that she had a narrow vision and was short-sighted.
If she could share half of her thoughts on her fourteenth son with her fourth son, the relationship between mother and son would not be so tense.
At this moment, Emperor Kangxi made up his mind.
"Nine Merits, Wu Ya can only be a concubine, remember."
Liang Jiugong was silent for a while, then he looked up at the Emperor, whose eyes were dark and unclear.
"Can…"
"No buts." Emperor Kangxi flatly refused.
"I will leave an imperial edict, and when the situation is settled, I will secretly order her to be buried with me!"
Liang Jiugong prostrated himself on the ground respectfully: "I obey your command."
It would take no more than half a year for the Fourth Prince to sit firmly on the throne, and it would be just right for Concubine De to serve as the Empress Dowager for half a year before passing away.
This is to prevent Concubine De from being confused and being instigated by others to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
"Let the fourteenth one join the Northwest Army in the spring to gain some experience."
"The Fourteenth Master is still young, and the conditions in the army are difficult. Your Majesty the Virtuous Concubine must be worried about him."
Liang Jiugong was delighted. The Fourteenth Master was cheerful and lacked scheming. If he was sent to the army, he would only become a reckless man.
When the Fourteenth Master returns from his military training, he will no longer have a place in the court.
His Majesty is quietly clearing away obstacles for the Fourth Prince to ascend the throne.
"From now on, the rewards given to Yinzhen's wife will be sent directly to the Prince's Mansion to Yinzhen, without going through Yonghe Palace."
Liang Jiugong pretended to be shocked: "Your Majesty, the Fourth and Fourteenth Concubine are both the daughters-in-law of the Virtuous Concubine. They are both flesh and blood. How could the Empress favor one over the other?"
As the Emperor and the father-in-law, it is not convenient for His Majesty to reward the women in the harem with gifts directly. Usually, he rewards the concubines in each palace who have children, and then the concubines reward them.
His Majesty's move was clearly intended to criticize Concubine De for being partial.
Defei was the most favored concubine in the harem, and His Majesty had never humiliated her like this.
Emperor Kangxi sighed softly, "You don't understand. Although the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh, they also have different thicknesses. The back of the hand is thin, and the palm is thick. Who will be the back of the hand, and who will be the palm of the hand that is pampered?"
"Your Majesty is wise, and I am stupid. I haven't considered everything carefully."
"Hmph, stop talking nonsense." Emperor Kangxi picked up the pen and continued to review the mountain of memorials.
"Send them to Yuqing Palace and have the Crown Prince approve them within three days and discuss and finalize them with the various ministries."
"Yeah." Liang Jiugong glanced at the pile of memorials on the imperial desk. With just one glance, he knew that the prince would not be able to complete the task within three days.
The Fourth Prince took sick leave, and the political affairs reported in those memorials were more or less inextricably linked to the Fourth Prince.
If the Fourth Prince gave up, even if the problem of Yuqing Palace could be solved, it would be quite troublesome.
It will take at least half a month to sort out these confusing accounts.
The Crown Prince has relied heavily on the Fourth Prince over the years, and his actions today are undoubtedly cutting off his own arm.
As for Concubine De, His Majesty didn't even want to pretend anymore and didn't even give her any respect.
Defei's position in the harem has come to an end. She can only be a concubine in this life and will never have any chance of promotion.
His Majesty was so disappointed with the Crown Prince that he didn't even bother to ask about the Yuqing Palace.
Liang Jiugong was delighted. If the prince was deposed by the emperor, the throne of queen would belong to Xian'er in the future.
Otherwise, what if he became Zhao Gao of the Qing Dynasty?
What's more, His Majesty seems to treat the Fourth Prince particularly differently.
Even the memorials assigned to the Fourth Beile had slight differences from those submitted to other princes, including the Crown Prince.
His Majesty remained calm and concealed the principles of being a king in the memorials assigned to the four princes, rather than trivial matters that could be decided by his ministers.
Others might not be able to figure it out, but Liang Jiugong is the most trusted servant in front of the emperor, and he has a photographic memory.
The memorial that His Majesty arranged for the Fourth Prince was extremely clever.
It seems trivial and tricky, but it is actually full of hidden secrets, with subtle clues and connections.
No one else can figure out what His Majesty is thinking.
His Majesty is cultivating the Fourth Prince intentionally or unintentionally.
Therefore, Liang Jiugong was extremely sensible tonight.
"Your Majesty, I think the Crown Prince is drunk tonight, please calm down."
This statement undoubtedly added fuel to the fire. As expected, His Majesty snorted coldly, "Oh, the royal family's children all have Master Anda to teach them how to drink. When have you ever seen a prince lose his composure after drinking?"
"Being drunk and losing control of yourself is just an excuse to cover up your mistake." Emperor Kangxi said coldly.
Liang Jiugong said nothing, but just prostrated himself on the ground: "I am a stupid slave, Your Majesty, please calm down."
Emperor Kangxi stared at Liang Jiugong's hunched back thoughtfully.
How could he not know the little thoughts of the dog slave?
It was good that he was loyal to Yinzhen, which was a hundred times better than relying on the two bastards, the eldest son and the eighth son.
"Get up and go see Fei Yanggu."
When Fei Yanggu was mentioned, Emperor Kangxi's eyes showed sadness.
I don’t know if he can hold on until he sees his grandson born safely.
What happened in Yuqing Palace today finally reached Fei Yanggu's ears.
He nearly died tonight.
"I obey your order." Liang Jiugong gritted his teeth in anger when he thought of Fei Yanggu who was so anxious that he vomited blood today.
After turning around and taking two steps, I heard the Emperor speak slowly.
"We will set off for Tangshan tomorrow and take Fei Yanggu to Tangquan for rest."
Liang Jiugong's eyes were sore: "I obey your order."
Although His Majesty is busy with all kinds of affairs, he still remembers to help Anda, the few people who have been with him since childhood.
Just a few days ago, he helped Cao Yin deal with the deficit of Jiangning Weaving Factory.
The Emperor actually ordered Cao Yin to sell the garden where the imperial carriage was staying to make up for the deficit.
In order to sell the garden at a good price, the Emperor wrote several imperial calligraphy works all night long and had them sent to Jiangning by an express delivery over 800 miles.
He secretly ordered Cao Yin to hang the imperial calligraphy in the garden to raise its value.
How many people dream of having the emperor's calligraphy, and they must enshrine it when they get it back, but the Emperor gave Cao Yin the imperial calligraphy only to raise the price of the garden.
Cao Yin was so excited that he traveled to Beijing overnight to express his gratitude.
Liang Jiugong secretly hoped that the Emperor would live forever, otherwise if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he and Cao Yin would definitely not have a good ending.
Over the years, he and Cao Yin have been trying to sabotage Yuqing Palace both openly and secretly. No matter what, the future new emperor cannot be the crown prince.
At the same time, the sound of cups breaking came from the study in Yuqing Palace.
Yinreng just asked his confidant Doctor Chen to take his pulse, and only then did he know why he was so out of control and rebellious as never before today.
The servants of Yuqing Palace stayed up all night tonight, carefully searching the side hall where Nara had stayed.
Yinreng always felt that everything tonight was weird.
Originally, he just planned to hide in the dark and watch Nara from afar.
Ever since that round-faced servant girl came in and lit the incense, he felt as if he had been possessed by a demon, and an indescribable desire was swelling and tormenting him.
He rushed towards Nara almost uncontrollably.
If his fourth brother had not arrived, he even decided to kill Nara on the spot.
Even in public.
He hid his feelings towards Nara very well and never revealed any flaws in front of outsiders.
Even if he wanted her again, he would control his words and actions.
The prince thought about it and found it more and more suspicious, so he immediately asked his trusted imperial physician to take his pulse.
Doctor Chen was unable to find any clues at first, until he used a silver needle to draw blood, he discovered the abnormality.
Based on his understanding of his fourth brother, he would never be so despicable as to use a woman to sow discord.
Even if he didn't care about the Nara clan, he would never take the risk of using his legitimate son.
Everything that Fourth Brother has is funded by Yuqing Palace. He would never do anything stupid that would ruin his own job.
The prince attributed the reason for his fourth brother's loss of control tonight to □□.
"Master, the rumors are spreading throughout the Forbidden City that you beat up the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince, and that you even smashed the Eighth Prince's head."
"Prince Zhi and the Ninth and Tenth Princes supported the seriously injured Eighth Prince and paraded through the Forbidden City. Their intentions are worthy of death."
The East Palace staff said angrily.
"My eldest brother and eighth brother are really a source of worry to me." The prince's eyes flashed with ferocity.
"Is the eldest wife dead?"
Ling Pu, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, lowered his voice and said, "Dead, completely dead. The master has ordered that the first wife must not live past the first day of the Lunar New Year. This servant has remembered it."
The prince nodded in satisfaction, "My eighth brother is getting married next month. Prepare a generous gift for him. Make sure he will never forget it."
"Don't hurt my eighth brother's wife." The prince knew that Nara and his eighth brother's wife, Guo Luoluo, were close friends. If Guo Luoluo was harmed, Nara would be heartbroken.
She is pregnant and can't afford to make any mistakes.
Ling Pu raised his head and said, "Master, how much does this gift have to weigh? I will consider it carefully."
The Crown Prince sneered, "I must make sure that Eighth Brother doesn't even have time to care about his wedding, and that he dies without a burial place."
Over the years, the eighth brother and the eldest brother have been using endless insidious tricks in private. In the past, Yinreng was too disdainful to lower himself to compete with the eighth brother. The eighth brother was of humble status and bloodline, so he was not to be feared.
In the past few years, the Eighth Brother's party has gradually gained a firm foothold, and even without realizing it, the Eighth Brother's influence has penetrated into the prosperous Jiangnan.
In the past two years, he has even attempted to get involved in the military.
The prince never wanted to compete with his brothers. He kept in mind the Khan's father's teachings that fratricide was forbidden, and he kept it in mind.
No matter how evil his eldest brother and eighth brother did, he would never punish them and would just turn a blind eye.
He is the crown prince and the future emperor. Everything in the world belongs to him, and he doesn't need to fight for it.
My eighth brother should never have set his sights on Nara.
Everything else can be discussed, and he can be as magnanimous to his eighth brother as before.
He should never, ever, have his eighth brother sow discord between him and Nara. At this moment, the prince's mind was filled with Nara's resolute and sad eyes.
She must have hated him terribly.
The prince became increasingly restless when he thought of Nara's hatred for him. He stayed awake all night in his study, smashing things.
When I went to court, I originally wanted to condescend to apologize to my fourth brother.
But I was shocked to hear that my fourth brother had taken three months off because he had caught a cold.
The prince felt more and more guilty towards his fourth brother. He knew in his heart that he had an ulterior motive when he kicked his fourth brother last night. He wanted to kill his fourth brother so that he could put an end to it once and for all and get Nara.
The prince was uneasy all night, worried that his fourth brother was not dead, but also worried that his fourth brother was really dead.
He was grateful that his fourth brother, even though he was seriously injured by his kick, still took into consideration the reputation of Yuqing Palace and asked for leave only because he had caught a cold.
Looking at my eighth brother again, whose forehead was stained with blood, he fainted several times in the court today and pretended to be awake.
Last night he didn't hit his eighth brother hard, he just kicked him on the forehead.
But his eighth brother's performance today made him disgusted.
Fortunately, Khan Ama did not come to court today, and still ordered the prince to preside over the government.
Khan Ama trusted him and never asked him a single question about what happened last night.
He endured the ordeal until the end of the court session, then the prince personally went to his private storehouse to carefully select and prepare generous gifts. He could not wait to leave the palace in disguise and head to the Fourth Prince's residence.
He arrived at the Fourth Prince's Mansion in a panic, but found nothing. His fourth brother had already taken his wife, Nara, to the Lion Garden to give birth.
The prince suppressed his displeasure and was about to rush to the Lion Garden, but was stopped by a servant.
"Master, the Emperor has issued an order for you to immediately go to the Shengjing Ancestral Mausoleum to preside over the winter sacrifice."
"Didn't Fourth Brother always go in the past? Why did you let me go this year? Has there been any news from the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"
The prince's eyebrows twitched and he felt uneasy.
Khan Ama transferred his eldest brother to the Northwest Army and gave him an important position, and at the end of the year, he sent him, the crown prince, thousands of miles away from the border.
In the past, he only needed to stay in the Forbidden City to supervise the country, and he never had to travel through mountains and rivers or take a long journey by boat or carriage.
"Master, the Eighth Master was slapped in the face by His Majesty. Today, the imperial decree promoting the Ninth Prince to the rank of Beizi has been issued, and the Eighth Prince has been skipped."
"News has long been circulating in the Yangxin Palace and the Ministry of Rites. The imperial edict promoting the Eighth Prince to the rank of Beile will be announced in the next few days. Now that the Ninth Prince has become a Beizi, the Eighth Prince is still a Prince. Congratulations, Crown Prince."
"It's his fault for overestimating his own abilities." The prince's eyes were filled with joy, and his doubts were completely dispelled.
He knew that Khan Ama would never doubt him at all, but would vent his anger for him and punish his scheming eighth brother.
He was the crown prince, the only legitimate son of Khan Ama, and no one could surpass him.
The round trip to Shengjing for the sacrifice would take at least four months.
It was now the end of winter, and when he returned, Nara would have just finished her confinement.
Then bring her a generous gift.
The prince was very pleased and turned back to the carriage.
"Send these gifts to Tong Jia."
The prince was too lazy to return the gift to the storeroom and simply waved it away. Behind the corner gate, Tong Jia watched helplessly as the prince's carriage passed through the gate without entering.
Why didn't the prince come to see her? Then what was he doing here today?
She was horrified and hurriedly urged her servant to find out.
My servant Qingshuang trotted to find Ling Pu, the eunuch in charge of the Crown Prince, to inquire about the matter, and soon brought back the news.
"Master, the Crown Prince has received an imperial decree today and must immediately rush to Shengjing to preside over the sacrifice at the ancestral tomb."
"The prince specially prepared a gift for you."
Tong Jia became increasingly anxious and asked anxiously, "Why go to Shengjing at this critical moment?"
She was due to give birth at the end of May, and the imperial physician said that twins were very prone to premature birth.
In late April or early May, she will give birth to a pair of little boys for the prince, but he is so good that he not only ignores them, but also refuses to enter the house.
Tong Jia glanced absentmindedly at the dazzling array of gifts in the box.
When he saw the regulations for Dongzhu, which could only be used by the legitimate wife, his eyes immediately lit up.
He had some conscience and knew to use the gifts prescribed by the legitimate wife to please her.
....
In the blink of an eye, tomorrow is the wedding day of Wan Ning and the Eighth Master. Chu Xian returned home from Lion Garden two days ago.
According to the rules, the legitimate wife will be carried into the Eighth Master's residence today.
As soon as it got dark, Chu Xian personally led 200 loads of dowry boxes and passed through the small door connecting the Prince's Mansion and the Eighth Master's Mansion, and carried the dowry to the private storehouse in the main courtyard of the legitimate wife.
"Fourth Lady, why are there eighty more pallets? This number is wrong."
Nanny Gui, who was serving Wan Ning, was filled with shock.
The dowry given by the Fourth Lady was never made public. She only said it was two hundred loads and never even said what it was.
"Madam Gui, that's right, there are two hundred loads in total. The dowry I give to Wan Ning is not included in the dowry list." Chu Xian raised her hand and asked the servants to move faster.
"Wan Ning will be arriving at the mansion at three quarters past midnight tonight. Madam, please hurry up and get ready for your trip."
"Fourth Madam, this is impossible. How dare I accept the dowry on behalf of our Madam?" Nanny Gui was flattered.
"Don't tell her. Tell her to find out and surprise herself one day when she's not slacking off."
Chu Xian's eyes were full of smiles as she left, holding her belly.
When he turned around, he saw the Eighth Master and the Ninth Master walking towards the main courtyard of the Lady.
Chu Xian didn't want to see the Eighth Master. If Wan Ning wasn't the Eighth Concubine, she would never have any intersection with the Eighth Master in her life.
That night, the Fourth Master's life was hanging by a thread, but the Eighth Master still indulged Prince Zhi and the Ninth Master in teasing the Fourth Master.
If she had not discovered it in time, the Fourth Master would have died on the spot.
The Eighth Master also angered Wan Ning and caused her to run away, causing her to injure her left foot. On the wedding day, she still had to limp to the wedding hall.
He deserved it that Emperor Kangxi took away his chance to be promoted to Beile.
In history, the Eighth Master and the Fourth Master were both conferred the title of Beile, and he was the youngest Beile.
If Wan Ning hadn't been worried about being laughed at, she wouldn't have secretly gone to Liang Amu and the Fourth Master to beg them, coaxing them for several days.
If nothing unexpected happens, Wan Ning will return home, and the imperial edict promoting the Eighth Prince to the rank of Beile will be issued.
Seeing Jiu Ye's pair of shrewd and sinister eyes looking at her thoughtfully, Chu Xian quickly avoided him and went out the small door behind the rockery.
The Fourth Prince's Mansion and the Eighth Prince's Mansion are separated by a hidden secret door, and there are usually people guarding both sides.
If Wan Ning and she wanted to visit each other, they could just let someone know at the secret door.
The Ninth Prince watched his Fourth Sister-in-law leave through the secret door behind the rockery and couldn't help frowning.
"Eighth Brother, that door is a hidden danger. If Fourth Brother sends someone to spy at the door..."
Yinsi sighed helplessly, "It's just a door. Since Fourth Brother isn't wary of me peeping in, why should I be afraid?"
As he was speaking, the servant beside the Ninth Prince came over and said, "Master Prince, Concubine Yi invites you to the palace."
When he heard the word Beizi, Yinzhen subconsciously glanced at the expression of the mynah bird.
Khan Ama indiscriminately protected Yuqing Palace and even slapped the face of my brother, making him a laughing stock in the city.
Even he was granted the title of Beizi, but my brother was still a prince. Khan Ama bypassed my brother and directly promoted the young prince, which was a great humiliation to my brother.
When attending court yesterday, my dear was scolded by Khan Ama for being cunning.
At this time, Nanny Gui came over anxiously and said, "Eighth Master, the Fourth Lady just sent over two hundred loads of dowry. They have all been moved into the Lady's private vault."
"This is the dowry list given by the Fourth Lady. Please take a look."
"How much? Two hundred? Is that correct?"
Yinzhen pulled out a small abacus from his sleeve and said, "You must have made a mistake. Let me investigate it carefully so that my brother won't owe you a huge favor."
"The Queen's dowry is less than 200 pieces. Nara is ruthless and will definitely flatter her to the point of killing her."
"Several servants have counted and checked five times, there is absolutely no mistake." Nanny Gui said in a firm tone.
Yinzhen was dumbfounded and flipped through the list: "What are you sending? If it's just to make up the number, I can still come up with 200."
Just turning to the first page, I suddenly saw the shops and houses in Nanluoguxiang, Liulichang and Guozijian Street.
The shops and houses in Nanluoguxiang and Guozijian Street, where every inch of land is worth a lot of money, cannot be bought even if you have money. I didn't expect that Nara would be so generous to my eighth sister-in-law.
The properties on the first page alone were worth more than 100,000 taels of silver. When he turned to the second page, Yinzhen was left with nothing.
"This is your eighth sister-in-law's private dowry. You don't need to look at it. Whatever your fourth sister-in-law gives, it belongs to your eighth sister-in-law and has nothing to do with me." Yinsi handed the account book to Nanny Gui.
"The dowry sent by your fourth sister-in-law was never publicly known. Only your eighth and fourth sisters-in-law knew about it. It was not paraded through the streets with the bride's escort, so it wasn't considered an overreach."
"When Fu Jin arrives, I'll hand over the account books to her. Furthermore, the accounts for the front and back yards will be combined and managed entirely by Fu Jin."
"Yan Jin, give the front yard account books and the storeroom keys to Fu Jin tomorrow."
"Myna, please think twice!"
When Yinzhen heard the eight-year-old brother talk about the settlement, he was shocked.
Usually the front yard and the back house keep their own accounts, and money is allocated from the front yard to the back house every month for management.
The rear house must never interfere with the accounts of the front yard.
There are many places where men spend money, and some expenses cannot be known to the women in the backyard.
On weekdays, he couldn't avoid spending money on wine and women and socializing.
If the accounts of the front and back houses are combined, the expenses of Eighth Brother’s visits to brothels will be clearly known to Eighth Sister-in-law.
With the Eighth Sister-in-law's overbearing personality, she will surely cause chaos in the backyard.
Therefore, a man of status would never allow the front and back yards to be combined.
If the Eighth Brother took the initiative to settle the bill, he would undoubtedly hand the purse to his Eighth Sister-in-law. If his Eighth Sister-in-law was unhappy, the Eighth Brother would not get a single penny.
At the Fourth Prince's residence, while the Fourth Master was paying his respects to the palace today, Chu Xian was busy calculating on her abacus and carefully checking the accounts.
The front yard and the back house have long been combined.
"Fujin, last month the master spent 4,300 taels, of which 2,900 taels were spent on buying jewelry for you." Nanny Chun held the sorted account book in front of Fujin.
"I took you to Liuquanju twice, and it cost a total of two hundred taels."
"The total expenditure for the front yard servants' rewards and monthly wages is five hundred taels."
"The money for weddings and other matters, totaling four hundred taels, and the gifts for His Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and the Virtuous Consort cost six hundred and thirty taels."
"I still have seventy taels left. I bought some stuffed dolls for my little brother, as well as a little wooden horse, a rattle, and other fun things."
Sui Qing placed the sorted account books in front of Fu Jin.
Chu Xian's eyes were gentle as she gently stroked a pair of warm jade bracelets on her wrists.
"Madam Chun, have the servants in the front yard remind us to persuade the master to buy less jewelry."
"Prepare another thousand taels for me and give it to Su Peisheng to manage. Daily social interactions and expenses in the Forbidden City will be paid separately and will not be counted as my expenses."
Nanny Chun smiled and nodded: "Fujin, it's a good thing that the master dotes on you, and it's a good thing that the accounts in the front yard are clean."
Nanny Chun hinted at something. When she was checking the accounts just now, she was most afraid of encountering the account transactions with the Eight Great Hutongs.
"Oh, why are there six expenses for Baoyue Tower in July? More than seven thousand taels?" Xianrong exclaimed.
Before he could finish his words, he quickly covered his mouth.
Chu Xian frowned, took the account book, and with just a glance, her brows instantly relaxed.
The Fourth Master had instructed that all the accounts he had collected for the aftermath of the Yuqing Palace should be recorded by his servants in small calligraphy with flowery characters.
It is very easy to identify the hairpin-flowered small regular script among the neat official script.
Since it concerned Yuqing Palace, Chu Xian didn't dare to speak out, and only said vaguely, "From now on, all the accounts recorded by the servants in the front yard in small calligraphy will be recorded in a separate account book by Madam Zheng."
Nanny Zheng, who was checking the account book, put it down and gestured to show that she had memorized it. She also complained that the accounts in Zanhua Xiaokai's calligraphy were all bad.
"Fujin, the concubines and princesses from the harem have come to pay their respects to you."
Sui Qing stood outside the door and reminded.
When Chu Xian heard the concubines and princesses, she became restless.
Some time ago, Concubine De sent Uya, the cousin of the Fourth Master's mother's family, and then the Empress Dowager sent Wu Gege, Geng Gege, and Zhang Gege.
Including Princess Song, there are now seventeen concubines and princesses in the harem.
"Fujin, Uya Gege and Song Gege have been fighting fiercely in the backyard these days. You should give them a lesson." Nanny Chun reminded them sternly.
"Tell them not to come and pay their respects. Just stay in their own courtyards." Chu Xian held her forehead with her hand as she felt a headache.
The harem was turned upside down by Uya and Song. She was pregnant and acquiesced to their fight.
Unexpectedly, it got worse and worse.
"What did Song and Li do in the past two days?" Chu Xian rubbed her eyebrows.
"Reporting to the wife, Uya Gege insisted that Song Gege drugged her, causing her to have persistent bleeding."
"Song Gege then turned around and accused Wuya Gege of giving her a sterilizing soup."
"I don't know which of these two was so cruel as to give all the concubines and ladies in the harem a sterilizing soup."
"....." Chu Xian subconsciously thought it was the Song family.
"Are they in any condition? Ask the imperial physician to use the best medicine to nourish them."
Chu Xian paused and said, "Madam Chun, please go to the storehouse and pick out some new tribute satin that was sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and give each of them a set of headgear, something luxurious."
"Madam, I was just about to report this." Nanny Chun bowed, "The ladies have all come to me secretly, saying that there's no need to bother the imperial physician with this matter, and that they can just go get some medicine and recuperate."
"I feel that this is a small matter and there is no need to trouble Madam, so I will take the initiative and agree to it." Nanny Chun looked cunning.
How could Chu Xian not understand Nanny Chun's hint?
In order to gain favor, concubines and princesses would never let anyone know that they were physically impaired and unable to bear children.
Nanny Chun wanted to consolidate her position as the legitimate wife, so she was naturally happy to see it happen, and she might even be secretly adding bricks and tiles to it.
Chu Xian was panicking: "Does the Fourth Master know about this?"
She was worried that the Fourth Master would think she was cruel and vicious and would harm the concubines in the harem.
Nanny Chun's smile widened: "It's all thanks to Su Peisheng's advice."
Su Peisheng's attitude represents the Fourth Master's opinion, and it's good enough that he knows it.
Chu Xian felt uneasy, and asked Nanny Chun to make two extra sets of clothes for the concubines and princesses, and allowed them to return to their parents' home to visit their families during the first month of this year.
As they were talking, Sui Qing reminded them from outside the door: "Fujin, Uya Gege said that the rules cannot be abolished. The concubine Gege must pay her respects to the legitimate wife every morning and evening."
"After being instigated by Uya Gege, the other Geges, except Song Gege, did not dare to leave and insisted on paying their respects to you."
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