Before leaving the palace, all the concubines went to say goodbye to Consort Liu.
When Consort Liu learned that not only were they allowed to leave the palace, but the Empress had also given them five thousand taels of silver, she immediately ran to find Su Xuening.
Su Xuening was both amused and exasperated after hearing Consort Liu's words: "You also want to leave the palace?"
Consort Liu smiled bitterly: "I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but when the late Emperor was alive, I was not favored and rarely had the chance to see him, let alone serve him in bed. I've truly had enough of this palace. Now that I have the opportunity to leave, I naturally don't want to stay. It just so happens that the Emperor bestowed the Holy Prince's Mansion upon Duo'er, and I'd like to move in with Duo'er and the others, and enjoy the blessings of grandchildren here."
Hearing Consort Liu say this, how could Su Xuening possibly object?
Knowing that she truly wanted to leave the palace, Su Xuening had Bihe bring the money box and gave Consort Liu 20,000 taels of silver notes. Consort Liu was so frightened that she waved her hands repeatedly: "No need, no need. Although I am not favored, I did give birth to Duo'er for the late Emperor. Over the years, the late Emperor has not mistreated me. I have also saved some silver myself. This private money is enough for me to live on for the rest of my life."
Besides, when she goes to the Holy King's Mansion, Duo'er will naturally take care of her and will certainly not skimp on her food and supplies.
"Take it. You'll always need more money. Consider it a gift from me and the Emperor." Su Xuening stuffed the 20,000 taels of silver into Consort Liu's arms.
After all, she was a concubine who had borne children for the late emperor, and she didn't want to treat her poorly.
Since Su Xuening has already said so, it would seem rather ungrateful of Consort Liu to refuse again.
Consort Liu accepted the silver note and knelt down before Su Xuening: "Then this concubine will accept it, thank you Your Majesty!"
"Get up quickly." Su Xuening helped Consort Liu up.
Consort Liu, her eyes red with emotion, looked at Su Xuening and said, "It was thanks to His Majesty's intercession that Duo'er was given a lighter sentence by the late Emperor, who only demoted Duo'er's rank. When His Majesty ascended the throne, he bestowed the Holy Prince's Mansion upon Duo'er. Now, I am also receiving such great favors from Her Majesty the Empress. I really don't know how to thank you and His Majesty."
Su Xuening could see Liu Pin's sincerity and comforted her, "We're all family, you don't need to be so polite."
The phrase "family" brought tears to Consort Liu's eyes.
At that moment, she suddenly understood why the late emperor insisted on passing the throne to the current emperor.
The Emperor and Empress are truly a couple whose magnanimity is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Putting everything else aside, she was certain that if Xuanyuan Yu and Xuanyuan Zhi had ascended the throne today, the former emperor's concubines, as well as the wives and concubines of disgraced officials like Zhao Zhenzhen and Liu Hanyan, would never have met such a good end.
They would probably all be convicted and implicated, so how could they be allowed to leave the palace peacefully, or even given silver?
If we're talking about Xuanyuan Yu and Xuanyuan Zhi, or even their son Duo'er, which one of them hasn't harmed the Emperor and Empress? They bullied them countless times when they were young, but the Empress never held a grudge and always repaid evil with kindness.
She truly didn't know how to repay their kindness to her and Dor.
Su Xuening comforted Consort Liu, and then Consort Liu took her leave.
She had her things packed up that very day and left the palace overnight, as if there were some man-eating wild beasts in the palace, and everyone ran away so fast!
After Consort Liu left, there were truly no concubines left in the harem.
Apart from her and her mother, there were no other mistresses in the entire harem. The key point was that she and her mother did not live in the harem, but lived in two palaces next to Chengqian Palace.
Su Xuening thought that since there were no masters in the palace, the number of palace maids and servants should be reduced. After all, there were only a few masters, and they didn't need a whole palace of palace maids and servants.
Moreover, many of the people she, her mother, and Xuanyuan Zhan used were brought from the Holy King's Mansion.
For example, Ye Yun, Ye Feng, Ye Yu, Ye Xue, Granny Shang, Bi He, and Lü Lian.
Di Su, the steward, was also brought into the palace by the Empress Dowager and served by her side.
To put it bluntly, they still prefer to use the people around them, and they don't really use the palace servants from before very often.
Now that the masters in the palace are gone, the number of people serving them will naturally decrease.
However, Su Xuening did not dare to make decisions about the harem on her own, so she went to see Bai Fuya.
When Su Xuening mentioned that Consort Liu and the others had left the palace, Bai Fuya sighed with regret: "I never thought they would all have to leave the palace. If I had known this would happen, I would have asked the late emperor to let them leave the palace sooner."
As a woman, she understood women's loneliness all too well.
Perhaps these women originally entered the palace for wealth and honor, and were prepared with a whole host of ways to win favor, hoping to compete with the other concubines. However, Xuanyuan Peng's heart was not in the harem, so no matter how they competed, it was useless.
Because of Xuanyuan Peng's dislike, the woman's most beautiful years of youth were wasted in this golden cage.
If she had known they all wanted to leave the palace, she should have asked Xuanyuan Peng to let them go. Xuanyuan Peng's heart wasn't with them, so he would definitely have been willing to let them leave.
Leave the palace as soon as possible, and don't talk about remarrying; freedom is always real!
Seeing Bai Fuya's distress for the concubines, Su Xuening comforted her, "Although they are no longer young, it's not too late for them to leave the palace now. I've given them all some silver, enough for them to buy a big house, a few shops, a few acres of land, and a few servants. They can enjoy their old age in peace."
Bai Fuya took Su Xuening's hand and patted it gently, moved: "You're so thoughtful. It's their good fortune to have met such a good harem leader like you."
Su Xuening was a little embarrassed by the praise, and then explained her purpose: "I have released all the concubines in the harem. Now, the only masters in the palace are Xuan Yuanzhan and a few of us. I was thinking of releasing some of the palace maids and eunuchs as well. Without people in the harem, these palace maids and eunuchs will be somewhat superfluous."
Bai Fuya naturally had no objection: "Since there is no one left, then there is indeed no need for so many servants. It would be good to release some of them, which would not only show the new emperor's benevolence, but also save a lot of expenses. It's a win-win situation."
As Bai Fuya spoke, she patted Su Xuening's hand reassuringly: "You are the Empress, the mistress of this harem. From now on, you can make your own decisions about these things without asking me. Don't you know me? No matter what you say or do, your mother will always support you!"
She handled the affairs of the concubines in the harem very well; she was more suitable to be the Queen Mother of Eastern Chu than she was.
So she didn't want to get involved in these things, and was too lazy to bother with them, because Ning'er managed them better than she did. With Ning'er supporting her, she could finally relax and enjoy her grandchildren!
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