After waiting for everyone to greet each other, before Meng Qi could speak, Mother Liu brought Hu Erjia in to reply.
"Princess, the cards have been retrieved, along with the list of servants in the mansion and the instructions for personnel arrangements." Mother Liu took the booklet from Hu Erjia and handed it over.
Meng Qi took the pair of cards Yuan Dong handed over, looked through them for a while, and said, "So this is the pair of cards from the palace. This is the first time I've seen it. Li, how many pairs of cards like this do you have in the palace?"
Li looked at the card in Meng Qi's hand, which Madam Hai could use to transfer personnel, and was deeply surprised. What did this mean? Wasn't Madam Hai ill and going home to rest for a few days? Why would she hand over all the card, and what was the roster? Didn't she plan to return?
But before she could think any further, Li stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Princess, there are five pairs of cards in the palace's backyard. Madam Hai has one, I have one here, Sister Lin has one, and one is with Eunuch Li. The last one is in the outer courtyard. As for whether it is in the hands of Eunuch Zhang or Eunuch Hu, I don't know."
Meng Qi nodded. "Looking at this pair of cards reminds me of yesterday when Lin came to return the account books. If I didn't have that pair of cards in your hand, those account books alone wouldn't be enough to control the people in those departments, right?"
Xiao Lin's face flushed, and she quickly stepped forward to explain, "It was my fault. I came here in a hurry and forgot to bring it. Besides, you are the princess. You don't need to match cards to arrange who to do what. It's just a matter of a word."
"How could that be? The rules of the palace are good. Those servants only recognize names, not people. Have you forgotten about the pagoda meat?" Meng Qi said with a smile.
Xiao Lin's face turned red. With so many people around, she really didn't know what to say. She moved her lips but didn't respond.
Wu looked at Xiao Lin's embarrassment and stepped forward with a slightly raised lip. "Some people, relying on the princess's kindness, are constantly making small moves, thinking that others can't see through them. Tell me, the princess should severely punish such people. Regardless of whether they are secretly disobeying or directly contradicting her, they should all be dealt with according to the princess's wishes."
Meng Qi smiled and nodded, "Sister Wu, this is a good idea."
Wu had originally intended to squeeze Xiao Lin out. She'd often suffered at her hands, especially in the places she oversaw, where she'd always been inconvenienced for a while. She'd repeatedly used the title of "Eldest Young Lady" to no avail. She'd gone to the prince once or twice, but after too many instances, he'd lost the time and patience to adjudicate their cases.
It was Ms. Zhang who came up with the idea after hearing about what happened yesterday. She thought that in just two days, the princess had first embarrassed Xiao Lin and then let Nanny Hai suffer a loss. It seemed that the princess was preparing to take action in the inner house.
Since she had begun to act, she was bound to offend some people, especially those who held the power of the housekeeper. No one was stupid, and everyone knew how lucrative the inner court of the palace was. But it was difficult to seize such power. She had spent a lot of effort and money to bring the son of Song Nongyu's wet nurse, Mrs. Hu, to the court.
Look at the son of Mrs. Lu who is next to Xiao Lin. He easily got a job in the Procurement Department. This is the difference between having power and not having power.
Therefore, Ms. Zhang advised her that since the princess had begun to clean up the mess, she would have to collect some of the money. If she approached them now, she would be able to get some of the money she had with her power by the time the princess finished cleaning up the mess. By then, she would have enough for herself to use and could even save some for the eldest daughter.
When Wu heard this, she realized that this was exactly what was going on. It was just a matter of trying to please Meng. What was the difficulty? When she first entered the mansion, she had also thought about trying to please someone, but whether it was Xiao Lin, Li, Madam Hai, or Eunuch Li, they were all very slippery and none of them would accept her advances.
She had no other choice but to find opportunities to slowly understand them. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to give birth to Song Nongyu, which gave her the right to sit shoulder to shoulder with them. But that was all. She could not touch the big things and good things at all.
Now that Meng was attacking them, what better opportunity could there be? When there were many people around, they could just say a few nice words to Meng. After all, who doesn't like to hear flattery?
But she had never expected it to work so quickly. Ever since Meng Qi entered the palace, she had always addressed the older women, Li and Xiao Lin, by their direct address, not even bothering to add the term "concubine."
But just now, after only a few words, she called herself "sister." Haha, sister, this is a first. Wu was pleased and felt that Ms. Zhang's idea was good and feasible.
"It is my honor to share the princess's worries. I don't deserve the princess' praise." Wu said with a smile.
"The fact that you think about me proves that you care about me. Unlike some people who want to control me by relying on their seniority, you ask me to coax them. What kind of logic is this?" Meng Qi said unhappily.
Li frowned. What kind of temper does Meng Qi have? Didn't she say she's much better now? Just these few words were not the words of a cultured princess.
On second thought, since she could say such things, it was understandable that she would quarrel with the prince every now and then.
"I dare not say it to others, but in my heart, the princess is the first, isn't it, Miss? Is the princess the most important in your heart?"
Song Nongyu was pulled by Wu's sleeve and stepped forward and nodded obediently, "Father and King are always behind Mother."
Meng Qi looked at the lovely Song Nongyu and smiled happily. "Come here. I see the beautiful palace flower you are wearing today. When did you get it?"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
