Song Xibai frowned deeply.
"Is he just a discarded pawn now? Who would go to such lengths to secretly take him away? Could it be Shu Ning?"
"It shouldn't be. She's under surveillance now, so she doesn't have that much power."
Yuan Shen shook his head.
Song Xibai suddenly looked up at him: "Then there's only one possibility..."
That fake emperor!
The two looked at each other and saw the same answer in each other's eyes.
Yuan Shen immediately got up and went out, returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation as quickly as possible, and summoned Commander Yue.
Commander Yue has now moved from the shadows to the light. The original secret guards have replaced those trained by the fake emperor and become the new inner guards. Commander Yue remains his commander, but his responsibilities have increased considerably.
At Yuan Shen's command, Commander Yue immediately led his men out of the palace.
Yuan Shen also took this opportunity to purge the former court and the harem once again, uncovering many spies. Regardless of whether they were related to the fake emperor, they were all labeled as traitors.
In the following days, Yuan Shen was extremely busy.
First, a large number of criminal officials were dealt with. Previously, they were simply imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail, but now that he had officially ascended the throne, it was much more legitimate to deal with them.
Apart from a few ringleaders who were beheaded and displayed in public, most of them had their homes confiscated and were exiled.
When the Shu family was executed, Shu Ning, dressed in plain clothes and wearing a veiled hat, went to collect their bodies.
After she finished dealing with it, she disappeared without a trace.
I thought she had run away, but to my surprise, she went to Huangjue Temple and became a nun.
When Song Xibai heard about it, it was already the next day.
Changqing Palace had already been tidied up, and she and her two children moved into the main hall. The room was warm and cozy, and they could not feel the slightest bit of cold.
The servants for the two children were also replenished. Including Wen Niang, there were a total of four wet nurses, two steady old nannies, eight palace maids responsible for personal care, and twelve palace servants for rough work. All these servants combined were more than the number of people around Song Xibai.
Song Xibai arranged positions for everyone around her. Wei Hong continued to serve as a personal attendant and was promoted to Shangyi. At such a young age, she was already a respected aunt among the palace maids. Fu Liu would serve as Fangqi's assistant and would eventually succeed Fangqi. As for Ju Qing, after asking for her opinion, Song Xibai sent her to the Shangfu Bureau. However, her qualifications were not quite enough to be a Shangfu, so she was temporarily assigned to the sixth-rank Siyi.
In addition, Song Xibai selected several other maids to serve her closely. They were all former palace maids from the East Side Palace. After being trained by Granny Fangqi, they were efficient and steady in their work.
The names were changed by Granny Fangqi long ago. According to the order of spring, summer, autumn and winter, this batch all start with the character "spring". The four that were promoted are named Lichun, Fengchun, Yingchun, and Panchun.
Right now, Song Xibai was sitting on a daybed in the side room, drinking Biluochun tea brewed on the day of Lichun and eating pastries made by Anping, the young apprentice of the eunuch Lai. He was enjoying himself immensely.
When Yuan Shen walked in through the wind and snow, he saw this scene, and his originally cold heart warmed up instantly.
He took off his cloak and handed it to Eunuch Feng, then habitually went to the stove to warm his hands.
Song Xibai hurriedly got off the bed and quickly came out to greet him.
"Why did Your Majesty arrive so early? Has the morning court session ended?"
Yuan Shen nodded: "After dealing with the last batch of criminals, the rewards will begin tomorrow. I estimate there will be several more days of wrangling."
Song Xibai poured him a cup of hot tea, blew on it, and fed him two sips.
"When will those exiled criminals set off? In this heavy snow, if they set off now, they'll probably freeze to death on the road."
Song Xibai said something casually.
Yuan Shen drank the rest of the tea from her hand and let out a long breath.
"There's nothing we can do about it. If we keep them locked up until spring, who knows how much food will be wasted. The new Minister of Justice has already complained about it many times."
The number of prisons under the Ministry of Justice is also limited.
After thinking for a moment, Song Xibai made a suggestion: "How about we exile them to the south?"
"The South? Is that still called exile? Isn't it just being sent there to enjoy a life of luxury?"
Yuan Shen rarely made a joke, and took her hand to sit on the daybed.
Seeing his exhausted face, Song Xibai felt sorry for him and gently massaged his temples.
"It's not in Jiangnan or Guangdong, it's further south."
"You mean Qiongzhou and Ryukyu?"
Yuan Shen seemed to be deep in thought.
Song Xibai nodded as he said, "When we were on the estate, I saw how hard the farmers worked in the fields. Then there was a flood, and there was almost no harvest. Although His Majesty is kind-hearted and exempted this year's taxes, not many ordinary people have any surplus grain."
Although sweet potatoes are produced in large quantities, there are too many disaster-stricken areas! It's simply not enough.
Recently, the supply of sweet potato flour from the estate to the palace has been decreasing.
"The climate in the south is hot and humid, which is suitable for growing rice, especially in places like Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. Your Majesty would be better off exiling these criminals there and letting them cultivate the land. It's much better than sending them to the north to freeze to death."
Actually, Lingnan was originally a good place to go, but the fake emperor came from the southwest, and that place was not safe enough. Who knows if these criminals would be used after they went there?
I think I'll just let them go and farm the land!
After hearing this, Yuan Shen suddenly hugged Song Xibai.
"Qingqing, were you sent by heaven to save me? How do you know so much!"
Song Xibai smiled, pursing her lips.
"I learned it all from miscellaneous books."
This is no lie, but these miscellaneous books were read in a previous life.
"This is a good idea. I'll discuss it with Grand Secretary Song and the others later and draft a plan. If it can be finalized, we can do it this way from now on."
Yuan Shen rested his chin on Song Xibai's shoulder, and as he spoke, his voice suddenly became softer.
Song Xibai turned her head and found that he had actually fallen asleep.
"Being an emperor is too hard."
Song Xibai muttered something to herself and carefully laid him flat on the daybed.
She tiptoed to the outer room and waved to Wei Hong.
"Has someone been sent ginger tea to Eunuch Feng and the others?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already asked Lichun to deliver it."
Wei Hong, dressed in her brand-new official's uniform, curtsied and replied.
Song Xibai nodded slightly and then instructed, "Tell Anping to prepare some food and bring it over when His Majesty wakes up. Also, bring over His Majesty's shoes; those boots are half-wet..."
She said something, and Wei Hong nodded; the task was completed quickly.
As soon as she finished speaking, Wei Hong lifted the thick curtain and went out.
Just then, Fuliu hurriedly came running over.
The two bumped into each other in the corridor and almost fell over.
Wei Hong grabbed Fu Liu.
"What's the matter that's so urgent? You're a palace maid now, why are you still so impatient?"
After Fu Liu stopped, he patted his chest and let out a soft sigh of relief before speaking.
"It's truly urgent! The Crown Princess is here!"
Song Xibai, who was inside the hall, happened to hear this sentence. He raised his eyes and looked towards the direction outside the gate.
She finally couldn't sit still anymore?
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