After returning to the East Palace, Pei Yan went directly to his Zixiao Palace, while Tao Ti returned to her Yaoguang Palace.

After lunch, Tao Ti went back to her room and took a nap with Linglong's help.

When she woke up again, a group of people were already waiting outside the main hall.

Tao Ti sat on the bed, confused, "Who are they...?"

Linglong folded her hands in front of her and answered respectfully, "My dear Crown Princess, those who came outside are the supervisors of the three temples and five bureaus of the Eastern Palace. They are here to pay their respects to the Crown Princess and to hand over the affairs of the Eastern Palace."

Palace affairs? Tao Ti frowned slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, she stood up and said, "Help me dress up first, and tell me what these three temples and five bureaus are all about."

Linglong agreed and hurriedly helped her out of bed.

…

About an incense stick later, Tao Ti lifted the curtain and walked to the main hall, where she saw a group of eunuchs dressed in light blue, dark blue, navy blue, light red, brown red, and dark red standing in neat rows according to their rank.

Seeing the Crown Princess coming out, all the eunuchs said in unison, "Your subjects greet the Crown Princess. May you be blessed with good health and longevity."

Tao Ti walked slowly to the seat of honor and sat down calmly, "No need to bow, everyone."

Then everyone stood up.

Tao Ti glanced at them. There were both men and women. The eunuchs wore green robes of different colors, while the female officials wore red robes of different colors.

After thinking for a while, she said, "Please introduce yourselves first."

The audience looked at each other in bewilderment, then followed the instructions and introduced the guests in order.

"I am Yuan Lichun, the Supervisor of the Food Bureau, and I am in charge of serving and tasting food in the Eastern Palace."

"I am the Supervisor of the Medicine Storage Bureau, Sun Wenmei, in charge of the medicine of the Eastern Palace."

"I am the Supervisor of the Internal Affairs Bureau, Hu Dezhong, in charge of seals, clothes, umbrellas and fans, desks, pens, inkstones, and walls. I am also in charge of the clothing, fans, and writing materials. [1]"

“…”

By the time the sixteen people on the stage had finished introducing themselves, an incense stick of time had passed.

Tao Ti has a good memory. After seeing it once, she has a general idea of ​​it.

She straightened her waist, sat upright, and with a gentle and calm smile on her face, she said softly, "I have just arrived at the East Palace, and I don't understand many things yet. I have to learn slowly. In the future, I hope you will give me more guidance and help me manage the affairs of the East Palace well."

Then she said to Linglong, "Go and bring the plate of silver you brought back today."

Linglong was a little surprised, but didn't dare to ask more questions, and hurried back to the house to get it.

A whole tray, filled with neatly arranged silver ingots, sparkled in the afternoon sun.

These were all gifts from Emperor Zhaokang this morning, so Tao Ti didn't feel too bad about it.

She calculated in her head and confirmed that the number was about right, so she gave each supervisor and deputy supervisor a silver ingot. There were still sixteen silver ingots left, so she gave two ingots to each department and asked them to convert them into small change and give them as rewards to their subordinates.

This lavish operation shocked the eunuchs in the three temples and five bureaus.

They held heavy silver ingots and thanked the Crown Princess together.

As the old saying goes, one who eats someone's food will be soft-hearted, and one who receives someone's gifts will be short-handed. If they still looked down on the Crown Princess when they first arrived at the Yaoguang Palace, now they only felt that the Crown Princess was humble, tolerant, and friendly to the servants, and was not as weird and sarcastic as rumored outside.

After a cordial and friendly conversation, Tao Ti had a general understanding of the affairs of the East Palace. She was like a boss, and she only needed to check the work of each department every few days, which was not a big deal.

Before I knew it, an afternoon had passed.

After the eunuchs from various departments took their leave, Linglong brought six more people to Tao Ti.

Tao Ti took a quick look and her memory told her that these were her dowry maids and nannies.

"Crown Princess, His Highness is worried that you are not used to the people in the East Palace, so let them come back to serve you." Linglong said.

"Your Highness is so thoughtful." Pei Yan is really a caring little angel. She just mentioned it casually in the morning, but he actually remembered it.

The six people included maids and old women. Tao Ti reminded them to pay attention to the palace rules and then asked Linglong to take them downstairs to settle them down.

Tao Ti was not idle either. After returning to her room, she looked through the East Palace account book and her dowry book.

To be honest, as the daughter of a marquis, her dowry was quite impressive. It contained more than five pages of records of fertile land, shops, jewelry, gold and silver calligraphy and paintings, etc.

Tao Ti propped up her chin and thought, if Pei Yan really didn't live past the age of 23, she would divorce him and the dowry would ensure that she would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of her life.

Just as she was thinking about her future life as a wealthy woman, a maid came in with a cup of tea. Seeing that there was no one around, the maid immediately cried, "Miss, you have suffered so much. Did the prince bully you yesterday?"

"Your Highness has not bullied me." Tao Ti blurted out, and only later did she remember that the maid was called Zishuang and was the original owner's close confidant.

"Your Highness didn't blame you for what happened yesterday?" Zishuang was surprised, "Miss, please don't hide it from me."

Tao Ti looked puzzled and asked, "Why would I hide this from you?"

Zishuang was silent for a moment, as if trying to find a clue from Taoti's expression, but she saw that her brows were relaxed and she looked contented, as if she really was not bullied?

"It's best if His Highness doesn't blame me." Zi Shuang said bitterly, "Since you've already married into the East Palace, don't do stupid things. If you really don't like His Highness, at most you can give the Crown Prince two concubines after some time to distract his attention and we can have some peace and quiet."

Hearing this, Tao Ti's eyes moved slightly, and she looked at Zi Shuang thoughtfully.

Zi Shuang met Tao Ti's gaze, her heart skipped a beat, and she said uncomfortably, "Miss, why are you looking at me like this?"

"Nothing." Tao Ti was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "I don't need anyone to serve me now, you can go down first."

Zishuang didn't move immediately.

Tao Ti raised her eyebrows and squinted at her, "Anything else?"

Zi Shuang was surprised. "No, no, young lady, I will leave first."

"Oh yeah, wait."

"Huh?"

"I have now married into the Eastern Palace. From now on, you must change your way of addressing me. Stop calling me Miss and call me Crown Princess or Master instead."

"...Yes, I'll remember that." Zishuang lowered her head and replied. When she walked out of the inner room, she couldn't help but look back.

Strange, why does the girl look different today? Her spirit has become brighter and more cheerful, no longer like before, always complaining with a bitter face. Could it be that getting married can cause such a big change?

By the time Tao Ti finished reading the dowry book and the East Palace account book, it was already dark outside.

She stretched out her arms and asked Linglong beside her leisurely, "Is it time for dinner?"

Linglong said, "If the Crown Princess is hungry, I will serve you food."

"Is His Highness still handling official business? Will he come over to have dinner with me?" Tao Ti asked casually.

"This..." Linglong was not sure about the answer, so she just said, "Perhaps the Crown Princess can send someone to invite His Highness, and maybe His Highness will come?"

Tao Ti hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, you can find someone to invite him."

Thinking of the attitude of the second princess Pei Lingbi today, she felt that she had to remind Pei Yan. Alas, the prince was such a simple and kind person, how could he know the dangers of this world.

I have to remind this poor little thing.

——

East Palace, Zixiao Hall.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, its bright white light shining through the window like a veil, illuminating the desk obliquely.

Pei Yan had a handsome figure. He sat upright at the table, flipping through a book with one hand, tapping the tabletop from time to time, as if thinking about something.

The guard Zhan Ping stepped forward and called softly, "Your Highness."

Pei Yan didn't look up and asked calmly, "What's the matter?"

"Someone came from the Crown Princess's place, asking if Your Highness would like to have dinner with her?"

Hearing this, Pei Yan paused while turning the pages of the book, remained silent for a moment, and said, "Just tell her that I have some things to deal with and I won't go... Let her eat and drink well, and I will go to see her later."

Seeing the prince's gentle response, Zhan Ping frowned and said indignantly, "Your Highness, you are too kind. That woman...the Crown Princess is not worthy of your kindness. If I were to marry a wife like this, I would definitely leave her alone and let her cry."

As the commander of the left guard of the Eastern Palace and the leader of the prince's personal guards, Zhan Ping has always been close to the prince. Yesterday, the princess committed suicide by taking poison, and it was he who personally went to invite the doctor. Therefore, he did not have a good impression of this princess, and felt that she was too ungrateful.

Zhan Ping continued, "Your Highness, you can't get used to her. You can't get used to this woman. Who knows if she will get ahead of herself and do something even more outrageous..."

Seeing that he was getting more and more excited, Pei Yan raised his head, tapped his heavy temples, and whispered, "A Ping, you talk too much."

Zhan, a well-known chatterbox in the Eastern Palace, was startled. Seeing that the prince looked unhappy, he quickly shut up.

Pei Yan put the volume in his hand aside, as if he was thinking about something. After a long while, he said softly, "She has become a little different."

Flatten, "???"

No way, Your Highness, you have fallen into the land of gentleness in just one night? No, Your Highness, don't be fooled by a woman's appearance.

Pei Yan didn't say much, and lowered his eyelashes, "Go out and pass the message. Don't keep people waiting for too long."

Zhan Ping pursed his lips, bent his waist and clasped his fists, "Yes, I will go right away."

The footsteps faded away, and Pei Yan turned to look out the window.

The night breeze blew gently, making the bamboos outside the window rustle, and a few spring peach blossoms bloomed brightly under the moonlight.

He thought of the gift sent by Imperial Tutor Song yesterday. The first few sentences of the gift were "The peach tree is young and tender, and its flowers are bright and beautiful. Your daughter is getting married, and she is a good match for her family."

Although her action of using silver to reward the three temples and five bureaus today was a bit simple and crude, it was still an effective way to control people.

From this point of view, she does have some ability to be a good wife and family, and it seems that she can be a good princess...

When Pei Yan realized what he was thinking, he frowned and raised his hand to press his forehead.

He is probably exhausted and confused, why is he thinking about these things?

That woman is nothing more than an insignificant chess piece.