Hongyu looked at Yanghua expressionlessly, having already made her decision. She agreed to let Biyue and Xiuhua enter the palace, which would both save face for the emperor and allow her to use them as pawns to deal with Bao Qianqiu and Kong He'er. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
She rose and walked to Xiuhua, praising her: "Sister Xiuhua is indeed lovable. If she could enter the palace, she would add some vitality to the desolate harem. I wonder what Your Majesty's opinion is?"
At this moment, the Emperor finally breathed a sigh of relief. In his view, Hongyu was not only incredibly intelligent but also magnanimous.
He rose, took Hongyu's hand, and praised her, saying, "Consort Yu is able to relieve my worries and is incredibly considerate. I will certainly allow Biyue and Xiuhua to enter the palace to accompany you."
------
A month later, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Biyue, Xiuhua, Kong He'er, and Bao Qianqiu have all entered the palace.
Biyue and Xiuhua were granted the title of Noble Lady, Kong He'er was granted the title of Crane Consort, and Bao Qianqiu and Hongyu were granted the title of Imperial Consort.
Every morning at court, the Prince of Xiang, along with his ministers, would still petition the Emperor to make Bao Qianqiu Empress.
The Emperor was unwilling to accept this, and for the past month, he had been staying in Hongyu's room. Hongyu was gentle and charming, and full of tricks, which made him infatuated with her, but she also helped him with his plans.
Sure enough, during the morning court session, a minister reported that the Jiangnan region had been experiencing continuous rainfall for half a month, resulting in flooded farmland and even the deaths of thousands of people due to the heavy rain.
The emperor frowned as he looked at the memorial. He had been on the throne for less than two months, and the national treasury was already in deficit. Where could he find the money to fight the floods and provide disaster relief?
Throughout history, when the national treasury was depleted, the money was either plundered from the people or from the merchants.
But with the south flooded and winter approaching in the north, the people were also suffering terribly. A wealthy merchant in the capital, also related to the imperial family, was genuinely perplexed and didn't know what to do!
Lord Wang proposed harvesting autumn grain in the north to use for disaster relief.
The ministers all nodded in agreement: "When the country is in trouble, officials and the people should be of one mind and work together to overcome difficulties. I am willing to take charge of the grain collection."
"I am also willing to contribute to the country."
"I am willing to personally transport grain to Jiangnan."
"..."
All the officials were willing to contribute. Seeing this, Lord He shook his head and sighed, "Alas! This year's grain harvest is not good. I'm afraid the people in the north will have a hard time making a living."
"Last year, the late emperor did not collect any grain. Now that the national treasury is tight, what's wrong with asking the people to hand over grain?"
"..."
At this moment, Hongyu slowly walked in, her eyes wide as she scrutinized the assembled officials.
These eloquent and wicked people, whose homes are not luxurious, are stingy here and only think about plundering the people.
Although Hongyu was furious, she suppressed her anger and first knelt before the Emperor, then handed the wooden box in her hand to Eunuch Cai.
The Emperor opened the wooden box and asked in surprise, "Where did Consort Yu get these silver notes?"
Hongyu burst into tears instantly, choking out, "Your Majesty, Hongyu grew up in Jiangnan. Although life there was hardship, I still miss Jiangnan."
Hearing of the floods in Jiangnan, Hongyu was deeply distressed. Therefore, she sold all her mansions and the gold and silver jewelry bestowed upon her by the Emperor, all to help the disaster-stricken people.
Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent, but the Emperor was overjoyed: Hongyu's actions could be considered a model for all the officials.
So the emperor rose, raised the wooden box high, and exclaimed in a passionate voice:
[How could a mere woman be so concerned for the people of the world? I have decided to order the Prince of Xiang's residence to donate ten thousand taels of gold to aid the people of Jiangnan.]
With the people now under your rule, Jiangnan is saved; Your Majesty is wise.
After saying this, Hongyu knelt down.
The officials hurriedly followed suit and knelt down, shouting in unison, "Your Majesty is wise!"
In this way, Hongyu set an example and forced the officials to contribute money for disaster relief.
Hongyu left the main hall, rode in the emperor's imperial carriage to Putuo Temple, and was escorted by five hundred guards.
She claimed to be praying for the people, but in reality, she wanted to show off her benevolence and only wanted to defeat Bao Qianqiu and ascend to the throne of empress.
Little did they know, Bao Qianqiu was already at Putuo Temple praying for the people of the world.
As Bao Qianqiu walked out of the Guanyin Hall, he saw a thin woman walking shakily towards him. Compared to the people coming and going, she appeared extremely thin and frail.
Suddenly, a man squeezed past the woman, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Bao Qianqiu hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, and upon closer inspection, he realized it was Chen Yu.
How could Chen Yu have become so thin and frail after only a month apart?
Cuiwei and Jiu'er rushed over to help Chenyu straighten her clothes and put on her veil before bowing to Bao Qianqiu.
"Greetings, Consort Qiu. My young lady is in poor health and insisted on coming to offer incense alone. Madam Jia was worried about her, so she asked me and Jiu'er to secretly follow her."
Bao Qianqiu nodded, and then led Chen Yu and her two servants to a side room to talk.
Chen Yu sat down, took the small cake handed to her by Cui Wei, chewed it carefully, and then swallowed it slowly.
She hasn't been eating normally for a month because of the successive deaths of her loved ones.
The day after Shen Jing fell to her death, Bi Yue and Xiu Hua entered the palace. Aunt Liao then told them the news of Shen Jing's death. Old Madam Mu could not bear it and died on the spot.
Shen Yu was furious and wanted to drive Aunt Liao out of Xixiang Garden, but Yang Hua sided with Aunt Liao.
Unfortunately, Yang Hua made all the decisions regarding the inner affairs of the Mu family.
Mu Nanfeng was busy inspecting various places and had never paid attention to family matters. He only knew that Old Madam Mu died from a stroke caused by the death of Shen Jing.
Helpless, Chen Yu left the Mu family.
She sold her house in Qinghe County and Guhe Village and bought a house opposite the Mu family's house, which was full of ripe cotton ready to be picked.
The weather turned cooler these past few days, so she ordered people to pick and buy cotton, and went to Putuo Temple alone to offer incense.
Unexpectedly, her health was not as good as before, and she ran out of strength after walking only a short distance.
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