Seeing this scene, Concubine Xin became even more proud, and Concubine Rong's uneasiness disappeared. She had scared herself.
Gu Qilan's expression instantly darkened. Before he could speak, Concubine Xin couldn't help but gloat over his misfortune and said, "Concubine Yi, what else do you have to say? The evidence is right in front of us!"
Concubine Rong also echoed, "Sister Yifei, I have always respected you very much. Before I came here, I thought you might have been wrongly accused. I never thought you would really be such a person."
Gu Qilan said in a deep voice: "What else do you have to say?" He had just thought that she would not take advantage of her position to be frivolous, but he did not expect that she was not frivolous, but arrogant, so bold and reckless.
Concubine Xin interrupted again, "Your Majesty, you must not let Concubine Yi off so easily. She is so audacious. Today she stole the fabric, but who knows if she will replace valuables tomorrow? You must punish her severely and not tolerate such wrongdoing."
Seeing the emperor's expression grow colder, just when everyone thought Ning Yuxi was doomed today, she suddenly smiled: "Is this how Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong want to punish me?"
"It's not that we want to punish you, but you are reaping the fruits of your own good deeds!" Concubine Xin's face was full of sarcasm.
Rong Fei pretended to be reluctant and said, "Sister, you have done such a wrong thing today. Even if I want to plead for you, I can't. This matter concerns the reputation of the royal family. I...I can only sacrifice my relatives for the sake of justice."
Ning Yuxi wanted to applaud her. She never forgot her image as a good sister. She spoke pointedly in the softest tone, and she seemed so kind.
The emperor values his reputation the most, and she really reminds him of this all the time.
"Don't use idioms carelessly. Killing relatives for the sake of justice? Who are your relatives? My mother couldn't give birth to someone like you."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Rong's expression froze for a moment, but she quickly reacted. Just as she was about to speak again, Ning Yuxi interrupted her.
That’s enough of today’s drama, it’s time to wrap it up.
She smiled slightly and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, you really misunderstood. This time, the cloth was indeed purchased by me at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but this was because I had just taken charge of the affairs of the harem, and I wanted to give it to everyone as a welcome gift.
Use this amount of fabric to make an extra pair of shoes for each palace maid. Although this fabric is not as good as the finest mulberry cotton, it is more than enough for making shoes."
After a pause, she continued, "The high-quality fabrics for spring clothes are piled up in there. If you don't believe me, you can go and see. Even if I am ignorant, I would never dare to pass off inferior materials as good ones to make money."
After he finished speaking, Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong were stunned. They didn't care about anything else and hurried to check the fabrics inside. Sure enough, only the fabrics piled on the outermost part were inferior fabrics, and the fabrics inside were all high-quality mulberry cotton!
How could this happen? How could this happen? When did she find out?
Ning Yuxi said to the emperor again: "Your Majesty, it is my fault. I originally wanted to give the palace maids a little gift since I just took over the affairs of the harem.
I didn’t expect that because of this incident, Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong would misunderstand me, and that the Emperor would be so distressed by it. I am truly terrified…”
Concubine Xin gritted her teeth and said, "If that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Ning Yuxi's face was full of grievance: "Sister, I also want to say something, but Sister Xinfei, you just pressed me step by step, and I didn't have the chance to say anything even if I wanted to."
Concubine Xin was so angry that she almost vomited blood.
Rong Fei suddenly said with an apologetic look, "So it was my younger sister who misunderstood me. I was saying that you have always been respected by others. How could you have done such a mistake? I apologize to you."
As she spoke, she changed the subject: "Sister, you think that giving the palace maids a meeting gift is a good thing, but it will increase the expenses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We just experienced several wars last year, and the emperor has always said that we should be more frugal. Sister, I am afraid that this goes against the emperor's original intention."
Hearing this, Ning Yuxi raised her eyebrows. Really, it’s a pity that Concubine Rong doesn’t become a defense lawyer!
But she had guessed they would say that, and she was prepared: "Sister, you are really worried, but don't worry, I dare not go against the emperor's original intention.
Of course, a gift given to someone should be paid for by oneself to appear sincere. I paid for the inferior fabric myself. If you don't believe me, Concubine Rong, you can ask Eunuch Wang."
When she asked Fang Quan to help her with this matter, she gave him extra money.
Of course, her plan was to let Fang Quan be responsible for purchasing the fabrics. Naturally, she had to buy the original fabrics. The extra money she gave was not only used as a gift to the palace people,
Another reason was to conceal the truth by placing the hundreds of pieces of inferior cloth on the outermost layer to deceive the people of Concubine Rong and Concubine Xin.
In this way, she could kill two birds with one stone. Not only could she have outwitted Concubine Rong and Concubine Xin, but she could also win the favor of thousands of palace ladies. Why not do it?
It only cost a few dozen taels of silver. The cloth cost two hundred coins per piece, and it was only for making shoes. One piece of cloth could make more than ten pairs.
Concubine Rong had nothing to say and glared at Ning Yuxi hatefully, while Concubine Xin now blamed Concubine Rong more. She didn't know about this matter originally, and it was Concubine Rong who told her. It would have been fine if she had told her, but this matter just wasn't true.
She was enjoying her meal in her own palace when Concubine Rong dragged her here to get involved in this. She hadn't done anything yet, and the emperor was afraid that he would punish them.
As expected, after learning the truth, Gu Qilan wanted to beat Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong with twenty sticks. They had to find trouble with him out of good reasons, and the matter was not true.
He said with a sour face and full of impatience: "If you have too much free time, go and copy some Buddhist scriptures to calm your mind, or copy some women's precepts to learn the virtues of a concubine. Don't keep looking for trouble all day and make the harem a mess!"
Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong were startled and quickly squatted down to apologize: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will never dare to do it again..."
But the emperor was clearly in a bad mood and was not about to let them off easily: "Concubine Xin and Concubine Rong, for listening to false rumors and slandering others, are under house arrest for two months and ordered to copy one hundred articles each from the Women's Training and Precepts, and three volumes of Buddhist scriptures, each with fifty articles!
In addition, each of you will be fined three hundred taels of silver, which will be given to Concubine Yi for safekeeping and used to purchase items needed for the palace. Aren't you worried about the palace's high expenses and want to save money for me? Then give me some silver. I will be grateful for your generosity."
"Pfft" Ning Yuxi almost laughed out loud. This dog emperor, no, the emperor, really knows how to do things.
Their monthly salary as concubines was 150 taels, and 300 taels was two months' salary. Not only did the emperor confine them to house arrest for two months, but they also lost two months' monthly salary.
It's equivalent to suspending them from work for two months without pay, and they have to copy hundreds of texts. Wow, that's really cool!
Ning Yuxi was in a good mood and didn't dislike dogs that much... The emperor stayed in her palace, so it was a double blessing. She was in a good mood, and if she felt good physically, it would make her feel good both physically and mentally. There was nothing wrong with that.
Ning Yuxi left with the emperor first, but she didn't know that Concubine Rong was almost drowned by Concubine Xin's saliva.
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