When the news of the looting of grain and grass in the northern border reached Ganyang Palace, the entire Ganyang Palace was in an uproar.
Some people criticized the Minister of War, Yang Wenshi, asking how he could dare to entrust such a big task to Chen Ping. Chen Ping was only Li Shizi's deputy general, not a grain and grass escort officer.
Some people also questioned Li Jingchuan, the Prince of Shan, asking why the Li family, who were responsible for transporting the grain and grass, were robbed. The place where the grain and grass were robbed was close to the border of the northern border.
But no matter what, the fact that the grain and grass were looted was undeniable. Emperor Xuande could only order the local garrisons to search the area with all their might and ask the Ministry of Revenue to raise more grain and grass.
But everyone knew that it would take time to gather food and supplies again, and it would also take time to transport them to the northern border. There would inevitably be days when there would be no food.
The northern border is in danger.
Su Qingyu didn't know about the disaster relief situation in other prefectures, but the victims in the capital were properly resettled.
Starting from the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, Su Qingyu stopped helping out at the disaster relief office. As the New Year was approaching, more and more things needed her to deal with in the mansion.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, news suddenly spread from the palace that the demoted Consort Leng had been reinstated as Consort Xian. The power over the inner palace, previously held by Consort Rong, now returned to Consort Xian. This year's palace banquet was also fully under the control of Consort Xian.
Su Qingyu wasn't surprised by the restoration of the virtuous concubine. After all, the crown prince was still the crown prince; how could his biological mother be a mere consort? Furthermore, the virtuous concubine, having supported the crown prince's ascension, was no ordinary person. Restoration simply required the right opportunity.
What surprised Su Qingyu was that the day after Concubine Xian was reinstated, she appointed Su Xiangling as the Crown Prince's concubine.
That night, Su Qingyu ordered the kitchen to prepare some light porridge and some side dishes. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately and usually ate little at night.
But what was served on the table was not a side dish, but a pot of fish soup and a plate of stewed fish.
She was stunned for a moment, then turned to ask Zhenzhu, "Isn't this a cold-water fish from the Black Wilderness?"
Pearl didn't answer. Footsteps mixed with a man's clear voice were heard at the door.
"Haven't you lost your appetite lately? I specially asked someone to send some fish to Beijing. Come and try it."
As Shen Zhixiu spoke, he sat down and served Su Qingyu a bowl of fish soup.
Su Qingyu sat down in surprise, drank a mouthful of soup first, and looked very satisfied.
The fish from the Black Wilderness can only be transported to the capital in winter, but this year there was war in Liaodong, and even the manager of the Lin family withdrew, so naturally we couldn't eat them.
She had a poor appetite these days, but after drinking half a bowl of fish soup, it seemed as if her appetite had suddenly been stimulated.
Shen Zhixiu kept serving her food. She thought of the restoration of Concubine Xian, so she casually asked, "How did Concubine Xian regain favor?"
She thought that Shen Zhixiu would definitely say he didn't know about such a secret of the inner palace, or say that he would send someone to investigate the next day.
Unexpectedly, he spoke directly: "On the day of the Little New Year, the emperor held a banquet to entertain the royal family."
"After dinner, the Emperor went to Fenghe Palace, where the late Empress lived."
"I didn't expect to meet the virtuous concubine. She was wearing a thin plain dress and kneeling beside the koi pond to pray for the late queen."
Su Qingyu sneered, "Then the Emperor felt pity for her, and the Concubine took the opportunity to seduce the Emperor, and the two of them became lovers?"
Seeing her look of disdain, Shen Zhixiu smiled and picked up another piece of green bamboo shoots for her with his chopsticks.
"Madam guessed wrong."
Su Qingyu was stunned. "Guessed wrong? That's impossible. That's what's written in the storybooks out there."
Shen Zhixiu laughed loudly twice, then explained: "Afterwards, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared in front of the virtuous concubine."
"The place where Concubine Xian knelt was the koi pond, the late queen's favorite place. After she prayed, all the koi suddenly flocked over and swirled around her hand."
"The Emperor immediately said that the late Queen's koi carp was psychic. Since she liked Concubine Xian so much, it must be that the late Queen also liked Concubine Xian."
Su Qingyu looked up in surprise. "That koi is from the time when the late queen was still alive? It's been twenty years?"
Shen Zhixiu shook his head and said, "How is that possible? If someone dies in the middle, new ones will be added."
Su Qingyu thought for a moment and said, "The koi fish are swimming over here. Could it be that Concubine Xian prepared some medicine?"
Seeing that there was a little soup stain on her lips from talking, Shen Zhixiu picked up a handkerchief and gently wiped it for her.
Then he whispered softly, "In fact, Your Majesty, it's not that you don't know there's something fishy going on here. It's just that his anger has subsided and he's still concerned about the Crown Prince. Since Concubine Xian is willing to give in, we'll give her a way out."
To put it bluntly, as long as the crown prince is not deposed, no one can completely overthrow the virtuous concubine.
Su Qingyu casually said, "I've seen a lot of those little tricks when I was in Qianzhou. Some people can even attract a lot of birds. If this happened in the capital, wouldn't it be called a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix?"
At this point, Su Qingyu was suddenly stunned.
As soon as the virtuous concubine regained her favor, she appointed Su Xiangling as the prince's concubine. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
If it was because she was pregnant, Su Xiangling was not newly pregnant. The baby in her belly was more than three months old now.
Could it be that Su Xiangling was responsible for the restoration of Concubine Xian?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this possibility was high. Otherwise, how could Su Xiangling suddenly become the prince's concubine, and at the time when the virtuous concubine had just regained her position?
Seeing that she was distracted and hadn't eaten much, Shen Zhixiu stopped her from talking and told her to eat more fish.
After all, the fish from the Black Wilderness was to her liking, so Su Qingyu ate half a bowl of rice more than usual.
Shen Zhixiu was naturally happy to see her like this, and said that there was a cart of cold-water fish in the mansion for her to eat as much as she wanted.
The next day, after getting up, Chuntao came in and reported, "Madam, the New Year gifts you ordered are all ready."
It is already the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and Su Qingyu is going to deliver the New Year gifts to the Su family and Yushu Hutong today.
Before leaving, she told Chuntao, "Go pack some cold-water fish. I want to send them to Yushu Hutong."
Chun Tao covered her mouth and laughed secretly, "Why bother, Madam? The Third Master had already instructed the servants to pack it up before he went to court this morning."
The West Courtyard had a simple population and no concubines, so the servants were content. This was much better than the chaotic life in the mansion, where the mistresses and concubines competed for favor.
So these girls also reached a consensus that no one could flirt with the Third Master and climb into his bed. If anyone was caught doing so, they would be kicked out.
Fortunately, when Shen Zhixiu selected maids, they were all honest and obedient, and he had not found any restless ones yet.
When Su Qingyu heard that Shen Zhixiu had already made arrangements, a smile appeared on her face.
Pearl stepped forward again and whispered, "Madam, Amber's dowry has been packed."
Amber, her former maid, had been guarding the Bishui Pavilion since she got married. Amber got married in the first month of the lunar year, so Su Qingyu brought her a dowry when she returned this time.
After all, they are master and servant, so she has to give her a proper wedding ceremony and it can't be too shabby.
After getting dressed, she went to the door with a few maids. Seven carts of New Year gifts were already waiting at the door.
One of the cars was for the Su family, and the remaining six cars were for Yushu Hutong.
There was also New Year's gift for her maternal grandparents in Yunzhou Prefecture, which she had sent over at the beginning of the month.
She looked at these things and said to Feicui beside her, "Take six carts of New Year gifts and go to Yushu Hutong first."
"I'll go to the Su family to deal with it and then I'll be there."
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