Chapter 36
◎Two chapters in one◎
After the meal, Li Cheng went back with Concubine Wu. They soon arrived at the palace, and Li Cheng hurried forward to support Concubine Wu. Concubine Wu and Huiyin had long been at odds with each other. If they could still maintain the illusion of a loving mother-in-law and a filial daughter-in-law, since Concubine Wu asked her to kneel, she almost never came except for the morning and evening visits.
So when they came back, Concubine Wu deliberately did not let anyone notify Huiyin to come over, just to let Li Cheng see how unfilial Huiyin was.
But she was wrong, because after Li Cheng came back, he didn't care about it at all, and just said: "She didn't come, she must be taking care of the child, grandma, I will take you back to your room first, and then go to see them."
Concubine Wu had a lot to say, but she just said, "Okay."
She thought it would be best if she didn't go, so as to avoid getting involved.
As it turned out, she was wrong. When Li Cheng reached the main courtyard in two steps at a time, he hurried in. He didn't know why he had been thinking about her day and night since he hadn't seen her for more than a month. When he got here and was about to enter, he felt homesick.
Huiyin had just gotten up from the couch. She was tired from reading and just dozed off for a while. When she got up again and saw someone at the door, she thought she was seeing things.
"My Lord..." She was extremely happy.
Li Cheng was instantly pleased with her joy, but unexpectedly Huiyin frowned again and turned to walk towards the inner room. Li Cheng quickly chased after her, and the servants scattered like birds and beasts.
He sensed that she was angry, and said quickly, "I came all the way back because I was thinking of you."
"Are you thinking about me? I'm afraid you are here to call me to task. I've heard that the Concubine asked you to come back and beat and scold me, but let me tell you, if you really lay a finger on me, I will definitely go back to Jizhou." Huiyin sat on the edge of the bed with a determined look on her face.
Li Cheng laughed and said, "What nonsense! I came back just to see you. I will come back to Jianye to stay again. The King of Wei told me that it would be good for me to go to Xuzhou from here in the future."
When Huiyin heard this, she felt bad. She just wanted Li Cheng to come back and help her punish Concubine Wu, but she didn't let him lose his military power.
So, she asked nervously: "Is the King of Wei letting others drink the ready-made tea? You worked so hard to rectify Xuzhou, but you just gave it to others?"
Li Cheng put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down: "No, it's still under my control. It's not too far from Jianye to Xuzhou by boat, don't worry. It's still the same as before. I'll come back to Jianye when I'm free."
Only then did Huiyin feel relieved, but she thought that everything she said and did was under the King of Wei's eyes, which was not a good thing. But if she said it, it would be a sedition, so she just said happily: "Let's go and see our son."
"It doesn't matter if he sees me anytime. What's important is you. Did he bully you when I'm not around?" Li Cheng asked.
Huiyin hesitated for a moment and shook her head again: "No, no one bullied me. Oh, there is only one thing, that is, Madam Xie wanted to ask me for a handwritten letter to Jizhou, but I was afraid of taking responsibility, so I didn't give it to her."
"So that's what happened. If she hadn't got the letter from King Wei, I wouldn't have sent anyone to escort her there. There's no other way. She and King Wei are related by marriage, and Xie Jiuyi and I also have a very good relationship." Li Cheng said with a smile.
Huiyin breathed a sigh of relief: "But I don't have a very good relationship with them, and I don't have many friends here."
In fact, Huiyin doesn't care about friends at all. She doesn't have any special tricks to deal with men, but she knows one trick that works, which is that he may like you a little and be interested in you, so he will consider you no matter what.
"Am I not your friend? Besides, friends are hard to come by. You are so young and with your status, ordinary people cannot be your friend. When I was not in Jianye, you were very polite and seldom went out. I have been in Jianye these days, and I support you if you want to hold a flower banquet or tea party." Li Cheng felt very distressed.
Huiyin shook her head: "My grandmother is the manager of this family, so it's not easy for me to handle these things."
Li Cheng held her hand and said in disbelief, "Grandma is still the housekeeper? She is so old now, she always needs you to share her worries."
Huiyin remained silent, and Li Cheng also understood that this matter was the problem of Concubine Wu. As she got older, her power became more and more important, and the corrupt officials below were just following the example of her superiors. And why Concubine Wu kept the power of the housekeeper tightly was not entirely for money, but for power, in order to always be high and mighty.
Li Cheng disagreed with this point. The Huaiyin Palace should be controlled by the Huaiyin Princess. The money spent by these so-called old concubines was not allocated by the court. The court now had no money to manage these concubines. They were almost all supported by their children and grandchildren.
Why is the income from Xuzhou so little? Jianye accounts for more than half of it. There is no way my grandmother has to be supported, and I can't be stingy. In fact, with the strength of their palace, Li Cheng's father, Prince Wu, was the emperor's younger brother, with rich fiefdoms, and his mother was the daughter of Cui from Boling, with rich dowries. All of these were inherited by Li Cheng, and he himself was still a prince.
Just like Huiyin said, if this money can be saved, it will be possible to recruit soldiers and buy horses in the future.
Although he is the nephew of King Wei, to some extent, King Wu is the second oldest and King Wei is the youngest son of the late emperor. If the emperor fails and the crown prince cannot control the overall situation in the future, he is also the son of the dragon and the grandson of the phoenix, so he may not be without a chance.
It was fine before he didn't have a son, but now that he has a wife and a son, of course his thoughts are different.
After hearing what Li Cheng said, Huiyin understood what was going on. She knew that her husband was a man of his word, so she began to untie his clothes: "You came here in such a hurry, don't you miss me at all?"
…
But when she heard that Concubine Wu had someone waiting for news from Huiyin, Nanny Fan would not go. She knew very well that if something like this happened, it would definitely not be a good thing. She had charged into battle before, but ended up being blamed. Concubine Wu could only scold her, but it was useless. She didn't even give her any extra bonus.
This time, the person sent to inquire about the news was Madam Liu. Madam Liu stood at the door and watched for a long time. Although she could not hear what was said inside, the servants brought in water three times in a row, so there was no need to inquire about anything.
There are some servants who are quite aware of current affairs, like Nanny Fan, who know that although they are the concubines of Concubine Wu, Zheng is a legitimate princess after all and will take charge of the family sooner or later, so it is better to make a good relationship with her. There are some servants like Madam Liu who are eager to create discord between Concubine Wu and Huiyin and then take advantage of it.
So, when she went back to tell Concubine Wu, she described it in a very vivid way: "I saw the little prince go in angrily, but I don't know what happened, and then someone outside brought water in."
Concubine Wu slammed the table and said, "Lust really blinds one's mind."
Madam Fan lowered her eyes and was unwilling to say more, but she saw Madam Liu said, "My Lady Consort, Steward Qiao has brought back almost all of the young prince's luggage. I'm afraid the young prince will have to stay for a long time, so you must not take it lightly."
"I understand." Concubine Wu sat down. For a moment, she was actually at a loss. She thought, could it be that her grandson didn't receive the letter she wrote? Then she would tell him in person later.
Madam Liu laughed again and said, "Actually the Concubine has no solution, but I have another solution."
Concubine Wu looked at her and said, "Oh, tell me about it."
However, Madam Liu whispered something in Concubine Wu's ear. Madam Fan didn't hear what she said, but it was a good thing that she didn't hear it. Since she didn't hear it, she didn't have to worry about it.
It is also said that Huiyin and Li Cheng had been fooling around for half a day. When they got up, Li Cheng was in high spirits, but Huiyin's face was red. It must be said that Li Cheng was quite amazing. He was amazing in every way.
"The Concubine Dowager will have dinner later, and I have to go and serve her. If you hadn't told me in advance today, I would have had to welcome you." Huiyin buttoned her clothes.
Li Cheng smiled and helped her up: "Let's go together. Don't worry, I'll be here with you in the future. You'll still be the one making the decisions at home."
Huiyin shook her head: "No, don't offend your grandmother for me. It would be bad if people accuse you of being unfilial."
"No, she will still have to rely on me in the future. Even now, Concubine Wei and the people here treat her with courtesy, and it is also because of me." Li Cheng is very clear-headed. Although he is filial, he is definitely not blindly filial.
But Huiyin said to Li Cheng: "These family matters are trivial. I have something serious to tell you. Didn't you give a generous gift to Concubine Yin last time? But I have been to their house. In fact, the King of Wei's favorite is Concubine Xu. Now Concubine Yin's eldest son has not yet been granted the title of Crown Prince."
Li Cheng paused as he helped her up: "But the eldest son is still the eldest son."
Huiyin smiled and said, "If I were to say that people's hearts would be divided when the crown prince is not decided, my husband, I know you have always been loyal to the King of Wei. But the world is in chaos. It is not only heroes who make the times, but also times that make heroes. Lu Wei is arrogant and has nothing in his eyes. The He family is the same. My father is brave but not wise. The only one who is truly capable is not Wei Duo. Why don't you take advantage of the situation, my husband?"
"What nonsense! Don't mention this matter again." Li Cheng's face changed.
Huiyin thought that as long as he was a man, especially one who commanded a military force, such a man with great strategy and tactics as Li Cheng, she would definitely be tempted. Now she just didn't want to admit her desire. So, she didn't force herself, but just smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I won't tell you."
After they went out, they went to see Jing'er first. Li Cheng saw that his son was soft, and his heart softened. He held his chubby hand. Jing'er was awake now. He was a laughing child. After Li Cheng held his hand, he giggled.
Hearing the children laughing made the adults feel much better.
When she went to see Concubine Wu, she would not scold her directly in front of Huiyin, and Huiyin stood up and served her seriously. As someone who had been a queen mother, she had to serve this foolish man. She was very unwilling in her heart, but there was nothing she could do. Unless she really took power, everything would be in vain.
The night passed peacefully, but early the next morning, Concubine Wu unexpectedly found Li Cheng arriving first.
Yesterday, she saw that although Li Cheng and Zheng did not communicate much, they exchanged glances and she could clearly see the tenderness between them. She originally wanted to secretly tell Li Cheng about Zheng's bad points, but Li Cheng said that he wanted to stay in Jianye, and these things distracted her.
"Greetings to grandma." Li Cheng said with a smile.
Concubine Wu looked at him lovingly and said, "You are exhausted from the journey, you should take care of yourself. Why did you come here so early?"
Li Cheng said, "Originally, Sun'er's wife was going to come over, but Sun'er has something to tell you. Yesterday I told you that I plan to live in Jianye in the future, so I plan to host a banquet for Uncle Wei and others in my mansion, as a way to repay them for taking care of grandma for so many years."
"That's what you should do." Concubine Wu said with a smile.
Li Cheng continued, "Although the princess is young, she is a good hand at managing my household affairs in Xuzhou. Yesterday, I saw you were still the housekeeper at home, and I scolded her. Grandmother, you are old, and she is young and naive. How can you let you manage my affairs at your age?"
Concubine Wu froze, pointed at Li Cheng and said, "You, are you forcing me to hand over the housekeeper's power?"
In fact, although Li Cheng said that he had been with Concubine Wu after his parents passed away, he was mostly doing things outside and never really interacted with Concubine Wu. He originally thought that he had been tactful enough in his words, just like he was not so tactful when talking to his wife sometimes? How could he know that Concubine Wu's behavior was simply dumbfounding.
"Grandma, what did you say? Do you want to be the housekeeper? It's my grandson's fault." Li Cheng felt that even if one thought so in one's heart, one couldn't say it out loud.
Just like the person who is actually chosen to be the emperor, he still has to refuse and decline the position three times.
But he knelt down anyway and pretended to do it.
Concubine Wu also felt that she was too radical, and personally helped Li Cheng up: "Of course I don't want this housekeeper power, but your wife is too young, and it's hard for her to obey the public. You don't know, if she was only disrespectful to me, it would be fine. After all, we are all in a relationship, and I won't tell anyone if something happens. But I heard that she made a scene with the Huo family just to save a merchant girl, and she was disrespectful to Concubine Wei, and she spoke with a gun and a stick. In short, everyone is unhappy when she is around, how can I not support her like this?"
Li Cheng was thinking about his wife. Although she often spoke humbly, her bearing was incomparable to that of ordinary people. Indeed, she even allowed herself to dominate. She was definitely not an ordinary woman. He scolded her on the surface, but in fact he was shocked and turbulent in his heart.
Yes, she is definitely not an ordinary woman, but Huiyin is definitely a very reasonable person, how can she be described as a thorn? It is really impossible to talk about ice with a summer insect.
So Li Cheng changed his approach: "Huiyin is the Princess of Huaiyin after all. As you said, she doesn't know many people, so she may have social problems. I just want you to hold a flower banquet and tea banquet at home, so that you can receive guests widely, isn't that good?"
Concubine Wu had never thought that her grandson would be so considerate to Zheng. Every word he said seemed to be speaking for her, but in fact, it was all to excuse Zheng and do everything for her own good. She wanted to speak out Lady Liu's idea, but she thought that she should speak out after the matter was settled, so she kept silent.
She just said, "You just came back and you want to host this banquet and that banquet? Grandmother doesn't understand, so just leave it to Manager Qian."
Li Cheng returned home in defeat, and had to tell Huiyin about it. Huiyin comforted him, saying, "Isn't this human nature? Guess why people want to climb to the top? It's because they don't want to be controlled by others. If the people above are reasonable and open-minded, it's fine. But if they are mediocre and still bossy, who would be willing to be under someone else's control?"
"You are so brave to say such things. No matter what, we have to respect our grandmother." Li Cheng said this without confidence.
Huiyin stood up: "Okay, I won't say anything."
In the past, the two of them had only exchanged sweet words, because they were the only two of them in Xuzhou at the time, so there was no conflict. Now, there are his elders and major events outside, which are the key to the couple's adjustment.
Seeing Huiyin like this, Li Cheng recalled the time when they were in Xuzhou. At that time, he saw that the gift list had been completely revised, but Huiyin didn't get angry. Now she seemed to be a little more irritated, but what she said actually made sense.
"Come on, if you don't tell me the truth, who else will?" Li Cheng said with a smile.
Huiyin knew that he was only in his early twenties, still young, and didn't dare to believe that he would have such a beautiful dream of unifying the world. Moreover, Li Cheng had a strong execution ability, which also showed that he was actually a very pragmatic person. Because he would do what he could do, and never aim too high for what he couldn't do.
Therefore, Huiyin said: "Don't take any housekeeping power for me. My grandmother doesn't want me to manage it, so I won't manage it. To be honest, I'm very happy that my husband and I can be together."
"No, I said I would get it for you, so I will. I like you, so I want to give you all the good things. If I say I like you but always make you suffer, then I don't really like you." Li Cheng disagreed with Huiyin's words.
It's impossible to like someone and then let that person suffer.
He stood up suddenly and rushed out again. Nan's mother came in from outside, still confused: "Princess, what is the young prince doing..."
"Let him be." Huiyin thought that Concubine Wu was confused and couldn't tell good from bad, close from distant. Li Cheng was a nitpicker. It would be good if Concubine Wu was clear-headed and could understand his implication. If not, Li Cheng would probably take it too seriously.
Sure enough, Qiu Feng came running over after a while and said, "Princess, the young prince asked Manager Qian to report the accounts. He also called the four major account offices to come. It seems that he wants to check the accounts."
Huiyin knocked on the table: "Sure enough, it has begun." She did not dare to provoke Li Cheng casually. Concubine Wu thought that she could use her seniority to suppress others, but she was really making a wrong calculation.
…
Meanwhile, Concubine Wu hadn't finished her morning prayers when she heard a few servants coming to report the news. She stood up and asked, "What's going on? Does he not believe me?"
The servant just kowtowed, which made Concubine Wu unable to help but send Nanny Fan to pass on the message. Nanny Fan was really cursing her mother in her heart, saying that good things never come to me, but all bad things are caused by me.
But she was a servant, so what else could she do? She had to go and pass on the message.
Li Cheng smiled and said, "Grandma, what are you talking about? I am the Prince of Huaiyin, so of course I will look at the accounts of the Prince of Huaiyin's mansion. Don't worry, grandma. I am here to see how things are going in this mansion. Since ancient times, men have been in charge of the outside world and women have been in charge of the inside world. How can I not take a look?"
Nanny Fan had no choice but to go back and tell Concubine Wu what Li Cheng had said.
Concubine Wu wanted to scold him again, but she found that she was helpless. She wanted to scold Li Cheng, but why should she scold Li Cheng? Li Cheng was her backer. If Li Cheng was really not successful, even the fiefdom of Huaiyin would be gone. Wouldn't she be living under someone else's roof? Besides, this palace was indeed Li Cheng's.
Li Cheng was indeed not a man who only worked for a living. He learned how to manage the Palace of Prince Wu from King Wu since he was a child. Later, he defected to King Wei. The first thing King Wei asked him to do was not to lead troops, but to manage the Palace of Prince Wei.
As he read these account books, he sighed, how confident is this money manager of the Huaiyin Palace? Doesn't he know that he can't check the accounts? He just wrote and drew randomly.
He couldn't help but look at the money manager and said, "My grandmother never holds any banquets, and rarely gives out gifts. How come the money I transferred to her was lost so much? Please calculate the remaining money for me."
Manager Qian was also a senior manager. He first glanced at Li Cheng, then had to explain himself honestly: "Little Prince, we are not corrupt. Some of the surplus money was handed over to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother donated 20,000 taels of silver to the four famous temples this year."
"Wait, which four temples did you donate to, and when did you donate? I'll have someone on horseback check now. You must tell me the truth, otherwise I won't show mercy."
"Yes, in Datuo Temple, Puji Temple, Guanghong Temple and Longkong Temple." Although Manager Qian was not so innocent sometimes, to be honest, she was a little greedy with small amounts of money, but how could he be greedy with big amounts of money?
Li Cheng first asked someone to check, and then he asked Manager Qian and several accountants to take him to check the government storehouse. Unexpectedly, only one third of this year's reward was left in the storehouse.
"Tell me, where are these things? Don't try to tease me, or I'll be rude to you."
Manager Qian had no choice but to kneel down and tell the truth. He had embezzled 5,000 taels of silver. He had resold half of the palace treasury, and the remaining four accountants had embezzled a total of 5,000 taels of silver.
Another person admitted that he had falsified accounts, saying that he had embezzled one thousand taels of the five thousand taels donated to Puji Temple.
"Okay, okay, you are all really parasites. This is thirty thousand taels, and what about my rice? When my father divided the south of the Yangtze River, he allocated a total of 1,352 acres of lake silt land and 10,000 acres of farmland. After my father passed away, 400 acres were given to my uncle, the King of Wei, and the rest were all inherited by me. Now there is only old rice left. The new rice is so scarce? How on earth did you manage this family for me?"
When Li Cheng said this, he drew out his sword and wanted to kill these people.
Manager Qian was so scared that he peed his pants and collapsed to the ground. If it were normal, Li Cheng would definitely gag him and drag him down to beat him with a stick, but Concubine Wu had been in charge of the family for several years, so he didn't care and directly asked: "What's wrong? Tell me the truth."
"Yes, it was the Concubine Dowager who asked us to sell it. She kept the aged rice for the people in the mansion, and kept the new rice and the polished rice from the imperial estate with the Concubine Dowager. She sold all the rest. The Concubine Dowager said she was afraid of insects, and it was not good to keep them all the time." After Manager Qian finished speaking, he lowered his head and said nothing.
Li Cheng sneered: "The Concubine is old, and you put all this on her. Well, you should say this to the Concubine's face. Come on, invite the Concubine over."
Concubine Wu herself has no shame, so why should he save face for her?
This word soon reached Concubine Wu, who was immediately horrified: "How can I confront a servant? People say that if an arm is broken, one should bend inward, but he should beat Manager Qian to death on the spot..."
Nanny Fan also asked anxiously, "Tiffany, what should we do?"
"Just say that I'm not feeling well and can't come over. In the past, all the family matters were entrusted to Manager Qian, and he doesn't know anything else." After Concubine Wu finished speaking, she staggered and was about to fall.
Nanny Fan told the people sent by Li Cheng what Concubine Wu had said. Even the servant's eyes flashed with contempt after hearing this.
Within two days, a new group of people came to the Huaiyin Palace. Li Cheng forced the money manager and several accountants to return all the money they had embezzled over the years. Even Concubine Wu pretended that the money was for Li Cheng. Li Cheng gave all the money to Huiyin, and Huiyin took charge of the household again.
Huiyin looked at the money filling the room and signaled Li Cheng to calm down: "I understand. I believe it now. Where the money is, there is love. Where the power is, there is love too. Sit down and take a rest."
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