Haitang quickly brought over the accounts and land deeds.
Song Tangxue studied from day to night until her eyes were bloodshot, but she finally finished reading all the accounts.
She was found by the Song family when she was nine years old. The Song family could not accept her at the time, so they raised her in her maternal grandmother's house. Her maternal grandmother's family had been salt merchants for generations. She was aloof, but she treated her very well, teaching her how to do business and how to manage the household.
When her maternal grandmother passed away, she left all her property to her.
Then the marriage contract returned to her, and His Majesty ordered the Empress to teach her etiquette and move into the Eastern Palace. She brought all of this into the palace with her.
In her previous life, the Song family took all her family's wealth, leaving her without even enough money to bribe the palace servants or buy medicine... This time, she was determined to keep the money firmly in her own hands.
Song Tangxue rubbed her eyes. "The accounts are fine, but the expenses are too high. All the money we earn from these shops has flowed to the Song family and the Crown Prince and Empress, so the profits have been reduced by half."
Half? Haitang secretly gasped. Everyone knew that the Shen family was the wealthiest merchant family in the world, and half of their profits could probably equal the tax revenue of an entire state.
Song Tangxue said, "Instruct Uncle Kui that from this day forward, no one can withdraw money from any of the shops without my seal. Take the business contracts of the shops that were handed over to the Song family and retrieve them one by one. Collect the account books every day, and I will check them one by one."
Not to mention the young lady, even she felt sorry for the wasted money. She immediately said, "This servant will go and give the order right away, but... it wouldn't be good to cut off contact with the Crown Prince and the Empress, would it?"
Song Tangxue fiddled with the abacus beads. "Don't worry, I'll handle everything."
Haitang had complete faith in her mistress, "This servant will take care of it right away."
Just as Haitang was about to go out, she pushed open the door and saw a little palace maid standing outside.
Song Tangxue remembered her; she was someone from the Empress's palace.
The young palace maid shuffled in and said, "Miss Song, the Empress requests that you come to Qiankun Palace after noon tomorrow."
Song Tangxue paused, her fingers moving the abacus beads, her eyes flashing coldly, and then said indifferently, "I understand."
The young palace maid left.
If Song Tangxue remembered correctly, before her trip to perform the sacrificial ceremony, the Empress asked her to do two things and answer them after she had thought them through.
The first issue was that the Empress's family had embezzled tax revenue, and the Emperor was investigating their accounts. They urgently needed one million taels of silver to fill the gap and escape punishment.
The second thing that made her agree to let Song Tangli marry into the Eastern Palace and elevate Song Tangli to the position of Crown Princess.
In her past life, in order not to agree to the second request, she agreed to the first one, which forced her to sell several shops at the time.
Looking back now, it was all the Empress who had her under her thumb. Back then, she thought the Empress was the kindest and most virtuous person to her, and she treated Empress Cheng with the same filial piety as her own mother.
Recalling her miserable and tragic past life, during which Empress Cheng didn't even bother to visit her, she found all this hypocrisy laughable.
She is no longer the same person she was yesterday. No matter how much Empress Cheng asked for from her, she will make Empress Cheng return it all!
--
The next day, Song Tangxue changed into her palace dress and arrived at Qiankun Palace early.
Empress Cheng, having finished her lunch, was resting on the main couch when she caught sight of Song Tangxue out of the corner of her eye. A gentle smile graced her face. "Tangxue's here? Someone, bring her a seat."
Song Tangxue walked up to the Empress and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Empress Cheng's people immediately moved the item to the location closest to her.
After Song Tangxue took her seat, Empress Cheng dismissed the maids.
Only the two of them remained in the room. Empress Cheng looked at her with loving concern and asked, "Tang Xue, what have you thought about the matter I asked you to consider?"
Song Tangxue suppressed the coldness in her eyes, then nodded, "I've made up my mind, Your Majesty."
"Tell me about it," Empress Cheng said, her voice barely concealing her urgency.
Song Tangxue sneered inwardly.
She then adopted a submissive demeanor and said, "Tangxue is willing to agree to these two things, but I don't have that much cash on hand right now. I can only mortgage the shops that can be used as collateral, but that's still not enough. Tangxue is thinking that over the years, many treasures that were given to Your Highness are still here. If Your Highness is willing, Tangxue will help you take them out to be mortgaged, and we can raise the money bit by bit."
Upon hearing this, Empress Cheng's expression changed, then she forced a smile, "Tang Xue, as you know, there are many favors to be made in the palace. Those things you sent me, I've already distributed them all..."
A cold sneer flashed in Song Tangxue's eyes. She understood perfectly well that Empress Cheng was a woman who only took and never gave. She quickly said:
"Your Majesty has misunderstood Tangxue's meaning. Tangxue will redeem all of these mortgaged items in the near future. After I marry into the East Palace in half a month, I will bring these treasures, along with the land deeds and shops left by my maternal grandmother, back to the East Palace."
Upon hearing these words, a glimmer of light appeared in Empress Cheng's eyes.
Everyone knows that Song Tangxue's maternal grandmother is incredibly wealthy; if she were to bring all of that back to the Eastern Palace...
Empress Cheng's heart pounded, but she didn't want to overdo it, so she pretended to be in a difficult position and said, "That is one way, but it will take me some time to sort out the remaining treasures."
Song Tangxue's brows furrowed with coldness, but she smiled and said, "There's no rush, Your Majesty can take your time to tidy up."
Empress Cheng smiled, but she didn't notice the very faint sarcasm in Song Tangxue's eyes.
Empress Cheng was waiting for all the things she had given away over the years to come back to her.
She will then move out of the Eastern Palace and find a pretext to request the Emperor to annul the engagement.
As for this one million taels of silver...
Let the Empress go ask the ghost herself!
"What about Ali..."
Song Tangxue then said, "As for the matter of my sister being promoted to Crown Princess, after thinking about it these past few days, I realized that my sister has grown up with the Crown Prince since childhood. In the future, when the Crown Prince moves into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he will have countless concubines around him, competing with others for his affections. So I would rather that person be my sister."
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