Everyone in the yard was kneeling in the dark, with their eyes lowered and their heads bowed, not daring to look directly at him. The two maids kneeling in front kowtowed to Chu Jinyao: "Crown Princess, I am innocent. I taught you the rules and accompanied you from the marquis's mansion to the palace, and I have been loyal all the way. No matter who has let you down, it will not be me!"

The two were talking about their past merits again. Chu Jinyao did not respond, but asked Madam Gong: "What's the matter with these two packages in front of you?"

Madam Gong stepped forward and was about to speak, but Madam Liu was afraid that Madam Gong would complain to her, so she hurriedly said: "Crown Princess, this is a misunderstanding..."

"Shut up!" Linglong stood beside Chu Jinyao and scolded, "How can you interrupt when the Crown Princess is asking questions?"

Chu Jinyao raised her hand slightly, and Linglong stepped back with her head down. Chu Jinyao continued to nod to Palace Madam: "Palace Madam, go ahead."

"Yes." Palace Madam glanced at the two people on the ground proudly, and said, "This old servant was making soup for the Crown Princess today. As soon as I came out of the small kitchen, I saw these two maids holding packages and going out from the corner door. This old servant thought that these two maids were busy, so I called them twice from behind but there was no response. This old servant saw that their expressions were not right, and was afraid that something went wrong, so I followed them to see. Unexpectedly, I saw them hiding in a corner, saying that they wanted to sell things in the palace for money." A

low gasp was heard in the courtyard. With Chu Jinyao there, the palace servants and eunuchs did not dare to make any big movements, and only dared to exchange glances with the people around them in private. Everything in the palace belongs to the emperor. If anyone dares to steal something out of the palace, he is obviously asking for death. Chu Jinyao finally looked at Matron Liu and Matron Hong: "Are you really going to take things from the palace to sell outside?"

Matron Liu's face was panicked and her eyes were darting around. Matron Hong saw that something was wrong and quickly distanced herself from the matter: "My princess is very observant. I just took my saved money and asked someone to go out to buy things for me so that I could exchange them for some money for my old age. I knew that this was against palace rules, but I had no cash on hand. It just so happened that Matron Liu said that she had a way, so I followed her. I never thought... that I was short-sighted and violated palace rules. Please punish me, My princess."

Matron Liu was furious when she heard this. Matron Hong was busy distanced herself from the matter. Was she putting all the blame on her? Nanny Liu quickly said, "Crown Princess, I am innocent. I came all the way from the capital to Taiyuan, taught you court etiquette for a year, and then accompanied you to the capital. The round trip is a thousand miles, and I have done my best to teach you the rules. Is the kindness between us not as good as a slander from someone else?"

This is exactly what Nanny Liu relies on. She relies on her own merits and always uses this to make excuses. They didn't say they were tired, but Chu Jinyao was tired of hearing them. Chu Jinyao straightened her sleeves and sighed, "I also want to support the two maids with the grace of education. In the Marquis' Mansion, I always put the two maids first. Even in the palace, I was reluctant to let the two maids do heavy work. I would rather distribute the extra work to Madam Gong and Linglong than let the two maids suffer. In addition, are the rewards for the maids the palace's reward? The one inside? I sincerely support you two with kindness, but you did such a thing. You are still my foster nurses, but you secretly exchanged things in the palace and bought them outside. Today, you were caught by the palace nurse. If it was someone else, wouldn’t they think it was instructed by me, the Crown Princess? I treat you two sincerely, but you two nurses refuse to appreciate it. "

The more affection is mixed in, the more you cannot let others have something to say. The two nurses wanted to use kindness to win her over, but Chu Jinyao had to tell everything and accuse the two nurses of taking advantage of the situation and being greedy.

Everyone has seen what the two maids have done these days. The palace maids and eunuchs in the audience all think that the Crown Princess has done her best. The two maids are still relying on the Crown Princess's respect to make trouble. It's too much. The two maids were so embarrassed by Chu Jinyao's words that they were caught stealing everything today. It's like they have lost all their face for several generations. Madam Liu still holds on to a glimmer of hope. She is someone sent by the Queen. Chu Jinyao can just scold her and leave it alone. He will never dare to fight her seriously. With this in mind, Madam Liu said, "Crown Princess, you must not listen to the words of villains, or you will harm us old heroes. I came to the Crown Princess on the orders of the palace to teach her how to behave. Even if you don't believe me, you must believe the Queen!"

"How dare you!" Chu Jinyao suddenly raised her voice and said with pressure, "How dare you, a servant, to make such a fuss. Do you mean that you stole things from the palace on the instructions of the Queen?"

Madam Liu immediately lowered her head, "I dare not."

"You are simply audacious. Since you say you are wronged, I will explain it to you in front of so many people today." Chu Jinyao turned her head, and Linglong immediately stepped forward, "Crown Princess."

"Take people to their room and search thoroughly to see if she was wrongly accused."

Linglong took the order and went. After a while, Linglong brought people to bring many packages. Linglong stood sideways on the steps and first opened them for Chu Jinyao to take a look. Then she turned around and showed them to the people below. The

young palace maids all took a breath of cold air. These packages were actually full of broken silver. Chu Jinyao sighed and showed a disappointed look: "I respect you in every way, but I never thought that you would create some enemies. How are you going to explain this money? Could it be that the Empress's instructions? The Empress is in charge of the six palaces and has noble virtues, but you obviously did evil, but you want to blame it on the Empress! It is really unforgivable."

Chu Jinyao's words separated the behavior of the two maids from that of Empress Qi. She dealt with the maids who committed crimes, not the people sent by the Empress. Nanny Hong was quick-witted. She immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "Crown Princess, these are her things and have nothing to do with me!" "

Hey you!" Nanny Liu was furious. Just as she was about to say something, Chu Jinyao waved her hand to stop her.

"Enough, it's not decent to blame each other in the palace." Chu Jinyao signaled Linglong to quickly drag the two people away. The remaining words were very useful, and Chu Jinyao couldn't let them say them outside.

Linglong understood and immediately called the eunuch to come over and drag the two people away. Nanny Liu wanted to plead again, but was stopped by Linglong: "Shut up, how can you make noise in the deep palace? Lock them in the empty room at the back and wait for the Crown Princess to decide."

The two maids were gagged and left. The sounds of struggle gradually faded away, which made the place even quieter.

Chu Jinyao's eyes slowly swept over the crowd, and finally stopped at Zi Yan: "Aunt Zi Yan, how long have they been reselling things?"

Zi Yan responded and stepped out of the line. After hearing this, she squatted deeply and saluted: "I don't know."

"Then are there any things from the East Palace among the things they sold?"

Zi Yan was speechless for a moment, and she didn't dare to give a definite answer. The things in the East Palace are all fixed, and Zi Yan guessed that they dare not touch the things in the East Palace. But, what if?

Seeing that Zi Yan didn't say anything, Chu Jinyao smiled softly and said, "Aunt Zi Yan, you are the most capable aunt in charge of His Highness. His Highness trusts you, so I trust you. Aunt, don't you agree?"

Zi Yan was sweating profusely. She said, why did they call all the people to be tried in person when they were just dealing with the two unclean maids? It turned out that today's incident was not because of the two maids at all. It was them that the Crown Princess was shocked.

Zi Yan knelt down quickly. When Zi Yan knelt down, the other four palace maids did not dare to stand and knelt down quickly. Zi Yan lowered her head and said carefully: "The Crown Princess has taught me that I will strictly control the palace ladies in the future. What happened today will never happen again."

Qiu Chan was a little dissatisfied. It was the Crown Princess's foster nanny who caused the trouble. It was obviously the Crown Princess herself who was embarrassed. Why did she put the blame on Aunt Zi Yan? Qiu Chan was very angry. Yuyan held Qiu Chan down and forced her to kowtow together: "Thank you for the Crown Princess's favor. I dare not disobey your order."

Chu Jinyao looked at the original team of the East Palace who apologized. After letting them kneel for a while, he summoned them to stand up: "Okay, stand up. I know you are all smart and capable. Only one of you is allowed to do this. Don't let it happen again in the future."

Zi Yan stood up with cold sweat on her face. After they stood up, Chu Jinyao stood up, walked to the door of the hall, and said to the crowd of palace people on the steps: "Don't be involved in today's matter. You thought that you could just beat and scold the people involved and that would be the end of it. Aunt Zi Yan is in charge of such a big stall, how can she handle everything personally? Don't take advantage of Zi Yan's lack of time and try to cheat and fool around. The one who was caught today was my nanny. Although I feel sad, I will still deal with her according to the palace rules. If someone else breaks the rules next time, no matter how respectable you are, what connections you have in the East Palace, or who your relatives and friends are, as long as you make a mistake, you will be dealt with according to the palace rules, and I will never show you mercy. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The servants were all pale and trembling with fear. Chu Jinyao saw that everyone agreed, and after a while of looking around, she found that no one dared to move, and no one dared to show impatience, so she felt that the time for today's criticism had come. She walked back to her seat, raised her tea and signaled to disperse: "What happened today is a wake-up call, you must always keep it in mind. The time is almost up, everyone should disperse and do your own work."

Everyone saluted Chu Jinyao in unison, then bowed their heads and looked away, not daring to leave first. Linglong and Dingxiang walked in with small steps, helped Chu Jinyao to stand up, and when Chu Jinyao's figure could no longer be seen, the people in the courtyard dared to slowly disperse.

When they arrived at the inner hall, Dingxiang said to Chu Jinyao in a frank manner: "Crown Princess, you were really amazing just now."

Chu Jinyao went to a place where no one was around, and then she dared to sit down and drink a cup of hot food to moisten her mouth. After hearing Dingxiang's words, she couldn't help laughing: "I am amazing? Then tell me, how am I amazing?"

Dingxiang is the maid who has been with Chu Jinyao for the longest time. Since Chu Jinyao returned to Changxing Marquis Mansion, Dingxiang was called over to take care of Chu Jinyao. Dingxiang is dull and honest. Because she is not as smart and cautious as Linglong, Chu Jinyao inevitably relies on Linglong later, but in her heart, she still has more feelings for Dingxiang.

Dingxiang thought for a moment and said truthfully, "When the Crown Princess was scolding people just now, her voice was not loud and her face was not scary, but she was so imposing that people dared not look up."

Chu Jinyao and Linglong both laughed. Seeing Chu Jinyao laugh, Dingxiang tilted her head and thought for a moment, then added, "When the Crown Princess was scolding Zi Yan just now, she looked like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Nonsense." Chu Jinyao rolled his eyes at Dingxiang, his eyes moving and his face full of smiles.

Linglong stood aside and added: "Crown Princess, Dingxiang's words are honest, but they are reasonable. You have been acting more and more like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince recently, especially when you are sentencing people, you are calm and dignified."

"The two of you are singing the same tune, come here to make me happy." Chu Jinyao didn't take these words to heart, she instructed, "Those two maids, starve them all night today, and don't talk to them tomorrow except for delivering meals. By the way, keep these two people in prison separately, don't let them frame each other and tell anyone."

Linglong bowed: "Crown Princess has said it a long time ago, I remember it. Crown Princess, how should these two old women be dealt with?"

"Lock them up first, don't let anyone talk to them, after a few days, their temper will be worn out. Then we will go over and frame them for other things."

"Crown Princess, what you are talking about is..."

Chu Jinyao glanced over, and Linglong immediately lowered her head. Taking advantage of the two maids' distraction, she could find out what was going on in Xiaoqi's harem, but these words must not be said out loud.

Chu Jinyao sat on the Luohan bed, Linglong and Dingxiang stood beside Chu Jinyao and talked to her. The master and servants were chatting, and the pearl curtain outside the compartment rang. Zi Yan came over and greeted Chu Jinyao with a smile: "Crown Princess, long live the good health."

Chu Jinyao sat at the top without moving, and in a moment her eyes had already scanned the cards in Zi Yan's hand. Chu Jinyao remained calm and asked with a smile, "Why did Aunt Ziyan come here?"

Ziyan said, "I have been trusted by the Crown Prince and have been in charge of the internal affairs for many years. However, I am stupid and cannot handle many things well. I just don't dare to disappoint the trust of the Crown Prince, so I have to bear it. Fortunately, the Crown Prince is getting married now, and there is a Crown Princess in the East Palace. I can retire and hand over the internal affairs to the Crown Prince. "The Crown Princess."

As she said this, Zi Yan was about to hand over the key and the card. Chu Jinyao did not take it, but asked: "Why do you say such things for no reason, aunt? You have been in charge of the internal affairs for many years, and everyone knows your contributions and hard work. Your Highness and I will continue to rely on you in the future, why do you say such things, aunt?"

Seeing that Chu Jinyao was unwilling to take the things, Zi Yan knew that this would be more difficult to get rid of than to accept them readily. Chu Jinyao deliberately got angry in front of Zi Yan today, just to use those two maids to warn her. The things that happened later were so serious, and no one came to the front hall to ask questions. Just now, when everyone dispersed, Zi Yan specially asked someone to go to the front to ask, where is the Crown Prince?

The eunuch in front reported that His Highness had returned from Wenhua Palace with many court affairs today, and was now in the study approving them. Zi Yan's heart sank all of a sudden. She had thought that the Crown Prince had something to do today and had not returned yet, but now she realized that he had been there all along. Not expressing one's opinion is the biggest expression. Zi Yan thought about it for a while and decided to meet the Crown Princess.

However, Zi Yan brought the key and the cards to express her opinion, but the Crown Princess refused to accept them. If the Crown Princess accepted it with a few casual excuses, it would mean that the Crown Princess was anxious and it would be easier to deal with. However, she did not say yes or no, which was more troublesome.

Zi Yan thought of many things in a flash, and she answered more carefully: "I am stupid, but I can stay in the East Palace to serve because of Your Highness's willingness to support me. Now that the Crown Princess is here, you are the master of the East Palace. The internal affairs should naturally be handed over to the mistress. How can I manage them

on your behalf?" "Aunt, you are too self-deprecating. The fact that Your Highness has handed over the internal affairs to you naturally shows that you are very talented and Your Highness will never make a mistake. Since Your Highness trusts you, I also believe in you. Although I have said something about you in front of everyone today, our palace has a special status and I cannot let outsiders get hold of any evidence. That's why I reluctantly scolded you. If you bear a grudge and quit, then you can blame me."

"How dare I!" Zi Yan apologized quickly, "What the Crown Princess said today is reasonable. It was my fault for failing to manage the internal affairs. How dare I hold it in my heart?"

"That's good." Chu Jinyao personally helped Zi Yan up and said, "I'm glad you don't blame me. You are a capable person that the Crown Prince relies on, and I am the wife of His Highness. Naturally, I think what he thinks and use what he uses. There is no need to tell me about your resignation today. I will just pretend that I didn't hear it. In the future, I will have to trouble my aunt to continue to manage the palace maids and eunuchs for my husband and wife."

Chu Jinyao mentioned the words "us" and "husband and wife" everywhere. How could Zi Yan not understand? She saluted Chu Jinyao and said, "Thank you for your consideration, Crown Princess. The Crown Princess is the mistress of the East Palace. It is my honor to serve the Crown Princess."

"Aunt, you are too modest. But it's good that we have talked it out. In the future, please don't say that you will quit your job. Ciqing Palace can't do without you." Chu Jinyao looked at the key in Ziyan's hand, glanced at it casually, and then looked away. "Aunt, I understand your intentions. Please take these things back."

Zi Yan refused, and put the key cards on the table next to Chu Jinyao, saying: "It is a blessing for me to serve His Highness and the Crown Princess. Before the Crown Princess came, I was brave enough to keep the key for her temporarily. Now that the Crown Princess has come, it is natural to return the keys to their original owners."

Chu Jinyao persuaded her again, and seeing that Zi Yan was unwilling to do so, she smiled and said: "Aunt is really polite. His Highness is right to hand over the internal affairs to you. Linglong, this is Aunt Zi Yan's heart, you should keep it."

"Hey!" Linglong responded, took the things happily, and locked them in the box in the house. Chu Jinyao kept Zi Yan's position, but took her power. In the future, Zi Yan will still be the aunt in charge of Ciqing Palace, but when dealing with major matters, she must report back to Chu Jinyao, the Crown Princess.

This is the best result. It is easy for Chu Jinyao to get rid of Zi Yan, but who will she replace in the future? It will be troublesome whether she manages well or not. It is better to keep it as it is and let Zi Yan, the person in charge, know who to listen to.

They are old people who serve the prince, and Chu Jinyao is willing to give them this respect. However, they must know that in addition to the prince, she, the Crown Princess, is also the master.

As for Qiu Chan, who is not very respectful to Chu Jinyao, she is just a palace maid, and Chu Jinyao can replace her at any time. A mere palace maid is not worth Chu Jinyao's attention. If she dared to disrespect Chu Jinyao again, Chu Jinyao would directly hand her over to Zi Yan and let them deal with it themselves.

After Zi Yan handed over the key, she didn't know whether she was relieved or upset. But Zi Yan finally understood today that their Crown Princess, who looked quiet and gentle, as beautiful as a painting, actually knew what to hold on to and what to let go.

Zi Yan stood for a while and gave up the two positions of manager of the kitchen and warehouse. The maids around Chu Jinyao haven't taken charge yet. Zi Yan used to pretend not to know, but today she dared not not know.

The kitchen is the key, food and medicine all come out from here, so naturally they have to be in the hands of their own people, not to mention the warehouse, money is always the foundation. Zi Yan tactfully gave up these two places, and Chu Jinyao accepted her kindness and accepted it happily.

Zi Yan transferred her people away to make room for Chu Jinyao. Chu Jinyao thought about it and arranged Gong Mammy to go to the kitchen, and Ding Xiang to be her assistant. Gong Mammy is old and knowledgeable, and she understands the pharmacology and taboos of those women, so it is just right to let her look after the kitchen. Although Gong Madam was Madam Chu's servant, the interests of Changxing Marquis' Mansion and Chu Jinyao were the same in this regard. Once she entered the palace, Gong Madam also understood that she would not be able to rely on Madam Chu, but on Chu Jinyao, so Gong Madam also tried her best to show her usefulness to Chu Jinyao. Of

the two maids around Chu Jinyao, Dingxiang was honest and the person Chu Jinyao trusted the most, so Chu Jinyao arranged her to the kitchen to play a balancing role. As for Linglong, who was smart and discerning, of course she was in charge of the warehouse.

After Chu Jinyao arranged his people, he looked at the sky outside and suddenly asked in surprise: "Where is His Highness? He should have come back by this time."

Others did not dare to speak, so Chu Jinyao stood up and looked outside for a while, then sent a young eunuch to the front hall: "Go to the front hall and ask if His Highness has come back. If His Highness is here, tell Eunuch Lin that it is time to eat and ask His Highness to come back quickly."

The young eunuch responded and ran away quickly. Chu Jinyao waited for a while, but the eunuch who delivered the message did not come, and the real person came directly.

"Your Highness." Chu Jinyao walked to the door of the main room and personally untied Qin Yi's cloak, "Why did you come back only now today?" The tone of

her voice was exactly like a wife complaining about her husband's late return. Logically, this is a bit rude. The prince is busy with court affairs, so how can a female relative ask about it? Chu Jinyao regretted it as soon as she finished speaking, but Qin Yi didn't seem to care. He said, "The end of the year is approaching, and the six ministries are all overwhelmed with miscellaneous tasks, so it's delayed."

Chu Jinyao secretly looked at Qin Yi's face. Qin Yi let her look at him for a while, then turned around to catch her gaze and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Chu Jinyao smiled and took Qin Yi's arm, "I was afraid you would blame me for asking too much."

Qin Yi let Chu Jinyao stick to him and act coquettishly, and he said very softly, "It's okay."

Qin Yi didn't say that since the death of Empress Wenxiao, no one has cared about whether he came back early or late for a long time. There was no need to say these words, but Qin Yi did find out one thing: Chu Jinyao was very "upright" on weekdays, but if she said something wrong or had something to ask for help, she would become very attentive, and she had learned the skill of acting like a spoiled child naturally.

Qin Yi understood it in his heart, but he did not show it, and let Chu Jinyao take him to the palace for dinner. During the meal, Chu Jinyao served dishes and tea, and was very attentive.

After the meal, Chu Jinyao asked people to take away all the food. After waiting until there was no one around, she sat next to Qin Yi and hooked his sleeve with her little finger: "Your Highness?"

Qin Yi remained expressionless and looked at her calmly: "What's the matter?"

"I scolded your people today. You're not angry, are you?"

"Whether I'm angry or not, haven't you already scolded them?"

"It's not like that." Chu Jinyao moved closer and pulled Qin Yi's sleeve to explain, "I'm not targeting your people, nor do I want to embarrass Your Highness. I just... look, this is where you grew up, and the people here are all familiar to you, but I don't know anyone, and I suddenly moved into your East Palace. I must do something. Otherwise, they won't recognize me."

Qin Yi was teasing her on purpose, but when she heard Chu Jinyao say, "This is where you grew up," her heart suddenly moved. Even if he was unwilling to admit it, this was where most of his memories were stored, and now, Chu Jinyao had moved into this memory.

Qin Yi sighed in his heart and couldn't bear to tease her anymore: "I'm just teasing you, you don't have to take it seriously. Don't be afraid of anything you do in the future. As long as I don't stop you, just do it with confidence, nothing will happen.

" "Madame Liu has dirty hands, I'm afraid that she has taken away things in our palace. I want someone to count all the things in the East Palace and re-register them, is that okay?"

"Didn't you say that you are the Crown Princess, of course you arrange it."

"Really, you are not angry?" In fact, Chu Jinyao was a little uneasy, because she was the one who deliberately let Madame Liu out. The first time Madame Liu committed the crime, Chu Jinyao didn't care, which made her more and more courageous, and she even dared to take things from the palace. Although Chu Jinyao did this to protect herself, from the perspective of the Eastern Palace, what was the basis? If the Eastern Palace really lost something because of this, how would the account be settled?

"I am angry, indeed." Qin Yi said slowly, "I heard from Xiao Linzi today that you were establishing your authority in the back palace, and I couldn't disturb you, so I went to the front palace to deal with the memorials first. You are really amazing. You didn't ask me until I came back. If you were not hungry in the end, would you still not remember me?" "

How could that be?" Chu Jinyao found that Qin Yi really didn't blame her and was willing to support her. She had already settled down in her heart. How could she be afraid of these teasing? "I have always been thinking about you. I thought you were handling government affairs in the front, so you didn't let anyone disturb you. Now you blame me!"

After Chu Jinyao finished speaking, she also sighed in her heart. People are born to push their luck. In the past, she would never have dared to do this in front of Madam Chu and Marquis Changxing in the Changxing Marquis's mansion. But now that she has changed to Qin Yi, who is theoretically more terrifying, she dares to refute Qin Yi's words and even turn the tables.

Chu Jinyao always heard people say that she should keep her duty, and she believed it. Until it happened to her, Chu Jinyao suddenly found that it was too difficult to keep her duty.

She is now greedy, and she wants more after getting a little good.