Inside the imperial tent, the Empress Dowager interrogated Su Lan for half an hour, but she did not reveal anything about En He.
Although Su Mo'er left the grasslands for decades after marrying the Empress Dowager, the Naxi connections left by the Empress Dowager remained in her hands, and this was a welcome development that was not handed over to Consort Xin.
Before her death, the Empress Dowager wanted to leave a way out for her, and that as long as there was no conflict with the court, Emperor Kangxi would be filial to her.
When the conflict between the Qing Dynasty and the Khorchin—no, it should be said that it was with the grasslands—intensified, Kangxi would definitely put the Empress Dowager under house arrest in the Cining Palace first. Therefore, he left some spies for the Empress Dowager on the grasslands. These people were hidden around the Khorchin princes and heirs, and they would advise the princes and heirs not to oppose any of Kangxi's decisions.
The leaders of Khorchin had long been spoiled by Emperor Taizong and the late emperor. When the Empress Dowager was alive, these leaders often made things difficult for her, hoping that she would bring good things to the grasslands.
The Empress Dowager arrived at the grasslands but feigned illness to avoid them. This greatly alarmed many leaders, who were prepared to fully support Consort Xin.
If one of Kangxi's concubines could give birth to a prince, then the emperor's consorts would have one more trump card to play!
"Little darling, have the people from Khorchin come to cause you trouble?" The Empress Dowager wasn't stupid; Su Mo'er had already reported this to her when the incident occurred.
Qingyan stared at the Empress Dowager in astonishment. She turned to look at Sulan, wondering if this girl had disobeyed Kangxi's orders, which was why the Empress Dowager found out.
“Master, I didn’t say that…” Su Lan quickly said.
The Empress Dowager asked her questions, but she didn't say a word, which made the Empress Dowager very angry. In the end, she made her kneel there and said that she could only get up when she spoke.
Su Mo'er smiled. Su Lan was very well-behaved, so her efforts in training her had not been in vain.
Inside the phoenix tent, many maids were dismissed. These were all people Su Mo'er had personally trained, so she couldn't help but feel a little sad.
"Fourth Princess Consort, Su Lan didn't say anything." Su Mo'er looked at Su Lan with relief.
This girl is quite good; she has always been loyal to the Fourth Prince's wife, which puts their minds at ease.
This time, someone tried to find out Qingyan's whereabouts. The Empress Dowager wanted Qingyan to handle it herself. This was not only to let Xiaoguai know that the servants needed to keep a close eye on her, but more importantly, she hoped that Qingyan could learn how to communicate with outsiders through this incident.
The wives of the princesses complained about Qingyan to the Empress Dowager many times. They said that Xiaoguai looked down on people too much, was always cold and indifferent, and never smiled at them.
In reality, these were just excuses used by those people; they simply hoped that the Empress Dowager would interfere in the Prince's household affairs.
"Grandma, I know what those people want to do. I didn't handle it well and made things difficult for you!" Qingyan lowered her head, but she was unwilling to accept it.
She gave in, but she was still outmaneuvered.
It wasn't until just before dinner that the Empress Dowager dismissed Qingyan. She hurried towards the tent as the evening glow faded. Yin hadn't returned yet, so she quickly finished her dinner and then sat at her desk, staring blankly at the oil lamp in the upper left corner.
Consort Tong made a special announcement that Emperor Kangxi and several princes would not be returning, and were planning to spend the night in the hunting forest.
Tonight, Qingyan will be spending the night alone. She has a feeling of unease, as if something is about to happen.
"Sulan, have our manor guards keep a close watch on the tents. There absolutely cannot be any loopholes."
The snow leopard and snowball lay on either side of her, lazily watching Qingyan's tense expression, and then they slept soundly.
In fact, even a young snow leopard can be terrifying when it really unleashes its power. Not to mention, Snowball's wolf pack hasn't gone far. As soon as the little guy makes a sound, they will definitely surround the camp again.
"You two stay put and don't cause any trouble outside!" Qingyan didn't want these two little ones to get into any trouble.
The lightning stopped in the corner of the study and let out a howl.
It's an adult now, not only with a beak but also with sharp claws. If anyone dares to cause trouble, it won't hesitate to let them experience the power of the gyrfalcon.
"Awooo!" The two little guys were too scared to continue, clearly thinking they were useless!
The gyrfalcon's disdainful look really irritated the two little guys.
Pfft!
Qingyan was delighted; ever since the three little ones came to live with her, she had had a lot of fun.
An eagle, a leopard, and a wolf often caused trouble inside the tent, while the guards on duty outside claimed they saw nothing and were no match for the three of them.
If they try to stop them, they might get hurt.
Before leaving, Qingyan specifically instructed the guards that no matter what commotion occurred inside the tent, they must not break in.
These three little ones have an extremely strong sense of territory. Apart from her and Yin, anyone who enters Su Lan's room will be on high alert, and if anything seems amiss, the three of them will pounce on her.
"Lightning, you are not allowed to peck anyone again, unless it is a heinous crime and you want to harm me and Yin. Otherwise, you are not allowed to move." Qingyan did not want to have to keep an eye on things and prevent lightning from hurting anyone.
Lightning glanced at Qingyan and nodded immediately.
Inside the study, Thunder's feet were not bound, and it stood obediently on the shelf specially prepared for it. Mother's gyrfalcon was still locked in a cage, waiting to be tamed.
"Mother should be worried, that one is quite unusual." Yin smiled, but Consort Tong's face was extremely ugly.
Those lackeys in the rare bird garden, lacking Qingyan's abilities, have certainly made quite a few laughable mistakes.
"Hehe, Mother didn't say, but I watched the lightning pass, and that hawk was exceptionally well-behaved!" Qingyan pondered for a moment, "Mother probably hasn't been good at training hawks, after all, those account books sent from the palace..."
Recently, Emperor Kangxi has sent many people to conduct secret investigations, and it has been found that the servants of the Imperial Household Department have betrayed him and been completely corrupted by money.
"With such huge profits at stake, probably no one would truly be able to let go." Yin recalled how he had clashed with these people many times in his previous life, and their methods were anything but admirable.
“We also have these servants in our prince’s quarters, but I’ve numbered all the jewelry and calligraphy and paintings from before, and I check them regularly. Suhua is particularly knowledgeable about these treasures, and she often goes to check them.” Qingyan had no choice but to come up with this solution, having Suhua check them regularly.
Initially, they caught a few servants trying to exchange for rare items, but after being discovered, Qingyan took immediate action.
"Spot checks?" Yin was stunned. This was indeed a good method. However, in such a vast harem, there were so many palaces containing numerous treasures. Even the treasures in Kangxi's private treasury, even if they were changed daily, could not all be used.
Furthermore, Emperor Kangxi often bestowed gifts upon his concubines, and these were all exceptionally precious treasures.
The private treasury sees a large influx and outflow of funds, and using Qingyan's methods would require a significant investment of manpower and resources. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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