The midday sun shone in the garden. Consort Tong summoned Qingyan and the twins to the garden. After listening to Yin's report on the direction of the investigation, Emperor Kangxi arranged for Consort Tong to talk with Qingyan. Kangxi believed that this idea should have been proposed by Qingyan.
"Shu, take the two little ones down to play, but be careful they don't bump into anything." Consort Tong noticed that the twins were curious about the garden, so she quickly told Shu to take them out so that they could leave the pavilion for them to discuss important matters.
"!" Shu quickly agreed.
After watching the group leave, Qingyan understood that Consort Tong had intentionally sent the children away.
"Little darling, I heard from the fourth prince, how did you come up with this idea?" Consort Tong asked curiously.
Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief. It was better for Consort Tong to come and talk to her than for Emperor Kangxi to come in person.
“Mother, since we came to the south, I’ve received a lot of gift lists. I’ve been worried that it will cause trouble for Master.” Qingyan sighed. “We don’t lack these things at home. If I refuse them all, it will make the other sisters-in-law look bad.”
Consort Tong smiled. Qingyan had grown up and understood Kangxi's intentions.
"Little darling, do all the items on the gift list include tea and tonics?" Consort Tong hadn't looked at the gift list from the south very carefully; she had just asked Shu to find it for her yesterday.
She picked up a small sandalwood box containing the names of officials' families from the south. She opened it and found a thick stack of gift lists inside; the Cao family had indeed sent quite a lot of things.
"Little darling, did you have a conflict with Lady Yin Genjue Luo?" Consort Tong learned from Lady Tong Guogang that Qingyan had sent the manager of Linglong Pavilion to visit Lady Yin Genjue Luo.
Qingyan reluctantly admitted, "It's because Mrs. Yier is too annoying. I heard she's a woman from the Cao family. She was trying to harm my sister-in-law at the door, so I just wanted to vent my anger. Mother, did I do something wrong?"
Consort Tong also heard some rumors. It was said that Lady Yier, relying on being the daughter-in-law of the Yin Genjueluo clan, dared to act arrogantly in front of the Grand Consort and say some inexplicable things.
"If I hadn't happened to be there that day, my sister-in-law would have been gossiping about me for ages." Qingyan hated people like that the most; they had no ability but dared to make grand pronouncements in public.
"That's enough, this matter is over. I will issue an edict to reprimand him. Ir's performance was not good, so he should not be allowed to stay." Consort Tong understood that Kangxi intended for Yinhe to stay here after the southern tour.
The soldiers at the naval port were carefully selected. Yin secretly investigated the true military achievements of all the soldiers. Among the reports submitted, there were indeed many exaggerated claims, some of which were completely plundered from the military achievements of others.
Yin then began investigating the diplomatic relations between the generals' wives and their families. He was in the naval port, and they were not planning to leave those people behind.
"Little darling, you're absolutely right!" Consort Tong glanced through the list and saw that each gift list contained tea and tonics, while precious items were few and far between.
Consort Tong beckoned to Shu Zhu, asking her to bring up the prepared brush and ink. She then drew directly on the gift list, and what she saw there was truly astonishing.
The officials' wives had many thoughts on the matter. The tea and tonics were not described in detail, and most people would just think they were food items. However, when Shuzhu had the items prepared, they were quite surprised.
The quality of those tonics was even better than that of those in the palace; some were special tributes from the south.
"Sure enough, if you hadn't reminded us, we would have overlooked it!" Consort Tong looked at the tea leaves inside and realized that over the past few years, she had been giving all the tea leaves she had taken during her southern tours directly to Lady Tong Guowei.
"Mother, also, many of these tonics are tribute items," Qingyan said in a low voice.
Consort Tong looked at Qingyan in surprise. How could tribute items appear on the gift list?
"The manager of Yuelai Inn bought a lot of tribute items, and they were all exchanged for silver!" Qingyan didn't care. This part was basically supplied to Yuelai Inn in the capital, where the private rooms were occupied by members of the royal family or the imperial clan.
"Really?!" Consort Tong was surprised that the imperial merchants from the south would be so bold.
"According to the shopkeepers, it seems that the imperial merchants have prepared ample funds, and some of the current managers need to be bribed with money," Qingyan said in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Consort Tong's expression immediately turned sour.
The tributes to the palace were purchased by each imperial merchant according to a set quantity. Even if there were substitutes, these would be sealed in the Imperial Household Department and would never be leaked.
"Are you sure those were all tributes from back then?" Consort Tong remembered that the imperial merchants would sell some of their accumulated goods to outsiders.
"I personally inspected this year's produce, and it's the same as the quota issued to me by the Imperial Household Department. In fact, the quality of the bird's nest is even higher!" Qingyan felt that the Imperial Household Department needed to be thoroughly investigated, as they dared to tamper with the produce.
As soon as the words were spoken, Consort Tong's heart sank to the bottom. Emperor Kangxi had always said that the Imperial Household Department must have taken a lot of kickbacks, and Lady Tong Guowei had always spoken well of Consort Tong. Therefore, Consort Tong had not taken any action to deal with the matter.
She was very disappointed with the current situation. How much of what these people had taken from Mrs. Tong Guowei?
"My little darling, your mother has a favor to ask!" Consort Tong said to Qingyan.
"Mother, you can just tell me what you need, there's no need to say that!" Qingyan was a little flustered. For Consort Tong to say something like that, the problem must be really serious.
"Keep a close eye on Tong Guowei's residence!" Consort Tong said.
Qingyan opened her mouth slightly, but no sound came out.
That... is Consort Tong's maternal family!
"Mother... I can't do this, Yin will definitely not forgive me!" Qingyan didn't want to get involved in the Tong family's affairs. Whether it was Tong Guowei or Tong Guogang, they were all Kangxi's maternal relatives.
Consort Tong was somewhat dejected, realizing that Qingyan also had his concerns.
"Fine, if you don't want to get involved, your mother won't give it to you in front of everyone. Have Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion bring me the account books from Tong Guowei's residence, not just those from the capital, but all the account books from all parts of the Qing Dynasty. Is that acceptable?" Consort Tong had no choice but to see for herself just how many wrongdoings her family had committed.
Under Consort Tong's resolute gaze, Qingyan was forced to agree.
Those account books were inanimate objects; they were handed over directly to Consort Tong without her ever having looked at them. Even if something happened, it wouldn't implicate her.
"What you did is good. Being cautious is also good for Yin!" Earlier, Consort Tong was a little flustered, but after calming down, she felt that Qingyan was right.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mother!" Qingyan smiled, pursing her lips.
In private, Yin Ke often talked to her about this matter.
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