As dinner approached, Qingyan prepared to cook himself, leaving Suju to watch over the scene in the corridor. Those who loudly begged for mercy were immediately gagged. The women could only weep quietly when they saw their husbands being gagged.
Some of the bolder ones started turning their heads from side to side, and when they realized that all their relatives and in-laws had been helped, they secretly cried out in alarm.
On a winter's evening, the courtyard was already quite cold. Most of the bound servants were of the rank of chief steward or deputy chief steward. Their clothes were of relatively good quality, but they were still chilled to the bone by the cold wind.
Normally, they would have their own cloaks when they went out, and those were better than those of ordinary people. Today, however, they were locked up, and those cloaks were completely unusable.
Qingyan prepared several of Yin's favorite side dishes, and personally cooked a pot of mutton and vermicelli soup. He also had the chef from the mansion make some sesame flatbreads and grill some juicy mutton skewers. A light-hearted dinner was served.
She stepped out of the kitchen door, and Su Lan quickly draped a fox fur cloak over her shoulders. This cloak was hand-made by Si Si from a snow fox, using only the fur from the snow fox's ribs, with the surrounding area trimmed with winter ferret fur. The fur was snow-white with a few faint purple hues.
Such a cape would probably be considered a rare treasure in modern times.
In the Qing Dynasty, Qingyan possessed three cloaks, all of which were personally brought back by Yinzhi during winter hunts, making them more remarkable than other cloaks.
Just as she reached the entrance of the courtyard, Yin, dressed in a bearskin cloak, stood at the door, watching her help Su Lan as she walked step by step toward him.
"Why aren't you wearing a hood?" Yin asked gently, reaching out to put the hood on her head, instantly concealing her beautiful face.
Qingyan glared at him angrily, while the servants in the courtyard were all watching.
"I will give the order: Xiao Guai, do not touch the flesh of killing." Yin has always protected her, and he will take full responsibility for these cruel things.
Erlu sent someone to deliver the register of corruption, which enraged Yin. Kangxi received the news and secretly sent Yin to his study. After a quick glance, Kangxi immediately decided to have Yin handle the matter.
"This... is a matter for the backyard. Is it appropriate for you to interfere?" Qingyan wanted to refuse. Yin should be busy with official duties. If he interfered in matters for the backyard, he would definitely be impeached by the censor.
"It's a secret decree from Father Emperor," Yin said in a low voice.
At this moment, panic was also gripped within Changchun Garden. Li Dequan personally led the Imperial Guards to surround the Changchun Garden kitchen, and all the servants working there were detained. Their homes were also ransacked by the Imperial Guards.
At the Yuanmingyuan, Yin ordered the guards of his residence to surround the area, and those inside were forbidden from passing on any useful information.
Yin held Qingyan's little hand and walked into the courtyard together. On both sides of the courtyard, servants who were bound hand and foot were kneeling. Several old women kneeling in front looked at Yin with tears in their eyes.
“These are the women who took care of me; they are all third-class nannies, but they never served me personally,” Yin said.
Qingyan was taken aback; she had thought Yin would plead for her.
"Mother...would they... mind?" Qingyan didn't want Yin to clash with Consort Tong. In the harem, Consort Tong was the only one who could help Yin.
"Mother has already handed over these people's contracts to me!" Yin said coldly.
He narrowed his eyes. He had heard rumors that these old women were just taking advantage of being part of Consort Tong's dowry to act arrogantly in the Yuanmingyuan. Today, after seeing the records in the account book, he planned to ask his mother to keep a little more restraint on the dowry.
ah?!
After leaving the palace, some of the nannies acted arrogantly and domineeringly, and she was unable to deal with them effectively because their indentures were not in her possession.
"Su Peisheng, go to the study and bring the sandalwood box in the third compartment of the multi-treasure pavilion." Yin planned to hand over all these indentures to Qingyan. As the primary consort, she needed to manage the inner quarters well and had to have a powerful handle to control the servants. These indentures were good proof of that.
Apart from Yin, none of the other princes handed over their indentures to their primary wives. Qingyan never thought of asking for them, and Yin never had the opportunity to give them to her.
The atmosphere in the courtyard immediately changed, and the servants looked at Qingyan differently.
Su Peisheng, half-bent over, quickly walked over carrying a sandalwood box in both hands. Yin took it and handed it to Qingyan in front of everyone.
On the stone steps of the corridor, two grand chairs were placed side by side. Yin led Qingyan to sit down, and they looked down at the servants who had committed the offense.
“You’re quite bold, even using the master’s tribute. It seems I should address you as Prince.” Yin coldly rebuked.
The servants were gagged and could only kowtow desperately, hoping that Yin would listen to their explanation.
"The ingredients for the twins' complementary food are all from Father Emperor's allotted rations, yet you manage to embezzle them." Yin directly informed Kangxi about the matter of Geng Hekuan taking the complementary food ingredients.
An emperor's wrath is not something an ordinary person can withstand.
"Fourth Master, this servant dares not, this servant dares not!" The women disregarded their dignity; Yin's words had struck at their Achilles' heel.
The twins were protected by His Majesty. Many tributes were sent from Changchun Garden, and they secretly took some of them to take home for their children of marriageable age.
"I wouldn't dare, Erlu!" Yin pointed to the servant in front of him, his face darkening.
Erlu was in charge of interrogations, and when dealing with these people, he still had a way to extract the most information in the shortest amount of time. Yin knew that any servant would use delaying tactics.
"Your Majesty, should we hand it over to the Criminal Division for interrogation?" Su Peisheng asked worriedly, as Yin had personally interrogated the man and had been punished by Kangxi.
Yin glanced at Su Peisheng and said, "Drag Su Peisheng out and give him five strokes of the cane. Who dares to plead for him? Su Peisheng will be your role model."
Su Peisheng bowed his head and accepted the punishment; he had to make a statement.
"Eru, you will personally conduct the interrogation and hand over the interrogation records and this ledger to Father Emperor!" Yin sighed. "The Fujin is soft-hearted and gave you too lenient conditions, allowing you to harm the twins. This time... I won't interfere with you anymore."
After saying this, Yin led Qingyan directly back to the room. As soon as they entered the inner chamber, Qingyan could no longer contain her confusion.
"It's been handed over to Father Emperor?" Why should the affairs of the Yuanmingyuan be handed over to Changchun Garden?
"Half of these people are from the Tong family's dowry. It will be troublesome for anyone to touch them. Neither Mother nor we can touch them. Only Father Emperor's side, no matter what the final outcome is, the Tong family will not complain." Yin lowered his voice and told Qingyan directly.
In the Tong family, Consort Tong's position was somewhat delicate. Tong Guowei had always hoped that the Tong family could have a true prince, while Consort Tong followed Emperor Kangxi's arrangements.
After Consort Tong entered the palace, the relationship between Consort Tong and Tong Guowei became increasingly strained. Currently, it wasn't time for them to completely break off relations. (To be continued. If you like 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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