Jiang Wang did not hide anything from her: "In previous years, when the Empress Dowager ruled from behind the curtain, the national treasury was already running a deficit. When I took over, the Ministry of Revenue could not come up with any money."
"Could it be that the Empress Dowager is lining her own pockets?"
Jiang Wang smiled without saying a word, and Shen Mingzhuang knew that this must be the case.
Jiang Wang sighed, "Otherwise, where would she get the confidence to give Princess Jiayuan 288 loads of dowry every now and then? And that's just the official amount; who knows how much she gave her in private."
Shen Mingzhuang was speechless. When she was made a concubine, Jiang Wang sent 180 loads of dowry to the Shen family, which already caused a stir in the court and the public, saying that the emperor was spoiling his concubine too much. It was more than the dowry the late emperor gave to the empress. Now the empress dowager was giving her daughter more than 200 loads of dowry.
It's simply unbelievable, but it also shows that the Empress Dowager's private treasury was indeed not short of money.
That makes sense. If she empties the national treasury to make her own private money, how could she be poor?
The chubby boy's words flashed through her mind: why not empty the Empress Dowager's private treasury, so that she wouldn't become arrogant and do whatever she wanted because of her wealth!
This thought seemed to have grown legs, nagging and making Shen Mingzhuang restless and itchy.
"Why don't you just follow your heart? As long as you're willing to go, I'll definitely provide you with the greatest help!"
Shen Mingzhuang heard the chubby boy's voice, which was full of urging.
"If I fail and get captured, even the Emperor can't protect me. What if I die?"
The chubby boy, seeing Shen Mingzhuang so afraid of life and death for the first time, couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh. The chuckle displeased Shen Mingzhuang. Wanting to tease the chubby boy, she sighed and said, "Forget it, let's not go."
"Don't do that. Go ahead, I have a way to make sure no one finds out. Absolutely no one will know about this. After it's done, I only want one thing, and the rest is yours, okay?"
The terms were quite generous, and Shen Mingzhuang was somewhat tempted.
"Then why not...give it a try?" Fortune favors the bold, and right now it's all for the sake of peace eight years from now. If she doesn't even dare to take this little risk, how can she change the course of history?
For the next few days, the Hehuan Palace suddenly became unusually quiet. The Empress Dowager assumed that she was just copying Buddhist scriptures and did not take it seriously.
But Shen Mingzhuang was being harassed by Jiang Wang like a hungry wolf every night, and his back ached every day. He had no strength to copy Buddhist scriptures. The Buddhist scriptures sent to the Empress Dowager were copied by servants. The handwriting was messy and careless. Although the Empress Dowager was displeased, she did not say anything.
She was just a concubine from a noble family, a scholar. She was confused, which is why she argued with her about these matters. She forgot what was more important to her. She pretended to be ill and invited her elder brother, the Duke of Wei, and her sister and brother-in-law to the palace. They had a private talk for an hour before they dispersed.
Meanwhile, the Shen family, which was not noticed by the Empress Dowager, was gathered in the Shou'an Hall of Old Madam Shen as the lanterns were being lit.
The fourth aunt, Shen Pinzhen, who had been clamoring to return to Mingsheng Lake a few days ago, was now filled with sadness. The old lady in the high seat wore a traditional Chinese jacket with a stand-up collar and a black headband with the image of the God of Longevity. She clutched her chest and looked heartbroken, saying, "How could I have raised such a thing as you!"
No one dared to utter a sound. The old lady only had one daughter, Fourth Aunt. Even if she had taken the marriage from the Wen family, it was not their place as sisters-in-law to criticize her. As for the men, they felt it was inappropriate for them to speak about such matters of the inner quarters.
But Shen Bochun was the eldest son, and there were some things he couldn't just ignore just because he didn't want to get involved. Seeing his mother so angry, he quickly said to Shen Pinzhen, "Look how angry you've made your mother! You'd better apologize to her right now!"
Shen Pinzhen, however, did not think she had done anything wrong. She was sobbing and said, "Mother's words are so unreasonable. She complained that the Wen family had taken a liking to Xianglian. I had no choice but to try to make amends to my family. I thought that Qing'er was already over eighteen but still unmarried, so I wanted to arrange a marriage between my sister-in-law and my husband. But Mother immediately accused me of being a traitor. How could I be a traitor? I was just trying to be kind!"
Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this. Hu's younger sister-in-law and Shen Anqing?
Zhao's face immediately darkened, and she said urgently, "How can this be allowed!"
How could her son marry a girl from the Hu family? Putting aside their social standing, the Hu family's younger sister and fourth brother-in-law are siblings. If she were to marry her son, wouldn't that mess up the generational order? Wouldn't people laugh at that? They'd say the Shen family can't find a wife!
Upon hearing this, Shen Pinzhen blushed slightly, then softened her voice and said, "Otherwise, Bo Yan could marry one of our cousins. We're all family, why not make it even better?"
Hearing her continue, Shen Bochun couldn't help but rebuke her in a deep voice: "You're getting more and more absurd. You'd better stop talking like that. If you keep doing this, we won't dare to receive you and your son-in-law when you come back to your parents' home!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Pinzhen stood up, her aura suddenly rising, and she sneered, "In the end, you still think I'm a married old lady, and that I have no place in this family. My elder brother is now a Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, a man of noble birth and high status. As a sister who married down, I am not worthy to return to my parents' home?"
Hearing this, Madam Shen couldn't help but cough a few times, then slapped the armrest of the armchair a few times, so angry that she couldn't say a word.
Zhao looked surprised, Gu drank her tea calmly, and Lin lowered her head with a sarcastic expression.
Zhao was surprised that her husband reacted so strongly to the matter, while Gu felt that it was not her place to interfere at this time. In any case, her only daughter, Mingrong, had already been betrothed to the Duke of Rongguo's mansion by the old lady. Although she would most likely become the Duchess of Rongguo in the future, she still felt heartbroken at the thought.
She would rather her daughter marry into a simple family and be a good wife and mother than have her wade into troubled waters and suffer hardship.
Madam Lin was thinking about her daughter. Her daughter had been punished by the Emperor with twenty strokes of the cane, a full twenty strokes! Now she was lying in bed unable to move, and the old lady refused to let her go to the palace.
Her hasty entry into the palace would easily give those with ulterior motives something to say, suggesting that the Shen family was reluctant to send their daughter to the palace as a servant, and that her tutor had angered the Empress Dowager, leaving her in a lose-lose situation.
Madam Lin was furious, but since she did not have the title of a noblewoman, she could not enter the palace. She had been anxious these days and wanted to ask her mother to help her by asking her cousin to go and see her when he entered the palace.
His cousin, however, said that with his wedding to Princess Jiayuan imminent, it was inappropriate for him to casually enter the palace, lest he cause any unforeseen complications.
Now that the old lady is angry with her own daughter, she can't help but want to stand up and clap her hands in approval. This is truly a case of karma!
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