As for the relatively spoiled and willful Zhou Wanxiu, Zhou Shi tried to persuade her several times, but seeing that she didn't understand, she stopped making demands on her and mostly went along with her temper.
Su Wanwan tentatively asked, "Have you gone to the trouble of finding a good gentleman?"
Lu Xingjian pulled her hand over, scratched her palm with his fingers, and gave a half-smile.
"I'll search high and low for the best voice to give you."
Su Wanwan didn't take the bait at all: "Then I'll find it myself."
She wouldn't indulge him in front of the child.
Lu Xingjian didn't mind and said casually, "I'll arrange it."
He was a decisive person; instead of leaving Kunning Palace, he summoned many people to report back.
Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, Su Wanwan went to Jiangxue Pavilion to handle palace affairs.
Lu Xingjian had the east wing of Kunning Palace cleaned up for his own use and to meet people.
Actually, it's not far ahead to reach the Qianqing Palace and the Imperial Study.
Lu Xingjian had no intention of going to the Imperial Study to handle official business.
This means he will have to resume his daily routine of attending court in the morning and directly facing all the civil and military officials.
Su Wanwan was absent-mindedly handling palace affairs in the morning, her mind preoccupied with what Lu Xingjian had said the night before.
The newly appointed head eunuch of the Needlework Bureau reported nervously:
"Your Majesty, the three shuttles of cloth in the needlework bureau have been used up. I took the token to the Jiazi warehouse to apply for more, but the Jiazi warehouse said they also have no stock."
Su Wanwan raised an eyebrow: "How could that be?"
The head eunuch dared not say anything more.
The Ten Treasurys of the Inner Palace were the palace's storehouses, and the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War would send officials to supervise the collection of the corresponding storehouses.
However, in the more than one hundred years since the founding of this dynasty, corruption has flourished, and the ten treasuries of the imperial palace have long been a mess.
During the reign of the late emperor, there was a bizarre incident where bandits looted the Jiazi Treasury, and the case was closed rather hastily in the end.
Now, the corruption has reached such a point that even the supply of three-cloth fabric is insufficient, and this has been brought to the attention of the Empress.
She had someone summon the eunuch in charge of the Jiazi Treasury.
"With the Empress Dowager's birthday approaching, the Jiazi Treasury is unable to supply three shuttles of cloth. Is this intended to invite the ladies of the court to laugh at the palace's dire straits?"
The eunuch in charge of the storeroom rolled his eyes and made up an excuse to brush it off:
"His Majesty instructed me to take the three-spindle cloth as a reward to Miss Ma. Just at this crucial moment, the needlework bureau came to request cloth, and we were short of it."
It's Maggie again.
Su Wanwan's forehead veins throbbed, and she said coldly to He Ying, "Go and invite the Emperor over."
The eunuch in charge of the treasury immediately felt his legs go weak.
Everyone says the Emperor is with Miss Ma outside the palace. Could it be that he has returned to the palace?
As He Ying was about to leave, a cold voice came from outside the door.
"When did I ever grant any Miss Ma the reward of three shuttles of cloth?"
Lu Xingjian was standing at the door at some point, holding Yan Ge'er in his arms.
The eunuch in charge of the storehouse was surprised to see the emperor and immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.
Lu Xingjian gave him a cold glance and walked towards Su Wanwan.
"I was wondering why you hadn't gone back for lunch yet. Yan-ge and I were getting hungry waiting for you."
"So it was a treacherous servant who deceived his master."
Su Wanwan would still give him face in front of outsiders, but her expression was not good, and her tone was low as she looked at the eunuch in charge of the storeroom who was trembling on the ground.
He said that you were asked to move all the three-cloth quilts in the palace to Maggie.
Lu Xingjian's face instantly turned ugly:
"Summon Gu Ziyu, Commander of the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to thoroughly investigate the Jia-type database!"
After saying that, he took Su Wanwan's hand and left.
Su Wanwan tried to pull her hand away, but he held on tightly and gave her a dismissive glance.
"Do you want people to continue gossiping about the Empress falling out of favor?"
The news quickly spread throughout the palace: the Emperor, holding the Empress's hand with one hand and carrying the child she had adopted in the other, returned to Kunning Palace together.
Has the Empress regained favor?!
As soon as she entered Kunning Gate, Su Wanwan withdrew her hand and glanced at Lu Xingjian.
"What else did you send to Maggie? I'd like to be prepared so that I won't be harassed by the servants."
Lu Xingjian's face turned cold: "You need to get your people in place as soon as possible, then we'll see who dares to spread rumors about me in front of you."
Su Wanwan's tone was quite calm, without any aggression.
“If you didn’t do it, they wouldn’t dare spread rumors about you.”
Lu Xingjian's expression darkened further. After a moment of silence, he said to Yan Ge'er:
"Your mother is so mean."
Yan Ge'er and Lu Xingjian weren't familiar with each other to begin with, and when he was startled by Lu Xingjian's cold face, he burst into tears.
Su Wanwan had no choice but to pick up Yan Ge'er and comfort him: "Don't cry, Mother will take you to eat."
Turning to Lu Xingjian, she said coldly, "Why are you scaring the child?"
Yan Ge'er cried and said, "Mother isn't bad."
"Mother isn't bad. What would you like to eat for lunch, Yan-ge? Are you hungry?"
Su Wanwan coaxed the child gently as she walked towards Kunning Palace.
Lu Xingjian watched her struggle as she held the child and followed behind without saying a word.
He Ying was taken aback.
The Empress is always mindful of etiquette and propriety, and she always deliberately lags behind the Emperor by half a step when walking outside. Why is she walking ahead of him today?
However, she couldn't worry about that for the time being and took Yan Ge'er to wash his hands and face first.
Su Wanwan looked at Lu Xingjian's cold face, remained silent for a while, and then said calmly:
"I won't use Maggie to stab you anymore."
Lu Xingjian snorted coldly:
"No, if you want to stab me, then stab me. Don't hold back, or you'll drive me crazy."
"What good would it do me to make you angry to death?" Su Wanwan took the initiative to pull him to wash his hands and sit down at the dining table.
The manpower Lu Xingjian mentioned has not yet been finalized. Since the relationship between the two has already improved, it would not do her any good to break off relations.
Lu Xingjian placed a shrimp ball on the plate in front of her, but his tone remained sarcastic and cold.
"If you're so angry, you can become the Empress Dowager, find a few male concubines, and live a carefree and happy life."
Su Wanwan paused for a moment, then smiled and looked down at the glistening green rice in the bowl:
"That sounds good."
Lu Xingjian glanced at her lightly and snorted coldly:
"Give up on that idea. Even as a ghost, I'll drive away all your male lovers."
Su Wanwan raised an eyebrow at him:
"What's so good about being a ghost? You should hurry up and reincarnate so that when you grow up you can be my gigolo."
Just then, Yan Ge'er returned. Lu Xingjian listlessly picked up his chopsticks and swallowed back what he was about to say.
Gu Ziyu came over right after we finished lunch.
He was recovering from serious injuries and was very thin. His flying fish robe, which had originally fit him well, looked loose on him, and his face was slightly pale.
Seeing his expression, Lu Xingjian asked Gu Ziyu to sit down and talk, and after a moment of silence, he spoke.
"You should rest and recuperate for a while. I will find someone else to handle the matter."
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty. I can manage."
Gu Ziyu glanced at Su Wanwan and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty and Your Majesty on the birth of your imperial heir."
A smile appeared on his face: "My wife also has good news recently; she is more than a month pregnant."
Lu Xingjian and Su Wanwan were both overjoyed.
Lu Xingjian immediately bestowed upon Gu Ziyu a python robe, saying, "A father should have a grand presence."
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