He thought to himself, "So that's why you're being so kind; you just want to smear the Wang family!"
Su Wanwan remained silent, simply sitting quietly and waiting for Wang Shi to make a decision.
Yanruo, standing to the side, lowered her head and glanced at Su Wanwan with a cold and venomous look in her eyes.
How could there be such a vicious woman in the world?!
Yanruo thought to herself.
Just because she has a bad reputation, does she have to drag other people's reputations down with her?!
One day, she will definitely trample Su Wanwan under her feet and humiliate her at will!
Yanruo sneered inwardly.
Although the attempt to smear her two days ago failed, Yanruo herself was unharmed.
Given time, there will always be a way to defeat Su Wanwan.
Only if Su Wanwan falls will the Emperor see me, Yanruo.
At that time, whether it's establishing an empress or bestowing titles upon concubines, or gaining favor and becoming pregnant, it will all be a matter of course.
Since the relationship had already broken down and with the emperor's words in hand, Madam Wang didn't want Su Wanwan to be an eyesore in front of her, so she quickly sent Su Wanwan away.
The emperor neither agreed to Yanruo's entry into the palace as a concubine, nor did he openly oppose it.
There is still room for maneuver in this matter.
But we can't push too hard, lest we arouse the emperor's rebellious thoughts, which would be disastrous.
The most important thing is to let Yanruo appear in front of the emperor more often, get familiar with him, and develop some feelings for him. Then, winning his favor will be a piece of cake.
...
Lu Xingjian's morning court session proceeded with extraordinary difficulty.
The Ministry of Revenue submitted two memorials.
First, we request leniency for those responsible for the burning of the stables in the new town of Sunseongcheon.
Lu Xingjian already knew about this, but out of respect for the Duke of Baoguo's mansion, he had no choice but to forgive him.
The second matter was to request the expenditure of salaries for the nine border regions next year.
50,000 taels each to Datong and Xuanfu, 100,000 taels to Liaodong, and a total of 52,875 taels to Ningxia, Yansui, and Gansu.
It's only March now, and the expenses for next year's nine border areas have already been submitted.
Lu Xingjian refused outright.
The reasons are also quite valid.
“Since each border region has established military farms, and each department and prefecture has been responsible for supplying grain and fodder annually, there was no precedent for the Ministry of Revenue to send silver before Emperor Yingzong.”
"This practice began during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. It was because of emergency calls, droughts, or floods that expedient relief measures were still used in response to the changing circumstances."
"And thereafter it became an annual quota, but it was often reported to be in short supply. Could this have led to theft and waste?"
"The Ministry of Revenue shall convene a meeting of its officials to investigate the matter and, after public discussion, devise a long-term and effective solution, which shall be reported to the court."
Twenty-five thousand taels of silver doesn't sound like much.
However, this is a necessary measure for him to severely crack down on corruption in the nine border regions and revitalize the border troops!
Otherwise, the nation's empty treasury will eventually be dragged down by the nine border defenses.
The civil and military officials were in an uproar.
Is this national policy, which has been followed throughout the previous emperor's reign, about to be overturned today?
The generals' hearts jumped into the air.
With the imperial treasury tightening its belt, how will they line their own pockets in the future?
When the big river dries up, the small rivers also dry up!
The civil officials looked at each other in bewilderment.
Officials in the capital received meager salaries and relied on "ice tribute" and "charcoal tribute" from officials from other regions when they came to the capital.
If you accept a bribe, you're bound to speak up for them.
If the military officers can't make any money, won't the civil officials be even worse off?
The only ones who are rolling in money are the maternal relatives who keep making money while lying down by selling salt!
The court was immediately thrown into chaos, with people coming forward to plead with the emperor to rescind his decree.
Lu Xingjian simply sat quietly, watching them take turns going on stage.
But my heart grew colder and colder.
Almost half of the civil and military officials in the court stood up to oppose his change of the national policy that had been followed during the reign of the previous emperor.
Lu Xingjian's head was throbbing from the noise, and in the end he just threw out one sentence:
"Since you officials have such a brilliant plan, why not write a memorial and present it to us?"
The officials immediately fell silent.
It's okay to offer suggestions together.
However, if one writes a memorial and incurs the emperor's wrath, and is imprisoned like that unfortunate governor of Datong, forced to use his family fortune to cover up his corruption, then his own interests will be harmed.
Nobody wanted to be the first to speak up.
The commotion was so loud that it reached Su Wanwan's ears.
These days she has been quietly handling palace affairs in the inner palace and has also roughly figured out the situation of various government departments.
In recent years, Lu Xingjian has been busy dealing with court officials and reorganizing military affairs, so he has actually relinquished power in the palace.
The Empress Dowager and Empress Zhang each controlled key government departments that were lucrative.
The head eunuchs and female officials of these government offices were very confident in front of Su Wanwan, and it was not uncommon for them to outwardly comply but inwardly defy her.
Lu Xingjian's refusal to take Yanruo into the harem as a concubine indicates a significant rift between him and the Empress Dowager.
As for Empress Zhang, no matter how harmonious things seemed on the surface, with Empress Xia and Zheng Jinlian standing between them, she could never be of one mind with Lu Xingjian.
The current situation is extremely tense, with both the imperial court and the border troops in disarray.
Lu Xingjian was too impatient.
She thought about it anxiously for a long time, and finally took Tang to the Imperial Study in the evening.
Chief Steward Li's eyes flickered, and he stepped aside: "His Majesty is inside, Your Highness, please come in."
Su Wanwan glanced at Steward Li with a puzzled look, but still pushed open the door and went inside.
Inside the Imperial Study.
Maggie's robe was half-undone, exposing her fragrant shoulders and snow-white breasts. She was crying, her face streaked with tears, her shoulders trembling.
Lu Xingjian stood not far from her, his entire aura extremely cold.
When Su Wanwan pushed the door open and came in, the two people in the room looked over at the same time.
Almost instantly, a cunning glint appeared in Maggie's eyes, and she leaped forward, throwing herself into Lu Xingjian's arms.
A flicker of panic crossed Lu Xingjian's eyes. He stepped aside and strode towards Su Wanwan.
His face was tense and expressionless, and his voice was cold and impatient: "Why are you here?"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com