"I will definitely come when I have free time, but on weekdays, I leave the emperor's grandmother to you. I know that the emperor's grandmother is old, and I will never blame you if anything happens. I just ask that you can coax the emperor as you did in the past. As long as grandma is happy." Xuan Ye said gently, took Lan Qi's hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Lan Qi shook her head with a smile and promised Xuan Ye that she would try her best to take good care of the Empress Dowager, but it was not convenient for her to stay in Cining Palace tonight because she said: "The Empress Dowager has always taken care of the emperor's dignity and refused to let outsiders know about her phoenix body. Contrary to the agreement, my concubine suddenly living in Cining Palace will certainly arouse suspicion from others. Wouldn’t it be against the wishes of the Empress Dowager? The weather is cool now, so it is not difficult for my concubine to go back and forth several times. On the Mid-Autumn Festival next month, if the emperor can find This is a good reason to avoid the red tape and grand celebrations in the palace, and not to make the Queen Mother too tired to deal with it. But the reason must be better thought out, it is not easy for the Queen Mother to get through. "
Xuan Ye heard what was right and said to Lan Qi: "You should also take good care of your health. Look at these things. If you are missing, who will I entrust to you?"
The person in front of her smiled, her charming look made people feel at ease. She urged Xuan Ye to go back to Qianqing Palace, while joking: "Your Majesty knows what my concubine is interested in. You are not allowed to criticize others in the future. The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager have such good things." There are mountains of gold and silver hidden there, I just dig at the foot of the mountain."
Xuan Ye laughed at her for being greedy, and of course it was all a joke, and happily sent the emperor back to Qianqing Palace. Lan Qi breathed a sigh of relief, stood in front of the Cining Palace gate and looked at the emperor's back for a while, then turned around When she left, she inexplicably looked up at the door of Cining Palace. The three familiar words on the plaque had not been there for a long time. Although she went in and out of this place every day, she rarely looked up at the plaque.
At this moment, she silently thought to herself that Cining Palace was the place where the most noble women of the Qing Dynasty lived. The future empress dowager or the empress dowager would continue to live here, but she always felt that the future concubines of the Qing Dynasty would have Which one can compare with the Empress Dowager? No one can ever match her dedication to the Qing Dynasty and the entire royal family.
That night, the Empress Dowager did not show any symptoms of discomfort. As the imperial doctor said, the Empress Dowager was old rather than suffering from a serious illness. In comparison, it was much easier and she could avoid the torture of pain and medicine. Lan Qi got up early and stayed up late. Going to and from Cining Palace, taking care of everything carefully, and staying with the old man was extremely boring, but she has been used to it for ten years.
And even though the tone of the Cining Palace is strict, just as Concubine Hui and others were able to spy on the disharmony of the Empress Dowager's body, this time the Empress Dowager almost fainted quickly spread to the Sixth Palace. In recent years, women often When Zuo Dui was gossiping, he discussed the health of the Empress Dowager. The presence of the Empress Dowager affects many things, and the day she is gone will affect even more things.
In late July, the emperor and the prince visited Shengjing and planned to return to Luang before early August. Originally, the concubines in the palace were supposed to discuss the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even before the emperor set off, he did not hear anything about not holding the Mid-Autumn Festival. But on July 7 At the end of the month, war broke out again in Yaksa, and the Qing army once again besieged the city of Yaksa. Since the emperor was still in Shengjing, the imperial concubine had the final say on all trivial matters in the palace.
On this day, the four concubines and several concubines were gathered together to discuss the Mid-Autumn Festival. The imperial concubine thought that the concubine was still ill, and did not want everyone to sit down before serving tea. Qinglian reported that the concubine had arrived, and Lan Qi and others When people stood up to greet each other, the imperial concubine sat calmly at the top. Watching the slender woman slowly approaching, she looked at her with disdain and said, "You are not in good health, so just take care of yourself."
The imperial concubine bowed respectfully, but turned a blind eye to the fourth concubine and the other concubines saluting her. She looked at the imperial concubine and said, "I am not feeling unwell. I just wanted to silently mourn for the princess and did not want to cause trouble to the sisters of the Sixth Palace, so I avoided it."
I live in Xianfu Palace. I heard that your empress, the imperial concubine, has a disobedient body. I came today because I wanted to visit your empress and say hello to you."
The imperial concubine was not in good health a while ago, but she has been recuperating for a long time. There is no ailment in her body, just good and bad intermittently. As long as she takes care of herself calmly, nothing will happen. If she worries about something a little, her body will be fine.
She couldn't keep up. But she was so strong, how could she allow the imperial concubine to tease her like this? She smiled coldly: "I am in good health. You don't need to worry. Now that I'm here, sit down and talk. Today I'm talking about the palace's arrangements for future festivals.
I’m not here to gossip.”
The fourth concubine gave up her seat to the noble concubine, and everyone moved a seat back. Lan Qi didn't move because she was sitting opposite her, and her eyes met with the noble concubine's. She nodded respectfully, but Concubine Wen looked away with a cold look on her face. Lan Qi didn't care at all.
, don’t care at all.
The affairs in the palace were brought out one by one, and most of them were cooked by Concubine Rong and Concubine Hui. Both of them were impeccable masters, and there was nothing that could be faulted by Concubine Huang and others. When it came to the Mid-Autumn Festival, Concubine Huang and Concubine Lan Qi secretly
They looked at each other, and they had a tacit understanding, so they cleared their throats and said: "There are soldiers on the front line charging at the moment. It is not appropriate to have an extravagant banquet in our palace, so as not to chill the hearts of those soldiers who fought bloody battles for the Qing Dynasty. This matter I
Make the decision. We won’t hold the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. We will save the money according to the specifications of previous years and use it as military expenses to send supplies to the front line. If the emperor doesn’t care about our little money, he can use it as a reward when he triumphs in the future. This money
Concubine Rong, you have done your calculations and don’t let those hands get greedy."
"I'll keep this in mind," Concubine Rong replied, "It's just that the specifications in previous years have been complicated and simple. I think since the empress has this idea, we shouldn't be stingy and save money according to the year when we spend the most. If
If there are too many, I will naturally think carefully elsewhere, otherwise if I ask for the emperor's money again, the empress's feelings will change."
Sitting down, Concubine Xi smiled and said, "Concubine Rong is the big accountant in our palace, and she can calculate the accounts very clearly. I remember that the fruit this summer is half less than in previous years, so I can save some money, right?"
Concubine Rong knew that Xi's concubine was secretly saying that she was lining her own pockets, so it would be stingy to break out at this moment, so she just smiled politely and said: "There have been a lot of rains and floods this summer, and harvests in various places have been poor. This is the emperor's decree to reduce or reduce tributes from various places. The emperor even said
Just use this amount when you go to the harem, since you won’t be able to eat all the food anyway, so there’s no room to spend more money.”
When Concubine Xi was about to speak, Concubine Jing next to her stopped her. As expected, the imperial concubine was not very happy. Concubine Rong did not want to appear stingy and did not scold her. She could not hear the harsh words and asked in a cold voice: "Concubine Xi, what are you talking about?"
Do you want to check the accounts? I haven't heard that the imperial concubine, the imperial concubine, will get a concubine to check the palace's accounts. If you are really worried, you don't have to live in your own palace, go to the backyard of Jingyang Palace.
Live and look at Concubine Rong's accounts every day, and you will know in your heart where the money is spent and where it comes from."
Xi Bin was so shocked that her face turned pale, and she secretly hated herself for talking too much. In fact, it was just a joke. Who knew she didn't know the rules here? The head of the house hates others who don't know what they say about accounting and are sneaky.
Needless to say, being innocent has more integrity and does not allow others to question you.
Lan Qi sat aside and said nothing. She had never interfered in these matters. Although the Empress Dowager and the Emperor repeatedly said that she would not be idle in the future, although she was watching and learning from the sidelines, she did not dare to imagine what she would be like if she actually took charge of it.
Over the years, Concubine Rong has taken the lead, while Concubine Hui has gradually become a deputy who helps from the side. It is obvious that she will replace Concubine Hui in the future, which will invisibly reduce Concubine Hui's power. Moreover, Concubine Yi has not been involved in these things like herself.
Maybe she wanted to argue with her, but when she thought about the conflicts and disputes that might arise in the future, she was really happy to spend the rest of her life taking care of the Empress Dowager in the Cining Palace.
Naturally, these thoughts can only be thought by oneself. When the Empress Dowager and Xuan Ye found out, they would only scold her for being worthless.
After everything was settled, the imperial concubine had no intention of chatting with everyone, so she left. When all the concubines left the gate of Chengqian Palace, they all asked the concubine to go first. When the sedan chair of Xianfu Palace was delivered to the door, Concubine Yi suddenly smiled and said
: "The imperial concubine and the virtuous concubine have become in-laws. This is the first time I see the two of them together. They are indeed more affectionate than before."
This is lying with open eyes. The imperial concubine and Deok Concubine are obviously very different from each other. Even if it were not at this moment, everyone in the palace knew that the imperial concubine disliked Concubine Deok's family because of its humble background. Although not many people came and went in Xianfu Palace, the things inside were not the same.
It was not well hidden. The imperial concubine had been talking about Concubine De's mother-in-law in such a lowly and humble manner in the palace, and everyone in the palace knew about it. Also, when her new sister-in-law entered the palace, she always paid homage to Xianfu Palace first, but the imperial concubine did not even look at it.
No one would be allowed in without a glance. Concubine Yi said this at this moment, undoubtedly deliberately trying to embarrass them.
Seeing that the atmosphere was tense and the concubine was about to have a fit, Concubine Hui suddenly smiled and said: "It's rare for us to get together today, why don't you all ask me for a wedding drink? I won't have time to spare when I get busy. It's better to catch the sun than to catch it. Sisters are like this."
Just go to the Changchun Palace and sit down, I will be the host and set up two tables, but you have to eat and drink, and when our eldest brother gets married, you have to be generous with the gifts."
Concubine Hui eased the atmosphere a little with a joke and invited the imperial concubine to go with her. She even said that she would invite the imperial concubine. The imperial concubine was very angry and said to Concubine Hui without thinking: "The imperial concubine is the one who said to be frugal.
, what are you extravagant about here? Hasn’t Concubine Hui always considered the eldest brother? If the emperor knew that in order to celebrate the eldest brother’s marriage next year, we women are having fun in the palace regardless of the tension on the front line, how should we look at the eldest brother? Save yourself the trouble.
Bar."
These words are not pleasant to hear, but Concubine Hui blocked the fight for Concubine Yi. When the concubine walked away, they all shook their heads and sighed in disdain. Lan Qi said goodbye to everyone and went straight to Cining Palace. The others dispersed. Concubine Yi
I walked back to the West Sixth Palace with Concubine Hui, and laughed with her on the way: "Thanks to my sister, otherwise the concubine might not have said anything to me, but I was prepared to be spoken to by the concubine. Anyway, she jumped, and Concubine De had a hard time.
. You said that she was guarding the Cining Palace in silence. Just now you asked her how the Empress Dowager was doing, and everything she said was perfunctory. What's the matter, she just wants to guard the Cining Palace, and won't she be able to live there in the future?"
The meaning of Concubine Yi's words was so serious that Concubine Hui couldn't help but change her face and warned her coldly: "How dare you talk nonsense outside?"