After unexpectedly getting the power of housekeeper, Chu Yunning was not stupid, and immediately made a condition: "Calculate the accounts of the palace clearly, and fill up the holes in the dowry, so as not to make a mess that even the mouth can't explain clearly."
Prince Xiao couldn't listen to the sarcasm and immediately said to the butler: "Just do what the princess wants!"
The chief steward glanced at Ye Yan'er anxiously. The Duke's debts were well known. How much would be left after paying off the princess's dowry?
Ye Yaner had no choice but to find reasons to delay: "Your Majesty, the palace's accounts still need a few days to be sorted out. Why don't you wait until I sort them out before handing them over to the princess."
"Um!"
Watching the two people leave, Chu Yunning let out a long sigh.
"Why didn't the princess expose Concubine Ye? There are many dowries of the princess in Concubine Ye's room." Aunt Mao was puzzled. It was obviously a good opportunity to attack Concubine Ye.
A smile appeared at the corner of Chu Yunning's lips: "Having the truth exposed by others is far less devastating than when you discovered it yourself."
She wanted to see how long Ye Yaner could keep up her hypocrisy.
"Why didn't the prince mention Zhang Xiaoer?"
Aunt Mao stayed up all night worried, fearing that the princess would be slandered again.
"You are right under the prince's nose. If something happens again, where will you put your face?"
Therefore, Chu Yunning is not worried at all about what slanderous words come out of Zhang Xiaoer's mouth. This kind of gambler is the most greedy and fearful of death. He will say anything when he is tortured.
At noon, King Xiao settled Ye Yan'er, summoned the housekeeper, and briefly asked about the financial situation.
The butler didn't dare to say anything without Ye Yaner's signal, so he only gave a general idea.
The conclusion is that Zhonggong’s account is not enough to compensate.
"The harvest in Zhuangzi has not been good in the past few years. The shop has made profits and losses, and the money paid to the palace is also considerable. There are also huge expenses for the palace..."
Prince Xiao frowned when he heard this. He had never cared about this, but he didn't expect that the gold and jade of Prince Xiao's palace would be ruined.
"Go to my king's treasury and spend five hundred thousand taels."
Now that things have come to a point, the only option is to go through Prince Xiao’s private account.
The money given by the palace in recent years, captured on the battlefield in earlier years, and given by some officials during festivals and festivals are all in his private money.
After years of accumulation, he hurriedly took out so much. It hurt Prince Xiao's heart, but the words had been spoken, especially in front of Chu Yunning. He must not go back on his word.
...
"Your Majesty is checking the accounts?" Ye Yaner was so shocked that she couldn't hold the tea cup firmly in her hand and spilled a lot of tea on her hands. After a while, her hands were burned red. Seeing this, Green Bamboo hurriedly stepped forward to blow tea.
Ye Yan'er impatiently withdrew her hand and said angrily: "It's all caused by this bitch Chu Yunning. Have you found out who is helping her behind the scenes?"
She thought about it and couldn't believe that Chu Yunning had changed so much.
There must be someone secretly helping.
"Concubine, don't worry. I have sent people to guard Danqiong Garden day and night. I will report back as soon as there is any news."
Ye Yaner was still worried and asked again: "Where is Zhang Xiaoer?"
"Concubine, Zhang Xiaoer has been guarded by the prince, and our people really can't get in."
Luzhu tried every means but failed to contact Zhang Xiaoer.
Ye Yan'er rubbed her head. Ever since Chu Yunning came out, nothing had gone her way and she had encountered obstacles everywhere.
"Don't worry, concubine, the prince is still looking out for you."
Prince Xiao's love for Ye Yan'er over the years has been obvious to everyone in the palace, and no one can shake it in the slightest.
In the past, Ye Yaner would have been confident.
But now, Ye Yaner can't guarantee it.
On the surface, the loss of the dowry seemed to be her fault for the poor housekeeper, but she always felt that King Xiao was compensated for Chu Yunning in disguise.
Also, the way Prince Xiao looked at Chu Yunning in the past two days was also very strange.
"The side concubine has been the housekeeper for many years, and everyone in the house is ours. It is very easy to control the princess."
Lu Zhu's words reminded Ye Yan'er, and a vicious smile appeared on Ye Yan'er's face.
"Your Majesty."
The maid's greetings came from outside the door, and Ye Yan'er immediately suppressed the smile on her face, straightened her clothes and stepped forward.
When her eyes touched Prince Xiao's cold face, Ye Yaner felt uneasy in her heart and reached out to hold Prince Xiao's arm: "Your Majesty..."
However, Prince Xiao withdrew his arm, bypassed Ye Yan'er and sat on the chair.
Ye Yan'er threw her hands away and was stunned. She quickly said aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, did Yan'er do something wrong that made you angry?"
King Xiao just came back from interrogating Zhang Xiaoer. After a lot of torture, Zhang Xiaoer confessed to everything.
Zhang Xiaoer was encouraged to go to Danqiong Garden, not to steal at all, but to slander Chu Yunning's innocence.
Prince Xiao didn't want to doubt Ye Yan'er, but various signs showed that Zhang Xiao'er was instigated by Ye Yan'er.
"Yan'er, do you know about Zhang Xiao'er?"
Prince Xiao mentioned it bluntly, his eyes fixed on Ye Yaner for a moment.
Ye Yan'er shouted that she was wronged, tears welling up in her eyes: "Your Majesty, how could Yan'er do such a stupid thing and harm the reputation of the palace?"
Prince Xiao was half convinced. Could it be that his suspicion was wrong?
"Your Majesty, since the princess returned to Danqiong Garden, Yan'er has been framed again and again, often with unwarranted charges. Yan'er begs the prince to send Yan'er away from the palace."
Ye Yaner had already thought about her words in her mind.
She was sure that Prince Xiao could not live without her.
As expected, Prince Xiao's heart softened immediately, and he kept telling himself that it must be the people around Yan'er who couldn't bear to see Chu Yunning bullying Yan'er, so they secretly took revenge on Chu Yunning.
Ye Yaner cried so hard that she felt pity for her. Prince Xiao hated her tears the most, and his cold expression immediately softened.
Prince Xiao never mentioned a word about Zhang Xiaoer, but it felt like there was a thorn in his heart.
After waiting for two days, no results came from Zhang Xiaoer. Instead, I heard that Zhang Xiaoer's family had all been sent to Zhuangzi.
He also heard that Prince Xiao had been resting in the study for the past two days. Chu Yunning raised her eyebrows proudly, her goal was finally achieved.
She would let this thorn take root in Prince Xiao's heart.
"Princess, the butler is here."
Chu Yunning looked out the window and saw the housekeeper came with a few people carrying two large boxes.
"Princess, this is the dowry that the prince has paid for you. Please take a look at it."
The chief steward handed the account book to Chu Yunning. The densely packed account book was so disorganized that it was dizzying to look at it.
Chu Yunning glanced at her and raised her lips. How could such a trivial matter trouble her?
He took out the abacus in front of the butler, and moved his fingertips quickly, making a crackling sound with the beads on the abacus, while counting rapidly.
The butler looked at it and couldn't help but sneer, thinking that it must be an air of words.
He specially asked someone to write these account books, just to stun the princess and make her retreat.
Snap!
Chu Yunning closed the ledger: "There is still a total of three thousand five hundred taels missing."
The chief steward said it was impossible: "Did the princess make a mistake in her calculation? This account should be just right."
"A box of pink pearls, one tael of silver each?" Chu Yunning pointed to a line of words: "Three Dadong pearls are only worth a hundred taels, and a thousand-year ginseng is only worth two hundred taels. The butler is bullying me because I don't know.
Count, or are you trying to test me on purpose?"
The chief butler was shocked. These figures were indeed modified by him.
No more, no less, hidden in the account book, but found so easily.
The butler's face was stern: "Maybe I made a mistake, the princess is very good at it."
Chu Yunning held up a cup of tea, took a few sips casually, and said calmly: "In that case, why don't you make up for it quickly?"
"Yes, yes." The butler couldn't resist, so he gritted his teeth and took out another three thousand five hundred taels of silver notes.
After getting the banknote, Chu Yunning was satisfied and asked again: "Have the palace's accounts been sorted out?"
The butler shook his head.
"Princess, the account books are all here."
As soon as Ye Yan'er arrived, the butler immediately stepped forward to salute, with a flattering look on his face. Ye Yan'er waved her hands and said no courtesy, but when she saw two large boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, her expression changed.
These things that should belong to her are all due to Chu Yun Ning's messing around. Sooner or later, Chu Yun Ning will spit out all of this!
Two large boxes and a thick pile of old accounts, some of which were even moldy.
"These are the gifts to be prepared this month, and I would like to ask the princess to take a look at them."
Ye Yan'er handed over seven or eight chapters of invitations, which recorded the birthday banquet of Mrs. Chen Guo, the full moon banquet of Mr. Li's grandson, and the eldest princess's grandchild's happiness...
"The eldest princess is going to have her grandson the day after tomorrow, so the princess should make preparations early."
The eldest princess is the emperor's aunt and the aunt of Prince Xiao. She has a noble status and is not easily offended.
After finally having a legitimate grandson, it will definitely be a big deal.
This gift is not taken lightly.
Chu Yunning glanced at the girl in the corridor. She was obviously the same age and beautiful, but how could she be so vicious?
"What are you looking at, Princess?" Ye Yan'er felt uncomfortable being stared at and touched her cheek. Before going out, she looked in the mirror and put on proper makeup.
"I see that the concubine has lost a lot of weight in the past few days. She must have been angry with the slaves below who did stupid things. From now on, you can leave these things to me and rest in peace."
Ye Yaner's face dropped when she heard this. This was deliberately irritating her.
"The princess has not attended a banquet for many years. I hope she will not make any mistakes and embarrass the palace."
Ye Yan'er felt panicked and didn't want to see Chu Yunning's smiling face anymore, so she turned around and left.
Leaving behind a bunch of bad debts, Chu Yunning seemed to have a headache.
"Mr. Accountant..."
"Back to Princess, the accountant has taken leave these days." The chief steward pretended to be embarrassed, but with a look of pride in his eyes, he added: "There is only one person left in the accountant at the moment, and I really can't spare the time."
Chu Yunning raised her eyebrows. She didn't ask for leave earlier, but she didn't ask for leave later. But she asked for leave at this time, deliberately trying to embarrass her.
"Let Yapo come over this afternoon and I'll pick a few people."
There were too few people in Danqiongyuan, so she took the opportunity to crowd in.
"Princess, this is against the rules. There are many servants in the house, so why don't you take a look first."
The butler straightened his back, and his attitude gradually returned to the previous defiant attitude.
"Presumptuous!" Chu Yunning scolded suddenly:
"My majestic princess needs your guidance, Aunt Mao, slap her mouth!"
Before the housekeeper could speak, Aunt Mao had already rushed over and slapped her twice.
"If you dare to do the following again, I will be the first to betray you!"
Chu Yunning's aura was so overwhelming that for a moment the chief steward forgot to retort, and covered his face with a look of viciousness in his eyes.
"Princess, I'm just doing things according to the rules. I kindly remind you, why do you have to embarrass me, a little housekeeper? Just do whatever you want."
Within half an hour, everyone in the palace knew that the butler had been beaten.
The topic of the princess being too vicious soon spread in the palace.
"Princess, these people are clearly deliberately slandering you!" Aunt Mao was furious.
Chu Yunning smiled disapprovingly: "People have mouths, so let them have their say."
As long as she doesn't touch the bottom line, she can turn a blind eye.