Untitled 141

  The snow-white paper with deep black lines was filled with six large pages, the handwriting was cursive but not messy. It had a bit of running script and some regular script, but overall, this guy had put in some effort into practicing calligraphy, but compared to his own decade-long bitter practice, it still fell short by a notch.

  Compared to family background, it's not comparable. Compared to martial arts, it's also not comparable. But when it comes to writing, I can still win by a narrow margin, and finally find some balance. However, as she stared at the last page of the letter, it seemed like she wanted to stare through the last few words. In the end, she had to consider the princess's image and dignity, so she calmly put away the letter and locked it in the innermost drawer.

  With a good mood, the servants in Long Xianju's residence also swept away their previous low spirits, worked diligently and spoke more lively.

  As the news of Li Xiu's recent actions spread, the entire Wangfu was in an uproar. Outside, officials were clamoring loudly, and several had even gathered to protest at the Meridian Gate, vowing that if the Emperor did not take action against Li Xiu, they would kneel there indefinitely.

  If Li Xiu is really deprived of his title and destroyed, the great house will collapse, how can there be a whole egg? It's no wonder that except for Longxianju and Jiaxin Garden, all the other houses are in a state of panic, and some have even started to find their own way out.

  When Ruqin heard that several officials in the mansion were going to retire due to poor health, she didn't stop them. Instead, she said calmly: "You're old and your body isn't well, it's normal to want to retire. You're all old people in the mansion, with sons and daughters of your own, so it's only right that you should leave. However, once you leave, your children won't be able to take care of you properly. So I'll just do a good deed and let you reunite with your family." Then Ruqin waved her hand and sent the whole family back to the mansion.

  Of course, although they tried their best to keep some good deeds, after all, they had lived in the ancient times for nearly twenty years. The deeply rooted feudal ideas made them reluctant to return the sale contracts to the servants, but instead sold them to other people. These people had entered the palace very early and learned a set of skills. Some had achieved great success in needlework, while others excelled in management positions. They were also skilled at serving people and didn't need further training after being bought back. As a result, they could be resold for a handsome profit. Ruoxi sold each of the servants for 100 taels of silver, and their children for 30 taels each. In this way, she made a small profit.

  However, this tolerance of Ruoqing's only made the people below more fearful. After several days, many of the housekeepers in the palace came to Ruoqing and knelt down to beg her, one saying that they were too old to serve the palace anymore, another saying that they had elderly mothers at home who needed their care. Most of them left with their children and families. Ruoqing's face was as calm as water, but if only one or two housekeepers had resigned, it would have been easy to handle. But so many people resigning made her extremely angry. So she asked the Empress Dowager to take charge again.

  Since learning the truth from Ruhua, the Empress's mood has calmed down a lot. Although she still appears worried in front of people, she is now more confident. Seeing so many servants resigning, she couldn't help but sneer: "As the saying goes, 'a long journey tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's heart.' It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but it's hard to send charcoal in snowy weather. This time, taking advantage of Ruo'er's affair, we can also see who is really concerned about us. As for these slaves, humph, they have indeed verified an old saying: loyalty in times of danger is not as good as loyalty in times of wealth and honor. Let them go, anyway. The number of servants in the palace is already excessive. It's better that they leave, so we don't have to rack our brains to reduce the staff."

  Then the queen again instructed Ruoqing, "This ungrateful and treacherous thing, you also don't have to be too kind, since they were unrighteous first, you don't need to talk about benevolence and morality anymore. The sale contract must still be grasped in hand, all of them will be sold out. If they want to redeem themselves voluntarily, humph, according to the rules, bring a hundred times the silver." After thinking for a moment, she said to Ruoqing again: "These people have been in the palace for many years and must know the secrets inside the palace. To avoid revealing their tongues when selling them out, it's better to sell them far, far away."

  As if they were nodding in agreement, these stewards had been serving in the palace for many years and had long since grown fat and prosperous. They could easily afford to buy back their freedom. In the past, it was common for a slave to be sold for only five to ten taels of silver, and with a hundred times that amount, they wouldn't even bat an eye when buying back their freedom, showing just how much profit they had already made.

  Lan Yin, in charge of accounting, and Shi Shu were counting the silver while holding the deed of sale. Their faces were gloomy, when they saw a kitchen manager take 2,700 taels of silver to redeem a family of four, with an unchanged expression, proud and arrogant. Lan Yin couldn't hold back her anger anymore, coldly laughed and questioned: "A mere kitchen manager, with a monthly salary of three taels of silver and twenty taels of silver as a year-end reward from the Wang Fu, calculated over 22 years, wouldn't even be able to earn this much, right? Moreover, I remember that you've only been in this position for less than eight years, so where did all this silver come from?"

  The old woman's face changed, and she murmured a few words, saying that there were rewards from the emperor, which she had all pawned, but Shi Shu was not lenient with her. "In the past, did the empress give you any rewards? Can you tell me what they are? And which pawnshop did you take them to? I'll go and investigate, so as not to let those who have made mistakes in the palace remain unaware."

  The old woman hummed and hawed, saying that it was a long time ago and she couldn't remember clearly, but the imperial concubine had indeed rewarded many precious things back then.

  "Anyway, you know in your heart whether you've embezzled or not. The source of this silver is indeed unclear, and I won't investigate further. However, when packing up the trunks, be careful not to put anything from the Wang estate into your own bags."

  After the shock, Linglong deliberately blocked the must-pass intersection, pretending to accidentally knock open a box, and several precious jewelry fell out. She exclaimed loudly, "How could there be such a big thief in the mansion? This is unbearable! The golden pheasant-shaped hairpin with ruby decorations was a gift from the emperor, and even if the princess treated you generously, she wouldn't give you something so valuable." Then she ordered someone to take that person down and reported it to Princess Taifei and Ruyi. Princess Taifei was furious and ordered people to carefully search these trunks, and indeed, they found many antiques, paintings, famous calligraphy, and even a large amount of silver tickets. Extremely enraged, she ordered people to take the thief down on the spot, confiscate all the trunks, beat them with a board, and throw them out of the mansion.

  The kitchen staff, one family of wolves, was driven out of the house in a sorry state. The remaining slaves were so frightened that they lost their souls and slunk away with their heads hung low, only daring to pack up their own bundles and sneak away dejectedly.

  As the woman saw that the people behind her had become much more honest, she was very satisfied and also rewarded them with a few taels of silver, which was her intention. Servant Shu was unhappy and complained: "The princess is too kind-hearted, these useless things, they said nasty words about the princess behind her back, and the princess still rewards them?"

  She turned sideways and asked, "What did they say?"

  The servant girl bit her lip and didn't dare say it out loud. She just smiled lightly and said, "Their mouths are on their own bodies, let them talk as they please."

  "But the princess really didn't need to give them more silver." Even Lian Yiqin was heartbroken, one bundle of silver was 5 taels, and a total of 18 bundles were given away. Although the Wang estate was wealthy and extravagant, as the head housekeeper, her share of silver was also substantial at 2 taels, and due to her status as the princess's head housekeeper, she also received not a small amount of "filial piety" from the lower servants. But seeing so much silver slipping away from her hands for no reason still pained her heart.

  Just then, Chen Mama, who had just come in from outside, happened to hear Yuqin's complaints and chuckled: "I knew you were a shallow-minded person who wouldn't admit it. The princess must have done this with good intentions. Who doesn't love silver? Although this kind of slave is despicable, there's no need to shout and scold. Giving some silver away can also be considered as gaining a reputation. Let outsiders know that our princess is a generous person." Especially recently, rumors outside had been circulating wildly, Li Xiong was becoming more and more lawless in Jiangxi, provoking public outrage, and the court was full of shouts for his dismissal, which was getting more and more intense. Outside, it was widely rumored that the Jingwang Mansion, which had been prosperous for decades, would really decline. As a woman, she relied on her husband's glory, and if one fell, both would fall together. In the future, life would be difficult. However, the slaves in the mansion began to abandon their masters when they saw danger, but Ruyi still treated them kindly, which proved that she was a kind-hearted person. What about the description of being cruel, jealous, and unreasonable by Princess Qing'an?

  With a gentle smile, she looked at Chen Mama and said: "Mama, why did you come today? Have those external things been taken care of?"

  Chen Mama was the dowry given to her by Old Lady, and she respected and revered Old Lady, but didn't know what chores to assign to Chen Mama. After thinking it over, she decided to hand over all of her own dowry for Chen Mama to manage.

  Madam Chen smiled and said, "Thanks to the queen's favor towards me, an old woman, I was given such a lucrative job. The queen's dowry is rich, and it wasn't until now that I finally finished sorting it out. According to the queen's wishes, gold bars and silver are stored in the warehouse, fields and shops have been rented out, those large items have also been properly arranged, and gold, silver, jewelry, and precious fabrics are all being taken care of by specialized personnel. Today, I came specifically to report back to the queen."

  It seems that having too much money and jewelry isn't a good thing after all. It took her eight whole months to sort out the dowry she brought with her, which is truly frightening. But she smiled and said: "Thank you, Mother. You were originally living a life of luxury with your mother-in-law at the Fang residence, but now you've come to do such hard work that doesn't even bring in any benefits. It's really tiring for you, Mother. However, it's good that you're back now. I'm sure you've heard about what's been going on in the manor lately? With these people gone, many tasks have been left unattended. Why don't you take care of some of them for now?"

  Madam Chen burst out laughing, "What is the princess talking about? Although I've been serving under Old Lady for a few years, they were all just trivial matters."

  A trivial matter. Now that the queen has entrusted me with this important task, I should do my best and not betray the queen's trust in her old servant." Then Chen Mama took charge of the kitchen affairs on her own initiative.

  "...But now outsiders are all saying that our royal family is already in decline, and every time I hear this, I really want to slap them a few times. With our respectable old master around, the prince would not do such a thing no matter how unruly he is. The only reasonable explanation is that 'the intention of the drunkard is not in the wine'."

  "How could Mom think like this?"

  Madam Chen smiled and said, "Don't praise me, Princess. I don't have such a long-term vision. It's just that I heard about this matter recently and was worried, so I took the opportunity to visit the Fang Mansion during my leisure time and told Old Lady Jiang about it. She told me, 'What are you anxious about? With Big Brother around, can Fourth Master really turn things upside down?' Then she carefully analyzed the current situation in Jiangxi with me and asked me to pass on a message to you, Princess. The purpose of King Wang's actions is certainly not what it seems, he won't really cause trouble. Please put your mind at ease, taking care of your pregnancy is most important."

  She smiled slightly, no wonder there was a big commotion outside, but the Fang Mansion was quiet, it turned out that the old lady was in charge.

  ……

  Of course, there are few people in this world who can have the same insight and vision as Lao Taitai.

  With an eight-and-a-half-month belly, Ruoqin was still walking briskly, but the people around her had become like enemies, with Zhou Mama and He Mama staring at Ruoqin's belly all day, and the entire Longxianju was on high alert. They were afraid that the baby would come out prematurely.

  However, when the month arrived, her belly was still quiet. The empress summoned two imperial physicians to examine her, and they both said it was normal, so she could only put her mind at ease.

  At this time, he really didn't have the extra energy to care about the imperial court or Li Xiao's affairs in Jiangxi. He only knew that the Yu Wang Fu and Cheng Wang Fu were in good favor recently, and the officials related to them were also promoted. The Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, who was in his prime, suddenly passed away, and he was forced to submit a mourning leave and return home to mourn his father. Zuo Shenlang Wang Su took over as Shangshu.

  As rumored, Wang Su's great name has been heard before. It is said that he is very close to the Yu Wang Fu, and can be said to be a staff member, or even a relative by marriage, a real and trusted confidant.

  Wang Su was transferred to the Ministry of Shang two months ago, and today, Tong Qingwen, the young mistress of the Xiang family, unexpectedly came to visit, saying that she represented Mrs. Xiang to show concern for Ruqing.

  Digression

  Tiantianwen is originally boring, how can there be exciting chapters everywhere?

  Oh dear, no more talk, after updating I'll head home. Nowadays, I finish all my daily tasks before heading back home for dinner, and after dinner, I still have to make the crispy meatballs, which will be taken to the store tomorrow to vacuum pack and ship out.